OMG! I’ve actually finished painting something

This week The General got serious about painting. After not doing anything for two months I’ve managed to finish a pack of Reaper Miniatures Skeleton Breakers for their Warlord Skirmish game. I also started painting my first Starship Troopers Exo-suit squad and hope to finish that within a week.

As you may recall, I previously wrote that I purchased a Rippler Bug Mega Swam. I spent a good part of last Sunday and Monday evening assembling all nine bugs. The assembly of these models was rather easy and the time needed was mainly due to there being nine models. Some people have reported problems assembling the Starship Troopers plastic. I’ve never had a problem using Testors Liquid Cement.

To assemble the ripplers, I first began with the one piece abdomen, the two thorax halves and the little bit to which the legs connect. The leg bit and the abdomen have plugs which are held in by thorax sockets. I laid down a thorax half, but the other pieces in their sockets and then snapped the other thorax half in place and applied liquid cement to the joints. At this point the model looks like a prawn almost good enough to eat. Set it aside and do not eat. Next, I put the head pieces together (two parts) and after a few hours went back and glued the heads to the bodies.

On the second day I glued on all the legs and mandibles making sure the legs did not interfere with the bases. After a few hours I put on the wings and the job was complete. All I have to do now is paint them.