Best Foot Forward

Despite the lack of blogging,, I have actually been painting, and here are the results. My Foot Clan for games of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 7TV.

Crooked Dice only currently do one set of three ninjas and so a little bit of weapon swapping meant that there is more variation amongst them than was initially likely. They do, however, do some very Foot-like alternate heads (coincidentally) and so painting them up like the Foot Clan was actually a doddle.

Shredder is one of Crooked Dice's Claws of Shiva, and is a great little model. However, despite the resemblance to Oroku Saki, as the Claw of Shiva is actually an extra in 7TV, he actually lacks a little in stature, and was potentially going to be towered over by my rather bulky Turtles. I resolve this by basing him on some scenery I'd removed from a Black Mask Heroclix model I'd converted into a gangster. It not only raises his height, but also somewhat removes him from the context, helping with size comparisons.

I've also been painting the last few models of the 7TV Weird Science cast I'm taking to the Wargames Illustrated 7TV day this weekend.

First up if Dr Konnor Kurtz, the Herpetologist, hideously transfigured when experimenting with combining reptilian DNA with an extra-terrestrial ooze extracted from meteors that had fallen in a shower in the wastes of Siberia.

The model is from Westwind, and is part of their Empire of the Dead range. The more observant of you will have noticed that he bears a more than passing resemblance to Spider-Man's enemy, Dr Curt Connors, the Lizard. This is deliberate, as he will be performing double duty with my Marvel collection. In 7TV he will be an Aqua-Maniac, a creature from the Paranormal Exterminators Programme Guide.

Another product of experiments with the ooze is 'Ze Vurm'. I giant burrowing invertibrate unleashed on the world by my Mad Scientist, Professor von Schtebbyonde.

This chunky beast is the fantastically cheap Purple Worm from the Reaper Bones range and will be operating as the massive Death Worm, also from the Paranormal Exterminators Programme Guide. This was a really fun model to paint, and I'm hoping it will be equally fun to use.

 And here they are in their full glory: the staff and test subjects of Project Meteor. Professor von Schtebbyonde (Mad Scientist), Dr Konnor Kurtz - the Herpetologist (Aqua-Maniac), 'Ze Vurm' (Death Worm), Sylvia Smother (Administrator), Bob the Janitor (Failed Experiment) and Test Subjects 23a and 23g (Spawn).

You may notice a couple of extra models in the picture. There is an extra Spawn as due to one of their traits, I could potentially get a larger cast during the games as more Spawn appear. There's also an extra Scientist as...well...I'd...erm...got my sums wrong about what I was able to fit in my cast, so he had to be cut.

I'm really looking forward to the weeking and taking part in the movie, 'The Russian Job'. It'll be interesting to see what people bring. As I've already seen evidence of Ape-Men, Moon Nazis and the Old Bill, it should be...interesting.

I'll do a full write up next week.

Villains & Vigilantes

I've been motoring on the painting front over the past few weeks, so here's a fairly eclectic post full of the different stuff I've been churning through recently.

First up is another 7TV starter cast, Weird Science.

This is probably my favourite cast so far, simply because the colours are so vibrant. The pink was chosen as I foresee using them in TMNT games as scientists working with Krang mutagen, but it worked out much better than I hoped.

The three Spawn were loads of fun to do. Really clean casts, with bags of personality, despite not having faces. I imagine these as humans who've been exposed to the mutagen and metamorphosed into blobs. I love the eyes.

In game, these guys have the potential to split in two when killed, and so I might need to buy and paint some more. Damn!

The Scientists, with their white coats, proved harder to do to a level I was happy with, but I eventually got there. Again, Crooked Dice miniatures have loads of character and no necessary extraneous detail.

The two lab technicians, although primarily part of this cast, will easily find a place in Doctor Who themed games. Whilst the Mad Scientist, who is ostensibly holding a Krang, could just as likely be handling a Cthulhu-spawn, or other alien/demon lifeform.

The final part of the cast is an unfortunate janitor who has come into contact with mutagenic material and is now in the process of changing. This is one of two 'failed experiment' models in the starter set (they come with three head and four arm options), but the other one is destined to become a more recognisable TMNT character.

Speaking of TMNT, here's a repaint of an old model I put together. The model was originally put together from a couple of Heroclix miniatures and some stuff from my bits box to function as a proxy henchmen for the Batman Miniature Game when I first started playing. Since then, the expansion of my collection has made the use of proxies unnecessary, and so he's up for redeployment.

When I made him, I commented on the blog that he looked a little bit like Chuck Norris, which is fortunate, as in the newest TMNT cartoon series, the character of Chris Bradford (one of Shredder's henchmen) is also based on Chuck Norris. So, a new base and different coloured trousers (they were orange) sees me now able to field 'Rad Brad', who will be leading the Purple Dragons into battle fairly soon.

Another Heroclix repurposing saw me cutting the head off the Black Mask (now I have the KM model, I didn't need him) and replacing it with another head to make a generic hitman, gangster, pulp detective, businessman. I originally planned to use the head of a KM mobster, complete with trilby, but was disappointed that the details were so soft that they disappeared under a thin undercoat.

Anyway, although unspectacular, this chap will be versatile.

Whilst we're on the subject of Knight Models, I've painted Batfleck, who came with my Suicide Squad boxed set. He's a big model, and towers over some of the smaller sculpts in the range.

I've now done three different Batmen (Batmans?) - five if you count the Heroclix repaints I did - and I am starting to think that it's the character I have most trouble painting. I think it's the lack of details or bright colours, so there's nothing to draw the eye, and my wash/dry-brush style doesn't seem to suit Batman.

However, I'm definitely happier with this one that I have been with the last two, and so he'll do. I'm getting there. It's not like there's a shortage of Batman models in the range to keep improving on.

Finally is the model I'm most happy with: Punisher. The model is from Hasselfree Miniatures and I'd seen it painted as the Punisher before. He was incredibly simple to paint for the most part. I was really worried about the skull, but it's ended up looking like the sort of thing he might have painted himself rather than the artistic masterwork that often graces the Punisher's chest. However, the face is the bit I'm most happy with. Much of this is due to the sculpt, but I think he's ended up looking like John Bernthal in the Netflix Daredevil series. Even without the skull, he looks like the Punisher.

I'm pleased.

Bustin' Makes Me Feel Good!

Pete and I finally managed to get in that game of 7TV using his Ghostbust...ahem...'Paranormal Exterminators' from Crooked Dice. We played the 'Cats and Dogs Living Together Scenario' from the Paranormal Exterminators PDF in which the Exterminators would be battling it out on the streets of New York with a host of supernatural fiends.

There's something strange, in this neighbourhood...

Pete would be the good guys:

• Jim Blutowski
• Dr Ziskey
• Don Winthorpe
• Billy Ray 
• 2 Bystanders

Who you gonna call? Paranormal Exterminators!

Stepping away from the movies, my bad guys would be more Hammer Horror than 80's visual effects, mainly due to the fact that I was raiding my Undead army for models:

• The Destructor
• 2 Demon Dogs
• Harbinger (the robed dude)
• Poltergeist (the creepy zombie thing)
• 3 Spectres (the Ringwraiths)
• Ecton (the bat)

There's something weird, and it don't look good!

The scenario was a straight up fight, with a few twists. If there were objective counters still in play, I could bring one busted ghost back to life at the start of my turn, and when the Finale began, the Destructor would arrive (with bonus health points for each objective I had claimed). Peter would get a significant chunk of VP's for bustin' the Destructor.

In terms of story, a possessed sorcerer is summoning undead and demonic forces to capture energy conduits and generate enough power to allow a terrible entity known as the Destructor to enter the mortal plane. The Paranormal Exterminators had marched out to stop him.

An innocent bystander finds herself surrounded by demonic hounds.

A spectre sneaks up on Blutowski.

A chill touch petrifies the terrified woman.

Like a well-oiled machine, the Exterminators trap their first ghost.

Meanwhile, Billy Ray secures a conduit.

The Harbinger brings another ghost to the fight.

An Ecton Bat attacks Blutowski, to no avail.

More ghosts slide through the city.

Feral Demons stalk through the streets.

Another ghost is pinned: "Don't cross the beams!"

Billy Ray rushes in to trap the spectre.

The Harbinger blasts and takes down Dr Ziskey.

Billy Ray is savaged by demonic creatures, but keeps fighting.

More spirits are ready to strike...

...but Ziskey's assistant hurls one of his devices, weakening them.

Winthorpe traps one of the weakened spirits.

Billy Ray somehow holds on.

Unfortunately, Blutowski is blasted by the Harbinger...

...and ghosts are queuing up to attack Winthorpe.

Blliy Ray manages to slip away to safety, but...

...Ziskey's asssistant is struck down...

...and Blutowski disappears under a flurry of ghosts...

...and then the Destructor arrives. "Destructor SMASH!"

"Jim! You're not dead?"

"Never better Billy. Now let's blow this thing and go home."
(sorry, wrong film)

The Harbinger defeats his inner demon and joins the good guys.

Winthorpe holds demon jaws at bay.

Billy Ray clings on grimly as the demonic energy dissipates.

A cracking game. The paranormal was thoroughly exterminated. The Destructor turned out to be really easy to...erm...destroy, especially Blutowski came back to life next to Billy Ray, and I couldn't even get petty vengeance when a series of terrible rolls meant I couldn't spitefully push Billy Ray off the roof. Ah well...

Pete won by 4 VP's in the end. The Paranormal Exterminators came, they saw, and they kicked ghostly butt!