Thursday 13 February 2020

"This Won't Hurt A Bit, You Freak."

"Waste recycle on."
These four 28mm U-Men models are produced by “Wizkids” and can (still) be bought as miniature number 002 from their “Heroclix” Marvel Mutant Mayhem range. Dedicated to "using mutant body parts to augment their human bodies, as well as to grant themselves superhuman powers" this "cult of geeks" first appeared in the 2001 "New X-Men" Annual and were created by Grant Morrison and Leinil Francis Yu.

Having previously painted a fair few of this particular model in the past, I thought I'd spend a little time beforehand converting three of the U-Men so they carried some of the more 'specialist weapons' used by Dr. John Sublime's acolytes to harvest mutants. As I result I simply snipped off the barrels to their propulsion guns and attached some spare "Gale Force Nine" bitz I had left over from assembling the vehicles from the "Tanks" World War II skirmish game.
"Precinct Omega" WIPs - Three of the "Ballmonsters!" have been primed, shaded and dry-brushed
I wanted to make these deadly devices as 'weird' as possible, so ended up drilling/pinning all sorts of odds and ends, including the entire barrel of a 15mm armoured fighting vehicle, a combination of a tank's open turret hatch and spare wheel, and some bizarre piece of plastic I really haven't a clue about. In my mind, these choices ultimately gave my U-Men a 'long range' explosive option to force out hidden muties, some sort of wind turbine option to knock over targets or extinguish flaming super powers, and a hand-weapon which looked as if it might fire a debilitating net...

Once assembled, the quartet's environmental suits were initially primed using a couple of coats of “Citadel” Abaddon Black and had all their breathing pipes, apparatus and weapons picked out using a combination of Ironbreaker and Nuln Oil. As I haven't yet ever created an actual leading U-Man figure, I did momentarily consider painting one of them with the garish blue face mask found on the "Wizkids" pre-paints. But as I really don't like that look much, I decided to stick with my 'tried and tested' second splash of "Citadel" Nuln Oil instead, and have them lead by either the Black Manta or my recently completed Major Maxim.
"Wizards Of The Coast" WIPs - A Lizardman Warrior, Gnome Infiltrator and Human Monk
As something of a colourful distraction from all the U-Men's "Citadel" Abaddon Black and Ironbreaker I have been slowly pigmenting most of the "Ballmonsters!" models I bought from "Precinct Omega" at "Beachhead" 2020. These characterful 'heads' have loads of detail on them, and whilst the fantasy sports rule-set they've been designed for isn't out yet, I have a few ideas in mind to get them onto my tabletop quite soon...

In addition, I have re-primed a number of old "Dungeons & Dragons" adventurers which have been gathering dust in one of my drawers for a good couple of years. Apparently produced by "Wizards Of The Coast" way back in 1999, I've gone for an odd-looking party of adventurers, starting with a Gnome Infiltrator (with repeating crossbow), a Human Monk, and a Lizardman Warrior...

12 comments:

  1. Those weapon conversions look great, and I look forward to seeing the adventuring party!

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    1. Thanks Myincubliss. I'm looking forward to seeing the adventurers too, as it'll mean they're done.

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  2. I thought they were scuba divers when I first saw them Simon, really interesting sculpts and a lovely job.

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    1. Cheers Michael. I do use the U-Men as scuba divers too, predominantly supporting the Black Manta as his henchmen.

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  3. Those are great conversions! I thought they were actual shop bought minis until I read the text, really awesome job! The ball creatures are coming along nicely and those D&D minis look excellent, with my favourite being the lizardman.

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    1. Thanks Undercoat. Pleased you like the variety, everything was becoming a bit black and silver for my liking, LOL.

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  4. Great work and conversions on the U men Simon, the balls are coming along nicely

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    1. Cheers Dave. Glad you like my balls!!! LOL!! ;-)

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  5. Nice work on the U men the new guns look spot on. I have that Chainmail gnome to paint but when I opened my box it has the end of the crossbow missing and I can't recall where I had it from! I have grabbed some spares from Crooked Dice to fix it.

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    1. Thanks Simon. Yep the gnome is quite a rarity these days, but I still have a sizeable stash of "Chainmail" minis, so thought it was about time to paint some :-)

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  6. Wow ! The U-men have tuned out looking like a really very sinister looing group - you've done a great job bringing them to life - they've got to be amonngst my favourites in you legion of 'black' figures.
    Ballmonsters look amusing and I look forward to seeing their final colours as I do the final three on the workbench, as they're very varied subjects.

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    1. Cheers Joe. Glad you like the U-Men, I've a few more to come, but just ones carrying their usual weaponry. Hopefully both the "Ballmonsters!" and "D&D" adventurers will be finished soon :-)

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