Diglettt | 10 Apr 2018 7:29 a.m. PST |
Hey all! I am relatively new to 15mm wargaming and I had a couple of questions and wanted to get some opinions on it. I was going through looking for 15mm plastic miniatures (don't want to deal with lead in metal miniatures) and found that most options are for WW2. I was wondering if, with a different paint scheme and color alterations to the guns, they could pass for hard scifi? Also, I was planning to mix and match vehicles (such as Cold War tanks with WW2 vehicles) and was wondering if this would just look silly or if it could work? |
pzivh43 | 10 Apr 2018 7:42 a.m. PST |
Giglett---it's your game so press on! BTW, most metal miniatures don't have much lead in them these days. And there are alolt of really nice 15mm sci-fi minis out there! |
miniMo | 10 Apr 2018 8:05 a.m. PST |
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DyeHard | 10 Apr 2018 9:25 a.m. PST |
Kit-bashing and converting historical miniatures to act as Sci/Fi is a classic move. Do as much of that as you can. Another fun trick is to use models (or parts of them) from different scales. Like the turret of an old toy tank or say a 1/48 scale model can be an entire tank for 15mm (about 1/100 scale). For figures, a repainting can do wonders to convert them. Also clipping off parts can really change the look of a weapon. An to pile on about the metal 15mm Sci/Fi out there. They are lead-free pewter and really very nice to work with. Some adjustment to some techniques in cleaning and painting, but a real joy. |
DyeHard | 10 Apr 2018 9:33 a.m. PST |
Here are a few I picked up in a quick web search:
Old computer mice as tanks:
Flying German WWII Armored car
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Frederick | 10 Apr 2018 9:47 a.m. PST |
For sure! Those are great examples |
ROUWetPatchBehindTheSofa | 10 Apr 2018 10:03 a.m. PST |
Yes it works. I like early-mid Cold War tanks and AFVs for sci-fi, admittedly slightly modified, but I've also turned PzIV's into APCs – granted I tend to use 1:76 scale commercial kits rather than 1:100. Real vehicles have a degree of plausibility, but I prefer things that aren't necessarily immediately recognisable (hence going for less well known early Cold War vehicles). As far as figures go I've long been considering converting PSC WWII plastic Soviet infantry into Neo-Soviets – similar in style Copplestone's Neo-Soviets! The classic Traveller ranges of low tech infantry have quite a strong WWII vibe going on. link |
DyeHard | 10 Apr 2018 11:07 a.m. PST |
To further ROUWetPatchBehindTheSofa's point: Here are some sets of never actually produces ~WWII German tanks. Sort of what if the war did not end models. These sell for about $11 USD and you get two per box, they are 1/72, but being small tanks they fit 15mm figures well.
This is one source:
link |
Buckeye AKA Darryl | 10 Apr 2018 3:36 p.m. PST |
RAFM actually make a set of low tech infantry that looks quite a lot like US WWII infantry:
link |
Oberlindes Sol LIC | 10 Apr 2018 3:45 p.m. PST |
My favorite easy conversion for 1/72 figures from WW2 to Traveller mid-tech was to trim the rifles slightly and glue a piece of fairly thick thread (like an single thread unravelled from embroidery thread) from the rifle to some part of the soldier's gear, like a backpack, a canteen, or that cylindrical thing that Afrika Korps infantry carried. The rifle thus becomes a laser rifle or laser carbine, with a power cable connecting it to its power supply. I usually glued the thread either to the butt of the pistol grip (if there was one), or where the magazine would go (I clipped it off), or to the underside of the buttstock. |
Diglettt | 13 Apr 2018 11:01 a.m. PST |
Thank you for all the replies! They have been super helpful! I would have responded sooner, but new members can't until 3 days after they create their account :/ Right now I am tentatively thinking about using British Paratroopers and German Fallshcirmjager from PSC to start for infantry. I was also thinking about messing around with their SdKfz 231 8 rad Armoured Car and their British Universal Carrier with options kit (you get 9 models which is awesome). Maybe try and make them appear robotic. |
ROUWetPatchBehindTheSofa | 14 Apr 2018 10:16 a.m. PST |
The SdKfz 231 is probably a good base. For the carriers I'd check out German conversions into weapons carriers for some inspiration. Also I'd take a look at PSC A9/A10 kits – nothing say's sci-fi like multiple turrets that and switching a normal gun for a Gatling! And one thing I picked up from TMPer Gunner Dunbar was using plastic 40K weapons bitz as 15mm heavy weapons in conversions. |
zoneofcontrol | 14 Apr 2018 6:58 p.m. PST |
A suggestion: Check out Rebel Minis site. They have a section of 15mm sci-fi vehicles and weapons sprues that could add to your mix. rebelminis.com/eafove.html For that matter, they also have a large range of sci-fir troops and "aliens". link |