Monday 12 February 2018

"It's All Based Upon Symbolic Logic, The Same As You Use In Computers."

"Doctor Who" Cybermen Miniatures Display Stand by "N-FX Game Design Studio" & "Warlord Games"
This 170mm tall Cybermen Miniatures Display Stand is sold by "Warlord Games", and produced for the Nottingham-based company's "Into The Time Vortex" range by "N-FX Game Design Studio". Made of MDF and already painted a wonderful metallic silver, the rack does come in several pieces, so requires some assembly. However, the part's fit together very snugly, so no glue seems to be required.

Indeed, the joints are so tight that I'd actually recommend you don't try to simply push them together, but rather cover the pieces with a piece of cardboard, and then gently tap them in place with a small modelling hammer. This process really does transform the platform into an extremely stable plinth for your Mondasians, and despite the stand being advertised as "comfortably" accommodating nine miniatures, with three on each row, I'd argue it can easily handle twelve of the silver giants if you've mounted them on 25mm circular bases.
Darkmantle WIPs - The "strange magical beast" has been primed, washed, dry-brushed and highlighted
Ordinarily, I wouldn't post about a simple display stand, but in this case the detail etched into the frame is so good, that I actually plan on purchasing a few more and turning them into Cyber-platforms for a Cyber-base. The "Tomb Of The Cybermen" emblem at the rack's top, as well as all the grating and buttons carved into its sides, really look like they'd stand out magnificently with just a black/brown wash (perhaps suggesting age) and a dry-brush.

Considering that "Warlord Games" are imminently about to release both an actual Tomb scenic set (also designed/produced by the excellent "N-FX Game Design Studio") and an accompanying set of metal miniatures tied into the September 1967 classic serial, I think a bank of these platforms down one end of the tabletop (as they've been "designed so they can be stacked next to each other"), or perhaps positioned in each corner, would look awesome, and add some additional height to the battlefield... 
Putrid Blightkings WIPs - Both models have now had all their armour primed, shaded and highlighted
One of the benefits of my inaugural Partially-Painted Challenge is that its spurring me on to revisit long postponed projects. My old plastic "D&D Miniatures" sculpt of a darkmantle being a good case in point, as its been sat upon a gritted base for more years than I'd care to remember. Fortunately, I've now managed to get the cave-dwelling creature primed, washed, dry-brushed and even highlighted, and simply need to pick out its fiery red eyes before varnishing it.

Of course, that doesn't mean I've stopped trying to progress this month's goal of (at least) four "Age Of Sigmar" Putrid Blightkings. Despite having to continually revisit the miniature owing to "Vallejo" Brass flecks ruining previously painted portions of the figure, I have almost finished the first of the "enormous, bloated warriors" and started working on a second; albeit a last minute head-swap on this "Games Workshop" miniature has put me a little behind schedule...

16 comments:

  1. Darkmantle; I've no idea who or what it is, but I like the look of the model and wip.

    What's a modelling hammer? When needed I just use a claw hammer ... and whack things. BANG!
    Haven't got around to reading your last post, yet. So hopefully some point this week - got a load of eBay things to send off and then prep for Friday down to Beachhead.

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    1. Thanks Roy. I stumbled across the Darkmantle whilst rummaging through a box of "Heroclix", and had to look it up myself. It pre-dates my interest in "D&D" last year, so has clearly been put 'on hold' for a few years... until now.

      I think whacking the Cybermen Miniatures Display Stand with a claw hammer would be a bad idea personally LOL, as it would indeed go bang! :-)

      Fingers crossed I'll be saying "Hi" in person at Bournemouth this Saturday, so hopefully I'll see you then :-)

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  2. The display stands look nice, and as you say Simon, a wash and some drybrushing would make the detail stand out. The Darkmantle looks great, and nice progress on the Blightkings

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    1. Cheers Dave. The stand is definitely a nice piece imho, and I rather like the Darkmantle's detail too. Hopefully have the first Blightking finished in the next few days :-)

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  3. I can definitely see why you'd want a few of those Cyberman display stands. They should look good placed next to one another.

    I, too, have never heard of a Darkmantle but he does look good as an alien creature.

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    1. Thanks Bryan. The stands are great imho. The Darkmantle certainly took me by surprise when I spotted it in my 'to do' bin :-)

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  4. Those cybermen do look rather grand arrayed in such a manner. I saw the scenic set on FB it does look rather good. I can't wait to see what you do with yours once you have gathered the parts.

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    1. Cheers Simon. As you may have gathered I'm a big fan of "N-FX Game Design Studio" and hope to post quite a few of their pieces over the coming weeks.

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  5. Nice work on the blight kings, never heard of a dark mantle but looks interesting!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks Iain. Slowly getting through my Blightkings and the Darkmantle is hopefully a quick win paint-job.

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  6. The Cybermen stand looks good and I would reckon it'd easily fit into Scenario

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  7. All really nice stuff as always Simon, the "Cyberstand" is a lovely piece and would work well in a Cyberman scenario, and the Darkmantle really reminds me of something I remember from Dr Who as well (but I just can't dredge it up from my memory!! though you will immediately of course).

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Thanks very much indeed, Roger, and I'm very pleased to see you back commenting on this blog once again :-)

      I'd imagine Ref: The Darkmantle, that you're referring to the Mire Beast from "The Chase" but I could be wrong.

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  8. The Cybermen look superb on the excellent stand. :)

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