"When They Jerk Into life..."

"...Their sickles twitch relentlessly looking for a fresh harvest."

This 28mm scale white metal model is produced by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” and can be bought as MINI 431 Mast Beast B from the company's Folk Horror range. Sculpted by Steve Saleh, and presumably inspired by some of Evil's henchmen in Terry Gilliam's 1981 British adventure film "Time Bandits", the miniature was originally going to be one of my entries into Angry Piper's "Monster May(hem)" monthly challenge over on the "Dead Dick's Tavern and Temporary Lodging" blog. But as that particular event concluded several weeks ago, I've simply finished painting him up to use as a ghost for "The Silver Bayonet" by "Osprey Games".

The model was undercoated with plenty of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, before being heavily dry-brushed with "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal. It was then shaded using "Citadel" Nuln Oil, and had it's sickle treated to a combination of "Vallejo" Gunmetal and (more) "Citadel" Nuln Oil. In addition, the blade was sploshed with a little "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade to try to weather it a bit, and later dry-brushed using (more) "Vallejo" Gunmetal.

"CoolMiniOrNot" WIPs - Luke Cage's flesh is being base layered, washed and highlighted

I next applied some "Vallejo" Iraqi Sand to the creature's ox-shaped skull and skeletal arm, washed them with "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade, and applied a little (more) "Vallejo" Iraqi Sand as a highlight. However, this didn't make the bones stand out as well as I had hoped, so I slowly drew a little White Star by "Two Thin Coats" across the uppermost parts of the skeleton in an effort to create something closer to the bleached effect I was aiming for.

Having now finished both of my Mast Beasts, I have found some more time to focus upon my "Marvel United" Luke Cage figure by "CoolMiniOrNot". This particular 40mm hard plastic model is one of several pieces from the boardgame which I currently have in my painting queue. However, it is also the one I most want to finish before my next game of the "Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game" (MMRPG) - so it shouldn't be too long before Power Man is ready to battle the forces of Hydra.

"Fat Dragon Games" WIPs - A Terran Light Cruiser

By far my biggest news hobby-wise though has to be the purchase of an A1 Mini 3D printer by "Bambu Lab", and my desire to produce all ten of the starships found inside "Battlefront Valkyrie" by "Fat Dragon Games". I actually bought this digitally downloadable game a while back, with the hope that my "Elegoo" Mars 5 resin printer would be able produce the models, bases and stands satisfactorily. But sadly, things didn't go to plan, with my aspiration to print the vessels flat on my build plate ending in a bit of a disaster.

As a result I've been waiting to get hold of a .2mm nozzle to give the STL (Standard Triangle Language) files a go using some PLA (Polylactic Acid), and have been rather thrilled with the results. I did originally print one of the Terran Light Cruisers out using the machine's basic .4mm hotend, simply to see how it turned out, and so now intend to paint the pair of them up together for comparison so I can show the reduction in striation lines which the much smaller Hotend provides...