writes:While I'm done painting up my 100-point Hive Mind army for Alien Squad Leader, you may remember that I previously wrote about acquiring some larger Halloween-themed bugs. This seemed like a good time to paint them up! The army list for Alien Squad Leader includes Gigabeetles, which are 'monstrous' creatures with a vicious bite, armored carapace, and they cause terror in their opponents.
Above, you see the bugs on my workbench. They seem to be cast in a gray plastic, then painted black with some gold highlights. The legs are rather disappointing, being splayed out and flat.
To fix the legs, I heated them up using a disposable fire starter. (If you're a kid, don't do this without adult supervision. Use appropriate precautions.) Passing the inner leg joint through the flame about three times is enough to soften them up. If you smell melting plastic, you're overdoing it. Stray bits of plastic or paint may burn off in a puff of smoke. When the leg is soft enough to easily bend, bend it tighter than you want it and hold it for two minutes. Then you can let go and it will stay about half of what you bent it.
Above, the bug on the left has been modified, while the one on the right is in its original state.
Another view showing the same bugs. It can be difficult to modify the legs so that all are perfectly 'on the ground', but that makes the bug look more realistic!
Meanwhile, I did some internet sleuthing. The packaging said these were lacunae beetles, but the French translation said scarab beetles. Well, they are definitely lacunae beetles. I looked at some pics until I found a look I wanted to replicate.
I started by spraying the bugs with brown primer, top and bottom (even though the bottoms are hollow, and can't be seen once the bugs are based).
I was looking for a reddish-brown coloring, so I painted the models with a washy coat of cheap red paint, hoping that the brown primer coat wouldn't be entirely cancelled.
I then painted the eye sockets black, then drybrushed much of the bug with tan paint.
I now painted the thorax and abdomen with metallic lime green paint. I followed this with a wash of the entire model with dark brown.
I painted the pincers dark lavender, and made some touch-ups as needed. I then glued the bugs down to the required 75mm x 100mm base (previously painted and flocked), then sealed everything with a spray coat of matte clear.
And here are the finished Gigabeetles!
The wooden bases were ordered from Atomic Laser Cut Designs. The 75mm x 100mm size was not listed on their website, but it was available from their auction store. The four bases cost $1.99 USD, plus $0.58 USD sales tax and $5.35 USD for shipping. The edges were a little rough, but look fine when painted.
The bugs are a good fit for the 75mm width of the bases.
However, the bugs are a trifle short for the 100mm base length specified in Alien Squad Leader.
In real life, the heads are covered with bristles. I considered trying to replicate this with brown flock or static grass, but chose not to.
These bugs are enormous in 15mm scale.
Above, you can see a Gigabeetle posed with a 28mm Kryomek sci-fi figure. So the model could easily work in several scales.
Those pincers could easily rip a leg off!