Wednesday 9 May 2018

"The Genesis Ark Must Be Protected Above All Else."

"Time Lord science will restore Dalek supremacy."
This 38mm tall resin sculpt of "a Time Lord prison ship from the Last Great Time" is produced by “Warlord Games” and can be found inside the "Maximum Extermination!" expansion set from their "Into The Time Vortex" range. "Slightly larger and similar in shape to a Dalek casing, the Ark was dimensionally transcendental" and made its first appearance at the very end of the July 2006 BBC Television story “Army Of Ghosts”.

Having based the Genesis Ark upon one of the 40mm thin-lipped circular bases I use for the vast majority of my objective markers, I primed the model with "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and subsequently applied two layers of Brass over the entire miniature. I then treated the piece of Gallifreyan technology to a heavy wash of "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade and roughly dry-brushed it with (more) "Vallejo Brass.
The Ninth Doctor & Draconian WIPs - Both the Time Lord and Nobleman are almost completed
In order to make the prison's supporting struts stand out a bit more, I additionally shaded these areas using a combination of "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade and Strong Tone Quickshade. Later I 'picked out' the extra-terrestrial jail's numerous buttons using either "Vallejo" Heavy Red and "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson, or "Vallejo" Dead White with some watered-down "Citadel" Nuln Oil.

Sticking with 'Nu-Who' I've started painting both the Nottingham-based company's sculpt of the Ninth Doctor, as well as the Mid-Seventeenth Century "highwayman known as the Knightmare." Christopher Ecclestone's miniature is a stunning likeness of the Lancashire-born actor, and has perhaps unsurprisingly proved rather straightforward to progress considering that his shoes, trousers and jacket are all black.
Ashildr & Draconian WIPs - The immortal Highwayman has a lot of work left to do
Obviously I've attempted to break-up such monotony by dry-brushing both the Time Lord's trousers and somewhat battered leather top with some "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal, and subsequently only shaded the trousers with some "Citadel" Nuln Oil. Ashildr's far more flamboyant attire, complete with thigh-length boots, frilly ruffs and the faintest of face masks will be a little more time-consuming. But as I have no intention, for my sanity's sake, to replicate the official "Warlord Games" multi-patterned shirt, "The Woman Who Lived" should still be completed in good time.

Finally, I have been persevering with a Draconian Noble and finally settled upon a simple solution to all the different golden garments the reptilian extra-terrestrial wears. An application of "Vallejo" Brass followed by a wash of "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade seems to provide plenty of depth and shadow, whilst a light dry-brush of (more) "Vallejo" Brass brings out enough detail to show there are different shimmering accessories overlapping one another. I might yet shade a couple of the areas with some "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green, but for now I plan to leave the regal alien as is...

28 comments:

  1. What a diverse set of figures. The Genesis Ark looks great, a simple colour scheme but well executed. It will look awesome with the rest of your Daleks. The other sculpts look excellent, and the paint jobs are coming along nicely. Can't wait to see the Doctor and the Draconian done especially. A nice read with my coffee this morning.

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    1. Thanks very much Undercoat. Hopefully the extra washes on the struts will help break it up a little bit from the regular brass-coloured Daleks I've previously painted. I plan to have at least one of the WIPs from this posting finished for next week's article...

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  2. Great work on the ark Simon, the doctor, Ashildr and Draconian are progressing well

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  3. Nicely done, Simon. I hope you finish them all soon.

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    1. Cheers Bryan. me too, as I've plenty more to finish after these.

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  4. I wasn't overly enamoured of the Genesis Ark during the WIPs, as it looked a bit dull, but your finished model does make it look good, so it's now more likely that I'll be getting this boxed set.

    And I am quite taken with that 9th Doctor sculpt. I'll eait until yours is finished before I make a decision regarding THAT set...

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    1. Thanks very much indeed, Jez. That's much appreciated. I'll try and prioritise the 9th Doctor then if it'll encourage you to splash out :-)

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  5. Ecclestone's portrayal of the Doctor was one of my least favourites, but that doesn't detract from the mini one jot :-)
    Great work across the board once again Simon, and the Genesis Ark looks superb!

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    1. Cheers Greg. Much appreciated. The 9th Doctor sculpt definitely has his cheery cheeked grin spot on imho :-)

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  6. The Ark's detailing is great as is the leather effecr on the Doc's jacket.
    Can't help but being surprised too at seeing an 18c figure too!

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    1. Thanks Joe. Ashildr is far older than 1651 when her Highwayman incarnation appears. But its my fave one.

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  7. Some really nice looking figures you've got there Simon! Really like that highwayman :)

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    1. Cheers Ivor. The Ashildr sculpt is great isn't she.

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  8. Very nice brushwork Simon, the genesis arks looks particularly good.

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Thanks Roger. The Genesis Ark was a lot of fun to paint.

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  9. Love the prison ship Simon, splendid!

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    1. Cheers Michael. Apart from the lights and buttons, the Ark was a straightforward pleasure to paint :-)

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  10. Some beautiful minis here mate, just lovely

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    1. Thanks Andy. Hopefully they'll all be finished pretty soon too.

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  11. Love the ark, the finish is great, looking forward to seeing the finished doctor and the highwayman looks interesting!
    Best Iain

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    1. Cheers Iain. Hoping to get the Ark on the tabletop soon as an Objective.

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  12. Look forward to seeing the ark in position on the table. It's painted up really well.

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    1. Thanks Vagabond. The Ark should look very nice indeed on the tabletop :-)

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  13. The ark finished up just fine. Like how you've made the struts stand out, yet still maintain the overall look.

    The Shadow was a very cool character. Is the model somewhat diminutive compared to the other minis? The actress is a bit wee in real life.

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    1. Cheers Dai. All three of "Warlord Games" Ashildr minis are suitably "wee" compared to the other models in the range, so they seem to have got her proportions spot on, imho.

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