Rookiee player, a couple questions

[Xenomrph]

So I re-watched Starship Troopers on DVD the other day, and said to myself, "Damn, those Warrior bugs are awesome". I dug through my old toybox and found my gigantic Warrior Bug toy from 1997, and it's still great.
And then I got to thinking, "Wait, wasn't there that miniatures game for Starship Troopers, that had all the stuff from the animated series and videogames and stuff?", and went Googling and found Mongoose's website. I promptly scooped up a Warrior bug box off of eBay, and I've already primed the sprues black so I can paint the pieces right on the sprue, assembly-line style.

I've got a few questions, though:

1. I'm not sure I'm interested in actually playing the tabletop game. Aside from knowing no one who plays it, I've got several other money-sink hobbies that would make it hard to actually assemble a competent army. Besides, I think I'm a little more interested in just painting a few of the miniatures at this point.
That said, how does the game play? Is it dice-rolling and tape-measure usage like Warhammer 40,000? I do play Warhammer40k on occasion, so I'm familiar with that game.

2. I noticed that some of the models look a little different from their movie counterparts. The head on the Tanker bug is different, and the Warriors have a "split" lower-jaw tip that I haven't quite figured out yet. Does anyone know why the changes were made?

3. Any tips for painting yellow on a black basecoat? I've never had to paint yellow on black before, but I've read that it's not exactly easy. My plan is to paint up 4 of the Warriors as "regular" movie bugs, and then 2 of them as "Tiger" Warriors that showed up in the Starship Troopers PC game (no idea if they show up in the tabletop game).

Thanks in advance.

 

[Lieutenant Rasczak]

1.That said, how does the game play? Is it dice-rolling and tape-measure usage like Warhammer 40,000? I do play Warhammer40k on occasion, so I'm familiar with that game.

Similar but different (and better IMHO) in some ways. Make the effort, you will be glad you did.

2. I noticed that some of the models look a little different from their movie counterparts. The head on the Tanker bug is different, and the Warriors have a "split" lower-jaw tip that I haven't quite figured out yet. Does anyone know why the changes were made?

Two reasons, they are (sort of) a hybrid of ideas from the Films and the Animated Series. Other than than production reasons.

3. Any tips for painting yellow on a black basecoat? I've never had to paint yellow on black before, but I've read that it's not exactly easy. My plan is to paint up 4 of the Warriors as "regular" movie bugs, and then 2 of them as "Tiger" Warriors that showed up in the Starship Troopers PC game (no idea if they show up in the tabletop game).

If its a LOT of yellow, don't undercoat them Black for a start Lol! If they are undercoated Black, start with a basecoat of Bubonic Brown (if citadel) or Plague Brown (if Vallejo) or any mustardy yellow will do, and work it up from there.

 

[Xenomrph]

Cool, thanks for the response - I might have to go buy some brown paint from the craft store, since I'm not sure that I have the right color brown sitting around.

 

[BuShips]

Good catch on the Warrior Bug jaw, Xenomrph. It is taken from the CGI series of Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles. It's just a tad more logical to me, as the jaw makes more sense with an interlocking design.

While Mongoose relied heavily upon the CGI series for source material, it also did a great job imho at blending elements from all three sources- novel, movie and series.

I had a good experience at painting my yellow on black. I used Testors 1184 Zinc Chromate for yellow, painted on with a "0" brush tip. I did the same as you in spray painting the parts on the sprue with black spray paint (I like Krylon for a lot of my work). The red was also Testors, with an edge trim of orange on the red area of the carapace. I sealed the models with Krylon Matte Finish (1311).


Here are a few photos for you to consider. For me at least, this is how I finish my plastic Warriors and it seems to work well. Your base coat of black shouldn't be a problem. Oh, the way that the red was done was to paint a base shape in orange and allow it to dry. Then leaving the outer edge of orange exposed, I applied the red. This way the red was not applied directly to the black base coat. It did allow the red to show wothout any bleeding of the black.

 

[Xenomrph]

Thanks for the tips. I've got the red and yellow done on my first two Warriors, and I'm going to take them off the sprue, assemble them, and then clean up the paint and they're done.
I'm tempted to go buy some yellow spraypaint to use as a basecoat for my "Tiger" Warriors, because I loathe having to paint yellow over their whole body just so I can do details with black. Doing just small details in yellow on my first two Warriors was enough of an annoyance.
Good idea? Bad idea?

Oh, also, any tips for getting the pieces off the sprue? I figure I'll ask here first, before I go doing something the "wrong" way and snap a leg in half or something.

 

[BuShips]

Thanks for the tips. I've got the red and yellow done on my first two Warriors, and I'm going to take them off the sprue, assemble them, and then clean up the paint and they're done.
I'm tempted to go buy some yellow spraypaint to use as a basecoat for my "Tiger" Warriors, because I loathe having to paint yellow over their whole body just so I can do details with black. Doing just small details in yellow on my first two Warriors was enough of an annoyance.
Good idea? Bad idea?

Oh, also, any tips for getting the pieces off the sprue? I figure I'll ask here first, before I go doing something the "wrong" way and snap a leg in half or something.

For removal of model parts from sprue, I use small hobby snips called a "micro-shear". Xuron makes it under their own brand but also sells it to the Testors company. You'd probably easily find them at a hobby shop. I have two of them. One is only used on plastic so that it never gets beaten up and the other I use for cutting small metal wire (getting nicks in the cutting edge eventually).

As to spraying the base coat yellow for the Tiger Warriors, it seems logical to switch the colors around, for the most coverage.

BTW, some players paint bits of red on the Warrior legs, although I left mine lacking this addition. I was happy with the bright red carapace marks standing alone, but there are many methods to vary the finish of these models.

 

[Xenomrph]

Well, I got my first Warrior off the sprue without incident, and I've got the upper body assembled and half of the legs attached to the lower half of the lower body. I need to get more superglue, though, so I'll get some tomorrow along with some yellow spraypaint for the Tigers.

I'd love to post pics here, but I don't have a camera.

Thanks again for the help so far. I'm contemplating getting either a Tanker or Hopper box set next, but I've got several other painting projects on the back burner that I'd really like to get rolling on, too.

 

[BuShips]

Well, I got my first Warrior off the sprue without incident, and I've got the upper body assembled and half of the legs attached to the lower half of the lower body. I need to get more superglue, though, so I'll get some tomorrow along with some yellow spraypaint for the Tigers.

I'd love to post pics here, but I don't have a camera.

Thanks again for the help so far. I'm contemplating getting either a Tanker or Hopper box set next, but I've got several other painting projects on the back burner that I'd really like to get rolling on, too.

One brand of spray paint works best in my opinion. Krylon makes a brand called "Fusion" that is made specifically for plastic. It's great to use (I used some recently on my two Nighthawk Marauders, for instance).

You won't go wrong with withever you choose, because you're likely to later get the one that you didn't buy next (heh). There is something "grand" though in seeing your first Tanker Bug sitting finished in front of you.

I'd seriously consider for Tankers and a few other select Bug types (like hoppers) to go with metallic finishes. In past issues of Signs & Portents (free for download from Mongoose if you didn't know it yet), you'll see a few painting articles that suggest metallic paints offer a very nice way to complete your models.

 

[Xenomrph]

I'm sort of on the fence on a Tanker bug because I loved how they looked in the movie, but the model looks, well, different. It's been a long time since I watched the CGI series (although I've got a copy of it on DVD coming in the mail from Amazon.com right now ) so I can't remember if the model is just based on how it looked in the show. The artwork on the box shows how it looked in the movie, though, which just confuses me even more.

I'm familiar with painting with metallics - I did a whole army of Necrons for Warhammer40k.
My other painting project lately has been repainting the toys from the Transformers movie to make them look as movie-accurate as possible, and not like toys.

 

[Galatea]

Tanker Bugs looks primary like in the movie, though the legs are a bit odd and the Spit canal is missing - but nothing you can't fix with little effort.

 

[BuShips]

Ah, the "Fire & Ice" Bugs. :wink: An inventive method for varying your collection's appearance.

I might as well show our new member my version of the "standard" room temperature Tanker.

 

[Aniyn]

It's been a long time since I watched the CGI series (although I've got a copy of it on DVD coming in the mail from Amazon.com right now ) so I can't remember if the model is just based on how it looked in the show.

Hahaha, no. The cgi tanker was an abomination and looked nothing like the movie tanker. Terrible stuff really.

 

[BuShips]

It's been a long time since I watched the CGI series (although I've got a copy of it on DVD coming in the mail from Amazon.com right now ) so I can't remember if the model is just based on how it looked in the show.

Hahaha, no. The cgi tanker was an abomination and looked nothing like the movie tanker. Terrible stuff really.

QFT. :wink: I hated the CGI one. :roll:

 

[Gauntlet-]

you can always fix your warrior jaws... use two top jaws, or shave and cut the lower to have one tooth.

 

[slotministry]

For my warriors, after spraying them all black, I paint the markings in white then go back over them with the red and yellow. It comes out very bright. ~Robert

 

[Xenomrph]

you can always fix your warrior jaws... use two top jaws, or shave and cut the lower to have one tooth.

Holy crap that's a good idea. The problem is, then I only get one Warrior per sprue, since I'm using both upper jaws for one Warrior.

A couple other questions on Warrior construction:

1. Are the two halves of the lower body (the part that the legs sit in) supposed to mesh together? I put together two of them, and there's sort of a gap between the two pieces. I glued in the legs to one half of the lower body, then attached the other half and glued it in place.

2. How can I make some of my warriors have "open" jaws? I've seen some pictures here with open-jawed Warriors, but the way the pegs for the jaws work, they're closed. I don't want to irreparably ruin a model by doing it the wrong way and snap off a peg when I try to get "open" jaws or something.

 

[BuShips]

Holy crap that's a good idea. The problem is, then I only get one Warrior per sprue, since I'm using both upper jaws for one Warrior.

Gauntlet also mentioned that you can retool the lower jaw to save using all upper jaws, but that would be more modelling than spending the extra parts.

A couple other questions on Warrior construction:

1. Are the two halves of the lower body (the part that the legs sit in) supposed to mesh together? I put together two of them, and there's sort of a gap between the two pieces. I glued in the legs to one half of the lower body, then attached the other half and glued it in place.

Yes, they are supposed to fit snugly. I didn't glue the legs during assembly but rather dropped them in loose. After closing up the lower body pieces and gluing them, I positioned the legs and glued those.

2. How can I make some of my warriors have "open" jaws? I've seen some pictures here with open-jawed Warriors, but the way the pegs for the jaws work, they're closed. I don't want to irreparably ruin a model by doing it the wrong way and snap off a peg when I try to get "open" jaws or something.

You bend the pegs with needle nose pliers. Even if they break off, you can re-glue the jaw into varied positions.

 

[Xenomrph]

Alrighty, thanks for the tips. I'll keep that stuff in mind when I'm working on the next pair of Warriors. I'm still trying to decide how I want to handle my Tiger bugs; I figure I can spend the money on a can of yellow spraypaint just for two models (sort of a waste of my money), maybe re-basecoat the sprue in white and the hand-paint the yellow (takes a lot of time), or just say "screw it" and have 6 Warriors and not even bother making Tigers.

 

[ScipioAmericanus]

"Temma Harbour."

Now I can't get that song out of my mind. :x

As for my bugs...I base-coated them in in Krylon Fusion Satin...I think it was called "Espresso." Then, progressively lighter stages of dry-brushing. I used dull shades of yellow for the sides, then since they were brown, I opted for a dull white on top of the carapice with blue markings and a light blue ink-wash to tie it all together. Final coat was Testor's Dullcote. They're all in the basement somewhere, along with my painting notes, so that's the best I can do right now.

I hope this helps you in some way!

Regards.

 

[BuShips]

"Temma Harbour."

Now I can't get that song out of my mind. :x

As for my bugs...I base-coated them in in Krylon Fusion Satin...I think it was called "Espresso." Then, progressively lighter stages of dry-brushing. I used dull shades of yellow for the sides, then since they were brown, I opted for a dull white on top of the carapice with blue markings and a light blue ink-wash to tie it all together. Final coat was Testor's Dullcote. They're all in the basement somewhere, along with my painting notes, so that's the best I can do right now.

I hope this helps you in some way!

Regards.

Let me see, if you painted them with Espresso then you could call them "StarBugs" Warriors? (with apologies to Starbucks, heh). :lol: