SX2150 Truck (GHQ)

Good Day to Everyone!

I am back! This month, I am digging into my Modern Military Stash.

It has definitely been a long while since I last featured my own Modern Military Collectibles. Let alone it being from GHQ.

But today, I shall be showing you my completed SX2150 Army Truck that is the primary transport carrier for the People's Liberation Army. I have also completed my Modern Chinese Infantrymen minus basing. With Joshua's Powerful Macro lenses, I was able to capture some nice shot.

It definitely is a pain to paint micro details on miniatures or model kits of such scale. Therefore, I do hope you will go easy on my paint job on these GHQ stuff and I also do hope you will enjoy!

 

SX2150 Army Truck

Side view of the FORMER Main Troop Army Truck of the PLA

The SX2150 made by Shaanxi Automobile Works, a.k.a Shaanxi Automobile Corporation Limited has recently been replaced or are int he midst of being replaced by the SX2150 "K" Variant and the SX2190

The Largest Infantry Force in the World, The PLA has been modernising itself in recent times.

I have painted them in their modern colours. Here we see a Mortar Section firing.

 Section Movement.

Firing on the move.

 Heavy Weaponry Squad

I have been itching to do more GHQ stuff and Modern Military Model Kits but time is not on my side. Hopefully, I can have a regular schedule on making more model kits and featuring them here.

Furthermore, I am intending to come up with an imaginary Modern World which involves aspects of Modern Warfare, Politics and Economies.

It is still in the infancy stage but I do hope to see it materialize soon enough.

Till then,

I thank you all for your continual support!

Cheers!

Iron Man Mark 7 (Hot Toys) and Captain America: Civil War

Greetings fellow Nerds and Geeks,

It has been too long. Way too Long since our last post! I hope everyone has been fairing well!

Unfortunately, Toyconstruct has been pretty inactive since 2015 and I guess it's because of the many things Me and Josh have been doing in our lives.

Regardless of the little time we have to do our hobby stuff, we never stop liking the things we do and collect and experience.

Today, I shall feature Hot Toy's Iron Man Mark 7 or Mark VII from the First Avenger Movie.

 Took me long enough to feature this Bad Boy in all its glory.

 The Intro to Tony getting into this armor while falling down from the Avenger Tower was most definitely kickass.

Not to Mention, the Mark 7 is the first of his set of armors to be highly packed with heap loads of weaponry.

Might I add on that I believe the Mark 7 has clocked the most kills. I possibly believe that it could be more than his Armor in Avengers: Age of Ultron Armor.

"The Fog of War" Shot

 Looking Badass

Back when Tony Stark could still smirk....

However, all the fun and games are gone when the dust of war settles. When the Avengers fought off the Chitauri, no one focused on the collateral. When S.H.I.E.L.D unraveled from within due to HYDRA infiltration, innocent lives were killed. When Sokovia dropped back to the ground, the inevitable casualties suffered were high. The World was grateful for the Avengers at that time but the ghost of the past had come back to haunt the team in present day.

And that is the setting up for Civil War. Due to the Avengers' actions taken to defeat their various enemies,  it has resulted in destruction and loss of lives with no accountability. As the Avengers' answer to no one, sentiments to them grew negative. A drafted "Sokovia" Accord was created in which it states that the Avengers must seek approval from the UN in order to be activated or take action.

The Captain's stand is that the Avengers' hands are the safest and that no one or no organization should prevent them from saving or attending the needs of humanity. He views organizations as politically driven and that such groups would only prevent the Avengers' from being an effective team that they are.

Iron Man's stand on this matter is that there is no one to regulate the actions of the Avengers. Till now, there has been zero accountability on the actions of the group. His concern is that if the Avengers' continue to have free reign, negative sentiments will grow stronger. Ultimately leading to the demise of the team and no one to protect the earth.

Now that the premise has been set, I must say that the show is worth its weight in gold. It delivers more than Avengers: Age of Ultron. With the only bit of the basic plot and structure of the Marvel Comic Book Civil War, this movie turned out to be quite a screamer of a show. It delivered all the usual good things that a Marvel Film should have without going off tangent on the cusp of the story. It was a brilliant direction taken by Joe and Anthony Russo given that they had to make the Marvel Civil War Comic translate into film with constraints of only being able to utilize Heroes from Avengers and Spiderman.(No X-Men or Fantastic Four characters involved due to Separate Film Rights)

So much so that it washes over the bitterness of how Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice turned out to be. I am particularly impress at the way the rivalry and grudge between Iron Man and Captain America escalated. Both had good intentions but different views on the way things should work. All in all, the movie deserved its 88 percent Meta Critic Rating.

And without giving anything away, I must say that the movie definitely gave the Marvel fans what they expect to come out on various characters and what they can do.

This Film definitely highlights out how great Marvel and Disney have been getting it done for over the course of 8 over years. It also highlights how disappointing Batman v Superman was in story line and setting up of their DC universe.

The tragedy of DC is that while I am a Marvel Fan, DC has always had the better stories and more complex nature to Graphic Novel Story Telling. Unfortunately, DC has the misfortune of choosing a Director that really did not translate the story line of Frank Miller's Batman v Superman into film screen well enough.

The only biggest hits DC had in recent history would be Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy and a great visual representation and story direction on Man of Steel by Zack Snyder.

However, I got to repeat myself and say that Zack royally screwed this Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice film.

Nevertheless, Enjoy Marvel's Captain America: Civil War and more to come from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Till our next showcase of our collection,

Cheerios!

 

Good Day 2015! Avengers (Hot Toys) Assemble!

Wow, Time has eluded us big time for the year 2015, but with so many big things happening or going to happen for Nerds all over, you can't help that we are entranced by things to come.

From Game of Thrones Season 5, House of Cards Season 3, Daredevil to the Epic Release of The Avengers 2 and the recent Trailer of Star Wars: The Force Reawaken, it is yet another great year to geek and nerd out.

So how appropriate it would be for Toyconstruct to start this year by featuring my Avengers Assembled on the release day of The Avengers: Age of Ultron!

Enough said! Let the Pictures do the talking!

 It's time for the Avengers to Assemble!

 The Hammer and the Spider

 Stark on Point

 Face off

 Strength, Intelligence and Agility in one frame

 The Leader

 The Heroes' Sacrifice

And there you have it! As some of you may know, I have not done a featurette on the Hulk, Iron Man Mk VII and Hawkeye. But I will be sure to show them soon enough! And many more from my Hot Toys' Stash to come!

For more photoes on My Hot Toy Avengers, you can check them out on our Facebook page here.

Stay tune for more posts, more reviews and a new shake up on our page and more! 

Be sure to watch The Avengers: Age of Ultron!

WFB DE: the Humble Warrior Regiment

Hey Everyone

Congratulations to our giveaway winner Bill Jenkins, and JQ & I would like to thank you all for your readership. Keep a heads up as more giveaways would come along in the future :)

Today we will be taking a look at the bread and butter core unit of the Dark Elves: the warrior regiment. I'll refer to them as "warriors" in spite of 8th edition terms. "Dreadspears" is too corny for me, and I am pissed about how new editions change everything =  $$$ for GW. This unit was another ebay find for me, painted at a reasonable price.

DE and a nice grassy landscape - can only be bad news...

The warrior regiments are derived from the DE citizenry, and all members are expected to serve in their local militias. DE warriors are the typical basic infantry unit: mundane stats and dependence on numbers. Magic banners and shields are added to ensure a degree of durability of the unit.

DE gender equality: males and females fight alongside each other.

I've only played my DE army twice. Once against a High Elf army, and another against Chaos. The HE army was brought down by my hydra (they're awesome), while the Chaos fight was more even...unfortunately the battle was invalidated by the incorrect use of rules. My fully beefed up DE warrior regiment surprisingly (or luckily) held the line against a Chaos warrior regiment.

All citizens form the rank and file of this unit.

Assassins are one reason why playing DE is maliciously fun. They can hide in regiments and then be unleashed at the right moment on an unsuspecting character. Your enemy will always be on their toes if they know you have an assassin around. They have ridiculous WS, and with an added hand weapon, they can spell the end of most characters.

Blades so tarnished they could give you tetanus just by looking at it.

I picked DE as my "evil" army and wanted to explore if the writers could construct a feasible society that was evil, and yet had an eye on realm longevity. In short, a "lawful evil" society that still had some statutes in place, and question whether GW could move evil societies beyond caricature.

DE: Slavers 'r Us of WFB.

Boy was I in for disappointment! The DE turned out to be just plain evil, exploiting their slaves to death (using their corpses as fertilizer), holding countless blood orgies, backstabbing each other on a regular basis, and always seething with hatred every single day. Going to maximum evil/exploitative on the majority of actions is a sure way of destroying your own empire.

LET'S FIGHT FOR EVIL!!!!!

So far, I am still skeptical if such a completely evil society could truly exist in a fantasy world. I could also be missing the point, as fantasy could be the creating of caricatures without a nod to realism. On the flip-side, realism in fantasy worlds may have an "equalizing" effect, where all sides appear to be all morally imperfect. Should fantasy be another world by itself, or should it reflect the real world we live in?

I think that depends on what you like in the end...Tolkien or GRRM?

Close-up for the shield.

Finn the Human from Adventure Time

Hi all,

We are back again!

Today, we shall be featuring the main dude, Finn the Human from Adventure Time!

Finn had been abandon in the woods during his infancy and was rescued by Jake's Parents. Finn was raised alongside with Jake, his adopted brother which made their friendship and bromance grow to what you see in every episode.

Time to get some adventure going!

Prepared to meet your doom with my Sword!

As one of the only Humans left in the land of Ooo, Finn is the resident adventurer and main hero of the story. And at the age of 14 now, he showcases his youth through his funny and entertaining child like behavior. Finn is also righteous, brave and has a strong sense of responsibility to help his friends. As such, he also acts as the moral sheriff for the Candy Kingdom.

What are you doing, Jake?

Nap Time with Beemo.

What draws me into watching the Adventure Time show is Finn's relationship with the people around him. From the bromance he has with Jake, to his interaction with Beemo and his relationship with girls, there is something about him that I can connect very well with.

It's ADVENTURE TIME!

Just chilling at the bottom of the tree house

I know that the cartoon demographic is for kids but there is so much of Finn that I see in myself and I can't help but realize that a lot of his wanderlust, curiosity, sense of adventure, goodness and friendships that he has forge are very much similar to my experiences in life. His perspective on things are also close to how I view things in life.

There are hardly a lot of mainstream cartoon that are really awesome nowadays. Gone are the 90's era of action heroes and off beat but cool boyish animation series. Adventure Time is what makes me feel like a kid again.

Are there any of you guys out there who can really associate to any Cartoon Character in the way I do with Finn?

Do share!

On other matters,  there is just 3 more days before we announce the giveaway. Be sure to follow our blog and comment on the Giveaway post.

Till then, stay tune!!!

Cheers!

WFB: Empire Steamtank

Hey Everyone

Today we will delve into the world of WFB, a realm that is about as consistent as the Sun has been rising all this time - in terms of price hikes. But it is also a place of dreams and memories, as our minds bring the miniatures to life, and battle tales are traded between commanders. I hate the price hikes and new editions.

The Empire of Men is made up of pretty average people. It continually faces enemies who naturally possess the strength of beasts, reflexes only matched by lightning, and even tough hides that readily double as armor. And all the poor humans have are St3, T3, W1. The world of WFB is indeed a harsh place for all humankind (I'm not forgetting about the Brettonians).

However, the Empire had one massive ace (or gameplay mechanic) up its sleeve - invention. The Empire also have the dwarves as erstwhile allies, and their combined efforts have created feats of engineering: cannons that blast holes past most armor, handguns that send volleys of death. Perhaps one of the most fearsome creations by the Empire is the gigantic steam tank.

The steam tank is a rare sight on the battlefield, with only 8 in service (out of 12) and unlike their real-life counterparts, lack a running factory. Leonardo of Miragliano invented and built the steam tank, but passed away in a tragic engineering accident and all knowledge of making another steam tank disappeared with him. Two of the 4 steam tanks lost were salvaged by non-Empire forces, namely the Skaven with their Rat-Tank, and the Halflings of Mootland with "Kathleen."

This example was bought from a second-hand store. It was well-painted and with a price tag a little above the price of a new kit, it was an offer I couldn't resist. The top section is removable and allows you to look into the inside of the steam tank. The person who owned it must have put a lot of time into painting it, an effort that has my admiration.

The steam tank is a behemoth on the battlefield. The typical version is armed with 2 cannons, a hull-level steam-powered cannon, and a turret mounted steam gun. While the steam cannon has less firepower than the wheeled great cannon, the combination of solid armor (I heard it's reduced in 7th edition) and mobility allows the steam tank wreck havoc across the battlefield in ways a static cannon cannot.

6th edition rules limited it to 2000pt armies, and I haven't been able to field one due to the small size of my army :( From what I've read, the steam tank is a double-edged sword. While super-powerful and super-tough, it is highly unreliable and requires strict control. The steam engine can overboil from unspent steam points, and the misfire table has terrible consequences. Misfires have a 1/6 chance of happening, which translates to about 16%, which is a pretty high risk. But hey, nothing beats terrifying the crap out of your opponents and blasting holes through them...if it all works out!

Just imagine the possibilities...

Hope you all enjoyed this post, and JQ and I are thankful for your continued support.

Cherrio!

Kirov Battlecruiser

Hi and we are back to Modern Military!

Today I shall be featuring my biggest completed Modern Warship to date. It is also the Biggest Cruiser or Battlecruiser in the World. Previously, I have shown the GHQ Micronaut 1/2400 scale version of it. This time round, I give you the Kirov Class Battlecruiser that is 1/700 or more than 3 times bigger than the last one shown.

 Kirov cruiser on the Sea

 The Ship is huge. It is so big that I do not have any diorama set or background that could be use in conjunction with taking the full picture of the Battlecruiser.

 Pyotr Veliky Kirov Class Cruiser

With a little bit of imagination, I used a blue cloth and some haphazard photo-editing to showcase this model in its full glory with some semblance of a diorama.

 Back Side of Pyotr Veliky

Acquiring this Model Kit from a local hobby store a long while back, I never really had the time to actually build it. Eventually, I got a local painting service to do the honors and help assemble and paint this Giant. I did contribute to doing some major a touch up and extra paint on certain details of the ship.

Side view of the Behemoth

The Model Kit is from Dragon which still produces the best Modern Warships in the market. The model truly showcase the naval power of Russia.

The Icon of Russian Naval Military Power

Speaking of Russian Naval Power, it is quite known that the Russians have been flexing their military might with recent events in Ukraine. The conflict between Pro-Ukraine and Pro-Russian groups have been an issue that is laden with complexities. Over the months, even with the supplemental knowledge given by news reports, it is hard to tell whether majority of the populace in contested regions are for annexation to Russia or more believe in a United Ukraine.

Anyone has any theories and views on this matter? One thing is quite clear. In the most unlikely event that Ukraine were to go into an all out war with Russia, they would be out manned, out gun and most definitely out matched. However, guerrilla warfare in urban areas would tip the advantage slightly back to Ukraine. Fortunately, the situation does not look to escalate to that point.

In any case, I do hope you readers enjoy the post and like the model kit pictures. There are more in picture of the Kirov class battle cruiser in the album here. Lastly, stay tune for more Modern Military Models to come!

Cheers!