Wednesday 17 May 2017

"The Daleks Are Never Defeated!"

"I am a soldier, I was bred to receive orders."
These three 28mm scale "easy-fit plastic" models of a Dalek are made by “Warlord Games” and form part of a twelve-strong force found within the "Doctor Who: Exterminate!" "fast-paced tabletop miniatures game". Conceived by Terry Nation and designed by Raymond Cusick in 1963, these particular sculpts are based upon Henry van Statten's so-called "Metaltron" shell, which first appeared in the April 2005 BBC Television series story "Dalek".

Having previously painted my force's Patrol Leader, Dalek Sec, these three Skaro mutants will provide me with enough miniatures to field one of his faction's two Dalek recruitment cards. These 'bring in three Daleks each' and will ultimately allow me to field seven of the "master race" for the rule-set's introductory scenario "A Meeting Of Metal".
Necron Raider Objective WIPs - The partially destroyed robot has been thoroughly rusted
As I dislike playing with unbased figures, and because these models were a little too large for the 30mm lipped bases I have used for the rest of the "Into The Time Vortex" range, the Kaled Mark III travel machines were super-glued onto 40mm lipped circular stands before being primed with "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna. I then gave each Dalek a double coat of Brass, liberally washed them with "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, and then gave them a heavy dry-brush of more "Vallejo" Brass. 

With the basics finished, I subsequently picked out their eye stalks, control arms and multi-range variable power destructors with some "Citadel" Ironbreaker and Nuln Oil, and additionally painted the Daleks' audio scanners with "Vallejo" White and Pale Grey. As a last touch, I used some "Citadel" Abaddon Black to coat the pepper pots' fenders.
Gang Fighter WIPs - The Boromite has had his armour, equipment and wiring finished
As something of a distraction from the world of "Doctor Who" I have been merrily distressing a partially destroyed "Games Workshop" Necron Raider. This old Second Edition "Warhammer 40K" miniature has been based on its side in order for it to represent a battered, rusty objective marker. But has also provided me with an opportunity to try out a colourful Egyptian-theme on part of its metal exo-skeleton before I finish 'weathering it'...

Finally, in order to restore some of my "Beyond The Gates Of Antares" sanity, I have momentarily stepped away from trying to batch paint ten Boromites, and instead simply worked my way up just one of "Warlord Games" science fiction sculpts. Interestingly, this change of pace has worked wonders for my brush speed, and the miniature now only needs to have his grey flesh retouched and washed before being finished. 

56 comments:

  1. Daleks are such Iconic sci fi bad guys.

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  2. The Daleks look great Simon, the Necron objective marker has a great feel to it. Glad the trick on the Boromites helped

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    1. Thanks Dave, and many thanks indeed for the Necron Scarab beetle, which has arrived. Very much appreciated :-)

      I was genuinely starting to wilt just looking at my Boromites, so focusing upon just the one model was literally the only way I was going to paint any of 'em.

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    2. No problem Simon, better being used than sat in a drawer doing nothing. sometimes it can get that way with a project, just needs a step back and approach in a different way to get it back on track

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    3. Very true, Dave. I'm hoping to have a couple finished by the end of the weekend now :-)

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  3. Excellent work on your Daleks, Simon. I have just ordered mine from Warlord Games. I am uncertain whether to base mine or not, I won't decide until I see them in the flesh but I have to say, a 40mm diameter base seems very big to me.
    That Necron has come out superbly well.
    Good work on the Boromite, although I do find his over-sized pants ridiculous looking. Does his bum look big in them? Hell, yes!

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    1. Cheers Bryan. The Daleks are pretty big beasties tbh, and as a bit of the base is taken up with its lip, I actually found there wasn't much room for flock. The Necron has been re-rusted, and now just needs dry-brushing, whilst the Boromite's girdles are proving increasingly demoralising to paint tbh...

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  4. I agree with the guys above, tha dalek looks triff in brass. But I think the necron has to be the winner today, he looks amazing - great work mate

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    1. Thanks Andy. My fingers are crossed you like the finished rust bucket :-)

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  5. The Dalek looks superb...definitely my favourite version of Dalek...as does the Necron Raider!

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    1. Cheers Gordon. Its good to finally have some painted Daleks having been painting "Doctor Who" miniatures for so long.

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  6. That Necron looks so good mate! Could both be an old non-functional piece for scenery's sake, or a nice instance of a Necron "rising from the dirt" after sitting docile for millennia.

    Daleks are shiny and ready to Exterminate!

    Good to hear you are enjoying painting those Boromites more so. So easy to become overwhelmed by the prospect of having to paint so much at once. He's looking good so far sir.

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    1. Thanks Dai. Three more Daleks to come, and considerably more Necron Raiders/objectives. I'm hoping to have a few finished Boromites done soon too :-)

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  7. That's in, I cave in, I am just going to have to have some Daleks now!

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    1. Splendid news, Michael. but what about all those "Blake's Seven" minis I know you've bought?

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    2. I have just been looking at them and feeling rather guilty, still we all have to suffer for our art. :D

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    3. "feeling rather guilty" - Quite right too!! Fancy buying a range of models and not painting them up. You won;t catch me doing that ;-)

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  8. All good work Simon, though lie everyone else I like the Necron best. Sorry but I still cant take to the Boromites, perhaps as Bryan said it's the "belly warmer" pants (Though I hope to god they don't do them in thongs!).

    Cheer Roger.

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    1. Cheers Roger. I think the Boromites are certainly one of those like 'em or loathe 'em ranges. I really liked the look of them when I first bought them, but now I find them hard to work with, and build up any sort of enthusiasm for either.

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  9. loving those Daleks. I just ask a tentative question, are you sure they look right on grass flock basses? Wouldn't metal plats, stone, brass even.. be more suitable. I just don't see (in my minds eye) Daleks wandering about that much on much grass.

    The miniatures themselves look great though.

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    1. Thanks Hils. I base all my miniatures on the self-same grass bases, as that tends to predominantly be the surface I game on. The only ones I don't are my ice-based ones for "Frostgrave" (and Mister Freeze). Plus they did roll across the grassland in "Day of The Daleks" ;-) It's just a personal choice (and indeed I even used the selfsame basing for my Mad Max Interceptor, despite supposedly being driven on the drylands).

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  10. I totally love how you have painted your Daleks, they look just like they do on the tv show. Very nice Simon. I do agree about the grass though. While in itself the basing looks lovely (on any other figure), I do question if its right for Daleks and a sci-fi setting?

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    1. Cheers Tarot. Glad you like 'em. As per my reply to Hils, I like all my miniatures to be based the same way, and who can forget this classic invasion of Earth scene from Jon Pertwee's era ;-)

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNrrM362GNk

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    2. Interestingly, for years I did the same as you, I themed all my guys bases on one thing - grass. It was only when I started to do a lot of dungeon crawl minis (back a few years ago) that I switched over primarily to all stone and rubble. The grass works fine on those Daleks, as you show in that clip.

      Aaaaahh, magic moments from the past. That clip took me back a bit.

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    3. yes you are dead right, they look fine on grass don't they.

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    4. "I themed all my guys bases on one thing - grass" - Yep, its a hard addiction to now break too, Steve, even when a lot of my games these days take place on modern day/or slightly futuristic cityscapes. Glad the clip took you back, the scene actually gets a bit of stick, what with the Dalek invasion consisting of about 3-4 Daleks, but I thoroughly enjoyed it when I first saw it and continue to do so :-)

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    5. "they look fine on grass don't they" - I think so Tarot, but admittedly both the Daleks and Cybermen will look a little odd when using the "Exterminate!" boxed set's space station paper play mat.

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  11. Loving those converted Necrons. You`ve not only made a suitable conversion, but I think you`ve managed to improve the original models no end. My favourite in the one on the right with the blue on his chest.

    incidentally, out of interest. Looking for something completely different earlier today while up in the attic, I came across my own Necrons (and Scarabs) from yonks ago. I heard something metal ratting about in a tool box and opened it up to take a look and there they were looking up at me. Must be a dozen or them at least. so woohoo yeeey go me ;) Quite exciting actually.

    Love the Daleks Simon, possibly the nicest painted Daleks I`ve ever seen. Sadly I do agree about the grass though, not sure about it mate.

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    1. Thanks Steve. Glad you like the Necron objective, I was absolutely delighted that Dave Stone sent me some additional reinforcements, but horrified at him having chopped a couple of minis' limbs off for cyborg conversions, so I had to do something with them :-)

      That's a splendid find Steve, and hopefully they'll be featuring on "The Game Cupboard" at some point? I certainly plan to try and expand my Raider force come September and "Colours".

      Delighted you love the Kaled Mark III travel machines. Have a look at the above YouTube clip, and see if that changes your mind about Daleks and grass ;-)

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    2. Uuuugh no no *Gulp* limbs chopped off nooooo, sacrilege *chuckles* still what a lovely gift hehe, and the objective markers do look great.

      I did change my mind about the grass (yep, you are right.... said so above ^^). Looks absolutely fine. I`d completely forgotten that episode. What a cool blast from the past.

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    3. "but horrified at him having chopped a couple of minis' limbs off for cyborg conversions" you should see what I've done with limited addition models ! Have really upset some high ups in GW with those

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    4. Glad you liked it Hils, surprised you haven't entered Bryan's comp (Vampifan) as there is a Tweak model up for grabs and noticed you said you wanted one

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    5. "still what a lovely gift hehe, and the objective markers do look great." - Thanks Steve, I just need to flock the first of my Necron objective markers and I'll post it up. As you say, top marks to Dave for the gift - they're awesome minis... even the butchered ones ;-)

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    6. "You should see what I've done with limited addition models" - Gulp!! I'm still losing sleep trying to source a couple of pairs of original Immortal arms for those two torsos you sent me, Dave :-)

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    7. They were from a couple of mispack pieces where the arms were missing in the pack so I got the pack for 50p. If you get the chance to come up later this year remind me to show you what happened to the limited edition piece !

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    8. Thanks Dave, I look forward to seeing the 'horror show' :-) It's not as if you fiendishly also sent me some partially sawed pieces of a Necron Destroyer either afterall ;-)

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    9. Ah yes the remnants from a Necron dreadnought conversion each of the GW stores had to make we started with a imperial titan and lots of green stuff to add the egyptian style detail

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    10. "Necron dreadnought conversion" - Now that truly must have been a thing of beauty, Dave. Love to see some pictures of that if you ever took any :-)

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  12. Oo, just watched it myself. Yep that's grass alright, I think that's game set and match to you Simon hehe. I`d never have guessed it without seeing that clip. Very exciting too wasn't it. Made me want to watch more of that episode plot line.

    Best line in the clip was the Doctors: "Try and use your intelligence man, even if you are a politician." lol very nice..

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    1. I've been a huge fan of "Day Of The Daleks" since I first saw it on BBC Video as an abridged TV movie. Sadly the updated version with 'improved sfx' from a few years ago was a bit disappointing. Glad its made you appreciate Daleks on grass though ;-)

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  13. {{{and hopefully they'll be featuring on "The Game Cupboard" at some point?}}}

    I`ve already for them earmarked for JD robot wars, and Stevie has them earmarked to double up as Terminators. I`m sure they will make many an appearance.

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    1. Excellent. I look forward to seeing that particular posting Tarot, and as you say, the old Necron Raiders would make excellent Terminator proxies :-)

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  14. Simon, remember I told you I found my old Necrons out, quite by luck? Well I had a chance this morning to look through the tool box they are in and found other treasures in there too... including (and this gets me REALLY excited) the original 8 mini metal boxed set of "Gaunt's Ghosts" (not the newer remakes, these are the real macoy original set). I also found an entire squad of really cool metal Orcs from the same year, and an entire set of winged metal Traitor Legion Raptor Chaos Marines: these are simply awesome. Khorne right? Also a few Termagants and a few other odds and ends. Heck I think I almost got enough here to take up Age of Sigmar (which I know positively nothing about) but I suspect these old minis would be totally no use in this new age version of 40k?

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    1. "Gaunt's Ghosts"!?! Awesome stuff, Steve, you sound like you might have enough minis for a couple of gangs for the new "WH40k" skirmish game "Shadow War". I've not seen the rules for 8th edition yet, as they've not yet been posted, but apparently they'll be free :-)

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  15. You've surpassed yourself with the Daleks, just when I thought there wasn't a lot you could do with them.
    Great use of the necron figure though he did look 'alive; to me at first!
    The Bormomite is coming along nicely, they're getting to be quite a force now.

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    1. Thanks Joe, glad you like the Daleks. Still a bit of work to do on the Necron objective, but he should be flocked and finished soon. Sadly, the same can't be said for the Boromites... I have a lot more to paint yet!!

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  16. Great stuff. I love the Dalek, but the Necron objective is really good. Those old GW figures really have a certain charm. Shame I got rid of mine a few years back.

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    1. Cheers Mark. Three more Daleks to go and then I'll be finished with them, for now at least. The Necron objective should be posted next week too. Sorry to hear about you getting rid of yours. Tbh though if it wasn't for Dave's generosity, i wouldn't own these.

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  17. Daleks look great Simon. Where they quite quick I often read complaints of the time it takes to paint them but your method you described seems quite a quick one.

    Yeah batch painting isn't my strong point either I often end up making more mistakes. The boromite is coming along nicely.

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    1. Thanks Simon. Um... the Daleks are reasonably quick to paint. I do them in batches of three, so the main steps, prime, brass, brown wash and brass dry-brush are simple enough. The time-consuming stuff is black undercoat for the eyes, stalks, neck vents, plungers etc, and then the metal work and white etc. The final step is simply tidying all the brasswork up with a few cuts of extra brass here and there. So probably a couple of hours per model?

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  18. Your first completed Dalek has come out really well, Simon. Look forward to seeing these in play. And the time spent on the Necron was well worth it - I usually see these just painted up as not-Terminators, and the addition of Egyptian-style detailing really makes it stand out.

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    1. Cheers Jez. Three daleks down, with just the last three to go. And I also much prefer the Necron Raider look with the Egyptian collar.

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