Miniature-Painting.net - Visions in Color
Ursa Battlesuit
by Laszlo Jakusovszky
From Jane's Battlesuits of the 23rd Century: "A
little-known variant of the Ursa battlesuit was the 'BOVA' model developed
by the Bovidyne Systems company of Wisconsin, USA. Originally intended as
an urban supresssion unit, it proved most effective in the defense of numerous
livestock herds and agricultural centers during the so-called "Cheese
Wars" of 2278. Farmers and animals alike came to regard the familar bulk
of a patrolling battlesuit as a welcome site in those dark times...
Though there was some skirmishes fought with the P.E.T.A.
battalions from the west over the use of genetically-altered cows as pilots
(even though the Soviets had set the precedent with their bear-derived pilots
in 2250), in general the bovine crews proved themselves to be brave soldiers,
often fighting with great courage to protect their 'herds' from marauding
militias. As such, the BOVA pilots are to date the most decorated non-human
military troops, often earning the equivilant ranks of human soldiers for
their efforts...
Its primary armaments were the same as the URSA suit's: a
short-range Vulcan cannon, as well as a long-range 150mm gun. Augmenting these,
the BOVA sported a quartet of tactical nukes, of various megatonannage, in
it's 'Udder' missile launcher. These weapons made the BOVA a force to be reconned
with on the battlefield. Enemies often listened with dread for the booming
'MOOOO' battlecry of a BOVA battalion on the march."
Okay, so I got wacky with this VIC... ;^) The first time I saw the URSA I really
didn't know what to do with it - I don't normally paint mechs so I was kind
of at a loss. Part of the VIC is painting things you're not accustomed to, though,
and I wanted to take up the challenge. There was something about the head that
seemed so familiar... Then it struck me - it looked like a cow from 'The Far
Side'!
Separated at birth?
Sure, why not: a cow mech protecting it's herd! After that it was easy... I
made the cow features using some brass nails (with the heads cut off) for the
horns and some styrene strips pinched shut with heat for the ears. The "Udder"
launcher was an old computer bit I had floating around, using some Robotech
model missiles in the sockets. Like many of the VIC painters, I didn't like
the legs on this mech. Something about them just seemed weird. This was easy
to fix, since I wanted the proper 'cow' look anyway - I had another bit from
the Robotech model that looked like a good hoof. After casting up a few of these
in resin, I notched them with a file for the 'hoof' and voila! I added a bit
of length to the legs too with some styrene, to give that 'spindley-legged'
Far Side cow look.
The BOVA's "cowmooflague" scheme was painted using Reaper's Dragon
White & Black paints. Didn't do a lot of blending on this, as I wanted the
"mech" look to be a bit gritty here. The guns were a combination of
RP Gunmetal, Polly-S Silver and Citadel Black Ink; the ammo was done with Polly-S
Brass and Chestnut ink as a wash. The udder and pink details I blended with
some RP Guts Pink, Pink, and Pink lightened with white.
I wanted to add some typical military graphitti, like the messages soldiers
scrawled on bombs before dropping them, so I added a few choice messages around
the mini, including the milk 'grades' for the tac nukes, and an homage to the
US "Got Milk?" TV ads ;^)
Obviously no model of the famous BOVA suit would be complete without it's assigned
patrol area: a field of cows! The cows were HO scale plastic cows, painted in
the same colors as the suit.
I used DAS Pronto clay to sculpt their grassy terrain, adding
a styrene railroad trestle for the fence and some mech footprints with the resin-cast
hooves. Some white glue and Woodland Scenics ground flocking foam rounded it
out.
Overall, a fun project, especially after stressing out over VIC
#2. Thanks to Ral Partha for providing us this mini to work with!
Laszlo Jakusovszky
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