Hoth SWMB Collection

[TauntaunScout]

Hey all,
Today I dove into making my Hoth collection of WEG SWMB suff. Under this thread I'll be posting progress pics, assuming I can figure out how pics work on here. Finished painting my first figure (power droid, to use as an objective counter), and got a start on my terrain. Ultimately the plan is to have a dozen or so good pieces of scenery, 30-50 models for each side of the galactic civil war, and maybe a pack of wampas.

[TauntaunScout]

Alright so here is the current plan. I am uploading pics to a Picassa folder and putting links here. Le Sigh.

This is the power droid. I painted it green, as I'll have very few opportunities to paint anything green in a Hoth collection!
[url]
https://plus.google.com/photos/103297351625321180229/albums/6145529081658012113/6145529083835341682?pid=6145529083835341682&oid=103297351625321180229
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This will be a good themed counter to use in games, and I'll post updates when the collection is roughly 25%, 50%, and 75% done, and of course, when it is complete!

[TauntaunScout]

Sorry it's been awhile!
I have updated the web album from before, the same old link will get you to pics of my new stuff.

I expanded my scenery slightly with the addition of two snow-covered bunkers. I also painted Darth Vader just for fun, the mini is pretty much useless for games. I did add an AT-PT and two probe droids however!

I also added a squad of ten Imperial crew. These were done simply by using the general Veers model as a commander, and 9 TIE fighter pilot models painted in light grey with white highlights. I know its technically not the SAME same, but good enough for my games. WEG made precious few Hoth figures and I have to figure some stuff out for myself. In game, they'll probably just be regular snowtroopers with pistols, but visually different enough from my other figures to be fun.

[TauntaunScout]

Whoops, seems like I skipped a post! I built 4 hills (2 easy, 2 very difficult) as well, and a nice squad of 6 snowtroopers with E-Web cannon.

I had only 1 pose of mini to work with, and it defies conversion. So the specialist was simply denoted by mounting him to the very edge of his base, to allow him to more easily reach the blaster cannon.

The squad commander was made in the simplest fashion of all, his shoulderpads were painted black! I figure if sandtroopers can denote rank with different colours of pauldrons, why not snowtroopers?

I am expecting a shipment of enough snowtroopers to finish the army off (I'll have 20 of them, plus the AT AT crewmen, ATPT, and 2 probots), and have a rebel army ready to paint as well. Got a good start on a shield generator, I'll update that project with pics too.

When all THAT is done, I'm going to try to figure out what Hoth mercs/bounty hunters should look like! I have a ton of appropriate "neutral forces" figures, not sure how to paint them though. I'd like a squad or two that can fight for either side. This will allow me to swing the balance greatly to one force or the other without having to collect nearly as many miniatures.

[TauntaunScout]

Here's the pic of the whole collection as painted:

https://plus.google.com/photos/103297351625321180229/albums/6145529081658012113/6162289221966142866?pid=6162289221966142866&oid=103297351625321180229

I have now acquired two full armies!
20 Snowtroopers
10 Imperial crewmen
ATPT with 11th crewman
2 Probots

4 droids for objective counters

17 Hoth Rebels
Snowspeeder w/2 crew
4 Wookies

...and those are my basic forces, should be over 2000 SGP's apiece. Plus heroes, I have for those:
Ewok
Brash Pilot
Laconic Scout (on tauntaun!)
2 x Jedi (one male, one female)

I am going to keep updating the pics as this all gets painted up. However I need advice on what kind of terrain to make besides hills and a generator. I also am seeking advice on how to paint some bounty hunters or mercs that will look good on Hoth? Note that my games may not take place on Hoth per se, but in Star Wars arctic ecosystems in general, perhaps on a world made up for my own campaigns.

[TauntaunScout]

Sorry I haven't uploaded new pics in a awhile.
I finished the Hoth generator(!) and a small squad of rebels. I have thus sorted the pics into two folders, one for rebels and one for the empire. I went ahead and based this first squad of rebels on stony, rather than snowy bases, for two reasons. First it will easily differentiate two squads of them when it's done (so I may do the same thing with a 2nd squad of Hoth stormtroopers) and second, I really kinda messed up the paintjob on these rebels, they are too white, especially their pants, so this helps them visually to stand apart from their base.

Here's the rebels:
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipNaz4DaaHJOUd9mUwChc6I7IIEOR26-ckkseskn

And the empire:
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipN7CMkmtXjbkIwIrxBN2In16wm6ypErqQLhRvpQ

[Pel]

Those last two links are inaccessible, requiring logins.

The public pics are pretty good! Looking forward to seeing more.
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Aha!

[TauntaunScout]

Sorry about that! These ones should work.

https://goo.gl/photos/4wZmzXydVvX7P45G7

https://goo.gl/photos/1LViqs5LbzmhJDeu6

[RyanDarkstar]

What did you use to make the shield generator? It looks great!
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Currently playing D&D 5E and painting an unholy amount of miniatures.

[TauntaunScout]

Hi,
Thanks! I cut a base out of 1/4 inch plywood, and used 4 special cup lids (Pick A Brick Cup lids from the LEGO store) to make the generator itself, and a pvc pipe elbow joint to make it look like it had an underground power conduit attached. The cup lids had to have a slice taken off to give them a flat edge, then they were gorilla glued to the base in alternating orientation. Lots of spackle, then paint, for the snow.

[RyanDarkstar]

Thanks for the info, TauntaunScout. Building one of these will be a great addition to my Kenner Hoth World Ion Cannon. The Hoth World Shield Generator is painfully small (though it makes for an excellent sentry outpost shield).
_________________
Currently playing D&D 5E and painting an unholy amount of miniatures.

[TauntaunScout]

Nice! Micro Collection was my top favorite toy as a kid, which in turn got me into SWMB, and then the gaming door was opened... I never actually had much Micro Collection as a kid, although now I have tons. I am always seeking people to trade junk lots of spare micro figures and parts with, depending on how active a collector you are. I need to find some truly awful condition wamaps and laser turrets to base and re-paint to go with my WEG collection. I'm also looking for junk micro tauntauns to make a big squad. the WEG one will work as a PC on tauntaun, but they are far too pricey on ebay to ever make a squad of, whereas the vintage Kenner ones are approx. 1/10th the cost.

[TauntaunScout]

I am back!

Rogue One has got me really excited about Star Wars again. To be honest, it's the best depiction of West End's version of the SW Universe, that I think we'll ever get to see on screen!

Photos will be forthcoming. But I have slightly expanded my old squads (snowtroopers are up to 10, the Hoth Rebels are up to 7) and added a squad of 4 wookies on snowy bases.

I have indeed managed to acquire a complete squad of the old metal WEG tauntauns! So that's some hot news. I got 4 West End ones (technically 3 was the squad min.) plus I'll use a stripped and repainted Micro Collection Lukes and a Han to denote a commander and two specialists. I know, it sends shudders up the spines of collectors. But believe me, I found ones that had almost no original paint left. Poor fellows looked like they had been played with in a sandbox or something. So it will be a squad of seven mounted rebels. Might opt to make a squad of 6 though and paint up one riderless WEG tauntaun to use in case a riderless creature runs amok. That's the level of detail WEG rules cover after all. I should be prepared.

I found two original unpainted snowspeeders, one of which is missing it's harpoon gun. I am thinking I'll paint one as normal and use the harpoonless one to make a crashed speeder.

[TauntaunScout]

So someone is making minis in the WEG style. Don't want to get him in trouble by posting links, but he's making a Han on tauntaun, and a dead tauntaun with a wounded rebel trooper. I ordered them to create a squad commander and objective marker for my WEG collection. They're also making assorted rebel ground crews. It's basically run out of someone's garage so there's a steep "inefficiency tax". I think I paid around $60 for my two new metal tauntauns. Plus he's UK based, so, there's international shipping.

Edit: Here's pics.
https://imgur.com/ci0hYeh