"One Of The Crow King’s Favoured Constructs..."

"...These sinister skeletal giants appear to be nothing more than a swirling black cloth, topped with a horse's skull."

This 28mm scale white metal model is produced by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” and can be bought as MINI 431 Mast Beast A from the company's Folk Horror range. Sculpted by Steve Saleh, and clearly giving off a vibe from Terry Gilliam's 1981 British adventure film "Time Bandits", the miniature was originally going to be one of my entries into Angry Piper's "Monster May(hem)" monthly challenge over on the "Dead Dick's Tavern and Temporary Lodging" blog. But as that particular event concluded several weeks ago, I've simply finished painting him up to use as a ghost for "The Silver Bayonet" by "Osprey Games".

The model was perhaps unsurprisingly primed using a couple of layers of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, before being heavily dry-brushed with "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal. It was then drowned in "Citadel" Nuln Oil, and had it's sickle 'picked out' using a combination of "Vallejo" Gunmetal and (more) "Citadel" Nuln Oil. I also gave the blade a splash of "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade to weather it a bit, and later treated the agricultural tool's edges to a delicate dry-brush of (more) "Vallejo" Gunmetal.

"Warlord Games" WIPs - Two of six Tribal Nations Wolves currently being worked on

With the basics completed I next applied some "Vallejo" Iraqi Sand to the monster's skull and skeletal arm, shaded them with "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade, and subsequently used a little (more) "Vallejo" Iraqi Sand as a highlight. However, this didn't make the bones stand out as well as I wanted, so I dabbed a little White Star by "Two Thin Coats" onto my brush-tip, and very patiently drew it across the parts to hopefully create something of a bleached effect.

Having completed the first of two Mast Beasts I currently have in my painting queue, I've found the time to get some of the basic colour work done on six 28mm metal Tribal Nations Wolves by "Warlord Games". As I've already previously pigmented four of these animals for my "Silver Bayonet" scenarios, I'm pretty happy I know what I need to do to get them finished, so intend to plough straight through these 'random encounters' over the next few hobby sessions.

"Station Forge" WIPs - These three GrimGuard Divers have been primed with "Vallejo" German Grey

In addition though, I have also managed to produce, base and prime five GrimGuard Divers by "Station Forge". I actually own an embarrassingly large amount of this manufacturer's STL (Standard Triangle Language) files as I've been busy supporting two of their Patreon memberships for quite some time. As a result I thought it was high time to power up my Mars 5 3D printer, swamp its tank with plenty of Elegoo" Water Washable Resin and create a basic squad of scuba-soldiers.

Due to the sculpts being somewhat influenced by the Death Korps of Krieg Imperial Guard which features in "Warhammer 40k" by "Games Workshop", I actually plan on giving the figures a somewhat similar paint-scheme. However, as this particular unit of GrimGuard is clearly outfitted to fight underwater, I thought they'd all be predominantly wearing an off-black diving suit - possibly with the odd brass mask and some orange flippers..?

"These Lightning-Fast Wolf Packs..."

 "...Fight with a singular unity that can bring a foe many times their size..."

These four 28mm metal specimens of Canis lupus were produced by "Warlord Games" as part of their Mythic Americas range, and could be found inside the Nottingham-based company's five-figure Tribal Nations Wolves boxed set. The miniatures actually came with circular MDF bases. However, I soon super-glued them upon plastic 32mm round bases instead.

The quartet of canines were all primed using a couple of licks of "Vallejo" Sombre Grey, drenched in "Citadel" Nuln Oil, and dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Sombre Grey. I then gave each beast's legs, belly, throat and maw a few heavy brushstrokes of "Two Thin Coats" White Star, shaded these areas with plenty of "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade, and subsequently dry-brushed them with (more) White Star by "Two Thin Coats".

"...Making them formidable allies."

This approach obviously created a strong contrast between the animals' upper and lower bodies, so I carefully dry-brushed the regions where the two colours clashed with some "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey. I also went back afterwards with some "Two Thin Coats" White Star and "Vallejo" Sombre Grey, and touched up these parts to hopefully blend all the differently hued fur together even more.

As a final step I dotted each Wolves eyes and noses with some pure "Citadel" Abaddon Black, and traced out their fangs with a combination of White Star by "Two Thin Coats" and "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. This actually made all the pack look a bit toothless to me. So I quickly went back with my brush-tip and ensured each miniature was sporting a few more teeth than appeared to have been sculpted on them.

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - Two Mast Beasts

To be honest, I wasn't particularly enthused to pigment these models - and I have six more to do yet before I've completed the two boxes I bought during a sale in November 2023. Admittedly they're not made of Warlord Resin - which I really dislike. But I did think the sculpting on them, especially around the faces, was a little too soft for my liking. In addition, my mojo for any sort of Mythic Americas project was badly dented by the manufacturer's recent announcement that they've dropped the range - albeit these figures are destined for my "Silver Bayonet" tabletop first and foremost.

In addition to my Wolves, I have also managed to make some progress on a pair of Mast Beasts by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio". Like so many metal miniatures I seem to be painting these days, I plan to use this pair as 'random encounters' for any of my "Silver Bayonet" monster hunters unlucky enough to encounter a ghost or two. I actually hope to squeeze a fair few sculpts from Karl Perrotton's Folk Horror range into my painting queue over the next few months, as I greatly expand my gothic horror bestiary...

"Salute" Loot 2019

"Dead Man's Hand" WIPs - John Bridges, the Scarred Man and Ned Kelly

This year's traditional trip to the ExCeL convention centre in Custom House, East London has once again added a few more baubles to my horde of metal, plastic and resin miniatures, as well as greatly widened my interest in yet another genre or two. In fact, one of the main reasons I enjoy attending this show is that some manufacturer somewhere will throw me a real ‘curve ball’ and before I know it, I’ll have bought heavily into a new game system I hadn’t previously even heard of.

Fortunately, financially-wise at least, that didn’t quite happen during “Salute” 2019, but I did still walk away with a few Wild West miniatures by “Great Escape Games” for their “Dead Man’s Hand” rule-set. Even though I don’t currently have any particular intention in purchasing and playing the 28mm skirmish game itself, I did find it impossibly hard to resist purchasing a box of models disconcertingly based upon an Undead Magnificent Seven.

"Time Robbers" WIPs - The Minotaur and two models from the Ultimate Evil set

Obviously I needed some opposition for the skull-headed Malevolent Seven, and spotted amongst the stall’s single figure blister packs an excellent proxy for “DC Comics” Jonah Hex in the guise of the Scarred Man and Rooster Cogburn with John Bridges (albeit I would have much preferred one resembling John Wayne’s original incarnation). In addition, whilst searching this excellent range I also spotted a boxed set featuring Ned Kelly’s formidably armoured lawbreakers. The bucket-wearing Australian bushranger has always been a favourite Wild West villain of mine, even if he did his shooting on the other side of the world, so there was no way I could resist picking his gang up as well…

A couple of years ago at “Salute” 2016 “Northumbrian Tin Soldier” caught me completely off-guard with half a dozen 28mm white metal "Time Robbers” based upon the band of dwarves from the 1981 motion picture "Time Bandits". Rather embarrassingly, apart from basing and priming the figures I have never touched them again, however that may now all change, as at this show the Tyne & Wear-based manufacturer’s captured my imagination once again by serving up both an Ultimate Evil set of four miniatures, alongside a blister comprising of Agamemnon and a giant Minotaur.

"Dust Tactics" WIPs - Three members of the Cultist Fire Squad

Quite possibly one of my most unexpected buys of “Salute” 2019 however, came from a chance encounter with “Dust Studio”, who I had totally forgotten about following a rather painful “Kickstarter” experience way back in 2014. I’d always been a big fan of “Dust Tactics” up until this point, and at the time pledged very enthusiastically for all things “Operation Babylon”. Sadly, ‘behind-the-scene’ bust-ups over backer rewards seemed to stall the distribution of my goodies for an eternity, and ultimately left a bad taste in my mouth for the genre.

To my utter astonishment though, a quick look at the “Dust Studio” display cabinet was all that was needed to immediately reignite my enthusiasm back up as I saw the Hong Kong-headquartered company have recently introduced a Cthulhu Mythos faction into their 1947 A.D. universe, and crammed it with just the sort of baddies one would expect to see in an Indiana Jones or Ray Harryhausen motion picture. Resultantly, I couldn’t stop myself from picking up a box of unassembled Cultist Fire Squad figures, Mi-Go Raiders and (more) Nazi killer Gorilla Squad members, as well as later digging out my dusty old collection of miniatures in anticipation for a painting frenzy…

"Salute 2016" - Loot - Part One

Time Robbers WIPs - Randall, Robin Hood and Wally have all been appropriately undercoated

The first of my impulse purchases at "Salute 2016", these incredibly characterful 28mm white metal "Time Robbers" are made by "Northumbrian Tin Soldier", and proved an irresistible temptation on account of them being based upon the band of dwarves from the 1981 motion picture "Time Bandits".

This "fantastic new range" currently includes all six of the diminutive treasure-hunters, as well as John Cleese's incarnation of Robin Hood from the film, and can either be bought singluarly or in a group (as I did). Somewhat disappointingly though, despite these models' excellent detail I have found them to be somewhat larger than advertised. Indeed, the heroic green-garbed outlaw actually stands a formidable 40mm in height, so unfortunately they won't easily fit with the vast majority of my 28mm-scale collection as hoped...

Time bandits WIPs - Plenty of work left to do these instantly recognisable sculpts

The Time Robbers Set is not however the only range which "Northumbrian Tin Soldier" produce, as Martin Buck has "wonderfully sculpted" a load of similarly-sized goblins, faeries, imps, gnomes and other assorted creatures as part of the company's dark fantasy Nightfolk miniatures catalogue.

As a result I'm hoping to paint up Randall, Figit, Og, Strutter, Wally and Vermin reasonably quickly, and then hopefully begin collecting some of the sword-wielding teddy bears and heavily-armoured big-eared gnomes which the manufacturers currently produce; alongside any new figures for which they cast their Time Robbers range.

Robo Hunter WIPs - Having undercoated and washed Hoagy with Black shade, the robot now needs dry-brushing

Equally as impetuous an acquisition were these two old "2000 A.D." themed models by "Wargames Foundry". Sold by "Warmonger Miniatures" these sculpts of Sam Slade and his idiotic robot assistant Hoagy are somewhat taller than I anticipated, with Robo Hunter standing a disconcertingly 35mm in height. As a result, much like my Time Bandits, I strongly doubt I'll be able to use them alongside many of my other 28mm miniatures.

In an effort to reduce Sam Slade's height, I did actually attempt to remove the (pre-slotta) metal model from his incredibly thick base, and inadvertently ended up costing the "cigar-smoking bounty hunter of robots" his entire left foot; which snapped away at the ankle. Fortunately, having removed the same limb from a "Heroclix" A.I.M. Agent I had going spare, I was able to pin a replacement plastic foot onto my Robo Hunter and then fashion it into a similar shape using some grey-stuff...