Saturday 26 March 2016

"Muscle! Plenty Of Muscle! I'm Iron!"

"Doc --? Is this the way a robot's supposed to act?"
These three 28mm pre-painted plastic models of Iron, Gold and Mercury are by “Wizkids” and can be bought as numbers 015, 009 and 008 respectively from the toy company's “Heroclix” DC Comics: Crisis range. Created by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru in March 1962 these characters form part of the superhero group The Metal Men and made their first appearance 'as a last minute filler' in Issue Thirty Seven of "Showcase"; a comic anthology series published by "DC Comics".

Built by Doctor William Magnus, these three "advanced artificially intelligent robots" each have an individual personality which mirrors their namesake metals. As a result Iron is super strong, Gold can stretch his form almost infinitely and acts as field leader. Whilst hot-headed Mercury can "melt and pass through small spaces before reforming."
"What kind of robots are you? Speaking of emotions as if you were real people!"
Understandably each miniature was very straightforward to finish on account of their monotone colour scheme. To begin with the models were undercoated with either "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey, "Gold" or "Heavy Red". They were then washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil, “The Army Painter” Strong Tone Quickshade or "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson. Before finally being dry-brushed with more of their base colour.

Disappointingly Gold's thick pre-paint job did produce a somewhat unsatisfactory result using this technique on account of the figure's soft detail. Indeed there was a marked difference with the quality of the "Wizkids" sculpt to that of the infinitely superior See-Threepio plastic miniature by "Fantasy Flight" I recently painted in precisely the same manner.

In addition to progressing this enduring "DC Comics" Silver Age super-team I have also been working on some other "Heroclix" forces of justice for my "Cosmic Cube Wars" mass super-hero battles project. The first of these is an incredibly animated Spider-Man model, who will hopefully start leading a unit of Spider-friends known as the Outlaws (such as the Sandman, the Prowler and the Rocket Racer) when I've adapted some "Age Of Sigmar" rules for him.
"Heroclix" WIPs - Spider-Man, Gotham City Police Department officer and Charcoal
I have also based and primed three more Gotham City Police Department officers which I plan to use as standard law enforcement miniatures for my games. I have already previously painted up a few of these, but want to be able to field quite a few of them so they can be lead by the likes of Commissioner Gordon as well as Superman and Daredevil.

Lastly I have been rummaging through my "Wizkids" collection for any appropriate "Marvel Comics Group" villains turned heroes who joined the Thunderbolts; a group of super-powered criminals lead by Hawkeye who have supposedly turned over a new leaf. One such character is the fan-created Charcoal, the Burning Man. Capable of flight in a fiery form or transforming himself into diamond, the former member of the Bruiser Brigade had a short-lived publication life on account of copyright/ownership issues.   

30 comments:

  1. Very nicely done with the metal men, and looking forward to Alloy. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks PulpCitizen. Simple stuff whilst I progress a number of other more complicated miniatures. Hopefully a WIP of the huge Alloy will be coming soon as I've painted his Gold and Mercury arms at the same time as these guys, so he's coming along nicely.

      Delete
  2. That Spiderman figure is superb! He is so well animated. I don't recognise him. Is he a limited edition figure? I have a few of the Gotham City Policemen myself, but I don't really like the figure. He's neither good nor bad - just average. Charcoal looks interesting but I have never heard of him before. Ditto, with the Metal Men. Your paint jobs on them work very well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers Bryan, my Spider-Man was a show exclusive (on a white clicky base as I recall) but you can get the selfsame sculpt from the Marvel "Heroclix" Critical Mass range for just 49 cents. My latest "Troll And Toad" hasn't arrived yet. But I've marked one down for my next order for you. I love the GCPD officers myself, though the initials carved onto their chests are a little annoying when I want to use them as different police officers; albeit by simply painting them blue and inking over them the letters are hard to spot. Hopefully they'll be plenty of heroes coming that'll prove of interest to a comic buff such as your excellent self :-)

      Delete
    2. That's very kind of you to offer to get me that Spider-Man figure, Simon. I'd be really grateful. 49c sounds like a real bargain! I look forward to more of your superhero posts.

      Delete
    3. No worries Bryan. its the least I can do for the man who has sent me so very many excellent "Horrorclix" minis in the past. Just don't expect a "Heroclix" Galactus popping through your letterbox any time soon ;-)

      Delete
  3. Love that Spidey! And the Gotham Cop, too! Great figs!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers Gordon. Hopefully Spidey will paint up well too.

      Delete
  4. What a great bunch Simon, so colourful. On a completely different matter, I have started painting my forfeit for our Pulp Duel, you will need to tell me where to send him at some point.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Michael. I think they'll look rather good on the tabletop once I've finished the last of them. Ohhh... I'm looking forward to that mini enormously. But am happy to wait until "Salute" if it'll be ready in time and you're happy to meet up again?

      Delete
    2. That sounds like a plan Simon and I will make every effort to get it done in time.

      Delete
    3. No need to rush Michael, I assure you. As and when my good sir :-)

      Delete
  5. Progressing nicely, Simon. I see what you mean about Gold, he seems less 'defined' than the others, although his face is quite expressive. Good work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers Jez. The actual model of Gold is a little underwhelming too. but he's done and plenty more minis are sat waiting to take his place in my painting queue :-)

      Delete
  6. Great figures especially the web slinger!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I really like the metal men, and that's a good spidey too. I must admit though I've never heard of "Charcoal" though I remember Hawkeyes Thunderbolts, but never read the comics. He's a nice figure though and should paint up really nicely.

    Cheers Roger.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers Roger. I've just super-glued some lead-shot to their bases to give the Metal Men the heft they deserve, and should have the remaining two normal-sized robots finished soon. Alloy will take a little longer as he's huge! Plenty more lesser known superheroes en route including... the She-Thing :-)

      Delete
    2. Now She-Thing I do know, (both versions).

      Cheers Roger.

      Delete
    3. Aha... I thought you might :-)

      Delete
  8. I like the metal men, Iron being the best sculpt by far, but why, may I ask, is Mercury red ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers Joe. Mercury is red because at the time kids would think of mercury as being red from thermometers. Indeed Iron actually asks this question of Mercury when they're first created and Mercury replies "Its evident you've never seen a thermometer." In addition with some of the other members of the Metal Men also being a silver metallic colour, a bright red one undoubtedly helped for contrast :-) Glad you like them. They're one of my fave Super-groups of all-time and get very little limelight.

      Delete
  9. The spider sculpt is a cracker Simon! The metal men look good too

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers Andy, and many many thanks for the wonderful package I received upon returning home this weekend. Those minis are awesome and I'll do my very best to paint them up with some justice; especially as I want to use them for some BatReps asap.

      Delete
    2. No worries mate, enjoy! Looking forward to seeing them in their new clothes and working!

      Delete
    3. I will be posting up some WIPs. Hopefully you won't find them too heart-breaking as I paint over your previous work...

      Delete
  10. Lovely work on the Metal dudes Simon!
    Looking forward to your Cosmic Cube Wars reports with baited breath dude. I really like your cop figure too man.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Bob. Very simple stuff on the Metal Men tbh. Loads of super-hero goodness coming soon, with hopefully quite a few unusual ones thrown into the mix too.

      Delete
  11. These metal men don't look so goofy. I like the red fellow especially, it's an interesting sculpt.

    That Spidey one though.... is he trying out for the Olympic gymnastics team? :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers Dai. I'm a huge fan of "The Metal Men" and have avidly collected their appearances with the Caped Crusader in "Brave & The Bold". Sadly their own title is far too expensive to collect. but at least I have their minis ;-) I think the Spidey pose is awesome, and really shows off his athletic prowess :-)

      Delete