Just a quick tangent into something silly today. I was looking round for something mechanical to paint, preferably something which ties into one of my current projects, for Azazel’s Mechanovember challenge. Instead of picking something out of the half-finished pile however I spotted this Chaos Android – or if you prefer a proto-Necron – sitting in a box of models given to me by a friend a couple of years ago. He’s survived unpainted perfectly well for decades (the model not the friend) and he might well have continued to do so, but it struck me that he’d be quick and straightforwards and sure enough I bashed through painting him in the course of an evening, using only the odd spare moments whilst I waited for other things to dry (there’s only so much batch-painting of orks a man can stomach after all!).
I won’t deny he’s a weird and ugly looking model, and the passage of years has not been kind to him, but there’s a certain nostalgia at play as well – I’m certainly glad he’s not going to have to endure another decade without paint!
Convert or Die 
November 8th, 2019 at 8:01 am
Great stuff! I mean, the model is ugly as sin, but I can certainly appreciate how good it is to see one of these suckers sitting around and just knock the thing out in one sitting. Kudos, mate! 🙂
November 8th, 2019 at 11:12 am
I think that the Chaos Android has aged surprisingly well, at least compared to some of the other miniatures from Space Crusade. The Tarantula gun was particularly offensive, and a recent look through my own box reminded me that the Orks and Gretchin look rather tired.
I like the little bits of colour added to liven up what could otherwise be a fairly dull pre-Necron.
November 8th, 2019 at 7:42 pm
Thanks! The little splashes of colour were all done with contrast (apart from the eyes) straight over the metal basecoat, nice and straightforward. Makes me wonder about painting some new Necrons now.
Personally I think he is a fairly ugly model, there’s no two ways around that, especially when you compare him to the modern Necrons. That said there’s only so much that can go wrong with a metal skeleton really so I’d agree that, despite his flaws, he probably has aged better than a lot of the other Space Crusade stuff. His grumpy face gives him a lot of extra character in itself, something that’s missing (thankfully) from the newer Necrons.
November 9th, 2019 at 10:55 pm
Funnily enough, I think those Tarantulas are the models that have aged the most well,along with the smaller dreadnought. Let’s face it, though – as fun as the game could be and nostalgia aside, the models in that box were always a bit crap…
November 8th, 2019 at 7:31 pm
Cheers! Aye, it’s best days are far behind it aren’t they? It looks a hell of a lot better with paint than it did without though. Plus, avoiding my usual trick of having it sit around half-painted for a few months was a novel experience to say the least! 😉
November 8th, 2019 at 3:52 pm
Great work- I wonder what happened to mine from the old Space Crusade set I had.
Cheers,
Pete.
November 9th, 2019 at 1:43 pm
Ah, the old “I know I kept those safe but where the hell are they now?” moment. I know it all too well 🙂
November 9th, 2019 at 8:32 pm
May just have to re-buy them from ebay….
Cheers,
Pete.
November 8th, 2019 at 4:05 pm
I can’t help but re-imagine that gun as a guitar, and that, plus his mean little face, really makes me want to giggle. And gurn.
Well done for just getting it done in one go!
November 8th, 2019 at 11:53 pm
Well, he is totally metal! XD
November 9th, 2019 at 1:49 pm
Cheers! Yeah, I can see that too 😀 The angry face helps too, he looks like he’s about five minutes away from trashing a hotel room or storming off the tour bus. I might have a second one somewhere, in which case it might be able to convert something along those lines, there are guitars in roughly the right scale. The cogs in my brain have started turning! Then he could join a band with the Noise Marine GW put out last Christmas and the old Ork Goff Rockers (which, alas, I never got when they were available).
November 8th, 2019 at 5:58 pm
Heh, neat model sort of. I do have to say that perhaps they didn’t suck out quite as much soul on this one as some of the later chaff/warriors or perhaps they did but left its anger intact or (as I prefer to think) left enough personality intact so that what is left is pretty angry about the whole situation and ready to take it out with the giant tarantula gun (sounds like something looted from a Dark Eldar)/pig-sticker.
November 9th, 2019 at 1:59 pm
Cheers! Yeah, I think if I was a Necron and I knew what had happened to me I’d be utterly cheesed off about everything all the time.
November 9th, 2019 at 11:33 pm
Yes, me too. I think I’d have wished if they were going to shave off most of my personality they’d at least do so enough so I didn’t realize what I had lost. But such tender mercies are probably not in the scope of entities such as the C’tan or if we are talking about proto-Necrons, maybe proto-C’tan.
November 8th, 2019 at 8:41 pm
I rather think he is quite a cool looking figure. Nicely done mate. I could see myself having some fun with a few figures like that.
November 9th, 2019 at 2:02 pm
Cheers! Yeah, he’s quite fun and silly really. He may not be as technically perfect as modern models but he has a lot of character. Would love to see what you’d make of some models like this – another job for you to add to the list I’m afraid 😉
November 8th, 2019 at 11:53 pm
I actually quite like this sculpt. It’s got the weird, warped misproportions and odd angles that really characterize Chaos to me. Nice simple paint job that really brings out everything that is there!
November 9th, 2019 at 12:29 pm
Thanks! I know what you mean, it may be a proto-Necron but it definitely feels more like a thing of Chaos to me.
November 10th, 2019 at 12:34 am
Haha definitely weird and ugly but cool as hell too🤘🏼
November 10th, 2019 at 9:31 am
That’s what they say about me too!
November 10th, 2019 at 11:04 am
Nooooooo
November 10th, 2019 at 3:46 am
Whoa, I’ve not seen that model before. A very cool blast from the past, and definitely a proto-Necron.
November 12th, 2019 at 10:27 am
Yeah he’s an old one right enough. Definitely one where nostalgia trumps quality but a fun bit of nostalgia all the same 🙂