Heroclix Howard The Duck

Taken from the Marvel Secret Invasion "Heroclix" range by "Wizkids", I first removed Howard the Duck from his dial base and then from the two poor-looking dustbins the tiny plastic model was actually sculpted standing upon. He then sat on a shelf for several months before I finally painted him up using a selection of "Vallejo" colours, most notably Heavy Red for his jacket, Heavy Sienna for his trousers, Heavy Blue for his hat and tie, Heavy Ochre for his webbed feet and beak and White for his feathers. To try and generate the impression of bird's down, I treated all of Howard's white areas with a mixture of Pale Grey Wash and watered down Heavy Bluegrey, before 'dappling' them with more White. Both the trousers, feet and beak were then washed with "Citadel" Devlan Mud, whilst his hat and tie washed with Asurmen Blue and the jacket with Baal Red.

I'm not actually a fan of this figure as the "funny animal trapped on a human-dominated Earth" I grew up reading about in the late 1970's never wore trousers. However Disney's intervention (as Howard too closely resembled Donald The Duck) eventually resulted in Steve Gerber's creation wearing a pair of trousers; and this model is based on this later incarnation. In addition Howard regularly wore a blue jacket with red tie (whilst this model's attire is the opposite way round) but I was loathe to paint any additional layers on an already quite thickly painted model. 

Stilt-Man is model number 57 from the Marvel Sinister set and was simply super-glued together (as the plastic model comes in three pieces) before I undercoated him with "Citadel" Boltgun Metal and then washed him with Nuln Oil. I painted The Brain, from the DC Collateral Damage range, in a similar manner but picked out the DC Comics super villain's actual brain jar with "Vallejo" Heavy Red and a wash of "Citadel" Baal Red.

 The final model of this "Heroclix" batch is actually the first of several copies of the Thug from the Marvel Infinity Challenge set I plan to use as Minion Extras with the "Savage Worlds" "Super Powers Companion" explorer's edition. The miniature's vest was originally painted with a disappointingly ineffective "Vallejo" White undercoat and wash of Pale Grey and "Citadel" Ogryn Flesh, but I then repainted him with a combination of Heavy Bluegrey and "Citadel" Nuln Oil. His trousers were painted with an old pot of Shadow Grey I found and washed with Asurmen Blue.