Friday 9 January 2015

"Feelings? Yes, We Know Of This Weakness Of Yours."

The Mark II Cyberman from "The Moonbase"
This 28mm metal model of a Cyberman from the British Science Fiction television series “Doctor Who” is by “Black Tree Design” and is code DW207 Tomb Cyberman. Whovian officionardos will naturally recognise it as the Mark II Cyberman, which first appeared in the 1967 four-parter “The Moonbase”. However it is far more widely recognised as the Timelord’s foe from the story “Tomb Of The Cybermen”, which was broadcast later that year.

This model is actually a repaint, having found him amongst a box of long-forgotten miniatures during my New Year clear-up. Most of these “Black Tree Design” models were still in their blisters, so I’ve opened them all out into a container and plan to try and paint my way through them as the year progresses. Originally this figure’s paint-job simply comprised of a silver dry-brush over a black undercoat but I’d like to think I can paint a bit better these days, so I re-undercoated the miniature with “Citadel” Abaddon Black and then gave it a layer of Boltgun Metal. Once dry I then washed him with Nuln Oil.

I must confess to this figure being one of my all-time favourites, despite its rather static pose, but some of the features on the sculpt are a little soft. As a result I was rather worried if I put too much paint on him I’d ‘swamp’ some of the finer detail on his piping and chest unit. I was therefore very slow and patient when it came to dry-brushing the model first with a small amount of Boltgun Metal and then with Mithril Silver. Finally, as this was a 'Moonbase' Cyberman, I picked out his chest and shoulder piping with Abaddon Black.
More Mark II Cyberman reinforcements from"Black Tree Design"
At some point I’ve clearly bought quite a few of this particular miniature, and having repainted this one as a bit of a ‘test piece’ I have subsequently based them all and set to work building up their silver layers. I plan to enter them into this week’s Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge as part of a larger Cyberman Invasion Force, including a rather formidable-sized model for the Victorian Theme Bonus Round.
My original Cyberman paint-job, flanked by some Cyber Controller WIPs
Indeed I have been so taken with this particular "Doctor Who" distraction that I’ve also based and started painting this nice looking “Black Tree Design” Cyber Controller as the ground force’s leader. The model does suffer from being slightly smaller in size than his fellow cybermen. Something which is greatly at variance with his television presence as he should be somewhat taller. But there’s a nice lot of detail on him to be brought out through dry-brushing. In fact too much detail, as the Cyber Controller does not actually have a chest device in "The Tomb Of The Cybermen".
Some Robo Rodents by "Crooked Dice Design Studio" and something much larger...
 Finally I have been working on something larger than anything I have painted before. However one of the things I have really enjoyed about the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is that it is giving me an opportunity and motivation to tackle models I would ordinarily think twice about working on. This monster is 160mm in height and has proved to be a major nightmare to work on as a result of breakages, hidden pockets of casting sand lurking beneath its original lack-lustre paint-job and just generally trying to hold something so big and heavy with one hand in order to get a brush on it. Still it’s now close to completion and will be my submission for the Victorian Theme Bonus Round tomorrow.

What I especially like about this particular period in the Cybermen's history is that they did not have any significant built-in weaponry. Admittedly they did use x-ray laser cyberguns and could incapacitate ‘fleshy ones’ by electrocuting them. But predominantly they were unarmed and killed by delivering a karate chop to the neck. Unarmed implacable monsters slowly stalking their prey in order to get their hands on them sounds like a fine foe for some “ZombieTV” to me.

22 comments:

  1. Great set of figures. I picked up "Tomb of the Cybermen" in the run up to Xmas which is this style of Cyberman I think. I have a load of the Citadel late 70's style figures, so will look forward to a 7TV report.

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    1. Cheers AK, and many thanks for following. Much appreciated. You should enjoy "Tomb Of The Cybermen" - one of my all-time faves, and I've been watching it 2-3 times a day whilst painting these as a result :-) I have some of the "Citadel" ones somewhere too, which I may stumble upon one day. Hope to have these Cybermen in action within the next couple of weeks, so please stay tuned for a Batrep or two in the near future :-)

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    1. Thanks Michael. Just a test piece for a simple technique. But his reinforcements are now finished as well. Just got the robo rodents to complete by the end of today :-)

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  3. I love all the dr. Who stuff. I only have a couple of pieces but at sometime will be getting more. Another project on the list.....
    love the cybermen you have painted. Very envious...

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    1. Cheers CW. Completely forgot I had all these "Black Tree Design" minis tbh, so nice to be clearing my way through them. I've got some "Tenth Planet" ones to do next...

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    2. isn't it nice when you stumble across minis that you hard forgotten you own....

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    3. It is indeed. Especially when its such a large box and the models are ones you're actually going to paint and game with :-)

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  4. Great stuff, but why not use the original Doctor Who Miniatures Game for rules, rather than ZombieTV? After all, DWMG is the direct ancestor of the 7TV rules family and is still pretty much compatible (and free!).

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    1. Thanks C6. I'm a big fan of the DWMG rules, and as you say, they're the forerunner for "7TV". But as we were planning on doing a mini "ZombieTV" campaign in the very near future it just seemed like a fun thing to do for one of the 'test' games we've got planned in order to get reacquainted with the rules :-)

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  5. Where did these spring up from! I don't know you take your eye off your blog for a second and you paint up a cracking cyberman with no warning what so ever. Though I confess to being a Dalek man through and through, I too have great big soft spot for Tomb of the Cybermen, how Iconic is that scene with them breaking out of the ice tomb!! some of the best DW moments are cyber related, like the one trapped in the door in Earthshock or them walking through london in "Invasion", right up there with the Dalek emerging from the Thames.

    Happy memories. (Did you know that the cybermen were going to be the working for the daleks in the story "Frontier in space" before it was changed to the Orgrons?) sorry take my nerd hat off now.

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Roger, you can 'nerd up' as much as you want my friend - especially when I learn something I didn't know :-) I was actually thinking of your fantastic Dalek Emperor paint-job whilst I was painting this little fellow... and watching repeat showings of "Tomb". They 'sprung up' because I literally stumbled across a load of them whilst cleaning up and I thought - I can do a better a paint-job on this chap and suddenly I'd based a load more up as well. Glad you enjoyed him - lots more to come ;-)

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  6. I've always liked the Cybermen and they certainly have evolved over the years to such a point where the newest ones are almost unrecognisable from the very early ones. Nice paintwork on them, Simon, and I'm looking forward to seeing them in action.

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    1. Cheers Bryan. I'm not actually taken with the latest ones at all, and much prefer this version. Simple enough paint-job for a 'test' figure. Its all the piping on the other eight which is going to hurt. It has meant though that those excellent Werewolves by "Slap Miniatures" are still sat in front of me only partially-assembled...

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  7. Even I recognised these guys !
    You've done a great job on them, which given that I imagined them to be solely silver, is no mean feat.

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    1. Thanks Zabadak. Certainly he is a distinct improvement on the former paint-job imho, and I learnt some valuable lessons as to how to do his black piping prior to starting work on the others.

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  8. Great job dude!
    Ahh, more misty eyed childhood memories. These guys inspired so many "battles" running around in the woods. Can't wait to see your batreps.

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    1. Cheers Bob. I hope you won't be disappointed with the Batreps. Hopefully lots more stuff coming to get you "misty eyed" as well :-)

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  9. Nice horde plenty to keep Dept X and the Doctor busy!

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    1. Thanks Simon. Precisely my thoughts too :-)

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  10. Oooo, these bring back memories of watching these as a young lad on VHS, lent to me by my Mother's then boyfriend. Whilst I am completely in love with the current design, those old version Cybermen have a warm place in my heart.

    Well done sir.

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    1. Cheers Dai. They're very much my favourites too :-)

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