Saturday 4 March 2017

"All Life Shall Perish Under The Reign Of Sutekh The Destroyer!"

"It was a deliberate attempt to block my cytronic control."
This 28mm metal model of Sutekh is manufactured by “Black Tree Design” and can be bought as code DW412 from their "Doctor Who" range. An Osiran "who planned to destroy all life in the Universe, this extra-terrestrial was eventually defeated by his brother Horus and, having been imprisoned beneath an Egyptian pyramid was first seen in the October 1975 BBC Television science fiction serial "The Pyramids Of Mars".

Before painting this miniature I decided to invest a little time and money constructing an Egyptian-flavoured base for the figure, and resultantly super-glued Gabriel Woolf's character onto the (hollowed out) metal throne which accompanies him. I then placed the model upon one of the thin 50mm round plastic bases I use for my larger objective markers, and used two 40mm square "Lord Of The Sand" resin bases as an improvised backdrop. Unfortunately, it was only once I had started painting Sutekh that I realised what an unwise decision I had made...
"Identify yourself, plaything of Sutekh."
To begin with both the immobile Osiran and his basalt chair were painted with two coats of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, whilst the carved wall behind him was primed with "Vallejo" Iraqi Sand. I then dry-brushed Nephthys' husband with "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal and gave him a wash of "Citadel" Nuln Oil. His throne was repeated with more Abaddon Black in order to make it stand out from the seated figure.

The relief sculpture was subsequently washed with "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade and dry-brushed with more "Vallejo" Iraqi Sand. I did consider picking out some of the characters on the wall with blue, red and gold. However, I felt this would detract from the central all-black figure and draw the eye away from where I wanted it to go. I therefore left the sandstone backdrop alone.
Jacob Sheep WIP - The animal has been dappled with a sponge to blend in its wool's different colours 
It was at this point that I encountered my error in super-gluing the Typhonian Beast in place, as it meant I could no longer get my brush-tip behind the miniature and 'pick out' some of his red piping. This led to my colour scheme taking a couple of departures away from the 'official' televised version, as I could only paint the hands, arms and face of Sutekh with a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Red and "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson; thereby missing out the piping around the waist and on the neck.

With the Seventh Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge approaching its conclusion, I have been finishing off a couple of Jacob Sheep by "Warbases". These miniatures will actually form part of a group effort, with fellow challengers Kyle, Clint and Ian, and, alongside being our entry fee for this year's competition, will also be submitted into the 'Movie/Book' themed round as "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep"...  

28 comments:

  1. I loved this Simon and remember thinking that you had been hard done by on the points front. Really excited by the sound of your bonus round entry, one of my favourite films.

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    1. Thanks Michael. I too was anticipating a few more points than just the bog-standard 5pts for a 28mm model. But there again, I had previously been awarded a nice bonus for replacing a broken knife on one of my Voord with a different hand (a conversion apparently), so I was hardly in a position to quibble.

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  2. Great piece Simon, we often hit stumbling blocks while painting like do I glue it together first or paint the separate parts before assembly. You recovered well and the overal piece is very atmospheric great work

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    1. Cheers Dave. I'm rather happy with it tbh, and it should certainly look rather impressive on the tabletop when I finally use it for a game.

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  3. I think it has come out very well, and as for the piping it's going to be one of those things that will only annoy you, as no one else will notice it's not there, so I say "live with it".

    Very clever twist on the film title, for your bonus round by the way.

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Thanks Roger. It doesn't bother me tbh, as I don't think the omissions are noticeable. I would paint it in pieces if I had the time over again though.

      I can't take any credit whatsoever for the thought/idea behind the AHPC bonus round. I've just painted up two sheep like Clint asked me to. It was one of the others who came up with the idea behind it :-)

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  4. I am delighted to say that I think your sheep has come out better than my own!

    Brilliant work mate on all projects!

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    1. You're very kind, Clint. I actually find such subjects rather difficult to paint, hence these days I use a sponge to blend the colours together rather than a brush.

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  5. Sex looking sheep - did I type that out loud. Love sutech

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  6. Regardless of the unfair poor grade I too think Sutehk looks smashing. Eager to see him used in a game!

    The sheep is fantastic! I really need to check out some of those, would really add to my Dark Ages game table.

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    1. Cheers Dai. I think once Sutehk is on the tabletop, along with his servant and robot mummies he's going to be quite the centre-piece.

      Glad you like the sheep. "Warbases" seems to do a great range of farm animals etc imho. I'll certainly be buying more in the future.

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  7. If you hadn't mentioned your oversights I would certainly not have noticed there was anything "wrong" with your figure of Sutekh. To me, he looks fine.
    As for your sheep, what can I say other than they're sheep? I have no strong opinion on them one way or the other, although I do know I would never, ever describe them as "sexy!" That is wrong on so many levels! :-(

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    1. Thanks Bryan. Sutekh looks good enough to me too. I'm equally as pleased with how much sheep came out ;-)

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  8. The backdrops came out just right Simon as I agree with you - additional colours on the characters would detract from Sutekh.

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    1. Cheers Andy. I was undeniably tempted though to add a little blue, red and gold to the relief sculpture...

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  9. I've been a little preoccupied this week, so rather than post a comment on each individual post, I'm going to try and cover your last two posts here.
    Superb work on Sutehk - the addition of the bases as a backdrop really makes it an eye-catching piece.
    And lovely work on the sheep. I do tend to have issues with fur (or fleece in this case) so I may give this technique a try.
    As for Nemesis and Torquemada - very, very cool. Can't wait to see some of your Termight forces.

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    1. Now worries Jez. Any comment is good and much appreciated :-)

      I'm very happy with Sutekh and now just need to get his Robot Mummies up and posted to semi-finish a nice little AHPC project.

      The sheep are now finished and part of a far larger flock ready for the AHPC too - so I'll post up the finished version once the themed round is up for voting.

      I'm hopeful they'll be plenty to see and enjoy with my Nemesis project, and possibly a couple of other "2000 A.D." related minis too.

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  10. I'd like to say 'that I love the sheep', but it just sounds so wrong.

    You'll have to settle for me mentioning that it looks great.

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  11. Sutekh the Destroyer! Where he treads he leaves nothing but dust and darkness! Lovely job and a fab mini!

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    1. Cheers Gordon... and thanks to you my copies of "Mutants & Death Ray Guns" and "Project Simian Ultra X" have arrived :-)

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  12. Excellent work on Sutekh and a cracking base. :)

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    1. Thanks Leon. Definitely worth the extra effort on the base imho.

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  13. Sutekh, looks the part of a super-villain/overlord - great figure and paint-job.

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  14. Well, roughly speaking - if you can't reach it with a paint brush then you can't see it either. It's not a perfect maxim, but it works well enough in this case.

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