"With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility..."

"And so a legend is born and a new name is added to the roster..."

This 28mm pre-painted plastic model of Spider-Man is by “Wizkids” and can be bought as number 067 from their Marvel “Heroclix” Critical Mass range. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, the teenage orphan had super strength, spider-like agility, the ability to climb most surfaces, and could shoot spider-webs using wrist-mounted devices. Peter Parker first appeared in the August 1962 issue of “Amazing Fantasy” during the Silver Age of Comic Books, and would be go on to become the “flagship character and company mascot” of “Marvel Comics Group”.

As the majority of the miniature was going to be red, I initially gave Spidey an undercoat of “Vallejo” Heavy Red, and then ‘cut in’ around his costume’s edges with “Citadel” Abaddon Black. Once this was dry I applied some Nuln Oil to the super-hero’s ‘webbed costume’ in order to bring out the sculpt’s finer detail. A couple of times the Shade dried too thick, so it actually took a couple of attempts in order to achieve just the right amount of pooling over the entire figure. The rest of Web-head’s costume was painted using a combination of “Vallejo” Heavy Blue and “Citadel” Asurmen Blue.

Captain America WIPs - Having now finished the waist stripes and white sleeves, Steve Rogers' head is next

 Having now finished three of the four “Heroclix” models I’ve decided to paint as a result of being inspired by the Avengers Verses X-Men “Dice Masters” Starter Set, I have finally attempted to properly apply my “Winsor & Newton” University Series 000 brush to a figure of Captain America. This miniature has proved a real test of both my patience and skill, and not just because it has required me to try my hand at stripes.

Indeed I foolishly thought I had near enough cracked the red and white waist band on my first attempt, and had actually moved on to tidying up the Sentinel of Liberty’s surrounding blue costume before I realised that my “Wizkids” reference material was horribly wrong, and Captain America’s central stripe should actually have been red not white (as the pre-painted model I was ‘copying’ depicted). As a result I have had to redo the striping more than once.

This, coupled with some awfully odd-shaped arm musculature, which just so happens to be precisely where his blue chainmail should end and his white sleeves begin, has given me more than enough excuse to persistently consider hurling the fiendish figure out of my second floor window…

Sixth Doctor Era WIPs - Early days for Doctor Who, Peri Brown and Mel Bush

In addition to “Heroclix” models however, I have also started work on (yet) another project involving “Doctor Who”. I’ve finally succumbed to the latest edition of the BBC’s Doctor Who Roleplaying Game by “Cubicle Seven”, and though I’m no fan of Peter Capaldi’s dislikeable incarnation of the travelling Time Lord, I am a huge fan of Colin Baker’s short but colourful tenure as the Television Series’ lead; albeit as a result of the numerous “Big Finish” audio plays as opposed to his actual TV stories.

As a result I have also bought the Sixth Doctor Sourcebook, as well as an assortment of miniatures by “Black Tree Design”, and am currently hoping to quickly paint up the pompous time-traveller, along with companions Perpugilliam Brown and Melanie Bush.

Argentina 1946: A Top Secret British Expedition attempt to assassinate the Fuhrer