We are very proud to release a pair of 6mm scale civilian space traders.  Both of these fine kits can be built with the landing gear extended (and access stairs for the Venturian ship) or with them retracted for that in-flight sleekness.  The Far Ranger can be found HERE for $20 USD, and the Pak'Eras can be found HERE for $22 USD.

Here we see see the Federation Far Ranger class ship 'Better Than Free' and her shuttle '2fer' after a much needed refit in the friendly white-and-green livery of ZIP DELIVERIES, a small independent shipping firm that specializes in getting anything that will fit into their hold to far away locales with "primitive bush" conditions.

ZIP DELIVERIES was founded by a trio of amateur mechanics turned small-time cargo haulers who made a very unwise deal that turned out to be a genuine rags-to-riches situation, and also happened to help spark the "Inkwell War".    Their freight business began with a small and well maintained (read: ancient and on its last legs) Modular Scoot, sometimes called a Cutter, which was used to transport replacement parts and returning-to-duty miners from shoreleave on the planet "Inkwell" to various mining ships and outposts out among the asteroid belts.  Often returning laden with not just more miners but consignments of raw Lanthanum and other precious ores for refinement our intrepid mechanics decided to become an actual shipping firm.  Originally named ZIPPY DELIVERIES they shortened the name to just ZIP after learning the word Zippy (pronounced Shee-pay in Khiffain) was Feral-Khiff slang for 'sheep' or easy prey.  ZIP DELIVERIES made a deal with a very eccentric prospector friend for a percentage of his next strike in exchange for repair parts he desperately needed to fix his ship after a misunderstanding with a crew of Garrhul entrepreneurs.  Little did they know the boon and curse this would later become.  Their sudden windfall allowed them to purchase the damaged and impounded tramp trader "Bad Angel" for a steal, and after repairs, refurbishment and a new paint job Better Than Free was ready for service with ZIP and their plunge into history...
This class of ship is well suited to the rigors of frontier delivery service, with a front and two side loading ramps for small and specialty item loading into the small lower cargo deck and huge rear double doors for loading larger items into the main cargo deck the Far Ranger can utilize its landing legs to lower the body of the ship until its belly just brushes the ground, not needing the specialty cargo lift services vehicles that often charge exorbitant prices as most ports for their "aid and service".   Designed for simplicity and ease of maintenance, even though this is an older and very common ship there are many of the original production run still plying the spacelanes and hyper-routes today.

The Pak'Eras (Star Hopper to non Venturians) is the smallest "business-ship" operated by Venturian Corporates and most often encountered being used by either frontier-fringe Offices or Independent Speculators.
Unlike its human counterpart, the Star Hopper is not just a cargo hauler type ship, but also a small factory.  Traveling from planet to planet these ships carry a small Office (a Venturian extended sort-of-family that is also a business) which upon landing opens up as a sort of one-stop-shop/general store making and selling small devices, objects, tools and trinkets for which the owning Office has either their own patens (sometimes held in both Venturian and Human agencies) or license to vend.  Fully 1/3 of the ship is made up of 3d printers and manufacturing machinery of different types allowing the Office to create special orders on the fly when needed, with the remainder being crew/staff habitation and a large cargo space accessed by large sliding doors at the rear or a large belly platform which can be lowered.
It is also well known that these small ships and their crews also act as commercial scouts, trouble shooters and Tattlers for larger Venturian concerns.  "Tattler" is a human term for someone (usually Venturian) who discovers others illegally making or selling items of Ventuain paten without license or permission.  Depending upon the severity of of the trespass reaction from the paten/license owning/controlling Venturian concern can be anything from forcible confiscation, legal wranglings within the offenders planetary judicial system all the way to armed intervention and "putative destructive punishment".  Indeed, it was the piracy of the design of a Venturian softdrink maker by FRESHDRINK INC. that provoked the first Human-Venturian conflict that began as an orbital drop assault on FRESHDRINK INC's home office and manufacturing complex on Esperansa and a strike on their main orbital shipping complex above Sherwood by Venturian Tar'Ar'Neyss Corp after the (Venturian) proscribed 3-day advanced warning.  The Federation Steering Council learned a hard lesson in the seriousness of Venturian legal warnings, corporate methodology and strike capabilities, and brought understandings between the two cultures in much greater clarity very quickly after the dust had settled.
Despite the "alieness" of Venturian cultures and their tattling tendency (and we all know that many humans are foolish enough to think they can get away with a little alien IP infringement here and there), the announcement of  the impending arrival of a Star Hopper Office on a backwater world is often cause for celebration and a great market gathering, bringing families from far-and-wide to party, renew old acquaintances, make business deals and of course stock up on much needed tools and material otherwise not available to subsistence level colonists.

    Just dropping a short note to let everyone know that new releases are imminent.  These will include tracked/hover Recovery vehicle/ammo carrier in 15mm for the Federation, 15mm heavy/support weapon troops for the Federation and Venturians, 5 new Spec-Sec agents in both casual and armored attire, and 6mm cargo ships for Venturian and Federation civilians.
     In the works (still) are the grav-sleds, sorry to say, they are tricky little thingsies.

For about a year we have been working on some new figures for the Dark Star range, including the long awaited grav-raft crews.  Here are a couple of sneak peeks to keep your hope alive.

Just in: a pair of WIP pictures of the crews for the upcoming 15mm Grav Rafts for the Federation and Venturians!
Now, they may look a bit odd with the head positions, but that's only because they aren't glued on... no really, they're just tacked there so we can get an idea of how they're going to look.
So here they are, let us know what you think!

Update time!
The following are currently being printed and will be here soon:

• Back mounted cannon, rocket launchers and mortar for the Pilum Strike Combat-Armor, as well as hand held bazooka.
• Hand held net-gun, heavy machine gun and rail gun for the Pugio Combat-Armor, as well as a back mounted mortar and ECM/ECCM suite.
• 3 new 15mm cyborgs for the Spec-Sec line (these will be bad guys, real desparado types!)
• 15mm Bo'Sha and Tzzoh (rocket launcher and AAA) turrets for the Venturians.  There is also a missile launcher option for the AAA turret!
• The 15mm Federation Ammo hauler/recovery tank 
• A new cab for the 15mm commercial truck variants in the Spec-Sec line
• a new 15mm public transport bus for Spec-Sec!

That's a whole bunch of goodness right there...
The latest sci-fi cars are at the caster and should be along soon.  Keep your eyes peeled!

Happy 2018 everyone!  I sincerely hope that this year will be even better for everyone than last year, and thank you for continuing to support Darkest Star Games!

I have been getting a lot of questions about "what's coming out next?"  So, I thought we would look back at 2017 briefly, then dive into what's in the offing for this year.
I'll go ahead and admit it, 2017 was a very slow year release wise for DSG.  The Federation received some much needed tracked support in 15mm scale, as well as the same in hover version with the MBTs.  And that is good and much needed.
Yup, that's it.  Disappointing, I know.  Lots of things were put on the back burner or left incomplete.  BUT, they will not remain so!
Here's what is going on for the next year:
Currently in production:

• Back mounted cannon, rocket launchers and mortar for the Pilum Strike Combat-Armor, as well as hand held bazooka.
• Hand held net-gun, heavy machine gun and rail gun for the Pugio Combat-Armor, as well as a back mounted mortar and ECM/ECCM suite.
• Several new 15mm sci-fi cars and vans
• 3 new 15mm cyborgs for the Spec-Sec line
• 15mm Bo'Sha and Tzzoh (rocket launcher and AAA) turrets for the Venturians

Currently in some percentage of actual design completion:

• Skoprios redesign for resin is at 90%.
• The 15mm Federation recovery vehicle/ammo carrier is 95% complete (just having a little trouble with the grapple, still....), and the 6mm version is well along.
• 15mm tracked Venturian recovery vehicle is at 75%.  A 6mm version will be done as well.
• 15mm Federation Lift Infantry HQ and Support weapon figures as well Venturian Support weapons and grav Medical and combat bots.
• 6mm Federation hover tanks and Garrhul grav tanks are close to finished (more work than I had figured!)
• Updated versions of the Parma Combat-Armor are still being worked on.
• "1st generation" grav versions of both the Federation and Venturian armor is in the works.
• 15mm walkers for the Venturians and Federation are about 50% complete.
• 15mm and 6mm wheeled vehicles for the Venturians are at 50% designed.
• 15mm Spec-Sec heavy transport flier.
• 15mm "Nationed Khiff" troops and vehicles.
• 6mm and 15mm "Clan Khiff" troops.

Once this list if completed we can move on to the 15mm 2nd generation work for the Dark Star range.
 
Currently not an form of complete but may jump up the list:

• 6mm sci-fi buildings.
• 15mm sci-fi buildings.
• 6mm and 15mm Solar Hegemony.
• Superiority fighters.
• 6mm dropships.
• 6mm and 15mm small ships (shuttles, gigs, ships boats).
• 6mm and 15mm medium ships (merchants, customs ships, escorts) that can be used as awesome table scenery, roleplaying game props, or just plain old model kits.

So, that's a look at what's going on, what's coming up, and what's being thought about.  If there's anything you want moved higher on the lists, let me know!  The more people sound off, the more likely stuff is to jump in the cue!

Sooooo.... one of the molds for the Skorpios Drive-Armor had a bit of a failure during casting.  We only have a small few left in stock, and hopefully these will tide over until a new mold is made.  
Now, the Skorpios is one of our oldest models and I was never really happy with how it turned out (some things are a bit squished, due to the print material that was available at the time), so I figured I'd take this opportunity to poll the masses as to whether or not any changes need to be made.  Please give the poll below a gander and fill in your favorite feedback dot.  
​Many thanks!