Friday 13 January 2017

"We Are The Silents. And Silence Will Fall!"

"This world is ours. We have ruled it since the wheel and the fire. We have no need of weapons."
These "finely-sculpted" and 40mm tall "pewter" models of three Silents are produced by “Warlord Games” and are designed for use with the company's Doctor Who Miniatures Game "Into The time Vortex." Genetically engineered to be the confessional priests of the Church of the Silence, these mouthless creatures first appeared in the 2011 BBC television story “The Impossible Astronaut”, and were "capable of obliterating enemies by absorbing electrical energy from the air and discharging it from their hands at a vastly more potent level."

Initially primed with two layers of "Citadel" Chaos Black, these miniatures were all heavily dry-brushed with "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal and then washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil. Their discoloured shirts were subsequently 'picked out' with a combination of "Vallejo" Iraqi Sand and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. Whilst their ties were simply re-painted with more "Citadel" Chaos Black.
Grey Aliens WIPs - The extra-terrestrials have now been washed and dry-brushed
Finally these members of the "religious order created by Tasha Lem" had their pinkish skin painted with "Vallejo" Heavy Warmgrey and washed with "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade. These areas were then highlighted with some additional "Vallejo" Heavy Warmgrey, before receiving a final wash of "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade in order to 'blend' the pigments together and create some extra shadowing.

With my latest entry for the Seventh  Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge completed I have made some good progress on my diminutive Grey Aliens by "Copplestone Castings". These somewhat odd supplements to my "Mad Max" project have been primed with a double-dose of "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey and subsequently washed with a black shade too. I've even managed to get the first of two dry-brushes over them in order to try and bring out their softly sculpted detail.
"Heroclix" WIPs - Vampire Roustbout, Darkseid and Doctor Doom
I have also continued to 'slap some pigment' on a few of my "Wizkids" pre-painted miniatures. Sadly my hammer-wielding Vampire Roustabout isn't eligible for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, as I actually started work on the "Horrorclix" sculpt way back in 2015 when Bryan (of "Vampifan's World Of The Undead" fame) kindly gifted me him. However, I am now hopeful that the brutish figure should soon be finished, even though he will be primarily used as a muscled enforcer for the Joker, rather than a blood-drinking despot.

Equally as well advanced is the first of three Doombots I have planned for my 'Court of Doctor Doom' mini-project; a small(ish) collection of "Heroclix" models to be submitted into the AHPC East Themed Bonus Round. These robotic replicas of Latveria's monarch will form his personal bodyguard, and provide some additional protection alongside Victor Von Doom's Servo-Guards.

Lastly I have been somewhat inspired by repeated viewings of the 2016 American superhero film "Batman v Superman:Dawn of Justice", and as a result have made some 'inroads' on my miniature of the all-powerful Darkseid. The "tyrannical ruler of the planet Apokolips", this 'New God' is thought to be behind the 'turning' of Superman into a vengeful murdering villain, as seen during Bruce Wayne's "Knightmare" vision of a future Earth overrun by Parademons...  

26 comments:

  1. Wonderfully sinister, great job Simon.

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    1. Thanks Michael. Nice to get all of "Warlord Games" "Doctor Who" monsters finished. Looking forward to them releasing some more soon!!

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  2. The Silents do look great! And love the grey aliens!

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    1. Cheers Gordon. The Grey Aliens are finished, so should be posted up next week.

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  3. Did you say something I am sorry I could not hear you. Excellent job mate.

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  4. Lots to like in this post, Simon. You've done a really good job on the Silence. The Greys are looking a lot better with some paint on them. The Vampire Roustabout will make a perfect henchman for the Joker. Good call. I may copy your idea and him to my own Joker's gang. I'm still debating whether to buy "Batman v Superman:Dawn of Justice" on DVD or wait until it appears on terrestrial TV, due to the mainly negative reviews I've read of it. Still, as I always say, the only critic who counts is yourself. I'm open to persuasion if you think I'd enjoy it.

    PS> Do check out my latest JDMG batrep. I await your verdict on Judge Moore's performance.

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    1. Cheers Bryan. With both the Silence and Grey Aliens finished, I'm hoping to spend a bit of time working on some of the more time-consuming minis I currently have on my tabletop, and finishing off the Vampire Roustabout is one such model.

      I've heard a lot of criticism about "Batman V Superman", but I absolutely love it!! Indeed, its been my Christmas film of 2016, and had multiple viewings. All I would say is that I am somewhat immersed in that comic book universe, so things like Batman's unease regarding Superman etc made perfect sense to me. Plus I am, as you know, a huge "World War Z" fan ;-)

      I'll dive over to see Judge Moore in action as soon as I can. Not sure why I keep missing your blog's updates!?!

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  5. Nice work Simon, do vampires need roustabouts? I suppose Bryan would know.

    Re, Batman v Superman, it not bad but could have been better in my opinion, I saw it at the pictures and watched the last hour again on SAKY movie over xmas, but I don't think I'll be bothering to watch it again (unlike Civil War, Deadpool and Guardian's of the Galaxy which I have seen sooo many times now). I like the DC movies but always seem a little disappointed after I watch them, guess I'm just a Marvel boy at heart.

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Thanks Roger. The Silence are one of the better "Nu-Who" villains imho and the "Warlord Games" sculpts really bring out their creepiness. The Vampire Roustabout is a corking mini too, which is my excuse as to why I've taken my time with him ;-)

      I think "Batman Vs Superman" would probably be an unimaginable mess if the viewer wasn't aware of the comic book story-arcs it was based upon. Fortunately I do, which is why I think I enjoy it so very much :-)

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    2. @Roger, the Roustabout actually IS a vampire! he's not a roustabout working for a vampire. Big difference. :-)

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    3. Ah that's makes more sense, but do Vampires need big hammers? I guess if they are putting up awnings to shade them from the sun they do.

      Cheers Roger.

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  6. Very nicely done with the Silence. :)

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  7. The Silence is awesome Simon, the aliens are coming on nicely too

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    1. Thanks Andy. The Grey Aliens, Vampire Roustabout and Doombot are now finished, so hopefully I'll be able to post up a few of them next week.

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  8. Lots of bulbous heads in this update! I approve (My own dome is likewise large.)!

    Good work Simon and the Clix figs featured are coming along very nicely. Not familiar at all with the hammer vampire, but I like the pose and the sculpt.

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    1. Cheers Dai. I'm a big fan of large bald heads myself :-)

      All the models featured in the WIPs are either done or nearly finished already. Need to make some room so I can crack on with my Voord leader, and the Court of Doctor Doom (for next week's AHPC East Themed Bonus Round).

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  9. The Silence turned out really well, and the grey's have more character now, the heroclix figures are coming along nicely and great utilisation of one figure for another job

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    1. Thanks Dave. Everything is ticking along rather nicely at present, and seems to be on track for the AHPC :-)

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  10. Very nice work on all these figures, Simon. Still not enamoured of Warlord's releases so far and the choice of monsters seems a little odd, however i do like the look of their plastic Daleks, so they might convert me yet.
    And i've looked at those Greys so many times, but not had any justification to get them. Although the idea of doing some 1950s sci-fi gaming, like in 'Dark Skies' does appeal and these would fit in well.

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    1. Cheers Jez. I think the Judoon were a bit of an odd release for "Warlord Games" so early in their game, but both the Silence and Zygons have had a lot of love in recent years imho. I'm not sure about the Christmas Special minis though or the Tetraps (Seventh Doctor) either.

      Tbh the Grey Aliens wouldn't have been painted if it wasn't for this month's "Copplestone Castings" project, and that they've given me an easy 25 points for the AHPC. I'm still not sure how I'll use them on the table top...

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  11. They look excellent Simon really like the Greys very amusing hand gesture to. :D

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    1. Thanks Simon. The Grey Aliens are finished and should be posted up next week :-)

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  12. As weird and wonderful as ever and even tough I have no clue as to who is who or what (other then the greys)they all do look good.

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    1. Cheers Joe. I do try and present a variety of minis with each posting ;-)

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