Saturday 26 November 2016

"It's The Aliens Again, I'll Bet My Pension."

"What do you want this time, you green swine?"
This 28mm scale "pewter" model of the "Donna Noble's grandfather", Wilfred Mott, is produced by “Warlord Games” and forms part of the five-miniature strong "Tenth Doctor And Companions" boxed set. "Unusually open-minded about the extraterrestrial", the "strongly patriotic former soldier" was first seen in the 2007 BBC television story "Voyage Of The Damned" and is the fourth (and final) of my weekly submissions for this year’s Mo’Vember Challenge with Dick Garrison (of “Rantings Under The Wargames Table” fame).

Initially undercoated with a double helping of "Vallejo" Charred Brown, the elderly stargazer's shoes were picked out with a combination of Heavy Sienna and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, whilst his trousers were painted with German Grey and "Citadel" Nuln Oil. In order to give the tenth Doctor's final companion a splash of colour, and in order to stick with Mott's colour guide as per the "Into The Time Vortex" website, his jumper was treated to a layer of "Vallejo" Heavy Blue, his shirt collar Iraqi Sand and his hat Heavy Red. These areas were then washed with "Citadel" Asurmen Blue and Carroburg Crimson respectively.
The Mausoleum WIPs - Three long-dead swordsmen in different states of completion
Somewhat frustratingly, considering that the figure is based upon the likeness of actor Bernard Cribbins, Wilfred's model comes clean shaven, and as a result I had to try and build-up the illusion of whiskers on Gramps' face using paint. In the end I had to settle for a base-coat of "Vallejo" White, with a wash of Pale Grey, and then finally some more White. But overall I was very unimpressed that such an instantly recognisable characteristic of the Tenth Doctor's final companion wasn't included as part of the sculpt...

Moving away from "Warlord Games" "officially approved by the BBC" wargame, and turning instead to this month's "Frostgrave" theme, I have finally started to make some progress on the first of ten plastic "North Star Military Figures" skeletons I want to finish so as to be able to re-enact The Mausoleum scenario from the skirmish game's rule-book. Initially I was planning on painting the Undead warriors as colourfully as their live counterparts but have subsequently changed my mind and instead used a far more sombre, decaying palette of browns and greens.
James Kirk WIP - The Captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise has simply been primed for now
Announced back in July 2016 by "Modiphius Entertainment", as part of the development of "Star Trek Adventures", this 32mm soft resin miniature of Captain Kirk had successfully eluded my attempts to acquire it until the recent "Warfare" show in Reading, when I was finally able to sign-up for the playtest of "the first new official Star Trek role-playing game to be produced in more than a decade" and collect one for free. Eventually the model will apparently become available in "collector's blisters as well as crew packs giving you whole away teams or bridge crews from different eras". But for now I simply wanted to get hold of one just so I could see how well the range will paint up.

28 comments:

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    1. Thanks Clint. I always need plenty on the go to keep the painting batteries fully-charged.

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  2. Bloody aliens stealing our pensions?

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    1. After their Invasion/Inversion Fran, you never know who might be a Zygon ;-)

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    2. Well it beats the usual Daily Mail diatribe "bloody foreigners stole our [fill in current media based lie]"

      Love the models btw Simon, Kirk is soooooooo cool

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    3. Cheers Andy, lots of "Doctor Who" and "Frostgrave" to get through in the next few weeks ;-)

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  3. The new Kirk miniature ... you lucky bastich !!!!!
    I'll be the `green with envy' man sitting in the corner.

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    1. Sorry Phil. It's certainly taken me a while to get my hands on one. Perhaps they'll become a bit more available in the New Year once the shows start up again?

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  4. An interesting mix of characters, Simon. I'm surprised that Wilfred was sculpted as being clean shaven. How strange!

    Skeletons should, generally speaking, be painted in sombre and decaying colours. Good call!

    That is a very well sculpted figure of Kirk. You must be so chuffed to get one for free.

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    1. Cheers Bryan. I'm not terribly good at painting on details which don't exist on the model, so Wilfred was doubly annoying to paint as a result. The sombre colours certainly seem to be working better on the skeletons than my initial colour schemes, and I'm even washing the red clothing with brown in order to muck them up.

      I actually had the choice of Kirk or Picard (as both are available), but as I like my "Star Trek" to be very much "We come in peace. Shoot to kill.", I went with James T. I am absolutely delighted and really looking forward to the RPG's release next year :-)

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  5. Ahh! so it was Bernard Cribbins, I love Bernard Cribbins, though he should of course be dressed in his police uniform, great paintwork and a cool end to the month Simon.

    Those Skellies are rather nice, but I cant warrant buy more Skeletons as I have a load of unpainted ones up in the loft still, the colours you've chosen look the business to me.

    And as for Kirk that is a great miniature, though probably as slim and muscular as Will Shattner thought he was, more than he was in reality.

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Thanks Roger. I am certainly hoping that "Warlord Games" do some sort of "Movie" boxed set at some point. They do appear to finally be dipping into 'Classic Who' with news that they'll be releasing The Dominators, The Vervoids and The Ogrons as pewter sets next year.

      Its a shame the "Frostgrave" Cultists boxed set doesn't include just a few more skeleton heads/arms tbh. But there's just enough to create the ten which I need (thanks to a few "Mantic Games" additions).

      The Kirk model doesn't take paint well tbh, and feels really weird (a resin/plastic mix). In addition it is incredibly tiny for 32mm - and not heroically-proportioned at all. I saw Shatner's original costume at a "Star Trek" display, and couldn't believe how thin the waist was. No wonder the actor used to have a green version for when he was struggling to fit into the yellow one.

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    2. "I saw Shatner's original costume at a "Star Trek" display, and couldn't believe how thin the waist was".

      That would explain why it kept ripping open all the time though I guess ;-)

      Now if the do a Tom Baker, I might have to bite the bullet, and get one of those.

      Cheers Roger

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    3. Truly you are the master of wit and repertoire, Roger :-)

      So far "Warlord Games" have only announced The Ninth Doctor and The Eleventh Doctor Companion sets. But I'll keep you in the loop as soon as I know, as I'm bound to be posting about it!! Expect lots of "Doctor Who" next year at this rate!!

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    4. Quote: "Expect lots of "Doctor Who" next year at this rate!!"

      YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    5. LOL :-) I'm desperately going to try and stick with just a few rule-sets and a handful of ranges next year, Bryan, and "Warlord Games" "Doctor Who" will definitely be one of them :-)

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    1. Cheers Gordon, and thanks for making me aware of the "Star Trek" RPG game too :-)

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  7. Very welly executed facial hair Simon, nice start on the skele's the muted tones work really well, it's always a pain when you get a model your after then the paint wont stick, sorry not much I can suggest on that one as I don't know that material

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    1. Thanks Dave. Much appreciated. I'm not terribly happy with the whiskers on Wilfred myself, but it at least looks like he has a beard of some sort. The "Frostgrave" skeletons are progressing nicely, so I should be soon in a position to show off your wonderful scenery. Kirk's paint would seem to finally have stuck, so I'm hoping the mini simply needs a little more time to dry than I'm used to. Fingers crossed!!

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  8. Very cool selection of figures, Simon. And more Who to come? Excellent news. Might even see 'Doctor Who and the Seeds of Doom'... ;-)
    My next post may end up costing you money, based on your current focus...

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    1. Cheers Jez. "Doctor Who And The Seeds Of Doom" is almost there tbh. I've just bought some gates and walls from "Wargames Terrain Workshop" and once they're done I'm ready. Looking forward to your next posting (as always tbh) :-)

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  9. Not being that aufait with the Timlord or all his reincarnations since black and white television days I can't really comment, save that the figures would look good just as the civilians they are!
    Kirk on the other-hand is instantly recognisable - a great dynamic sculpt too - looking forward to eeing him finished.
    The skeletal warriors look very diverse and distinctly different from the "Argonaut" variety - something I like.

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    1. Many thanks Joe. Very much appreciated :-) The skeletons (and some more Bloodletters) are my priority for now, so James Kirk will be waiting in the wings for a while. But I thought people would enjoy seeing him, for as you say, he's a corking sculpt.

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  10. Star Trek miniatures? Excellent! But 32mm - not so good :-( !

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    1. Kirk's model is definitely non-heroic in style, hugh, so I guess the extra size allows for the limbs/weapons etc to be just big enough to work.

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  11. Firstly Wilf looks the biz! Really nice effort and the white beard is more Wintery, so works for me. :)

    That Kirk sculpt is bloody fantastic!

    Skeletons coming along nicely - they should look mouldy in my mind.

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    1. Many thanks Dai. The Kirk sculpt is very good imho, I'm just not sure about the plastic/resin its made of. Plenty of "Frostgrave" skeletons to come as I'm heavily focusing upon them over the next few days to get them done.

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