(Lead) Mountain Musings - "Modiphius Entertainment" July 2026

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" dominated my miniatures for June 2026

With both a successful "Forgotten Heroes" event and random drawer challenge under my belt from last month, I thought I'd roll a D12 to see which plastic drawer I'd select a handful of miniatures from for July, and rather surprisingly discovered I'd be painting more of my 32mm scale resin cast Star Trek Adventures Tabletop RPG figures produced by "Modiphius Entertainment". This selection actually comes at a rather opportune time as I was planning to use the miniatures I'd previously pigmented for some games of "Lost Patrol" by "Games Workshop", and only recently realised I was the odd sculpt short of what I needed to field a legitimate landing party.

In addition, having got the enigmatic 'Q' tabletop ready in the past, I thought I should also focus on getting some of the next generation of Federation officers completed as well - quite possibly with the notion of pitting Captain Kirk's crew against that of Jean-Luc Picard's at some future point. Such a move might also make it far easier (and quicker) to get the figures finished as most appear to be wearing the predominantly black colour scheme seen during the Star Trek: The Next Generation movies.

"Death X Tiles" WIPs - Three of nine tiles earmarked for a science fiction boarding zone

Furthermore, for the next three months I thought I'd contribute to Dave Stone's Season of Scenery over on his "Wargames Terrain Workshop" blog by polishing off some of the backlog of terrain pieces I have been religiously producing in "Bambu Lab" PLA (Polylactic Acid) on my A1 Mini 3D Printer. For this opening month I felt I should try to see how much of the Starship Mini Set by "Death X Tiles" I could get done, seeing as I've finally settled upon a simple "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey palette for most of the pieces.

To begin with my aim is simply to get a boarding zone completed, which will consist of a 3x3 tile room with a single, open doorway. However, if I can manage to get this quite sizeable area completed within the space of four weeks or less, then I may well start to focus on one of the five much larger rooms I intend my science fiction figures to battle over in future fights. I also have a ton of "Trench Crusade" flavoured scenery by "Saucermen Studios" to crack on with, so may well take a break from the tiles with the odd barricade or bunker.

June 2026 - My Top Five Table has in reality become a rather surprising Top Eight contest

Last month's meagre output certainly saw some surprising congestion strike my most popular manufacturers, with my need to paint at least four models by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" helping them to top position - alongside "Wargames Foundry". On top of that my desire to finish off the squad of second-hand Wookie Warriors I rather impulsively purchased whilst in Poole helped the popularity of "Fantasy Flight Games" rival some of my more usual Top Five contenders.

Fortunately, I feel the next four or so weeks will help ease this bottleneck as I'm sure quite a few more miniatures by both "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" and "Modiphius Entertainment" will be on the cards. What's more I'm really hoping to get going again on a few long paused projects which have simply been sat gathering dust on my hobby table for the best part of the year, such as my "Wargames Foundry" Napoleonics for "Black Powder" and some more "Trench Crusade" warriors by "Trench Stench"...

"Wubba Lubba Dub-Dub!"

"Nobody exists on purpose, nobody belongs anywhere, everybody's gonna die."

This 28mm scale white metal model of Rick Sanchez is sort of produced by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” as it's actually composed of bitz from a couple of their miniatures and an alternate weapon sprue. The torso and legs are from the company's MINI 341 Investigative Academic, with its head sawn off and replaced with that of their Crackpot Inventor. I did actually consider just using the entire Crackpot Inventor for a while, but felt that all the scientific gubbins detailed on the sculpt wasn't really in line with Rick C-137's look in the cartoon series "Rick And Morty".

In addition, I snipped off the Investigative Academic's left hand and swapped it for one of the manufacturer's Robo-Minion weapon accessories. This particular piece did have a mechanical hand, rather than one made of flesh and blood. However, I figured I could simply paint it using my usual combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone and "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade, and everything would be fine to the naked eye. I did momentarily plan on adding a little portal fluid 'cup' to top of the device. However, the area upon which I'd need to super-glue/pin such a tiny detail was a little to small for my liking, so I simply settled on pigmenting part of the hand-weapon using "Two Thin Coats" White Star and the "Citadel" Contrast Colour Warp Lightning.

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - These three Beastmen are having all their details 'picked out'

Once assembled the entire kit-bash was primed with "Vallejo" Dead White, shaded using some heavily-watered down "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey, and dry-brushed with a little White Star by "Two Thin Coats". Sadly, I wasn't at all impressed with how this turned out - probably due to the heat drying my paints the moment they touched the figure, so I ended up washing the model with (more) incredibly-watered down "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey, and the giving Rick a very patient dry-brush of (more) "Two Thin Coats" White Star.

The mega-genius' shirt was simply 'picked out with a little "Vallejo" Deep Sky Blue and a splash of "Citadel" Drakenhof Nightshade. This turned out far darker than I had envisaged. But meant that the Investigative Academic's neck scarf was somewhat obscured by the shadows. Lastly, I carefully gave the alcoholic scientist's eyebrows a line of "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey and daubed his hair with the same colour. Both of these areas were subsequently darkened down with some "Citadel" Nuln Oil.

"Modiphius Entertainment" WIPs - Two 'TNG' Starship crewmen and a 'TOS' member of the Landing Party

With my entry for Jez's "Forgotten Heroes" event over on his "Carrion Crow's Buffet" blog finally finished, I have been busy continuing to work on the three remaining Beastmen I started progressing in earnest a few months ago. I plan to use these "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" figures as Cultists or Ghouls for my games of "The Silver Bayonet" by "Osprey Publishing", so want to get them tabletop ready 'toot sweet' now the weather has warmed up to the point where I can set up some scenarios in the garage.

Furthermore, it looks like next month's random drawer challenge will comprise of more "Star Trek" miniatures by "Modiphius Entertainment", so I have dutifully dusted down and (already) got going on three crewmen. The eagle-eyed Trekkies will quickly spot that two of my current batch are wearing 24th Century uniforms rather than those of The Original Series (TOS), and that's so I can hopefully field a "Next Generation" or "Deep Space Nine" flavoured landing party at some point in the future...

"And You Saw A Shadowy, Chain-Rattling Phantom?"

"If he's a phantom shadow, how come he leaves footprints?"

This 28mm scale white metal model is produced by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” and can be bought either separately as MINI 1338 Sheet Ghost, or as part of their DEAL 376 Ghosts two-figure set. The miniature is sculpted by Andrew May and clearly inspired by the Phantom Shadow as seen in the January 1970 animated "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!" episode, "A Night of Fright is No Delight".

Used as a disguise the "two no-good greedy lawyers named Cosgood Creeps and Cuthbert Crawls", I actually attempted to pigment my spectre using the colours seen in the cartoon series rather than the 'official' paint-job, so ended up applying a double dose of "Vallejo" Turquoise to the entire model. It was then dowsed in "Citadel" Nuln Oil before being dry-brushed with more "Vallejo" Turquoise so as to highlight all the folds in its sheets.

"Modiphius Entertainment" WIPs - This Vulcan scientist is having her base layers applied

The miniature's chain was simply 'picked out' using a combination of "Vallejo" Gunmetal and "Citadel" Nuln Oil over an Abaddon Black basecoat. Whilst its eyes and maw were carefully traced using some Rust Orange by "Two Thin Coats". I actually felt that this colour lacked the life I wanted for such a terrifying face, so ended up shading these areas with a smidgeon of "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade. I also took this opportunity to slightly deviate away from the broadcast version of the Phantom Shadow by giving its hands a lick op "Citadel" Abaddon Black - rather than leave them to 'merge in' with the rest of its body.

I'm actually now tempted to purchase a second one of these sculpts as there were actually two of the ghouls running around Colonel Beauregard Sanders' mansion, so I've added one to my Wish List for the next time I see "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" at a wargaming show. However, I am a bit loathe to buy a second identical pose. I did consider getting the figure as an STL (Standard Triangle Language) file from the company's collection on "My Mini Factory" and mirroring it - so it'd appear a little different. But sadly the Sheet Ghost doesn't seem to have been uploaded to the 3D printable object-sharing platform yet.

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - Various models at various stages of completion

In addition to my latest Scooby Doo villain, I have been busy assembling another member of the Away Team I put together a couple of months ago. I was planning to use the models for some games of "Lost Patrol" by "Games Workshop" and realised that I'd need five Federation crewmen to "locate a crashed dropship in a hostile, sentient jungle" rather than the four I currently own. To shake things up a bit though I thought I'd assemble one of the 32mm scale resin Vulcan females I bought as part of the Star Trek Adventures: The Original Series Landing Party Miniatures Set by "Modiphius Entertainment", and may well make her a 'Red Shirt' rather than the usual Science Officer.

Finally, I've been busy trying to sate my current appetite for more models produced by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio". This includes the remaining Beastmen I have yet to complete, as well as the rest of their "Scooby-Doo" inspired ghosts, ghouls and villains. Furthermore, with just a few days left until the end of Jez's "Forgotten Heroes" event over on his "Carrion Crow's Buffet" blog, I am going full-pelt on my kit-bashed Rick Sanchez figure...

"Three Teenagers Encounter A Ghost..."

"...Who is in limbo until he retrieves his lost head."

This 28mm scale white metal model is produced by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” and can be bought either separately as MINI 1339 Headless Ghost, or as part of their DEAL 376 Ghosts two-figure set. The miniature is sculpted by Andrew May and whilst clearly associated with the rest of the company's (not) "Scooby Doo" inspired villains, appears to have been influenced by the character of Malcolm from the 1959 British comedy horror film "The Headless Ghost".

Beheaded six hundred years in the past and condemned to wander about Ambrose Castle until his body and head are re-joined, the model was rather simply primed with "Vallejo" Dead White and washed with some heavily-watered down Ethereal Green by "Two Thin Coats". It was then very patiently dry-dry-brushed with some "Two Thin Coats" "White Star.

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - Three "Scooby-Doo" inspired sculpts

I did consider 'picking out' the monster's pupils with some red as per the miniature's 'official paint-job'. But didn't really like the look of this extra detail, so left the eyes well alone. Furthermore, I also momentarily felt that the figure might benefit from some blood or gore around its point of decapitation. Yet this seemed to be a bit gratuitous for a spooky ghoul who was merely chasing after 'meddlesome kids', so I decided to give that a miss as well.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, in addition to this first of my spectral ghouls by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio", I have begun plugging away at some more of their other "Scooby Doo" influenced sculpts. To be honest, I was sorely tempted to pigment them all in the same, no-nonsense fashion as my Headless Ghost. However, whilst I have seen someone online do just this - and mighty awesome they all looked too - I felt I wanted mine to stick closer to their animated incarcerations.

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - My 'Rick Sanchez' kit-bash is having all of his details 'picked out'

This has actually proved a little harder than first anticipated on account of Andrew May adding a lot more detail to some of the models than was seen during the original Warner Brothers Entertainment cartoon shows. But with a bit of patience I believe I may well have come up with some palettes that will both nicely represent the classic 1969–1970 designs, and still proved reasonably straightforward to paint.

Lastly, I've made some much needed progress on my entry for Jez's "Forgotten Heroes" event over on his "Carrion Crow's Buffet" blog. I've finally managed to get all of the basic colours blocked in for my converted Rick Sanchez figure (using various bitz and miniatures by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio") and basically now need to just tidy everything up before finishing off the mad scientist's lab-coat and hair... 

"He's The Freedom Fighter."

"A symbol of the Wookiee resistance, striking at the Empire from the Shadowlands."

This 32mm scale hard plastic miniature of a Wookie Leader used to be produced by “Fantasy Flight Games” and can be found inside the company's old four-figure strong "Wookie Warriors" Expansion Box for "Star Wars: Legion". Fortunately, I was lucky enough to pick this one up second-hand and pre-assembled from the Retrocave Gaming Café in Poole, having previously pigmented the exact same sculpt some seven years ago.

As with my first painted miniature, the figure was undercoated with "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, and shaded with "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. However, as I wanted this Wookie to somewhat stand out from my other squad I only dry-brushed him with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna (to make his fur appear a bit darker), and then applied some rarely-used Beasty Brown on all of his numerous ammunition pouches. All of these areas were then shaded with "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade.

"Every great leader needs their own Wookiee."

I next simply applied some "Citadel" Abaddon Black to the Wookie's bandoleer, and later patiently 'picked out' its ammunition clips, as well as the Rebel's Ryyk Blade and Kashyyyk Pistol with "Vallejo" Gunmetal. These parts were subsequently all washed with plenty of "Citadel" Nuln Oil. Furthermore, I dabbed the Warrior's nose and eye sockets with a smidgeon (more) of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, before dabbing the odd gun-holster strap using a combination of "Vallejo" Beasty Brown and "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade.

Alongside the last of my Wookies I have based and primed a trio of Spooks and Ghosts produced by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" as part of my third monthly randomly-selected drawer-based challenge. To be honest I initially thought that all of these monsters were 'inspired' by the Warner Brothers Entertainment franchise "Scooby Doo". However, having done some basic 'Google-Fu' it would seem that the likes of the Headless Ghost didn't surprisingly appear within the "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!" television episodes as I had thought.

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - Sheet Ghost, Undead Astronaut and Prospector Ghost

In addition, the sculptor Andrew May has added so much more detail to the figures than was ever shown on the animated cartoon show. From a wargamer's perspective this certainly makes the likes of The Undead Astronaut and Prospector Ghost far more interesting to look at. But from a painter's point of view my plan to quickly rattle out a trio of straightforward paint-jobs, which largely just needed a basic undercoat, wash and dry-brush, has been significantly torpedoed in its tracks.

I'm also not terribly sure just how many of these ghouls I can get tabletop ready over the next few weeks, as having searched through my backlog I actually found I own quite a few of these evil-doers. I did initially think that I might make good use of some of them with "The Silver Bayonet" by "Osprey Games". Albeit I'm now more inclined to simply pigment the Lincolnshire-based company's Meddling Kids set too, and devise a homebrew version of "The Silver Bayonet" which better utilises the flavour of the classic 1969-1970 cartoon series instead...

"Dwelling Underground In Deserted Cave Systems..."

"...These leathery predators using echolocation to track and target prey."

This 100mm tall resin cast model of a Giant Bat is produced by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” and can be bought as MINI 1064 from their Beasts and Vermin range. Sculpted by Pedro Navarro, the miniature comes in three pieces, and has an impressive wingspan of 90mm. I had hope to initially include it as part of my contribution to the "Monster May(hem)" monthly challenge over on "Dead Dick's Tavern and Temporary Lodging" blog. But now it'll form part of my third monthly randomly-selected drawer-based challenge - as that's where it was headed back to before my dice roll.

Super-glued onto a plastic xxmm circular base, I first tackled the monster's rocky base by treating it to an undercoat of "Vallejo" Neutral Grey, a shade of "Citadel" Nuln Oil, and a dry-brush of (more) "Vallejo" Neutral Grey. The flying mammal itself was then primed using plenty of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna before being doused in "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade, and being thoroughly dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna.

"Fantasy Flight Games" WIPs - This Wookie Warrior Leader just needs some additional washes

I also used this opportunity to patiently 'pick out' the Giant Bat's body with a highlight of "Vallejo" Heavy Brown, as this would make its pure "Citadel" Abaddon Black face, ears and feet stand out just that little bit more. Furthermore, I carefully dolloped a couple of spots of "Vallejo" Heavy Red and "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson over the creature's pupils to make it look a bit more vampiric - which is what I plan to use the brute for.

In addition I decided that the figure needed its large brown wings to be 'broken up' just a little more, so slowly traced out its claws with a combination of "Two Thin Coats" White Star and "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. Unfortunately, the "Games Workshop" Shade went all blotchy on these areas (again), so I ultimately decided to make amends by dry-brushing some extra White Star by "Two Thin Coats" across the claws. To be honest I've experiencing this issue with "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade quite often these days, and despite buying new pots the problem still seems to surface. Resultantly, I'm not a fan of the new formula at all and plan to move on to an alternative.

"Dragoon Miniatures" WIPs - Krillin, Chiaotzu and Piccolo

Alongside this right handful of a model, I have also managed to get some time working on the Wookie Warrior Leader I recently purchased whilst visiting "Retrocave" in Poole. Manufactured by "Fantasy Flight Games" and now apparently Out Of Production (OOP), this fur-covered figure has a lot more detail on him than the other members of his squad I've pigmented, so is taking a bit longer to get tabletop ready than I first anticipated.

Lastly, I've been binge-watching the early episodes of Japanese anime television series "Dragon Ball Z" and understandably got myself in the mood to game some Manga-style martial arts. Luckily, I stumbled upon "Dragoon Miniatures" Patreon, so have downloaded a fair few of their early STL (Standard Triangle Language) files as they cover the characters I'm currently familiar with. Unfortunately, their pre-supports haven't proved a great match for the suction taking place inside my resin vat, so these three models - Piccolo, Krillin and the tiny Chiaotzu, are the first combatants I plan to work on as they're the only ones to survive my initial print...

"Big. Covered In Fur. Strong."

"At the end of the Clone Wars, numerous Wookiees were slaughtered by the clone troopers."

This 47mm tall hard plastic miniature of a Wookie used to be produced by “Fantasy Flight Games” and can be found inside the company's old four-figure strong "Wookie Warriors" Expansion Box for "Star Wars: Legion". Luckily, I managed to pick this one up second-hand and pre-assembled from the Retrocave Gaming Café in Poole, having actually painted the exact same sculpt some seven years ago.

As with my previously pigmented miniature, the figure was primed with "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, and shaded with "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. However, as I wanted this Wookie to somewhat stand out from my other squad I only dry-brushed him with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna (to make his fur appear a bit darker), and used the somewhat lighter Heavy Brown on his ammunition pouches. All of these areas were then shaded with "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade.

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - This Giant Bat will be used as a vampire in "The Silver Bayonet"

Having decided to simply pigment the relevant areas of his bandoleer in "Vallejo" Gunmetal, I also used this metallic acrylic paint to 'pick out' his two ryyk blades too. These parts were then all washed with some "Citadel" Nuln Oil. Finally, I dabbed the Warrior's nose and eye sockets with a smidgeon of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, before 'picking out' his teeth using a combination of "Two Thin Coats" White Star and "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade.

In addition to my penultimate Wookie I have managed to make some considerable progress on the whopping resin cast Giant Bat I recently dug back out from one of my cabinets. Produced by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio", this 100mm tall model is one of four figures I intend to finish as part of my third monthly randomly-selected drawer-based challenge.

"Citadel Miniatures" WIPs - Joe Bananas is having all of his detail 'picked out'

However, my plan to predominantly pigment the brute black has somewhat changed on account of the sculpt's noticeable detail. As a result I intend to turn the fiend into something resembling a brown bat, so I can (hopefully) better show-off all of its fur and wings, as well as it still having a pair of piercing red eyes staring out of a largely dark coloured face. Furthermore, I've already added some lighter brown highlights to the vampire's fur-covered body to help it contrast a bit more from that of its huge wings.

Lastly, I've made some nice in-roads on my classic Joe Bananas figure by "Citadel Miniatures". Dating back as far as 1985, this 'muscle' for the Judge Dredd villain Don Uggie Apelino is finally getting both the time and attention that he needs, and should hopefully be tabletop ready within the next few days. I did encounter a few problems trying to ascertain which parts of the hoodlum's tommy-gun were metal and wood. But have since worked these out - at least to my satisfaction anyway.