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Hi all, Been working on a CAV Dictator for the secret santa exchange, and wanted to use it to not only explore rach color schemes, but also to continue to develop my skills with edge highlighting and blending (canopy). I am really happy with how it came out, though I still need a lot of practice. Brush control is getting better but is still far from perfect! Obviously still needs a base; C&C welcome!

Hey all - I haven't been painting as much the last few weeks since school is back in session, and that means I've suddenly gotten very busy. But I did manage to put aside all the usual hassles a couple nights ago and paint up a few Rach fighters! The paint scheme is the same as my usual Rach force: the Khaki triad mainly, purple accents, and then a blood red cockpit. The big difference between my fighters and others you might see on any other CAV table is that mine are well above the ground. I wanted to give my fliers the bird's-eye view they deserve, so I mounted them on heavy washers and used brass rod to elevate them. I think these are in the 6" ballpark, but I would have to double-check. Also, I still need to flock the bases and tidy these up, but I think this is close enough for now.

About this model: The 1/60 Despot was designed and built by John Bear Ross, under license from Reaper, back around 2003 in a limited run. I don't remember the exact number but I want to say there were only 100 made. It is a combination of resin and metal parts and requires quite a bit of assembly before I can start painting. The tank treads look to be the most difficult part. Before anything more, I want to say that Mike Hardy (aka Black Lightning 2 back in the day) is awesome! I couldn't afford to buy one of these limited edition models when they were released, but several years ago Mike needed to clear out some space and contacted me to see if I was interested in buying his Despot. He could have sold it for a lot of money on eBay, but he wanted it to go to someone who'd appreciate it. I jumped at the chance to finally get one of these, but when it arrived I was simply overwhelmed. I loved assembling CAVs, but this is a lot bigger, and I've never been much of a painter, so it just sat in its box on a shelf... For eight long years... It's time to fix that. I can't get links to my Google Photos account to work here, so I'm just uploading a few pics for now. If anyone knows how to get those working, please let me know. The first pic is of all the parts laid out in their glory. (I took these photos w/my cellphone, which is turning everything yellow under the florescents. Once I actually start painting, I'll break out my camera to get better photos.) Followed by all a closer shot of all the resin pieces, then the metal pieces. And finally what she will kinda look like once she's all put together. And here's a link to the Google Photos album where I have even more pics: https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipOp9xyRL5EtNEU00011Q62fvi72OWjS80VgCPB2

Hi, I finally decided to sit down and complete the last models I have from the KS for my Rach Force in my NOD-like colour scheme. So I completed, 3 more Krakens, 2 more Dictators, 1 Voodoo and 1 Reaper. I only post detailed pics of the new models: Voodoo: Reaper: And the final group shot of my Force: C&C always appreciated

I had a productive night! I primed these a few days ago, and just got down to a nice solid 6 hours of painting tonight. Coffee + podcats + painting = my little slice of heaven! Alas, I can't keep my eyes open any longer, so I'm calling it a night. I still have some highlighting do to on the metallics, and I still have to base them, but I think they're close enough to showtime to show off. Also, yes, it is Junebug season here in Michigan, and my current paint setup is in the garage. Little buggers were all over the place!

Hi, I made a bit more progress on my NOD-like Rach Force and painted the Tyrant and Vanquisher B CAVs. These sculpts don't really appeal to me, so I quickly slapped some paint on to call them done and move on to other models (or maybe take a break...) Still, they look nice in my Force: Tyrant Vanquisher B Incremental Group shot.

Hi, I ramped up a bit my painting output this week-end and painted a pair of Rach Imperator for my CAV SO Rach Force. They are painted in my usual NOD-like colour scheme. The imperators are really great looking sculpts. And their big MAC guns are a good base to go crazy with my green lighting. (Because in my head, their Magnetic Acceleration Cannons emit a green light... and no need for more explation ) And the usual incremental group shot: (the increasing numner makes it hard to fit it on the backdrop...) C&C Welcome

Hi, One more done ! My quest of getting my CAV SO Rach Force from the Kickstarter painted in a NOD like colour scheme is progressing! Here is the Rach Emperor. This CAV sculpt has a nice bulk, making it quite... Imperial ! And the usual incremental group shot of the force: C&C always appreciated

Hi, I'm continuing to paint my Rach force from CAV SO kickstarter in my NOD-like scheme. For this post, I went easy with only 1 mini added: the Rach Kraken. I wanted to keep it simple with mostly grays and just a bit of red. But then, somewhere along the way, I lost track of this idea and made the bottom look like a X-mas tree with plenty of lights... Anyways, this mini was also the opportunity to experiment with painting the boosters at the back. C&C welcome And the usual incremental group shot:

Hi, I'm continuing my slow progress on painting my CAV SO Rach force with a "NOD-like" colour scheme (credit to @Tosek for making me realize this). Here are the Conqueror and a pair of Warden. Paint strategy is the same: quick, simple and efficient. (Though I got sad when I couldn't find any relevant spot on the Conqueror to put a little green light...) And here is a group shot of my little force so far. C&C weclome

Hi all, I'm slowly continuing to paint my CAV Rach force following my simple Dark Gray and Red scheme. Here are the Malefactors tanks and the small Recon CAV Kahn. Also, since I found a pretty simple recipe to give a basic glow effect to lasers and lights, I started to add it almost everywhere... Malefactors Kahn Group shot of my slowly growing force:

Hi, I'm trying to figure out a paint scheme for my Rach force in CAV SO. I want it easy enough to paint in batch, appealing enough, and not the traditional full red scheme. Here is what I came up with for a few models: I really love the Gnomic model. There is something about the asymmetrical look that appeals to me. And a few details: C&C welcome

Its been a few days but here is the next batch of my CAV Kickstarter models. These are my Rach tanks, or the first small batch of them anyway. First up are two Despots, I kept the paint scheme the same as the Kraken I painted. This was a limited palette and I am happy with the paint scheme. Next up here is a painted Warden in a similar colour scheme. And finally here are a few photos of the Malefactor, now I really like the shape of this tank. As always comments welcome.

I received my remaining pledge items yesterday and spent a while with all the models out. The material has worked well on a lot of these. I ended up selecting two with my sons, and under there guidance have painted the Rach Kraken. It just so happens they chose red without any prompting. The model was washed and given a grey undercoat with primer which seems to have worked wonders, next up a dark red was used followed by two highlights. All the paints we mostly GW with some reaper paints used for the matellics. The model was given a full gloss varnish followed by a coat of Matt varnish and the cockpit was recoated with a gloss coat for a reflection. Some detailing was added but as they are military vehicles I have kept them nice and simple. I do aim to add some transfers at some point once I have designed a full page. Comments welcome and thanks for looking.

Finished the first of my CAV Bones Kickstarter. This is a tabletop quality piece but I thought I'd share. The Red is the Rach Red that was in the kickstarter with a Secret Weapon soft body black wash. I used RMSHD Dirty Grey and Army Painter White for the freehand and turrent launcher. RMS Troll Shadow was used for the treads and wheels with soft body black and P3 Pig Iron for the gun barrel and metal details on the wheels. Its not super detailed but will look good for gaming use and is easily touched up if needed. Pics...

So when do we get the other races in 28mm? Or, for that matter, some different poses...?

************************** 0215Z MAR 18 78th Legion 19 Maniple Whitewald Outpost 0605 0705 0805 0905 Investigate reports of enemy activity in sector. Check viability of recently acquired Rach CAVs as a recon force. Made contact with an Adon recon unit in the church district. Eliminated threat. Heavy equipment loss sustained. Wyvern, Chancellor, Challenger Sultan It appears they were scouting the area for use as a forward base. (4)CAVs Full loadout Frank Bergmann, Evelyn Azevedo Cavalcanti, Lesław Woźniak, Pauli Sillanpää, Nancy J. Hill, Nives Mađar, Amber Piddington, Aiden BlacketTiamat, Dictator-B, Weasel, Vanquisher Weasel makes for good recon but lacks sufficient strength to engage multiple targets. Dictator-B and Vanquisher preform well in solo and support roles. Tiamat was highly capable but need to work on targeting system as friendlies were caught in strike zones. We came upon the Adon force as they were conducting recon and were able to take up a strategic position. They noticed the Tiamat setting up and began to take cover. The Tiamat provided covering fire while the Weasel, Dictator-B and Vanquisher advanced on their positions. The Vanquisher and Dictator-B moved up to the central building and provided covering fire while the Weasel attempted to make a flank up the left side. The Tiamat was able to heavily damage the Challenger, forcing it back under cover. The Weasel was able to fit through an archway but was unable to locate the damaged Challenger. It's rush left it out in the open and it took heavy fire from the other Adon CAVs. When the Weasel went for cover it stumbled across the Challenger. With heavily damaged systems the Weasel was unable to take on the Challenger even in close combat. The Vanquisher and Dictator-B took advantage of the diversion to move into gun range. The Dictator-B was able to get off several solid shots but was unable to shake the Wyvern's targeting system. The Wyvern and Chancellor rushed the Dictator-B to take it down. The Tiamat tried to provide some covering fire but the CAVs had come in too close and the Dictator-B was caught in the blast. It was still able to take down the Wyvern and Chancellor with help from the Vanquisher. The Challenger had repaired during the firefight and came out from cover and took down the heavily damaged Dictator-B before it could get back to cover. The Vanquisher was able to take out the Challenger but went down to direct fire from the Sultan. The Sultan attempted to get inside the Tiamat's missile range but the Tiamat was able to keep the distance long enough to land to solid salvos bring the Sultan down. All pilots and WOs were able to eject safely and were recovered 2vAQG89YNM49UPqb52N166EZ0RfY1HUK **************************. DISCLAIMER: Reaper was out of some CAVs when we were there. Linkinatutu is using the "new emperor" as the Sultan and the Rhino as the Chancellor. Linkinatutu Blue Ludo Red Before you fight, you must have terrain. Got some of Pegasus Hobby Gothic terrain. Technically its 28mm but I think it looks good with the CAVs. Plus its fun to walk the CAVs under the arches. Setting up. It begins! The top of the cathedral fell off so we left it in place and declared it rough terrain. Weasel down! Sorry for the glare. The final fight. It came down to dice. Don't know why the photos are small but you can click for the full versions.