Sunday, January 3, 2016

'Nostalgia' from BurkhardS - Battletech Battlemaster Mech

The nostalgia round gave me something to contemplate. After all I am mainly painting historical minis these days, so in a way, it is always a bit nostalgic. But in the end i decided that it would be nice to go back to the minis I started tabletop gaming with over a quarter of a century ago (I had painted scale models before, but that would have been too nostalgic for my taste and I did not have the time for something like that). So it had to be a Mech from Battletech. I quit playing and sold my collection (well over 500 Mechs plus tanks, infantry and so on) between 2000 and 2001, so I had nothing left to work with.
The first Battletech model I ever painted was a Locust, but looking on eBay, those were either incomplete or selling for hilarious prices. So I asked my friends, but the best someone had was an incomplete one as well. But the same person also had a Battlemaster, which was the second model I ever painted for Battletech.


Back then I painted everything in the colors of my own private mercenary outfit, but I felt that I should do something different for that friend who kindly borrowed me this model. Since he had no clear preferences, I went for my favorite House, House Kurita. Namely the 9th Ghost Regiment.


They paint their Mechs in a light grey / off white with darker accents. The left half of the Mech is decorated with a Cherry or Plum Tree in full bloom. I chose a cherry for this one. I had done something similar for another SciFi model in 2014 and liked the looks. Only let down for me was... that other model was mainly black and the tree would really pop. With the off-white it is not as visually impressive.



The Kurita markings on the left shoulder and the Japanese symbol for "4", denoting this one to be the 4th Mech in its Lance are freehand.


14 comments:

  1. Lovely freehand, I like the idea of decorated mechs

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    1. Loved that idea too.

      One of the nice things about the extensive lore of Battletech... you will always find a regiment that will fit your taste of patterns! ;-)

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  2. Oh boy well done! I almost entered a 'mech as well for this round. Now they will have to wait a bit. Battlemasters rock and this miniature is one of the better renditions of the type. Have you heard of the new PC game?

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  3. I painted some mechs last year. Still a good game and still worth playing. And yes I still have a complete locust and it was the first one I ever bought, But I usually piloted a "Griffin" (Which I still have as well)

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  4. Great work.. like the design, and the freehand.. though the scale is not something that I have played or painted, it has always fascinated me ( cause who doesn't like huge robots! )

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  5. Now that takes me back! Well done, Burkhard!

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  6. Beautiful freehand work on the mech. The cherry tree still pops, but I can imagine it being even more impressive over black :)

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  7. Battletech! Sweet memories...

    Well performed paintjob. Excellent!

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  8. Brings me back! My first was also a Locust. Haven't played in 20 years!

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  9. Great execution on this. I agree that the tree may have popped more on a darker background, but it still looks great.

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  10. Nice brushwork, Burkhard! I've never played nor painted any but I appreciated them then as I do this now! ;)
    I think the tree came out fine, but I really like the "rose" tinted glass canopy!

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  11. Very nice painting. I never got into this system either, but the models look great.

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