(Lead) Mountain Musings - "Modiphius Entertainment" July 2026

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" dominated my miniatures for June 2026

With both a successful "Forgotten Heroes" event and random drawer challenge under my belt from last month, I thought I'd roll a D12 to see which plastic drawer I'd select a handful of miniatures from for July, and rather surprisingly discovered I'd be painting more of my 32mm scale resin cast Star Trek Adventures Tabletop RPG figures produced by "Modiphius Entertainment". This selection actually comes at a rather opportune time as I was planning to use the miniatures I'd previously pigmented for some games of "Lost Patrol" by "Games Workshop", and only recently realised I was the odd sculpt short of what I needed to field a legitimate landing party.

In addition, having got the enigmatic 'Q' tabletop ready in the past, I thought I should also focus on getting some of the next generation of Federation officers completed as well - quite possibly with the notion of pitting Captain Kirk's crew against that of Jean-Luc Picard's at some future point. Such a move might also make it far easier (and quicker) to get the figures finished as most appear to be wearing the predominantly black colour scheme seen during the Star Trek: The Next Generation movies.

"Death X Tiles" WIPs - Three of nine tiles earmarked for a science fiction boarding zone

Furthermore, for the next three months I thought I'd contribute to Dave Stone's Season of Scenery over on his "Wargames Terrain Workshop" blog by polishing off some of the backlog of terrain pieces I have been religiously producing in "Bambu Lab" PLA (Polylactic Acid) on my A1 Mini 3D Printer. For this opening month I felt I should try to see how much of the Starship Mini Set by "Death X Tiles" I could get done, seeing as I've finally settled upon a simple "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey palette for most of the pieces.

To begin with my aim is simply to get a boarding zone completed, which will consist of a 3x3 tile room with a single, open doorway. However, if I can manage to get this quite sizeable area completed within the space of four weeks or less, then I may well start to focus on one of the five much larger rooms I intend my science fiction figures to battle over in future fights. I also have a ton of "Trench Crusade" flavoured scenery by "Saucermen Studios" to crack on with, so may well take a break from the tiles with the odd barricade or bunker.

June 2026 - My Top Five Table has in reality become a rather surprising Top Eight contest

Last month's meagre output certainly saw some surprising congestion strike my most popular manufacturers, with my need to paint at least four models by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" helping them to top position - alongside "Wargames Foundry". On top of that my desire to finish off the squad of second-hand Wookie Warriors I rather impulsively purchased whilst in Poole helped the popularity of "Fantasy Flight Games" rival some of my more usual Top Five contenders.

Fortunately, I feel the next four or so weeks will help ease this bottleneck as I'm sure quite a few more miniatures by both "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" and "Modiphius Entertainment" will be on the cards. What's more I'm really hoping to get going again on a few long paused projects which have simply been sat gathering dust on my hobby table for the best part of the year, such as my "Wargames Foundry" Napoleonics for "Black Powder" and some more "Trench Crusade" warriors by "Trench Stench"...

"Wubba Lubba Dub-Dub!"

"Nobody exists on purpose, nobody belongs anywhere, everybody's gonna die."

This 28mm scale white metal model of Rick Sanchez is sort of produced by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” as it's actually composed of bitz from a couple of their miniatures and an alternate weapon sprue. The torso and legs are from the company's MINI 341 Investigative Academic, with its head sawn off and replaced with that of their Crackpot Inventor. I did actually consider just using the entire Crackpot Inventor for a while, but felt that all the scientific gubbins detailed on the sculpt wasn't really in line with Rick C-137's look in the cartoon series "Rick And Morty".

In addition, I snipped off the Investigative Academic's left hand and swapped it for one of the manufacturer's Robo-Minion weapon accessories. This particular piece did have a mechanical hand, rather than one made of flesh and blood. However, I figured I could simply paint it using my usual combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone and "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade, and everything would be fine to the naked eye. I did momentarily plan on adding a little portal fluid 'cup' to top of the device. However, the area upon which I'd need to super-glue/pin such a tiny detail was a little to small for my liking, so I simply settled on pigmenting part of the hand-weapon using "Two Thin Coats" White Star and the "Citadel" Contrast Colour Warp Lightning.

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - These three Beastmen are having all their details 'picked out'

Once assembled the entire kit-bash was primed with "Vallejo" Dead White, shaded using some heavily-watered down "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey, and dry-brushed with a little White Star by "Two Thin Coats". Sadly, I wasn't at all impressed with how this turned out - probably due to the heat drying my paints the moment they touched the figure, so I ended up washing the model with (more) incredibly-watered down "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey, and the giving Rick a very patient dry-brush of (more) "Two Thin Coats" White Star.

The mega-genius' shirt was simply 'picked out with a little "Vallejo" Deep Sky Blue and a splash of "Citadel" Drakenhof Nightshade. This turned out far darker than I had envisaged. But meant that the Investigative Academic's neck scarf was somewhat obscured by the shadows. Lastly, I carefully gave the alcoholic scientist's eyebrows a line of "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey and daubed his hair with the same colour. Both of these areas were subsequently darkened down with some "Citadel" Nuln Oil.

"Modiphius Entertainment" WIPs - Two 'TNG' Starship crewmen and a 'TOS' member of the Landing Party

With my entry for Jez's "Forgotten Heroes" event over on his "Carrion Crow's Buffet" blog finally finished, I have been busy continuing to work on the three remaining Beastmen I started progressing in earnest a few months ago. I plan to use these "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" figures as Cultists or Ghouls for my games of "The Silver Bayonet" by "Osprey Publishing", so want to get them tabletop ready 'toot sweet' now the weather has warmed up to the point where I can set up some scenarios in the garage.

Furthermore, it looks like next month's random drawer challenge will comprise of more "Star Trek" miniatures by "Modiphius Entertainment", so I have dutifully dusted down and (already) got going on three crewmen. The eagle-eyed Trekkies will quickly spot that two of my current batch are wearing 24th Century uniforms rather than those of The Original Series (TOS), and that's so I can hopefully field a "Next Generation" or "Deep Space Nine" flavoured landing party at some point in the future...

"And You Saw A Shadowy, Chain-Rattling Phantom?"

"If he's a phantom shadow, how come he leaves footprints?"

This 28mm scale white metal model is produced by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” and can be bought either separately as MINI 1338 Sheet Ghost, or as part of their DEAL 376 Ghosts two-figure set. The miniature is sculpted by Andrew May and clearly inspired by the Phantom Shadow as seen in the January 1970 animated "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!" episode, "A Night of Fright is No Delight".

Used as a disguise the "two no-good greedy lawyers named Cosgood Creeps and Cuthbert Crawls", I actually attempted to pigment my spectre using the colours seen in the cartoon series rather than the 'official' paint-job, so ended up applying a double dose of "Vallejo" Turquoise to the entire model. It was then dowsed in "Citadel" Nuln Oil before being dry-brushed with more "Vallejo" Turquoise so as to highlight all the folds in its sheets.

"Modiphius Entertainment" WIPs - This Vulcan scientist is having her base layers applied

The miniature's chain was simply 'picked out' using a combination of "Vallejo" Gunmetal and "Citadel" Nuln Oil over an Abaddon Black basecoat. Whilst its eyes and maw were carefully traced using some Rust Orange by "Two Thin Coats". I actually felt that this colour lacked the life I wanted for such a terrifying face, so ended up shading these areas with a smidgeon of "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade. I also took this opportunity to slightly deviate away from the broadcast version of the Phantom Shadow by giving its hands a lick op "Citadel" Abaddon Black - rather than leave them to 'merge in' with the rest of its body.

I'm actually now tempted to purchase a second one of these sculpts as there were actually two of the ghouls running around Colonel Beauregard Sanders' mansion, so I've added one to my Wish List for the next time I see "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" at a wargaming show. However, I am a bit loathe to buy a second identical pose. I did consider getting the figure as an STL (Standard Triangle Language) file from the company's collection on "My Mini Factory" and mirroring it - so it'd appear a little different. But sadly the Sheet Ghost doesn't seem to have been uploaded to the 3D printable object-sharing platform yet.

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - Various models at various stages of completion

In addition to my latest Scooby Doo villain, I have been busy assembling another member of the Away Team I put together a couple of months ago. I was planning to use the models for some games of "Lost Patrol" by "Games Workshop" and realised that I'd need five Federation crewmen to "locate a crashed dropship in a hostile, sentient jungle" rather than the four I currently own. To shake things up a bit though I thought I'd assemble one of the 32mm scale resin Vulcan females I bought as part of the Star Trek Adventures: The Original Series Landing Party Miniatures Set by "Modiphius Entertainment", and may well make her a 'Red Shirt' rather than the usual Science Officer.

Finally, I've been busy trying to sate my current appetite for more models produced by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio". This includes the remaining Beastmen I have yet to complete, as well as the rest of their "Scooby-Doo" inspired ghosts, ghouls and villains. Furthermore, with just a few days left until the end of Jez's "Forgotten Heroes" event over on his "Carrion Crow's Buffet" blog, I am going full-pelt on my kit-bashed Rick Sanchez figure...

"Three Teenagers Encounter A Ghost..."

"...Who is in limbo until he retrieves his lost head."

This 28mm scale white metal model is produced by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” and can be bought either separately as MINI 1339 Headless Ghost, or as part of their DEAL 376 Ghosts two-figure set. The miniature is sculpted by Andrew May and whilst clearly associated with the rest of the company's (not) "Scooby Doo" inspired villains, appears to have been influenced by the character of Malcolm from the 1959 British comedy horror film "The Headless Ghost".

Beheaded six hundred years in the past and condemned to wander about Ambrose Castle until his body and head are re-joined, the model was rather simply primed with "Vallejo" Dead White and washed with some heavily-watered down Ethereal Green by "Two Thin Coats". It was then very patiently dry-dry-brushed with some "Two Thin Coats" "White Star.

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - Three "Scooby-Doo" inspired sculpts

I did consider 'picking out' the monster's pupils with some red as per the miniature's 'official paint-job'. But didn't really like the look of this extra detail, so left the eyes well alone. Furthermore, I also momentarily felt that the figure might benefit from some blood or gore around its point of decapitation. Yet this seemed to be a bit gratuitous for a spooky ghoul who was merely chasing after 'meddlesome kids', so I decided to give that a miss as well.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, in addition to this first of my spectral ghouls by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio", I have begun plugging away at some more of their other "Scooby Doo" influenced sculpts. To be honest, I was sorely tempted to pigment them all in the same, no-nonsense fashion as my Headless Ghost. However, whilst I have seen someone online do just this - and mighty awesome they all looked too - I felt I wanted mine to stick closer to their animated incarcerations.

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - My 'Rick Sanchez' kit-bash is having all of his details 'picked out'

This has actually proved a little harder than first anticipated on account of Andrew May adding a lot more detail to some of the models than was seen during the original Warner Brothers Entertainment cartoon shows. But with a bit of patience I believe I may well have come up with some palettes that will both nicely represent the classic 1969–1970 designs, and still proved reasonably straightforward to paint.

Lastly, I've made some much needed progress on my entry for Jez's "Forgotten Heroes" event over on his "Carrion Crow's Buffet" blog. I've finally managed to get all of the basic colours blocked in for my converted Rick Sanchez figure (using various bitz and miniatures by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio") and basically now need to just tidy everything up before finishing off the mad scientist's lab-coat and hair... 

(Lead) Mountain Musings - Forgotten Heroes June 2026

A trio of "Titan Forge" Death Dogs were completed for "Monster (Mayhem)"

Having at least managed a far better May than I have during the past couple of years, thanks largely to my participation in Angry Piper's "Monster May(hem)" monthly challenge over on his "Dead Dick's Tavern and Temporary Lodging" blog, I thought I'd dedicate some of this month's hobby time to visiting "Carrion Crow's Buffet" and helping Jez celebrate the Tenth Anniversary of "Forgotten Heroes" event. This is an annual affair I really enjoyed being involved in during its formative days, and resulted in the creation of many of my Howling Commandos of S.H.I.E.L.D. predominantly using various "Wizkids" plastic pieces from their numerous "Heroclix" lines. 

In recent years though, I've not been quite so inspired to cobble a figure together using bits and pieces from various manufacturers due to what I want being available as STL (Standard Triangle Language) files, and so my interest (as well as my participation) has disappointingly waned. This time however, I thought I should go back to its roots, hack up a metal figure or two, and pin an ensemble together.

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - This 'Rick Sanchez' has been kit-bashed from a couple of figures

Fortunately, I already had just the very model in my collection, having chopped up the body of a Investigative Academic by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio", stuck the company's Crackpot Inventor head on its shoulders, and added a Robo-Minion weapon accessory to use as a portal gun. This gave me a rather agreeable looking Rick Sanchez from the animated science fiction comedy franchise "Rick And Morty", and a solid start for "Forgotten Heroes" too.

Furthermore, I also thought I'd do a third drawer challenge for this month, even though I still had plenty to do on the "Citadel Miniatures" blister Don Uggie And His Ape Gang from May. Somewhat coincidentally, my random roll picked a drawer absolutely packed full of more of Karl Perrotton's figures, so I'm reasonably confident I should be able to both complete the gangsters I didn't finish last time, as well as polish off a fair few more miniatures from "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" as well.

May 2026 - "Modiphius Entertainment" finally enters the Top Five

The past four weeks certainly saw an odd mix of subjects being pigmented, with a couple of blasts from the past being treated to a lick of my brush simply because they brought back some nostalgic memories. Of particular note for this were the two Wookie Warriors by "Fantasy Flight Games" I got tabletop ready having purchased them on the spur of the moment second-hand. Now admittedly I don't have any current plans to play "Star Wars: Legion" any time soon. But I may well polish off the two remaining fur-covered rebels in the near future simply for completion's sake.

Indeed, this month may well see me 'finish off' a number of models I've been toying with over the past few weeks rather than plonk them away on a drawer for another day. Along with Don Uggie's minions and the aforementioned Wookies I have also got a rather sizeable Banderhobb by "Wizkids" to put the last touches too - something I'm especially keen to do so that the monster can participate in some of the games of "The Silver Bayonet" I have planned for the coming months...