Wednesday 19 December 2018

"A Proper Soldier Gives No Warning. Fire. I Order You. Fire."

"Death has more honour, but you are needed for the stratagem."
This two 32mm scale metal miniatures of Sontarans are produced by “Warlord Games” and can be bought as part of their "Sontaran Squad" five-figure boxed set. "Hailing from the planet Sontar" and "literally bred for war", these redesigned blue-armoured clones made their first appearance in the April 2008 BBC television story "The Sontaran Stratagem".

Originally undercoated "Vallejo" Black, both of the "military-minded villains" had their battle armour, belt and helmet pigmented using a layer of Gunmetal Blue before being washed in "Citadel" Nuln Oil. These areas were subsequently dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Gunmetal Blue just long enough for the metallic Model Colour paint to provide each figure's ridges with a discernible silver shine.
"The Dominators" WIPs - Roga and Toba have had all their dark green armour painted and shaded
"Small in stature, with large heads and stocky bodies", the formidable foes' space suits were painted using "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey and then treated to a watered-down shade of "Citadel" Drakenhof Nightshade. Finally the pair's rather large laser rifles were painted using "Vallejo" Black and dry-brushed using Heavy Charcoal.

Sticking with previously 'put down' projects, I have also dusted down the two larger models from "The Dominators" themed box I bought at "Salute" 2018. I have previously successfully painted one of the ruthless tyrants robotic quarks in the past, but then seemingly faltered whilst trying to decide upon what colour to paint Probationer Toba's frilly-looking costume.
"The Tomb Of The Cybermen" WIPs - The four silver giants, including their Cyber Leader have been primed
In the end I decided to go with the Nottingham-based company's official dark green palette rather than the pure black I'd initially intended, and subsequently been busy testing out a couple of different "Vallejo" model colours on Navigator Rago's bloodthirsty companion. Having settled upon my mix I've applied the selfsame combination to both Dominator figures, as well as started work on their heavy armour, and now hope to have the pair finally finished reasonably soon...

In between working on these pieces, I have managed to additionally base and prime four of the five "Doctor Who: Exterminate!" miniatures found within "The Tomb Of The Cybermen" boxed set for the imminent Ninth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. These Telos-based cyborgs will form part of my 'Water Feature' entry for the Fortnightly Themed Bonus Round in mid-February, when I hope to submit a host of the silver giants along with their 'melting' Tomb Collectors Diorama.

14 comments:

  1. Your Sontarans look great, Simon. I've yet to buy any but they are high on my shopping list.
    I'm afraid I really don't like those Dominators at all. I can't see me buying them at all. That said, you've painted them well.
    However, I am looking forward to seeing you complete this batch of Cybermen. This is another set that is high on my shopping list.

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    1. Thanks very much Bryan. I was very surprised to discover that the Sontaran Squad set was out of stock on the "Warlord Games" website, but that probably shows just how popular the minis currently are. I'm a huge fan of "The Dominators" TV story, and think the minis match them perfectly. That said their poses are as static as they were in the show. I do though think a quark expansion set would sell quite a few boxes. Loads of Cybermen to come, plus obviously their Tomb set.

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  2. Nice job on these matey they look great !

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  3. A complete who's who of work in progress and finished bits Simon ! I'll get my coat ! LOL
    The Sontarans look great and nice to see you finishing some other Who models as well

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    1. LOL Dave :-) Loads of "Doctor Who" minis to come, as the AHPC starts tomorrow and I have a ton of stuff to finish before it!!

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  4. I adore those Sontarans, such great models and well painted. Very nice! The Dominators are an interesting design and it is nice to see the newer foes have some classic enemies for company. Nice paint job. More cybermen? You must have a legion of them done already? Can't wait to see them done though.

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    1. Thanks Undercoat. I own a load of "Black Tree Design" Cybermen - with many more unpainted. And yep, I'll be adding another load of "Warlord Games" Tomb Cybermen to that collection. Perhaps a group shot...?

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  5. The Sontarons look great, very welcomea dditions no doubt.
    Even though the Dominators poses are static I really like them and your brushwork on them, similarly I also like standing horses for important figures, generals etc.
    Of course more Cybermen are always welcome too!

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    1. Cheers Joe. I have a couple more Sontarans to do before being able to field a faction for "Doctor Who: Exterminate!", and once the two Dominators are finished I need to do some more quarks before they're tabletop ready too. Glad you like the Cybermen as the Tomb versions are a faction in their own right :-)

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  6. Nice work all round Simon, the Sontaran look great, though I cant get used to their now blue costumes, I actually quite liked the brown versions they had in "Shakedown" though they were not exactly "canon" as they say.

    Have to say that I was never that big a fan of Dominators, I think they would have looked better with some form of helmet or mask, did like the Quarks though.

    Cybermen, well that goes without saying TBH.

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Thanks Roger. I have a few more Sontarans to go but hope to have the Dominators finished soon too. I also hope to get some of my Cyber-backlog sorted over the next few weeks :-)

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