Monday 2 July 2018

(Lead) Mountain Musings - "Red Dwarf" July 2018

"Red Dwarf" WIPs - Dave Lister and Kryten
This month's themed attempt to try and reduce my concerning, ever-growing collection of metal, plastic and resin miniatures will focus on a selection of recently arrived models previously produced by "Y.F.T. Design" as part of their "Nexus Miniatures" range. Clearly heavily-influenced by Grant Naylor's British science fiction comedy programme "Red Dwarf", I hope to initially paint up four of these now OOP Perkūnas Mining Corporation "Scarlet Midget" Cosplay Starship Crew figures over the next few weeks, and perhaps then turn to some of the television series' other memorable characters; Ace Rimmer, Dwayne Dibley, Mister Flibble, Kristine Kochanski and Holly.

To begin with though I'll be focusing upon Charley, Felix, Barry and Kry-10. All of whom will make excellent proxies for Dave Lister, Cat, Arnold Rimmer and Kryten. To be honest they're a bit of a mixed bunch, with "The Last Human" proving particularly frustratingly on account of his metal figure stubbornly refusing to take any paint despite being repeatedly primed and 'touched up'.
"Red Dwarf" WIPs - Arnold Rimmer and the Cat
Indeed, even a simple dry-brush of "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal" caused his undercoat to peel away in places. Very annoying, as I was hoping to make the third-class technician's predominantly black palette a bit more interesting by using a variety of different greys. Now though, the plan is simply to keep the miniature "Vallejo" Black and perhaps as a final stage shade a few different areas with "Citadel" Nuln Oil; a technique which strangely does cause a change in the base layer's  colour.

Fortunately, I have had less problems with Kryten, who has already been primed, dry-brushed and washed, and is ready for some detailing. "Y.F.T. Design" also kindly sent me three separate bazookoids with which to use for conversions, and I was sorely tempted to try and provide the "Series III mechanoid" with one. Ultimately though I thought that would prove too difficult and time-consuming, so I've stuck with the model's original hand-tool instead.
Mister Freeze's "Gotham City" crew
I'll also be leaving the sculpts of Rimmer and the Cat alone too, as the computer-generated hologram's pose isn't very convertible, and Frankenstein's extravagantly dressed descendent is already carrying one of the heavy-weapons. Both of these miniatures should prove fairly straightforward to finish on account of Arnold being almost entirely green and Danny John-Jules' character wearing a lot of black...

Lastly, I have finished the third and final “Wizkids” model of Solomon Grundy I previously converted for this year's annual "Forgotten Heroes" challenge. Apart from using "Vallejo" Heavy Violet and "Citadel" Leviathan Purple for his clothing, this member of Mister Freeze's "Cold Pack" has been painted in exactly the same manner as his two peers, and should provide Victor Fries with some cryogenically-enhanced 'muscle'.

24 comments:

  1. Red Dwarf, now there's an unexpected direction. Nice job on the Mr Freeze villains.

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    1. Thanks Phil. I do like to try and cover a range of minis when I can, and these “Red Dwarf” models caught my eye :-)

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  2. Having only seen the tenders of these figures, it will be good to see them painted up. Might be fun to do a 7TV batrep with them, as the rules should be well-suited to the adventures of the Dwarfers.

    And thank you for the offer of your spare Solomon Grundy - I'll drop you an email shortly.

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    1. Cheers Jez, I’m looking forward to getting the four main dwarfers finished and on the tabletop. No worries about Solomon Grundy, glad he’ll be of use.

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  3. Awesome minis mate, I swear I live under a rock as I never find half the brilliant shiny stuff you do. With Lister, try a spray car primer, I use a cheap one from the Range and it is amazingly good at stopping that annoying peel

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    1. Thanks Andy. I get a lot of people kindly contacting me showing me minis, which is where I spotted these from. Dave’s a bit more advanced now to risk spraying. He seems to be the only one suffering from peel too - very odd.

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  4. Nice progress on the Dwarfers, one way to stop peel, give the model an overnight soak in soapy water, then rinse off and fully dry before reundercoating.
    Good to see the final Ice Zombie finished now

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    1. Cheers Dave. I was so keen to get these minis painted etc that I never gave them a thought about prepping to prevent peel. I’ve had a few recently do just that though (my HighwayFox for example), so I am wondering whether its on the increase?

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    2. with metal models, it can be due to the heat of the metal when casting that can cause it. If it's too hot it leaves a residue that can stop paint adhering. We used to get a similar problem on welds when I was spraying bend restrictors, we used to wipe them down with cellulose thinners to eliminate the problem, but hard to get hold of now

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    3. Obviously I bow to your superior knowledge, Dave. It is damn annoying I must say and something which a few of my more recent minis seem to have suffered with too.

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  5. I am so jealous of the boys from the Dwarf and lovely to see the Freeze Gang together - great post Simon.

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    1. Thanks Michael. I was very pleased (and lucky) to get hold of them.

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  6. Another project! You sure are prolific and I have no problems with that. Good luck on getting the Red Dwarf crew painted. I'm keen to see what you do with them.

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    1. A small project this time round, Bryan, just a few weeks to get as many fo the (Red) Dwarfers finished as I can. I’ve certainly got a few BatRep ideas for a small space crew :-)

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  7. Nice to see the Mr Freeze crew together as a whole and they look splendid. The Red Dwarf minis look nice, so I will be watching your progress with anticipation. I would be interested to know the number of ongoing projects you have as each visit brings something new to read about.

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    1. Cheers Undercoat. I think Mister Freeze's crew balances better with just the three Ice Zombies; albeit he's lacking a couple of pistol-carrying goons - maybe next year's "Forgotten Heroes" project?

      I currently only have one ongoing project on, and that's the four "Red Dwarf" members. I do though want to finish off my two remaining Boromites, and Sea Aelf High King. Plus I've always got a couple of "Heroclix" and "Doctor Who" minis doted about ready to complete so as to keep my painting line fresh ;-)

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    2. One project? Maybe we have different points of view on this? Let me think, Age of Sigmar, Shadespire, Antares, Wild West Exodus, Dr Who, Barrier Peaks and I am sure I recall Draculas America and Ghost Archipelago just off the top of my head. Hmmm time to go through the back issues.....

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    3. Oh those... they'd completely slipped my mind ;-)

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    4. Haha, one of the reasons this place is so good is the variety and your unending ability to find minis I had no idea existed. Long may it continue!

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    5. Variety is indeed the spice of a wargamer's life :-)

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  8. Interesting stuff Simon, and good progress on the Dwarf'ers, I wont wade in on the peeling debate as it seems to be well covered now.

    I've added the bit about the Ice Zom's top your last post on the FH site.

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Thanks Roger, and for all your wonderful efforts during this latest "Forgotten Heroes" challenge. Very much appreciated :-)

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  9. Red Dwarf you say...Oh well um, that was unexpected.

    Mr Freeze's looks great and a bit initimidating with the Ice Triplets !

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    1. Cheers Joe. I'm pleased to get Mr Freeze's crew finished (for now at least), and hope to get them on the tabletop real soon :-)

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