Friday 15 January 2016

"They Live Only To Fight... And To Destroy!"

"Brainless creatures of almost incalculable power..."
These two brutish-looking 40mm tall plastic “Wizkids” models of a Mindless One are both miniature number 05 from the Marvel “Heroclix” Giant Size X-Men range. Summoned via magic to do the bidding of others, for they have no will of their own, these extra-dimensional beings have a rocky hide and no face except a single glowing eye. “Most often seen in the employ of Dormammu” the savage humanoids were created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, and made their first comic book appearance within the pages of Issue One Hundred and Twenty Seven of “Strange Tales” in December 1964.
"... Living only to fight, to ravage, to destroy!!"
Unsurprisingly, despite their girth, these figures required incredibly simple paint-jobs. But did give me the opportunity to try out my “Vallejo” USA Olive Drab as an undercoat. Once dry the models were heavily washed with “Citadel” Nuln Oil and had their cyclopean eye ‘picked out’ using a combination of “Vallejo” Heavy Red and the “Citadel” glaze, Bloodletter.
C-3P0 WIP - Having received lots of dry-brushing, this humanoid robot is almost finished 
Having finished such a simple submission to the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge I have found some time to progress my painting of the figures I want to use as my entries for the event’s Epic Fail Themed Bonus Round. These plastic miniatures will be based around Darth Vader's failed attempt to retrieve the plans to the Death Star from a pair of droids...
Rebel WIPs - The grey wash on R2-D2 needs cleaning up, whilst still early days on the Rebel Trooper
I have already managed to complete two "Star Wars" stormtroopers from the "Imperial Assault" boardgame by "Fantasy Flight Games" as well as their powerful master, the Dark Lord of the Sith. As a result I’m now just finishing a wonderfully detailed sculpt of See-Threepio, as well as his ever trusty diminutive companion, Artoo-Deetoo. If I can then I’m hoping to also include a few Rebel Troopers and perhaps at least one more Imperial ‘bucket-head’ to the mix. But failing that then these additional figures should be completed in time for next week’s regular submission instead.

24 comments:

  1. Lovely work Simon, the mindless ones are excellent, and C3PO looks spot on, Atroo looks to be well on his way too.

    That's quite a nice figure of a rebel trooper, bnut I've always been a stormtrooper man myself.

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Thanks Roger. I'm very happy with the Mindless Ones Roger, especially as they're so simple to paint. Its a shame I can't get some more. C-3PO is already finished and just needs basing etc, and R2-D2 isn't too far behind. I'll be posting some pictures of the Sith Lord and his bucket-heads early next week, so hopefully that'll sate your Imperial appetite ;-)

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  2. I'm loving the Star Wars stuff dude, I see a lot of black an white painting in your future tho with your imperials - I always come a bit unstuck with the shading of those. Have fun!

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    1. Cheers Andy. I've got a process in place now for the stormtroopers, which you'll hopefully see next week. The grey wash does make them a little 'dirty' looking, in my mind at least, but it also brings out all the detail on the sculpts.

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  3. I'm loving the epic fail theme Simon, brilliant idea and being a huge Star Wars fan you are going to be fairly sure of a vote from me if the rest of them are as good as these! I'm going for a movie theme too, a certain Mr. Schwarzenegger at the helm of an elite team - if I every get them finished!

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    1. Thanks Michael. There won't be as many minis in the submission as I originally hoped. But enough to get the theme across... I hope! Your entry sounds fantastic too... and sadly it sounds like I'll be picking up some new minis just as soon as I see it too ;-)

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  4. Nice work on the mindless ones they look fab. Nice start on C3-PO and R2-D2 I am getting more and more tempted by IA.

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    1. Cheers Simon. The droids come as a separate blister and are great-looking minis imho. I haven't actually played the game yet though as I want to paint up the minis first.

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  5. Brilliant. C3P0 especially looks great!

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    1. Thanks Gordon. C-3PO's gold highlights have indeed turned out well imho :-)

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  6. Nice work, Simon. Sometimes it's nice to have something that is relatively simple to paint - a sorbet to cleanse the palate, before getting into more intricate figures. The Imperial Assault figures are wonderful sculpts and I find myself more and more tempted. I'm with Roger - the Imperial have much cooler outfits.

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    1. Cheers Jez. The Mindless Ones were certainly simple... up until I needed a steady hand to 'pick out' their eyes ;-) There should be plenty of "Imperial Assault" minis posted over the next few weeks. I have made this my "Star Wars" month after all...

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  7. Wonderful work, as always, Simon. Your Star Wars figures are certainly impressive. I'm looking forward to more of your Star Wars posts in the near future. It's a good idea to have a themed month.

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    1. Very kind Bryan. The Mindless Ones were a nice simple project whilst I forged ahead with some Stormtrooper armour. I thought a themed month might give me a little focus, although I still have a few more minis to complete from last month's "Battlestar Galactica" one. So many minis and not enough time!!

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    2. Ha, ha! I know the feeling only too well!

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    3. You haven't been helping either with your recent Vampire and Zombie Survivor postings ;-)

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  8. Nicely done all around, Simon. C-3PO is a real standout. Very effective use of metallic paint.

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    1. Cheers Finch. C-3PO was really a test model to see how well the "Vallejo" Gold dry-brushed. I've a few bronze and gold statue creatures coming soon as a result.

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  9. I have been enjoying the Comic heroes. keep them coming. Or star wars I am enjoying that as well.

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    1. Thanks Clint. Much appreciated. I've a load more comic book characters coming, and plenty of "Star Wars" too :-)

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  10. Good work. The finish on C3PO is especially nice. :)

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    1. Cheers PulpCitizen. I'm delighted to say the droids are now finished and should be posted some time next week.

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  11. Star Wars done right! very nice, and the brass colour for '3PO is perfect.

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    1. Thanks Dai. Goldenrod has come out very nicely imho.

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