“Fight On And Fly On To The Last Drop Of Blood..."

"...And the last drop of fuel, to the last beat of the heart."

This 28mm scale metal model of the Red Baron was produced by “Pulp Monsters", and could be purchased as Code PC-0093 from their “Pulp City” miniatures range before their store was temporarily 'closed for maintenance'. Fortunately however, I was able to purchase my figure as part of a small-sized second-hand consignment from Leon Mallet of “Pulp Citizen” blog fame.

Famous for strafing the ground where the British super-hero Sovereign stood in the ruins of Berlin during 1945, the villain was primed with a double-helping of “Vallejo” Dark Grey and had a layer of “Citadel” Abaddon Black applied to his leather boots, belt, holster and pistol. The Ghostly Tri-plane’s pilot then had his tunic and visor cap ‘picked out’ with “Vallejo” Heavy Red, before both it and his flying trousers were treated to a wash of “Citadel” Nuln Oil.

Led by a Myrka, the Silurians successfully assault the Nimon firing line 

The Red Baron’s heavy jacket was pigmented with “Vallejo” Charred Brown, whilst his fur collar was given a lick of Heavy Brown and his gloves some Heavy Sienna. All of these areas were subsequently shaded in “The Army Painter” Strong Tone Quickshade. The fearless flier’s scarf was given a coat of “Vallejo” Dead White, washed with Pale Grey and then delicately dry-brushed with a little (more) Dead White.

Finally, I picked out the “leering skull-faced” German’s medal and cap badges with a combination of “Vallejo” Gold and Strong Tone Quickshade by “The Army Painter”, and highlighted his firearm with a dab of “Citadel” Ironbreaker and splash of Nuln Oil. The undead ghoul’s ghastly face was created courtesy of a “Vallejo” Dead White base layer, some “Citadel” Nihilakh Oxide, and a few deft scrapes of a fast-failing brush-tip containing some (more) “Vallejo” Dead White.

A brave Nimon charge is quickly wiped out by superior Silurian numbers

Moving across from painting to wargaming, I have managed to play another battle in my ongoing “Doctor Who” campaign exclusively using just my collection of “Black Tree Design” miniatures. This particular confrontation involved the somewhat beleaguered Nimon desperately trying to hold on to a second of their Empire’s ruined planets from a Silurian incursion. Fought across a 2’ x 3’ dilapidated cityscape, the game initially saw the defending alien Minotaurs’ taking a firm grip of the action by seizing a couple of crucial strategic objectives and seemingly pinning their opponents back with a notable flurry of Psionic mind beams.

However, once the Myrka managed its way to the tabletop’s centre things took a dramatic turn for the worse for the “parasitic species that operated on a galactic scale”, as their shooting attacks ineffectively bounced off of the reptilian creature’s “thick, rubbery skin”, and a somewhat impulsive charge straight into the Silurian’s numerically superior left flank failed due to its over-reliance upon the minotaurs’ bulk protecting them in close combat. Admittedly, by the end of the conflict the Nimon hadn’t been as badly mauled by the race of Earth Reptiles and their four-legged “heavy backup” as they had previously by Sharaz Jek’s Androids, but they still had disappointingly lost a second territory within the space of just a couple of campaign turns…

"Nothing Could Withstand Him, And No Weapon Seemed To Bite Upon Him."

"He tossed wolves and goblins from his path like straws and feathers."

This 33mm tall white metal figure of Grüf The Bear is produced by “Lucid Eye Publications” and can be bought from the company's "Toon Realms" range as part of the company’s “Where’s Runcorn?” Adventure Module 2 series. Sculpted by Trish Carden, I intend to use the hefty miniature to represent J.R.R. Tolkien’s skin-changer, Beorn, “who could assume the form of a great black bear and fought in the Battle Of The Five Armies.

Originally primed using two coats of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, the slayer of the Goblin leader Bolg was heavily dry-brushed with “Vallejo” Heavy Charcoal and later enthusiastically washed in “Citadel” Nuln Oil. In order to somewhat break up this dark visage I then ‘picked out’ all of the bear’s claws and sharp teeth with a combination of “Vallejo” Dead White and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade.

"Reaper Miniatures" WIPs - The "Bones" Medium Air Elemental has been repeatedly dry-brushed

I also considered whether to give the furry beast a very light dry-brush of dark blue, just to add a little colour to its shaggy hide. However, in the end I decided to stick with the intimidatingly deep black palette I’ve often seen in “The Hobbit” illustrations. I did however, decide to break from tradition and provide Beorn with some rage-filled eyes, courtesy of shading a “Vallejo” Heavy Red base layer with “Citadel” Carroburg Crimson, and then highlighting them with a tiny spot of “Vallejo” Dark Vermillion.

With my latest “Toon Realms” model finished I have set to work on another figure from my “Reaper Miniatures” collection. This Medium Air Elemental was actually sent to me as a free gift by the “eBay” seller Hygienicporridge after I purchased a reasonable quantity of Dark Heaven Legends Aquatic Familiars from his webstore, and at one point was potentially going to be pigmented to represent a swirling Water Spirit for my imminent “Subnautica” project.

"Pulp Monsters" WIPs - The two "Pulp City" models are at various stages of completion

Ultimately though, I have decided to add the lovely sculpt to my increasing collection of bizarre foes for my “Gamma World” campaign, but disappointingly have found the transparent plastic a little problematic to paint due its “Vallejo” White undercoat consistently ‘flecking’ off and visibly cracking whilst I’ve been dry-brushing it. I think the majority of these issues is due to the sheer bendiness of the figure, which really does give way quite considerably under even the lightest of brush strokes, but hopefully my perseverance is paying off as the Elemental reaches its final stages…

Finally, I am also close to finishing the first of my “Pulp City” miniatures by “Pulp Monsters”. I plan on getting the ghostly World War One fighter ace, the Red Baron, completed over the next few days, before spending some considerable time working on the disconcertingly disturbing Comte Vendredi.

(Lead) Mountain Musings - "Pulp City" July 2019

"Kitbash Games" WIPs - Doc Cosmos and Roughneck

After the disappointment of my previous two themed months, where instead of painting a unit of “Warhammer 40K” Chaos Space Marines and team of “Blood Bowl” Halflings I ultimately pigmented some more additions to my “Age Of Sigmar” Blades of Khorne warhost and a fistful of “Reaper Miniatures”, I thought I’d try to whittle away a little piece of my sizeable backlog by simply working on a handful of super-powered “Pulp City” figures. I’ve actually been collecting the odd model from this skirmish game “set in the 1980s” for some years, but haven’t really applied myself to the range due to my not wanting to learn yet another rule-set chock full of super-heroic abilities, villains and action points.

Very recently however, my interest in the tabletop line has been piqued by the news that “Pulp Monsters” and “Kitbash Games” have formed a partnership, and resultantly the resin “Supers Unlimited” models I own will “have rules profiles for Pulp City!” This announcement has kickstarted my enthusiasm to finish off the Roughneck miniature Leon Mallett of “Pulp Citizen” blog fame generously gifted me, as well as apply a brush to a few of my “Pulp City” purchases too.

"Pulp Monsters" WIPs - Comte Vendredi, the Red Baron and Tritonious have all been primed

Indeed, I’ve even gone so far as to ‘pick up’ a few of Leon’s spares for a very reasonable price, and, as part of that modest transaction, receive another of his excellent “Supers Unlimited” resin sculpts as a much appreciated freebie. Resultantly, I have based and primed “Covenant of Justice” member, Doc Cosmos, and begun re-working my previously partially-painted figure of Empire City’s masked vigilante, Roughneck.

Both of these figures should soon join my already finished Punchline on the tabletop, but in a slight twist of lore I aim to have the pair accompany my “Weird War Two” allies in their fight against the Nazi horde during the Mid-Sixties using a homemade rule-set, rather than for “Pulp City”. This ‘change of direction’ should allow me to both get the models straight onto the battlefield once they’re finished, and also somewhat ties-in with a few of the war-themed metal Supremes I own, such as the Red Baron.

"Reaper Miniatures" WIPs - Sherlock Holmes and a Deep Sea Diver

In fact, I’ve become so enthused with the idea of ‘folding’ these super-heroes in with my quite extensive fully-painted collection of “Secrets Of The Third Reich” models by “Westwind Productions”, that alongside the spectre-faced fly-boy I have assembled and undercoated the aquatic power-house Tritonious and Comte Vendredi (“riding on top of a Death Guard”). Hopefully this enthusiasm should lead me to quite quickly ‘polish off’ this initial handful of “Pulp City” goodness, as, having done some digging into my lead mountain, I’ve uncovered a fair few more colourful residents of the American West Coast metropolis.

Of course, my fascination over “Kitbash Games” partnership with “Pulp Monsters” doesn’t mean that I’ve slowed down painting some more “Reaper Miniatures”, as I’ve made plenty of progress on both my Deep Sea Diver and Sherlock Holmes figures. These welcome additions to my party of adventurers exploring “Gamma World” should be finished reasonably soon, and then I plan to test the foursome out against the machinations of Ape-X and his robotic Cyber-Reavers…