Thursday 8 February 2018

"Fist To Fist With The Savage Fury Of Wen-Di-Go!"

"This is my territory, intruder! Mine!"
This 33mm tall plastic “Wizkids” model of Wendigo is miniature number 046 from the Armour Wars Marvel "Heroclix" range and is based upon the "legend of the Algonquian peoples" which curses "anyone who commits an act of cannibalism in the Canadian north woods." Super-humanly strong and nearly indestructible, the "fur-covered monster" was created by Steve Englehart and artist Herb Trimpe. The creature made its first comic book appearance in the April 1973 issue of "The Incredible Hulk", and would go on to battle not only Bruce Banner's gamma-green alter-ego, but Wolverine and Alpha Flight.

"Normally depicted as a savage beast with no control", the model was initially primed using some "Vallejo" Dead White and shaded with Pale Grey. The figure was then patiently dry-brushed with more Dead White, before having its eyes 'picked out' with a delicate dab of Heavy Red.
"Money's nice. What's the body count?"
Considering that Wendigo is predominantly depicted in the comic books as fighting his adversaries in the snow, I was originally tempted to flock his base accordingly. However, having scanned through my magazines, and spotted several examples where those afflicted by the villainous condition have actually been confronted in green woodland, I decided to stick with my usual "Citadel" grass texturing.

Such a straightforward paint-job has also provided me with enough hobby-time to finish the final three "Gotham" gang members I want to accompany my criminally-minded cryogenics expert, Mister Freeze. The trio of converted 28mm plastic "Wizkids" Lackeys have all been painted almost identically to their predecessors, albeit the odd white and blue bobble hat, and bring to an end an exhausting eighteen month long project I first started as part of the 2016 "Forgotten Heroes" challenge.
"N-FX Game Design Studio" Illuminating Terrain WIPs - The scenic piece has been primed, washed and dry-brushed
In addition to super-villains, I have also been working on a piece of Illuminating Terrain by "N-FX Game Design Studio". I'm very grateful to the Nottingham-based company for gifting me this brilliant piece of battery-powered resin scenery, as it should make an ideal glowing rock formation for my "Doctor Who: Exterminate!" Zygon base.

Resultantly, I've stuck to precisely the same pigment palette as I've previously used on my "Warlord Games" Zygon models, and subsequently applied a double undercoat of "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone, a wash of "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson and a dry-brush of "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone over the model. I now need only apply some green and red washes to the terrain, dust some more "Vallejo" Skintone across it in order to replicate the technique I've applied to a few of the shape-shifting aliens' fungi-adorned bases, and it should be good to 'light up'..!

14 comments:

  1. Excellent work on the Wendigo. :)

    Along with Plasmus, you are hitting a nostalgic spot for me when it comes to villains. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks very much, Leon. I'm certainly enjoying all these classic villains currently I must say :-)

      Delete
  2. Great job on the wendigo and henchmen Simon, on the crystals base I notice some ground around the crystal, will you be painting it up to match the surrounding area ? If so paint two layers of black first, this will help stop any light shinning through the paint

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers Dave. The henchmen are long overdue, but helped push my partially-painted challenge tally up a little too.

      I don't plan on touching the crystals at all, and rather like the way the whole thing lights up tbh. If I was going to though, that's a top tip I hadn't thought of so thanks :-)

      Delete
  3. Wendigo looks very powerful and full of menace in that pose. Simple but effective paint job on him.

    Nice to see the bobble hat boys all together. :-)

    When I saw the crystal structures I assumed they were from Dave's WTW range, as he makes them in translucent resin of different colours. I look forward to seeing how they look when lit up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Bryan. Its good to get Mr Freeze's initial gang finished, and I'm hoping to put him on the tabletop soon.

      "N-FX Game Design Studio" have been working very closely with "Warlord Games" on some mdf scenery, though this particular piece of resin terrain is available straight from their E-store. I love it as it really seems to fit in with the Zygons, and looks awesome when lit - pics coming soon!! ;-)

      Delete
  4. Crystals that light up, oh yeah! Love the wendigo mini , nicer than the One for Dracs America

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers Andy. I do agree Ref "Dracula's America" and the ranges very disappointing Wendigo model. Interestingly in later "Marvel Comics" there was more than one Wendigo, so I'm tempted to paint up a pack at some point.

      Delete
  5. I like the Wendigo sculpt a lot and your paintjob is great. The shading is very well done and stands out while being subtle as well. A tricky balance to achieve but you have achieved it with elan. The Mr Freeze gang look great assembled and the crystals look funky!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Undercoat. I'm really pleased with Wendigo, and Mr Freeze's minions. Hoping to have the illuminated scenery finished this weekend if I can, and post some 'night-time' shots next week ;-)

      Delete
  6. White is a bugger to paint but that figure looks excellent.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers Phil. I always think patient dry-brushing is the key to white. You go through a lot of unused white on the tissue, but a few coverages with minimal paint on the brush seems to work really well imho.

      Delete
  7. A very impressive output this week and I like it all!
    I have come across the Wendigo before as a Cthulhu monster. I do like your rendition of it and the henchmen for Mr. Freeze, presumably now with a full gang he can enter the fray to take over Gotham?
    The crystal is a work of art that I wouldn't even attempt to paint, it'll be a great centre-piece and enhance any game -superb eye-candy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Many thanks indeed, Joe. I have another "Gotham" BatRep coming very soon, but it won't feature Mr Freeze; however, like Black Manta I'm hoping he will crop up from time to time to challenge the other crime lords.

      "N-FX Game Design Studio" have been very good to me with all these free goodies, and the base is particularly awesome-looking; especially with the lights off. I hope to have it finished soon :-)

      Delete