Tuesday 5 March 2019

(Lead) Mountain Musings - "Doctor Who" March 2019

Silurian WIPs - A Silurian, A Silurian Attacking and Scibus
With the Ninth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge coming to an end in a few weeks time I thought I'd dedicate this month's themed attempt to diminish my ever-increasing logjam of metal, plastic and resin models to finally pigmenting a whole horde of "Black Tree Design" "Doctor Who" miniatures which have been building up in one of my drawers. However, rather than simply paint a number of figures from across the company's impressive range, I thought I'd try and assemble some sort of tabletop worthy force to use with either "Doctor Who: Exterminate!" by "Warlord Games", or perhaps much more likely, "Mutants and Death Ray Guns" by "Ganesha Games".

As a result I have scoured my backlog and subsequently started priming a surprisingly large number of Silurians and Silurians Attacking to use as the bulk of a "Homo Reptilia" invasion force. These sculpts are all based on the reptile-like humanoids as they were first seen in the Jon Pertwee 1970 serial "Doctor Who and the Silurians", and should prove pretty straightforward to complete once their "Vallejo" Heavy Brown "heavy duty canvas material" costumes have all been dry-brushed.
"Warriors Of The Deep" WIPs - The Myrka and Sauvix the Sea Devil Commander
Sadly, one of my few disappointments with this range is that there are no unique models to represent either the Old Silurian (Okdel), Young Silurian (Morka) and Silurian Scientist (K'to) from the television adventure, and whilst I have clearly at some point attempted to correct this omission by realigning the arms of one figure, I don't think it'll stand out particularly well on the battlefield. Fortunately though, I have found a sculpt of Scibus, "a Silurian companion of Icthar", to use as the prehistoric race's leader instead.

Admittedly, this redesigned Silurian is distinctively different to the rest of his brethren owing to him not appearing in the BBC Science Fiction programme until the 1984 story "Warriors Of The Deep", starring Peter Davison. But that individuality makes him perfect in my mind to act as the three-eyed land-dwellers' commander, and opens up the possibility of the "Eocenes" utilising a few more figures taken from the Fifth Doctor's era.
"Black Tree Design" WIPs - Aggedor, a Sharaz Jek Android and an Auton
Perhaps the most notable of these additional units will be a wicked looking model of a Myrka, which I have removed from its old "Games Workshop" rectangular stand and attached to a more aesthetically pleasing oval base. In addition, rather than simply paint up a load more Sea Devils which despite their diminutive size are still strikingly similar to the "Warlord Games" sculpts I have previously done, I plan to progress a few of the Silurians' cousin-species which are donned in their underwater people's stunning battle armour.

Of course, that doesn't mean I have completely turned my back upon working on a few other "Doctor Who" miniatures this month which I have delightfully discovered during my rummaging around. Indeed, sticking with the Third/Fifth Doctors' tenures I hope to 'polish off' at least a handful of Autons, an Aggedor and a squad of Sharaz Jek's well-armed androids...

22 comments:

  1. Sounds like a good plan. Could you not alter the paint schemes slightly or add a staff or sceptre to differentiate them?

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    1. Thanks Simon. I could do some conversion work but having seen the 5th Doctor era Silurians, they look a simpler solution. So I can just crack on with the older versions as minions.

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  2. I was hooked by sea devils onwards

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    1. I always like to provide my fellow bloggers with a hook Clint :-)

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    1. Thanks Fran. I have a squad of them to paint over the next few days.

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  4. Some great pieces in there Simon, look forward to seeing what you do with them.

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    1. Cheers Dave. Hopefully these'll all be finished over the next few weeks...

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  5. Nice looking minis, the Myrka looks better than it did in the tv show!! I always remember that Myrka episode as the creature looked like a pantomime horse covered in seaweed and fishing nets! When it burst through those rubber doors that bent under its weight I cried with laughter!! Can't beat the Tom Baker era when monsters were scary not funny!

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    1. Thanks Undercoat. I fear Peter Davison's era had a few dodgy monsters, with the Myrka probably being the worst. Still, I agree that its a splendid tabletop miniature.

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  6. On this episode of `undercoat -weekly'... well i'm looking forward to the sea devil commander the most and the one that looks like a zoat!!

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    1. LOL Phil. I'm a big fan of the Samurai-looking Sea Devils, Phil, and of course the Myrka :-)

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  7. Well this month just got a whole lot better!

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    1. Thanks Michael. I thought it was about time I focused on my other collection of "Doctor Who" miniatures for a while.

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  8. You've returned from the lead mountain with yet more treasures Simon :-)

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    1. LOL!! Great comment, Greg!! Never thought of it like that before :-)

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  9. What fantastic models you've dug up, especially the Myrka, and what great idea too.

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    1. Thank you kindly, Wouter. Hopefully, this force will quickly take shape and I can get it on the tabletop soon.

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  10. Some interesting looking (and sounding) models in the pipe-line tp look forward to. Other than the Silurians, which I vaguely remember I can't say I know any of them.

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    1. Cheers Joe. Hopefully I can jog your memory with some of Jon Pertwee's other foes once they've been painted and I post a bit about their background :-)

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  11. Greg's comment above, combined with your recent focus on your LOTR inspired 'Toon' figures has made me re-imagine your 'lead mountain' as being like the Lonely Mountain in The Hobbit, with vast halls filled with figures, which you venture in to to retrieve long-forgotten treasures. A nice start on this batch of Black Tree Figures. I think I remember seeing a conversion of the Myrka figure somewhere where they sculpted the fish-tail that the actual beastie had in the series...

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    1. Thanks Jez. What a wonderful description, and one which I'll be keeping in my mind's eye when I venture into my loft to pull out the odd box of miniatures in the future :-) I'm actually a huge fan of "Warriors Of The Deep" and despite the failings of the Myrka costume, absolutely love its look tbh, so expect it to be finished soon.

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