Defining Moment #2: Star Frontiers

2. Star Frontiers, 1983

So about a year after me #1 spot intro we were visiting some relatives in another state. Apparently my mom's cousin was (and still is) a big gamer. He had given me a present at one point during our visit and it was the sweetest package deal ever; a box of Star Frontiers miniatures and the Star Frontiers RPG boxed set.

Holy crap. To a nine year old this was amazing; the artwork, the user-friendly rules, and miniatures. Miniatures? What the heck are these? Then I saw all the minis that mom's cousin had painted, shelves full of them. I'm now thinking this gift was spur-of-the-moment out of his own collection, something I've caught myself doing for nieces and nephews form time to time. I remember making myself carsick on the long drive home because I couldn't put the rulebooks that came in the boxed down.

Whereas the #1 spot opened the door, this was the light beyond.

Duck and Cover!

Time: 1962, Anno Domini
Place: Planet Earth, Former United States of America


Model: HK52-13-13 Interdiction Droid
Primary Function: Search and Destroy
Equipment: Mission-adaptable weaponry began here with the HK robots. Shown above, the model on the left is armed with a rapid-fire cannon chambered in .303 as well as a tungsten-grade grappler. It houses a tremendous power plant that runs fan turbines that allow it to move as a hovercraft. The model on the right has havier armor and also has a tungsten-grade grappler. Its primary armament is a chemical fueled flamethrower.


Description: The HK robots were an intimidating sight and would often cause even the most stalwart prey to turn and run. Air dropped into areas suspected of harboring survivors exactly one year after the atomics fell upon the continental United States, these robots dominated the landscape for some time. The southwest became the hunting grounds for the HK robots as it proved to have survivors who were too busy trying to scratch out existence and not able to mount a formidable resistance. Always working in pairs, HK robots could not be bartered or reasoned with, their single-minded programming absolute; destroy all humans.

Housecleaning on a Global Scale

Time: 2075, Anno Domini
Place: Planet Earth


Model: BnL 5000 (left), BnL 3500 (right)
Primary Function: Refuse Removal
Equipment: Both BnL models sport advanced sorting and removal logic algorithms as well as above-average cognitive abilities in application to trash removal. The BnL 5000 was a unique design in that it utilized a quad servo-arm array and an omni-directional photoreceptor/recharge unit. The BnL 3500 is composed of more basic physical elements, but has an impressive suite of optical sensors and scanners.


Description: Both of these droids from the Buy n Large Corporation are precursors to the wildly successful Wall-E series of trash removal robotics. Many features of both models here were later refined and incorporated into the final design that is now the Wall-E. Both models are very self-sustaining as well with multiple redundant self-repair protocols, so where it is extremely rare, it is not unheard of to see some of these still in service.

Happy New Year, Citizens

Time: 2562, Anno Domini
Place: Planet New Eden, Asgard System, Exodus Cluster


Model: SF-82 Peacekeeper Droid
Primary Function: Security
Equipment: The SF-82's are equipped with a wide array of sensor and communication gear as well as built-in pulse projection systems. Optionally, SF-82's can also carry a hand-stunner. All SF-82's are layered in a level 3 ceramite armor.


Description: Genetic manipulation and mandatory behavior modification seminars have ensured that the populace of New Eden stays both docile and peaceful. However, off-worlders illegally dirtside are sure to shatter this Utopian society. To that end, the New Eden Council passed a unanimous decree putting the completely a completely automated security force into action. This force is under direct control of the council and unwavering in their ability to carry out the council's bidding. Not only do these droids handle security breaches to New Eden's surface, they are also useful in detaining citizens who have missed routine personality augmentation appointments.

Star Wars Smugglers and Scoundrels

Finally some non-blurry pics of some of the last figs off the bench for the year. I've included the Star Frontiers Sathar in here because as pointed out, he scales well, and fits the 'style' of both the Star Wars universe and the West End Games classic sculpts.



First up are "Hoth" Han and Chewbacca...'nuff said


Next up are the Sathar and a Mon Calamari. I painted the Mon Cal in traditional "Home One" uniform, just 'cause it takes me back to my action figure days with Admiral Ackbar. The closeup pic here leaves his eyes a little something to be desired, so I went back in post-photo and tried to fix them a bit.

He and the Sathar will be another smuggler duo like Han and Chewie, with the space-suited big guy acting as the first mate, and the refined Mon Cal and the captain. They'll have an organic designed light freighter in the Mon Cal style.


I dropped the Sathar on the concrete right before I sprayed them with Dull Cote. You can see the paint threatening to crack off his eye lens. I fixed this by licking the area and smoothing it down with my finger. It tasted like Dull Cote, which is gross to say the least.

I'm also trying out a new camera here and don't have the controls quite down yet. I may default to "old faithful" when it comes to minis, because I know how to get it to take good pictures of minis, this fancy new one escapes me.

So that's it, out of "the last ten", I am now finished! I've exceeded my goal for figs painted this year by a mile and can rest for the rest of 2010. You know, I was thinking though, it's one thing to say I painted 200 figs for the year. It's another thing to say I painted OVER 200 figs for the year, even if "over" just means one more fig. I'll see what I can do, check back tomorrow!

These Actually Are the Droids You're Looking For...

The six Star Frontiers robots are finished! This is a blurry pic from my dumb-phone, but consider it a teaser for now. I like how these turned out and I'd like to give them their due with a real post. I just wanted to get these posted here before the new year so they'd "officially" count for the 2010 totals. You can see the Star Frontiers Sathar in the background, he (she?) is basically done as well, I just need to base him (her?).

I'll be honest, in the beginning I was just going to do a silver drybrush on all these guys and call it a day, shooting for quantity over quality. There was such an overwhelmingly positive response from you guys though I was inspired to do more. I broke the six 'bot group into three pairs and painted each pair with a specific "theme" in mind.


Hoth Han and Chewie painted up much faster than I thought as well. I tell you, these old West End Games sculpts are really great. The Han Solo fig actually looks like Harrison Ford, and has plenty of detail, not bad for "true" 25mm scale. Chewbacca was a good sculpt as well, but it seems to me kind of hard to screw up a Wookie sculpt.

Another blurry pic, sorry, consider it another teaser pic. I wanted to get these guys in under the wire for 2010 as well. No time for more, I've still got two figs to paint up and an 'end of the year' post to whip up as well. Enjoy!

Ten More for 2010

Here they are, as the title says, these are the last (planned) figs for the 2010 fiscal painting year. After posting my Hordes of the Things Orc Army the other day (which I'm still pretty proud of by the way) and I realized I had logged 190 painted figs for the year. That leaves me with just ten more to go to hit 200. I didn't set out this year with a particular goal in mind, but I do like nice, round numbers, and 200 is just such a number, but what to paint?

World War II tanks are pretty easy, but I don't have any built right now. I just built those Sons of Minos space marines, but they're pretty detailed and I'd like to do them right. There's still 2/3 of my HotT army just sitting around, but I'll give them a rest for now. Looking through my minis cold storage I ran across some vintage gems, that just happen to be single-mold and should paint up quick and easy.


Back during all of my Fall-In! coverage I had posted pic with my loot, including an unopened Star Frontiers box. This is NOT the box, but I said in that post I'd follow-up and never did. The first minis I ever got were the same as the figs in that unopened box. That was around 1982, and might explain why I lean towards sci-fi instead of fantasy; unlike most I did not cut my teeth on Dungeons and Dragons, but Star Frontiers instead.

Well that box of player characters wasn't the only one, I also have this box of Star Frontiers Robots, and although it is opened it is intact (unlike my other original box). These sculpts are great and don't even feel that old-school, plus, they're robots so they should be a breeze to paint up, even if I go semi-elaborate.

Here's the back of the box with its contents, and their future bases


Well if my goal is to paint up ten figs, the Star Frontiers Robot box only get me a little over halfway. Poking around some more I found one of the original Star Frontiers figs from the OTHER box, a space-suited Sathar! I didn't think about it, but this also means I'm about to paint up one of the first figs I ever owned. Add this one to my first painted fig ever.

Alongside the Sathar are a few characters that should be familiar; Han Solo, Chewbacca, and a Mon Calamari. Mon Calamari George, really? You named them directly after squid, you didn't even try to disguise it? These are figs from West End Games' Star Wars line out of the late 1980's. Compared to the venerable Star Frontiers figs these guys feel downright modern!

This "crew" has a nice feel to it, kind of like those non-canon, classic pulp Han Solo novels. You've got Han and Chewie, doing their thing, plus some yet-named character Mon Cal, and a big ole Sathar in a space suit. The Mon Cal and the Sathar could be their own smuggler duo that had to team up with the crew of the Falcon to tackle some mutual goal. Maybe it's to fight all those Star Frontiers robots?


So there you have, once I get these painted, I should hit 200 figs on the year. It's not a done deal, I have to actually paint them, but I feel confident going into to it. As you can see from the bottoms of the bases here it's not every day you get to paint up 27 year old miniatures either! The fact that I'm the first owner of these dates me incredibly, but it's all good. So enjoy, and get ready for the new year.