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Heavy Support Troopers - Female Stormtroopers - Painted APC and more!

Note: Everything for the stage 3 Kickstarter is now expected in Q3
Heavy Support Troopers - Female Stormtroopers - Painted APC and more!
Heavy Support Troopers - Female Stormtroopers - Painted APC and more!
Heavy Support Troopers - Female Stormtroopers - Painted APC and more!
Iron Core, is no longer just a mans world!
Heavy Support Troopers - Female Stormtroopers - Painted APC and more!
Heavy Support Troopers - Female Stormtroopers - Painted APC and more!
First up, the Eisenkern Heavy Support Troopers, The core kit contents remain mostly the same with the acceptation of some backpack changes for the energy weapons and the multipart optional leg selection.

Heavy Support Troopers - Female Stormtroopers - Painted APC and more!
Here you can see the same options available in the Valkir update with a selection of choices for the leg accessories as well as the helmet choices that will be included in this kit.
Heavy Support Troopers - Female Stormtroopers - Painted APC and more!
Next up, we have some amazing paint work by David Woods, a very talented artist and backer whose brush work will grace the APC box art.
Heavy Support Troopers - Female Stormtroopers - Painted APC and more!
Heavy Support Troopers - Female Stormtroopers - Painted APC and more!
Heavy Support Troopers - Female Stormtroopers - Painted APC and more!

Looking at the feedback, (I always do) there were some who felt the nose looked a bit empty, although the flat armored plate look is what I was going for as it matched the 251 this vehicle is modeled after, I must agree that it looks a bit plain. We have decided to include a few optional items that you may or may not use as you choose when assembling your kit. A grill or nose badges for the armor plate.
Heavy Support Troopers - Female Stormtroopers - Painted APC and more!
As with the APC grill feedback, there was also a great discussion and feedback given in update #122 regarding the female Stormtroopers, many great insight were offered but Jacqualine gave some particularly poignant insight on the subject. As this is the first time you have seen this kit, I will go over it in depth.

There were many changes to the base mesh, most of them very subtle. The best way to compare is to discuss what has changed from the Ada model.


Heavy Support Troopers - Female Stormtroopers - Painted APC and more!

Heavy Support Troopers - Female Stormtroopers - Painted APC and more!
Tilted the Coxis back slightly change the posture.

Pulled in the front crotch to minimize the look of an armored sports cup.

Thinned the waist and gave fuller hips to give a more defined hourglass shape.

Removed the web harness belts from the torso as they blocked out the shape too much.

Lowered the rear thigh armor and gave the posterior more of a fuller heart shape. The leg torso ratio was also adjusted to help emphasize the female form.

Changed the chest armor to remove the sternum plate.

Pulled the sternum in slightly below the chest armor to accentuate the transition between chest and waist.

More detail in the hair

Changed out the shoulder plates with the Kriegsmarine, they are smaller and the smooth shape helps minimize shoulder bulk.

Aside from the change in the chest armor and shoulders the most drastic change is one that would not be evident in these renders. I made them the same size as their male counterparts. This was a decision that I wrestled with for some time before deciding it was the only course of action if I wanted to have these fully integrated with the line. By making them the same size, you can swap parts from the current kits to these and vice-versa. There are some nice weapon options in this kit that I know some of you will want to use for your male counterparts. It also gave me the opportunity to future proof the release with other Eisenkern kits and accessory packs not yet created. If you want the ladies to serve as Stormtroopers instead of Special Forces, swap the helmets and shoulders with the Stormtroopers and you are good to go!

I will now go into the kit and some of the available options, please not that I have not put a quantity on these yes but I know I will need to limit some options, you cannot have ten of every weapon and head as the sprue count will skyrocket. If you have a preference (count) for a specific item I am always willing to listen.

We have talked about the armor and small tweaks, but what about their weapon choices… These are Special Forces, as such they have access to the latest and greatest tech available.

Starting at the top and working down:

Plasma Rifle: A heavy capacitor rifle, it fires a projectile containing a plasma charge, shortly after the projectile leaves the gun, its protective shell burns away and the projectile superheats to the point of plasma (matter on the verge of energy). On impact, the shot imparts both kinetic and massive energy damage to its target. This is the primary tank hunting weapon of the Black Widows.
SAW: here we have a proper Squad Automatic Weapon, not just a rifle with a high capacity magazine. You cannot kill a tank, if you cannot get in range…. This light infantry weapon will buy you the time needed to maneuver to you target.
Assault Rifle with Grenade Launcher: This is the most common weapon used by the Black Widows. A smaller overall length with a full size magazine the rifle is only slightly less effective than the Stormtrooper battle rifle. Where this weapon shines is the Grenade launcher, firing thermite bombs it can decimate a 2 meter area with enough heat to melt a lightly armored vehicle or destroy power armor.
Assault Rifle: This is the base Assault Rifle, primarily used by insertion teams or MOS that require more maneuverability or a lighter load.

As with the core Stormtrooper kit, each weapon has three positions (Yes, you can use these directly with the male Storm Trooper kits as well).

Here we have a selection of heads, slouch caps, helmeted without mask and helmeted with the same options fount in the other Stormtrooper kits to allow full compatibility. (Yes, you can use these directly with the male Storm Trooper kits as well, although the full helmeted heads may be best J


Here we have the leg selection, some of these poses will be mirrored to provide more diversity. I tried to include a couple of new poses in this kit. After studying Special Forces vids and some shots of real world operators doing their job, I noted a fairly specific form, ‘hunched over, knees together while moving’. When the position is especially hunched, you will need to shave a little plastic off the bottom of the neck ball to get it to fit as it should, I will illustrate this in the instructions, it is a very minor tweak and with the options to use and head or helmet there was no easy way to solve this issue in the base model.




Here are a couple Ortho view shots so that you can see the models without fisheye distortions, as with the male models they range in height from 20mm to 30.5mm to the eyes.
Heavy Support Troopers - Female Stormtroopers - Painted APC and more!
Heavy Support Troopers - Female Stormtroopers - Painted APC and more!
Heavy Support Troopers - Female Stormtroopers - Painted APC and more!
Heavy Support Troopers - Female Stormtroopers - Painted APC and more!
Heavy Support Troopers - Female Stormtroopers - Painted APC and more!

The very talented David Woods takes on the Eisenkern APC

Some time ago David Woods voiced his excitement over the Eisenkern APC. I recently received a couple of T1 test shots to go over from Wargames Factory China and immediately thought of David when thinking about who should paint one for the box art.

I contacted David and was very pleased to hear he would paint one up for me. Shipping to the UK went well and David, being a very seasoned modeler dove right in without assembly instructions. We had a chance to talk and I was able to quickly take a few screen shots of an exploded kit in Rhino to aid with some of the more complicated assemblies but I have my doubts that he would have needed them.

He will not be painting up the crew, as the crew is in mold cut as we speak and it would take far too long to paint up twelve infantry to David’s exacting standards.

The very talented David Woods takes on the  Eisenkern APC

You can view David’s blog to see how the assembly and paint work is going

Needless to say I am very excited to have him working on this project. Thank you David!

Mecha Front is LIVE!


My friend Jon Paulson of Paulson Games is having his first kickstarter. Jon make 15mm scale and 6mm scale Mechs (Mecha) for table top gaming, truly a labor of love… and it shows.
Mecha Front is a lovely fast play game with enough grit to keep you interested. If you are a fan of the big stompy bots, do yourself a favor and check out his Kickstarter!
Mecha Front is LIVE!
Mecha Front is LIVE!
Mecha Front is LIVE!

Eisenkern APC 'Keilerkopf' in plastic!


Today I have the great pleasure of sharing with all of you the Keilerkopf Eisenkern APC. This kit is the first DreamForge product to take physical form without ever having been produced in either metal or resin.

This kit was roughed in just shortly before the Kickstarter. The APC lacked a lot of the details now present in the production kit and was very much a work in progress when the backers good faith made this kit a reality. We have taken this kit from a rough concept to a stunning plastic model worthy of the brave troops it carries.

The completion of this kit was no small task, moving from a strictly CAD based environment into a real world model without a 3d print or master meant I needed to put a lot of faith in the Wargames Factory engineering team, I think the end results speak for itself.

The final kit required eight full tools and three partial tools, (not including the crew) far more than we first anticipated but perfection demanded nothing less.


Eisenkern APC 'Keilerkopf' in plastic!

Some of the kit features:


Clear windows that have the greenish tint most commonly found on ballistic glass (we are still playing with the tint color to get it as close as we can).

Working doors, hatches and hood.
A detailed interior and engine compartment.
A full crew compliment, driver, gunner and ten seated Stormtroopers.
Eisenkern APC 'Keilerkopf' in plastic!
A movable defenses turret, mounted to a gantry, it provides a full 360 protection against unwanted guests.
Eisenkern APC 'Keilerkopf' in plastic!
Wheels that roll around the fixed center hub and a linked front set that simulates real world steering.
Eisenkern APC 'Keilerkopf' in plastic!
TPE a soft plastic tires.

What you see in these images are essentially T2, we have some very minor tweaking to do and some texture to add to the non-slip pads on the top deck and inside of the rear egress hatch.
As we draw closer to the conclusion of this Kickstarter, I must thank the backers again for all the understanding you have given while we worked hard to provide you with the best platic sci-fi kits possible.

The Process:


This process is more often a negotiation than “Here are my files, make them”.

The artist provides the models, WGF works on the mold split and sends me back sample files to review and approve, and sometimes I am not happy with the way the model needed to be modified to make it work in hard tooling. I make suggestions and we take another run at it. We split the model up differently or separate a component from the mesh and see if they can get a model to work in hard tooling and still meet my requirements.

Sometimes we cannot, and I need to compromise, sometimes we can, with a simple change it all works out. The negotiation process between the engineers and the client is something that happens with every kit, we can take as many as three runs at a single model before we have exhausted the options.

Just to give you an idea of what it takes to make a kit like the APC; the time and resources required for such a large and complicated kit requires the dedicated effort of a skilled engineering staff many weeks of concentrated effort. The APC’s tool cost at retail would have been roughly 1/3 the total amount raised by the Kickstarter. The sheer number of tools required to complete the entire Kickstarter is staggering, by the time we have completed this project, the currents estimates are that we will have created 90+ tool sets for the 90+ unique sprues. To date, we have created 75 tools, averaging 1.25 tool per week since the Kickstarter closed. That is a very respectable average if not an amazing one when you consider the process and everything that goes into finalizing each kit.

I know that you are pleased with the quality of the kits, I appreciate your trust and investment in DreamForge-Games. We are lucky to have a partner like Wargames Factory to skillfully execute my vision.

What has been done what is remaining:

Items that have made it all the way through tooling-

All the 15mm kits have been completed, these were not simple scale downs, every component needed to be handled and changed in CAD.
15mm Mortis: Complete

15mm Nova Cannon: Complete
15mm Mauler claw right arm: Complete

15mm Mauler claw left arm: Complete
15mm HEL cannon: Complete

15mm Left Vulkan: Complete
APC: Complete

Mold splits for the vast majority of the infantry, are complete but I am in that negotiation phase I spoke of earlier to see if we cannot improve the form fit and appearance of some of these kits.
The Zeus/Loki and Stuka Zu Fuss are in engineering.

The Command Squad is in engineering.
The Black Widows have not yet hit engineering while I fidget with them a bit more to make sure I am happy with the kit. I will complete these and have them to them once they have completed the mold splits of the command squad.


Speaking of the Command Squad, I have a preview of that kit. I have made some changes from the renders shown in the Kickstarter.


The Platoon Commander now sports a frock to make him easily recognizable on the table.
The Platoon SGT. now carries the unit flag for his troops to rally behind.


The Sniper teams have had some design changes to make them more unique and tacti-cool with Thermal/NVG. Note the sniper rifles do not have direct view scopes but a digital camera and a side mount display screen to lock ant track targets.


The Combat Medic shown with his MULE is in full dash to his wounded compatriots. The legs on the medic MULE will be one piece for easy assembly and have a base with holes so that we can have it supported on two legs at full gallop.


The Coms officer has remained mostly unchanged but I had to make change to his helmet antenna as there would have been issues with direction of pull. The Coms officer will also include a MULE to aid in transport of his coms gear


The Forward Observer team remains unchanged from what you saw during the Kickstarter. The FO team will also include a MULE to allow them to pack up the designator and coms relay and remain mobile units on the tabletop.
Eisenkern APC 'Keilerkopf' in plastic!
Thank you again!
Mark-

Brueckenkopf is back! This time with a review of the 15mm Leviathan Crusader


Just one day later and Christian over at Brueckenkopf has another review! These guys are animals :) I don't even have one of these painted up yet...
Brueckenkopf is back! This time with a review of the 15mm Leviathan Crusader
This is the first full review I have seen on the 15mm line. The review kit was graciously provided to Brueckenkopf by Alex of fantasyladen.de
Brueckenkopf is back! This time with a review of the 15mm Leviathan Crusader

Brueckenkopf is back! This time with a review of the 15mm Leviathan Crusader

Brueckenkopf is back! This time with a review of the 15mm Leviathan Crusader
As per usual a very detailed review. Dennis walks you through the box contents
Brueckenkopf is back! This time with a review of the 15mm Leviathan Crusader
Brueckenkopf is back! This time with a review of the 15mm Leviathan Crusader
His build
Brueckenkopf is back! This time with a review of the 15mm Leviathan Crusader
Brueckenkopf is back! This time with a review of the 15mm Leviathan Crusader
Doh! A miscast part….

Brueckenkopf is back! This time with a review of the 15mm Leviathan Crusader
Some fun with range of motion.
Brueckenkopf is back! This time with a review of the 15mm Leviathan Crusader
Brueckenkopf is back! This time with a review of the 15mm Leviathan Crusader
Brueckenkopf is back! This time with a review of the 15mm Leviathan Crusader
Some great paint work.
Brueckenkopf is back! This time with a review of the 15mm Leviathan Crusader
Brueckenkopf is back! This time with a review of the 15mm Leviathan Crusader
The ubiquitous comparison shots.
Brueckenkopf is back! This time with a review of the 15mm Leviathan Crusader
And a wonderful summary and buy recommendation.
So head on over to Brueckenkopf to read the full review and see all 47 photos.
Brueckenkopf is back! This time with a review of the 15mm Leviathan Crusader
Brueckenkopf is back! This time with a review of the 15mm Leviathan Crusader
Hats off to Breukenkopf, and Christian for yet another incredible review and to fantasyladen.de for providing the kit. Thank you both!
Brueckenkopf is back! This time with a review of the 15mm Leviathan Crusader
Cheers!
Mark-