Tuesday 20 October 2015

"Why Couldn't You Let Me Die!?!"

"You've used me, forced me to be what you wanted me to be."
This 28mm plastic “Wizkids” model of Cyborg is miniature number 54 from the DC Comics “Heroclix” Unleashed range. The son of scientists Silas and Elinore Stone, this cybernetically-enhanced member of the Teen Titans first appeared in the October 1980 issue of “DC Comics Presents” and was created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez.

Having removed this 38mm figure and superglued him to a 40mm round base, I covered up Vic Stone’s pre-paint by applying an undercoat of “Citadel” Ironbreaker before giving the miniature a wash of Nuln Oil. The former test subject for various intelligence enhancement projects was then dry-brushed with Ironbreaker and finally Mithril Silver. Having finished the superhero’s experimental prosthetics I painted his flesh using a combination of “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna and  “The Army Painter” Strong Tone Quickshade.
The Joker's Gang WIPs - Plenty of problems with the Yama have caused this project to stall
In addition to finishing this modern-day member of the Justice League I have continued working on the four minion models I plan to use as gang members for my “Heroclix” Joker. I had hoped to try and paint the yellow Yama clown’s ball blue with white dots. But having battled to try and repeatedly pick out the roundels on the sphere, I’ve finally accepted my brush skills aren’t up to the task and have instead gone with a disappointingly simple dark blue colour scheme. As a result the model hasn’t really progressed from where it was a couple of weeks ago. Equally as tricky, but a bit further forward is the first of my two “Horrorclix” Mime Monsters. The detail on this pale-skinned miniature is rather soft, but I still hope to pick out his braces in red. Lastly my Vampire Roustabout now needs only his flesh and hammer painted, as I've finished his leather belt, dark blue jacket and crucifix(!?!).
Thing WIPs - Having been washed with green ink, these anti-heroes now need an application of brown ink
Whilst waiting for some of these figures to dry, and having undercoated more miniatures with “Vallejo” Heavy Grey than I care to think about over the past few weeks, I have started work on two more “Heroclix” models; Swamp Thing and Man-Thing. Both of these monstrosities will be primarily a greeny-brown so simply need to be appropriately washed and then dry-brushed in order to be predominantly finished.

24 comments:

  1. Cyborg looks good but I confess to knowing almost nothing about him. Slow progress on the Joker's minions but at least it's progress. When I saw Swamp-Thing and Man Thing I immediately thought of your Krynoids. I guess you'll be keeping them separate from that project but they could fit in, huh?

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    1. Thanks Bryan. I don't think the Roustabout will be too long, nor perhaps the Mime Monsters. But the Yama has certainly dented my enthusiasm for the time being. However to be fair I've been painting Krynoids most of the time as my next posting should attest to. I've no plans to include either Swamp Thing or Man-Thing in with my Dr Who project, but as you rightly say they could fit in, which I why I've started painting them at the same time as the rest of my plant-zombies. Although Swamp Thing is actually a test piece for a far larger, heavier version which dwarfs most of my super-heroes to date ;-)

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  2. A slight deviation from painting things green, Simon? And I share your pain regarding consistently painting the same shape multiple times. Should you still wish to do this, strip a cotton bud and use the tube as a stamp. Should create consistently shaped circles or with less paint, rings. Alternatively, a suitably coloured Sharpie could be used to 'dot' the circles. Failing that, paint it like a beach ball. Hope that helps.
    Regards Jez

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    1. Cheers Jez. Cyborg's shiny silver has proved a much needed momentary break from all my Krynoids. Those are some good tips but unfortunately with the Yama its different-sized circles are actually sculpted into the ball. But I simply couldn't paint them consistently enough, for me at least. Hopefully the wash will bring out some of this detail so the ball doesn't look entirely plain once I've finished him.

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    2. What a pain. This is why clowns are evil...evil, I tell you! My next suggestion was what Bob's already suggested below. Of course, you could just ignore the spots and paint the Joker's face on it... "Neighbourhood kids getting you down? Get a Jokerball and teach them a lesson that will leave scars...New from Acme!"

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    3. Thanks Jez :-) Or I could just leave it as is and get frustrated painting the rest of the model ;-)

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  3. Love Swamp Thing and Man Thing. Very cool figs!

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    1. Man-Thing is certainly an impressively large figure Gordon, and fingers crossed should be straightforward to paint. Swamp Thing is rather under-sized imho, and has lots of branches which need 'picking out'.

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  4. I love the colour you've created on the thing models. It looks really cool

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    1. Thanks Roy. Just a "Vallejo" Heavy Grey undercoat with plenty of OOP "Citadel" Thrakka Green wash over them :-)

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    2. I really need to buy some more of those washes! Agrax being my staple, though I'm using a greenshade (with a stupid name I can't remember) for the 10mm zombies.
      Just been talked into playing Tor Gaming's Relics, so I'm back to painting fantasy after a break of more than 10 years... and playing at a club.

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    3. Huge fan of the trusty old Thrakka Green, Roy. If you like Relics its well worth visiting Brummie's blog here: http://brummieswargamingblog.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Relics

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    4. Yes, I recognised some of the puppet miniatures from seeing them on Simon's blog. I've gone for the Ridend (or whatever they're called) as my starter force. Pointy faced goblinoids I think is what they are, but red in colour ... Oh, and they're based on knights in shining armour and ride big chickens! :))

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    5. Sounds good and like something out of "Labyrinth" imho. Looking forward to seeing them posted up on your blog :-)

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  5. Cyborg looks shiny and chrome, ready for rebirth through the gates of Vallhalla! Nice work Bk! What looks outstanding are those Thing figures, I love them dude!
    With Yama's ball, try washing it first to define said circles, then painting them and wash again to cover any slight errors. It's what I tend to do. The colour you're putting on top of the dark blue could be important as some just don't cover as well as others.
    Hope my suggestion is of some help dude!

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    1. Cheers Bob. Very helpful suggestions dude, and if I attempt a revisit to that blasted ball I'll give it a go as you suggest. For now though, the ball is dark blue and I plan to paint the rest of the mini before deciding.

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  6. Good to see some progress on those clowns Simon and the bottom set reminds me that I've still got a Swamp Thing to assemble and paint.

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    1. "Reminds me that I've still got a Swamp Thing to assemble and paint." - Well I best get cracking on mine first then as I don't want you posting yours up first and everyone then comparing mine to yours!!!

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  7. Progress on many fronts, it seems. Clowns look terrific. Really like the swamp things.

    Take another crack at those polka-dots. Practice makes perfect.

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    1. Thanks Finch. I've already spent an hour practicing those polka-dots!! :-) I may return to them once I've painted the rest of the clown... maybe...

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  8. I do like your Swamp thing and "Giant sized Man Thing" (ooer misses!), they are two of my fav's from there respective franchises. Cyuborg too looks great now he's finished. Don't talk to me about clowns! there are the ultimate evil!!! and a b8gger to paint.

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Cheers Roger. Good to get Cyborg finished at last and certainly I think the Man-Thing "Heroclix" sculpt is fantastically done. Hopefully I'll be able to get some more progress made on the clowns over the next few days... hopefully.

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  9. Cyborg is well done mate. No confusion as to what he's about!

    Sad to read that about the yellow fellow.... Freehand can be such a dampner to one's enthusiasm in this hobby. Keep it up mate - if you can paint in eyes, you can paint those ball details! Would perhaps a white-ink artist's pen work in lieu of paint and brush?

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    1. Thanks Dai. Cyborg is a nice big beastie of a model, even if a little larger than the normal "Heroclix" scale. I may well have another go with the ball at some point. But for now its blue and I'm going to try and get the rest of the model painted before I have another look at the thing :-)

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