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| "Where he steps, we follow! Where he fights, we fight!" |
This 28mm plastic “Wizkids” model of the Black Panther is miniature number 24 from the Marvel "Heroclix" Avengers range and originally consisted of "T'Challa, king and protector of the fictional African nation of Wakanda" crouched atop a roughly-carved stone sculpture of a humanoid leopard's head. However, as I wasn't happy with the vines shown wrapping around the scenic feature, and already a little concerned as to the figure's evident scale-creep, I cut the Avenger off of his towering stand and instead super-glued him to one of the 25mm round bases I use for the majority of my "Heroclix" re-paints.
Created by Stan Lee and Jack "King" Kirby for the July 1966 issue of "Fantastic Four", the member of the Marvel Universe's Illuminati was primed using "Citadel" Abaddon Black, heavily dry-brushed with "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal and washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil. I then picked out the expert martial artist's belt with a combination of "Vallejo" Gold and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, and his eyes with a couple of dabs of "Vallejo" Dead White.
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| Feculent Gnarlmaw WIP - The scenic piece has been patiently assembled and primed "Vallejo" Charred Brown |
One of my most earnest desires for this year was to try and not purchase any more miniatures until "Salute" in April, and thus give me at least a fighting chance to reduce the size of my formidably-tall 'lead mountain'. Sadly however, the recent release of the "Age Of Sigmar" battletome "Maggotkin Of Nurgle" by "Games Workshop" has rather scuppered that, as I have already succumbed to temptation and purchased one of the (new) range's Feculent Gnarlmaws.
This disgusting tree really does look unbelievably dynamic once assembled, but additionally contains some of the flaws which make the Nottingham-based company's multi-part plastic kits so difficult to work with. To begin with, this particular scenic piece appears to be made of a somewhat sterner material than that used for the actual tabletop wargame's miniatures, so it was rather unforgiving in 'budging a little' whenever I had (seemingly) erroneously misaligned a piece and thus subsequently needed it to sympathetically bend to where its join needed to be.
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| Feculent Gnarlmaw WIPs - The tree has been dry-brushed with "Vallejo" Charred Brown and Heavy Sienna |
The model's instructions for assembly also fail to include that you really don't want to permanently attach the Gnarlmaw to its wonderfully detailed stand (as I have done) until you have, at the very least, undercoated the "struggling creature" and its maggot-infested base. This phenomenally important aspect to successfully painting the entire ensemble has completely caught me off-guard, as the boxed set's accompanying "Citadel" booklet indicates this is one of the first things you must do, in order to correctly affix all of the kit's other pieces.
As a result I have only managed to prime my model's very visible interior by using a mixture of "Vallejo" Black, Charred Brown and "Citadel" Nuln Oil" and then literally pouring the concoction through its heavily-fanged maw in the hope that it'll cover all the bare plastic inside. The Gnarlmaw also is not a six-component kit, as advertised, but one which consists of twenty-nine parts. Indeed, just the tree's three "large bulbs describing a Nurgle icon, covered in chitinous bumps and boils" comprise of more than half a dozen plastic pieces...
Great work on Black Panther Simon, he looks fantastic.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear of your woes with your new plastic piece from GW, hopefully you can get round the problems and deliver another rotten mass for us to marvel at
Thanks Dave, I'm really pleased with how T'Challa has turned out. I'm hoping that my woes with the Gnarlmaw are now over and I can focus on its strengths :-)
DeleteBlack Panther must have been one of the easiest figures you've ever had to paint. It's not a bad sculpt and it certainly shows off his muscles. Good job, Simon.
ReplyDeleteCheers Bryan. I think T'Challa is somewhat larger than most "Heroclix", hence my decision to remove him from his base.
Delete"I'm Batman.
ReplyDeleteAh. No. Sorry.
I'm Black Panther."
Sorry, couldn't resist :P
Does the tree-thing have a movement stat in the game? Or does it, sort of, just sit there?
Ah, just realised it ain't no tree. Permission to mock me, granted.
DeleteIts not a problem, Roy :-) The Gnarlmaw is a terrain feature, so simply sits there and allows nearby Nurgle units to charge as well as run in the same turn, plus attacks any non-Nurgle units foolish enough to venture closeby.
DeleteNice work Simon.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ray, much appreciated :-)
DeleteGreat looking job on The Black Panther Simon, and wow! what a monstrosity The Gnarlmaw is - and I say that in a positive sense (which is rare from me regarding GW these days, but there's no denying their recent Nurgle models are marvelously horrible) :-)
ReplyDeleteCheers Greg. The Gnarlmaw is indeed a monstrosity, and I have plenty more "Games Workshop" Nurgle coming too ;-)
DeleteI like the Black Panther and having painted a different version I know that black does take a bit longer than you would think when you are shading up musculature etc. That Blight Tree is a great model, so it is a shame that the kit was a bit "challenging" to put together. Hopefully it wont put you off giving it a tip top paint job and we can get another monster tree in your top ten! Have to agree that the new Nurgle models look ace!
ReplyDeleteThanks Undercoat. The tree will certainly be rather time-consuming I'd imagine, but there's plenty of detail to pick out, so hopefully it won't be as bad as it initially probably looks.
DeleteGreat work on Black Panther, and what a neat pose too :) 29 parts on that GW model!!?? No thanks lol!
ReplyDeleteCheers Ivor. I'm pleased with Black Panther, and as for the Gnarlmaw; well let's just say its probably going to be a while before its finished :-)
DeleteLike the Black Panther. Nice sculpt too, looks suitably heroic. The Gnarlmaw has caught my eye too. Since I'm doing 40k maybe a few on a world blessed by the return of the Death Guard!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mark. I was very tempted to keep T'Challa on his rock, and initially painted doing so. But then his scale hit me, and I thought he'd look better crouching on the ground. The Gnarlmaw does have rules for "Warhammer 40K", so it should fit in just fine :-)
DeleteYet another superhero that I've never heard f and I'm beginning to think you have a never ending supply of them too!
ReplyDeleteHe's rather simplistic, which mus have been a nice change from some of them tht you paint.
I'm sure my wife has had some dried plants that looked very much like the one you have too.
Ha Hah! Cheers Joe :-) Black Panther's movie should be released soon, so that might help you better understand one of my favorite Avengers. As for the Gnarlmaw - its certainly a beast and one of several new Nurgle minis I'll be tackling over the next few weeks.
DeleteAwesome job on Black Panther. I hadn't heard of him until the Civil War movie. I do like the look of his movie coming up. Not what I was expecting either
ReplyDeleteThanks Simon. I'm a big fan of the Black Panther, and enjoyed his early days as an Avenger. He has a very interesting background too, as the new movie shows :-)
DeleteT'Challa looks pretty badarse and musclebound. Very nice job on him.
ReplyDeleteThat Nurgle tree... I like the idea, like the fluff, but can't stand the model for them. Think I'll be making my own versions out of wire, foil and some sort of clay. Right after I put together this new Beast of Nurgle that I got for Xmas.
Cheers Dai. I must confess the Nurgle Tree is a pain and doesn't look painter friendly at all. I really liked it up until I put the branch in its back, then it became a handling nightmare. Think they should have stuck to a 2d(ish) version, if that makes sense. I too have the new Beast of Nurgle - what a brute :-)
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