Monday 21 October 2019

"Yes, It Appears The Monoids Have Become Overlords."

"You speak of the distant past. Following the recent revolution we are now the masters."
These two 28mm metal miniatures of some Monoids are manufactured by “Black Tree Design", and can be purchased as Code DW112 Monoid and DW138 Monoid II from the Penzance-based company’s "Doctor Who" miniatures range. Thwarted by the First Doctor "from wiping out the last of humanity with a bomb" secretly planted inside the head of a giant statue, these one-eyed humanoids made their first appearance in Paul Erickson and Lesley Scott’s March 1966 BBC Television story "The Ark".

The aliens from "at least ten million years in the far distant future" were undercoated using two layers of “Vallejo” Heavy Green and drenched in The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. The figures were then dry-brushed with (more) “Vallejo” Heavy Green, before having their distinctive “mop-top” heads painted using a combination of “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna and “The Army Painter” Strong Tone Quickshade.
"Black Tree Design" WIPs - The Krotons just need their heads to be shaded and dry-brushed
Finally, the Monoids' large cyclopean eyes were 'picked out' with a couple of dabs of "Vallejo" Dead White at either side of a "Citadel" Abaddon Black pupil. Despite these old sculpts lacking much of the equipment their television counter-parts carried, such as a voice box and heat prod, I'm really rather fond of these miniatures, and am grateful to John Olsen for including them in my latest order as freebies following its significant delay in arriving...

Staying with "Black Tree Design" and early "Doctor Who" I have also dusted down a trio of Krotons from the Second Doctor's era which I purchased way back in April 2018, and are were already partially finished, courtesy of the Ninth Analogue Hobbies Challenge. Unlike the other crystalline aliens I've painted though, these three are armed with the unwieldy canister weapons that the extra-terrestrials used so ineffectively to try and destroy the TARDIS.
"Assault a vampire's lair with Paddy Mayne and the MI-13 Commandos."
In addition to painting I have also been busy re-basing some more of my "Secrets Of The Third Reich" figures by “West Wind Production". Having dug out the ruleset's old "Doomsday" expansion book and perused its numerous missions I'm all set for a Weird War Two 'Unternehmen Seelöwe' campaign using some homemade 'quick-play' rules.

I'm actually planning re-fighting the evacuation of Dunkirk first, so already have enough basic British Commandos carrying Carbine Rifles with which to put up a staunch defence of the French beach. However, for the invasion of Britain, I thought the Allies would want to bring out some of their 'big guns', and resultantly got to work on two armour-suited Tommies; with one carrying a Flamer and the other, a Vickers Machine Gun...

20 comments:

  1. Nice work mate. Love the Commando's

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    1. Thanks Simon. I need to get some more of the Armour-Suited Tommies, but have a huge "SoTR" backlog to wade through first, as I try and whittle down my lead mountain.

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  2. Great to see more of your amazing Black Tree Design collection Simon.

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    1. Cheers Michael. With "Warlord Games" essentially halting their own "Doctor Who" release schedule this year, my "Black Tree Design" horde has really helped give me my "Doctor Who" fix.

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    2. Just out of curiosity will Black Tree ever have to stop production? They obviously still hold a licence.

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    3. I don't think they do own the licence anymore, Michael. It was a long-running joke that they simply had an 'endless' stock to use up once they lost it. But I now hear that they're able to avoid the issue by casting them in the US and shipping them over to the UK afterwards - which I why their delivery is so poor, as you have to hope they have enough Dr Who in stock or else it has to be brought over the Pond. I can't confirm any of the above, but that's what I recall reading on the "Lead Adventure Forum" over time. It would certainly explain how "BTD" can continue to sell Dr Who minis and why it takes so blasted long for them to arrive...

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    4. I think I had heard the rumour about running down the everlasting stock, but not realised that they were shipping from the States - wow! I guess as long as there is a demand...

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    5. Well I've heard the US casting story from a couple of sources, including a vendor at a recent Wargaming Show I attended, so it sounds plausible. I don't know for sure obviously. But I was told by John that my order was delayed because of shipping from the US and I only buy "Doctor Who" minis from "Black Tree Design".

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  3. The Monoids and Krotons tuned ut well and well reflect the 'typical' beloved low-cost Dr. Who 'baddy'we have akll loved at one time or another.
    The armoured Commandos though are a very different kettle of fish; minis I haven't seen before and they do look very good indeed with so much detail to pick out -great brushwork on them.

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    1. Thanks Joe. The Krotons should be ready for posting soon, and hopefully I'll have some more "SoTR" stuff on show too ;-)

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  4. Another classic bunch looking good.

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  5. Nice work on the Monoids Simon, The Krotons are progressing well, and good to see the rebasing moving along

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    1. Simply stuff on both the Monoids and Krotons thankfully, Dave, as they give me time to spend on the more complicated "Warcry" figures.

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  6. Interesting collection of minis. You keep digging out Dr Who minis so I guess your collection is massive! Nice to see those SotTR minis getting a new lease of life too.

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    1. Thanks Undercoat. My backlog of "Black Tree Design" is embarrassingly big, so I'm pleased to slowly be chipping away at it.

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  7. Nice looking Paddy and his commandos!

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  8. Who baddies will fit in nicely with their already completed ilk in your collection. But those Commandos look badarse for sure and even more so on their new bases. This Defense of Dunkirk scenario sounds fun.

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    1. Thanks very much Dai. I plan to post up the Dunkirk BatRep over the next week or so and then go through Operation Sealion. Plenty of re-based units to come too :-)

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