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| "Whatever in Sam Hill it is -- It's alive!" |
This 70mm tall plastic “Wizkids” model of Dragon Man is miniature number 020 from the Avengers Marvel "Heroclix" range and is based upon the "artificial dragon-like humanoid android who was animated via alchemy." "Built by Professor Gregson Gilbert of Empire State University as an experiment", the "former supervillain" was created by Stan Lee and artist Jack "King" Kirby for the February 1965 issue of "The Fantastic Four".
Super-strong, as well as being capable of both flight and breathing fire, the automaton was originally primed with two coats of "Vallejo" Dark Grey and washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil. The "initially non-sentient" machine was then dry-brushed with more "Vallejo" Dark Grey, before having its shorts painted using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade.
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| "I ain't afraid of no ghost!" |
Sadly, despite the great sculpting for the rest of Dragon Man, his head is significantly too small in size when compared to the robot's classic massively beaked look under the pencil of Kirby or John Byrne ("Captain America" #248). However, despite this disconcerting inconsistency with the robot I managed to momentarily set aside my disappointment and picked out his teeth and eyes with "Vallejo" Dead White, as well as his tongue with Heavy Red.
In addition to Dragon Man I have also finished working on five “Newark Model Soldier Company” miniatures which were given away free upon entrance to a number of the “Partisan” wargaming conventions many years ago. They consist of Paul the Postman, Stuart the Telegrapher, James the Swordsmith and two copies of Little Lau the Chimney Sweep.
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| "Copplestone Castings" Deinonychuses WIPs - The dinosaurs have been primed, shaded and dry-brushed |
Because the sculpting of these figures is a little 'crude', I've previously painted some of this range up as ghosts, and have simply replicated that recipe upon these too. As a result I undercoated them all with "Vallejo" Dead White, subsequently shaded them with a wash of "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, and then dry-brushed them with (more) "Vallejo" Dead White.
Finally, I have discovered two poorly-primed Deinonychuses by "Copplestone Castings". This pair of dinosaurs were in poor-shape to be honest, but I felt as part of my Partially-Painted Challenge, it might be nice to breathe life back into them with a decent couple of layers, a wash and dry-brush. Now I just need to decide whether to give them any markings, or simply paint the maned-one's feathers red...
I'm not familiar with Dragon Man at all but I can't help thinking how good he'd look as a gargoyle. Possibly an idea if you get another one?
ReplyDeleteAs for your five ghosts all I can say is, "Who you gonna call?"
I do like those two dinosaurs. They're nice sculpts and I definitely think you should give them markings.
Thanks very much Bryan. Dragon Man isn't an expensive model tbh, despite his size, so I may purchase a second next time I'm buying; albeit a more comic-based version would be my preferred choice.
DeleteThe ghosts should be making a visit to the streets of Mega-City One quite soon if I get my way, and be accompanied by the previous load I've painted ;-)
I'll certainly be doing some mottling on the dinosaurs, and see how that pans out first and foremost.
Your "Partially Painted Challenge" seemed like a GOOD idea at the time, but it's turning out to be BRILLIANT Simon!
ReplyDeleteYou seem to be keeping the pace up, so that fact plus adding yet more ace painted mini's to your table-ready collection must give you a great deal of satisfaction :-)
'Dragon Man' looks good and it's a shame he's so big - he'd make for a passable Witchfinder General demon if he was about half that tall ;-)
As for the dinky dino's, it's a tough call but I reckon markings would be the best option.
Cheers Greg. Sadly, I'm not going to reach my target this time round. But its certainly helped get nearly 50 minis tabletop ready which probably wouldn't have been before. It's also helped me work out what I own and as a result I have loads of monthly projects planned out for the rest of the year - which should see quite a few more partially-painted figures finished ;-)
DeleteI think you'll get a true idea as to just how large Dragon man is when he accompanies Doctor Doom in the Latverian's next battle against the "FF" :-)
Nice work on Dragon man Simon, even if his head is a bit small you've done a great job, the ghosts look spooky enough, and I would definitely give the dinos markings
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave. Markings it is then :-)
DeleteThe dinos definitely deserve markings mate. The ghosts look cracking
ReplyDeleteCheers Andy :-)
DeleteNice looking dragon man and ghosts the dinos are good, definitely deserve a pattern!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Many thanks Iain :-)
Deletesome good things coming along.
ReplyDeleteI am a fan of the ghosts, that's just the right colour. and the Dino looks good as well
Cheers Clint. Hopefully I can showcase the ghosts in a BatRep soon :-)
DeleteDragon Man looks good, although the photo isn't your best. When I zoom in a bit I can see the shading looms top notch. The ghosts have turned out well. Not sure about the sculpts but the colour scheme is superb and they look great as spooks. The dinosaurs look awesome! I agree that some stripes or some kind of markings would be in order. However, you pan t them as you would like them. I wonder what game you are going together them into?
ReplyDeleteThanks Undercoat. Dragon Man is so large that I had to take the pics from quite a distance, but hopefully a BatRep will showcase off the shading a bit more.
DeleteThe ghosts, their hunters and the law should all feature in a BatRep soon too.
I'm hoping to use the dinos with my Mad Max minis tbh, and potentially use them as wandering monsters for both sides...
Great work on Dragonman, I see what you mean about the size of his head though. The idea of turning those figures into ghosts is inspired though they look the business now.
ReplyDeleteFinally those dino's are awesome, and should definitely have some marking on them, as always Mark C has done a top notch job on the sculpting there!
Cheers Roger.
Cheers Roger, much appreciated. Dragon Man's sculpt is rather disappointing with regards to his head, but he'll do - at least until "Wizkids" release a better version.
DeleteHopefully the entire horde of ghosts will make an appearance soon in a BatRep, and I hope to find some time to add something stripey to Mark Copplestone's super dino sculpts :-)
A very nice selection of models there, Simon. As you say, Dragon Man's head is a tad small, but at least he looks like he should.
ReplyDeleteAnd I quite like those sculpts from the Newark Model Soldier Company, although I couldn't locate them on their site, as they would make good additions to the denizens of Blackwell.
As for the Dinos...well, who doesn't love dinosaurs?
Many thanks Jez. I don't believe you can buy the "Newark" minis, unless on Ebay, due to being "Partisan" specials? I certainly love dinos :-)
Deletedespite your wanting a larger head for the dragon man, he does look good as is and would look a bit weird for those not "in the know" of his origins.
ReplyDeleteNow you have a complement of ghost is a ghostbuster scenario on the horizon ?
I reckon the extra effort ton the dinos will be well worth it too.
Cheers Joe. Yep there is a ghost-hunter (;-) ) scenario on the horizon, and I plan to spend some more time on my dinos.
DeleteI think you've done an excellent job on the ghosts, I can't say I personally think too much to the figures but you certainly have made the best of them. Very much like the colour combinations.
ReplyDeleteDino's - yep to markings unless you are looking for a sort of stylistic monochrome setting, which I think would be good.
Thanks very much Vagabond. Hopefully I can showcase the rest of my ghostly gaggle in an upcoming BatRep. I hope to get some additional paint on the dinos this evening, if I can :-)
DeleteGood stuff mate, Dragonman, Ghosts, Dino's - all the stuff that make children happy.
ReplyDeleteCheers Dai. Hopefully I'll get Dragon Man and the ghosts on the tabletop soon too :-)
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