Friday 15 April 2016

"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.

26 comments:

  1. I always liked Swamp Thing. Great fig! He wouldn't look out of place in the Seeds of Doom!

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    1. Thanks Gordon. I have a Swamp Thing mini coming Gordon. This is Man-Thing from "Marvel Worldwide", Swamp Thing is the "DC Comics" variant ;-) You're quite right though he wouldn't look out of place in "Seeds Of Doom". but first I'm hoping to pair him up with Howard The Duck for some quacking good fun ;-)

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  2. That Man Thing is a great looking miniature Simon and great progress on Furiosa, cracking conversion.

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    1. Cheers Michael. The Man-Thing is one of better "Heroclix" minis out there imho. And whilst Furiosa's conversion was rather simple, it was worth it.

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  3. I do like your Swamp Thing figure and whilst I know he is meant to be a hero it struck me that he'd make a fine villain for your proposed Doctor Who "The Seeds of Death" project, You could use him as an Abomination if you used the Zombicide rules. Just a thought!

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    1. Thanks Bryan. Man-Thing is more of an anti-hero than anything so inclusion within a game of Zombicide wouldn't necessarily be against his character. Indeed he's battled many a Marvel superhero in his time :-)

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  4. Very nice model of Man-Thing (Definitely not Swamp thing),. I nearly made a comment about your "Giant sized Man thing" but as you know I'm above that sort of thing......sort of.

    See you later.

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Cheers Roger. LOL ;-)

      Looking forward to our annual meet-up myself :-)

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  5. Yay! Man-Thing! 'Nuff said. : ) Excellent mini mate. :)

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    1. Thanks PulpCitizen. Nice and simple, but looks good on the tabletop imho :-)

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  6. "Whosoever knows fear...bruns at the touch of the Man-Thing!" Cool character, cool figure, cool paint-job. Nice work, Simon. And it was lovely to finally meet you at Salute. I have to say your outfit put ours to shame. Had you previously been at the wedding fayre across the way? ;-)

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    1. Bruning obviously being the part prior to the actual burning, similar to a light toasting...
      I wish Blogger gave you the option to edit your replies.

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    2. Many thanks Jez, and it was an absolute pleasure to meet your top self too, my friend. I'm also very grateful to you for bringing along those comics. The "Teen Titans" issues have quite nicely filled a little hole in my collection. Though will now encourage me to fill the rest ;-)

      I tend to wear a waistcoat and jacket where-ever I go these days. But as it was so hot in "Salute" I felt just a waist-coat would suffice for the day - half-standards I know :-)

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    3. Heh heh. You can also just resubmit your edited reply Jez, and I'll delete the previous one just as soon as I comment back :-)

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  7. So sorry to have missed you and Jez at Salute today, gutted :-(

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    1. Gutted myself Andy, as you were much-missed I assure you. Hopefully the opportunity will present itself again at another show later this year?

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  8. Excellent job on Man Thing. Nice progress on Duggan and nice conversion of Furiosa. Shall look forward to there completion!

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    1. Thanks Simon. Man-Thing has turned out very well imho. Both Duggan and Furiosa shouldn't be too far behind either.

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  9. I love a good conversion and ol' Furiosa certainly qualifies as such. Nicely done, sir.

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    1. Cheers Finch. 'Twas an easy one as I'm sure you're aware. But well worth the effort imho.

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  10. I can't get my head around the 'man thing' being a hero, but see it (him?) as a great monster, but what the hell do I know ? Great paint job on him nevertheless.

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    1. Thanks Joe. Glad you like the painting. The Man-Thing is very much an anti-hero as opposed to being a super-hero, so does cause consternation where-ever he goes. He's one of Marvel's monsters which enjoyed its height of popularity in the Seventies and seems to struggle in this day and age of comics. As the recent cancellation of "Howling Commandos Of SHIELD" shows.

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  11. THe walking broccoli looks fab mate. Those red eyes really stand out from such a dark face.

    Furiosa's new arms is perfect! Well done. Excited to see her all finished and mean-looking.

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    1. Much appreciated Dai. Man-Thing was reasonably simple to paint but, as you say, its all in the eyes. I'm glad I put the extra effort in on Furiosa. Still a lot to do on her. But hopefully she'll be worth the effort.

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  12. Lovely Man Thing dude! His eyes are following me around the room. Furiosa is looking good too, cracking conversion.

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    1. Cheers Bob. Hope Man-Thing isn't creeping you out too much ;-) Furiosa has come out okay, so hopefully you'll approve of the paintjob once she's done.

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