Wednesday 28 November 2018

"According To The Map Reference Now..."

"...That should be the entrance to the city of Telos."
This 100mm x 100mm x 60mm square MDF box was bought from the seller Tepic2000 on Ebay, and converted into a square futuristic building for my Cyber-City by using several of the excellent 3D decals sold by “N-FX Game Design Studio”. Undoubtedly a fairly simplistic ‘kit-bash’, the medium-sized installation is the second of several such science-fiction based structures I intend to use in order to help recreate the Cybermen’s catacombs on the planet “Telos”; the homeworld of the Cryons, which was later also inhabited by the Cybermen.

Having assembled the box and its lid without any major difficulties using some PVA glue, I affixed a number of 3D decals over its numerous surfaces in order to try and replicate grills, grates and electronic panels. These ‘details’ are self-adhesive and despite sticking to the wood very well indeed, could still be peeled away from the surface and re-aligned whenever I made a slight mistake in their orientation or decided upon a different sticker.
"Doctor Who: Exterminate!" WIPs - A Sontaran, a Quark and a Sea Devil
Once I was happy with the look of the facility I gave the entire piece an undercoat of “Vallejo” Black before applying two coats of “Citadel” Ironbreaker over the structure. I then heavily washed it with Nuln Oil, shading the building as haphazardly as I could so as to make the ‘box and its lid’ appear rather grungy.

In addition, I decided at this stage that I wasn’t going to worry too much about it’s interior and base, as these were in all likelihood never going to see the light of day. Lastly, I gave the building a rough dry-brush of (more) “Citadel” Ironbreaker in order to help bring all the “N-FX Game Design Studio” decals to the fore...
"Doctor Who: Exterminate!" WIPs - The Thirteenth Doctor and her TARDIS
Despite the underlying theme to next month's Ninth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge being firmly set within the Third Age of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle Earth, I have started to prepare/prime a number of "Doctor Who: Exterminate!" miniatures to help contribute towards my 500 point target. Some of these, such as a formidable number of Sontarans and Quarks, will simply be submitted as regular enties, but I do have my eye on a few figures from "Warlord Games" "Into The Time Vortex" range to use for the fortnightly themed Bonus Rounds.

One such thematic contribution will probably be a green-costumed Sea Devil for the "Water Feature" round, as I've been planning on painting an individually-garbed reptile-like humanoid to use as a Sea Devil Overlord for some time. Whilst the Thirteenth Doctor, complete with her time travelling TARDIS (and a handful of assistants) would arguably make a suitable entrant for the Challenge's final "Fellowship" bonus round...

24 comments:

  1. building looks great and looking forward to seeing the completed Dr

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    1. Thanks Martin. Really straightforward stuff as you can probably imagine. But once I get a few done then a populated tabletop should be quite the sight.

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  2. The building looks good. You have lots of cool stuff surfacing on the bench.

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    1. Cheers Simon. Loads of stuff coming as I gear up for the AHPC, including a few pieces from “Crooked Dice”, “Warlord Games”, “Lucid Eye”, “Wizkids” and “Ground Zero Games”.

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  3. The new doctor already. It's a great sculpt though. Can't wait to see the Bradley Walsh figure.

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    1. The 13th Doctor has been out for a short while already, Ray, but doesn’t come with any in-game cards or companions yet. That set will be released later - probably after this series of shows, so you’ll be waiting a while I’m afraid. I did though get to see Bradley whilst he was filming “Doctor Who” down south ;-)

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  4. I do like the building and the design additions!

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    1. Thanks Fran. Hopefully the buildings will prove scalable too for my 15mm stuff.

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  5. I struggle with the WHOLE Dr Who wargames idea. Dr Who is a pacifist! He uses brains not brawn to beat the bad guys. So a Wargame about Dr Who seems a little weird in concept!

    That said I do wish you well and hope all endeavours come together

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    1. Cheers Clint. I entirely agree, which is why the “Doctor Who: Exterminate!” Game is predominantly fought between opposing alien factions and simply set in the Dr Who Universe. When the Dr does appear they are usually trying to achieve some objective (e.g. collecting pieces) rather than attacking anyone.

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  6. Great work on the building Simon, and see lots of planning and prep ready for the painting challenge done

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    1. Thanks Dave. Loads of planning and prep, and as the AHPC now allows scenery too, don’t be at all surprised to see some manufactured by my fave resin company making an appearance too LOL!!

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    2. ROFL ! Shall look forward to seeing which of the bits you have reach the painting table

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    3. So will I!!! I found a lot of graveyard scenery whilst fishing about for my “LoTR” stuff, so don’t be too surprised to see that make the tabletop for starters.

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  7. The box looks nice. As you say, simple but effective. Your prep for the painting challenge builds up I see. I really really like those Sontarrans so can't wait to see them. I like the new Dr Who, but can't help thinking her nose looks a bit big! Hoping to catch up on your 2017 Dr Who paint total of getting ready to beat it in 2019?

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    1. Cheers Undercoat. I was tempted to ‘black out’ a few of the windows/monitor screens on the building, but in the end decided against it as I don’t want them to detract from the miniatures around them - if that makes sense. I’m certainly hoping to add a few partially-painted “Doctor Who” miniatures to my 2018 tally, as they’re ineligible for the AHPC. But from the last week in December until March I hope to clear a lot of my “Doctor Who: Exterminate!” backlog out. I wouldn’t though be at all surprised if the sci-if show turns out to be my lead genre for 2018 as it so clearly was for 2017.

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  8. Simple and effective terrain - always a great combo to have those two features. :) Well done mate. :)

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    1. Thanks Leon, I’m certainly pleased with how simple these buildings are to assemble, and how relaxing painting them is too :-)

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  9. A cool post with some great minis on display here. Much though I like the Jodie Whittaker figure, I was disappointed it didn't come with stat cards or companion figures and I certainly didn't want a second TARDIS.

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    1. Cheers Bryan. I know no stat cards etc came with Jodie's model as no-one knew what the character/ or her companions were going to be like, so it was hard to write specific rules for them. I also own a TARDIS, though not a "Warlord Games" one, so I get the impression that it was simply something straightforward to design and package Whittaker with in order to make up the contents of her box. Fingers crossed for the complete TARDIS crew boxed set in the New year.

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  10. Such simple yet very effective looking buildings.
    The 13th Doctor who really doesnt inspire me...

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    1. Thanks Joe. I fear the 13th Doctor has the same effect on me too.

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  11. Perfect designs for Cybermen. Nice bit of creativity there mate.

    I really like Jodie as a Doctor and am happy to see Warlord made her mini. But man, they could have picked a better pose? Bit dull if you ask me. Would have been better to sculpt her in her rather fun "using sonic screwdriver with flourish pose" that I've noticed she does in the show. (Not so bad that she's easy on the eye as well!)

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    1. Cheers Dai, much appreciated :-) I'm not a fan of the Thirteenth Doctor myself, but am looking forward to the Bradley Walsh figure!! The Doctor pose was apparently taken from Jodie's pre-screen picture hence the sculpt's inactiveness.

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