(Lead) Mountain Musings - "G.I. Joe" August 2017

"G.I. Joe" WIPs - Snake Eyes and Sergeant Slaughter

This month's themed attempt to try and reduce my ever-increasing horde of metal, plastic and resin models has been severely influenced by the infectious enthusiasm of PulpCitizen ("Eclectic Gentleman Tabletop Gamer") and Simon Quinton ("Brummies Wargaming Blog") for a "line of action figures produced and owned by the toy company Hasbro" called "G.I. Joe". Indeed, the dynamic duo's regular blog posts featuring different members of the G.I. Joe Team, as well as the evil Cobra Command, have proved so persuasive, that I have actively sought out and acquired some surplus miniatures from a private collector in order to let me join in their "ongoing struggle" to keep the Free World safe from the terrorist plots of the Cobra organisation.

Resultantly, I aim to paint up a handful of 28mm scale metal miniatures which are based upon the franchise's characters when they were originally sold as carded 3 3/4 inch action figures back in the early Eighties. This was a time of great change for the "American icon among toys", as it had evolved into "an elite military unit" rather than just a representation of the four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces; so kindly expect some outrageous colour schemes and probably the last thing you'd want to wear if you were genuinely "dedicated to defending freedom against the evil Cobra..." 

Timber WIPs - The wolf has been undercoated, washed, drybrushed and now layered with grey

To start this mini-project off I have decided to paint "one of the original and most popular members of the G.I. Joe Team", Snake Eyes, and the "G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero" character, Sergeant Slaughter. I've actually managed to make some good progress on "the team's original commando" due to my 'mirroring' of the action figure's 1985 black-grey palette, and additionally, finished the olive-coloured boots on G.I. Joe's formidable drill instructor.

Finally, inspired by a suggestion from Brummie, I've begun work on one of the wolves "Leading Edge Games" sold in order to "support the Bram Stoker's Dracula board game (1992) and roleplaying game (1993)". This particular sculpt is from their Creatures of the Night set, and will hopefully make a perfect proxy for Snake Eyes' wolf Timber. 

Zygon WIPs - The "Doctor Who" monsters have been primed, shaded, dry-brushed and detailed

With so much attention currently placed upon "G.I. Joe" it would be all too easy to believe that my collection of "Doctor Who" miniatures by "Warlord Games" have been left simply gathering dust on my painting table. But instead all I have done is temporarily just re-focus my "Into The Time Vortex" mojo upon some reasonably straightforward painting subjects.

I have wanted to increase the number of Zygons I can field in a game of "Doctor Who: Exterminate!" since the shape-changing extra-terrestrials were beaten by a Dalek invasion force during my recent "Cube Of Death" battle report, and this momentary desire to tackle a less-taxing series of aliens is just the opportunity I need. In fact, two of the "metamorphic humanoids" are already close to completion, with another four miniatures, generously gifted to me, waiting in the wings...