VSF steamtroopers

Here are the last of the Bandai VSF models I got in a parcel from Japan recently, all based on the anime movie Steamboy.

While these two steamtroopers look huge in my pics, from the stills I’ve seen of the movie I gather they are actually armoured suits worn by human soldiers.   But as they dwarf my 28mm figures,  they’ll have to be larger steam-powered automatons, even though their construction is possibly a bit too human – for example, the cloth breeches visible below the leg armour.  They don’t come with weaponry either,  so that is another issue that I’ll have to deal with.

It’ll be interesting to see how these steamtroopers work in the movie.  And I won’t have too long to wait, because last night I managed to buy the Steamboy  DVD off the New Zealand online auction site, Trademe.  I hope to have it in my hands sometime next week.

This brings me to an end of showing off the various VSF goodies that I received.  Here is a picture of all of them together, so you can get an idea of the differing scales (click on the picture for a much bigger view):

Now I just have to decide on the nationality of the VSF army for which these machines will form the armoured core.  My favourite Victorian-era uniforms are the dandified French in their baggy red trousers, epauletted coats and jaunty kepis.  However, despite intensive internet searching, I haven’t found a range I like.

Another  option might be the Austro-Hungarians.  I kind of like the idea of the creaky old double eagle empire.  And North Star do have a very nice range of 1866 figures.  Their uniforms are still nice enough, especially with the sky-blue trousers – but overall I do still prefer the gaudy French uniforms.

I could also have them as 1840s British, as I already have sufficient Empress Miniatures figures in my New Zealand Wars army.  The advantage is, of course, less cost, because I  already own them.  But the 1840s period is really just a little too early, plus one of my opponents is already doing the colonial British (another is doing Prussians, so that puts them off my radar too).

Anyway, it is a decision I can defer for now, because just doing the conversion work on the Bandai toys will probably take me a while yet …