Saturday, 21 March 2026

"Summoning Her Strange Sonic Powers..."

 "...Black Canary hurls a whistling whammy at the retreating hearse."

This 28mm scale pre-painted plastic model of Black Canary was produced by “Wizkids” and is miniature number 036 from their DC “Heroclix” Cosmic Justice expansion. "A metahuman who possesses a unique ability known as the Canary Cry", this comic book super-heroine was created by Dennis O'Neil and Dick Dillin, and first appeared in the November 1969 issue of "Justice League of America".

Somewhat unsympathetically chopped from her 'clicky' base and super-glued onto a plastic 25mm circular base, Dinah Laurel Lance had her rather thick previous paint-job primed over with a layer of "Vallejo" Heavy Blue, before being doused in "Citadel" Drakenhof Nightshade. The figure's clothing and boots were then dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Blue to bring out some of the sculpt's detail.

"Bring it through safely. Land it."

I next applied some "Vallejo" Neutral Grey and "Citadel" Nuln Oil to her tights in an effort to suggest that these were at least slightly transparent, and 'picked out' her rectangular belt buckle using a little "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, Gold and "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. Lastly, I gave Black Canary's hair as many coats of "Two Thin Coats" Skulker Yellow as it needed so it stopped looking green, sploshed the area in "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade, and subsequently tried to build back some of its colour with (more) Skulker Yellow by "Two Thin Coats".

In addition to Dinah Lance I have also finished another 28mm scale white metal model by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio”, which can be bought either separately as Alien Legionary 1A, or as part of the company's four-figure Alien Legionnaries set. Sculpted by Ernst Veingart, the miniature is clearly strongly influenced by Danilo Donati's costume design for the Emperor Ming's minions seen in Mike Hodges' cult 1980 movie "Flash Gordon", and is part of an embarrassingly sizeable and is part of a unit I'm currently working on for the Angry Piper's "Forced March" painting event over on his "Dead Dick’s Tavern and Temporary Lodging" wargaming blog.

"Trench Stench" WIPs - These Bomb Coffins have had their spectral flames 'picked out'

The trooper was predominantly pigmented using "Vallejo" Heavy Red, "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson and Abaddon Black. However,  his belt buckle and shoulder epaulettes were treated to a little "Vallejo" Gold and "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade, whilst his gloved hands received a smidgeon of "Vallejo" Dark Vermillion and "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson.

I've also hopefully completed the 'larger part' of three Bomb Coffins from the Ghosts of the Nomansland range by "Trench Stench". These STL (Standard Triangle Language) files were produced using "Elegoo" Water Washable Resin on my Mars 5 3D Printer, and are already part of an embarrassingly large pile of grey (resin) I have made for my games set "in a horrifying alternate timeline of World War One..."

10 comments:

  1. Excellent work on Ming's Minion and Black Canary Simon, must be good to have her finished now. The progress on the coffin bombs is coming on, are you going to add some pure white to the flames to up the contrast ?

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    1. Cheers Dave. I'm not sure why I'm enjoying my old Heroclix figures once again - as I have a ton of the chibi-style Marvel United models to paint. But I guess its probably the normal proportions on them. Having done a bit more research the "flames" on the bombs are actually supposed to be the ghostly spirits of the coffins' inhabitants. So whilst I have since done a rough highlight of pure White Star on the figures, I've also toned it down again with a splash of Biel-Tan Green as I felt it looked too stark.

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  2. Black Canary... aware of the character but I know nothing of her. Is she a bad guy? Regardless she looks cool. (Though my last burp to entertain my kids had me posing in exactly the same way to amplify it, so maybe she's gross like me?)

    Another good looking Ming soldier - I think a group pic is needed. ;)

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    1. Thanks Dai. Black Canary is married to Green Arrow, and together they're both in the Justice League of America - so she's very much a heroine. I've got one more of Ming's minions to do for Forced March and then I'll do a group shot.

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  3. Yep black canary came out as well as I thought she would, expect to see her again in December! 😁

    Nice work on the others too, especially the ghostly vapours around the bomb coffins.
    Cheers Roger

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    1. Cheers Roger. Considering just how thick Black Canary's heroclix pre-paint-job was, I'm really pleased with how she has turned out. I'm quite pleased with the vapours too. I've got almost entirely spectral soldiers to do next, and aim to use these technique on them as well.

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  4. I like your painting of Black Canary, but I am not a huge fan of the miniature. However, the world would be boring if we all liked the same things.
    Great flame effects on your Bomb Coffins WIP.

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    1. Thanks Undercoat. I like the sculpt myself, although it was painful to get the brush up under her clasped hands to reach her face/eyes etc.

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