Imperial Russian Steam Walker Tsarina Maria and Tsar Alexander

A Tsar Alexander Mechanized Steam Walker in support of the the Izmaylovsky Lifeguards Regiment somewhere in Central Asian near the British Raj.

Though late to add Mechanized Walkers to the Imperial Forces, due to conservative elements in the court and Russian Government, the Russians have embraced the simplicity and ruggedness of the Tsarina Maria Light Walker and the Tsar Alexander Heavy Walker (though classified by foreign powers as a Medium Walker). The Tsarina Maria is usually deployed with Lifeguard Cavalry Regiments and the irregular cavalry of the many Cossack Nations that owe allegiance to the Tsar. The Tsar Alexander, as a slower walker, is found supporting infantry regiments and is ideal for assaulting fortifications and fighting other walkers.

What would Victorian Science Fiction be without mechanized steam walkers? I received this beautiful, classic design as an STL file when I received the digital version of In Her Majesty's Name, Second Edition (link in the US and link in the UK/Europe). The Walker is a 3D file available from Duncan "Shadow" Louca on his website at IHMN Steam Punk Walkers. Rules for Walkers can be found in Chapter 5 of IHMN2. I sent the files to Honorable Son #3 (The Engineer) who not only has a 3D printer, but has TWO 3D printers! The boy is going to be getting some more files.

I had posted some pictures of my Walker on Facebook in the Group dedicated to In Her Majesty's Name and was asked how I painted the Walker. Fortunately I took pictures step by step since I had never done a 3D figure before and Honorable Son #3 (The Engineer) and his Beautiful Bride (The Social Warrior) wanted to see how it was coming along. Here is the painting guide; though there is no real right answer on how to paint Walkers. Use your imagination!

This may seem obvious, but I glued the arms and legs to the body of the model. This was the first time I put a 3D printed resin model together so I did some research to find out what glue works best. I used Gorilla Glue liquid gel and it worked perfectly - a word of caution though, it dries quickly! I originally was going to base it on a Litko base, but I then I realized I was getting low in numbers with the 1 1/2" size (I've got some cavalry coming up!) so I carefully took it off the base (I used white glue) and glued it with Gorilla glue onto an old GW round base. I then primed it with Flat Black.

After the primer dried, I used a technique I call "wet brush". It is similar to dry brushing but I use more paint and I don't worry too much if the paint is not smooth especially on models that you want to have some wear and tear. It is also perfect if there are raised parts of the model or figure as they are naturally outlined in black.

The color I used for wet brushing was Citadel Ironbreaker (or whatever the color is called now). All of the other paints I used are Vallejo unless specifically stated.

Duncan gave this model some great detail.

After I finished this phase it suddenly dawned on me where I had seen the model before. It is illustrated on the cover of the 1st Edition of In Her Majesty's Name.

I then painted the viewing port (?) and what I'm calling the machine gun openings Dark Prussian Blue. Once it was dry I went over it with a blast from the past I bought in Germany in 1987, GW Blue Wash!

When's the last time you saw this bottle?

I then painted the rivets and bolts and ball bearings, etc. Brass.

I finished the painted by adding some Dark Blue, Sky Blue and then White to the ports to just give it some extra "reflection" effect.

For the Imperial Russian Eagle I looked for common use images and then reduced them as images using Powerpoint. I glued the image on the Steam Walker, let it dry, and then I painted the image.

Time to finish the base on this bad boy. The most common method I use for basing is to use some water downed white glue, spread it on the base and then deep the based in one of my mixtures of hobby sand.

Once the sand dries, I add another layer of white glue that is even more watered down to seal the sand in place.

Once that is dry, I add some splotches of white glue randomly, mix it with water and then dip the base in static grass. I wait about 30 minutes and then spray with a matt or flat protective covering.

Ta-Dah! Ready to take on the enemies of the Tsar and Mother Russia.

More to come later on the Imperial Russian Army for In Her Majesty's Name, Second Edition.