Top Ten Manufacturers Of 2018 - A "Fantorical" Viewpoint

Having previously posted about my favourite miniature manufacturers of 2017, I thought a look at the companies I favoured during the following year would perhaps be of interest to those who enjoy such comparisons. For my own part, as a hobbyist who desperately fails not to flutter between too many genres, the past twelve months have genuinely provided a fair few surprises as to what I seemingly like to paint, with my previous adherence to 28mm scale figures noticeably giving way to a glut of 15mm models towards the end of the period in question. In addition, my plans to progress a sizeable contingent of both Napoleonic and “Dungeons & Dragons” figures were quickly shelved as an absolute avalanche of models all themed around my favourite BBC science fiction television programme dominated many of my postings…

No.10 – “Newark Model Soldier Company” – “Partisan” Show Free Figures

This rather bizarre little collection of four miniatures, was finally completed as part of a slightly larger mini-project which had rather embarrassingly been gathering dust on my painting table for eight years. Sadly, despite finishing these relatively straightforward, ghost-like freebies with the intention of using them as apparitional antagonists, as well as already owning a fully-pigmented squad of Ghost Rangers, I’ve yet to actually field them on my tabletop. My recent acquisition of the Spirits of Manhattan “W.O.I.N.” RPG companion book by “EN Publishing” might now lead to the ghoulish figures seeing some dice-rolling action, but for now they’re safely stored in tissue paper, snugly shelved within a plastic container…

No.9 – Private Commission – “Cybermen”

These incredibly character sculpts were a rather unexpected, but very much appreciated gift by a long-time follower of my blog, and are sadly unavailable to purchase having come from their own private collection. Evidently based upon Cybus Industries’ Cybermen from “Doctor Who” this multi-piece metal quartet were perhaps unsurprisingly very quickly assembled/painted given my love of this particular genre, and may well feature in a future game of “Metamorphosis Alpha” as some sort of giant-sized robot guardians.

No.8 – “Y.F.T. Design” – “Scarlet Midget Cosplay Starship Crew”

Whilst this quite considerably-sized range of miniatures weren’t part of any actual “Kickstarter”, they were pre-ordered a considerable time before they eventually arrived, and resultantly, much of the enthusiasm I had for the project had somewhat evaporated when I finally started painting them. Now sadly, out of production as a result of some understandable intellectual property/copyright issues concerning the long-running science fiction sitcom “Red Dwarf”, I actually struggled ‘picking out’ the eyes on the majority of these figures, and subsequently couldn’t find the motivation needed to pigment beyond the four leading cast members.

No.7 – “Mantic Games” – “Dungeon Saga”

Despite managing to finish five of this “classic” dungeon crawler’s pre-assembled miniatures during the “Saga’Tember” challenge, my total fell drastically short of those attained by my fellow competitors, and ultimately has to be viewed as one of my biggest disappointments of the year. Admittedly, I did find the plastic “Mantic Games” miniatures a little too wobbly for my liking, and ended up re-basing them so as to better fit with their manufacturer’s larger-scale combat rule-set “Kings Of War”. But even so, I had hoped to at least complete enough of the characterful sculpts to play the game's opening adventure "Journey From The West".

No.6 – “Oathsworn Miniatures” – “Burrows & Badgers”

I must confess to having had absolutely no intention of painting anthropomorphic animals until I attended “Salute” 2018. However, having been bitten by the bug, I ended up working on some of the most incredibly characterful and colourful models I’ve seen in ages, with perhaps the range’s Shrew Warrior proving a particular favourite figure of mine. Disappointingly, I have yet to actually play a game using “Oathsworn Miniatures” rule-set, but have subsequently both purchased a few more models from the range, as well as a handful of specially-sculpted scenic pieces too.

No.5 – “The Ion Age” – “Prydian Army”

Undoubtedly my biggest surprise genre of 2018 was becoming (once again) immersed in the 15mm world of “The Ion Age”. Very much motivated by a desire to field a formidably-sized “Warhammer 40K” Imperial Force using some home-made rules, I found myself quite quickly progressing through eleven soldiers, nine extra-terrestrial foes, and three vehicles. Somewhat demoralizingly though I did find my inability to replicate the same light grey colour scheme on a pair of Adder Combat Cars off-putting enough to ultimately derail my aspiration to significantly flesh out my forces, and resultantly a number of partially-painted miniatures from this project still sit, gathering dust, upon my painting table to this day…

No.4 – “Games Workshop” – “Age Of Sigmar”

A stalwart contributor to my annual output, my desire to finally finish off both my unit of Putrid Blightkings for “Age Of Sigmar”, as well as Garrek Gorebeard’s remaining Reavers for “Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire” helped me slowly plod my way through a myriad of the most detailed miniatures produced by “Games Workshop” I have yet encountered. Coupled with a sadly all-too brief dip into “Bloodbowl” and diabolical dabble with the eye-straining figures of “Epic”, I found myself repeatedly returning to the Nottingham-based manufacturer’s wares for a good two-thirds of the year.

No.3 – “Black Tree Design” – “Doctor Who”

Not only did my devotion to classic “Doctor Who” lead me to pigment over twenty models produced by “Black Tree Design”, but it also enabled me to finally ‘put to bed’ a number of miniatures which have long laboured within my collection half-finished. In particular I was very pleased to at last complete a posse of Patrick Troughton “The Invasion” Cybermen which I had previously attempted to paint at least a couple of times in the past. In addition I also developed an enjoyably straightforward recipe with which to apply to the various Sontaran sculpts that I owned.

No.2 – “Wizkids” – “Heroclix”

It’s hard to imagine my hobby output not including a healthy dose of re-painted “Heroclix” figures, and my determination to provide my Mister Freeze with a ‘converted’ gang of bobble-hat wearing goons, as well as frosty ice zombies, for the annual “Forgotten Heroes” challenge certainly helped me ‘power’ my way through a rather alarmingly large “Wizkids” ‘clicky-based’ mountain. Perhaps my greatest motivator of the year however, was completing a large enough Dire Wraith force with which to trouble my Howling Commandos of S.H.I.E.L.D., including the formidably tall Hybrid.

No.1 – “Warlord Games” – “Doctor Who”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, my craving to expand upon my Dalek faction with both more brass-coloured drones and Ogron mercenaries was always going to help maintain my prolonged love affair with the figures flowing out of the “Warlord Games” “Doctor Who: Exterminate!” range. Admittedly, I was also able to finally finish the four Boromites needed to complete my Scouting Force for “Beyond The Gates Of Antares”, and potter with Johnny Alpha’s hated foes the Stix Brothers in “Strontium Dog”. But every other week I seemed to find myself ‘picking away’ at either another incarnation of the Master, a Draconian or a Sontaran.

"Hey! This Ain't No Blamed Super-Robot!"

"Whatever in Sam Hill it is -- It's alive!"

This 70mm tall plastic “Wizkids” model of Dragon Man is miniature number 020 from the Avengers Marvel "Heroclix" range and is based upon the "artificial dragon-like humanoid android who was animated via alchemy." "Built by Professor Gregson Gilbert of Empire State University as an experiment", the "former supervillain" was created by Stan Lee and artist Jack "King" Kirby for the February 1965 issue of "The Fantastic Four".

Super-strong, as well as being capable of both flight and breathing fire, the automaton was originally primed with two coats of "Vallejo" Dark Grey and washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil. The "initially non-sentient" machine was then dry-brushed with more "Vallejo" Dark Grey, before having its shorts painted using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade.

"I ain't afraid of no ghost!"

Sadly, despite the great sculpting for the rest of Dragon Man, his head is significantly too small in size when compared to the robot's classic massively beaked look under the pencil of Kirby or John Byrne ("Captain America" #248). However, despite this disconcerting inconsistency with the robot I managed to momentarily set aside my disappointment and picked out his teeth and eyes with "Vallejo" Dead White, as well as his tongue with Heavy Red.

In addition to Dragon Man I have also finished working on five “Newark Model Soldier Company” miniatures which were given away free upon entrance to a number of the “Partisan” wargaming conventions many years ago. They consist of Paul the Postman, Stuart the Telegrapher, James the Swordsmith and two copies of Little Lau the Chimney Sweep.

"Copplestone Castings" Deinonychuses WIPs - The dinosaurs have been primed, shaded and dry-brushed

Because the sculpting of these figures is a little 'crude', I've previously painted some of this range up as ghosts, and have simply replicated that recipe upon these too. As a result I undercoated them all with "Vallejo" Dead White, subsequently shaded them with a wash of "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, and then dry-brushed them with (more) "Vallejo" Dead White.

Finally, I have discovered two poorly-primed Deinonychuses by "Copplestone Castings". This pair of dinosaurs were in poor-shape to be honest, but I felt as part of my Partially-Painted Challenge, it might be nice to breathe life back into them with a decent couple of layers, a wash and dry-brush. Now I just need to decide whether to give them any markings, or simply paint the maned-one's feathers red...

"What In The Name Of? What, What Is This Place?"

"Recently we learned our world was destroyed in a stellar explosion."

This excellent resin scenic piece is made by "N-FX Game Design Studio" and can be purchased from their Illuminating Terrain range. "Perfect for your sci-fi or fantasy game table" and "suitable for both 28mm and 38mm scales" the model is supplied with "an unpainted base and three clear crystals [which are] available in a range of colours." All that is then needed is one battery (not included) and "away you glow!"

"So now we must make this planet ours."

As I was very keen to use this 'piece of landscape' predominantly for my "Doctor Who: Exterminate" wargames, in order to represent a surviving part of Zygor, the home planet of the Zygons, I decided to paint the terrain in a way similar to that of the now extinct world's shape-shifting refugees, and resultantly primed it with a double undercoat of "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone. I next applied a heavy wash of "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson over the entire model and subsequently gave it a dry-brush of (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone in order to help 'pick out' all the sculpt's marvellously rendered crags and crevices.

With the basics finished, I additionally added a haphazard wash of "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green and Carroburg Crimson to some of the resin's various peaks and troughs, and lastly treated the entire ensemble to a final, somewhat lighter, dry-brush of "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone. This approach not only helped 'blend in' all the different shades, but hopefully produced an effect close to the colour scheme seen upon the aliens' organic control consoles in the 1975 "Doctor Who" serial "Terror Of The Zygons".

"Heroclix" WIPs - Super-Ape Igor, a Dire Wraith Queen and Dragon Man

Having finished the Illuminating Terrain, I have once again started trying to clear my currently overly-cluttered painting table by progressing a handful more super-heroic miniatures by "Wizkids". These plastic "Heroclix" models really do range in height from the diminutive Super-Ape Igor at just 16mm, through my 29mm-tall Dire Wraith Queen, and up to Dragon Man's impressive 67mm. I'm hoping to get these figures varnished within the next few days, and then get them involved in some upcoming confrontations with the "Fantastic Four"...

Another range which has suddenly caught my attention, is a handful of  “Newark Model Soldier Company” models I'm rather embarrassed to say I first started painting over eight years ago. As memory serves these arguably crudely-carved sculpts were actually given away free upon entrance to a number of the “Partisan” wargaming conventions, and were going to form part of a much larger gaggle of ghosts I wanted to use for some ghost-busting.

"Newark Model Soldier Company" WIPs - The ghostly apparitions have been primed and shaded

Courtesy of a quick look-a-round, I have tracked down my completed Laurence the Asylum Attendant, Paul the Postman, Stuart the Telegrapher, Harold the Hero and Little Lau the Chimney Sweep. So subsequently hope, once I have sourced some alternatives to my original combination of "Citadel" Thrakka Green and Devlan Mud, to add both a few duplicate figures to their number, as well as the likes of James the Swordsmith.

"I Ain't Afraid Of No Ghost!"

Having completed my ‘Ghost Rangers’ I have been scrambling around for some suitable miniatures to act as ghosts. I didn’t really want to purchase any new miniatures, and instead scoured my ‘lead mountain’ for some models that I wouldn’t ordinarily have painted.

These “Newark Model Soldier Company” models were given away free upon entrance to a number of the “Partisan” wargaming conventions, and just go to show how many of them I have attended over the past decade. They consist of (starting from the left of the back row): ‘Laurence the Asylum Attendant’, 'Paul the Postman’, ‘Stuart the Telegrapher’, ‘Harold the Hero’ and ‘Little Lau the Chimney Sweep’. The container of ‘ghost slime’ (to be used as an objective marker) is a plastic model from the old “Games Workshop” ‘Warhammer 40k’ boxed starter set ‘The Battle For Macragge’.

I actually used these models as a test for a colour scheme I want to use on a “Games Workshop” ‘Lord of the Rings’ Army of the Dead force, so I undercoated them all with Skull White. I then simply gave them a wash of Thrakka Green, a wash of Devlan Mud, and dry brushed them Skull White. I now plan to paint a second ‘Paul the Postman’, ‘Stuart the Telegrapher’ and ‘Little Lau the Chimney Sweep’ to help fill out the numbers of ghosts. I’m sure I’ve seen a butcher model somewhere as well...?