"The Most Startling Swamp Creature Of All!"

"Whatever knows fear burns at the touch of the Man-Thing"

This 28mm pre-painted plastic model of Man-Thing is by “Wizkids” and can be bought as number 063 from their “Heroclix” Marvel Mutant Mayhem range. “A former scientist who was transformed into a creature composed of vegetable matter through the synergistic interaction of mystical energy and swamp mutagens”, the large, slow-moving empathic humanoid creature was created by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway and artist Gray Morrow, and first appeared in the "Marvel Comics Group" publication "Savage Tales" in May 1971. The incredibly strong ‘heap’ has formed many long-lasting partnerships with his fellow super-heroes over the years, such as Howard The Duck and Benjamin Grimm (a.k.a The Thing), and is currently one of the “Howling Commandos of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Standing an impressive 45mm in height, the beast was initially given an undercoat of “Vallejo” Heavy Grey in order to ‘mask’ its sub-standard pre-paint, and was then heavily washed first with “Citadel” Thrakka Green and then later with “The Army Painter” Strong Tone Quickshade. Once finished Ted Sallis’ alter-ego was dry-brushed with more “Vallejo” Heavy Grey before his eyes were picked out with a combination of Dark Vermillion and “Citadel” Bloodletter. I then indiscriminately dabbed more of the Strong Tone Quickshade over the Man-Thing’s limbs and torso.

"Dum Dum" Duggan WIPs - The S.H.I.E.L.D. Commander's boots, belt, holsters and trousers are finished

 Having completed the “accidental hero” I have now set my sights on completing the commander of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s team dedicated to handling the “stranger aspects of homeland protection”, Tim Dugan. This oversized “Heroclix” miniature of the Life-Model Decoy is already proving a little tiresome to paint on account of all the operative’s white webbing, belts, boots and gloves. But having finally laid down some final layers on his footwear and holsters, in preparation to wash these areas with “Vallejo” Pale Grey, I’ve taken some time out to both paint and ink the bottom of his all-blue uniform.

Dishearteningly I have five similar-looking, though no-where near as large, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to complete after “Dum Dum”, in order for the elite S.T.A.K.E. strike force to have at least some back-up on the tabletop. I do however have a little incentive to get these ‘foot soldiers’ completed soon as I’ve been able to source both a model of Manphibian and Nick Fury from across the Pond; along with some other S.H.I.E.L.D. reinforcements.

Imperator Furiosa WIPs - Having lost her arm, the road warrior is finally being painted 

Lastly I have made a little progress on my “Mad Max: Fury Road” mini-project by finally chopping off my converted “Copplestone Castings” Imperator Furiosa’s arm, and replacing it with the sword hilt of a spare “Wizkids” Silver Samurai figure I found. As a result the short-haired road warrior now appears to have her famous hydraulic mechanical left arm… or at least will once I have finished painting the artificial limb with some metallic colours.

Indeed having finished this simple alteration, I’ve subsequently managed to finish painting Furiosa’s shoe and sandal, heavily dry-brush her trousers in preparation for a “Citadel” Nuln Oil wash, and get some initial layers done on both her huge firearm and flesh.