Sunday 25 December 2016

"For Truth And Justice!"

"A fight's a fight. And I've never lost one yet!"
This 28mm pre-painted plastic model of Captain America is by “Wizkids” and can be bought as number 069 from their “Heroclix” Marvel Infinity Challenge range. Created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, Steve Rogers was used as a test subject for the Super-Soldier project during World War Two, and transformed by scientist Abraham Erskine "into a nearly perfect human being with peak strength, agility, stamina, and intelligence." Cast by the American government "as a patriotic superhero", the Sentinel of Liberty made his first appearance in the March 1941 issue of "Captain America Comics".

Originally undercoated with "Vallejo" Heavy Blue so as to cover the figure's original pre-paint, the model's boots and gloves were treated to a combination of Heavy Red and "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson. The veteran soldier's bulletproof shield was then painted with "Vallejo" Heavy Red, White and Heavy Blue. These areas were subsequently washed with "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson, "Vallejo" Pale Grey or "Citadel" Asurmen Blue. Lastly the "First Avenger" had his face 'picked out' with "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone, washed with "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade and highlighted with more "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone. As a last touch, Captain America's blue uniform was washed with "Citadel" Asurmen Blue before the entire miniature was gloss varnished.
"Heroclix" WIPs - Doctor Doom, Darkseid and Machine-Man
A somewhat big dilemma I then faced was finding a suitably-sized pair of five-pointed stars from my collection of decals. The detail on Rogers' shield, despite the model's somewhat thick pre-paint, had been raised high enough for me to simply draw the famous emblem with "Vallejo" White. But I wasn't so lucky with the "Timely Comics" character's chest and back. Fortunately I found a couple of ideally-suited stars (including their overlapping face stock) within my World War Two 'durable transfer' collection, and, after a couple of false starts, successfully put them in place.    

With plenty more "Heroclix" models on my painting table, the vast majority of which are eligible for the Seventh Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, I have spent some considerable time recently re-basing, gritting, and priming a myriad of super-villains such as Darkseid ("DC Comics") and super-heros like Machine-Man ("Marvel Worldwide"). In addition I have finished inking and dry-brushing a figure of Doctor Doom, and started to paint the Latverian monarch's famous suit of armour.
Karanak WIP - The "Finecast" Flesh Hound has simply been undercoated with "Vallejo" Heavy Red
Such an overwhelming number of plastic miniatures has still not stopped me assembling and undercoating my Nurgle Host's latest addition for "Age Of Sigmar"; albeit once again I have turned my attention to an allied Chaos unit rather than one specifically blessed by the God of plague, disease and destruction. Karanak is an especially nasty three-headed Flesh Hound, who can both act as a single model and summon an accompanying pack of savage beasts to "relentlessly hunt down the enemies of the Blood God."

34 comments:

  1. Hey, good to see you blogging on Christmas Day, Simon. Nice selection of figures on offer with "Cap" being the star of this show. You've done an amazing job on him. Have a great day!

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    1. Couldn't think of a better day to post, Bryan :-) Glad you like Cappy, he took a lot of effort, and will hopefully soon star in a "Dicemasters" BatRep or two soon. Merry Christmas my friend!!

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  2. Merry Xmas Simon, Cap looks great and good find on the transfers. Look forward to seeing what you do with the villains. That's a big beast as an addition to your AOS horde should be fun to paint

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    1. Thanks Dave. The decals are a little small as I had to allow for the extra room needed to accommodate their face stock. Karanak is a big beastie, and with five more Flesh Hounds to come, should prove a bit of a challenge for next month's "AoS" unit.

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  3. Although I am not a comic book fan I must admit I like your version of Captain America.

    Happy Crimbo Mate.

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  4. Some really nice work on Cap there Simon, I do like that Doc Doom figure a lot, that is a cracking sculpt.

    Hope you have a good Christmas.

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Thanks Roger. Cap was a bit of an effort tbh. Doctor Doom will hopefully be leading a big unit of Servo-bots and Doombots next year, so he's need to have a good paint-job.

      Merry Christmas, and many thanks for the comics. Very much appreciated :-)

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  5. Good work with Cap Simon. :)

    Merry Christmas to you mate. :)

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    1. Thanks Leon. Much appreciated. Merry Christmas :-)

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  6. Excellent work Simon, Merry Christmas!

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  7. I really love that classic cap!

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    1. Thanks Gordon. not the best "Heroclix" sculpt imho, but the colours have come out well!!

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  8. A great Captain America, Can you do Captain Britain next?

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    1. Cheers Phil. Much appreciated. I'm afraid the only "Heroclix" Captain Britain I own is a terrible figure; both badly under-sized and stretched out as if in flight. As soon as I source a decent sculpt though I will be painting him up.

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  9. A splendid Christmas post Simon, I hope you had a great day.

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    1. Cheers Michael. I trust your day was full of good cheer too!!

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  10. Always loved Captain America! I used to have an action man version of him as a kid.

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    1. Thanks Ray. Was that the classic figure made by "Mego" by any chance?

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  11. Seasons Greetings . You have nailed Cptn America alright ...very nice

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    1. Cheers Dave. Merry Christmas and many thanks the gifts :-)

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  12. Super work on the first avenger it's a nice pose to. You have got some great looking characters on the table

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    1. Thanks Simon. Glad to Cap done, and as you say, a lot more "Heroclix" to come.

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  13. I think this `super soldier` version of Capt A is one of my all time favourites of iconic greats. It simply oozes old school appeal and charm. I absolutely love what you have done with yours Simon.

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    1. Cheers Steve, very much appreciated. I don't usually try and do stripes or stars etc on my models. But for the Sentinel of Liberty I didn't see any choice :-)

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  14. Woohoo- go me ! I recognised Captain America straight away ! (Mainly because my grandson got two for Xmas! haha).

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    1. Yay Joe!!! Hopefully you'll recognise plenty more next year as I start working my way through a roster of "Heroclix" super-heroes and villains.

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  15. Oof! How did I get so far behind on commenting????? (I think I follow far too many blogs...)

    Cap. USA looks fantastique! The decal was a great idea. I should have done likewise on my Soviet tank instead of the clumsy freehanded stars.

    Karanak is a bit of a cartoony sculpt for my tastes, but I'm sure my mind will change on him as you get more work done. :)

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    1. No worries Dai, I very much appreciate your comments, so as and when you're able fella :-) Thanks on Cappy - I think he turned out rather well imho, and Karanak is progressing along a little bit...

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