Necromunda ’95! – “Catachan” Gangers with Lasgun; Meltagun/Flamer (Michael Perry, 1993-4)

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Jungle Fighter with Lasgun 1 0437/2, Jungle Fighter with Melta-gun 0437/6, Necromunda 1995, Michael Perry, 1993-4

Here’s the final pair of the metal Catachan models used in my original Necromunda gang. Like the previous pair of Necro-Catachans, this pair was also designed to represent two versions of the same gang member. In this case, a ganger picked up the “specialist” (from memory) skill which then allowed them to use a special weapon (funny, dat!) At this point in time, I don’t think the metal Catachan with flamer was yet released – as the metal IG model ranges of the time each had some of the special and heavy weapons, yet lacked the full range – and so this meant that the closest I could come up with and use was the Meltagun. Either that or I thought that the Flamer design of the day – when seen on humans as opposed to Marines – looked a bit shitty. Because that would also be accurate.

Jungle Fighter with Lasgun 1 0437/2, Jungle Fighter with Melta-gun 0437/6, Necromunda 1995, Michael Perry, 1993-4

If you look at the weapon itself, it looks “close enough” to be used as a flamethrower. To really drive the point home, I did some 1995-level conversion by adding the fuel tank backpack, shoulder straps made from thin card and a fuel line cable from copper wire. His backup lasgun was added to the backpack, in the same way I tended to do with all my Necromunda heavies.

Jungle Fighter with Lasgun 1 0437/2, Jungle Fighter with Melta-gun 0437/6, Necromunda 1995, Michael Perry, 1993-4

As with the last pair, these guys were pretty much painted – though in a 1995 sense. I did touch up a small amount of damage, rebase them entirely, and then repaint a few of the more garish elements – toned down the guns from superbright blue, repainted the fuel line from lime green to striped black and yellow. I mean, we still have forms of all four primary colours here. Just two of them are less eye-meltingly bright now. I did decide to leave the pants in their original state. I’m also not quite sure what that red camo is supposed to blend into, but I digress – just think of them as “fashion” fatigues, the likes you’ve probably seen around at some stage.

While nothing especially outstanding, and still way more garish than I’d do them today, I’m happy to see this pair updated and once again – fully table-ready, 20 years later.

22 thoughts on “Necromunda ’95! – “Catachan” Gangers with Lasgun; Meltagun/Flamer (Michael Perry, 1993-4)”

  1. That guy looks badass, in a very “You came to the wrong neighborhood, mo-fo” kind of way. Thanks for toning down the eye-melting colours. The colours of the 90s were kind of brutal on the eyes sometimes.

    As for the camo, there have to be some critters in the Hive that only see in black & white. That’s why hunters wear that garish orange and black camo; (most) Humans can see it easily, but few (if any) game animals can properly perceive that kind of day-glo orange, so it comes out as a sort of black on grey camo pattern. Or it could be “Sector Mechanicus” camo, useful where the Tech-Priests had everything painted bright red in honour of Mars, and then it’s been abandoned and falling apart and getting scuffed up for a couple of millennia.

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    • He’s got a great expression – a shame that the regular lasgun rifleman doesn’t come close, but not many of those figures even come close to the Meltagunner.
      That sounds a very feasable pair of theoretical points on the camo colouration as well. The hive-beast perception one especially. (Who knew that about Ambulls?) 😉

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    • I think I’m getting to the point of a reunion photo. I’ll have to see who else is outstanding from the old days. There are four more of them half-pained (still) in the cabinet I just checked for outstanding gangers from the day, plus another on the painting desk…

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  4. Great conversion, and the painting has held up really well, nice toning down on the weapons.
    Didn’t the the Dudley Boys wear red camo fatigues at one point in their career ?

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  5. Very nice, you’ve struck a good balance between modernising them and keeping them “of their time”. I reckon that red camo will work nicely under the red emergency lighting which (if Black Library novels are to be believed) is standard issue across the Imperium.

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  9. Maybe it is just nostalgia to the paint schemes that used to be popular but I like the garishness of these two. They don’t blend in well with their surroundings but you know exactly where you stand with that flamethrower strapped to his back! I really enjoy these Necromunda updates so keep them coming 🙂

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    • Thanks mate. The thing is, these two – as garish as they are still – have had it turned down(!) from their original form. The next major batch of them thankfully won’t need anything of the sort, as I think their original scheme still holds up extremely well. 🙂

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      • I can believe it. Some of the color schemes that used to be popular truly are wild by today’s standard. With that said, bright colors stand out on the tabletop so I think there is some wisdom to it and I’m confident that these two will look awesome on any table 🙂

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