“You Bred Raptors?”

"The point is, you are alive when they start to eat you."

These two 28mm scale white metal dinosaurs from the late Cretaceous Period used to be produced by "Copplestone Castings" under Code K12 , but currently only seem to be available via the "Honourable Lead Boiler Suit Company" as Code DI54 - Deinonychus x2. Coming in two different poses the Terrible Claws "measure approximately 63mm long" and form part of the Birmingham-based manufacturer's rather extensive range of dinosaurs, prehistoric animals and monsters.

Rather shockingly, I've actually owned this pair of models for a significant number of years, and initially super-glued each of them upon a couple of adjoining two pence pieces. Fortunately, my somewhat ad hoc basing methodology of yesteryear is well behind me, and as a result they were more recently re-based upon a couple of "Games Workshop" plastic 40mm circular bases.

"Clever girl..."

The two Deinonychuses were also re-undercoated using a double layer of "Vallejo" Heavy Grey, which quickly masked the original (and horribly translucent) "Citadel" Dark Angels Green paint I had applied so many moons ago. The sharp-toothed meat-eaters were then drenched in "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade and dry-brushed using some (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Grey.

It was at this point, approximately eighteen months ago, that a desperate attempt to finish these carnivores first failed, as I unsuccessfully attempted to paint some lines down one of the dinosaur's backs. This time round though, I simply decided to leave them well enough alone, and instead focused on 'picking out' the crest using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Red and "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson. These colours were also used on the monster's tongue.

"Warcry" WIPs - The Drillmaster now just needs to have his red armour pigmented

I pigmented both prehistoric animals' "unusually large, sickle-shaped" talons with "Vallejo" White, as well as all their tiny teeth and formidable-looking claws, and subsequently washed them with some "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. Lastly, I spotted the duo's eyes with a dab of "Vallejo" Heavy Ochre, and shaded them with a little "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade.

With two reasonably straightforward painting subjects completed, I have managed to subsequently make some very visible progress on my Drillmaster for "Warcry". This Iron Golem by "Games Workshop" has caused me some significant frustration on account of all his brass-coloured chain-mail and uber-dynamic fighting pose. However, I have finally reached the stage where I am ready to apply some "Citadel" Flesh Tearers Red Contrast paint to the figure's armour...

"They Got My Blood, Now Its My Car!"

"So I exist in this wasteland... A man, reduced to a single instinct: Survive."

This 1/55th Scale Mgebrov Single-Turret Armoured Car can be bought from "Coppletone Castings" as code K53 and is actually produced by "The Honourable Lead Boiler Suit Company". Designed and sold to compliment the manufacturer's "Back Of Beyond " range of miniatures, I actually purchased the resin model in order to use it as a rusty 'steampunk' version of Mad Max's famous Interceptor for my fledgling "Mad Max: Fury Road" project.

Unsurprisingly the kit, also available from "North Star Military Figures", is supplied unpainted and unassembled, and actually proved somewhat cumbersome to put together as a result if it arriving with no instructions. This omission was eventually overcome largely thanks to a picture of the vehicle on the "Copplestone Castings" website, and a bit of drilling (so as to accommodate the metal wheels).

"That's mine!"

In addition to the model, I also separately prepared a "Games Workshop" 120mm x 92mm oval base for it to sit upon, by marking out the position of its wheels and gritting around them. The base was then primed with "Citadel" Chaos Black, and dry-brushed first with Doombull Brown and then Rakarth Flesh. As a last step I washed the stand with "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade and left it to dry...

The 'Interceptor' itself was initially primed with two coats of "Citadel" Chaos Black and subsequently dry-brushed with "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal. I then 'picked out' it's turret weapon and wheels with Ironbreaker, and heavily washed with the entire vehicle with "Citadel" Nuln Oil.

'The Interceptor' - Accompanied by Mad Max and Imperator Furiosa

With the car's basic layers finished, I then took some "Mig Productions" Extreme Rust Wash, and having shaken the bottle vigorously, simply administered the particle-charged solution over the majority of the model using a "medium sized round soft paintbrush". Once this had thoroughly dried, and the bottle's contents had been given time to settle to the bottom, I roughly dappled a far more sediment-filled brush over all the seams, rivets and bolts. This technique really seemed to help build up some thick rust in the deeper recesses of the vehicle.

As I wanted the automobile to appear somewhat well-cared for, despite its post-apocalyptic environment, I decided to 'clean' the car up a bit by dry-brushing certain areas with more "Citadel" Abaddon Black. In addition to this, I tidied up the wheels, weapon, and painted the headlight with a combination of "Vallejo" White and "Citadel" Nuln Oil.

"The Horns Of Nimon" WIPs - The intergalactic locusts are slowly being base-coated and tidied up

Having fixed the vehicle to its 'finished' base (as the car's clearance was so low as to make painting its stand impossible otherwise) I shook my bottle of "Mig Productions" Extreme Rust Wash once again and applied the 'watery' solution over the edges of my recent dry-brushing, so as to tone down its starkness. The 'Interceptor' was then gloss varnished.

Alongside my latest submission to the Seventh Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge I have started work on another batch of “Doctor Who” miniatures by "Black Tree Design”. I've already painted up five Nimon from the December 1979 BBC Television story “The Horns Of Nimon” this month. But having found more of the bull-headed 'intergalactic locusts' buried amidst my ample lead mountain I thought I'd give them some additional reinforcements with which to bring down the gullible Skonnan Empire...