The Kader Machesky Part I (Bezpin Campaign)

I've had the pleasure of making three new friends during the last couple of years through our mutual enjoyment of the wargaming hobby.  I'm the oldest of the bunch and we're all from all walks of life - that makes for some decent diversity and an enjoyable, eclectic mix of ideas that seem to take shape when we get together.  Our last joint project was Nunawading 2020, a cyberpunk inspired affair which saw each of us create some fantastic terrain for a skirmish game we played using Pulp Alley rules at 28mm - I personally made half a dozen buildings and painted up my first Tau to use as a corporate security force.  Good times.

This year we're looking at doing something more firmly rooted in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.  I've been painting up a sizable Eldar army for some time now and the other guys have their own favourites including Squats, Rogue Traders, Dark Eldar, Necrons and others.  We spent an evening or two talking about what may be exciting setting-wise and came up with a sort of cloud city-type concept we're calling our Bezpin Campaign.   My mate Brendan has turned his hand to writing up a backstory (so I won't spoil it by letting the details out of the bag, but he's done himself proud) and we're all working on the bits-and-pieces to compliment the same.

I'm intending on using my Eldar and likely  Inquisitor Tylo + mates - so miniatures speaking, I'm largely done... anything else I paint will just provide me/us with more variety.  The other guys are pretty similarly situated i.e. this time around we want to get more playing in and see if we can build a bit of a narrative along with some healthy competition.

Rule-wise, we're not too fussed.  Kill Team is getting a lot of play time as of late so I could see a few games leveraging the same - and rightly so, there's lots of good stuff in there.  I'd like to try a game using the Terminator Genisys rules (Terminators as Necrons) and my own R40K blend will get a run if I have anything to say about it.  Also, there are some other things/games we're considering e.g., I'm intrigued by the early Doctor Who game that was the predecessor to 7TV... I could see that working some.  Cooperative gaming is something we'd all like to try... but most importantly we want to play!

I've already started on some buildings for the game, but the setting also makes for the inclusion of something altogether different: spaceships.  Well, if not warp-spanning capital ships, there's at least room for atmospheric haulers, shuttlecraft and the like.  I've already seen some of my mate's works in progress and they're setting the bar very high.  But I think I'm up for the challenge :-)

Introducing the Kader Machesky - Part I

I want to make a large vessel that can dock with the various steeples etc emerging from the clouds.  I'm thinking it could well be Inquisitor Tylo's personal craft - definitely not a warship, more of a robust, merchantman, something that looks like it could take a lot more punishment than it would give out.  I'm looking for a gothic feel, but I don't want a church in space.  Also, I'd like to incorporate a feeling of the spaceships I used to pour over as a young lad, reading my Dad's extensive science fiction collection - a touch of the Terran Trade Authority if you will.  Finally, a nod to my old favourite Star Blazers, because if you're going to have a spaceship, well it has to feel like a ship!

A smoother body than I have in mind,
 but the 'bulk' is on-point theme-wise

With that in mind, I knew just what I was going to use for the Kader Machesky's (how's that for a ship's name?) superstructure - these packaging trays from Lenovo:

Three shots of the two pieces.

Earlier in the year (or was it last year?) I had turned them into defence walls or something - they're about 50cm long and 10cm wide (I'll measure it next time I'm in my shed).  The underside is flat and hollow and the top is M shaped and not quite symmetrical.  As the plastic is semi-ridged, I had already inserted a strip of perspex along the top, reinforcing them some and they've already been painted using a mixture of rattle cans, acrylic airbrush paints and I might have even varnished them.

So today I joined the two halves together.  Firstly, with another large piece of acrylic, I used a Dremel cutting disk to shape a base to fit the of the plastic.  After a bit of filing, I then stuck the two bits together with an epoxy glue.

You can just make out the bevelling toward the middle. 

Lots of rubber bands
were used to keep the two bits in contact while the glue set.

With one bit glued, I then glued on its twin:

Now the Kader Machesky is taking shape!  I've got a stand that I'll likely modify some to make it look like a docking lock or something while holding the Kader off the table.

So how does a 28mm model compare to the ship?  Very nicely: the top of the same snuggly holds a standard GWS based mini - that's what caught my attention in the first place.

So what's next?  Well, I'm actually thinking of making some interchangeable bits for the superstructure.  I've got the idea that the ship's hull is a standard of which there are many variants e.g., a freighter, survey ship or tug... maybe even a gunboat or corvette.  I don't think it would be too difficult to make a selection of slip/slot-on panels and the like to materially alter the appearance.

To that end I've already started making a section that straddles the middle - the same pieces could also be used to reinforce the front/nose.  I've also found some bits that will make for good side airlocks and even got some nozzles etc that will look the part.  I am thinking of at least one configuration with a command forecastle (I'll have to look into my shipyard terminology!) and have some good ideas as to how that may be generated.  Importantly, the model needs to be able to have 28mm miniatures situated upon the deck - that's the whole idea of the build in the first place!

With Christmas and holidays around the corner, I don't imagine I'll get any more done before mid-January, but that's okay.  It's not going away!