Hey all, I would suggest that robots and androids would be a good addition to the Death Fields and Iron-Core sets.
Not only that they could be used for interesting game setups, the spare parts would be wonderful kitbashing material for the Death Fields, Iron-Core and Reptilian Overlords sets as well! (As far as I know the only set that includes some robotic arms is the Bulldogs box, correct me if I'am wrong...)
Robots and androids seem to me like a sorely under-served topic in these sorts of hard plastic kits, I'd definitely get behind seeing more of them!
There are a few bits and bobs that I know of out there - there were the 40K Necrons, a few Reaper Bones "Chronoscope" robots and androids in plastic, I picked up a great but very overpriced Doctor Who Dalek set somewhere and I'm sure there was a Cyberman set to go with it, some of the Stargrave plastic kits include mechanical arms, and Wargames Atlantic has some mechanical amrs in a couple Death Fields kits (Grognards Command and Cannon Fodder II come to mind) as well as some digital androids, but there's really not a lot, and even some robotic heads to go with the mechanical arms in the Death Fields stuff would be welcome!
(A model of Tobor the Great - someone else built/painted this, but it's great stuff!)
I myself would love to see a "raygun gothic" / "Art-Deco" style robot set loosely inspired by '60s sci-fi: Doctor Who's Daleks, Lost In Space's Robot, The Forbidden Planet's Robby the Robot, Tobor the Great, Star Wars' 'droids, the "mechanical men" or "atomic men" from old movie serials, and that sort of thing, - I'll age myself here, but that sort of thing is what robots were imagined to look like when I was a kid, and goofy as it is, I have a soft spot for them today!
Honestly though I can't see how any sort of robots could go wrong where I'm concerned - I'll likely pick a few up no matter what they are like! (The vaguely Terminator-style Digital Atlantic androids aren't perfect, but they're a great start!)
Some near-future "cyberpunk" remote-control drones and military robots would be great, too - like those robot "mules" and "dogs" that are being tested now, and humanoid robots that are in development to pull wounded soldiers out of trouble and so on... looks like there are some new Iron Core sets on the horizon, hopefully that includes a reprint or update of the accessory set that included some robot "mules", that set was great, and sorely missed now! The "mules" were maybe a bit on the big side and maybe just a bit fiddly (four legs each built from three tiny, tiny little bits was probably great for posing, but frustrating to build!), and I wouldn't mind at least some one-piece legs in an updated version, but even as-is I'd buy those accessory kits again - the sprues of ammo boxes and extra fifles and heavy weapons alone were worth the price of admission.
There's a lack of robots indeed!
Also for designs you could go wild, mono-wheel-legs (or tripods!), arms with various tools attached or build in weapons!
Hello,
Would be neat indeed. I would prefer "humanoid" robots, so kits are more compatible.
So, more like prosthetics limbs, not much wheels etc. But a tripod or other weird shaped, yes. Maybe on a separate sprue, like the chariot in the cavalry kit. One of the only kits with different sprue inside. Almost all boxes are filled with the same, in several copies per box, i think ?
Also, i love the art and style from the OP picture !
@Tchey the cylons in Battlestar Galactica could be a good startingpoint too 😄
Or a mobile suit...
I couldn't agree more that we need Robots and Andriods.
I would also go as far as saying we could have the Frame/Sprue design so we could make Cyborgs with other WA releases.
Now that would be just fantastic!
Exactly - cyborgs are a natural adjunct to the android/robot concept. Even something as simple as including among the robot heads some half-organic heads with enhanced eyepieces or whatever can go a long way toward bridging that gap; mix-and-match humn arms and bodies from other kits with mechanical arms and cyborg or robot heads can easily portray any mini as a cyborg. Or an android, for that matter - no practical difference in this regard between organic and synthetic flesh, just need some bits that reveal mechanical parts beneath.
Of course, there's no need to stop there - at one end of the cyborg spectrum you've got cyborgs that are indistinguishable from humans, and at other end you have cyborgs indistinguishable from androids or robots, but somewhere short of that far end you have far more drastic mechanical and electronic alterations to the basic human form that stlll work well for kitbashing purposes - see the goblinesque or ghoulish form of Doctor Who's arch-villain Davros, for example:
Technically, I guess his Dalek henchmen are cyborgs as well, or perhaps mecha, though its easy to forget that at a glance. Whaever the case, robotic or mechanical bits in enough variety - wheels and tracks, for example - can go a long way toward creating more extremely cyborged characters, and undead, alien, or fantasy bits would allow even more distinctive variations!
DOOM's Spider Mastermind falls into similar territory:
(An Ooh-Rah Colonia Marine sergeant points helpfully while a grunt is menaced by Arachnotrons, modified from Reaper Brains-in-a-Jar mixed with sturdy CAV mecha legs to replace flimsy tripods. With help like that, Private Ooh-Rah might be DOOMed!)
I think there is - or, ought to be! - plenty of room out there for one or more boxed sets of fairly uniform robotic Death Fields factions (say, something equivalent to Termintors, Cybermen, Cylons, etc.), alongside a "Command and Heavy Weapons" set of more varied and distinctive robotic bits to build more unique or specialized "hero"/"villain" robotic, droid, or cyborg characters from.
A backpack or shoulder mounted modul could fit in as well, maybe with an "rotatable" tip with different tools or weapons. Robotic arms you can find in production lines come to mind...
Instead a backpack option, also some generators with vents or other cooling systems would make some great details...
Also a flight units are a rare sight.
Honestly, treaded boxes with miniguns would be cool.
The treaded box-on-wheels is a classic! I considered making some of my own from small-scale model tanks (I was guessing 1/144 might work, but never got around to taking a chance on one), but Archon Studios included something in one of their kickstarters a couple years ago that worked just as well for me:
I'd definitely be interested in seeing a more versatile box-on-treads robot kit with industrial and minigun options!
Most of the scenic stuff in the picture comes from Archon Studios "Dungeons & Lasers" and "Rampart" stuff, except the robot "mule", which is an old modified Iron Core model. I've got a modified 1/35 scale M2 heavy machine gun I plan to mount on one of the other "mules" eventually, when I ever get into a mood to go to war with those fiddly leg bits!
In a pinch, I still bet that the 1/144 scale light tank idea will probably work just fine, but a bit of creativity might ne needed to craft a good mini-gun to mount on it in place of a turret. You can buy 1/48 scale minigun barrels and 1/35 scale WWII tank stowage kits that include machine gun recievers, or scratch-build something from styrene with a little more effort, but it's amazing we have to go through that kind of trouble even after all these years of 40K conversion projects that would eem to practically beg for a wider market of kits of miscellaneous 28mm conversion bits like guns and stowage....
EDIT: I'll add in this picture of some kitbashed robots Ifor a 1/72 scale cyberpunk project I started a couple years ago but never finished, using stuff from a couple 1/72 scale modern aircraft air crew diorama kits (welding equipment, toolboxes, generators, forklifts, and that sort of thing), combined with camera greeblies from a 1/72 Fennek armored car and the chassis and legs from an Iron Core "mule", there's also a couple (mostly) styrne scratch-built shotguns (except for pistol-grips from the Iron Core set.) The "droid" on wheels is my favorite, I kind of like to imagine its AI reacting to being given all the dirty jobs....
Scratch-building this stuff is fun, but time-consuming, and anyway professional sculptors make much better stuff and not everyone enjoys doing it themselves!
Either Pig Iron and Anvil Industry had made some "robotic" heads, that could fit well Stargrave's or Cannon Fodder's bodies, just to simulate some cyborg infantry.
