"The Dead Awaken..."

"...For the hour is come for the Oathbreakers."

These four "cartoon scale white metal" Skeleton Swordsmen are produced by “Lucid Eye Publications” and are available from the company's "Toon Realms" range. Sculpted by Steve Saleh and led by Lord Rascal, I thought this quartet would form part of the Undead Light Foot unit I'm currently building for my 'Lord Of The Toons' project using the "Dragon Rampant" rule-set.

Originally primed with two coats of "Vallejo" Dark Sand, the four miniatures were somewhat soaked in "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade and subsequently dry-brushed using (more) "Vallejo" Dark Sand. I then dry-brushed them rather more lightly with Dead White, before 'picking out' their swords and shield emblems using a combination of "Citadel" Ironbreaker and Nuln Oil.

"Who shall call them from the grey twilight, the forgotten people?"

So as to give the hand-weapons something of an edge, and to 'highlight' the details on the skeletons' ornamental armoured boss, both of these areas were later delicately dry-brushed with a little smidgen of "Citadel" Ironbreaker. I also painted each of their shields in either "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, Heavy Blue, Heavy Violet or Black, and eventually dirtied them all up with a splash of "Citadel" Nuln Oil.

Shifting my focus away from fantasy-based miniatures and to those from "a galaxy far, far away" I have succumbed to assembling even more figures from the "Star Wars: Legion" range by "Fantasy Flight Games". Perhaps somewhat naively I still have little intention of actually using the manufacturer's models to play their 'official' "game of thrilling infantry battles in the Star Wars universe!", yet that hasn't stopped me wanting to be able to field two sizeable opposing forces with which to re-fight the Galactic Civil War with a rule-set such as "Doctor Who: Exterminate!" by "Warlord Games".

"Star Wars: Legion" WIPs - An Imperial Royal Guard, Leia Organa and Emperor Palpatine

Resultantly, I have decided to add an additional hero to my Rebel Alliance army in the shape of Leia Organa. To be honest I'm a bit disappointed that the current Commander Expansion sculpt of the princess disconcertingly depicts her during the young woman's exploits on Endor's moon during "Return Of The Jedi", rather than that of "A New Hope". But hopefully an alternative sculpt of Alderaan's senator, complete with her iconic "cinnamon buns" hairstyle, will be made available at a future date.

In addition to Darth Vader's daughter I have also based and primed both the Emperor Palpatine, as well as his four Imperial Royal Guards. The Sith Lord himself should be a reasonably straightforward piece to paint, whilst his quartet of "enigmatic warriors", including a leader and electrostaff-armed guard, are going to understandably be a bit more colourful...

"Stand By, Chewie. Here we go."

"Screaming about it can't help you."

This 47mm tall hard plastic miniature of Chewbacca is produced by “Fantasy Flight Games” and can be found inside the company's "Chewbacca Operative Expansion" for "Star Wars: Legion"; "a miniatures game of thrilling infantry battles in the Star Wars universe!" Described as "Han Solo’s ever-faithful companion", the Wookie was played by actor Peter Mayhew and made his first appearance in George Lucas' 1977 American epic space opera film "Star Wars".

The figure was initially primed with two coats of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, shaded with "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, and dry-brushed with both (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and (lighter) Heavy Brown. I then applied a combination of "Citadel" Doombull Brown and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade to Chewie's side-bag, plus "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey to his "trusty bowcaster" and along his ammunition belt. These areas were subsequently washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil and highlighted with a little more "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey.

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - These four Gabriel Hounds have been primed and shaded

I then encountered something of a painting dilemma, as having previously pigmented two slightly smaller models of Chewbacca I knew the next stage was to carefully pick out the leather covering his belt's line of hard metallic shell boxes. However, the sculpting for this version of the Wookie didn't allow for me to get my brush tip in between the tiny containers and I couldn't help feeling that there was more than enough brown on display without the smuggler's bandoleer being the same colour too.

Resultantly, and any purest "Star Wars" aficionados will want to look away at this point, I have left the ammunition belt a dull metallic colour so it stands out a little better on the figure. Finally, I applied some additional "Citadel" Nuln Oil to certain areas of the Wookie, in order to darken him down a bit and break up the colour consistency of Chewie's fur.

"Lucid Eye Publications" WIPs - Lord Rascal's Skeleton Warriors

Over the past few weeks I've been scouring my favourite miniature manufacturers looking for some alternative sculpts to the somewhat softly-detailed plastic zombie dogs found inside the "Resident Evil 2: The Boardgame" boxed set by "Steamforged Games Limited". Rather embarrassingly I already own a substantial amount of unpainted models produced by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio", but thought their wonderfully creepy Gabriel Hounds would fit the bill rather nicely, so have set to work basing, priming, shading and dry-brushing a freshly-purchased quartet of the "spectral white dogs [which] wear the face of man."

In addition, I am continuing to work through my collection of "Lucid Eye Publications" figures and been steadily building up the bleached bone on four of their splendidly characterful Lord Rascal's Skeleton Warriors. This time round I'm painting up a small unit of Spearmen for "Dragon Rampant" in the hope that I'll eventually be able to deploy a twelve-model strong Light Foot unit which will be able to utilise its "Wall of Spears" special rule... 

“You’re The Joke And Here’s The Punchline!”

"The clown prince of smash and grab!"

This 28mm scale resin miniature of Punchline is produced by “Kitbash Games” and will be one of the company's stretch goals for its upcoming "Supers Unlimited" "Kickstarter" in January 2019. "Better-known locally as Zorbo the Magnificent", this penniless clown entertainer "found two gleaming golden power gloves fallen from a smashed glass case" in an abandoned super-lair, which would transform him into a "heavy-hitting villain."

Dave Zorbavic was initially primed using two coats of "Vallejo" Heavy Green and had his trousers shaded with "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green. I then 'picked out' his big boots and tie with "Vallejo" Heavy Red, before heavily washing his bulbous footwear with "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson and his neck cloth in Nuln Oil. The mortgage defaulter's shirt was pigmented using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Violet and "Citadel" Druchii Violet.

"Star Wars: Legion" WIPs - The three Scout Troopers have been primed, washed and dry-brushed

The criminal's power gloves were originally treated to a layer of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, and were subsequently painted with Gold and then a serious splash of "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. As a final step they were dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Gold. I decided against simply giving the clown an entirely "Vallejo" Dead White head by leaving some of his flesh showing around his neck and bonce, and simply washed it with a little Pale Grey.

As a final step I picked out the former party entertainer's hair with "Vallejo" Heavy Red and "Citadel" Nuln Oil", and his nose with a dab of "Vallejo" Heavy Red. I chose not to shade the nose as I wanted the red to appear quite flat, and eventually decided against applying any additional red-coloured make-up to his face and mouth as well, as I rather liked the hauntingly lifeless look his pure "Vallejo" Black eye sockets and mouth slit created...

Herald Of Khorne WIPs - The "Finecast" miniature is slowly having all its details 'picked out'

In addition to working on my much appreciated Punchline, I have also been busy assembling some Imperial foes for my "Star Wars: Legion" Wookie Warriors to battle in the near future. Whilst "Stormtroopers may form the bulk of the Galactic Empire’s infantry forces" my favourites have always been the Scout Troopers, so when I saw "Fantasy Flight Games" had released them as a Unit Expansion boxed set for their "unsung battles of the Galactic Civil War" tabletop game, I had to pick the special forces team up.

Lastly, I have stumbled across a long-forgotten, partially-painted "Finecast" miniatures of a Herald of Khorne by "Games Workshop", and as I have yet to play the Second Edition of "Age Of Sigmar", I fancied bulking out my Bloodletter host with the 'savage master of brutality'. Fortunately, the imposing figure was already primed and shaded, so I have been able to quite steadily pigment all his skull trophies, and get to work on all his gold armour.

"Not Daredevil, Clown -- But The Black Widow!"

"Now, all I need to do is wait -- Wait for my prey!"

This 28mm tall plastic “Wizkids” model of the Black Widow is miniature number 057 from the Clobberin Marvel "Heroclix" range, and depicts Natalia Alianovna Romanova "during her romantic involvement with Matt Murdock in San Francisco", when she was operating "as an independent superhero" alongside Daredevil. An "Expert tactician, hand-to-hand combatant and secret agent", the Avenger was created by Stan Lee, Don Rico and Don Heck for the April 1964 issue of "Marvel Comics" "Tales of Suspense".

Having been removed from her 'clicky-base' and super-glued on to a 25mm circular stand, the former Russian spy was primed using two coats of "Citadel" Abaddon Black and heavily dry-brushed with "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal so I could make out the sculpt's details. I then considered whether to follow the pre-painted miniature's palette of her wearing a dark blue costume (as depicted in the Seventies comic books) or stick with her more modern-day all-black attire.

"Star Wars: Legion" WIPs - General Veers' AT-AT Commander's chest plate has undergone a re-paint

After applying a "Citadel" Nuln Oil wash over 'Natasha', I settled with the darker colour scheme, and layered both the super-heroine's chain belt and wrist shooters with "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna" before applying a combination of Gold and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade to them. As a final step I painted the Black Widow's famous red hair using "Vallejo" Heavy Red, shaded it with a splash of "Citadel" Nuln Oil" and later dry-brushed it with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Red.

With my latest "Heroclix" figure finished, I have once again turned my attention upon my collection of partially-painted "Star Wars" miniatures by "Fantasy Flight Games", and continued pigmenting the Minnesota-based manufacturer's "Star Wars: Legion" model of General Veers. I thought this Commander Expansion would provide the perfect Imperial leader for a Scout Trooper unit with which to bitterly oppose my current Wookie Warriors.

"Star Wars: Legion" WIPs - The three Wookie Warriors are slowly getting all their details 'picked out'

Unfortunately, I wasn't that happy with how his initial all-grey look turned out, especially the AT-AT Commander's disconcertingly dark grey chest plate. Luckily, having done some research on the Galactic Empire's Imperial Army human officer I spotted several costume photographs, as well as completed models, which depicted the armour as being a somewhat striking green. So I have decided to try and imitate that colour scheme instead.

Lastly, I have been slowly picking out a plethora of pouches, pockets, ammunition belts, braid bands, buckles, shoulder-pads, hand-blasters, leather straps and bladed weapons on my remaining Kashyyyk killers. Slightly frustratingly, the furry wookies continue to 'produce' details which I haven't actually spotted until after I've started shading in all their fiddly pieces of equipment. But hopefully shouldn't take took much longer to complete before being submitted into the Ninth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge...

"Come My Friends, The Ents Are Going To War."

"I am not going to tell you my name, not yet at any rate."

This 45mm tall "white metal figure" of Yewan Grove The Treeman is produced by “Lucid Eye Publications” and can be brought from the company's "Toon Realms" range. Sculpted by Trish Carden, and suitably Treebeard-like in appearance, I thought this miniature would make an excellent leading tree herder for my current 'Lord Of The Toons' project using the "Dragon Rampant" rule-set by "Osprey Games".

Initially primed with a double layer of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, the Ent was 'immersed' in "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade and later dry-brushed using (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, as well as (the somewhat lighter) "Vallejo" Heavy Brown. I then 'picked out' Yewan's marvellously leafy beard with a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Green and "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green.

"Trees will come back here - young trees, wild trees."

The ancient creature's eyes were 'dotted' using a tiny spot of "Vallejo" Heavy Ochre". Whilst the fungi found living on his arms and back were treated to a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Red and "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson. The Treeman's two toadstools were painted in a similar fashion, albeit their stalks were pigmented using a little "Vallejo" Dead White and Pale Grey.

Finally "Vallejo" Heavy Brown and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade were applied to Grove's spear, and some Heavy Bluegrey to the weapon's tip. As I wanted to show that this 'sharp point' was actually made of stone as opposed to wood, I washed it with "Citadel" Nuln Oil and then carefully dry-brushed around its edges with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey.

"Hoom, hum, I have not troubled about the Great Wars."

Sticking with “Lucid Eye Publications” and their "Toon Realms" range, I have also finished four of Grove's Shrubs as well. These 24mm tall "cartoon scale white metal figures" are also sculpted by Trish Carden, and will essentially be used on the tabletop as strength point/damage markers for the reduced model unit's Greater Warbeast.

As with Yewan, these Entlings were undercoated with "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and then basically followed the self-same recipe of their much larger leader. Admittedly, their straggly beards were far less leafy looking than the Treeman's far more substantial facial growth. But I still decided to 'pick them out' using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Green and "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green.

"Let The Wookiee Win."

"Chewbacca here is first mate on a ship that might suit us."

This 44mm tall plastic "detailed figure of Chewbacca" is produced by “Fantasy Flight Games” and can be found inside the company's "Chewbacca Ally Pack" for their "strategy board game of tactical combat" "Star Wars: Imperial Assault". Based upon the Wookie during his exploits in "the midst of the Galactic Civil War between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire after the destruction of the Death Star over Yavin 4", the expansion apparently allows  players to either "prevent the Empire from enslaving Wookiees on Kashyyyk, or infiltrate an Imperial labor camp."

The miniature was undercoated with two layers of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, shaded with "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, and dry-brushed with both (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and (lighter) Heavy Brown. Chewie's side-bag was then treated to a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Brown and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, whilst his bowcaster and ammunition belt were pigmented in "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey. These areas were subsequently washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil and highlighted with a little more "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey.

"Star Wars: Legion" WIPs - Chewbacca and two Wookie Warriors are slowly getting their detail 'picked out'

The Wookie smuggler's bandoleer's strap was painted using "Vallejo" Charred Brown and (more) Strong Tone Quickshade by "The Army Painter. However, because I felt the model was already brown enough, I decided to leave Chewbacca's shell boxes metallic-coloured, rather than continue painting in the pieces of belt which held them in place. Finally, I applied some additional "Citadel" Nuln Oil to certain areas of the Millennium Falcon's co-pilot, in order to darken him down a bit and break up the colour consistency of his fur.

Sticking with both Wookie Warriors and "Fantasy Flight Games" I have made some more progress on the Origins Award-winner's slightly larger-sized Kashyyyk killers for "Star Wars: Legion". In particular, I have finished blocking in all the base colours on this rule-set's version of Chewbacca and now just need to apply a variety of washes to his weapon and equipment before a final couple of dry-brushes.

"Kitbash Games" WIPs - Punchline and Roughneck

I have also managed to get the majority of my "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna completed on both Chewie's accompanying special forces unit's Leader and his Ryyk Blade-carrying colleagues, and even started base-coating one of the Wookie warrior's bandoleer, hand-weapons, fire-arm and shoulder-armour. Being over 40mm tall all of these models should bag me at least seven points each in the Ninth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, so should help push me ever closer to my 500 point target tally by Late March 2019...

Lastly, I have been quietly working away on couple of super-powered resin figures by "Kitbash Games" from their "Supers Unlimited" range. I hope to have the "clown prince of smash and grab", Punchline, finished reasonably soon, and can then focus more fully upon one of the game's anti-heroes, Roughneck.

(Lead) Mountain Musings - "Toon Realms" January 2019

Yewan Grove The Treeman WIPS - The Ent has been primed, shaded, dry-brushed (twice) and detailed

This month's themed attempt to try and reduce my overwhelming bevy of metal, plastic and resin miniatures will see me painting up a number of "Lucid Eye Publications" figures from their "Toon Realms", "Toon Supers" and "Toon Terrors" ranges. I've actually only recently discovered these extremely characterful creatures, so having purchased the odd few... ahem, dozen or three, I thought I would try and pigment them all during the current Ninth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.

My plan is to actually complete enough models in order to run a series of "Dragon Rampant" skirmishes as part of a "Lord Of The Toons" campaign, so to that end I have begun earnestly working away on Yewan Grove The Treeman and four of his marvellously grumpy-looking Shrubs. These figures will allow me to field the 45mm tall Ent as a Greater Warbeast, and use his more diminutive-sized Entlings as part of his Reduced Model Unit.

Skeleton Swordsman WIPs - The Undead warrior has been primed, washed and repeatedly dry-brushed

Of course, I also plan on fielding some opposition for my Forces of Good to battle on the tabletop, and decided upon a Graveyard Dwellers army packed full of Skeleton Soldiers and lead by a Necromancer no less. The "Toon Realms" range carries a rather nice selection of Undead warriors, so to begin with I have bought and based eight of Lord Rascal's Skeleton Swordsmen to use as a Light Foot unit.

Ultimately, I will need to purchase a third blister so as to properly field a full-strength, twelve miniature strong unit. But for now I have simply started pigmenting a pilot piece to see whether my usual technique for painting bleached bone, which includes multiple dry-brushes of "Vallejo" Dark Sand and Dead White, is suitable for so cartoony a sculpt...

"Star Wars: Legion" WIPs - Chewbacca and two Wookie Warriors have been primed, shaded and dry-brushed

Lastly, I recently stumbled across a box of miniatures which I simply couldn't resist ordering, despite my best intentions not to 'get into' yet another "Star Wars" rule-set by "Fantasy Flight Games". However, having recently spent a little hobby time pottering over a partially-painted figure of Chewbacca for the Minnesota-based manufacturer's "Imperial Assault" "strategy board game of tactical combat", I was immediately taken with the sheer size and dynamic posing of their Wookiee Warriors Unit Expansion for "Star War: Legion".

Needless to say, I additionally succumbed to also buying the Kashyyyk killers' Chewbacca Operative Expansion as well, and have already assembled, primed and dry-brushed all five wookies. Whether this will be the start of a slippery slope into wargaming "thrilling infantry battles in the Star Wars universe" I cannot say. It would though, seem silly not to at least pick up a box or two of Imperial opposition at some point in the near future...