Monday 28 May 2018

"I've Seen The Future, And It's Copyright Cybus Industries."

"Chamber Six now open for human upgrading."
These three 43mm tall metal miniatures of some Cybus Industries metallic exoskeletons are from a private collection and not therefore commercially available. Luckily however, I was fortunate enough to be sent a quartet of the "monotonous cybernetic creatures" as a generous gift by Simon Quinton of "Brummie's Wargaming Blog", and have subsequently painted these particular models up to represent the silver giants as seen in the May 2006 BBC Television story "Rise Of The Cybermen". 

Prior to painting, each of the three-piece figures had their arms pinned to their shoulders using some metal wire, a spot of grey-stuff and a dollop of super-glue. Disconcertingly, I found that even this considered approach didn't work for one especially obstinate sculpt. So in the end I dabbed some additional fast-acting adhesive onto its hand and firmly tucked the limb alongside its leg. The pose looks a little awkward, and part of the Cyberman's outer thigh detail has been overshadowed, but at least the model shouldn't now fall apart during game-play.  
"Burrows & Badgers" WIPs - A Green Lizard and Toad Mage
All the parallel universe creations were initially treated to some "Vallejo" Black Surface Primer before being given a double layer of "Citadel" Ironbreaker. The cyborgs were subsequently washed with Nuln Oil, and dry-brushed with (more) Ironbreaker. As a last touch, I darkened each of the Cybermens' joints with an application of "Citadel" Badab Black, so as to make their bright metallic panelled-pieces of armour stand out that much more.

Alongside my trio of emotionless humanoids, I have also made some significant progress on my "Burrows And Badgers" Green Lizard by "Oathsworn Miniatures". Initially I had been planning on simply leaving the cold-blooded reptile "Vallejo" Heavy Green, but have since applied a little Heavy Ochre to the warrior's feet and hands in order to yellow its limbs up enough for its black claws to be seen.
Boromite Work Gangers WIPs - The aliens needs all their armour to be layered with "Vallejo" Heavy Ochre
In addition, I am working simultaneously on the Toad Mage, known as Grarrp Croaak for my warband. This particular "anthropomorphic animal metal miniature" has already been primed, washed and dry-brushed, and now simply needs all his staff and potions pouch to be 'picked out' before being finished. The detail on this model's dry, leathery skin is absolutely top-notch, so I'm planning on trying to highlight all its warty bumps as well.

Finally, I have once again found a little more hobby-time with which to continue working on the 500 points worth of Boromites I need to paint in order to deploy a Scouting Force for "Beyond The Gates Of Antares". I've actually only got three of these Work Gangers armed with mass compactors left to finish, and have decided to use the figures to test out some different techniques I can employ in the future in order to help speed up my painting of these highly-detailed extra-terrestrial miners by "Warlord Games".

30 comments:

  1. Excellent work my friend they all look superb!

    Love the toad and lizard they are progressing nicely as well.

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    1. Thanks very much Simon. The Green lizard is now finished, and should be posted up in the near future. Hopefully, the Toad Mage won't be too far behind, either.

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    2. Brilliant. Have spent the morning priming the next batch to start on :)

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    3. Marvellous stuff, Simon. It really is an inspirational range :-)

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  2. Another diverse posting! The cyberman looks great. The larger scale allows for that extra detail to really stand out and your metal painting is as good as always! Those Burrows and Badgers are awesome and both coming along nicely, with the road just ahead as my favourite. Great job. Boromites!!! This must be the final push surely? How long has that Boromite tracker been there by the way?

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    1. "I meant toad! I hate this auto correct!!!!" - Cheers Undercoat. The Boromite tracker hasn't been around for a while as it was an older version where I had to manually change the graphics for each mini. The newer ones, for "Burrows & Badgers" and "Salute Loot" just need the stats changing, so are more to my liking :-)

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    2. It is great to see the Boromites again, as I really like them. I can't wait to see the whole scouting force in all its glory, so keep plugging away even though I know you find them somewhat heavy going to paint!

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    3. I've managed to get one of the Boromites about a third of the way done already, so fingers crossed he should be finished fairly soon.

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  3. Always good to see more Cybermen to join your growing army and I did wonder about the Boromites, having not seen them featuring for a while.
    Hissing Sid will be pleased to see lunch being prepared.
    (Can I remove my thermals now please ?)

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    1. Thanks Joe. Plenty more "Doctor Who" miniatures to come over the next few weeks as you probably expect... and more "Burrows & Badgers" too ;-)

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  4. Great job on the cybermen Simon, nice progress on the lizard and frog, try adding a little green glaze on the transition between the green and yellow to tie them in together. Good to see you finishing the Boromites it's been a long road on these

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    1. Cheers Dave. I've actually finished the Green Lizard now, and ultimately went with the Brown shade I used with the scaly green on the yellow to help merge the two areas together - similar to your excellent suggestion. Looking forward to the Boromites being finished myself - I've loads of new units to add to the Scout force :-)

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  5. I really love those Cybermen figures and it is a shame they aren't commercially available. I'm very pleased they you've finished them and I look forward to seeing them in action.

    Your B&B figures are certainly coming along nicely. Keep up the good work on them.

    As for your Boromites, I'm still not a fan of them but I do hope you find a quicker way to paint them. Best of luck there.

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    1. Thanks Bryan. Very much appreciated. With the Cybermen out of the way, I'll just be concentrating on just "Warlord Games" and "Black Tree Design" for my "Doctor Who" fix for a while.

      I've not got many more "Burrows & Badgers" minis left to paint, for this warband at least, so perhaps I'll start a second at some point :-)

      Hopefully this'll be the last great push with the Boromites, as I get the final stubborn trio painted and tabletop ready.

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  6. You must have quite an army of Cybermen now, ever thought about a group shot with all the different ranges?

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    1. Cheers Michael. I was actually going to do a size comparison shot for this posting, but then realised I have so much going on at present on my painting table that I didn’t have room with all my WIP shots. I’ll try and squeeze one in next week though, as I think such a pic would prove both popular and useful (to discern between the different manufacturers) :-)

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  7. I love a good cyberman, but 43mm? Isn't that a bit tall to mix with anything else - even the new Warlord stuff?

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    1. Thanks Hugh. These minis are a bit at odds with all the different manufacturers I already own, so will probably be used as giant robots for “D&D” or some such rather than actual “Doctor Who”; albeit I quite like the idea of them being giant Cybermen - in a similar way Primaris Space Marines are a future evolution within the Adeptus Astartes.

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  8. Cyberman looks very good as does the toad mage (so far as WIP)

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    1. Cheers Clint. I’m hoping to have the Toad Mage finished before the month’s end, leaving me just one more “Burrows & Badgers” mini to complete before my warband is finished.

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  9. That toad mate is bloody brilliant!

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    1. Thanks Andy. Still a bit more work to do on the Toad Mage, but it's a corking sculpt.

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  10. Great stuff Simon, I do really like those cybermen, more so than the "official" ones in fact, I am so tempted by the B and B, stuff, but I must be strong!

    As said above I've still not convinced by the Borromites but you do paint them very well.

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Cheers Roger. I like these Cybermen well enough, but their size is a little disconcerting. More "Burrows & Badgers" to come, so plenty yet to tempt you with ;-) I just want the Boromites done and out the way tbh. I've loads more to paint, but they'll be in ones and twos thankfully.

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  11. Really pleased to see that you're giving the Boromite scout force a 'final push' Simon - and I'm sure getting them ready for the table will give your already top gear painting mojo a shift into overdrive! :-)
    Nice work on the B&B reptiles to, wot! ;-)

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    1. Thanks Greg. It'd be really good to get the Boromites finished so I can get some games in and start working on some of the new units I own for them too :-)

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  12. I'm going to pinch that green recipie for my Frogs Bloodbowl team.

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    1. Sounds like an excellent plan, Phil. If I ever do a Lizardman Army for "Age Of Sigmar", I'll certainly be considering it :-)

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  13. So much fun stuff in this post!

    You must have 50+ Cyber men by now, surely?

    Love the yellow extremities on the lizard! Have thought about perhaps extending the yellow to his snout too some?

    The toad is such a cool sculpt! So happy I'm on an hiatus from buying ANYTHING right now, cos I'd be snapping up oodles of these excellent critters.

    Very happy to read you are only 3 away from a fully painted force for your Gates project! I know what a slog it's been for you.

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    1. Cheers Dai. I certainly plan on doing some sort of celebratory Cyberman post in the future, perhaps as a review of all the different ranges I have painted over the past few years?

      The Green Lizard is now varnished and ready for flocking, so I don't plan on any additional yellow on him presently. I'm delighted your finding the "Burrows & badgers" range such a temptation though - they're great imho.

      The Boromites are a bit of a slog, but now my "Shadespire" Warband is finished (and should soon be posted in full), I can focus on the remaining three Gangers over the next week or so...

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