Monday 16 September 2019

"It's Turning The Eggs."

"What species is this?"
These three 1:160 scale metal miniatures of "egg laden nests of different sizes" are manufactured by “Magister Militum” and can be bought from their "Menacing Monsters" range as Code DIN112 Dinosaur Nests. Sculpted so "you choose what hatches", these models represent any pre-Tertiary period nest and have been super-glued onto the standard 40mm circular bases I use for the vast majority of my objective markers.

Originally primed with two coats of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, the actual nests themselves were treated to a double layer of "Vallejo" Iraqi Sand, before being generously shaded in "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. I then heavily dry-brushed the mud so as to 'highlight' its ridges, and applied a combination of "Vallejo" White and Pale Grey to the eggs. Finally, each shell was carefully dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" White.
Iconic Villains WIPs - Locutus of Borg, the extra-dimensional being known as Q, and the Queen Borg
The rest of each ensemble was given a rough dry-brush of "Citadel" Doombull Brown, followed by a slightly lighter application of Rakarth Flesh. These areas were later drenched in "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade, before being protected with a coat of PVA glue and flocked using some static grass. The nests are supposedly for use with 10mm models, but due to their large size appear entirely appropriate for many other wargaming scales.

With the first of my "Colours" 2019 loot finished, I have managed to make some additional progress on a few of the “Modiphius Entertainment” figures from their "Star Trek Adventures" Iconic Villains boxed set. For now I'm focusing upon those characters who have some association with the Borg, so unsurprisingly have begun work on Locutus, the Borg Queen and the entity responsible for the Federation's first encounter with the cybernetic organisms, the immeasurably powerful Q.
"Warcry" WIPs - These two Iron Golems are slowly having their metalwork 'picked out'
I've also finally gained some momentum pigmenting the first of my Iron Golems for "Warcry" by "Games Workshop", in particular my Ogre Breacher. This particular miniature has had his brass leg armour repeatedly re-painted over the past couple of weeks as I've struggled to get to grips with the Nottingham-based company's "Citadel" Colour Contrast paints.

Initially, I had hoped to 'get away' with creating the warband's infamous metallic red armour with a couple of applications of "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson over a "Vallejo" Brass undercoat. But this didn't quite give me the bold colour I was looking for. I then tried some "Citadel" Flesh Tearers Red with a similar result. So in the end I've bought some "Citadel" Contrast Medium and watered down my Flesh Tearers Red to the point where at least some of the "Vallejo" Brass underneath is visible... and left it at that.

24 comments:

  1. Excited for Locutus and his Queen!

    Like the eggs. Always good for objectives and the like.

    The metallic red on the armour doesn't look half bad to me Simon? Stop giving yourself such a hard time!

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    1. Thanks very much indeed, Dai. The Borg Queen is finished and ready for posting tomorrow, with Locutus close behind :-)

      The metallic red is as good as I can get with the 'watered' down Contrast, so I'm pleased you think the armour is okay. I'm certainly not re-painting it a fourth time, LOL!!

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  2. The "villains" all look superb, oh and I hated Q (not the figure, that looks great); the Borg Queen and the locutus are really dynamic sculpts too and wil look great leading the Borg collective !
    Can't help with the armour thing, I think I'd have gone with copper than a brown ink wash, but then again I don't really know what effect you're after !

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    1. Cheers Joe. I'm not a fan of the Borg Queen's pose tbh. It's a little too dynamic for how I imagine her in "Star Trek: First Contact". Still, she's finished now.

      The Iron Golems are known for their grey skin and metallic red armour, so that's the look I'm trying to attain :-)

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  3. Love Locutus 😀 What are your thoughts on the new Picard series? I'm kind of excited myself.

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    1. Thanks Ivor. I'm afraid I'm not a fan of anything "Star Trek" coming out currently, with "Discovery" and its aggressive marketing particularly putting me off the entire franchise. As soon as I'm told I have to like a series and its lead character (which I didn't) or I'm a sexist racist I stop watching.

      As a result I haven't seen much about "Picard", as its made by the same company, apart from the trailer which did look rather intriguing; albeit Sir Patrick Stewart is certainly showing his age - Plus I already hear rumours of a second season in the pipeline!!

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  4. Great looking objective markers. Very useful for Pulp gaming. The Borg and Warcry figures are coming along nicely

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  5. I'm sure I could find a use for those eggs and great looking Borg too.

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    1. Indeed you could use those eggs for your fantastic-looking Dinosaur world, Michael. Even though they're 10mm in scale (apparently), they're easily big enough for 28mm wargaming, imho.

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  6. Great work on the eggs Simon, the characters are progressing nicely. With the warcry dilemma have you tried the gem paint over the top of the brass instead ? you'll still see the brass underneath, the amount of brass you'll see depends on the number of layers of gem paint you apply

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    1. Thanks Dave. I don't own the gem paints, but simply followed the "Games Workshop" recipe; albeit swapping out their "Citadel" Brass for the "Vallejo" version :-)

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    2. Having known a lot of the heavy metal painters in the past, and been told the recipes given are not how they achieved the colours you see in pictures, I wouldn't hold too much faith in it.
      Having used the gem paints over silver I know they'll work over other metallics, but keep experimenting is the key, to find what works for you

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    3. Cheers Dave. I'm now committed with the 'mediumed' down Contrast for the red armour. But next time I pop into my local store I'll have a look for the gem paints you mention :-)

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  7. I always enjoyed the Doug McLure films when I was a nipper. The figures have come out well as have the egg-jective markers. I am following the experiments with the new contrast paints, I have yet to succumb to purchasing any yet.

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    1. Cheers Phil. I too was a huge Doug McClure fan as a child and still am. This was my first try with the Contrast and I haven't seen anything I liked so far, plus you apparently have to buy their medium to 'water' Contrast down as you can't use h2o for some reason...

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  8. Egg month follows your glorious pasty month earlier this year, how wonderful! Can't wait for Christmas pudding month!! You do find some quirky things to paint, lol! I don't like the star trek characters as much as the generic models, which is odd, but they are still nice. Glad to see some Warcry models as I can't wait to see your finished warband. The red armour looks fine to me by the way!

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    1. LOL Undercoat. Hopefully, the first of the "Warcry" minis will be finished soon. This is after all, my "Warcry" month!!!

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  9. Good work on both the eggs and the Borg figures, even though I know nothing about "Q" and very little about the Borg. I always thought "Q" was James Bond's Quartermaster! ;-)

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    1. Thanks Bryan. Your version of "Q" certainly pre-dates that of the "Star Trek: TNG" villain by a few decades :-)

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  10. I like the eggs, good scenery for any period!

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  11. love seeing ur Star Trek miniatures. might have missed a post or not but did u do any klingons yet??

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    1. Thanks very much indeed, Mr. Martin. I do own the Klingons (ST:TNG) and General Chang, but haven't painted them yet. I have a few more Romulans and Borg to finish, and then they'll be next.

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