I got the files for Kore's Low Altitude Rotor Craft a few years back and they're great little models, reminiscent of the Samson aircraft in Avatar. Kore are currently running their LARC2 Future Flyer campaign which includes a whole load of new bodies, rotor types, cockpits and side panels/doors. Models are available in 15mm and 28mm. AT the time of writing, there is just over a week left in the Kickstarter:
Here are a few pictures of my 15mm LARCs in various stages of completion...
Kore's latest Kickstarter has almost reached its goal of £750, only £26 to go as I write this, but less than 2 days left. They're refreshing a lot of their older designs and moulds to make them more printer friendly and easier to cast.
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| HAWG from Kore's display stand at Diceni. |
For only £14 you can get a huge bundle of stl files for printing at home. I'll quote direct from the Kickstarter:
"The STL Pledge level will give you all of the files for every vehicle that we are remastering - The Goliath Landtrain, Samson alt. cab, RP01 4x4, Type 404 APC, HAWG & Adblimp! You will also get files for every trailer option for the Landtrain plus the HAWG's 2 loadouts. That is a serious stack of hardware ready to print."
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| My Road Train (awaiting repair!) |
As an optional extra, you can add the Stork heavy lift VTOL stl files for only £10. I have one part-printed, but I have completed several of the smaller but similar LARCs:
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| Stretched LARC transport. |
Another option is get lots of resin printed physical models, which tend to be £4-8 in 15mm or £10-30 for 28mm.
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| LARC gunship. |
These models are great, I'd strongly recommend supporting the Kickstarter here if you can! Mark from Kore is a lovely chap who really engages with the gaming community, and I hope they manage to get there.
I went all-out on this hab block from Kore, scultped by Giacomo Pantalone. It was a hollow-cast model, filled with expanding spray foam. It was heavily discounted when I bought it, being slightly warped, but not too badly and so still perfectly usable. I sawed off the bulge of foam underneath, mounted it on a Foamex base and added various extra details, some 3D printed and some hand made materials. The Foamex was scored to create a concrete slab effect out to the front. A few cracks were carved in and some areas shaved to give the effect of subsidence.
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| "Excuse us citizen, we've had reports of a disturbance." |
Everything was sprayed with Wilko grey primer, then touched up with Vallejo stonewall grey until the colour was fairly uniform. A few extra details were added with silver for the pipes, window shutters and vents. Doors and some other vents were picked out with red and blue.
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| "We have a warrant to check the premises." |
A wash of black ink/matt varnish/water was applied over the whole model, then dabbed off and streaked for weathering.
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| "What a dump. Looks like he has air conditioning though." |
Various extra items of scenery were added, then brown tile grout and sharp sand was sprinkled around the edges of the building to hide the joins and bring everything together. Some small shreds of my home-made scenic foam flock added a touch of extra colour.
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| "Not particularly hygienic." |
Additions round the back included some 3D printed chemical drums and some scraps of paper. I also constructed some tiny cardboard boxes out of paper. They were stained with some dabs of heavily diluted ink and matt varnish.
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| "Nothing round the back." |
I added some of Ecaroth's "dungeon sticks" 3D printed wall sections to create a little storage area to one side of the building.
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| "Does he have a licence for these chemicals?" |
Some more scraps of paper and some more 3D printed cans were added, but leaving space for troops to hide behind the walls.
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| "Hope you're not intending to fly tip these anywhere." |
More bottles, jerry cans and a tyre stack add to the rubbish round the front of the building.
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| "That vent should be kept clear." |
The cans were all painted beforehand, then glued in place. A few extra stains and streaks were added to some of them.
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| "So... you claim rats made all these holes, hmm?" |
The front of the building is riddled with bullet-holes. I crushed up some bits of cast plaster and sprinkled the fine debris on the ground under al the damaged parts of the building, then fixed it in place with a few drops of PVA/varnish and black ink. The ink soaked into the plaster, giving it a grey colour to match the building. I also cut some tiny bits of stretched sprue and glued them down near the door. Painted white and brown, they make ideal cigarette ends. I used some suitable bullet-holed oil drums on the corner of the building too. The little pile of boxes and cans to the right of the door is all cast as part of the model - fantastic detail!
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| "I'm not buying it. I'm checking up top." |
A small piece of paper from a magazine became a poster. This certainly looks like a fun place!
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| "Fag ends, cards..." |
The roof includes lots more cast-on detail such as cigarette-ends (the reason why I added some more out the front), training wires, a tyre, drink can and blanket/tarpaulin. I added the fuel can and some playing cards.
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| "Wonder who won the game?" |
The cards are just tiny bits of paper glued down, then dotted with red or black to give the impression of cards. There's a vague attempt at a face card there too!
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| "Heavy smoker." |
The photographs don't really show it, but gloss varnish was used in a few places to show leaks and damp patches, such as under vents and broken pipes.
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| "Someone's been up here too." |
The roof incudes some badly cracked tiles, rubble and a broken TV aerial, plus a few more fag-ends. I didn't add anything up here, the amount of detail was nice and I wanted to leave plenty of space to position a weapons team or a squad of troops.
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| "Been keeping a watch from here too." |
The broken pipes give plenty of opportunity to experiment with streaks of rust and grime.
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| "Not much of a view though?" |
The yellow lines were stencilled on using a sheet of paper and a Wilko "Bumblebee" yellow tester pot.
This is a really great model, super-detailed with loads of character. I felt it deserved a proper scenic base to complete the aura of decrepitude and decay. It was a chance to try out a few new techniques and improve some existing ones, such as the rust-streaking and using weathering washes. The little sheets of paper, playing cards and cardboard boxes were fun to make too.
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| The original building, top right. |
A quick post about a couple of Kickstarters currently underway from companies I would strongly recommend based on personal experience:
First off, the lovely people at Kore have their Stork heavy lift VTOL running, 13 days left as I write this (finishes 1st August) and it funded in under 18 hours. This is a Skycrane style transport VTOL with interchangeable payload pods that fit under the rear fuselage. It also has the potential to carry various armoured vehicles.
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| Stork image borrowed from Kickstarter |
I saw their LARC VTOL at the Diceni games show in Norwich earlier this year, here's a slightly blurry close-up of the 15mm version (cropped from a much larger image, hence the poor quality!).
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| LARC gunship. |
I've opted for the stl file collection at £12, which includes the Stork VTOL, 3 different rear pods (cargo, personnel, gun pod) plus weapons for the forward hull to convert it from a civilian to a military version. If they reach 100 stl backers, they'll include the file for their adblimp - I spotted this at Diceni too.
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| Adblimp. |
I also selected the £6 add-on for the stl files of the LARC which includes both standard and military versions, plus a "stretched" version with extra carrying capacity.
If you prefer physical models, they've still got you covered, in 15mm the Stork will be £25 and you can add on 15mm LARCs for £5 each (excellent value because they're normally £9.50). 28mm and 6mm versions of the Stork are also available.
It's been a pleasure dealing with Kore in the past so if you're after some cool aircraft, take a look at their kickstarter, or have a look at their web page for the many other excellent vehicles that they produce.
Secondly, as I posted about a couple of weeks ago, Rebel Minis Digital Direct still have their ScorpionMech Kickstarter running for another 41 hours at the time of writing (finishing 21st July). Again, it's been a pleasure dealing with them in the past, they've been helpful and obliging and even refunded me the difference when they dropped the price on something I'd already bought a week earlier (VIPER suits). They've already passed the stretch goals for 15mm and 8mm versions, jet packs and missile pods.
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| ScorpionMech Kickstarter |
Examples of some of their models I've already printed to show the detail and quality of the sculpts, the VIPER suit:
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| Combat VIPER |
Bear in mind these were printed on a sub-£100 resin printer so any print lines or lack in quality are the results of this rather than the stl files!
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| Civilian VIPER load-lifter. |
