Friday, 12 July 2024

"Constantly Trying To Undermine General Stahl For The Emperor’s Favour..."

"...Professor Krazvo leads his mechanical army to prove that metal is mightier than flesh."

This 28mm scale metal model of Professor Krazvo is produced by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" and can be brought as part of their "Rick Rhodes - Pirates Of Luna City" range. Sculpted by Ernst Veingart, the miniature appears to have been inspired by Doctor Hans Zarkov of "Flash Gordon" fame, and resultantly will portray the "brilliant scientist who... forces Flash and Dale Arden to come with him to the planet Mongo" on my tabletop.

Undercoated using a mixture of "Vallejo" Surface Primer Black and "Warlord Games" Pitch Black, the figure's boots were simply layered with "Citadel" Abaddon Black, and had their markings 'picked out' with some "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, Gold and a splash of "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. I then tussled with the decision as to what palette to go for, as I was initially planning on doing something to the costume colours worn by Chaim Topol in the 1980 feature film.

"CoolMiniOrNot" WIPs - Ultron has been layered with "Vallejo" Gunmetal and Silver

However, as so much of that cult movie seemed to revolve around red and black, I wanted something a bit different to help Zarkov stand out from the crowd - and found inspiration in some tinted pictures of actor Frank Shannon's attire during the science fiction franchise's 1936 superhero cinematic serial. As a result, the model's trousers were given a lick of "Two Thin Coats" Wyvern Green, shaded with "Citadel" Nuln Oil, and then carefully dry-brushed with a tad (more) "Two Thin Coats" Wyvern Green. Whilst the good doctor's top was pigmented in "Vallejo" Turquoise and "Citadel" Drakenhof Nightshade.

I next tackled the miniature's belt and chest emblem with plenty of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, some Gold and "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade, before patiently splodging all the raised baubles and details with a little (more) "Vallejo" Gold. I also considered applying the same paint scheme to Krazvo's cuffs and collar. However, I stayed my hand having once again looked at the aforementioned publicity stills, as I got the impression Shannon was wearing some sort of woollen pullover in some of them.

"CoolMiniOrNot" WIPs - Beast has had his fur dry-brushed with "Vallejo" Heavy Blue

In addition to my "7TV" Co-Star, I have also been pushing along a couple more 40mm hard plastic figures by "CoolMiniOrNot" for "Marvel United". As I currently only have one finished super-villain to battle against in the boardgame, I thought I'd slap some layers on the Ultron model found inside the Starter Box, as well as see how I got on with a bottle of "Vallejo" Silver I recently rediscovered in my stockpile of paints.

I also thought I should bring my heroes up to 'full strength' by adding a fourth member to my team, and decided to go with a miniature taken from the X-Men Starter Set - Beast. This particular comic book character is also a veteran Avenger, so can easily be swapped between the two groups should the fancy take me. My plan is to complete two crime-fighters for every evil genius, so with that in mind I aim to work on my recently stripped Iron Man shortly too...

6 comments:

  1. Great work on Zarkov Simon, the colours work well together, and definitely make him stand out. Nice progress on Ultron and Beast as well

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    1. Thanks Dave. I think the palette is a nice nod to Frank Shannon's Zarkov, and will help him stand out on the tabletop, amongst all the red and black of Mongo's main colour scheme. Both Ultron and Beast are now finished. Just need to find the time to post them up.

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  2. Replies
    1. Cheers Michal. Really pleased with how he turned out.

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  3. Professor Krazvo has amazing eyebrows! What a cracking mini, he is excellent. I think the two chibi miniatures are excellent and coming along nicely.

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    1. Thanks Undercoat. I'm rather pleased with Krazvo, especially as he isn't all red like so many of the (not) Flash Gordon figures - clearly red was in the 'in colour' for clothing on Mongo during Ming's reign. LOL!!

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