Ma.k Maschinen Krieger
My Mk44 Whiteknight - Backstory
Ma.K Whiteknight – Mars Infil.Op134/A
Joe’na was on overwatch, high up, hidden within the 100km long cliff top whilst the commando infiltration group did their work on the MTfP, the micro terraforming plant.
His old power armour, years old, an almost extinct model developed for moon operations and they rumour that this armour was an original development model. They, who are they? They say the name Joe’na is back luck, they can’t remember the reason why, their mothers, mothers tell them. Anyway, this armour has had so much repair it is hardly the same armour it was all those years ago. Even back in the early days, a day on Mars would result in a full repaint, a 300 kph dust storm would get the skin down to bare metal in less than an hour. Thankfully those days are long gone but the heavy salts in the thin cold air did their work, bare metals oxidising and reacting quicker here than on Earth, moon armour was never designed to cope with that.
The Martians had done a good job terraforming, they have made a start. The big terraforming plants now shutdown, political infighting and the concern terraforming was happening to quickly, some Martians didn’t want to recreate Earth. Joe'na was there to help them with that.
Martians, what a joke? Can you believe it? Yes, ok, they haven’t seen Earth for three generations. Who would want to? Their forefathers had probably never seen the Earth, they escaped from the moon towards the end of that war, our previous allies, deserters looking for a better life. It doesn’t matter what they call themselves, they had been found.
Joe’na was visor open using power’nocks to check on his special force’s teammates. The air too thin and cold to breathe without some assistance the team were working away at the MTfP in their thin commando suits. There should be no problem, Joe’na had clocked up hundreds of overwatch assignments and other missions without contact. Joe’na had never fired a shot, life was rare here away from the townships, nothing to kill. The tricky task was to damage the plant without setting off the alarms. The MTfP consisted of a moisture trap, and wind turbine. The turbine produced power that was used to heat the ground via pipe work buried beneath the surface. The moisture trap capturing what it could to wet the ground. This particular terraforming unit was doing well, the lichen and moss, the type that might have been seen on hills back on Earth many years ago was spread over a several square meters. The moss beautifully multicoloured, the pinks and reds blending in to the soil and dust of Mars, the greens were a sight to behold. Life, rare life, standing out so vividly amongst the dry arid nothingness. The team were going to put a stop to that.
And then it happened.
One moment they were there and then they were gone, mostly gone. The mess, odd limb, guts and blood were all that remained where the team were stood seconds ago. A hit from a high energy weapon. By the time Joe was buttoned up in his armour, the wet glimmer of blood in the sand had become another shade of red and brown dried up dust, extra nutrient for the lichen. At least he was warm again.
From his vantage point Joe’na could see the anti-grav skimming the flat surface towards the MTfP. He should have seen that coming. Still hidden and on the high ground, no chance for them to get to him without a 120km detour. Three hours to get back to the pickup LZ and safety, for the time being he was outgunned, and alone. Some hide and seek, hoping the anti-grav was also alone and hoping his luck would hold out.
Joe’na was on overwatch, high up, hidden within the 100km long cliff top whilst the commando infiltration group did their work on the MTfP, the micro terraforming plant.
His old power armour, years old, an almost extinct model developed for moon operations and they rumour that this armour was an original development model. They, who are they? They say the name Joe’na is back luck, they can’t remember the reason why, their mothers, mothers tell them. Anyway, this armour has had so much repair it is hardly the same armour it was all those years ago. Even back in the early days, a day on Mars would result in a full repaint, a 300 kph dust storm would get the skin down to bare metal in less than an hour. Thankfully those days are long gone but the heavy salts in the thin cold air did their work, bare metals oxidising and reacting quicker here than on Earth, moon armour was never designed to cope with that.
The Martians had done a good job terraforming, they have made a start. The big terraforming plants now shutdown, political infighting and the concern terraforming was happening to quickly, some Martians didn’t want to recreate Earth. Joe'na was there to help them with that.
Martians, what a joke? Can you believe it? Yes, ok, they haven’t seen Earth for three generations. Who would want to? Their forefathers had probably never seen the Earth, they escaped from the moon towards the end of that war, our previous allies, deserters looking for a better life. It doesn’t matter what they call themselves, they had been found.
Joe’na was visor open using power’nocks to check on his special force’s teammates. The air too thin and cold to breathe without some assistance the team were working away at the MTfP in their thin commando suits. There should be no problem, Joe’na had clocked up hundreds of overwatch assignments and other missions without contact. Joe’na had never fired a shot, life was rare here away from the townships, nothing to kill. The tricky task was to damage the plant without setting off the alarms. The MTfP consisted of a moisture trap, and wind turbine. The turbine produced power that was used to heat the ground via pipe work buried beneath the surface. The moisture trap capturing what it could to wet the ground. This particular terraforming unit was doing well, the lichen and moss, the type that might have been seen on hills back on Earth many years ago was spread over a several square meters. The moss beautifully multicoloured, the pinks and reds blending in to the soil and dust of Mars, the greens were a sight to behold. Life, rare life, standing out so vividly amongst the dry arid nothingness. The team were going to put a stop to that.
And then it happened.
One moment they were there and then they were gone, mostly gone. The mess, odd limb, guts and blood were all that remained where the team were stood seconds ago. A hit from a high energy weapon. By the time Joe was buttoned up in his armour, the wet glimmer of blood in the sand had become another shade of red and brown dried up dust, extra nutrient for the lichen. At least he was warm again.
From his vantage point Joe’na could see the anti-grav skimming the flat surface towards the MTfP. He should have seen that coming. Still hidden and on the high ground, no chance for them to get to him without a 120km detour. Three hours to get back to the pickup LZ and safety, for the time being he was outgunned, and alone. Some hide and seek, hoping the anti-grav was also alone and hoping his luck would hold out.
The Martian Atmosphere is Aggressive
Interior Rear Cockpit and Seat
The kit goes together really well. The details on the rear cockpit wall are mostly lost but the pilot seat will not be glued in. Happy with the chipping effect on the tank, a few brush marks with white, yellow, grey in decreasing size for the large chips and just dotted for the smaller wear and tear. The seat leather effect, I hope it looks like old worn leather, is a wet blend of four colours from yellow ochre through to mahogany, twice since the first coat was a bit thin. The chair finished with "panel line", just black watered down. All painting done over white surface primer with black pre-shading.
All paint by Vallejo, the top colours all brushed on.
All paint by Vallejo, the top colours all brushed on.
MA.K WHITE KNIGHT Build
The detail in this model kit is incredible. I really like the use of "other" model parts, this adds interest for me and is a bit like kit spotting when building scratch filming models like the large scale Studio Eagle Transporter from Space 1999. The two stroke exhausts are a personal favorite. In a way it is a shame the detail is hidden, the exhausts can not be seen with the rear armour in place. The detail in the cockpit is very fine but mostly hidden by the pilots seat.
The upper rear armour was tricky to glue, it is three sections joined at compound curves without any location feature. It went together ok and the hardened cement sanded back to a join requiring little filler.
The upper rear armour was tricky to glue, it is three sections joined at compound curves without any location feature. It went together ok and the hardened cement sanded back to a join requiring little filler.
Ma.K White Knight Early Build Stages
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Ma.K Maschinen Krieger White Knight Prototype (Moon Type)
Opening the box and initial assembly, a beautiful kit, well engineered with lots of details. As you can read else where, assembly is easy, lots of parts, and some tricky "rivet" heads and lump type features that are small and have no location. The posable joints are good and I hope allow me to paint the sub-assemblies more easily. A lot of the details will be hidden with the addition of further model parts and on final assembly. I cannot bring myself to say this is over engineered since it is all lovely, it will be a shame to not see a lot of it though. |