Wednesday 18 March 2015

"Do You Think He'll Ever Find His Abominable Snowman, Doctor?"

"The Yeti! The Yeti! Fetch help!"
These five 28mm metal models are based upon the robot Yeti from the British Science Fiction television series “Doctor Who” story "The Abominable Snowmen". This six-part serial formed part Season Four back in September 1967 when Patrick Troughton was the (second) Doctor.

They're made by “Black Tree Design” under code DW204 Yeti. All of the Great Intelligence’s mechanical minions were first undercoated with “Vallejo” Heavy Brown and then given a heavy wash of “The Army Painter” Strong Tone Quickshade. Once this was dry I washed the areas around the eyes and claws with some “Citadel” Nuln Oil.
"Oh, it's all right for you in your home made Yeti kit."
All of the ‘hairy beasties’ were then drybrushed with more “Vallejo” Heavy Brown before I picked out their eyes with “Heavy Goldbrown”, and their claws with White. Both of these areas were then washed with more of “The Army Painter” Strong Tone Quickshade. Finally the eyes were highlighted with some additional “Vallejo” Heavy Goldbrown.

Disappointingly I originally varnished all these miniatures with the “Citadel” Technical ‘Ardcoat. Having dabbed it on as I’ve previously done with the manufacturer’s previous gloss finish product, I was rather horrified to discover that the brush was so sticky it was pulling off both the brown wash and paint!?! As a result I have had to touch up all these models and now use “Coat D’arms” Gloss Varnish instead.
Second Doctor TARDIS Crew WIPs - Don't expect any tartan or criss-crosses on these miniatures
As I've realised that I'm spending a considerable amount of time currently painting the monsters from Patrick Troughton's tenure as the Second Doctor, I thought it would only be appropriate to dig out the 'cosmic hobo' himself, as well as companions Zoe Heriot and Jamie McCrimmon. I'll be pottering away at this trio of models by "Black Tree Design" whilst I'm 'batch-painting' more Yeti and Cybermen.

28 comments:

  1. The Yeti have come out exceptionally well, despite your mishap with the Citadel varnish. It's nice to see you working on the second Doctor and two of his companions. I'm old enough to remember watching all three when they were first televised. That's REALLY showing my age!

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    1. Thanks Bryan. I've a few minis ahead of these in the queue tbh, but I thought they'd be fun to just push about when I get tired of dry-brushing brown or silver :-) I'd never have thought you were that old. You always look so young in those pictures of you in the red leotard on your blog ;-)

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    2. LMAO! See what healthy living can do for you!

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  2. Aww their adorable snowmen :) good job

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    1. Many thanks Chico... and hopefully "Oakbound Games" are about to send me my Judge Chico and some evil Space Dorfs imminently. I've a Batrep ready just for them ;-)

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    2. Nice one, I look forward to seeing them/him.. me!? in action :)

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    3. No pressure then, my friend :-)

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  3. Amazing finished result sir!

    I've already started setting aside funds to get 4 or 5 for my own collection! :)

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    1. Cheers Dai. I look forward to seeing how you get on with them. Are you going for this pose, or the Yeti Attacking, or a mixture, my friend?

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  4. Looking good! The black wash really calls attention to the eyes.

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    1. Thanks Finch. I thought the eyes were the key tbh, so anything which draws your attention to them had to be good in my books.

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  5. 're in the realms of my memories of watching Dr. Who, with Jamie and Zoe m but I can't say I'm that impressed with the mniatures of yhe,, thugh nothing a good paintjob won't fix.
    The Yeti are superb, the basing really brings them to life even more so than they already were.

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    1. Cheers Zabadak. Much appreciated. I'll be glad when the second batch of Yeti are completed so I can field a hairy horde :-) I must confess to having a soft spot for the Second Doctor model, so my fingers are crossed he'll turn out okay.

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  6. nice yetis!:) you have such a good collection of unusual figures that I am always left envious!!! I would love a dr who collection like yours. Ahh well....one day...

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    1. Many thanks CW. I don't find owning the models a problem. Its sticking with them long enough to fully paint them which I find difficult. I assure you I'm just as envious of your collection ;-)

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  7. Oh I do like the yeti's now they're finished. I love the way you've done the dark tone around the eyes, very sinister. I look forward to the trio of heroes (though I think I'd have to sculpt the big fur coat onto the Doctor myself, though it would limit his use later on).

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Cheers Roger. Your grasp of green stuff though is significantly better than mine, so Patrick is staying with his black frock coat :-)

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  8. Aahhh, that's where your going wrong you shouldn't grasp it, I poke it on with various "pointy things" (and yes this is the technical term).

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    1. I bow to your superior knowledge of all things green stuff :-)

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  9. There's a "snot and bile" joke in there somewhere that I'm too much of a gentleman to make!!!

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  10. Lovely job on the Yetis Bk.
    I've been eye-ing up some of the good doctor's assisstants for use as civilians, how do they scale with other companies mini's?

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    1. Thanks Bob. They're a bit hit and miss to be honest. Jamie is well proportioned compared to the usual 28mm crowd but some "Black Tree Design" are awfully small. I'll try and do a comparison shot for you when I post my next "Doctor Who" update.

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  11. Great work on the Yeti's. I especially like the way you used the dark wash round the eyes before the dry brush, really brings out the menacing stare.

    Looking forward to seeing Patrick et al. I've a Jamie waiting in the pile, so it'll be good to have an example to aspire to.

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    1. Cheers Sam. Much appreciated. I wouldn't get too hopeful about inspiration, as there's some stunning pics out there already of Jamie wearing tartan socks etc. The colour scheme I'll be following has him wearing grey socks ;-)

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