"They're In The Woods, You Know."

"Always there."

This 28mm scale white metal model is produced by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” and can be bought either separately as Beastman 3D, or as part of their DEAL 397 Beastman 3 four-figure set. Sculpted Ernst Veingart, I must admit to particularly disliking the pose of this miniature, as well as the patches of furry hair covering the savage's chest and forearms - something which arguably appears all the more bizarre-looking when seen on the 'official' light-skinned paint-job.

Resultantly, I decided to prime mine with a couple of layers of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and splosh him with "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. I then went back with some highlights of (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna on the brute's facial features and fingers. This palette definitely helped mask the aforementioned details I found disagreeable without me having to resort to filing them off - which is something I did actually consider.

"Beast In The Broch" WIPs - These FedSec Commanders have had their basic flesh layers applied

The model's loincloth was pigmented with a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Brown and "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade so it would tie in with the rest of his group. I also used this choice of colour on the band for the chap's tooth necklace. As with all my previous Beastmen I did consider dry-brushing the miniature's animal fur with a bit more "Vallejo" Heavy Brown to highlight it up a bit. However, as I wanted to use this model as cave-dwelling savage for "The Silver Bayonet" by "Osprey Games" (using the Cultist or maybe Ghoul rules), I felt he'd probably be extremely dirty, so left the piece of 'clothing' alone.

Lastly, I used some "Citadel" Rakarth Flesh and Agrax Earthshade on the brute's skull-smashing animal bone, dry-brushed the hand-weapon with a tad more Rakarth Flesh, and lastly added a smidgeon of "Vallejo" Dead White to it. I also carefully traced a little "Vallejo" Gunmetal along the metal ring sticking out from the horrific-looking cudgel's bottom, and darkened it down with a splash of "Citadel" Nuln Oil.

"Diehard Miniatures" WIPs - These Krupps Corp Troopers have been base-layered over their initial prime

With the third of my four Beastmen finally finished I have continued to make some progress on the three officers from the FedSec Command 2 set I recently acquired from "Beast In The Broch". Digitally sculpted by Carl Stoelzel there's a lot more detail on these predominantly black clad Federation officers than I first thought, and that has given me an opportunity to break up their dark uniforms with a little bit more "Vallejo" Gunmetal - whether it be a pair of grenades or some sort of high-tech analyser.

In addition I've returned to the three Krupps Corp unit blister models I bought from "Diehard Miniatures" whilst at this year's "Salute". As I plan to use the miniatures to represent the Norts from the "Rogue Trooper" comic book series in "2000 A.D.", I was never really happy with their "Vallejo" German Grey undercoat as it looked far too dark to the almost blue-suited villains I remember from my youth. Then recently I spotted a digitally coloured version of artist Dave Gibbons' Rogue Trooper: Total War splash page on the "Rebellion Publishing" website, and realised this was precisely the colour scheme I had in my 'Mind's Eye'. Resultantly, I've base-layered my trio of 'pilot pieces' with some "Vallejo" Sombre Grey to use for their chemsuits main colour instead...

"One Ship Against An Entire Fleet?"

"That's a helluva plan B!"

This multi-part 32mm scale resin model of a Female Human was bought as part of the Star Trek Adventures: Next Generation Away Team Set by "Modiphius Entertainment" and is sadly no longer available as a physical figure. However, the sculpt can still be purchased from the company as either an individual STL (Standard Triangle Language) file, or as part of their Star Trek Adventures - Print At Home - TNG Away Team Set.

The 'commonplace little creature' was initially undercoated in "Citadel" Abaddon Black, and roughly dry-brushed with "Vallejo"Heavy Charcoal, before I 'picked out' her phaser and tricorder using a combination of "Vallejo" Gunmetal and "Citadel" Nuln Oil. I then applied a little "Vallejo" Turquoise to the miniature's uppermost uniform to mark her out as belonging to Starfleet's science/medical division. This area was later shaded with a little "Citadel" Drakenhof Nightshade, before being dry-brushed with a smidgeon more "Vallejo" Turquoise.

"Modiphius Entertainment" WIPs - Three more members of the Away Team readying themselves for teleportation

The Ensign's Federation insignia was carefully traced out using a dollop of "Vallejo" Gold and later washed with a little "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. Finally, I eventually went with some "Citadel" Doombull Brown for the figure's hair, darkened it down with plenty of Agrax Earthshade, and tried to highlight it back up with a delicate dry-brush of (more) Doombull Brown.

I did strongly consider giving the rest of the model's uniform a thorough drowning in "Citadel" Nuln Oil - which is something I do for a lot of my predominantly black-costumed miniatures. However, these days I find that the "Vallejo" Matt Varnish I regularly use to protect my paint-jobs dries a little sticky, and this inevitably attracts oils from my fingers as a result. This handling tends to therefore act as a 'natural way' to highlight the figure - so I simply left it alone with its original "Citadel" Abaddon Black prime and "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal dry-brush.

"Beast In The Broch" WIPs - A trio of FedSec Commanders

In addition to this first member of my "Star Trek: The Next Generation" landing party, I have also been dutifully progressing three more 'crewmen' for that era. Once completed this consignment should bring last month's randomly-selected drawer challenge to a conclusion and allow me to focus on the four remaining 28mm metal models I have to get tabletop ready from blister JD 15 Don Uggie Apelino & The Ape Gang by "Citadel Miniatures".  

Lastly, I've managed to make a little more headway on the three officers from the FedSec Command 2 set I recently bought from "Beast In The Broch". I do like the extra chunky feel to these particular sculpts, as it makes 'picking out' all the detail on them a lot easier than the arguably less-well cast "Star Trek" figures - which despite being 32mm in scale, appear far more realistically proportioned, and are resultantly far more difficult to work on...

(Lead) Mountain Musings - "Beast In The Broch" August 2026

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" once again dominated my (meagre) output for July 2026

After last month's rather dismissal effort to paint up another quartet of my 32mm scale resin cast figures by "Modiphius Entertainment" for their Star Trek Adventures Tabletop RPG, as well as zero contributions to Dave Stone's Season of Scenery over on his "Wargames Terrain Workshop" blog, I thought I'd take a break from challenges for the next four weeks and simply pigment whatever takes my fancy. As a result, I have ordered (and duly received) a number of "Blake's Seven" inspired sculpts from "Beast In The Broch" and plan to slap as much paint on them as I can muster.

First up will be the three officers from the company's FedSec Command 2 set. "Digitally sculpted by Carl Stoelzel and cast in lead free pewter", I actually feel that these particular figures are probably a little too 'chunky' for some of the range's other models. But that hasn't dampened my enthusiasm for getting the likes of Terran Federation officers Major Thania, Colonel Quute and Major Provine onto my tabletop.

"Beast In The Broch" WIPs - The three figures found inside FedSec Command 2 set.

Likewise it would be great if I could manage to get some of the miniatures finished from the manufacturer's Systemic Units set too. Clearly based upon "The System" which was responsible for building the Liberator, these figures arguably appear a little more slender to the eye than their Federation counter-parts - despite also being "digitally sculpted by Carl Stoelzel".

Furthermore, I'd really like to play 'catch-up' with the aforementioned "Star Trek" models I failed to get finished in July. I only managed to get one crew-woman from the science fiction franchise's Original Series done, so would like to make some headway with my plan to get a landing party based on the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D too. Most of these miniatures' uniforms are predominantly black, so fingers crossed I can a few of them ready for varnishing over the coming weeks.

July 2026 - Crooked Dice Game Design Studio finally takes the lead in my Top Five Manufacturers

With this 'backlog' in mind, I haven't forgotten about the remaining figures I've yet to complete from blister JD 15 Don Uggie Apelino & The Ape Gang by "Citadel Miniatures". To be fair, I have been trying to 'pick away' at these classic sculpts for some time. However, I always seem to get distracted by my latest new arrivals (or interest), and subsequently end up pushing them back down the queue.

To make matters worse, my enthusiasm for "Star Wars" appears to have attained fresh heights as a result of my playing the card game "Star Wars: Unlimited" by Fantasy Flight Games. This addiction has rather curiously caused me to purchase a couple of "Star Wars: Shatterpoint" boxes - to add as non-canon adversaries of my previously painted Count Dooku. So I'd very much like to get them assembled, primed and pigmented before the coming month is concluded too...