Extinct Species

As get towards the bowels of my backlog (that sounds wrong), I'm coming across long forgotten project from defunct miniature lines.

A good example is Sabertooth, from the all too brief run of Marvel miniatures from Knight Models.

Why do I have him? He was a late addition to my unofficial Marvel project. Most of the miniatures I used were priced from different ranges. But I'd never found a suitable Sabertooth and he became available.

Why didn't I paint him at the time? He's a bit big really. The Knight Models range are tall next to the 28mm miniatures I used, and Sabertooth is a big boy for that range.

Why did I choose to paint him now? Honestly, because he was there. When I was fishing out random 7TV stuff to paint, he was already assembled, and so he got back in the queue.

I actually really like the miniature, the Knight Models range were always good, I was just disappointed at how huge he was. There's lots of nice details, but as always with Knight Models metals, there are a few chewed up bits at the joins.

Painting was easy. Nazdreg Yellow, Garaghak's Sewer and Skeleton Horde contrast paints were used to put down a base coat and then I washed the brown before highlighting the yellow and bone.

I'm really happy with how the fur round his neck has come out and I wish I could get things as good when highlighting musculature. It's not a massive problem if this model turns out a bit cartoony, but I'd like to be able to have not-cartoony as an option.

It's been a while since I painted any traditional superheroes and it's a nice reminder of how simple their colour schemes are. They are really good for getting done in a single session.

This was the last unpainted Knight Models Marvel miniature I own and with them long out of print, I might need to do a bit of digging if I want to get him a few friends in the same scale. I'm not sure I'd want to pay through the nose for them though.

Acquired: -119

Painted: 485

Lead Mountain: 231

Creature Feature

Having really enjoyed our first game from the Night Terrors feature pack for 7TV, my attention naturally turned to episode two.

Without giving too many spoilers away as to the plot, the second episode features a range of creepy crawlies of varying sizes, including fly swarms and maggots, something that I do not have in my collection.

Until now...

I spent a little bit of time online looking a STLs for 3d printing, and although there are some good options out there, I'm loath to send money when I'm not sure that a file will work with my printer.

I did find some options, but before handing over money I had a think about other options such as buying cheap toy flies and maggots, using green stuff and so on.

And then inspiration hit me...

I remembered that I still had a load of Cybermats from the Warlord Games Cyberman sprues I put together years ago.

I've never used them because I'm not that much of a Doctor Who fan to need loads, I already have a metal Cybermat which looks very different and I'd half though about using them as proxy scarabs in a Necron army for 40k.

However, I realised that I could easily use the Cybermat as maggots with a different paint job, and, spotting that some didn't have bases, I figured I could try to turn them into swarms.

A gentle bit of drilling and the insertion of a metal rod allowed me to get three 'flies to a base' (three is a swarm, right?). I've gone with smaller bases as it serves the double purpose of not requiring too many flies whilst also meeting the profile card rules that use a 3" template which assumes a smaller base.

Black contrast paint, gloss varnish, red eyes and ivory 'teeth' was the limit of my painting here, and then I used small sections of plastic bag (the bit at the bottom with a crease already put in) and glued them to the flies backs.

To my mind, these are quick and cheap options for something that I'm actually likely to use just once.

The maggots took even less work. A coat of Gulliman Flesh contrast paint, dryprushed with a cream paint (I used Wraith one) and then putting the contrast paint back over the mouth parts and they were done with a coat of gloss varnish to make them slimy.

I went with two per base to make them more visible, a factor that cause me to change course in terms of basing. I was intending to use a more scrubland basing material, but the pink maggots would have totally disappeared into it.

Another factor I need to consider is that the scenario needs quite a lot of unarmed teenagers. I'm not actually sure if I have enough, and I don't want to use my Walking Dead miniatures again as they don't mix well within casts due to basing and bulkyness.

Therefore I went looking for miniatures I could use, and found this temporal traveller's assistant from Crooked Dice, which fit the bill. As I don't own the correct Doctor to accompany Jo Grant (I don't even know which one it is), I seen no problem using her as a generic ternager. I've based the colour scheme on Shannon Doherty's character, Heather, from Heathers, which I felt would give her an eighties vibe.

I've also had this chap part painted for a long time, as he came with one of my original casts for 7TV. The rest of the cast were British police officers and I felt that he didn't quite fit with my Juliet Bravo theme, despite clearly being a reference to The Sweeney.

I'm not sure if he'll get used in Night Terrors, but I can see him popping up in future storylines.

I'm pleased with my problem solving on this one. Obviously there are better models out there, but these will serve more than adequately for the next scenario, haven't cost me anything and have used up some bits I had no real plan for.

Acquired: 119

Painted: 484

Lead Mountain: 232*

*I can't remember if I counted the Cybermat as individual models when I first tallied the Lead Mountain, but I'm assuming I did. I'm planning on doing a recount over Christmas anyway as I'm pretty sure that after several years my numbers are wrong.

Night Terrors #1: Night of the Comet

It's just gone Halloween, Matt's free for a game and I've just painted a road sign for Pilgrim's Bluff.

That sounds like a perfect excuse to play the first episode of the 7TV feature pack Night Terrors, a 1980s TV horror show blending sources like Stranger Things, IT and classic 1950s B-movie horrors.

The story opens with the Pilgrim's Bluff Amateur Astronomers Club along with the local High School Science Club gathering at Herschel Gomer's (a Vietnam War veteran) campsite to watch a meteor shower.

Several meteors hit the ground in the campsite leaving strage extra-terrestrial objects in smoking craters.

As the would-be ufologists begin to carefully explore these finds, they realize that they are not alone. Not only have agents from a secret government organisation arrived to secure the scene, but strange stapes, straight out of movie induced nightmares are moving through the woods.

Professor Silver declares that the truth is out there, and must not be hidden from the public. The astronomers and high school kids must grab the evidence and escape into town.

The home-town heroes are:

Herschel 'Bigfoot' Gomer (star) - Vietnam veteran and campsite owner.

Professor Gabriel the (co-stars) - high school science teacher.

Teddy Tucker (extra) - new kid in school and some of the local sheriff (that's a BB gun he's holding).

Pilgrim's Bluff Amateur Astronomers Club (extras) - four stargazing local ufologists.

The High School Science Club (extras) - three teens out for extra credit.

The villains of the piece are the agents of Operation Blacklight:

Special Agent Vera Ward (star) - a by-the-book government agent.

Dr Silas Everett (co-stars) - a fragile genius and xenobiology expert.

Blacklight Field Agents (extras) - three men who aren't required to wear black.

Xenobiologists (extras) - two scientists of dubious morality.

Sniffer Dog Team (extras) - a dog handler and his two mystery solving hounds.

Finally, lurking in the woods are the Night Terrors summoned by the alien tech from the psyche of those nearby: a killer robot, an alien invader and a zombie.

The action takes place in Herschel's camping ground. The Amateur Astronomers gathered here as it provides accessible high ground away from the lights of Pilgrim's Bluff. An excellent spot to observe a meteor shower from. The heroic cast begins near the hill.

Operation Blacklight had tracked the meteor shower an turn up in 4x4s shortly after the impacts. The villainous cast stars by the road and Herschel's cabin.

The five small craters contain alien artefacts pulsing with strange energies.

Annnnnd.... ACTION!

A series of meteors strike the ground throughout the campsite. As the smoke clears, we see headlights of vehicles pulling up by the side of the roads, disgorging ominous looking agents.

Up on the hill, the Amateur Astronomers look down upon the smoking craters that dot the area.

Professor Silver says, "we must gather some evidence, the truth is finally out there."

Herschel is more concerned about the intruders he can see pulling up to his cabin.

The dog team are the first to locate an alien artefacts, but without warning, a robo appears out of nowhere and sends the handler sprawling whilst his digs yap and yammer.

Curiously, the robot's design is eerily similar to to an Operation Blacklight project that the handler saw sketches of earlier that day.

The Astronomers decide to split up to search the campsite. One of the high schoolers, Nick, finds something first, but is also shocked to be set upon by a bloated zombie.

This is ironic as Nick had silent the night before indulging in a zombie movie marathon.

Teddy also stumbles up on an artefact, but is shocked to come face to face with a sinister looking group of agents.

The leader, Special Agent Ward, demands that he back away from the artefact, "it's dangerous, kid."

Teddy, who knows his mom needs to know about this, ignores her and darts off with the fragment.

"Ach! I need zat for ze research!" Dr Everett shouts after him.

Having somehow evaded the zombie, Nick makes it to the road and safety.

(It's a bit unclear what happened here, and the actor playing Nick later claimed that he'd filmed some exciting action sequences with the zombie  which script editors brutally cut out of the show).

Meanwhile, one of the Blacklight scientists who the story hadn't focused on, suddenly finds herself set up on by the zombie and killed.

Aware that they are in danger on multiple fronts, the Amateur Astronomers start rushing towards the road.

Although they don't try to shoot the civilians, the Operation Blacklight agents don't seem to have a problem with setting dogs on them or tasering children.

Meanwhile, a furious Herschel tussels with the Blacklight agents.

"Get off my property!"

After briefly setting them on fire and being targeted with tranquilising drugs, he eventually clubs one of the unconscious and makes a break for it, using his experience from 'Nam to slip unseen into the undergrowth.

The robot joins the fray, baffling Dr Everett as he is confronted by his own invention, which is only in the design stage.

Professor Silver has a lightbulb moment and upholds his duty of care to distract the Blacklight team, allowing several of the kids to slip away.

None of this was on the risk assessment for the trip.

In a crucial high point of tension, Teddy finds himself cornered, and certain to be captured and carted off to a secret facility.

However, Teddy proves particularly adept at evading his would be captors, wearing some of the thickest plot armour imaginable.

Meanwhile, Blacklight agents close in on Sarah, treasurer of the Pilgrim's Bluff Amateur Astronomers Club, until a distorted being which resembles an invasive alien fungus they had discovered on a downed satellite only a month ago.

Mind you, that fungus was tiny...and didn't have eyes!

In the chaos, Sarah manages to slip away unscathed.

As the rest of the Astronomers near the road, Dr Everett unleashes an unstable device he's been working on, sending them sprawling.

However, this isn't enough and the kids make it to the highway and Doctor Everett doesn't risk being witnessed chasing children in the dark by passing traffic, not with the levels of gun ownership in the area.

Herschel and Professor Silver ate the last to leave, despite the agents closing in.

Herschel always knew the government were out to get him and their arrival at his campsite alongside all manner of horrors only confirms his paranoia.

Professor Silver is more concerned about what fell from the sky and what had caused the weird creatures to appear. Would he ever get answers?

As the Amateur Astronomers make their escape, Operation Blacklight locates what seems to be the cause of the strange occurrences: a live and very frightened extra-terrestrial.

Special Agent Ward oversees the securing of the specimen, whilst Dr Everett looks on with anticipation at the opportunities for experimentation that are now open to him and his team.

The creatures terror grows and it's psychic waves of fear pulse out into the night, causing who knows what terrors to emerge.

Roll credits.

***

That was loads of fun. I've not played the latest edition of 7TV until now (mainly due to working through feature packs focused on the old edition) and I really like some of the small changes that have been made to the rules (cameos, prop stores, etc.).

In addition, the some if rules for the feature pack and this scenario also added to the fun, particularly the fact that the agents couldn't shoot the civilians, meaning that this became a much more balanced game than it first appeared, encouraging up to use more special effects than we would usually. Also, the cameo monsters were enough to be annoying, without overpowering the game.

Technically this was a 7-3 victory to the heroes. It was actually 8-2, but wededucted a point from the heroes and gave it to the villains. I'd been cheating with one of the kids who kept being knocked overwhukst carrying an objective. He should only make one move action, but I'd been standing him up and moving meaning he wouldn't have escaped.

The villains were really unlucky with their strike rolls as the heroes were rolling very high to defend and Professor Silver's ability to mess with the script deck proved crucial.

I'm looking forward to the next episode, but I will need to sort out some giant flies and maggots because...reasons...

"ADVENTURE!"

I knew printing and painting Castle Grayskull would wake something in me. First it was finishing off my last two models for the collection: She-Ra on Swiftwind and Skeleton on Panthor.

Now I'm digging through my backlog for miniatures that could reasonably be used as obscure secondary characters from 40 year old cartoons.

This, I present: Sea Hawk.

Yes, that's his name.

Sea Hawk appeared in only half a dozen episodes in the original series of She-Ra: Princess of Power, and is a pirate who works for the Horde but defects to join the Great Rebellion and becomes somewhat of a love interest for Adora.

He was armed with a 'laser rapier' and jater a 'photon cutlass' which are definitely not rip-lightsabers.

In the Netflix reboot, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Sea Hawk was introduced as an absolutely ridiculous parody of the swashbuckling anti-hero in the original.

A dashing and egotistical idiot, who loves nothing more than setting off on adventure (hence his catchphrase, "ADVENTURE!"), singing sea shanties and setting his own boats on fire.

As you can probably see, my version leans into the original version of the character, although this isn't because I prefer it. The Netflix version is a genuinely funny (in an absurd way) addition to the show.

The reason I've gone for a more classic interpretation is that the model I had available has more in common visually with the eighties version. It even has a headband.

The original miniature is a WizKids D&D miniature which I've had for a while, and, unlike a lot of the range, actually scales up pretty well with 28/32mm miniatures. I actually have a second copy of the model (the 'benefit' of blind boxes) that I'm looking to add to another project.

I painted it up really quickly, mainly using contrast paints and washes. Although the blue stripes are in the wrong places, I put them in to evoke the original and break up the wall of brown (the original costume design is a bit hideous).

I'm happy enough with him, but I'd definitely switch him out if a better model became available or I found a suitable proxy for the Netflix version.

Acquired: -119

Painted: 477

Lead Mountain: 246

Perp Walk

As I'm meandering through the backlog, there's a constant internal debate about how I can best use models. This means considering elements such as equipment, aesthetics, scale and need.

In the case of these three models, everything pointed to them joining the gangs on the mean streets of Mega City One.

Obviously, they are armed with none specific guns, which immediately points to something futuristic, with the heightened eighties vibe suggesting the heyday of 2000AD.

Meanwhile, thier slightly taller scale (without being too chunky) works okay with the Warlord Games models, and finally, already having Judge Dredd join the two Judges that came in the starter box meant that the gang members are currently woefully outgunned and reinforcements would be necessary.

These three models are all from the Grenadier Miniatures Future Wars range that I had a habit of picking up with my pocket money as a youth.

I see this extremely stylish lady as potentially being the queen bee of the street gang, a bit like Ma-Ma in the Dredd movie, but played by Grace Jones.

I've owned this model for 30+ years and only realised today that she didn't have sleeves.

This next guy screams anime bodyguard, with the over the top hair and sharp suits.

I kept things simple with the suit as I was going for something like the look of the Crazy 88 in Kill Bill.

I opted to go with blonde hair to offer some colour contrast, and lean into to the vibrant colours of anime.

This feeling was added to by the the symbol in his back that is sculpted on. I've no idea if this actually means anything, but I went with red and white to again evoke something Japanese.

The final gang member looks like he's played by Bruce Campbell, a very squared jawed fellow.

As such I went for a colour palette that suggested redneck hunter.

He also has a symbol on his back, but his had no design sculpted on it. I went for the number seven, partly because background characters in Judge Dredd often have details that make no real sense, but mainly because it was an easy number to freehand.

With Warlord Games ending the production of Judge Dredd: I Am The Law, I don't think this project will every go very far. However, at least I've ebened the odds and increased the chance that I'll be able to use all of my judges at once.

Acquired: -119

Painted: 476

Lead Mountain: 246

Channel Hopping

Do you ever have that feeling when you can't decide what to watch? You end up jumping about from channel to channel, never really focusing on anything.

Do you ever have that feeling with miniature painting projects? This blog is clear evidence that I do.

Do you ever have that feeling with regard to miniature painting projects related to TV and film for 7TV? Well...

I woke thim morning with no real focus for my painting and so decided to turn my attention to a variety of individual models related (in different ways) to 7TV, if not necessarily related to each other.

First up are a cheerleader and road sign I got as stretch goals for hacking the Night Terrors feature pack campaign. I've not really paid much attention to this so far as I'm still trying to source a cheap train and track for the second scenario of Vlad's Army.

The cheerleader is a typically clean sculpt from Crooked Dice as really easy to paint. The trickiest part was trying to pick out the raised lettering on her jersey, although this is because it's small as the words are actually really well defined, especially given that it's a metal model.

I liked painting the sign (I got a similar one with 7TV: Pulp) although I did have to mend it as the supports were snapped. Fortunately, as it's 3d printed in resin, super glue does the job really quickly. However, it's quite fragile, so I'll have to be careful with it.

This model was also a freebie with a Kickstarter campaign, but this time for the 80s supplement - this explaining the outfit.

The model is very clearly based off of Kelly Lebrock in Weird Science, although I forgot that she was meant to be wearing leggings and so, amazingly, I've managed to objectify her more than the film did.

I have absolutely no idea what I would use this model got, but as I've based her on asphalt (she's holding a basketball, grass would have made no sense) she might find herself in zombie or superhero scenarios as a bizarrely scantily clad civilian.

Yet another Kickstarter freebie (I think this one was with the launch of 3rd edition) is this director, that might possibly be meant to be Steven Spielberg.

Despite really liking this miniature and enjoying painting him, I genuinely have no idea how I would use him.

Crooked Dice have a habit of producing characters and macguffun tokens that are linked to film and TV production and in theory I could build a group of miniatures that could sit off to the side of games of 7TV.

It would be quite meta.

The final miniature is the Irma Kraangdroid from the 2012 version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, in which April O'Neil's school friend is revealed to be a alien inside an impossibly large robotic disguise.

This is clearly a riff on the appearance of Kraang in the classic 1980s cartoon, even though the 2012 series went a very different route in the portrayal of the Kraang as an invading force rather than an individual character.

The model is a Heroclix sculpt I've had for a long time. I opted to just tidy up the existing paint work rather than do a full repaint mainly because the glasses are much better than it could ever manage myself.

I've quite enjoyed painting a few random bits, and this little collection has reminded me how much I enjoy painting Crooked Dice sculpts, and I probably need to restock my supply at some point.

Acquired: -124

Painted: 473

Lead Mountain: 244

Back in the Saddle

Printing and painting Castle Grayskull has promoted me to return to the remaining Masters of the Universe miniatures I still hadn't got around to.

Namely these are Skeletor on Panthor and She-Ra on Swiftwind, both from Archon Studios.

These are promo game pieces released in advance of both the Fields of Eternia and Masters of the Universe: Battlegrounds games.

Although, I was grateful to be able to pick up these two characters at a reasonable price (they're not exactly things you can proxy), the arrival of official games just as I was completing my collection of Masters of the Universe miniatures did knock my duck off for some time.

Skeletor was one of the first models I painted in this project and I've already had a version of Panthor knocking around with him, made from a Mantic Basilean big cat. However, ever since I got my hands on a mounted version of He-Man, I was keen to have a counterpart model for Skeletor.

Although being a dynamic sculpt and relatively easy to paint, the models are made of a softer plastic. This means that the inevitable rougher areas of the sculpt and moukd lines are harder to clean up.

What's more, being cast in one piece makes it hard to get to the brush to some areas, and so I adopted an approach of if I couldn't get my brush to an area, it was more than likely that nobody would be able to see that but.

This issue was more pronounced on the She-Ra model, especially around her waist. However, I am pleased that with a bit of patience I was able to ensure that there are no obviously unpainted events visible.

Another issue was that the soft plastic sword blade snapped whilst I was dry brushing Swiftwind. Fortunately, I had some spare swords in the same scale left over from the multi part Eternia Palace Guards. It's not exactly right but it's close enough and looks better than a broken sword.

This model makes me smile. Partly this is because every part of the design screams of 80s marketing execs trying to sell a product to little girls.

"What if we had Barbie in a mini-skirt and tiara riding a unicorn which flies on rainbow wings?"

However, I am mainly smiling about the characterisation of Swiftwind in Netflix's She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. He is granted the ability to talk by She-Ra and immediately uses this newfound ability to start agitating for better treatment of horses in the kingdom - and he never lets this drop across several seasons.

I have no idea if I am going to add to my Masters of the Universe collection, but I am tempted to see what stls I can find to bring some of the vehicles to life.

Acquired: -124

Painted: 468

Lead Mountain: 249