Blake's Seven - "The Way Back" - WIP - Part Three

One of the painting techniques I use for all my miniatures, even 6mm, is ‘black lining’ or simply ‘boxing off’ the different colours on a figure with a thin(ish) black line. This is obviously quickly and easily done when the models are originally undercoated black but as I hadn’t done that with these Freedom Fighters by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” I’ve spent a fair few minutes separating the figures’ clothing, hands, weapons, belts and heads. As you can see this can be a really rough process as I’ll use an areas main paint colour to sidle up to the black later on.

I’ve since been working on the trousers of the models, and gone with a green-grey with black wash for ‘Blake’, a red wash for ‘Jenna’ and a brown wash over dark brown trousers for ‘Vila’. I’ve also painted the silver boot straps for ‘Blake’, treating them to a wash of Black shade as well and started painting his dark green jumper.

"Meow."

I’ve actually had this 28mm plastic “Heroclix” model of Catwoman on one of my shelves, undercoated black and ready for painting for at least a couple of years. A somewhat baffling situation as model number 37 from the DC Hypertime set wasn’t terribly difficult to paint, as you can probably imagine.

Having given the “Wizkids” figure a thin coat of “Citadel” Abaddon Black, simply to freshen up its look, I picked out the burglar’s famous whip with an old pot of Dark Flesh and then washed it with Agrax Earthshade. I then took some Boltgun Metal and picked out Selina Kyle’s eye-goggles, belt buckle and cat-suit zipper. All these areas were then treated to a layer of the shade Nuln Oil.

I did then consider picking out the lenses on Catwoman’s goggles in either red or yellow, as I’ve seen both colours applied, having had a quick look at how other people have painted the model on the internet. But as this is already a pre-paint I didn’t fancy my chances of being delicate enough with a brush tip to do the model justice. I figured I’d simply have a few attempts, fail miserably, and then go back over the areas with even more Boltgun Metal and simply ruin the entire look of the “Wizkids” model. Best to cut my losses, shelve my ‘Eavy Metal Syndrome’ and base the model. Besides, from four foot away the paintjob looks perfectly acceptable.

Sticking with the simple black, silver and flesh painting combination I’ve got some base layers on my masked bandit figure from “Boot Hill Miniatures”. Obviously the painting is a little rough at present, and needs to be cleaned up, but it lets me see where I’m going with the model; albeit I’m convinced the eye slits will be filled back in with black before the day is done as they look tricky…

I've been rather inspired to do a bit of Wild West by some of the superb sculpting and conversion work which can be found on the "Rantings from under the Wargames Table" blog. The first posting of the three parts can be found here:
http://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2014/09/05/28mm-sci-fi-wild-west-or-the-good-the-bad-and-greenstuff-week-1/

Blake's Seven - "The Way Back" - WIP - Part Two

These days I always like to undercoat my models their main base colour so I can more easily visualise their final overall paint scheme. In addition I find it also allows me (at least) to see each sculpts details more easily than a black or white undercoat. As a result I’ve therefore treated these Freedom Fighter miniatures by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” to double layers of “Vallejo” Heavy Grey, Heavy Violet and Green Brown respectively. Once dry I tend to ‘dress’ my figures from the ground up, so have concentrated on their footwear and trousers for now.

As I plan to paint the ‘Jenna’ model all-purple, as the miniature appears to be based upon one of the outfits the character wore in the early part of the science fiction television series’ first season, I’ve made her boot somewhat darker than the rest by simply washing it in “Citadel” Badab Black as opposed to the purple wash I have planned for the rest of the figure. For ‘Blake’ and ‘Vila’, having simply applied some black to their boots and shoes, I’ve gone with a coat of “Vallejo” Heavy Bluegrey and Heavy Sienna for their trousers.

"I am Groot."

This 28mm pre-painted plastic “Heroclix” model of Groot, is from the Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy Movie Starter Set by “Wizkids” and is number 105. I must confess that this two and a quarter inch tall model of the Monarch of Planet X is one of the main reasons I bought the six-figure collection in the first place; especially as the quality of both the sculpting and paintjobs on the rest of the models leaves a lot to be desired.

 

Unsurprisingly this was a really simple paintjob to complete. The miniature was first undercoated with two layers of “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna before it was washed with “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade. I then simply dry-brushed the entire model with more “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna and picked out the sentient tree-like creature’s eyes with “Citadel” Abaddon Black.

I’m also close to finishing Groot’s partner Rocket Racoon, having finished working on the tiny model’s face. I did try and attempt to pick out a load of the leather work on the front of Rocket’s costume but the detail of the sculpting was too indistinct as a result of the model being pre-painted, so in the end I’ve decided to simply re-paint the front of the "foul-mouthed, gun-toting, bipedal woodland creature" all the same colour. I have though managed to ‘pick out’ some strappings on the back of the figure.

 

In addition I’ve also based and started prepping a third figure from the Guardians of the Galaxy Movie Starter Set, Star-Lord. I’m really unconvinced by the look of this model and some of the sculpting looks rather difficult to paint. However I plan to have a go as the other Peter Quill “Heroclix” model I like, with him wearing his retro-futuristic Guardians of the Galaxy uniform, appears rather expensive on the second-hand market for a single plastic figure.

Blake's Seven - "The Way Back" - WIP - Part One

Recently I’ve been watching (and just listening) to the first season of the British television science fiction series “Blake’s Seven”, and as always seems to be the case, it has got me in the mood to take on the might of the dastardly Federation and strike a blow for freedom. I’ve actually been close to doing such a project a few times in the past, looking at either converting some of splendid space ship crew by “Heresy Miniatures” or even dropping a couple of scales for some colonist conversions via “Ground Zero Games”. In the end though I’ve gone with these Freedom Fighter models by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio”, and in doing so had a slight ‘light bulb’ moment. Why not get back into their excellent “7TV” rule set at the same time; especially as a Blake’s Seven expansion is available as a free PDF from the site here: http://www.crooked-dice.co.uk/wp/the-blakes-7-miniatures-game

 

As I was thus returning to both “Crooked Dice Miniatures” and “7TV” I could think of nothing more fitting than a small venture based upon the first episode of Terry Nation’s brainchild, which was entitled “The Way Back”. I still have a few other painting projects on the go at the moment, including the completion of a couple of Painting Challenges and a rather large World War One endeavour. But hopefully this one will actually take off over the next few weeks and result in not only a dozen or so posts, but a few battle reports as well.

I’ve had some real fun with a few of “Wizkids” “Heroclix” models over the past couple of weeks. I’ve still got some work to do on the Rocket Racoon, though I’m a bit undecided as to whether to simply leave his costume plain brown. But the Catwoman model from the early DC Comics Batman Alpha set is essentially finished. I have seen some versions of this pre-painted plastic figure with the cat-suit’s zipper painted silver and many more with the goggle’s eyepieces painted yellow or gold. But the model is a little bit too fiddly for my skills to do such tiny details justice and I like it the way it is.

Pendraken Miniatures Russian World War Two T70b Light Tanks

Unfortunately these three T70b Russian Light Tanks by “Pendraken Miniatures” have taken rather a long time to finally complete, despite having been extremely simple to paint. Indeed the 10mm metal models were just undercoated with “Citadel” Knarloc Green, before being washed with Thraka Green and then dry-brushed with more Knarloc Green. Each set of tracks were initially painted Abaddon Black before being picked out with Boltgun Metal and washed with Nuln Oil. The red stars are from the 144th selection of PNDC6 Russian Stars; a decal set purchasable from “Pendraken Miniatures”.

 

I have a few more of these lovely armour miniatures painted and based, and plan to return to my old copy of “Blitzkrieg Commander” by “Specialist Military Publishing” this weekend…

In addition I’ve finished painting my Groot “Heroclix” figure, so this lovely plastic model now just needs basing before I can get it on the table. Whilst my Rocket Racoon is also progressing, having undercoated all his fur and then washed it with a “Citadel” Nuln Oil wash. I’m hoping to finish him over the weekend.

Painting Challenge: Week Thirteen - 28mm Heroclix Miniatures

The subject of my final week’s Painting Challenge are six 28mm plastic models by “Wizkids” from their pre-painted “Heroclix” range. Five of the miniatures are copies of the Thug figure from the Marvel Infinity Challenge set. I actually painted an identical figure back in February and plan to use this as the basis for these guys’ paint scheme. The sixth model is Catwoman from the DC Hypertime set.

Sticking with the “Heroclix” theme, I’ve already started applying some coats of paint to Groot and Rocket Racoon from the Guardians of the Galaxy starter set. Although the model of the Monarch of Planet X is based upon the character’s design for the film, I much prefer the darker brown colour scheme used in the comic books, so have gone with a “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna undercoat as opposed to the silver birch grey of the pre-paint. I am aware that there are two (seemingly far larger) Groot “Heroclix” figures on the market which are based upon the Flora Colossus who debuted in Issue Thirteen of “Tales To Astonish”; including one wearing his Guardians uniform. But due to their prices (on Ebay at least) I doubt I’ll be picking either up until I next make a bulk order from the United States.

WW1 Egyptian Expeditionary Force - WIP - Part Two

I’m slowly progressing the painting of my World War One Egyptian Expeditionary Force but been slightly delayed working out a satisfactory ‘factory process’ for painting the numerous “Pendraken Miniatures” the project will entail. Sticking with my previously posted test models from code ME1 Imperial Infantry I’ve finally decided to simply separate the soldiers’ rifles, jacket, leggings and areas of flesh with a coat of black and then pick out the relevant areas with either “Vallejo” Heavy Skintone or Heavy Grey.

As (yet another) distraction I’ve also based up a couple of 28mm plastic miniatures from the “Heroclix” “Guardians of the Galaxy” six figure starter set. To be honest the majority of these models suffer with appalling sculpting and dreadfully thick paintjobs, but Rocket Racoon and Groot appear to be the best of the bunch.

Comic Capers Within a Universe of Mystery, Horror, Alien invasions and Super-Heroes

I thought a bit of self-publicity for a Cartoon Strip Blog I've started wouldn't go amiss. Especially as when I'm not painting or gaming, I spend my hobby time drawing these comic capers.

Please have a look: Mooretoons