Since this thread was unexpectedly bumped back from the dead from about two years ago (holy crap time is flying by fast), I might as show off the entire mech family sitting on my desk.
Starting from left to right is:
1. IS Rifleman (Macross Destroid Defender)
Package was from 1994. The torso, radar and arm weapons are completely pose able. My only complaint is that the barrels were made horizontally and not vertically (as in the anime and the original IS Rifleman artwork). It's a nice desk mech and the level of detail on it is pretty damn good.
2. Rifleman IIC 3 (Reseen).
I gave it an urban camo paint job since that is one of my favorite paint schemes for mechs. This was one of my first paint jobs that I did for a miniature where the resulting product came out pretty decently. I'm by no means a really detailed painter as in the level of detail of the middle mech.
3. Rifleman IIC Prime (Unseen).
I have looked all over the internet for one of these miniatures. This thing was a major pain in the *** to get (Since they are even rarer than the reseens now). This one was custom painted before I bought it, equipped in Jade Falcon colors with tiny Jade Falcon decals. There is custom brush near the feet of the mech and the level of overall detail this thing has is amazing.
Ral Partha miniatures are hard to come by, and if you see even one miniature for a decent price tag (40$ or below), grab it while you can. I was fortunate enough to find this on ebay with the large pulse laser barrels still in tact and everything with the mech in excellent shape.
4. Executioner Prime (Iron Wind Metals).
I blame Mechwarrior 2: Ghost Bear's Legacy sparking my interests in the Executioner (Gladiator). I think what did it was the underwater mission in the campaign, where you were forced to pilot a custom underwater Executioner and have to locate, identify and destroy several IS mechs sitting in an underground cavern completely submerged in water. Taking down the submarines and engaging in underwater combat with clan wolf mechs with ER PPC's and underwater torpedoes made me appreciate what the Executioner can bring to the table.
It's big, ugly, threatening menacing look on top of it's interesting design is what inspired me to add it to my collection. I'm not a big fan of the paint job that I gave it (I think I gave it some kind of gray coating with some mossy green blotches, and for whatever reason gave it IDDQD golden eyes because DooM.) The mech's lore and overall fascination with Clan Ghost Bear is what made me cave in and get it.
5. Rifleman IIC Prime (Custom 3D print)
Now before I acquired the Jade Falcon Rifleman IIC, searching for Ral Partha miniatures that were available for sale on the internet were very obscure for the time being. Most people selling their miniatures would either have a Rifleman IIC thrown into their collection (that would auction off at $200+ or more) would be almost instantly sold in Ebay's buy it now auction, or a big bidding war would occur where you would be instantly outbid by a millisecond before the auction was over. I wasn't really a big fan of the overall look of the Ral Partha Rifleman IIC prime either, but I wanted it because it was an official unseen pewter mech.
During this time period I gave up searching for the rare mini pewter mech. So I decided to make an order for a 3D printing service and custom 3D print the mech. I found a german site that had really decent battletech models on it. I fixed up these models in blender and added more polys for more detail. I was ecstatic to find the Rifleman IIC, Warhammer IIC, Behemoth, Locust IIC, and a few other classic mechs on the site so I saved them all onto my computer. Since the Rifleman IIC is my favorite battletech mech, I took the time out and converted the files in blender and did some extra touch up details to the model.
The site I used for the printing service was Shapeways. The material used was Black Hi-Def Acrylate, since I wanted the most detail for the design at the time being. With shipping this cost me about $40, just $5 more than what I paid for the Unseen Jade Falcon Rifleman IIC sitting on my desk now. Shapeways did a fantastic job with the printing service and I got the mech within a week. I used a base board from another TT game and some clear glue on the mechs feet so that it could stand upright on my desk.
Other mechs that I would like to add when I get a little more disposable income will be the Warhammer IIC, Firemoth, Ice Ferret, and perhaps a few IS odds and ends.
Edited by Arnold The Governator, 06 May 2017 - 10:47 AM.