Monday 22 December 2014

"Pulp Figures" - Boys In Blue

These ten 28mm miniatures come from “Pulp Figures” Gangland Justice range and consist of all the models from packs PGJ06 Boys In Blue 1 and PGJ07 Boys In Blue 2. The neighbourhood beat cops come in a variety of poses and with an assortment of weaponry as well as a vintage call box and fire hydrant.

All of them were initially undercoated with two layers of “Vallejo” Heavy Blue before their boots, belts, buttons and badges were painted with “Citadel” Abaddon Black. I then applied a generous wash of “Citadel” Nuln Oil over all the overcoats, collars and caps before applying a similarly heavy wash of “Vallejo” Blue Shade. As I simply didn’t want all eight officers to appear too alike to one another l decided to paint a couple wearing white gloves and one to be based upon Sergeant Samuel J. Battle; an inspirational cop who was the first black police officer in New York City.
As a result I painted the hands of five of the models with a coat of “Vallejo” Heavy Skintone and then washed them with “Citadel” Ogryn Flesh before ‘picking out’ their fingers and any flat surfaces with more “Vallejo” Heavy Skintone. For the gloves I initially undercoated them with White, before washing them with watered-down Heavy Bluegrey. As with the bare hands the fingers and flat hand surfaces were then ‘highlighted’ with more of the base colour; this bearing White for the gloves. For Samuel Battle I used a combination of “Citadel” Dark Flesh”, Agrax Earthshade and then Dark Flesh highlights. All of the officers’ faces were painted in the same manner.

Any rifle butts, truncheons or brown leather pouches were painted using “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna and “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade. For the badges, belt buckles, pistols and rifle barrels I used Boltgun Metal and Nuln Oil. The last paint to be applied was a dollop of “Vallejo” Gold on all of the cops’ buttons. I was planning on then washing them with “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade but forgot to do and ended up varnishing a few of the models before I realised what I’d done. However, I think perhaps this was a moment of serendipity, as the ‘brass’ buttons really stand out as they are, and as a result I have purposely left them all alone.
The fire hydrant was painted using a combination of “Vallejo” Heavy Red” and the “Citadel” Shade Carroburg Crimson and will join the vintage call box as objective markers; why else would you have an emergency source of water or telephone in the middle of some grassland…

All but one of these miniatures was very simple to paint, and I especially liked the ‘running’ pose with the open face as this not only allowed you to customize the model with a different hand weapon; such as a truncheon, pistol, rifle or shotgun. But also provided some great facial detail to highlight. The beat cop with his hands clasped behind his back was another favourite, especially as it provided me with an opportunity to ‘try out’ my “Vallejo” White and watered-down Heavy Bluegrey combination for his gloves.
Unfortunately I did struggle awfully with the miniature I chose to be based upon Samuel Battle. The model’s cap appears to be at a slight angle with the figure’s head tilted in the opposite direction, as a result the eyeballs, which Bob prominently sculpts, just did not align themselves in my mind and I repeatedly kept having to paint them then scrap off the paint and start again. At one point I even tried to just get away with painting a single eye with the second being ‘over-shadowed’ by the cap peak.

Eventually I believe I have found a middle ground and painted both eyes in. But I must confess I am not happy with the way they have turned out. This is a shame as the model itself, sporting a wonderful sub-machinegun looks great.
I am currently trying to keep to a weekly painting theme (alongside the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge ones) and have 'chosen 'robots' as my current topic. As a result I've finished drybrushing the metal and silver highlights on my “Heroclix” models of Ultron and his purpose-built mate Jocasta, and am just applying the base layer for their red eyes and robotic maw. I have also dug out a broken robot from the X-Men Danger Room Collectors Pack to use as an objective marker.
In addition I have undercoated, washed and highlighted three Dreadnought robots. These non-sentient combat instruments are 55mm tall and as a result been placed upon 40mm circular bases.

18 comments:

  1. Wow, you are on one right now - so much great hobby output.

    Those beat cops look really cool. Can easily see them accepting dirty payments from the local mob trying to keep the fuzz off their backs. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Many thanks indeed Dai. Having a lot of fun at the moment and the Analogue Challenge is truly proving an inspirational medium to be part of. Lots of very well painted minis, tips on how to paint them and a great sense of banter and support from the other painters. Certainly has motivated me to keep going. The cops are simply great Bob Murch sculpts and I really enjoyed painting them - well most of them anyway. Mobsters next so I can get some Prohibition Wars gaming in!!

      Delete
  2. I'm so pleased to see the Boys in Blue all finished. I think they're great. I do like the police phone box and fire hydrant as well. Street furniture like these can really bring a game board to life. The grass on their bases could be because they're located in somewhere like Central Park. Or perhaps a run down part of the city? It doesn't take very long for foliage to take over a city, despite all the brick and concrete. You really are on a roll, aren't you?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Much appreciated Bryan. Lovely models and nice and blue too. Can't wait to get some gangsters finished so I can have a game with them. Not sure about being on a roll but I'm certainly in a 'churning' mood, as Ultron, Jocasta and the three dreadnoughts are already finished and the wrecked robot objective should be completed by the end of tomorrow. I've even got the base coats done on my 'Oldhammer' cold one and skink rider for Wednesday's posting. Plenty of superheroes and villains in the pipeline to get you thinking too :-)

      Delete
  3. The cops have turned out really well and the roboots look very interesting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers Zabadak. The robots are nice and simple to paint with a few layers of drybrushing and then just picking out the eyes.

      Delete
  4. Wow! Have you been kidnapped and replaced with a mini painting machine? Great output. The cops look superb, I love them. The robots are looking cool and funky too dude!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Many thanks Bob. Certainly painted a few more models than usual lately and had a lot of fun with the cops. The dreadnoughts have come out particularly well now I've varnished them and brought out their metallic blue colour (imho).

      Delete
  5. More fabulous additions to the force. I'm looking forward to having a closer look at the Pulp range in the New Year with the recent announcement of a UK stockist.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers Michael. They're great minis and I'd certainly recommend them.

      Delete
  6. Some good stuff there Simon. I love those dreadnoughts are they "HeroKlix"? the blue metallic looks great.

    Cheers Roger.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Many thanks Roger. Yes they're "Heroclix" from one of the earlier ranges and at 55mm are quite the size as well. Certainly should make this 'Ultron crew' a very tough proposition for a Batrep :-)

      Delete
  7. Nice work mate. Eyes are my biggest bugbear and on some figures for no reason at all just will never be right lol.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks as always Simon. Even now that one eye just bugs the heck out of me. Shame really but such is life. If I had my way though I'd still be painting it!!!

      Delete
  8. Love the look of the robots!
    But Jocasta, is that the official name of the miniature? Just seems a bit strange, considering the Oedipus-complex link.
    Saying that, it's still a cool name and I actually role-played a character in a game once who had "Mummy issues" (though not as far as Oedipus did).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers Roy. The female robot is indeed named Jocasta, and was built by the evil robot Ultron in order that he might have a mate. The name is spot on because her mind and brain patterns were based upon Janet Van Dyne, the Wasp, who happened to be the wife of Ultron's creator Henry Pym. She actually becomes an Avenger in later stories.

      Delete
  9. Fantastic looking Bacon!.. sorry Cops :) You paint Dark Blue/Black so well. Good job!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Many thanks Chico. The photos actually make the black lining around the buttons and badges stand out quite significantly. But to the naked eye they're all one dark blue. I do like painting minis with these dark blue/blacks as they hide some of my shaky painting skills rather well :-)

      Delete