Thursday 21 March 2019

"Release The Myrka."

"The Myrka can deal with it."
This 46mm long metal miniature of a "genetically modified... unknown deep-sea creature" is produced by “Black Tree Design", and can be bought as Code DW509 Myrka from the manufacturer's "Doctor Who" miniatures range. "A large species of reptile used by the Silurians for heavy backup in times of war", the "bullet-resistant" beast which can attack using a powerful electrical charge first appeared in Johnny Byrne's January 1984 BBC Television story "Warriors Of The Deep".

The Myrka was first super-glued onto a "Citadel" 75x42mm oval base, primed with two coats of "Vallejo" Heavy Green, and drenched in Strong Tone Quickshade by "The Army Painter". The monster was then heavily dry-brushed using (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Green, so as to bring out the detail of its "strange kelp-like growths" under its chin and around its "rubbery" body, before subsequently being washed with "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green.
"Age Of Sigmar WIPs" - The three Bloodletters just need their teeth and tongues to be shaded
After a second (and final) dry-brush of "Vallejo" Heavy Green, the Myrka's "wide, pale eyes" were 'picked out' using a combination of "Vallejo" White and Pale Grey. Lastly, the four-legged reptiles's base was gritted with sand, undercoated "Citadel" Abaddon Black, dry-brushed in Doombull Brown and Rakarth Flesh, then washed with "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade.

Momentarily setting aside my month-long “Doctor Who” marathon, I have also found some considerable inspiration to press on with my Khorne war-host for “Age Of Sigmar”, courtesy of “Games Workshop” announcing the imminent release of a “brand new Blades of Khorne Battletome… along with some awesome new kits!” I’ve actually been pottering away to take my Bloodletter-based army core to 500 points over the past few weeks, and the news of some “expanded rules” for them has helped me make more progress on the final three figures I need to complete a twenty-strong infantry unit of Khorne’s Chosen.
Skulltaker WIP - The Lord of Skulls has had all his gold parts shaded and dry-brushed
In addition, my paint-brush has managed to finally get to grips with my Chaos force’s leader, the brutal herald Skulltaker, whose “particular hunger for the heads of heroes” means his miniature is absolutely covered in numerous skulls. Of course, as part of their “complete guide to fielding your very own army dedicated to the Blood God” “Games Workshop” have re-sculpted the Slayer Sword wielder as a multi-part hard plastic figure. But fortunately, I own the old “Finecast” version, which despite being made of resin is far more compactly posed than its successor and subsequently looks infinitely more painter-friendly.

The Lord Of Skulls is definitely getting a lot of love from its Nottingham-based creators currently, and I couldn’t help also pre-ordering the Blood God’s Judgements along with his new battletome and Skull Altar. These “Blood Blessings are Khornate equivalents of endless spells, summoned to battle by Slaughterpriests” and should quickly go to the top of my painting queue once they arrive within the next few days…

18 comments:

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    1. Thanks very much Fran. Lots of Khorne coming next month as I hope to paint up their 'spells', altar and enough figures to take my Bloodletter warhost up to 750 points :-)

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  2. Lovely I'm looking forward to more Khorne goodness. You are right to point out the scale creep issue, my old stamping ground was 40K but the minis are so expensive and large the old Abaddon is £15 new, the forthcoming model is significantly larger and supposed to be retailing at £30 or so.

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    1. Cheers Phil. I don't think you'll be disappointed during "Age Of Sigmar" April then if my preorders arrive as planned. The new Khorne stuff is great, but I am very glad I own a lot of the old models, even if they're "Finecast".

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  3. Great to see you have finished the Myrka, Simon. I do like this figure despite the comments that it looks like a pantomime animal! Some people can be so cruel, can't they? :-)

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    1. Thanks Bryan. I too love the Myrka, though I do agree that in the TV story it did indeed look like something from a panto!! LOL

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  4. Great brushwork Simon, happy to see the fully painted version of the Myrka.
    You Bloodletters, and especially the Skull Taker, look amazing too.

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    1. Cheers Wouter. I really do like the Myrka model, so have set about trying to get a couple more to help my Sea Devils really dominate the tabletop :-) Hopefully the finished Bloodletters will be posted soon, and then Skulltaker shortly afterwards.

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  5. Nice job on the lizard horse thing. Loving the bloodletters wip.

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    1. Thanks Simon. The Bloodletters are all but finished now, bringing me up to a horde of 20 models. Only another 10 to do at some point... for now at least ;-)

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  6. Great work on the Myrka, the bloodletters are progressing well, and will be nice to see Skulltaker finished

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    1. Cheers Dave. I’ll be pleased to see Skulltaker finished too as there’s a lot of skulls on that mini and a load of icons too!!

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  7. OOOH I say. Like the Myrka

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  8. Awesome work on the Bloodletters Simon, and it's great to see the Myrka finished - the model captures the character of the original monster perfectly..... "panto horse"-esque or not :-)

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    1. Cheers Greg. I'm hoping to have the Bloodletters finished very soon, and actually have a couple more Myrka's to come at some point too - when they arrive ;-)

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  9. One eof the better Dr. Who opponents imho (though I,ve never heard of them - of course) and more bloodletters to come !

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    1. Thanks Joe. I'm really pleased with how the Myrka turned out. Lots more Bloodletters to come, now I've got my hands on their new battletome.

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