"The Squirrel Man Of Sevastopol..."

"...Was legendary for killing zombies whilst protecting the local squirrel population."

This 28mm hard plastic model is from "Hero Forge Custom Miniatures" and was designed using their online character design platform as a 'test piece' to see just what the quality of their 3D printed figures was like. The sculpt was incredibly simple to assemble from all the various body parts, costumes, equipment and weapons the website has to offer, and is largely based upon how I imagine myself looking should the Zombie Apocalypse actually occur.

The model did come on a pre-sculpted circular base, but in order to fit in better with some of my other zed-bashing miniatures I decided to snip around the stand's edges with a pair of pliers, and attach him to a 28mm lipped based instead. The figure was then treated to a double undercoat of "Citadel" Abaddon Black and vigorously dry-brushed with "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal.

"Mongoose Publishing" WIPs - The three undead Judges are slowly having their uniforms 'picked out'

I then 'picked out' the zombie survivor's numerous buttons and belt buckle with "Citadel" Ironbreaker, and his formidable firearm with Leadbelcher. All of these areas, along with the man's trousers and long leather trenchcoat, were drenched in "Citadel" Nuln Oil. The zed-killer's shoes were re-painted pure "Citadel" Abaddon Black to help them stand out a little more.

Finally, the squirrel and warrior's big bushy beard was pigmented using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. Whilst his stained T-Shirt was given a coat of "Vallejo" White and a splash of Pale Grey.

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - The alien pets have been based and primed

With the first of my Zomtober entries completed, I've made a little progress on three Mega-City One walking cadavers I converted using metal pieces from "Mongoose Publishing" and plastic parts from "Mantic Games". The entire trio will represent Undead Judges on my tabletop, so I have been slowly working my way through the tattered remants of their Justice Department uniforms.

In addition, I have also been busy basing and priming some more of the super-cute Alien Pets produced by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio". I must confess that these "Colony 87" miniatures strongly remind me of the Japanese media franchise "Pokemon", and as a result, I have been watching a few of the cartoon series' earliest episodes so as to further motivate me to paint them. 

"The Feathered Hopper Is A Native Of The Colony’s Southern Rainforests."

"The luminous feathers of this adorable amphibian are worn by the dilettantes of the Spires."

This 28mm scale metal model of a Feathered Hopper is produced by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” and can be bought as part of their Alien Pets deal. The creature is only 15mm tall and is designed to be used with the company's other "Colony 87" sci-fi civilian miniatures "for any RPGs and tabletop wargames."

The animal was initially primed with two coats of "Vallejo" Turquoise, before being drenched in "Citadel" Asurmen Blue. It was then vigorously dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Turquoise before having its feathers pigmented using a combination of Heavy Red and "Citadel" Carrouburg Crimson.

The Liberator's Crew face Robo-Rodents and Mutated Scientists

I 'picked out' the tiny extra-terrestrial's eyes with some "Vallejo" Sun Yellow, and then thought I'd make the critter look even more 'alien' by spotting the two bumps in between them with the same colour - thus giving the impression that the cute pet has four eyes, similar to those of a spider. These areas were all later shaded using some "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade.

Alongside finishing my first model from the "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" range of "Colony 87" miniatures, I have also managed to make another visit to the LVL Up Gaming Store in Bournemouth. Once again this was so I could continue to play-test some cooperative rules I am writing for my homemade brew entitled "M.I.S.S.", which uses some of the cardboard sections found inside the original version of the Alien Versus Predator Board Game by "Prodos Games" for its layouts.

Blake and Avon battle giant mutant monsters

Unlike last time though, the "Blake's Seven" scenarios we played predominantly involved Roj Blake, Kerr Avon, Jenna Stannis and Vila Restal investigating a derelict Terran Federation Science Station, rather than Supreme Commander Servalan and Space Commander Travis. Although, Section Leader Klegg and his Federation Death Squad were still on hand when the facility's viral infection got particularly out-of-hand and needed some fodder...

We actually managed to get in a good handful of games during the afternoon, and actually encountered all of the new mutated scientists and robotic drones I had incorporated into the game. The Liberator's crew provided some particularly thematic moments, such as a cowardly Vila being run down by a pack of cute robo-rodents, and Avon outthinking an enormous mutant tank in a confined communications room just long enough for Blake to replace a broken databank and teleport the team out of danger.

"A Faint Humanoid Shape Shows..."

"...In a fire elemental's capricious devastation."

These six 15mm scale metal miniatures of some Lesser Fire Elementals are produced by “Alternative Armies” and can be bought either separately as blister HOT88 Lesser Elementals or as part of the company's pre-made twenty-four point strong HOTT1017 Elemental Army pack. The rather small sculpts count as Shooters for "Hordes Of The Things", with three figures sitting upon each 40mm x 20mm base.

Initially, each model was super-glued upon a wooden baton to help my brush-tip better reach all their details, and were primed using a couple of coats of "Vallejo" Sun Yellow. The models were then shaded using a little "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade and dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Sun Yellow, a little Heavy Red and finally a tiny amount of Dark Vermillion.

"Wherever it moves, it sets its surroundings ablaze, turning the world to ash, smoke, and cinders."

Unfortunately, I was even more unimpressed with the final result on these miniatures, than I was on the Giant Fire Elemental I've previously painted. The rounded detail on each figure didn't appear crisp enough for my brush technique to gently graze the very edge of their flames and as a result, each monster simply looked like a red blob which had escaped from Noel's House Party.

I therefore repeated the entire dry-brushing process once again, but tried to ensure I only sporadically applied my brush-tip to different areas of each elemental, rather than completely cover the entire model. In addition, I attempted to make each creature's ghastly face stand out all the more from the tabletop by purposely pigmenting the eyes with some "Vallejo" Heavy Red and "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson, as well as lining the sockets and mouths in Sun Yellow.

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - Three Federated Security Troopers

Having finished my Elemental Army's penultimate unit, I have momentarily turned my attention towards completing a number of Federated Security Troopers by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio". I've recently been making good use of my current collection of painted figures from this range whilst testing out some collaborative "Blake's Seven" scenarios for my homemade rule-set "M.I.S.S.", and have now found I need a few more black-suited minions to make my games even larger.

For starters I want my proxy of Section Leader Klegg to be accompanied by two members of the Federation Death Squad he used to board the Liberator with, as an alternative to him simply having health tokens. I also thought it would be nice to have the option to field a second senior officer other than Space Commander Travis, in the shape of Space Major Provine from the March 1979 television episode "Countdown"...

Few More Posts And Projects Section On New Wix Website

Both an Updates and Projects section have been added to the new Wix website

I've put a few more new postings up on the new Wix website, predominantly covering this month's planned Zomtober entries and some "Black Tree Design" Doctor Who finished miniatures.

I've also created a Projects section which can be accessed via the website's title menu. This will lead to a page dedicated to the past six month's painting projects, and record my progress. You can click on a finished miniature and will be taken to the posting covering its completion. I hope to have more projects added as time progresses...

In addition, I've put together a short Updates summary section at the top of the Wix website to also provide updates as to how the new Fantorical is going. My intention is to regularly update that area and then copy over the text to this old blog weekly.

https://www.fantoricalwargaming.com/

"I Can Destroy This Planet Or Become Its Master."

"That is the choice I offer your world."

These five 28mm metal miniatures of some Zygons are manufactured by “Black Tree Design", and can be purchased as Code DW405 Zygon and DW424 Zygon Advancing from the Penzance-based company’s "Doctor Who" miniatures range. Unsuccessful in their attempt to "attack an energy conference in London" by the Fourth Doctor, these shape-shifting extra-terrestrials made their first appearance in Robert Banks Stewart's August 1975 BBC Television story "Terror Of The Zygons".

Determined to conquer Earth following the destruction of the Zygon homeworld, the figures were initially undercoated using two layers of “Vallejo” Heavy Orange and drenched in "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson. In the past I've painted all my "Warlord Games" Zygons using a "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone basecoat, but felt that the 'original' monsters from Tom Baker's era were more orange in colour than Steven Moffat's modern-day interpretation.

"The Skarasen will destroy you all."

Each sucker-covered alien was then dry-brushed with (more) “Vallejo” Heavy Orange, before having their eyes 'picked out' using a little "Citadel" Abaddon Black and "Vallejo" White. In order to tidy up these areas, the edges around the creatures' sockets were highlighted with some additional "Vallejo" Heavy Orange, shaded with "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson and carefully dry-brushed with a tiny bit more "Vallejo" Heavy Orange. However, I did try to leave more of the wash showing around the eyes.

With my sudden trip into my "Black Tree Design" back catalogue concluded, I have begun working in earnest on my entries for this month's Zomtober challenge. Sadly, this will be the first time the event will be held without fellow blogger Bryan "Vampifan" Scott of "Vampifan's World of the Undead" fame at least commenting upon people's brain-chomping projects, following his sad death in March of this year.

"Wizkids" WIPs - The Blood Vamp is slowly having her clothing layered

Resultantly, I have been searching through my lead mountain for something suitable to pigment in his honour, and was rather pleased to find a partially-primed figure of a Blood Vamp from "Wizkids" range of "Horrorclix" models. This James Carter sculpt is arguably a perfect proxy for Bryan's beloved Vampirella, so I have dusted her down and started putting on some basic layers of "Vallejo" Heavy Red over her old(ish) Heavy Skintone undercoat.

My rummaging has also uncovered a couple of other Undead-related "Heroclix" miniatures I thought I might try to crowbar into my Zomtober output, in the shape of Dracula's arch-nemesis Blade, and one of Spider-Man's lesser known main adversaries, Tombstone. Fortunately, both of these plastic models have already been previously worked on, so hopefully they shouldn't take too much more time to get finished...

(Lead) Mountain Musings - "Judge Dredd" Zomtober 2020

"The whole damned planet's covered in zombies!"

This month's themed attempt to reduce my mountain of metal, plastic and resin models will actually focus upon a handful of partially-painted figures dusted down from my collection of "Mongoose Publishing" sculpts. Surprisingly, these models weren't part of the Swindon-based manufacturer's infamously notorious "Judge Dredd Miniatures Game: Block War" Kickstarter from September 2012, but were actually bought to bolster up the Mega-City One zombie forces I painted as part of Zomtober 2016.

Shortly afterwards however, "Mongoose Matt" lost the future lawman's licence to "Warlord Games" and despite some extensive searching I was unable to locate any more of the metal torsos, knee-pads, shoulder-pads and heads they produced to convert the plastic multi-part zombies produced by "Mantic Games" into more Undead Citizens. At the time though I clearly attempted to create a few more Justice Department cadavers by hacking away at the last surviving Zombie Judge model I owned with a sharp modelling knife so as to kit-bash three more flesh-hungry figures.

"Copplestone Castings" WIPs - Both zombies require repairs and re-painting

Other bloggers taking part in Zomtober 2020 are:

Dizbusters Gaming Ephemera

The Wargame Addict

Dead Lead Project

Colgar6 and the Infinite Legion of Toy Soldiers

Alongside these Walking Dead I have also found another couple of old “Copplestone Castings” Plague Zombies from their Future Wars Range. These miniatures were actually pigmented well over a decade ago and seem to have been forgotten when I re-based and re-painted my entire collection back in 2015 as part of a drive to remove all my older figures off of the two pence pieces I used to use as bases..

Time has definitely not been kind to either of them. Both have areas where their paint has clearly flaked off and the PVA glue around their feet has gone positively opaque in places. In addition, there certainly isn't much contrast going on between the armed zed's boots, armour, automatic rifle and belt. All of these faults will need correcting, and the models based in line with the rest of their brain-chomping brethren.

September 2020 - Despite not appearing as a top manufacturer this was a great month for "Alternative Armies"

Progress wise, the past four weeks saw me enjoy a reasonably productive September, largely thanks to the "Hordes Of The Things" Challenge I held with Roger 'Dick Garrison' Webb of "Rantings From Under The Wargaming Table" fame. This 15mm event saw me power through a number of units produced by "Alternative Armies", and whilst I still have a wizard to complete before I'm able to field a full twenty-four point strong Elemental Army, I still managed to paint twenty-two of the somewhat diminutive miniatures.

In addition, I managed to finish the last two "Westwind Productions" British soldiers I needed from their "Secrets Of The Third Reich" range in order to field a 500 point Great Britain and the Commonweath force for "Konflikt '47" by "Warlord Games". Being a bit older than many of the models in my collection, these figures were a lot more straightforward to paint but came with the challenge of my having to 'match' an old(ish) colour scheme with newer paints.