The Secrets of Castle Grayskull

In these febrile times, a child of the 80s like myself has always been able to cling to a number of unassailable certainties in life when trouble comes knocking: Auto-bots will roll out; the Teenage Mutant 'Hero' Turtles are the world's most fearsome fighting team; and He-Man will defend the secrets of Castle Grayskull.

Unfortunately, it turns out that we can no longer hold on to these truths:

 - every time the Auto-bots roll out, the next movie is even worse;

 - any close analysis shows that the Turtles get their asses handed to them regularly;

 - the major secret of Castle Grayskull turns out to be that it's 3d printed.

I stumbled across this model whilst messing around on the Bambu Handy app. It's made by a creator who designs pieces to put in reptile terrariums. This explains why the model is in ruins as it allows the given reptile to move about more.

Seeing this, I ignore the ruined state of the Castle as I have been after a piece of He-Man themed terrain (specifically Castle Grayskull) for some time, and all it needs to do is set off the concept that a generic fantasy table is in Eternia.

The castle printed in just just three pieces: the front facade, the top turret and roof, and the side wall, and took the best part of a full day to print.

Painting was done quickly and with spray paints. A full undercoat of black, a zenithal highlight of a military green and then an all over wash of Biel-Tan Green (which actually used less of the pot than I was expecting).

I finished it all off by sticking some lichen into corners and up walls to simultaneously capture the idea that the ruins are overgrown, whilst also covering the visible joins and uglier parts of the print. Finally I scattered some debris on surfaces where it might have gathered.

All in all, I am really pleased with the outcome as I was aiming at something reminiscent of the toy one I never owned. Although small for an actual castle the scale ratio between this castle and the 32mm miniatures I own is similar enough to that of the original toyline.

I've not done much with my Masters of the Universe project for a while. I had done all the important characters and the release of an official line of miniatures at exactly that point really irritated me. However, 3d printing does open up the opportunity of adding some vehicles to the project, and I do still have a couple of models to paint.

Acquired: -76

Painted: 457

Lead Mountain: 308

Space Force

You won't be surprised to learn that I have almost no idea what I'll be working on from one post to the next, so you, dear reader have absolutely no chance of keeping up with where my goldfishlike attention span will take me.

So, after a distinctly fantasy feel to the last few posts, I thought let's take a trip into the future and do some space cops.

I've had this little collection of miniatures for some years. I got the troopers from Leon with an intention to use them a S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in my Marvel project. The officer is one of those 30 year old models that I've never found a use for until now.

These models are Reaper Miniatures, labelled as Nova Corps. There is a whole range of different poses and weapons, so I might pick up a few more, as I enjoyed painting these.

One of things I liked about them are the fact that there are subtle differences despite the similarities in the armour. Not all of them have sidearms, the stances are all different and one is clearly a woman, without being sexualised (although for some reason, she doesn't have a badge).

In terms of painting, I did a coat of Leviadon Blue contrast paint over a grey undercoat and dry brushed a light highlight of pale blue. Guns, buckle and mask were painted in Leadbelcher and washed with Nuln Oil. It was then a case of picking out details in black, grey white, gold and Ice Blue.

I went with the white shoulders to stop them from looking like a SWAT team. It also has the side effect of making them evocative of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents (drawing for several different sources) allowing me to use them for my original intended purpose.

The officer is from the Grenadier Miniatures Future Warriors range. I had a habit of picking up blister packs from this range with my pocket money and I always thought this guy would possibly end up as a Commissar in an Imperial Guard army that never got past a single Sentinel and a Lieutenant on a Jetbike (no, I don't know where they are now).

However, just last week I spotted that his coat was almost exactly the same as that on the model I'd used as Captain Dash Halcyon in my Five Parsecs From Home campaign.

As Dash is an ex-milirary man, I figured that this model would work as a former colleague turned arch-nemesis, intent on bringing the deserter to justice. The Javert to his Valjean, if you will.

Therefore I copied the colours across to highlight the similar background but made the boots black and shiny to indicate that he's still on active duty.

I've been toying with getting back to my Fortune's Fool campaign, and this guy (who has yet to be named) might very well make an appearance with his squad of elite enforcers, however I can also see them equally turning up in games of 7TV.

Acquired: -43

Painted: 456

Lead Mountain: 342

Shipshape & Bristol Fashion

I mentioned in a previous post that I'd bought a boat whilst at the Partizan show.

I have now built and painted said boat.

It's a simple thing from Coritani Magnetic Displays (in their Trevor Howard range) and it wasn't very expensive.

The boat came with a mast and a few resin bits to add feature to the deck: a mast stand, an anchor and chains and a stowed sail.

The sculpt is fairly rough, but given the price and the fact that this is likely a weather-beaten fishing vessel, I think it's fine.

Painting was simple. Contrast paints with a fair amount of dry brushing and washing did the trick.

I'm not too bothered about the fact it doesn't have a sail as it's primary use will be as a docked vessel in games of Carnevale, and I think it's going to work excellently just as terrain.

However, it's so generic that it will work on a whole variety of settings, so I suspect it will get plenty of table time in the coming years.

Acquired: -44

Painted: 450

Lead Mountain: 349

To me, Eorlingas!

Having let a veritable army of new miniatures through my defences at the weekend, I needed to mount a robust defence against being overwhelmed.

Who better to look to in my hour of need than the elite of Rohan, defenders of Helm's Deep and heroes of the Pelennor Fields, the Royal Guard of King Theoden.

Now, before we get carried away, I haven't painted all of the models in the picture above in the space of 24 hours.

Long term readers of the blog (both of you) with remember that Theoden, Gamling and a couple of Royal Guard have previously featured in posts and battle reports (I like to use Royal Guard as Captains of Rohan).

I have, however, painted three of them in 24 hours, which I feel is pretty good going.

All three models were bought as a gift a few years ago and have been staring at me accusingly since then.

Despite the somewhat samey pose, these models, like their sword-armed compatriots, have poseable arms, offering a degree of individuality which I think work better with spears than swords.

They found their way onto my desk when I was undercoating the Dwarfs in the previous post. I was going for a silver base to speed things up as the Dwarfs had a lot of armour on show.

This is something that was arguably more true about the Royal Guards, and so I got them done at the same time.

Once dry, I hit the whole model with a wash of Nuln Oil.

I then proceeded to match a paint scheme from several years ago, which is made easier by the fact that I have a blog detailing the process I use, I never change the paints I use and I'm quite lazy in my approach.

Flesh, beards, leather, wood, green cloaks, red shirts and gold details were picked out and then hit with a wash of Agrax Earthshade and the plumes were done with Black Templar contrast paint.

Job done.

Admittedly, three of them doesn't stem the tide of new purchases, but it's a start.

Acquired: -44

Painted: 449

Lead Mountain: 350

Show & Tell

Due to.a range of differing circumstances, I haven't been able to attend any wargames shows this year, and so when Matt suggested going to Partizan in Newark this weekend, I jumped at the chance.

I didn't go with any particular intentions to buy anything, but I was more interested in seeing what I could grab for a bargain and look at some intimidatingly detailed demo games.

For example, this one...

This massive game was by Shrewsbury Wargamers (I think) and is themed around the battle of Rourke's Drift, but using Warhammer 40k Praetorians as the British and Orks in place of Zulus 

Interestingly, the chap I was talking to wasn't aware of the Bloodbath at Orc's Drift campaign from the very early days of Warhammer Fantasy Battle.

One of the things I like about wargames shows is that they remind me that I'm also a historical gamer, something that is easy to forget in an online space that is dominated by the grim darkness of the far future.

For example, this eastern front game in a ruined city reminded me just how long it has been since I played a game of Bolt Action.

It's also a reminder that I should probably build more terrain as good looking boards make a massive difference, as is clear from this Vietnam game. However, I'm always stumped by the question about where I would store it all.

It's aldo good to see what else is out there. This really involved, multi-level board reminded me that Burrows & Badgers is the sort of silly thing that has the potential to garner my interest.

I've previously resisted due to other games demanding my attention, but I'm nearing the end of several projects and so since might open up for some anthropomorphic shenanigans.

Mind you, there are other projects I haven't looked at in some time that I could easily return to, such as VBCW, something for which I do have a few bits and pieces still to put together, and I still need to return to Vlad's Army for 7TV, which covers a lot of the same ground in terms of terrain and miniatures.

Speaking of 7TV, although this board was using homebrew rules, it definitely had the same vibe as 7TV as Martians attempted to stop the world's billionaires colonising their home planet.

In the centre of the picture you can see Jeff Bezos and his delivery drone, whilst Donald Trump is just visible on the platform behind the rocket discussing the most wonderful plans that anyone has ever seen (everyone has been telling him they love this big, beautiful plan) with an unseen Elon Musk, who is dressed as Homelander from The Boyz, naturally.

And so we get to the part where I reveal what I picked up:

1. The show miniature is a Polish paratrooper, which I'm not sure I gave a use for, which is a shame.

2. I bought a boat because I've decided that I do want to work towards a proper board for Carnevale, and making it a dock should reduce the amount of streets I'll need to build.

3. My Blood Angels will be getting reinforcements in the form of a single Terminator and a very old Vindicator, which needs some TLC.

4. I grabbed Pirates of Lunar City, a feature pack for 7TV that I don't already own. I want to get back to the game and I find the feature pack provide good motivation.

5. Finally, and providing the biggest hit to my running totals, I bought 33 Napoleonic British from a very persuasive member of the RAF on their charity stall. These will allow me to build a second Sharp Practice army for the War of 1812.

I genuinely enjoyed this show as I think I've been so focused on clearing my backlog for a while, that I haven't thought about other things I'd like to work on. After today, I think I have a few different and exciting projects to look forward to.

Acquired: -42

Painted: 447

Lead Mountain: 356

Honour Your Ancestors

There are many plastic Dwarfs that have emerged from the subterranean halls of Games Workshop and they have gone by many names.

However, whether they are known as Dwarfs, Squats, Fyreslayers, Kharadron Overlords, or the Leagues of Votan, they can all trace their lineage back to the same ancient heroes.

Technically, the first multi-part plastic Dwarfs were made of the amazingly named 'psychostyrene' and came in blister packs of three for the amazing price of 75p.

Yes, I absolutely did pick up a pack with my pocket money, but sadly they disappeared long ago.

What I do have though, are these guys...

These are the Dwarfs from the Fantasy Regiments box, which boasted of 60 miniatures for £9.99 and contained 10 models of some x fantasy races: Dwarfs, Wood Elves, Dark Elves, Orcs, Goblins and Skaven.

Calling them multi-part was a bit of a stretch, given that this boiled down to two head options for each pose, alternate weapons for the Orcs, Skaven and Dwarfs, and optional shields for everyone except the Wood Elves.

As, you can see, I haven't retained any of the hammer options to replace the default axes, and a couple of the shields aren't original, but I did manage to make use of some spare Dark Elf crossbows to offer a bit of variation.

The cunning 'strapped-to-the-back' kitbash trick has allowed me to put together four rangers as well as the five clansdwarfs and also give a better look at the whole models.

To be fair, for almost 40 year old models (they were released in 1987) l, the hold up pretty well.

Yes, they are pretty much monopose and only rank up diagonally, but they are characterful minis that paint up.well. aldo, slight changes like the heads, weapon options and positioning of the shields (and crossbows) make for just enough variation.

The decision to use the crossbows was driven by a couple of factors. Firstly, I genuinely thought they were for the Dwarfs as I do not have any of the Dark Elves. Secondly, several of the Dwarfs had scarring on their backs from prior assembly and painting.

In fact, the guy with the shield on his back is hiding a pretty nasty gouge which had been made by a somewhat corrosive glue.

They'll look perfectly good when mixed up with a few more interesting metal miniatures, which leads me to...

This chap is not of the same provenance as the rest of my Dwarfs, being a 90's sculpt. He's also clearly a Ironbreaker (a heavily armoured Dwarf) and so can't really firm a unit with my hand weapon and shield crowd.

However, he was remarkable easy to paint.

Due to the amount of armour on display, I did all of this batch with a silver undercoat, hit them with a wash of Nuln oil and then worked up the other colours, allowing me to get them done pretty quickly.

Finally we get to these two heroes.

On the right we have Sven Hammer helm, the Dwarf hero from Advanced Heroquest. As it was released in 1989, Sven is a touch more spritely than the rank and file, and shows how quickly Games Workshop were moving forward in their development of plastic miniatures.

On the left, with the unfeasibly large axe, we have the Dwarf from Warhammer Quest from 1995. Already you can see an aesthetic change towards massively long beards, comically large weapons and more dynamic poses, something that would ultimately result in Fyreslayers balancing on their bizarrely unburnt beards (no, I'm not a fan of them).

These two, along with the Heroquest Dwarf, went on plenty of adventures with me as I tended to play the Dwarf in our games.

Looking back it does seem odd that I never got around to building a Dwarf army, but I think that the immobile gunline of Warhammer Fantasy Battles wasnt really appealing. Also, by 4th edition I could get a wider range of plastic Skeletons, High Elves and Goblins more easily, prompting me to focus on them.

It's a shame because I've really enjoyed painting these and so I might have got more Dwarfs for niahed at the time if I'd known.

As it happens, I now have the very beginnings of a Dwarf army by mixing my metal and plastic miniatures together. It is only a beginning as the entire force is currently less than 500 points in Warhammer The Old World.

I am.very tempted to keep going, but as with my Nurgle Warriors of Chaos army, I'd want to keep it strictly Oldhammer.

Alternatively, I might just have enough to think about old scenarios such as those from Terror of the Lichemaster or Bloodbath at Orcs Drift. It's something to think about.

Acquired: -73

Painted: 447

Lead Mountain: 325

You can't run in a campsite...

...you can only ran, because it's past tents!

Ahem...sorry about that. I've just finished this mini project and I'm a bit frazzled as it was in tents!

Baddum-tish!

Sorry about that, there's just not very much to say about this post.

I found myself with a bit of time this weekend as I'd finished the Orcs surprisingly quickly. Therefore I looked around for something that would be quick and easy to bash out.

A pair of Renedra bell tents for the bill.

A base coat, contrast layer and drybrush sorted the tents out pretty sharpish, but waiting for glue and paint to dry on the base was the most time consuming element.

I'm pleased that I managed to make the open tent a little more interesting with a tent pole made from a kebab skewer and the bunk that comes on the same sprue as the tents.

I also added the firepit (easily made from small stones and slivers of wood) for a bit of visual interest.

I've made sure that I've kept this for potential use with historical projects, particularly the War of 1812, as the other tent scenery I've done (from the same set) is either modern or pulp themed (although these are fairly versatile in their use).

Not much else to say really.

Acquired: -73

Painted: 435

Lead Mountain: 337

The time of the Orc has come!

It's literally only just occured to me that the first things I've painted in what, in gaming circles at least, has become somewhat commonly known as 'Orctober', are so Orcs.

How fitting?

This motley bunch are a group I cobbled together for spares and leftovers some time ago. I undercoated them but lost my mojo and they have sat unloved since Matt ruined Lord of the Rings by killing Frodo in my Quest of the Ringbearer campaign.

I was looking to expand my forces of Mordor for a potential foray into the Gondor At War campaign book, but wanted to do so cheaply (as is my way). 

Therefore I started by smashing together the remaining handful of dark ages warriors bodies I had left with some heads and weapons from the Wargames Atlantic and Oathmark spurs I'd used previously.

After that I did something similar with a sprue if Frostgrave warriors, although, if you look closely, I ran out of orcish heads and had to improvise.

I kept the painting really simple, just like I'd done with my other Mordor Orcs (let's face it, they're never the main attraction in an army). Just a black undercoat dryprushed, then leather, metal, skin, fur and bone picked out before an overall wash.

All rather unremarkable.

The only thing of any real note in this batch was the inclusion of this ugly fellow. I've no idea of the manufacturer l, but I know I've had him for a loooong time.

He's a distorted chunk of metal that lacks detail and definition, but he has a certain character that means he might serve as a captain.

If Peter Jackson can serve up that sponge-headed Goonies reject, Gothmog, this misshapen fellow can lead my forces.

I'm not sure if October will feature any more Orcs got me, but 10 is a good amount.

Acquired: -73

Painted: 433

Lead Mountain: 339

P-P-Paint Up A Penguin

Still riding high off watching The Penguin (which I, once again, thoroughly recommend), I turned my attention to the titular 'hero' of the show and finishing off the gang members that I had previously not got around to...

...of which there were several.

When I was playing the Batman Miniatures Game, I didn't immediately go for collecting the Penguin Gang as having not played the Arkham City video game, the look of them didn't really speak to me as being right for my vision of the Penguin and his cronies.

If I'm honest, they still don't (I've always viewed Oswald Cobblepot as being more of a monster - a vision the TV show supports).

However, Arkham City, and therefore the Batman Miniatures Game, went for a more uniform, paramilitary look, which I suppose is fitting given that they are a large gang trying to rule an open-air prison by force and it also made them visually distinct from the other gangs.

Therefore, in my original paint job (which I set out to emulated) I went for a blue grealy urban camo effect on the trousers, contrasting with orange elements from the prison issued gear.

I like the overall look but I was struck by how awkward and janky some of these 'premium' metal sculpts seem now.

To be honest, I can see why Knight Models made the switch to resin when I compare them with this unfeasibly large gang lieutenant, unimaginatively named Big A.

He's a model from the third edition of the game, which is where I stepped away, and it is just a much cleaner sculpt, although a bit boring in his stance.

Resin also allowed them to get smaller details (I still carry the trauma of trying to attach separate metal hands in spindly wrists) and so made these armed penguins possible.

They are clearly inspired by the ones that appeared in Batman Returns, but I chickened out of trying to paint stripes on the missiles, opting instead for an easier military look.

Whilst I was working on the gang and trying to match models I painted years ago, I took the opportunity to tidy up the handful of Penguin's goons I'd already painted.

I added a bit of highlighting to brighten them up and give more definition on faces and weapons. The baton had also broken on the armoured guy and so I opted to give him hand swaps ashus were tiny and would have been a nightmare to reattach a weapon to.

And so my Penguin gang is finished and looks suitably large. The only time I ever used them was in a tournament, backed up by my hulk proxy of Solomon Grundy. I believe I did okay with them but I remember Penguin as being one of the better 'swarm' gangs.

The only thing I can imagine I'll ever add to them is a Duck Tank like the one in Batman Returns.

Acquired: -73

Painted: 423

Lead Mountain: 349

Family Business

After really enjoying watching Peacemaker: Season 1, I realised that I still hadn't watch The Penguin either and it would probably be good to keep me in a DC frame of mind as I tried to work through my backlog from the Batman Miniatures Game.

Spoiler alert!

It worked.

I've burned through the eight part series and can highly recommend it as genuinely one of the best series I've watched in some time.

The action focuses on the Penguin scrabbling for position amongst the crime families of Gotham, most notably the Falcone family.

As it happens, a large chunk of the backlog I have to work through are from the Penguin gang and the Organised Crime faction, specifically the Falcone family...how fortuitous.

First up we have the head of the family, Carmine 'The Roman' Falcone, appearing here in the white-haired guise he takes in the seminal comics Batman: Year One and The Long Halloween.

However, it doesn't really matter what medium you encounter Carmine Falcone in. Whether it's in print, TV, game or film, things rarely end well for the Roman.

Along with Falcone, I had three more Knight Models mob goons which came with him. Technically their names are (from left to right) Vipera, the Bull and Troy Sins, but they are generic henchmen who could equally take order from other gangsters like the Ventriloquist or Black Mask.

I must admit, I'm not a great fan of painting men in suits. I'm not great at making single colours look good without plenty of folds to shade. I've done a better job on the grey suit, and I'm trying to not look too closely at the brown one.

This is Carmine's wayward son, Alberto Falcone, aka The Holiday Killer, as he appears in The Long Halloween.

The model is a Heroclix sculpt (and therefore has limitations) which always felt spindly alongside the other chunky models in that range. However, it matches fairly well with the more truescale Knight Models range.

Coincidentally, when Knight Models shifted their production to resin, the four models I have are bundled as a five with the Arkham Origins version of Alberto - meaning that I'd struggle to pick him up individually.

Finally, we have my take on one of the central characters of The Penguin, Carmine's daughter and Alberto's sister, Sofia Falcone/Gigante.

The model is from Crooked Dice, and although a little short let than the others (although this is often less of an issue with female characters), she does have an outfit close enough for me to Sofia's costume from the final episode.

Interestingly, whenever Sofia appears in stories based in Gotham, she almost always ends up as the head of the family once her father and brother have fallen by the wayside.

I'm a big fan of Cristin Milioti's version of the character in The Penguin, but this is very much a departure from the hulking brute that appears in The Long Halloween and Dark Victory.

I'm quite pleased with my Falcone gang, although I struggle to see a time when they will all be used in the same game. However, they are also generic enough that they probably have multiple uses.

Acquired: -73

Painted: 415

Lead Mountain: 357

Soldiers of Fortune

I've wittered before about the ad hoc way my brain works when selecting what to paint next, and so it should come as no surprise that finally getting round to watch season 1 of Peacemaker would cause me to return to my backlog for the Batman Miniatures Game.

These are Bane's mercenaries and represent a weird crossover between movies, games and comics.

In appearance they are similar to the hired guns who work for Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, but three of them came with the massive comic version of Bane, who generally works alone. However, the game is built around leaders and gangs, so this odd mash up is what we have.

In terms of painting, I've not done anything too special, instead relying more than usual on contrast paints. However, I have taken to doing a final light dry brush at the end with pale grey or ivory to pick out details, something that was necessary on this largely black armoured model.

The three models that came with Bane are actually resin rather the metal that the rest of my BMG collection are cast in, this is because they are from the third edition of the game, which is where I jumped ship.

I should stress, this decision was not about the switch to resin, as these were significantly easier to work with that some of the metal BMG minis I work with. However, I am concerned with the durability of some of the more spindly bits - specifically this sword.

The tomahawks on this chap are also worrying, although it was actually his foot that snapped when I was assembling him, which is why I used the tyre on this resin base to hide the damage.

Initially, I wasn't keen on this sculpt, but I warmed to it as I painted him, although I'm still perplexed by the tomahawks.

Whereas, ice axes are a much more sensible choice.

This sculpt reminded me of lots of the issues I had with Knight Models sculpts when I was heavily into the game. The metal is quite soft and to the ice axes are quite flimsy (although not as worrying as that sword); the right arm is joined at the shoulder and the junction wasn't clean, so there's a bit of a messy gap; although, if you look closely, the arms are different thicknesses.

Mind you, for all their failings, I am also reminded of what I liked about the range. This sculpt has bags of character with his pose and muttonchops giving real redneck hunter vibes.

The hat being red is entirely coincidental.

Here's the whole gang with Bane. Despite my misgivings about how they work together, I am really pleased with the outcome.

Will I play the game again? That feels unlikely, but these five miniatures are actually quite versatile in terms of modern gaming and so could easily get table time in other setting.

Acquired: -73

Painted: 410

Lead Mountain: 362