Wednesday 15 August 2018

"I Am Immutably The Master."

"I deplore such unsophisticated coercion, but your cooperation's necessary to me."
This 36mm-tall "pewter" model of the Master is manufactured by “Warlord Games” and can be purchased as part of their "I Am The Master" boxed set. Based upon Anthony Ainley's incarnation of the renegade Time Lord, this particular version of the Doctor's archenemy made his first appearance in Johnny Byrne's January 1981 BBC television story "The Keeper Of Traken" and would last be seen in the 1997 computer game "Destiny of the Doctors."

Originally primed using two layers of "Vallejo" Black, the recurring villain was dry-brushed with Heavy Charcoal and later shaded using some "Citadel" Nuln Oil. In addition I 'picked out' his shirt and its sleeves with a dabble of "Vallejo" Dead White, and applied a little Pale Grey to these areas in order to try and generate some shadows.
"Warlord Games" kindly publicise my posting of Roger Delgado's Master
The Master's face and hands were undercoated using "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone and washed in "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade. I subsequently used some (more) "Vallejo" Skintone to highlight his nose, ears, mouth area and parts of his forehead, alongside his fingers and hands. As a final touch, I painted his hair and beard using pure "Vallejo" Black.

This particular sculpt has somewhat disconcertingly drawn some criticism due to it actually being produced from a photograph of the Doctor's shape-shifting robot Kamelion, rather than an actual picture of Ainley, and as a result does not portray the goatee-bearded fiend wearing his usual high-collared, somewhat Shakespearean black suit. In addition, the miniature is significantly taller than Roger Delgado's "Doctor Who: Exterminate!" model despite the difference between the two actors themselves only being a couple of inches...
General Staal, Dominator Toba and Donna Noble WIPs - The three miniatures are at various stages of completion
I'm currently rather enjoying working my way through the "I Am The Master" boxed set, with a view to perhaps pitting three versions of "the master of all matter" up against three Doctors on the tabletop in the near future. Delightfully, "Warlord Games" would appear to be sharing my enthusiasm too, as they recently kindly posted up my paint-job of Roger Delgado's incarnation on their main "Facebook" page.

Having finished my third figure of the Master though I'm momentarily turning my attention towards a few of the Nottingham-based company's other "Doctor Who: Into The Time Vortex" miniatures, with some work on General Staal, Dominator Toba and Donna Noble. Sadly, it has recently been announced that the highly anticipated "Second Doctor & Companions" boxed set will be significantly delayed, so I'm hoping to use the time to 'catch-up' on a number of my unfinished 'assistants'.

18 comments:

  1. Today's word, children, is "immutably."
    Who can think of sentence that uses this word?
    BRIEF PAUSE.
    Yes, Anthony?
    "I am immutably the Master!"
    Very good, Anthony!

    Sorry, Simon! In all seriousness, you've done a good job on painting him. Oh, and it's about time you got the Doctor's assistants painted. I reckon you're deliberately keeping the best till last - Clara Oswald. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, Clara!

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    1. Thanks Bryan, the realistic proportions of some of the "Doctor Who: Exterminate!" sculpts really make their eyes difficult to 'pick out' using my method, but from the table Anthony looks fine.

      Glad you like the quote, its one of my fave's from "Planet Of Fire", and seemed highly suitable for Ainley's Master.

      I don't have Clara on my list currently, as I'm not a fan, but having re-watched Donna Noble's season for a sixth time, I thought I'd give her a go and do a few more afterwards. As I have done Calpaldi's Dr though, I'm sure Clara won't be far away.

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    2. I hope not ....... mmmm blue sweater !!!!!!

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    3. I’m afraid Clara is well down my list, Phil, as I want the Paternoster Gang finished first, as well as a few of the other companions.

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  2. Another great looking Master. Did the Master where any other colour except black? There must have been an episode with a snazzy blue suit or something! Nice to get your other Master on the Warlord site. Well done Sir. I like the WIPs, especially Staal as I do really like those Sontarans, they are awesome. I can't wait to see him done.

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    1. Cheers Undercoat. the Master wore a load of different costumes when in disguise, and of course there is Eric Roberts’ wonderfully over-the-top red affair for the TV Movie. I’ve a load of “Doctor Who” minis which just need a bit of TLC to be finished, so I hope to have a fair few finished over the next few weeks :-)

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  3. Nice work on this version of the Master. The other characters are coming along nicely as well. Look forward to seeing them finished.

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    1. Thanks Simon. Slow and steady stuff on the “Doctor Who” minis currently, as I have so many other figures to focus upon.

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  4. Great job on the master Simon, it's funny how film and TV use black to denote evil, when black is actually an absence of colour, mind you Darth Vader would look pretty funny in pink ! LOL
    the other models are coming along nicely, the armour on Staal looks awesome

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    1. Cheers Dave. Personally I’m always happy painting black as the main colour on a mini ;-) The Sontaran armour took a while to select, so I’m pleased to have finally found a scheme which somewhat matches the TV palette.

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  5. Lovely brushwork as always Simon, and Clara might be well down your list but I'm also in the queue looking forward to seeing her added to your collection :-)

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    1. Thanks Greg. I'm sure I will do Clara at some point, but I do think you're going to be waiting a while ;-)

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  6. He looks just fine regardless of scale and sculpt inaccuracies mate.

    Donna Noble though.... ugh.... I despise that actress and her character. Awfully annoying throughout her her appearances in the series. Her dad though was just fantastic.

    Staal is a smashing character too. Glad you are working on him next!

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    1. Cheers Dai, that's much appreciated. It's amazing how different people like different companions. I was gutted Donna only lasted a season as I thought she and the 10th Doctor worked really well together. Staal should be finished soon, and then I have about 12 of his Sontaran minions to do afterwards ;-)

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  7. Ahh I always like it when you post a "proper" Dr Who character miniature (as I know who they are to start with!), the paintwork looks as excellent as always to me Simon, and well done (though well deserved) on getting a bit of recognition on the Warlord site. :-)

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Thanks Roger. I do try my best and post "proper" Doctor Who characters for you - though I do like some of the new ones too, as well you know. "Warlord Games" have been extremely generous in supporting this site, and have kindly featured my work a couple of times since Delgado's article already :-)

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  8. Even I recognised the Master (shock, horror) but how many versions of him (no matter how good they are) do you need.want ?

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    1. Cheers Joe. The “I Am The Master” boxed set comes with five minis, including a second Missy. Personally, I’m planning on doing a 3 v 3 Master/Doctor mash-up BatRep at some point. Don’t forget these minis are also collector pieces, so I suppose if you want the character in all his incarnations this is the boxed set to get. Plus, they are each a wee bit different in the game from what I recall.

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