“With Their Electronic Brains Programmed By Doctor Ulysses Argo…”

“…These bronze behemoths are used to threaten, kill and destroy anyone or anything.”

This 28mm scale resin model of a Titan is produced by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” and can be bought as SKU: MINI 93 Titan B (Standing) from their Villains and Monsters range. The kit comes in three parts, and had its arms pinned into place with some green-stuff and copper wire, before being permanently attached using some super-glue.

Approximately 45mm in height, the large robot is supposed to represent one of Doctor Ulysses Argo’s metallic minions for the second edition of the skirmish rule-set “7TV”. But as I wanted it to tie in with my previously-painted Talos, I decided to give the machine a palette more in keeping with the titan’s appearance in Don Chaffey’s 1963 film “Jason And The Argonauts”.

"Take this creature back to his cage."

As a result, the entire model was primed in “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna and later layered with Bronze. The construct was then shaded using plenty of “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade, before being dry-brushed with (more) “Vallejo” Bronze. Lastly, I applied various amounts of “Citadel” Nihilakh Oxide onto its numerous joints and ridges. These areas were later blended in with the rest of the miniature with a (third) dry-brushed of “Vallejo” Bronze.

With the fourth of my five planned submissions for this month’s Monster May(hem) challenge ‘in the books’, I also found the time to finish another of the Simian Minions I had hoped to recently complete. Also manufactured by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio”, and available as SKU: MINI 98, the ape soldier was undercoated using "Citadel" Abaddon Black, and dry-brushed in Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal.

Alternative Armies" WIPs - A test piece to try out "Citadel" Sons Of Horus Green

The gorilla was subsequently drenched in "Citadel" Nuln Oil, before having his trousers and sleeves pigmented using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Violet and "Citadel" Druchii Violet. Lastly, the Ape with Baton's face, ammunition belt, rifle and strap were treated to a layer of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna", whilst his wooden stick was painted using some Charred Brown. All of these areas were eventually shaded using "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade.

Alongside the Simian Minion, I’ve almost finished a 15mm scale Grey Adder APC Battle Taxi Lifter by “Alternative Armies” which I’ve been using a test piece for some newly acquired “Citadel” Sons Of Horus Green. The large vehicle is the first of several miniatures I intend to ‘field’ as Horus’ treacherous legion, but I’m currently stuck waiting on “Games Workshop” to release some Sons Of Horus decals before I can ‘call this one done’…

“Isn't He One Of The Titans?”

“Fight Talos with your wits rather than your courage.”

This 28mm scale resin model of Talos is produced by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” and can be bought as SKU: MINI 95 from their Villains and Monsters range. The kit comes in three parts, and was originally assembled simply by applying some super-glue on its joints. However, during its painting one of the arms broke off when I accidentally dropped the figure, so had to be pinned back into place with some green-stuff and copper wire.

Approximately 60mm in height, the giant construct is supposed to represent “Doctor Ulysses Argo’s most fearsome creation” for the second edition of the skirmish rule-set “7TV”. But as I wanted it to portray the Island of Bronze’s guardian statue, as forged by the god Hephaestus, I decided to give the automaton a palette more in keeping with its appearance in Don Chaffey’s 1963 film “Jason And The Argonauts”.

The Uncanny X-Men battle Sabretooth across a number of locations

Resultantly, the entire model was primed in “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna and later layered with Brass. Talos was then shaded using plenty of “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade, before being dry-brushed with (more) “Vallejo” Brass. Finally the figure had various amounts of “Citadel” Nihilakh Oxide patiently applied to its numerous joints and ridges. These areas were subsequently blended in with the rest of the miniature with a (third) dry-brushed of “Vallejo” Brass.

With the third of my five planned submissions for this month’s Monster May(hem) challenge completed, I have managed to squeeze in a couple more games of Marvel United: X-Men by "CoolMiniOrNot”. Having decided to utilise the abilities of two super-heroes per player so as to field a quartet of planet-saving mutants, we once again attempted to outfight the seemingly undefeatable Sabretooth once again.

The rampaging Juggernaut smacks into Storm, and then later both Cyclops and Jean Grey

Frustratingly, despite having Jean Grey, Wolverine, Cyclops and Storm all perform quite admirably across the randomly-chosen locations, Victor Creed’s alter-ego continued to successfully hunt down and vanquish the four targets needed for the villain to win the game. So in the end, we placed the ‘recommended starting opponent’ back in the box, and instead pitted our strength against the unstoppable Juggernaut.

This proved a much more balanced foe for us to incapacitate as we continued to become familiar with the game mechanics, and the collaborative team-ups needed to overcome minions, rescue civilians and ultimately defeat Cain Marko. Indeed, despite the super-strong powerhouse rampaging all over the game map, and repeatedly scattering our heroes like bowling pins, we eventually got to the stage where we were able to finally lay a victorious smackdown upon the “prominent member of the Brotherhood of Mutants.”

“Hulk Will Smash!”

“Now Hulk is free - - and no one will lock him up again.”

This 40mm scale model of the incredible Hulk is produced by "CoolMiniOrNot", and can be found inside the Marvel United Core Box. Designed by Edouard Guiton, Bruce Banner’s alter-ego is one of five costumed crime-fighters found inside the “fast-paced cooperative” board game, along with three super-villains.

Fashioned in a bright, light blue hard plastic, the gaming piece was initially primed with a double-helping of “Vallejo” Escorpena Green, liberally shaded in “Citadel” Biel-Tan Green, and dry-brushed with (more) “Vallejo” Escorpena Green. I then applied a heavily water-down wash of “Citadel” Biel-Tan Green over the entire founding Avenger, before ‘finishing off’ all his muscular flesh with a second (and much lighter) dry-brush of “Vallejo” Escorpena Green.

The Blood Angels and Imperial Guard cautiously approach an alien-infested swamp

The gamma scientist’s trousers were pigmented using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Violet and "Citadel" Druchii Violet. Whilst his hair was layered with “Vallejo” Heavy Black Green, washed with “Citadel” Nuln Oil, and later dry-brushed using (more) “Vallejo” Heavy Black Green and a little Heavy Green. Finally, the Hulk’s tongue was ‘picked out’ with “Vallejo” Heavy Red, and his teeth in White. Both of these areas were subsequently shaded with “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade.

With the third of my Marvel United figures finished, I’ve spent some more time further play-testing my homemade 15mm science fiction collaborative rules, "M.I.S.S.”, once again using a load of Xenomorphs by “Ground Zero Games”, 10mm Face Huggers by “Pendraken Miniatures” and Ion Age figures by "Alternative Armies". The two games centred around a swamp being infested by H.R. Giger’s famous aliens, and saw the Throneworld’s administration deploy a combined force of Imperial Guard, Crimson Fists and Blood Angels to eradicate them.

The Crimson Fists and Imperial Guard get in close and personal with a wave of Facehuggers

The first ‘cleansing’ was successfully achieved by the Astra Militarum and Sanguinius’ Chapter locating some of the site’s disused technology, and subsequently swapping the different pump devices between two locations so as to drain the Alien’s partially submerged hive of water. This conflict was a close-fought scenario, with the Imperial Guard desperately trying to provide covering fire from the safety of the woods whilst the Blood Angels tried to move the machinery.

In the end, due to a ‘flood of facehuggers’ the roles were soon reversed, and it ultimately fell upon mortal men to complete the mission, rather than the partially-overwhelmed Space Marines. The second battle simply saw a full-on face-off between the two opposing forces, with the Blood Angels accompanied by plenty of Crimson Fist battle-brothers. This was an absolute blast with the Astra Militarum successfully sweeping the area in front of the forests clear of any extra-terrestrials with their Lasrifle fire, and the Adeptus Astartes eventually getting in close with plenty of Alien warrior drones…

"On The Winterly Village Green…”

“…You will find the beloved towering construct of wheat and branch that stands sentinel over the village.”

This 28mm scale resin model of The Strawman is produced by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” and can be bought as SKU: MINI 460. The kit comes in three parts, and is somewhat reminiscent of the grotesque giant straw effigy which features prominently at the end of Robin Hardy’s 1973 British horror film “The Wicker Man”.

Having assembled the 85mm tall monstrosity, it was primed using a couple of coats of “Vallejo” Dark Yellow and enthusiastically drenched in a mixture of “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. The figure was then heavily dry-brushed with (more) “Vallejo” Dark Yellow, and later given a lighter application of Buff to help bring out the miniature’s marvellous details.

"CoolMiniOrNot” WIPs - The Incredible Hulk and Invincible Iron Man

The Strawman was arguably already table-top ready at this stage, but I decided to break up the palette a little bit more by haphazardly apply splotches of “Citadel” Reikland Fleshshade and Biel-Tan Green to certain areas of the model. This hopefully suggests that the large creature’s hay is decomposing at different rates. In addition, the entire figure was once again treated to a delicate dry-brush of (more) “Vallejo” Buff.

I was actually planning on calling this miniature “done” at this stage. However, I then saw the ‘official paint-job’ and realised that vast tufts of straw were actually tied to large wooden sticks. As a result I very patiently ‘picked out’ as many of these areas as I could reach with my brush-tip with “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna, and subsequently shaded them with "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade.

"Alternative Armies" WIPs - A test piece to try out "Citadel" Sons Of Horus Green

With the second of my five planned submissions for this month’s Monster May(hem) challenge finished, I have spent some time progressing the hard plastic Hulk miniature from my Marvel United boardgame by "CoolMiniOrNot”, and applied a little "Scalecolor" Ruby Alchemy to one of Iron Man’s legs so as to test whether I want to use the metallic paint for the Golden Avenger’s armour. The pigmentation isn’t unfortunately all that strong though, so after two layers, the underlying colour is disappointingly still showing through in some areas.

Alongside this experiment, I’ve slapped some “Citadel” Sons Of Horus Green onto a 15mm scale Grey Adder APC Battle Taxi Lifter by “Alternative Armies”. I’m planning on quite heavily getting into The Horus Heresy when “Games Workshop” release their new Age Of Darkness starter set, and wanted to see how this particular layer paint looks when used with “Citadel” Nuln Oil before I decide to  ‘collect and field’ a Sons of Horus legion…

“I Don’t Care About Politics...!?!”

“I don’t care about anything!!”

This 40mm scale model of the Red Skull is made by "CoolMiniOrNot” and is one of three super-villains found inside the Marvel United Core Box. Designed by Edouard Guiton, the figure is produced in a red hard plastic, and was initially primed with a double-helping of “Citadel” Abaddon Black, before receiving an enthusiastic dry-brush of “Vallejo” German Fieldgrey WWII.

Johann Shmidt was then washed with “Citadel” Nuln Oil and had his long leather trench-coat heavily dry-brushed with (more) “Vallejo” German Fieldgrey WWII. The Nazi officer’s buttons were ‘picked out’ using a combination of “Vallejo” Brass and "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. However, I really struggled to find the edges on a few of these details, so ended up fudging them with an application of "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, and a further highlight of “Vallejo” Brass.

Wolverine and Cyclops battle Sabretooth at Genosha

The Red Skull’s face was treated to a couple of coats of “Vallejo” Heavy Red and shaded using plenty of "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson. Later I dry-brushed this area with (more) “Vallejo” Heavy Red before picking out his evil eyes with a few spots of “Vallejo” White. Finally, his trousers were given a lick of "Vallejo" Luftwaffe Uniform WWII and a splash of “Citadel” Nuln Oil. 

Despite having not yet finished painting enough of the game’s miniatures to play a game or two of Marvel United, I have managed to squeeze in a couple of run-throughs of the rules to Marvel United: X-Men using some of the bare plastic figures taken straight out of that set’s core box. These early battles saw us each take a single mutant hero, in my case Cyclops, and face-off against Victor Creed’s formidably fanged alter-ego, Sabretooth.

Wolverine attempts to rescue civilians at Xavier's Mansion, whilst Cyclops faces Sabretooth

Perhaps unsurprisingly neither of the fights went particularly well for us, courtesy of the X-Men’s “recurring antagonist” repeatedly mowing us down with his all-powerful “Bam!” attack, Special Rules, Overflow instructions and Villainous Plot (victory) conditions. 

Indeed, in the end we had to pay a repeated visits to “Reddit” to finally ascertain how all the deadly villain’s various protocols worked within the game. Quite why "CoolMiniOrNot” recommend starting with Sabretooth is beyond me, especially as seasoned players seemingly feel the professional killer is one of the hardest bosses to overcome.

Having said all that, we at least became reasonably familiar with the rules, and managed to get a couple of hits on Sabretooth from time to time before ‘the hunted heroes’ finally fell for the fourth time in a single game. Furthermore, it became clear that we could easily utilise two characters each in order to play a four-player game, if we remembered the turn order for the various colourfully costumed crime-fighters…

“It's A Question Of Simian Survival.”

“The sooner they're exterminated, the better.”

This 28mm scale white metal model of a 'savage Simian Minion straight from the lab' is produced by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” and can be bought either separately under code SKU: MINI 98 or as part of their Simian Minions four-figure collection SKU: DEAL 39. The miniature was initially primed with two coats of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, before being enthusiastically dry-brushed in Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal.

The Ape with Baton was then drenched in "Citadel" Nuln Oil, and had its trousers and sleeves pigmented using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Violet and "Citadel" Druchii Violet. Its face, ammunition belt, rifle and strap were treated to a layer of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, whilst the soldier's wooden stick was painted using some Charred Brown. Finally, all of these areas were later shaded using "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, and the gorilla’s firearm was given a little "Citadel" Ironbreaker and Nuln Oil.

The 'Crimson Fists' tackle a Xenomorph infestation alongside the 'Imperial Guard'

With another of my Simian Minions completed, I’ve spent some considerable time further play-testing my homemade 15mm science fiction collaborative rules, "M.I.S.S.”, using a load of Xenomorphs by “Ground Zero Games”, 10mm Face Huggers by “Pendraken Miniatures” and Ion Age figures by "Alternative Armies". The two games centred around a futuristic settlement coming under attack by H.R. Giger’s famous aliens, and saw the forces of Mankind first fend off the horde, and then in the second battle desperately try to reconnect the damaged power supply to the colony.

The opening foray really saw the ‘Imperial Guard’ take something of a battering to the North, as they pushed through the recently evacuated buildings and past some woodland to take up a defensive position near some toxic waste pools. Fortunately, the ‘Crimson Fist Space Marines’ to their south were made of much sterner stuff, and managed to slowly push forwards against a combination of Infant Xenomorphs and Drone Warriors.

Both the Crimson Fists and Imperial Guard deploy their armoured vehicles

For the subsequent scenario, we added a couple of armoured vehicles to our respective forces, such as an 'Adeptus Astartes Whirlwind' and initially struggled to locate the colony’s power station. Then, the space marines had to make a somewhat risky venture further into the increasingly alien-infested community to locate and retrieve the spare parts required to fix its generators.

Throughout much of this confrontation the ‘Astra Militarum’ kept up a steady barrage of missiles and rail-gun bullets upon a seemingly endless swarm of fast-moving Face Huggers, which left the unconquerable ‘Crimson Fists’ to focus upon the game’s objective. Ultimately though, both missions were successful due to some strong team-work between Mankind’s forces, and many enlisted Guardsmen overcoming their fear of the Xenomorphs just long enough to occasionally cause the alien horde to pause in its relentless onslaught…

“This Mighty Simian May Be The Rare Breed…”

“…King of all he surveys in some remote jungle in an explored corner of the world.”

This 28mm scale resin model of a Giant Ape is produced by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” and can be bought as SKU: MINI 350. The kit comes in three parts, and immediately reminded me of the “RKO Radio Pictures” 1949 American black and white fantasy film “Mighty Joe Young” due to the figure attaining an overall height of 47mm once assembled.

Having potentially “been carefully bred in captivity, altered by drugs and advanced psycho-conditioning to serve a human master”, the large gorilla was originally primed using a couple of coats of “Citadel” Abaddon Black, before being heavily dry-brushed with “Vallejo” Heavy Charcoal so as to highlight all of the wonderful fur sculpted onto it.

"A planet where apes evolved from men..?"

I then applied some (additional) "Vallejo "Heavy Charcoal to the Giant Apes' chest, hands, face and feet, before shading these parts with "Citadel" Nuln Oil. Finally, I 'picked out' the model’s eyes with a couple of dabs of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, and applied a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and "Citadel" Nuln Oil to his forehead to indicate that he was a Western gorilla. Some additional "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna was later dry-brushed over this area to help better blend it in.

With the first of my five planned submissions for this month’s Monster May(hem) challenge completed, I also found the time to finish one of six Simian Minions I plan to complete within the next few weeks. Also manufactured by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio”, and available as SKU: MINI 98, the ape soldier was undercoated using "Citadel" Abaddon Black, and dry-brushed in Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal.

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - Talos, Strawman and a Titan

General Ursus’ trooper was subsequently drenched in "Citadel" Nuln Oil, before having his trousers and sleeves pigmented using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Violet and "Citadel" Druchii Violet. Lastly, the Ape with Baton's face, ammunition belt, rifle and strap were treated to a layer of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna", whilst the soldier's wooden stick was painted using some Charred Brown. All of these areas were eventually shaded using "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade.

Alongside my latest addition to my “Planet Of The Apes” project, I have also been progressing the rest of my larger-sized miniatures for Monster May(hem). As a result, I’ve managed to get some shading applied to my Strawman, as well as a layer of “Vallejo” Bronze and Brass upon my Talos and Titan respectively…

“Muffit Is The Name Of A Robotic Drone Created By Doctor Wilker.”

“The original, living Muffit is killed by falling debris in a major city on Caprica during the Cylon sneak attack.”

This 28mm scale white metal model of a mechanical “man’s best friend” is produced by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” and can be bought as part of their two-figure blister SKU: DEAL 342 Robots 2. The sculpt is clearly strongly influenced by the robot dog Muffit, as played by "Evie the Chimp" in ABC television network’s 1978 science fiction series “Battlestar Galactica”.

The "prototype robotic daggit" was initially treated to a double-helping of ”Vallejo” Gunmetal, before being shaded in “Citadel” Nuln Oil. The miniature was then dry-brushed using (more) “Vallejo” Gunmetal before having all of its fur ‘picked out’ with plenty of “Citadel” Abaddon Black.

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - This Giant Ape just needs some shading

All of these areas were subsequently pigmented using a combination of “Citadel” Doombull Brown and Agrax Earthshade, and later delicately dry-brushed with (more) “Citadel” Doombull Brown. Finally, I picked out Muffit’s eyes with a couple of spots of “Citadel” Abaddon Black.

Sticking with “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio”, but moving across to this month’s Monster May(hem) challenge over on Angry Piper’s “Dead Dick's Tavern and Temporary Lodging” blog, I’ve also managed to both assemble and prime the five large(ish) models I’ve set aside for the event. These formidable-sized foes are currently in various stages of completion, with the company’s Giant Ape most capturing my limited hobby-time.

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - A Titan, Strawman and Talos

To be honest however, this “mighty simian” was a good two-thirds finished already. However, a few missed areas of grey fur, some green-stuff work to fill in the odd gap, and the requirement to re-paint all of the gorilla’s bare flesh clearly previously put a major dampener on my enthusiasm for the model. Fortunately, having tackled the beast anew, I’ve managed to quickly overcome all of these minor obstacles and get the brute almost table-top ready.

The other resin creatures still need quite a bit of work. But have at least been drilled, pinned, green-stuffed and super-glued to the point where they’ve all received their first undercoat. I’ve also added a fifth miniature to my planned target tally for Monster May(hem), having realised that they’re all essentially straightforward dry-brush projects, with the two Titans and Talos even requiring the same weathered-bronze palettes…

(Lead) Mountain Musings - "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" Monster May(hem) 2022

"It should be a proper monster - no skeletons or orcs."

This month's effort to diminish my embarrassingly large ‘pinnacle of promise’ will be somewhat shaped by Angry Piper’s annual Monster May(hem) challenge over on his excellent “Dead Dick's Tavern and Temporary Lodging” blog. The rules of the event are pretty straightforward, in that “any monster will do” as a painting subject, so having had a rummage through my “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” backlog, I’ve hooked out several semi-forgotten miniature monstrosities which should fit the bill quite nicely.

To be honest, I’m not too sure just how many of these models I’ll actually complete over the coming weeks, as I have plenty of other painting projects on the go. But I thought trying to get at least one of the large(ish) leviathans tabletop ready per week might be an achievable target to aim for; especially as the odd one or two have already been assembled, based and even partially-pigmented.

"CoolMiniOrNot" WIPs - The Incredible Hulk, Red Skull and Iron Man

In addition, I aim to finish at least a couple more super-heroes from the Marvel United core box set by "CoolMiniOrNot". These hard plastic 40mm models have definitely helped motivate my hobby mojo once again, and resultantly I’ve found myself merrily working on three of the board game’s miniatures pretty much simultaneously – which isn’t something I tend to do, as I much prefer to just predominantly work on just a single figure.

Hopefully, I should have both the Red Skull and Incredible Hulk finished quite soon, as the pair are arguably a good two-thirds complete already. The only figure rather lagging behind is Iron Man. But now I’ve finished dry-brushing all his “Vallejo” Gold joints, I intend to get all his metallic red armour polished off within the space of a single, focused painting session.

April 2022 - Plenty of 2mm Land Ironclads has helped "Brigade Models" make my Top Five table

There’s no doubt that my output over the past four weeks has been pretty dire. In fact it was the second poorest showing I’ve had in nine years. But I’d argue that such a down turn in productivity was quite understandable considering the amount of models I churned out during the three-month long Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. Luckily, my interest in “Brigade Models” 2mm range of Land Ironclads at least kept my brush tip ‘ticking over’.

This coming month though should see a welcome return to form, largely due to my desire to finish off the three remaining "CoolMiniOrNot" figures required to complete a solo game of Marvel United. On top of that, I’m rather enjoying my time working on my “The Planet Of The Apes” project once again, and considering that I’ve selected more miniatures from “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” for Monster May(hem), I’m confident that I’ll continue to pigment plenty of the Lincolnshire-based manufacturer’s products for the foreseeable future.