A Couple more Sci-Fi Scatter Pieces from A Critical Hit

 

    Two more of the 3-D printed Sci-Scatter pieces I bought at Cincycon from A Critical Hit

Here are a couple of the larger 3-D printed Sci-Fi scatter pieces from A Critical Hit that I bought at Cincycon 2025, readied for the table. When I brought them home, I intentionally left them on my painting desk rather than packing them away in the closet with the rest of my unpainted terrain and scatter. I was hoping that some morning, while I was painting away, I would hit a stopping point on the batch I was working on and still have time left over. The thinking being I would reach over and start painting those!

    Rotate the pieces and new colors appear -- the globule is green now and the 'rockets' red!

And guess what? That's exactly what happened with these two pieces! The first one, which looks like several booster rockets on their side (perhaps?), was the one I stared on first. I painted the rectangular panels black, and then the "rocket fins" parts a metallic craft paint called Battleship Gray. Essentially, everything that wouldn't be the outer skin of the rockets would be painted. I really liked the color-shifting material these were printed with, so I wanted the bulk of the piece to remain as printed and not painted.

    Rocket-like ends & fins were painted metallic gray, while the 'panels' black with glowing buttons

Once the black areas were dry, I put in tiny dots of bright colors to simulate lighted buttons on a control panel. I usually go with a mix of yellow, green, blue, and white for my lighted buttons. I've done them on other pieces and think they add a nice extra touch to the model.

    Or you can stand the piece upright and it no longer looks like rockets

The large globular piece was next, and reminded me quite a bit of one of the A Critical Hit pieces I bought last year, in 2024. It looks like a piece of technology or a Sci-Fi structure that has been overgrown by some alien vegetation. I decided to do it similarly, but not identically. The vegetation tendrils were once again painted in a dark green. However, instead of flocking them with Woodland Scenics blended grass like I did the other, I dry brushed it in a lighter green. Evaluating last year's piece, the flocking looked too monotone to me. So, I thought this would give highlights and shadows by using paint instead.

    I like the clusters of railroad scenic 'oranges' making it look like an alien plant infestation

Next, I put tiny dots of white glue spaced out here and there on the model. I then sprinkled railroad scenery "oranges" over it, with the tiny orange balls sticking in the glue spots. Once it had dried overnight, I took a thick paint brush and blobbed on a 50/50 mixture of white glue and water over the clusters of tiny orange balls. I really like the alien effect both the color shift material and the clusters of orange growths give. I did not use any clear coat on these pieces (or any of the others printed in color shifting material) for fear of reducing the effect.

    Instead of flocking the green painted parts this time, I dry brushed it to give it highlights

What's next? All I have left to do is the flocking on another batch of Splintered Light Animals. You should see a post on those certainly by Monday, I imagine. I am also slowly working on the huge saucer-shaped, MDF Sci-Fi building from Dad's Armies. This is definitely one of those pieces I work on a little at a time rather than focus solely on it. After that, it's up in the air. I am considering painting up my Colonial Marine figures from the board game "Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps." I have my 3-D printed aliens from JS Wargamer Printing and think it will look odd to have the bad guys painted and the good guys not. That's the way I am leaning, at least -- but, we'll see!

    Another close up of the 'rockets' on their side, glowing with a reddish metallic gleam

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 104
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 49 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 10
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 16

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 53
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 39

    The infested technology caught in transitioning between green and blue

    Very little painting was required on these, they are almost 'as is' -- right off the vendor's stand