Heavy Gear: CEF GREL Infantry

2023-08-03 heavy gear / hgb-cef / showcase / hobby /

I wanted to replicate the look and feel of the GREL from the Heavy Gear artwork, high concept space invaders, Zentraedi crossed with Exosquad Neosapiens. Big purple bastards in pastel carapace armor.

I wanted to go fairly light, because at this scale you need some brightness for infantry this small. In pictures, it looks like they should be shaded more, but in person, not in front of careful lighting and a camera lens, they get plenty of shade from natural shadows.

Painting notes:

Pro-Acryl Grey Blue - default color, bodystocking
Pro-Acryl Faded Ultramarine - chest plate, backpack, pouches
AP Faded Grey - pauldrons, greaves gauntlets
Reaper Stormy Grey - Weapons
Vallejo Game Air Silver - weapon tip and belt buckles
AP Mutant Hue - GREL head skin
Wash - AP Flesh Wash/Pro-Acryl Black Wash/Water, 1:2:1

After the test GREL, which you can almost pickout of the lot because his wash is slightly browner than the rest, I spent a couple nights cranking out the rest of them. These GREL are brought to you by the commentary track of season 4 of the Venture Bros (in preparation for the release of Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart, finally, after 5 years of waiting).

The other half of the plan was the classic juxtaposition of blue and orange. I wanted a reddish desert to play up the contrast, and it worked better than I even hoped. Vallejo Brown Earth is a magical, inexpensive, basing hack.

Basing Notes:

Desert Base - Vallejo Brown Earth Texture
Desert Highlights - AP Barbarian Flesh, drybrushed
Desert Finish - AK Vietnam Earth pigment, dusted liberally and on the GREL's boots
Scrub brush - plunk down some of the same plants as on my Black Talons.

The whole gang on my desk with the base edges cleaned up. That's four regular Mordred class squads with Jan commanders, two Mordred support weapon squads, two Morgana class assault squads, and two Morgana sniper teams. More than enough for a full platoon in HGB 3.1.

Next up for Heavy Gear, I've got some more Southies I need to paint, and I really want to get a Dark Naga for my Black Talons, but that's about it for the existing armies. I've got some Utopians I should do something with, and along with them a plan to 3D print an OGRE as a proxy for the Gilgamesh.

And terrain, ugh, got to get back to finishing the Lazy Forger buildings. Scrappy models drain the will to paint out of me, but I love them so when finished.