Sunday 18 June 2017

"The Very Definition Of Corporate Control."

"A terminal virus within the body corporate."
This 28mm plastic “Wizkids” model of (the) Ghost can be bought as miniature number 28 from the Marvel “Heroclix” Armour Wars range. The super-villain turned "anti-hero figure" was originally created by David Michelinie and Bob Layton to be "one of Iron Man's foes", and made his first comic book appearance in the June 1987 issue of "Iron Man". An "anti-capitalist saboteur who seeks to destroy various political and economic institutions he views as oppressive", the Ghost wears "a battlesuit of his own design" which "enables him to turn himself and any objects he touches invisible or intangible."

Primed with “Vallejo” White in order to 'cover up' its initial pre-paint, the former IT researcher was washed with Pale Grey and then dry-brushed with more White. His eyes were then 'picked out' with the careful application of some watered-down "Citadel" Nuln Oil.
"After ten seconds, the blood pillar will recede and in its place will be the devil..."
In addition to completing my member of Thunderbolts, I have also finished re-working an old "Wizkids" plastic column into a grisly objective marker/piece of scenery. This particular 48mm tall model is from the out of production "Mage Knight" Dungeons Miniatures Game Artifacts Set 1, and could arguably have simply been super-glued to a base and varnished; it's pre-paint was so good. However, I quite fancied dry-brushing its multiple-faced column, and felt if I was going to do that, then it only seemed reasonable to start from scratch...

As a result, I undercoated the entire figure with "Citadel" Chaos Black, applied a couple of layers of "Vallejo" Heavy Red to the gory pillar, and washed this area with "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson. Once dry, the column was highlighted with more "Vallejo" Heavy Red, and I completed the '3D dungeon accessory' by painting its stone base and capital with a combination of Dark Grey and "Citadel" Nuln Oil.
Brass Bull WIPs - The "Menaian Bull" has been primed and layered
Finally, I have started preparing a number of "Reaper Miniatures" I plan to use for my forthcoming "Metamorphosis Alpha" and "Expedition to the Barrier Peaks" campaigns. The models are all from the company's various "Bones" ranges, and whilst I'm not admittedly a fan of the "unpainted polymer" they're cast in, I really don't think you can quibble about their price; especially for some of their larger monsters.

This Brass Bull is a good case in point, and measures an impressive 90mm from tail-tip to horn-point. Admittedly, I'm not quite sure how I'll utilise quite such a formidable-looking adversary when Level One of Gary Gygax's "Dungeons & Dragons" module consists of just the Officials, Officers and Technicians Quarters. But I'm pretty sure I'll come up with some reason as to why the adventurers encounter a "Menaian Bull" amongst the crashed spaceship's maze of corridors, compartments and automatons. 

40 comments:

  1. Very nice, Simon. I had been eyeing up that Reaper Bones Brass Bull - no idea what I'd use it for, but the sculpt and price make it a!most irresistible. I shall be looking toward to seeing what you do with it.

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    1. Thanks Jez, I've picked up a load of "Reaper" "Bones" from Ebay recently, as the prices were great and included free P%P; all of them will be gracing my "D&D" projects over the coming months. I've almost progressed far enough for another WIP of the Brass Bull, so hopefully you won't have to wait too long to see how the brute is coming along :-)

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  2. Lovely work on the Ghost and the Blood Pillar repainted its harder to tell they are heroclix/mage knight pieces.

    I really like that Brass bull figure and can't wait to see it finished.

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    1. Thanks Simon. Tbh to can rarely go wrong topping a "Heroclix" repaint, but the "Mage Knight" pillar had a good paint-job to begin with. The Brass Bull is getting plenty of attention, but due to its size, it's taking a while.

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  3. Very nice work on the Ghost as well as the Blood Pillars; excellent stuff. :)

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    1. Cheers Leon, glad you enjoyed this double-helping :-)

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  4. All well painted. All looking good.

    Guess you had a busy weekend.

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    1. Thanks Clint. I'm actually usually a few posts ahead with my finished minis, but I did get a lot done this past weekend, which makes a change.

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  5. Great job on the pillar and ghost Simon, are you going for a weathered look on the bull or shiney ?

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    1. Cheers Dave. I'm certainly not going to be able to resist giving the Brass Bull a nice blue patina, so it'll be the weathered look for me!!

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    2. Cool can double as a statue as well then

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    3. Yep. I've a few stone golems on my painting table too, so no reason why all of them couldn't just be harmless statues... at least until someone 'uncovers' the wrong objective token that is :-)

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    4. always good when you can get more than one use out of a model

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    5. Oh yes, and quite a few of these "Bones" models seem to work as statues/ornaments as well as living beasts.

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  6. All my life I`ve been looking for a Dungeons and Dragons Gorgon (which is not the mythical Medusa woman with snakes in her hair, but a huge terrifying metal bull). This is the closest likeness to the iconic D&D monster I have EVER seen (5th Edition Monster Manual page 171, though I was sure earlier Monster Manuals show the bull as brass coloured).

    I have a PDF of the Mage Knight artefacts and the original rules used to govern them. The pre-paints pretty good arent they: just found ours out again (by sheer luck) the other week. I like what you`ve done with your pillar. I seem to recall there are three different pillars in the MK set?

    The converted Ghost figure looks suitably ghoulish too. Very nice, and quite macabre and atmospheric really.

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    1. I must confess, Hils, as a big fan of "The Gorgon" from 1964 (one of Peter Cushing's finest films imho), I was utterly thrown by your initial comment. But having checked my copy of "Osric" (what a corking book), you're absolutely spot on, and from henceforth I shall now refer to it as a Gorgon.

      The blood pillar was one of three columns in the "Mage Knight" set, so I'm going to have to start rummaging around and see what else I can find, as I think it makes a cracking objective marker.

      Glad you like the Ghost. I've only ever known him as a Spider-Man villain, so he he'll form part of Webhead's Rogue Gallery in my games; though I understand he was a sort of a hero for a while.

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    2. The 1964"The Gorgon" with Peter Cushing is a absolute CLASSIC. I still go out of my way to watch a Hammer Horror film when ever I see one on Sky, and we have several on DVD. Fall of the House of Usher. The Raven, Pit and the Pendulum, stand out to me as true `princes` of British horror.

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    3. Big fan of their early stuff "Dracula" and "The Mummy"; as I paint listening to them quite a bit. Sadly I also really like "Dracula AD 1972" - again, great to paint to.

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  7. The Gorgon in the Pathfinder rpg Bestiary (p 165) has a suitably frightening picture for this awesome but fiendish beastie. But again shows it looking like gunmetal. I too thought it was brass/gold coloured. Guess I am wrong, I have never used one in my games lol. But wow what Id give to get my hands on THIS miniature Simon, its truly amazing. Its just crying out "play with me." I`m massively looking forward to the mammoth forthcoming Barrier Peaks adventure.

    Good it see the MK terrain being put to good use; and Ghost is looking pretty darn cool.

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    1. Yep. There's no specific metal mentioned in "Osric" either Steve, just "thick metal scales", so mine is staying Brass/Bronze coloured. I'm looking forward to "Expedition To The Barrier Peaks" too as it'll hopefully mean I've painted enough minis to do its opening scenario justice.

      Thanks for the comments Ref the "Mage Knight" column and the Ghost. I'm getting up a nice head of steam currently, and profusely painting as a result.

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  8. It looks far nicer in shiny brass, the way Simon`s done it. hmmmmm, I`m confused now as I too thought the D&D Gorgon was always depicted as a giant brass demonic bull.

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    1. Cheers Tarot. I do believe "Reaper Miniatures" do a smaller mechanical Bull, so I might pick that up at some point and go with a rusty steel palette so I can field both.

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  9. I like Ghost.

    Are you sure that when you say "political and economic institutions he views as oppressive" the chap wasn't referring to certain wargames companies? If I'd written that in certain areas of the WWW. I'd be in for a barrage of abuse from the fanboys. Both aren't that bad, I know :)

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    1. Thanks Roy :-) I'm currently a huge fan of the 'Evil Empire' and I'm sure you won't be surprised to know I've a few "Warhammer 40K" 8th Edition posts lined up for the future; especially as many of my Nurgle "Age Of Sigmar" minis cross directly over to the new system ;-)

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  10. You could go with the old classic "A gigantic statue of a metal bull stands in the corner, it`s so lifelike, its hard to imagine it wont spring into life at any moment."

    Of course, this wont happen until a player character tries to do something it shouldn't (open a door, steal the emerald, press a switch), at which point the brass Golem springs into action with a menacing rusty roar, ready to defend its station.

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  11. All are cool figures, Simon. Your brushwork is, as always, top notch.

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    1. Thanks Bryan. High praise indeed as I'm not sure the Ghost or "Mage Knight" are "top notch", but they're tabletop worthy and I greatly appreciate the sentiment :-)

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  12. Oh how you treat us Simon, an absolutely mesmerising Ghost and a gigantic brass Bull - just your average day on the Fantorical blog. Brilliant as ever Sir.

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    1. Cheers Michael. I do try very hand to stick to a three-subject/genre format for my posts. That way there's hopefully always something for a viewer to enjoy, and sometimes they're interested in all three :-)

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  13. "Ghost" is a great looking mini, very sinister.

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    1. Thanks Joe. Sinister is precisely what I was aiming for!!

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  14. my fave has to be the Bull, very nice indeed and I echo the thought that it can double up on statue duty until an unlucky adventurer steps on the wrong tile....

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    1. I'm hoping to apply a blue patina to the beast tonight, Andy, and see where that takes me.

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  15. Ooh, I like the Ghost, great application of an essentially all-white paint job.

    I noticed you just commented on Painting Agency... how did you co/me across my blog, if I may ask?

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    1. Thanks and Hi, Allison M. I spotted your blog on "Brummies Wargaming Blog"; we've been following one another for ages, so I don't know why I didn't spot a sci-fi/Doctor Who like yourself before.

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    2. Yes, I've got a modest collection of old-school Doctor Who, though admittedly haven't painted any recently... :)

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    3. "Old-skool" Doctor Who is very welcome here, Allison :-)

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