The Discovery Crew for Space Station Zero

    Discovery crew from 2001: A Space Odyssey are transported by the Monolith to Space Station Zero

When I decided to play Space Station Zero, I went back and forth over which of my miniatures I should use for my lost and stranded crew. I thought about using my Planet of the Apes figures. I have too many nice figs for them to be sitting in the box unused for years on end. I also thought about using my Night Stalkers gang from my post-apocalyptic gang. They looked suitably Sci-Fi (and like the apes, were already painted). In that vein, I even thought about painting up the Eureka Miniatures Sci-Fi Gibbons. However, I kept pulling a pack from the old Sgt. Major Miniatures line (which I'd purchased a couple years ago from Battle Valor Games) called "Full Chem Suit" miniatures.

Closeup of Dr. David Bowman and two of his crewmates as they begin to explore the space station

The more I looked at these guys, the more I felt that their outfits could easily be painted up as spacesuits. As an added bonus, there really wasn't a lot of detail on their suits. So, they should paint up very quickly. Then I began thinking about what to base them off of to fit with the Space Station Zero storyline. According to the rules, it is a derelict space station lost in time and space when ships traveling by hyperlight speeds have a malfunction and end up drawn there. Wait...warped time?? That reminded me immediately of the ending of the classic Sci-Fi movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey. I pulled the minis out again and thought, "Why not?" I've always loved that creepily friendly voice of HAL 9000. "I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave..."

    I made Dr. Frank Poole, in yellow, my "Soldier" for my Exploration ship under the rules

I did a little research into what color to paint the costumes and how many people were in the Discovery crew. Much to my excitement, I found a fan blog that had an extensive entry on each crew member (including the three that never make it out of suspended animation and are killed by HAL). What's more, with those three and Dr. Dave Bowman and Dr. Frank Poole, they had five crew. Space Station Zero allows you to have a commander plus a crew of 4, 6, or 8. The fewer figures you have, the better their stats are in the game. Perfect! I had my five man crew and names to go with each fig!

    Zooming in a bit on Commander Bowman and his highly-trained, four-man crew of exploration

I was also excited to see that the Discovery featured colorful suits -- not just boring white, retro American-style space suits. I was ready to roll at that point, and pulled out the chem suit guys for the final time and began cleaning them up. I have to admit, I was very disappointed with the castings. There are huge mold lines, including one that goes diagonally across the front of the figure which I felt there was no way to get rid of. I would simply have to paint it up as part of the suit design. The figures didn't exactly match the Discovery spacesuits, but I felt that I could paint them up to give the right effect.

    The ship that brought them there - The Discovery, from the classic Sci-Fi movie

I decided to go with the red-orange suit that 2001's main star, Dave Bowman, wears. He would be the crew commander. Frank Poole is featured in the yellow suit, so I made him the "soldier" in my crew and painted him up in that suit. I decided to do the other three in green, blue, and white. Mainly, I wanted to be able to tell the miniatures apart and easily remember who's who on the tabletop. Also, the colored suits were featured in the movie, so why not? I painted each suit a base color then did a lighter dry brush. For the trim and accents of the space suit, I used black to give nice contrast with the primary colors. The face plate on the space suit I painted Metallic Gray with Pewter and Aluminum highlights. I researched the patches the Discovery spacesuits had and did my best to mimic them in 28mm. I went a little crazy on yellow, green, and red lighted buttons on their backpacks and radios. But I am happy with how they came out (other than the mold lines).

With my crew done, and most of the terrain I need for my first mission ready, I am very close to playing my first game of Space Station Zero!