"Of Course You Know My Voice, Creature."

"Surrender unto me, and you shall live to see the new dawn of this world."

This 28mm plastic “Wizkids” model of Grigori Efimovich Rasputin is miniature number 82 from the Indy “Heroclix” range. Based upon the real life Russian mystic with the same name, this comic book supervillain was created by Mike Mignola and John Bryne for the “Dark Horse Comics” title “Hellboy”, and made his first appearance in the 1994 mini-series “Seed Of Destruction.”

This model was a very generous gift from Roger over on “Rantings From Under The WargamesTable” and has genuinely made me appreciate how difficult it must be to quickly batch-paint a load of miniatures for distribution. For initially I felt this figure’s pre-paint could not be worse. But having then tried to paint the Summoner’s armbands and bangles myself I quickly came to realize just how tough the sculpt made them to access with a paintbrush.

Hellboy WIP - Lots of tidying up yet to do but at least now his trademark trenchcoat is finished 

I have seen this model re-painted with some quite lovely flowing red robes. But as I wanted to simply mirror the “Wizkids” colour scheme, and that of the comic books, I went with an initial undercoat of “Citadel” Abaddon Black. I then simply ‘picked out’ the mad monk’s chest pentagram with “Vallejo” Heavy Blue and his phoenix emblem with Gold. These areas were then washed with “Citadel” Asurmen Blue and “The Army Painter” Strong Tone Quickshade respectively. Rasputin’s (curved) sword and armbands were painted with a combination of “Citadel” Ironbreaker and Nuln Oil. I also considered painting the black magician’s eyes red, as per the “Heroclix” pre-paint. But again decided upon following the character’s look in the comics.

Having been in a “Hellboy” mood, I have also started to re-work my “Horroclix” Amung Un Rama. This plastic figure still has a long way to go. But I’ve actually re-done the demon’s coat so it’s a lighter brown than before and thus better represents the colour used in his publications. In addition it means I’m free to use a darker brown for his heavily-pouched belt without these areas all merging into one on the miniature.

Red Hulk WIP - This large sculpt is seriously muscular and may need dry-brushing to bring out the detail

In addition I have finished dry-brushing my Silver Surfer with “Citadel” Ironbreaker, and now just need to give Galactus’ former herald a final layer of shiny silver. Frustratingly I’ve also fitted the miniature to his “Mongoose Publishing” flight stand and found that I had to drill right through the galactic traveller’s surfboard in order for it to fit. As the base is transparent plastic I may simply leave it as is or touch the model up once finished.

Finally I’ve undercoated one of my favourite “Heroclix” miniatures, having based him ages ago. This Red Hulk sculpt is huge and full of dynamic energy. It was also another model I had to search out for across the Pond as it seems to be rather rare in the United Kingdom.