Saturday 1 November 2014

“I Need Blood. I Need Strength. I Demand Power!”

This 28mm plastic “Wizkids” model of Dracula is number 12 from the “Heroclix” Marvel Amazing Spider-Man range and is the first of my five submissions for the Mo’vember 2014 challenge Dick Garrison is running over on his blog “Rantings From Under The Wargames Table”. The sculpt is actually based upon the Lord of Vampires from the Seventies “Marvel Comics” title “Tomb Of Dracula”. He was drawn by Gene Colan, and actually sketched to resemble the features of actor Jack Palance with a thin moustache. Rather than simply leave the majority of the model black I tried to replicate some of the colours employed by comic colorist Glynis Wein during her time on the book.

As a result Dracula’s suit was painted with “Vallejo” Heavy Blue and then washed twice with “Citadel” Nuln Oil to give it a dark shadowy look. I applied a similarly heavy wash to the vampire’s shoes, once I’d given them a coat of Adeptus Battlegrey. I originally just used “Vallejo” Heavy Red for the inside of the figure’s cloak. But then saw a few illustrations of the comic book character which showed the entire upper part of the garment to be red. Deciding I wanted the model to be as colourful as I could, I went back and simply painted the whole area red before applying a glaze of “Citadel” Bloodletter to it. I’m not actually a big fan of this glaze and how it looks when applied to “Vallejo” Heavy Red, but what it does do is make a very ‘stickable’ surface for an application of the “Citadel” Shade Carroburg Crimson. I think this particular shade works very well, and really gave some shadowry depth to the cloak’s red.

If you're interested in "Tomb Of Dracula" by "Marvel Comics" then a review of Issue 9 can be found on my daily American Comics blog here: http://thebrownbagaeccb.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/tomb-of-dracula-9-marvel-comics.html
In the meantime I have been persevering with this “Judge Death” miniature by “Mongoose Publishing” and finally got the model to the stage where I simply need to tidy up the odd area here and there before applying a protective coat of gloss varnish to it. Unfortunately it’s going to be a little late for the official end of Zomtober 2014, but I’m determined to complete it now the end is in sight.
In addition, I always like a couple of simple and large models to ‘tinker’ with whenever I tire from some of the more precise painting the smaller scales require. As a result I’ve started putting a few coats of paint on these “Heroclix” models of Dragon Man and Lockjaw; the later model being my Mo’vember submission for next weekend.

If you're interested in Mo'vember then please have a look at Dick Garrison's first posting on his blog here: http://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2014/10/31/movember-week-1 

14 comments:

  1. "The crime is life, the sentence is death!" Mr Death is looking great and nice and early for Zomtober 15 ;)

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    1. Cheers Chico and that's precisely the title of my posting when I finally get him based :-)

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  2. Judge Death is coming along quite nicely. Don't fret about deadlines. It's always Zomtober if you keep the true meaning of the season in your heart.

    (Or was that Christmas? I always get those two confused.)

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    1. Thanks Finch. I'm simply not a fan of these "Mongoose Publishing" minis and I think the bone wash has come out a lot darker than I thought it would, hence my struggle to keep motivated with the mini. The 'new' "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade is horribly gloopy compared to my trusty old Devlan Mud and I still can't apply it as 'delicately' as I'd wish. I'll keep plodding away at the mini though :-)

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  3. I like them all, Blax. Both Dracula and Judge Death have come out very well. I think Citadel scored an own goal when they got rid of Devlan Mud. I used it a lot and I know other painters mourn its loss. Typical GW!

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    1. Thanks Vampifan. I may just stick to Agrax for basing from now on. I've got a pot of "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, which seems very similar to Devlan Mud. I used it on the sleeves of my Blake model when the Agrax muddied up the yellow too much and I had to repaint them. I thought it turned out very well.

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  4. Cracking first post for mo'nember Simon,love the look of your Dracula, the blue/black is really reminisent of the 70's marvel comics, and I thinks JD' looks great as well, really creepy skin tone going on there!

    Roger.

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    1. Thanks Roger. Much appreciated. I did like the way the blue came out. JD has been quite a frustrating ride tbh. But if I can get another hour on him tomorrow then he should be done.

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  5. Cracking post to start off the new month.

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    1. Thanks Michael. I've a few nice minis waiting for the paintbrush this month.

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  6. Nice I'm reminded of Blackula though!

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    1. Thanks... I suppose there is something of William Marshall about him, though he doesn't have the sideburns :-)

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  7. Judge Death looks spectacular mate. Been eyeing that sculpt for a while.

    Lockjaw... so cute!

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    1. Thanks for your kind words Dai. Almost finished JD. The Lockjaw model is very nice, and a lot better than the more recent smaller sculpt which "Wizkids" have released as part of their 'Guardians of the Galaxy' range.

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