"It's The Aliens Again, I'll Bet My Pension."

"What do you want this time, you green swine?"

This 28mm scale "pewter" model of the "Donna Noble's grandfather", Wilfred Mott, is produced by “Warlord Games” and forms part of the five-miniature strong "Tenth Doctor And Companions" boxed set. "Unusually open-minded about the extraterrestrial", the "strongly patriotic former soldier" was first seen in the 2007 BBC television story "Voyage Of The Damned" and is the fourth (and final) of my weekly submissions for this year’s Mo’Vember Challenge with Dick Garrison (of “Rantings Under The Wargames Table” fame).

Initially undercoated with a double helping of "Vallejo" Charred Brown, the elderly stargazer's shoes were picked out with a combination of Heavy Sienna and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, whilst his trousers were painted with German Grey and "Citadel" Nuln Oil. In order to give the tenth Doctor's final companion a splash of colour, and in order to stick with Mott's colour guide as per the "Into The Time Vortex" website, his jumper was treated to a layer of "Vallejo" Heavy Blue, his shirt collar Iraqi Sand and his hat Heavy Red. These areas were then washed with "Citadel" Asurmen Blue and Carroburg Crimson respectively.

The Mausoleum WIPs - Three long-dead swordsmen in different states of completion

Somewhat frustratingly, considering that the figure is based upon the likeness of actor Bernard Cribbins, Wilfred's model comes clean shaven, and as a result I had to try and build-up the illusion of whiskers on Gramps' face using paint. In the end I had to settle for a base-coat of "Vallejo" White, with a wash of Pale Grey, and then finally some more White. But overall I was very unimpressed that such an instantly recognisable characteristic of the Tenth Doctor's final companion wasn't included as part of the sculpt...

Moving away from "Warlord Games" "officially approved by the BBC" wargame, and turning instead to this month's "Frostgrave" theme, I have finally started to make some progress on the first of ten plastic "North Star Military Figures" skeletons I want to finish so as to be able to re-enact The Mausoleum scenario from the skirmish game's rule-book. Initially I was planning on painting the Undead warriors as colourfully as their live counterparts but have subsequently changed my mind and instead used a far more sombre, decaying palette of browns and greens.

James Kirk WIP - The Captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise has simply been primed for now

Announced back in July 2016 by "Modiphius Entertainment", as part of the development of "Star Trek Adventures", this 32mm soft resin miniature of Captain Kirk had successfully eluded my attempts to acquire it until the recent "Warfare" show in Reading, when I was finally able to sign-up for the playtest of "the first new official Star Trek role-playing game to be produced in more than a decade" and collect one for free. Eventually the model will apparently become available in "collector's blisters as well as crew packs giving you whole away teams or bridge crews from different eras". But for now I simply wanted to get hold of one just so I could see how well the range will paint up.