Monday 20 July 2020

"I Think You Ought To Know I'm Feeling Very Depressed."

"Pardon me for breathing, which I never do anyway so I don't know why I bother to say it..."
This 28mm scale metal figure of a Companion Droid is produced by “Tangent Miniatures” and is model number EY-0R3 from their Cosmic Travellers range. Clearly inspired by Marvin the Paranoid Android from the 1981 BBC television adaptation of Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", the automaton is a single-cast piece and can also be bought as part of a five-figure bundle deal.

With the automaton super-glued onto a 25mm plastic round base, it was primed using some "Citadel" Abaddon Black and subsequently treated to a double coat of "Vallejo" Silver. I then washed the entire figure in "Citadel" Nuln Oil before dry-brushing it with (more) "Vallejo" Silver. Finally, I dabbed in the robot's eyes using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Red and "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson.
"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - The Skeleton Warrior has been washed and dry-brushed
I had actually planned to 'pick out' a number of the android's joints and buttons with "Citadel" Abaddon Black, but soon realised that the detail on the excellent-looking sculpt wasn't quite sharp enough for my skill with a paint-brush. Indeed, after a few failed attempts I even decided to avoid trying to get a tiny line of "Vallejo" Iraqi Sand onto one of Marvin's chest panels, and simply re-painted over my repeated splodges with some additional Silver and "Citadel" Nuln Oil.

Having finished the first of my Hitchhikers I have settled down to assembling, basing, priming and washing several more Skeleton Warriors and Skeleton Spears by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio". I was originally thinking of simply painting the odd figure or two in between some of my other projects, but with the imminent arrival of "Frostgrave: Second Edition" in August, I've suddenly found myself falling into a bit of a Fantasy mood.
"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - The Skeleton Champion, Leader and Spearman
Indeed, I've actually dug out all my old "Frostgrave" rule-books by "Osprey Publishing", swooped upon a few outstanding tomes on the second-hand market, and even started thinking about assembling a third warband using some "North Star Military Figures" models. However, having perused the twelve skeleton models by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" I suddenly thought they'd make an excellent-looking band of Undead treasure hunters instead.

As a result I plan to utilise the hooded leader from the company's Skeleton Warriors 1 blister as my wizard, the wolf-pelt covered cadaver from Skeleton Spears as the group's apprentice, and the heavily-armoured brute from Skeleton Warriors 2 as either a knight or templar. The rest of the warband can hopefully be made up from the rest of the skellies; albeit I'm tempted to convert a couple into carrying a bow/crossbow...

16 comments:

  1. Great work on Marvin Simon, and very nice progress on your skele's, and a cool idea using them as a warband for Frostgrave

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    1. Thanks very much Dave. Simple stuff on Marvin in the end. Its sculpt reminded me of the "Black Tree Design" Dr Who minis for some reason - similar detail and scale I suppose.

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  2. Poor old Marvin, such a great character. Lovely job Simon.

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    1. Cheers Michael. Hopefully I can do a few more Hitchhikers at some point.

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  3. Lovely work on Marvin, I used to have the Denizen Miniatures version of him, 25mm I recall.

    There's a second edition of Frostgrave! I haven't even played the first! :-)

    A skeleton Warband would be very cool to be honest

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Thanks Roger. I've always got my eye out for a quick paint-job amongst my collection, and Marvin fitted the bill very nicely. I'm really looking forward to "Frostgrave: Second Edition", having played the first one a bit, and the skeleton warband sounds like a smart idea.

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  4. Marvin looks very good indeed. So much better than the film version! I do like those skeletons, particularly the champion one. There are plenty of undead baddies in Frostgrave, especially in the Lich Lord book, which is fully compatible with 2nd edition, so rather than an undead warband you have the more traditional option too!

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    1. Cheers Undercoat. Nice to give the "Vallejo" Silver a run through rather than my usual "Citadel" Ironbreaker. Hopefully I'll have the first of the skellies finished soon, and I'll try and have a butchers at the Lich Lord book in the meantime.

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  5. Wow! It's Marvin! Really to literally talk sentient war machines into suicide! Very handy.

    "What a depressingly stupid machine."

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  6. My initial thought was "ooh, It's a Denizen miniature..." then I saw the link. Browsed the site and there's some interesting figures on there. Some that were part of Wayne's World of Wonders range from Miniature Figurines and some nee sculpts/figures very similar on style to Nexus Miniatures. Is this the same chap?

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    1. I certainly recognised a couple of the minis, Jez. Didn't I send you a few of my spares from that range too? I actually think the look of Marvin is reminiscent of "Black Tree Design" but the other Hitchhikers are certainly similar to "Nexus Miniatures" in style - I don't know if its the same sculptor or not though.

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  7. 'Not Marvin' is a great representation of the infamous robot!
    The Skeleton Champion and leader are the stars of the show imho, great style and characterisation about them.

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    1. Cheers Joe. The Companion Droid was a must-buy just as soon as I saw him. Glad you like the "Crooked Dice" skellies so much. They really are great, imho.

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