Sunday 20 March 2016

"Criminals Are A Superstitious Cowardly Lot."

"So my disguise must be able to strike terror into their hearts."
This 28mm pre-painted plastic model of The Batman is by “Wizkids” and can be bought as number 003 from their “Heroclix” DC Comics: World's Finest range. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger in May 1939 the Dark Knight made his first comic book appearance in Issue One of "Detective Comics" and has since gone on to become the second greatest "Comic Book Hero of All Time" after Superman...

As the original miniature supposedly depicts a "stealthy" Caped Crusader, I went with an incredibly dark palette of "Citadel" Abaddon Black undercoat, followed by "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal for the wall. I then washed the piece of terrain Bruce Wayne's alter-ego is hiding alongside with some "Citadel" Nuln Oil" before dry-brushing the area with more "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal.

Finally I painted The Batman's face with a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Fleshtone and "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade. His eyes were picked out with "Vallejo" White. Because I wanted to retain the deep dark look of the cowled vigilante I decided against highlighting his cape and instead simply roughly handled the model after varnishing it, in order to transfer enough grease 'n grime from my fingers onto the miniature so as to bring out the sculpt's details.
"Heroclix" WIPs: Plenty of washes and dry-brushing ahead for Iron, Tin and the Cosmic Cube  
Having now successfully participated in the Sixth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge and achieved my 500 point goal, I've started basing/priming a considerable number of "Heroclix" miniatures I intend to use for some large-scale tabletop battles using the somewhat contentious "Age Of Sigmar" rules by "Games Workshop". These games will at their simplest concern the forces of good fighting evil in order to stop them from acquiring the legendary Cosmic Cube (amongst other objective markers I plan to paint/create). But will feature characters clashing from a number of different comic book universes, such as "Marvel Worldwide", "DC Comics", "2000 A.D.", "Dark Horse Comics" and "Star Wars"...

The initial battle-lines for the opening skirmish of "The Cosmic Cube Wars" will involve a plethora of "Wizkids" miniatures I've already previously painted, and should see the despicable Black Mantra, amongst other super-villains confronting Commissioner Jim Gordon and the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defence in an effort to unlock the secret identity of... The Batman. Hopefully I'll have the BatRep ready for posting next weekend.
Metal Men WIPS: Lead, Gold and Mercury ready for some shading and dry-brushing 
In the meantime I have started assembling five of Doctor William "Will" Magnus' six Metal Men. These "artificially intelligent robots" are long-time allies of the Caped Crusader and as they all have single-colour paint schemes, should be pretty quick to complete. I may though need to apply some grey-stuff to one of Tin's hands, as the figure's limb is rather malformed on account of originally being attached to the side of Lead's bulky model (on the same base).

In addition I am currently trying to locate an affordable "Heroclix" sculpt of Magnus and Platinum. For although the DC Comics: Crisis range contains the pair as a single-base figure, the pairing is rather expensive for such a small(ish) pre-painted model.
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30 comments:

  1. Vampifan20 March 2016 at 16:09

    It is such a shame that Batman and the wall are fused together because Batman on his own would be superb. The wall, however, is at best, meh! Not your fault, Simon. You have to work with what you have. That said, you have painted this little vignette very well.

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    1. Blaxkleric20 March 2016 at 16:12

      thanks Bryan. The wall is undoubtedly something of a frustration to put it mildly. Still having the Dark Knight as an objective marker could have its uses ;-)

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  2. Simon Quinton 20 March 2016 at 16:22

    Looks great. Have you seen the Knight Models Batman animated series miniature it is superb! The metal men are pretty cool looking models nice to see the variety amongst them :)

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    1. Blaxkleric20 March 2016 at 22:52

      Cheers Simon. Yes I have seen the Batman Animated Series miniatures by "Knight Models"; they're on my Salute list as they do look very good indeed :-) Loads of variety with the Metal Men - another of my fave "DC Comics" super-groups.

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  3. Carrion Crow20 March 2016 at 21:44

    I've been eyeing up the Metal Men, as they're uncluttered sculpts that would make good conversion material. However, I do think I ought to paint some of the figures I've already bought, before getting more...
    Nice work, Simon and good luck with your hunt.

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    1. Blaxkleric20 March 2016 at 22:54

      Thanks Jez. The Metal Men will need a little work before being finished, at which point I may well bite the bullet and pay over the odds for Magnus etc simply so I have the set. But I have some time yet for the price tag to drop.

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  4. Unknown21 March 2016 at 00:10

    Batman second greatest superhero..... Naaaa the best and coolest hero from the DC universe is BATMAN

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    1. Blaxkleric21 March 2016 at 08:23

      I wholeheartedly agree Damon. But Superman is almost certainly one of the main reasons we have comic book superheroes in this day and age, and his legacy remains as a result. I've a few more sculpts of Bruce Wayne coming too, so you'll certainly see far more of the Caped Crusader than you will Big Blue on this blog :-)

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    2. Da Gobbo21 March 2016 at 08:35

      The Flash is my fave of the DC universe, just love that superspeed!

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    3. Blaxkleric21 March 2016 at 11:14

      I have a couple of Flash minis Andy, so the Scarlet Speedster will be seeing some love too I assure you :-)

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  5. pulpcitizen21 March 2016 at 00:29

    Batman is certainly an interesting sculpt that way, but as you note you are constrained to keeping it.

    Looking forward to seeing the Metal Men finished. :)

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    1. Blaxkleric21 March 2016 at 08:24

      Thanks PukpCitizen. This model would be awesome on this own but such is life and my poor sculpting skills. Hopefully you'll enjoy the Metal Men when finished, they're one of my fave Batman allies from the Silver Age of Comics.

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  6. Unknown21 March 2016 at 06:20

    Lovely work Simon. Beautiful Batman dude!

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    1. Blaxkleric21 March 2016 at 08:25

      Cheers Bob. Simple but effective I hope you agree.

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  7. Michael Awdry21 March 2016 at 07:27

    I just love Batman Simon, what a great piece.

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    1. Blaxkleric21 March 2016 at 08:26

      Thanks Michael. As he's the older version of Batman, I thought he'd make a fitting final contribution to our Pulp Side-Challenge.

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  8. Da Gobbo21 March 2016 at 08:36

    Some interesting sculpts there bud, I like batman but am a bit put off by the wall...

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    1. Blaxkleric21 March 2016 at 11:15

      Cheers Andy. The wall is annoying, but as an Objective Marker I think the vignette works quite well.

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    2. Da Gobbo21 March 2016 at 14:52

      Good choice, I think he makes a cracking objective :-)

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    3. Blaxkleric21 March 2016 at 15:00

      Thanks Andy. I think so too :-)

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  9. Zabadak21 March 2016 at 10:37

    OOh, batman has pianted up really well, shame he's been relegatedto use as a marker, but what a marker!

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    1. Blaxkleric21 March 2016 at 11:17

      Thanks Joe. I dislike minis with too much scenery, hence using Batman as an Objective Marker. But as such he should see a fair bit of tabletop action ;-)

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  10. Dick Garrison21 March 2016 at 15:12

    Loving the Metal men but you need the set mate!

    Roger.

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    1. Blaxkleric21 March 2016 at 16:17

      Cheers Roger. I know, I know... But before I part with the cash I want to get these painted up first, and I've yet to post Alloy ;-)

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  11. Dai22 March 2016 at 10:24

    Batman turned out fab mate! Really do like how he has the white eyes too.

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    1. Blaxkleric22 March 2016 at 11:20

      Thanks Dai. White eyes were the only way to go with this version of Batman :-)

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  12. Puuka11 April 2016 at 07:20

    For will and Platinum, there were newer versions in the Worlds Finest set that this Batman is from.
    http://www.trollandtoad.com/p1089669.html
    http://www.trollandtoad.com/p1089699.html

    I also found the Crisis figure with the two of them for $8
    http://herominis.com/will-magnus-platinum-cr049-dc-crisis-049.html

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    1. Blaxkleric11 April 2016 at 08:44

      Cheers Pukka. I do like the single Platinum mini... Not so sure of Will. He looks a bit small? Hopefully you've now seen I eventually managed to source the source the duo. But I'll certainly order that single Platinum next time I visit "Troll and Toad".

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  13. Unknown11 April 2016 at 07:22

    Also, some of the other metal men were in Worlds Finest, including Copper who wasn't in the original Crisis set. You can also get single versions of Lead and Tin which were also a duo in Crisis.

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    1. Blaxkleric11 April 2016 at 08:47

      Many thanks. Hadn't spotted Copper before. But that's another one to add to my shopping list next time I order. Love the Lead & Tin models too... May have to pick them up as alternative sculpts. Cheap as chips too :-)

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