(Lead) Mountain Musings - "CoolMiniOrNot" July 2025

"Besides our own universe, there’s countless others, each with their own versions of super heroes and villains."

Having seemingly found the better part of my hobby mojo during the past four weeks, largely thanks to a deep interest in the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game (MMRPG), it seems pretty obvious to keep the momentum going for at least another month by painting some more "CoolMiniOrNot" 40mm plastic models for their collaborative boardgame Marvel United. Admittedly, I only managed to get a quartet of super-heroes tabletop ready - and one of those was already partially-pigmented. But my enthusiasm for the MMRPG has never been higher, and I'm currently determined to play some games using the Chibi-style miniatures just as soon as I can.

Furthermore, my need for some hoodlums, goons and toughs to get beaten up by the likes of Nick Fury, Doop and the Black Panther, has also got me back using my Mars 5 3D resin printer by "Elegoo". Originally, I rather naively thought I could just buy some of the Marvel United gaming pieces separately, so as to field a handful of Ultron drones or Hydra terrorists. However, the second-hand market (e.g. eBay) has proved far too expensive for such a plan, with most single figures fetching a distinctly off-putting tenner a pop (including postage & packaging).

"Big Head Chibis" WIPs - Lady has been primed, and is currently having her base worked on

As a result I have turned to the likes of "Big Head Chibis" on "Patreon", and subscribed to their monthly service. This has already given me access to some STL (Standard Triangle Language) files which I can use to produce a number of generic minions, as well as some other sculpts that should make good hapless civilians to rescue/protect. Such models really will be crucial for some of the larger games of MMRPG I have planned, as simply having a few A-List characters repeatedly stood battering one another will inevitably get pretty boring quite fast.

To begin with, I've printed off a copy of Lady, who seems to be partially based upon Staff Sergeant Hart-Burnett from the animated television series "G.I. Joe". I figured she looked pretty jungle-themed in her green-hued attire, so would make a good goon for some nefarious expedition into the Kingdom of Wakanda or the Savage Lands. My plan is therefore to use this particular miniature as a test-piece for a colour scheme, and then produce a few more (possibly mirrored) to bulk out the squad.

June 2025 - Little change in my Top Five Manufacturers

June has historically always been an incredibly poor time for my painting, going back a good decade, so despite me failing to finish as many figures as I had initially intended, overall it was actually quite the success. Indeed, compared to the previous month, it was a positive triumph, and has even seen me start a completely new project in the form of "Star Wars: Shatterpoint" by "Atomic Mass Games" - albeit, the issues I've had assembling some of these miniatures has already badly dented my desire to glue any more together for the moment.

This month I have a good handful of (more) Marvel United figures close to completion, and alongside the 3D prints from "Big Head Chibis" this should see me playing a few games of MMRPG. If that does happen, I would imagine my output will increase even further, as I always find rolling some dice and actually using painted pieces on the tabletop really enthuses me to get even more models completed. Plus, I haven't completely taken my eye off the ball when it comes to my hefty Napoleonic backlog by "Wargames Foundry"...