Heretic Troopers..."

"...Can be encased in suits of thick armour that have been filled with explosives."

This 32mm scale Bomb Coffin is produced by "Trench Stench" and was downloaded for free as part of their three-figure set of STL (Standard Triangle Language) files from the company's "Patreon" subscription service. Forming part of their Ghosts of the Nomansland range for "Trench Crusade", the Sarcophagus Mine was produced using "Elegoo" Water Washable Resin on my Mars 5 3D Printer.

Super-glued onto a plastic 30mm circular stand, the figure was primed in "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, base-coated with Bronze, and shaded using some "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. It was then lightly dry-brushed with a little (more) "Vallejo" Bronze, before I set about 'picking out' all of the various flames rising up around the casket's base using some White Star by "Two Thin Coats".

"Wizkids" WIPs - This Displacer Beast has been primed, and had its based worked on

To be honest I did initially consider pigmenting this area just using "Vallejo" Neutral Grey and some "Citadel" Nuln Oil, as I thought they were supposed to be the trails of smoke pouring out of the coffin's bottom as its internal fuse sparked away. However, having done some research I felt that the fire was probably more likely to be some sort of unholy, spectral energy which was helping to lift the deadly sarcophagus across the battlefield towards its enemies. As a resultant, I simply washed the flames with "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green, and carefully caught its edges with a smidgeon (more) "Two Thin Coats" White Star.

With the first of my Trench Crusade force completed, I have been busy working on another model I pulled out of the plastic drawer I recently randomly chose for this month's main painting project. Unlike the other figures I selected though, this particular sculpt was from "Wizkids" Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures range for "Dungeons & Dragons", and would make a welcome addition to my ever-growing wandering monster menagerie.

"Perry Miniatures" WIPs - These four Confederate soldiers have had their shoes blocked in

For now I've only managed to permanently plonk the Displacer Beast upon a "Games Workshop" 50mm round base, prime the "monstrous predator" with "Citadel" Abaddon Black, and finish dry-brushing the large rock its standing upon. But I should be able to get the "Lawful evil" creature completed reasonably quickly whilst working on some of my more time-consuming models during the next couple of weeks.

Lastly, I have managed to get the 'groundwork' completed on the first four Confederate soldiers I have assembled from my recently acquired the American Civil War - Battle in a Box starter set by "Perry Miniatures". My plan is slowly 'pick away' at this quartet area by area over the coming month whenever the opportunity arises, and, much like my ongoing Napoleonic project using "Wargames Foundry", get five to six Tiny (four-figure strong) units completed for each side before settling down to some basic battles of "Black Powder"...

"I Will Not Be President Of A Ruined Empire!"

"There are no women like me. I am unique."

This 28mm scale piece of scenery is comprised of the Desert Shrine Scatter Terrain by "CobraMode" and the 1:21 scale resin miniature of The Leader by "Totters Yard Customs". The sanctum was created using some "Bambu Lab" PLA (Polylactic Acid) on my A1 Mini 3D Printer, whilst the 'statue' was very kindly gifted to me by its manufacturer to use on this project due to it failing their rigorous quality control standards - Not that I could see anything wrong with it myself.

Having been super-glued on a 120mm x 90mm oval MDF base by "Warbases", the altar was primed using plenty of "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey, shaded with "Citadel" Nuln Oil, and dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey to help bring out all the sculpt's marvellous details. I then set to work aging the piece by 'picking out' all of the dirt which had accumulated around it with a combination of "Citadel" Doombull Brown, Rakarth Flesh and Agrax Earthshade. I also added a bit more colour to the piece by applying some "Vallejo" Gold and "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade to the two bowls located near the central plinth.

"Modiphius Entertainment" WIPs - Q, Sulu and Uhura

In order to make the statue appear a bit battered by the ages, I decided to initially give it a couple of licks of "Vallejo" Bronze, shade it with "Agrax Earthshade", and highlight it back up with a patient dry-brush of (more) "Vallejo" Bronze. I next carefully applied some streaks of the "Citadel" Technical Paint Nihilakh Oxide to its numerous folds, and later blended these areas in with (even more) "Vallejo" Bronze.

Finally the model and its stand were drilled, and pinned together using a little (too much) super-glue, green-stuff and an old drill bit. Obviously the more eagle-eyed will doubtless guess that this piece of scenery is destined for my "Blake's 7" tabletop as part of the President's Garden on Earth - where doubtless in the near future the likes of Roj Blake, Avon, Jenna and Vila will encounter Servalan, Space Commander Travis and a whole host of Federation troopers.

"Perry Miniatures" WIPs - Four Confederate soldiers assembled and primed

Sticking with Science Fiction I have also managed to get a little work done on three "Star Trek" miniatures by "Modiphius Entertainment" as part of my monthly random drawer challenge. I'd actually already started pigmenting this trio a few years ago, so I am hoping the likes of Uhura, Sulu and the ever enigmatic Q won't actually take all that long to complete.

Furthermore, I've taken a bit of a plunge by picking up the American Civil War - Battle in a Box starter set by "Perry Miniatures", and assembled four of its Confederate soldiers. This purchase was almost solely influenced by a recent rewatching of the 2020 American television miniseries "Grant", and will almost certainly be something of a slow-burn project over the coming months...

(Lead) Mountain Musings - "Modiphius Entertainment" April 2026

Last month's output was surprisingly dominated by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" and Super-heroes

Having successfully completed my four-month long Partially-Painted/Printed Pledge (PPPP), and rather pleasingly managed to better last year's 'score' of 246 points by a further 13 points, I thought I might turn to a range of 28mm "soft resin" models I haven't paid much attention to for six years. Indeed, it's been so long since I last picked up one of the Star Trek Adventures Tabletop RPG figures produced by "Modiphius Entertainment" that the entire range appears to have subsequently been 'shelved' as a physical product, and are now only available as part of their "Print at Home" STL (Standard Triangle Language) files.

Perhaps slightly disconcertingly I haven't actually decided to pigment a quartet of these figures over the next few weeks through choice either. But rather as a result of a D12 dice roll, which saw me number a dozen of my hobby drawers and then randomly pick one for this month's project. However, as luck would have it, the particular container chosen was simply packed full of all sorts of goodies, so in the end I did have some say in what my brush-tip would be tackling throughout April.

"What is your name..?"

Furthermore, I have also finished another 28mm scale white metal model by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” for the Angry Piper's "Forced March" painting event over on his "Dead Dick’s Tavern and Temporary Lodging" wargaming blog. Available either separately as Alien Legionary 1A, or as part of the company's four-figure Alien Legionnaries set, this Ernst Veingart sculpt is clearly strongly influenced by Danilo Donati's costume design for the Emperor Ming's minions seen in Mike Hodges' cult 1980 movie "Flash Gordon".

The trooper was predominantly pigmented using "Vallejo" Heavy Red, "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson and Abaddon Black. However,  his belt buckle and shoulder epaulettes were treated to a little "Vallejo" Gold and "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade, whilst his gloved hands received a smidgeon of "Vallejo" Dark Vermillion and "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson.

March 2026 - The battle between "Wargames Foundry" and "Games Workshop" is hotting up

Unfortunately, the previous month has been the worst March I've had productivity-wise since I first started noting my output well over a decade ago, and disappointingly I fear a lot of that inactivity has been due to my trying to push on with older projects as opposed to cracking on with newer ones. True, I have made a bit of a dent in my backlog (in some places). But a lot of the models I have finished won't see the tabletop on account of me still not having enough miniatures from that range for an actual game.

I'm therefore really hoping that my idea of randomly mixing up my painting subjects with some more recent purchases/3D prints will "Gee me [back] up". In recent years this month has been a rather slow time for me, so it should also offer me a good opportunity to get back on track with a few long-term gaming plans (e.g. Fielding some more Napoleonic units by "Wargames Foundry" for "Black Powder). In addition, despite my best intentions I still haven't got many actual battles 'in the books', and firmly believe that these spur me on when the hobby mojo is weakening...