"Dark Indeed Is The Hour."

"And at such times you are wont to come, Mithrandir."

These three "cartoon scale" white metal figures of King Victor's Men-at-Arms are produced by “Lucid Eye Publications” and can be bought from the company's "Toon Realms" range as a pack of four identical miniatures. Sculpted by Steve Saleh, I have painted them all in the colours of Gondor so as to hopefully field a twelve-model strong unit of (Heavy Foot) Minas Tirith Knights for “Dragon Rampant” by "Osprey Games".

Initially undercoated with two layers of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, Denethor's warriors were dry-brushed using some "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal in order to bring out some of their large cloaks' detail, and subsequently washed in "Citadel" Nuln Oil. The soldiers' boots were then treated to a touch of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, whilst their sword hilts and belt buckles were given a lick of Gold.

"Copplestone Castings" WIPs - These two Deinonychus just need some washes and a tidy up

Both of these areas were later washed with "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. Finally I 'picked out' the Men-at-Arms' helmets, neck armour, chain-mail and shield emblems using a combination of "Citadel" Ironbreaker and Nuln Oil, and eventually dry-brushed these parts with (more) Ironbreaker.

What with the vast majority of my partially-painted "Toon Realms" figures now being finished, I have been rummaging around for some thematically different miniatures, and subsequently stumbled upon a pair of Deinonychuses by "Copplestone Castings" which have sat upon my 'To Do' pile arguably for as long as I can remember. I actually tried to finish the duo of dinosaurs about eighteen months ago, but was something put off by some failed attempts to provide them with some stripes...

"Heroclix" WIPs - Titanium Man, Namor the Sub-Mariner, the Abomination and a Doombot

Stepping over towards the imminent Tenth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, I have also been busily re-basing a veritable host of "Heroclix" models for the competition, and giving them a bit of a prime. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I've been selecting some of the "Wizkids" range's more straightforward sculpts to re-paint, yet am equally as keen as to ensure that they'll get a place on my tabletop once they've been varnished and had their base's flocked.

Having recently perused my gaming collection, I'm definitely in need of a few more "Marvel Comics" foes, so have selected some of the more memorable super-villains of my childhood with which to challenge the Avengers, the Hulk and the Fantastic Four. As a result, I'm hoping to add to my stash of Russian armoured patriots with Titanium Man, pigment an army of Doombots for the monarch of Latveria, menace Susan Storm with the unsolicited advances of Prince Namor, and finally batter Bruce Banner's alter-ego with the (original) Abomination...