“The Life-size Recumbent Effigy Was First Found In The Tombs Of Royalty…”

"...And then spread to the nobility."

This 34mm long resin model of a Mouse-oleum – The Tomb Of The Mouse Lord is produced by “Oathsworn Miniatures” and can be purchased as part of their “Burrows & Badgers” range. The small(ish) scenic piece was part of a handful of miniatures I picked up from the company’s stall whilst at “Salute” 2019, and has been super-glued onto one of the 50mm circular bases I predominantly use for my objectives markers.

The effigy was initially undercoated using two coats of the old “Citadel” Layer paint Charadon Granite and subsequently heavily washed with Nuln Oil. It was then simply dry-brushed using more Charadon Granite. As a final touch I later mixed some “Vallejo” White in with the “Citadel” Charadon Granite and very lightly dry-brushed this combination over the entire model so to help highlight its excellent detail. 

My Daemonic host prepares to advance supposedly safe in the knowledge that the Nurglings will protect them

Sticking with science fiction-based wargaming, I have also managed to play my first 'proper' game of "Warhammer 40K" by "Games Workshop", fielding a 736-point strong Khorne/Nurgle Chaos force against a similarly costed unit of Ultramarines, who were additionally aided by a pair of formidably tough robotic combat walkers. The ensuing battle for an ancient relic upon a planet increasingly lost to the plague-ridden sores of the Plague God and bleeding iconography of the Blood God was understandably bloody, but despite being unable to finish the game to its conclusion due to time constraints, it reaffirmed in my mind just how very much I am currently enjoying this "newest edition of everybody's favourite wargame" as the fight is never seemingly over whilst playing it until the 'fat lady sings'.

This ability to suffer serious set-backs yet still entertain the hope of ultimate victory proved itself time and again during this game, especially in its early stages when I unwisely utilised my Nurglings' "Mischief Makers" ability to place them just 9" away from my enemy's deployment zone. Seemingly shielding a rock-solid core of twenty Bloodletters and twenty Plaguebearers behind their tiny chittering bodies, I felt confident the "Gleeful Castoffs" would keep my opponent busy up for a couple of turns at least and give my larger daemons ample time to advance within reach of their foes.

The Armiger Helverin and Knight Errant start firing upon the Bloodletters and Plaguebearers

Enter an Armiger Helverin, supposedly the "lightest class of Imperial Knight combat walker", and its raking firepower, and my 'delaying tactic' was spread like so much mulch all over the ground with the roll of a fistful of dice. Such a disheartening loss at the very start of the fight left my entire centre wide open to the guns of a towering Knight Errant and my initially terrifying Bloodletter formation began to slowly get whittled away before my very eyes.

Fortunately, despite my opening set-back I was still able to push my main units up the table towards Khorne's Bleeding Icon (which was being used merely as an immobile terrain feature), whilst a pair of Beasts of Nurgle bounded along my left flank to take control of a small stargate which had been identified as the battlefield's one and only valuable relic. However, ominously spread out in front of my warhost ready for the second turn's Shooting phase, was an incredible amount of the Emperor's firepower, including a Primaris Lieutenant who almost glued himself alongside the reassuringly solid form of his force's smaller "fast-moving weapons platform, as well as the rest of the Ultramarines, which assembled before my Beasts of Nurgle.

The Bloodletters, Beasts of Nurgle and Plaguebearers fail their charges 

I can only give thanks to the Dice Gods that my Chaos daemons weren't completely eradicated in the subsequent hail of bullets that followed, especially after both my Bloodletters and Plaguebearers failed their charges. My Plaguesword-carrying warriors at least had their "Disgustingly Resilient" ability to help them soak up all the wounds which were riddling their ranks, but my liver-coloured "Slaughter-Kin" were increasingly finding their 5+ Invulnerability Save for being "Daemonic" wasn't enough protection when caught out in the open before the tender mercies of an Imperial Knight's weaponry.

Eight of the Bloodletters fell before the combined firepower of the Intercessor's Lieutenant and the "Questor Imperialis in High Gothic", utterly breaking the backbone of my once mighty close quarter combatants, and making it clear that the Blood God had probably been less than impressed with their decision to charge the solitary Ultramarine Officer stood atop a pile of ruins, rather than the nearby 'ancient battlesuit'. Certainly I wasn't looking forward to an impossible Morale phase as it even the bravest of Khorne's foot soldiers would surely flee from such a beating..?

Bloodletters swarm the Lieutenant, whilst the Beasts of Nurgle get stomped upon by the Imperial Knight

A single roll of the dice later and 'reality had blinked'. Not only had my Bloodletter's "Daemonic Icon" ensured that "no models flee", but it had bolstered my horde with five freshly-resurrected "Slaughter-Kin". Suddenly, the Lieutenant's position looked far less survivable, whilst my Plaguebearers and Beasts of Nurgle both finally made it into contact with their respective foes. Sadly, time was against us to finish the conflict, so the game's final act was to see the hulking Imperial Knight, quite possibly incensed by suffering a wound courtesy of "Smite", squashing one of my 'enthusiastic monsters who love to play' with its feet...

Top Ten Miniatures Of 2018 - An "Undercoat" Personal Choice

Happy New Year to all "Fantorical" readers! Well after stepping into the breach last year to do a Top Ten for this blog last year, I have been asked to repeat it for 2018 despite Roger being back. So apologies to Roger for duplicating his efforts, but hopefully I have chosen some different models to him...

This blog is a great source of inspiration to me, helps spur me on to paint my own models and has seen me having to invest in quite a bit of storage in order to house my own growing collection. However, as well as looking at the wonderful minis on "Fantorical", I have also found the website to be a great signpost to dip into the efforts of other bloggers, like the wonderful “Tail Feathers” World of Mice and Mystics miniatures on the "Da Gobbos Grotto".

I will be honest with Simon's prolific output this year it was actually hard to pick just ten models, so it became a bit of family effort. This then is the Undercoat Top Ten of 2018...

No. 10 - Nurglings by "Games Workshop" - August 27th

This may be a surprise choice as these are little models representing daemons of Nurgle, the plague god. However, despite their small size, they are amazing sculpts and the paint job is also just amazing, resulting in a miniature that I want. I want these Nurglings so much!!!

No. 9 - Chaos Chosen by "Games Workshop" - September 17th

A chaos champion playing fantasy football that has bags of detail. The paint job picks out the detail superbly while staying true to the evil theme of the forces of chaos. The skin is well done and the metallics look great. I really like this a lot.

No. 8 - Hydro Man by "Wizkids" - June 13th

This blog has a knack of introducing comic book characters I have never heard of and this chap is no exception. This has a great paint job. The face is well done, but the star is the water effects which I think are stunning. Another model I wouldn’t mind owning!

No. 7 - Slisssk The Adder and Shrew Warrior by "Oathsworn Miniatures" - May 12th/21st

We stumbled across the incredible "Burrows & Badgers" range of miniatures at Salute. I love nearly all these fantastic sculpts and there were plenty to choose from as the warband was painted over several months. As a result, I cheated and chose two to represent one choice. The little shrew looks so characterful he had to be selected, but so too did the adder, whose armour and scales are just amazing. A great "range of anthropomorphic animal miniatures" really brought to life.

No. 6 - Destroyer by "Wizkids" - February 6th

A comic book character who I did know about! But only because he was in the movie "Thor"! Simon has a great technique for painting metal, and is far more patient about it than me. His dry-brushing, highlighting and “polishing” (as he calls it!) is really top notch and this sculpt captures that perfectly. There were plenty of other examples but this one was the best for me.

No. 5 - Arnulf by "Games Workshop" - May 18th

This Reaver of Khorne, from Games Workshop’s "Age of Sigmar" setting, is essentially a blood thirsty barbarian charging into battle, whose excellent skin tones really stood out for me. I also liked the way Simon didn't copy the traditional red of the followers of the Blood God, but used a more original colour scheme that still captured the character perfectly. Very nice indeed.

No. 4 - Demon Bunny by "Wizkids" Heroclix - July 13th

A blood soaked giant rabbit. Need I say more! Great paint job that is so full of character!!

No. 3 - Yeti by "Black Tree Design" - December 10th

Well it wouldn’t be "Fantorical" without "Doctor Who". This classic Patrick Troughton baddie looks great. The fur is so well done and it just begs to be in a unit and on the tabletop. Simon’s techniques for picking out fur and hair are really, really good and this is a great example.

No. 2 - Wendigo by "Wizkids" - February 8th

I had never heard of this "Marvel Worldwide" comic book character before, but had to pay attention when I saw him. The sculpt is very dynamic and he really stands out because he is pure white. White is such a difficult colour to paint, well in my opinion at least, and the shading on this model is very subtle, very clean and precise, so this super-villain was always going to be high up the list.

No. 1 - Polar Bear by "Copplestone Castings" - March 22nd

This is a great sculpt and what makes it stand out is the realistic painting of it. It looks great in the photograph, but even better in real life. Simple, but so effective. This model really stood out for me.

Well that concludes my Top Ten and the reasons behind them. Happy New Year to all the readers of “Fantorical”.

Nurgle Is A Perversely Paternal God..."

"...Generous with his foul gifts and proud of his worshippers' every disgusting achievement."

These two tiny 28mm scale Nurglings are by "Games Workshop" and can be found inside the company's Plaguebearers of Nurgle boxed set for "Age Of Sigmar". Ordinarily, these little solitary chaps don't actually serve any purpose as part of the tabletop wargame, except as simple scenic adornments upon the bases of my other Nurgle units. However, I've previously felt that they'd make 'cute' thematic damage markers for some of my Plague Lord Host's larger creatures, such as my Putrid Blightkings or Rotbringer's Sorcerer, so resultantly decided to paint-up another pair in order to (once again) re-familiarise myself with the palette I employ when usually pigmenting my Maggotkin of Nurgle.

Initially given a double undercoat of “Vallejo” Heavy Khaki, the lesser daemons were washed with “Citadel” Biel-Tan Green and dry-brushed with more “Vallejo” Heavy Khaki. I then ‘picked out’ any spilling guts or innards with a combination of Squid Pink and "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson. In addition, I applied some "Vallejo" Iraqi Sand and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade to the pair's horns, and some "Vallejo" Dead White and Heavy Red to their teeth and eyes respectively. I also applied a little Strong Tone Quickshade by "The Army Painter" to their bodies in order to create a little extra shadow and blended this in with a superficial dry-brush of (even more) “Vallejo” Heavy Khaki.

The Stix Brothers WIPs - The "ice-hearted killers" are almost ready for their shades to be applied

The release of the new edition of "Warhammer Age of Sigmar" has really captured my imagination, to the point where I'm now planning on participating in the official Warhammer: Age of Sigmar Doubles Tournament at Warhammer World towards the end of next year. This "classic event" will be an entirely new experience for me, as I've never played Matched Play or Pitched Battles before, but have been somewhat pleased to discover that in line with the new point costs found within the General's Handbook 2018, I already have more than enough painted Nurgle units to field the required 1000 point force, including my favourite spell the Balewind Vortex.

However, what I do lack is an understanding of the new rules, especially the changes to Summoning, the Magic System, and Command Abilities, so expect plenty of future battle reports, after action write-ups and of course extra models for both my ever-expanding Nurgle Host and its numerous enemies, like Khorne. I'm also hoping to assemble and 'field' a few other Vanguard-sized armies over the next twelve months which are currently still cellophaned up and gathering dust upon my shelves, such as the Stormcast, Death, Beastmen, Sea Aelves and Kharadron Overlords...

Resistance Fighters WIPs - The Soviet-influenced models have been assembled, based and primed

Of course, that doesn't mean I haven't been working on this month's mini-project to paint the three models found within the "Warlord Games" Stix Brothers expansion box for their "Strontium Dog" skirmish game. Despite their rather uninspiring static poses, my two remaining cloned Search/Destroy agents are almost ready for shading and highlighting. A good job too, as the Nottingham-based manufacturer has just released even more figures of the "2000 A.D." comic book-based body hunters, including my favourite "unsavoury aliens" Darkus and his Howler henchmen.

Lastly, I have discovered some wonderfully characterful Resistance Fighters by "Statuesque Miniatures". I'm planning on using the heavily-armed ladies for a 'Ghost In The Shell/Terminator' mash-up of some kind, and strongly influenced by the Soviet's uniforms during World War Two, I have already started applying a few base coats to the first four of my soldiers.

"Oh, Great Nurgle, Accept This Offering Of Blood And Filth!"

"Witness my devotion and send your might to slither through my clotted veins."

This 40mm tall "favoured mortal servant" of the Plague Lord is one of the five multi-piece figures which can be assembled from the plastic sprues found inside the “Games Workshop” Putrid Blightkings boxed set, and actually follows the box's assembly instructions for Putrid Blightking 5. However, as the miniature's single-cast legs, which disgustingly depict one bloated hooved foot firmly planted upon a small rock formation, are actually also used for the unit's Icon Bearer, I ended up purchasing a second pair of limbs from a 'bitz' seller to use for this particular model.

"Blessed with the bite of the daemonfly", I originally undercoated the "hulking" warrior with "Vallejo" Heavy Khaki and "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green, before dry-brushing it with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Khaki. I then worked my way up his pustule-covered leg picking out the leather straps which keep his fatty folds in check with "Citadel" Abbadon Black, and painted both his malformed hoof, as well as a nearby 'decorative' skull, using a combination of "Vallejo" Iraqi Sand and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade.

A five-model unit of Putrid Blightkings costs 180 Points in "Age Of Sigmar"

As the relentlessly rotting combatant was predominantly encased in a suit of discoloured plate armour, I carefully 'blocked in' these areas using a base-coat of "Citadel" Abaddon Black and some "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey. These surfaces were subsequently shaded with "Citadel" Nuln Oil and high-lighted with (more) "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey. In addition I 'picked out' the Rotbringer's wooden shield, animal fur and a few straps with Heavy Sienna plus a liberal washing of Strong Tone Quickshade. I even managed to get my paintbrush to apply a mix of "Vallejo" Heavy Red and "Citadel" Nuln Oil to the heavily-armoured fiend's 'hard to reach' dirty undergarment...

Due to the grossly-disfigured mortal being capable of driving "relentlessly through the foe's battle-line and shatter[ing] it apart, before hacking down the survivors with contemptuous ease", I treated its "Blighted Weapon" to a coat of "Vallejo" Brass, a wash of "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade and some dabs of the "Citadel" Technical paint Nihilakh Oxide. All of these parts were then later dry-brushed with more "Vallejo" Brass so as to help blend in the patina.

Cybermen WIPs - The four silver giants have been primed, shaded and dry-brushed

Lastly, I set about 'amplifying' the Blightking's "Virulent Discharge" (which can cause either D3 mortal wounds or heal D3 wounds on the roll of a 6+ to "each unit (friend or foe) that is within 3" of any friendly units with this ability"), by 'pimping out' its numerous zits using “Vallejo” Heavy Ochre and a wash of “Citadel” Reikland Fleshshade. I also dabbed some “Citadel” Biel-Tan Green, Agrax Earthshade and Carroburg Crimson over the decaying flesh to add to its discolouration.

Infinitely easy to progress, have been four wonderfully characterful metal miniatures gifted to me by the excellent Simon Quinton of "Brummie's Wargaming Blog". These particular 'silver giants', now long out of production for arguably obvious reasons, were bought from a private collector and stand an impressive 43mm tall. Initially, I wasn't entirely sure whether to use them as Cyber-giants for my "Black Tree Design" "Doctor Who" Cyber-force, or utilise them as metal/mechanical constructs for "Dungeons & Dragons", so in the end I've simply based them upon some generic 25mm circular stands...

"A Cyber-Megatron Bomb Will Be Delivered."

"We must destroy life on Earth completely. Every living being."

These three 28mm metal Cyberman figures are cast by “Black Tree Design", and quite bizarrely can seemingly only be bought as part of the company's "Doctor Who" boxed set DW1014 - Cyberman (7). A similarly posed sculpt is available separately as Code DW208 - Invasion Cyberman Firing Gun, but that model's left hand is positioned much further along its weapon's barrel. Determined to destroy all life on Earth via the detonation of a megatron bomb, this version of the "race of cyborgs" were created by "Derrick Sherwin, from a story by Kit Pedler", for the November 1968 BBC Television story "The Invasion". 

Each miniature was initially undercoated with a base-coat of "Citadel" Chaos Black. They were then treated to a double layer of Ironbreaker, shaded with Nuln Oil, and dry-brushed with (more) Ironbreaker. As a last touch, I picked out the end of their firearms with a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Red and "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson.

Putrid Blightking WIPs - The warrior has just needs his bronze hand-weapon to be washed and dry-brushed

With the last of my "Black Tree Design" "Invasion" Cybermen finished I have (once again) turned my attention towards completing the last of the Putrid Blightking multi-piece plastic miniatures I need in order to field a five-man unit for my "Age Of Sigmar" Nurgle Host. This particular piece has proved a little more time-consuming than I anticipated on account of me originally mistakenly believing that the vast majority of the figure was blubbery flesh, as opposed to grimy plate armour.

This error caused me to prime the formidable-looking brute using some "Vallejo" Heavy Khaki and "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green, and resultantly, I have been forced to carefully 'block in' the massive warrior's 'hard to reach' armour using "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey. In addition I seemed to have selected the most difficult "Games Workshop" shield to paint imaginable, whose delicate brass work apparently just 'melts' into the wooden shield at its edges, rather than come to any discernible halt; an annoyance which has meant I've had to paint in detail which isn't actually on the miniature itself...

Blooded Saek WIPs - The Khorne Worshipper needs his axe and skull mask to be finished

Sticking with "Age Of Sigmar" I've not managed to have as much time for this month's mini-project, Garrek's Reavers, as I would have liked. However, that doesn't mean for an instant that I haven't made any progress at all upon my Chaos "Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire" warband, as I've managed to nearly finish Blooded Saek.

This particular Blood Reaver is one of the two Khorne models needed in order to play the "action-packed combat" game's quick-start sheet, so, as I've previously painted Garrek Gorebeard, I could be tempted once Saek's been varnished and flocked to momentarily turn my attention towards the Liberators Severin Steelheart and Angharad Brightshield instead. For now though the mighty axe-man still needs his fearsome hand-weapon to be layered and washed, as well as his skull-mask shaded and blooded. 

"To Nurgle, Every Raddled Corpse Is A Welcoming Nursery..."

"...For wriggling maggots and cloying plague spores."

This 40mm tall Putrid Blightking is one of the five multi-piece plastic miniatures which can be built from the sprues found inside the “Games Workshop” Putrid Blightkings boxed set. However, as I had actually already used the legs I wanted for this figure on a previously painted "favoured mortal servant" of Nurgle, I actually took the somewhat expensive step of purchasing a second pair of limbs from a 'bitz' seller and subsequently 'stuck' a different torso upon them in order to help satisfactorily mask their similarities.

As a result of this 'Exalted Champion of Nurgle' wearing so much armour and chainmail I initially primed the model with "Citadel" Abaddon Black, before brushing on a couple of coats of "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey over it. The warrior was then shaded with "Citadel" Nuln Oil and dry-brushed with more "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey. The bloody desecrator's stained loincloth was treated to a little "Citadel" Abaddon Black, two thin coats of "Vallejo" Heavy Red", some "Citadel" Nuln Oil" and a gentle dry-brush of "Vallejo" Heavy Red.

"Black Tree Design" "Doctor Who" WIPs - These Late Sixties Cybermen needs some detailing work 

With the basics finished, I began slowly working up the highly-detailed figure blessed by "the touch of Nurgle's insectoid messengers" and 'picked out' his pouch, skull trophy and brass symbol of the Plague God with a cacophony of colourful combinations, such as "Vallejo" Heavy Blue and "Citadel" Nuln Oil, as well as "Vallejo" Iraqi Sand and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. A couple of splashes of "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson were also thrown into the mix to give the impression of dried blood.

I applied some "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna to both the Blightking's hand-axe, shield and shoulder-pad as a base-coat, and later treated the age-corroded areas to coat of "Vallejo" Brass, a wash of "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade and some dabs of the "Citadel" Technical paint Nihilakh Oxide. These parts were all then later dry-brushed with more "Vallejo" Brass so as to blend in the patina. In addition I decided to change the brute's ghastly green-hued face to a deep reddish one, as if the entire head was grotesquely swollen, so simply re-painted it with Vallejo" Heavy Red" and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade.

"Nexus Miniatures" WIPs - These Caprican Legionnaires still have some armour plating to 'pick out'

Wanting to progress something a little less taxing than another Putrid Blightking, I have taken the opportunity to dig ever deeper into my recently discovered drawer of old "Black Tree Design" miniatures, and dry-brush some previously painted Cybermen. All of these figures come from one of the company's "Doctor Who: Invasion Earth" boxed sets, and are based upon the silver giants' tear-drop eyed version from the 1968 BBC Television story "The Invasion".

Lastly, sticking with a silver-coloured theme, I have also found some of my long-lost Caprican Legion models by "Nexus Miniatures". These armour-plated extra-terrestrials, which seem to be out of stock these days due to 'someone ordering a bunch', make great-looking Cylons and once finished should finally permit me to get a "Battlestar Galactica" skirmish game on the tabletop... 

"Field Major Styre Reporting From Earth Base."

"The results of my experiment indicate that they are puny beings..."

This 28mm metal Sontaran model is produced by “Black Tree Design", and can be bought from their "Doctor Who" range as code DW475 Sontaran Warrior. A "race of belligerent and militaristic clones from the planet Sontar", the "humanoids with large, bulbous heads" were created by Robert Holmes and made their BBC Television debut in the 1973 story "The Time Warrior".

The miniature was initially undercoated with two layers of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, and heavily dry-brushed with "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal. The figure was then shaded with "Citadel" Nuln Oil, before having its knee-pads, belt and helmet layered with "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey. These areas were also subsequently washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil, whilst the alien's rheon carbine was 'picked out' with a combination of "Vallejo" Dead White and Pale Grey.

"Black Tree Design" "Doctor Who" WIPS - A Cyber-Leader, the Master and a Mandrel

Having completed my Sontaran, I have started to recommence work on another three of the Penzance-based company's partially-painted models which have lurked unloved for far too long within one of my hobby drawers. As I want to use these figures for some large scale tabletop battles using a set of homemade rules, I thought it would make sense to have the 'forces of evil' marshalled by none other than the Doctor's arch-nemesis, the Master.

I've actually already completed a mobile version of the renegade Time Lord's TARDIS, known as the Melkur, so thought having the decayed incarnation of that time machine's Gallifreyan owner would make sense; especially when the "Black Tree Design" version of the model appears such a nice little straightforward sculpt. As a result I've tidied up and finished the dying criminal's base, as well as put down a couple of thinned base-coats of "Vallejo" Iraqi Sand in preparation to paint his rancid flesh.

Putrid Blightking WIPs - The warrior has yet to have his bronze hand-weapon weathered and shield finished

In addition to my putrefying Master, I have also made some progress on a couple of pilot pieces for a horde of Mandrels and a party of ("The Invasion") Cybermen. The "large, dangerous predator" from the planet Eden should prove somewhat simple to paint, despite his rather colourful appearance, whilst the Late Sixties silver giant is actually a Cyber-Leader taken from an old boxed set which I have repeatedly tried (and failed) to finish over the past decade...

Lastly, I am now on the 'home straight' as far as completing my minimum-sized "Games Workshop" Putrid Blightkings unit is concerned. I have been plugging away at these infuriatingly well-detailed plastic warriors for some months now, and just need to paint this "favoured" mortal servant of Nurgle to field a five-strong figure force for my Chaos Host in "Age Of Sigmar".

"The Only Bear On The C.I.A. Death List!"

"Shako! The Eskimo word for Great White Bear. It means simply... Killer!"

This 28mm sized metal Polar Bear is produced by "Copplestone Castings" under Code PolEx011, and comes from their Polar Perils High Adventure range. An impressive 60mm in length, I immediately thought the animal was reminiscent of the 'Ursus maritimus' "who unwisely swallowed a capsule containing a secret government-created germ warfare culture, thinking it was a tin of food, and became a target of the CIA agents based at Ice Station Delta" in the Late Seventies "2000 A.D. comic book strip "Shako".

The hefty animal was initially primed with "Vallejo" Dead White and shaded with some "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade. It was then dry-brushed with more "Vallejo" Dead White before being sporadically washed with some heavily-watered down Iraqi Sand. Finally, the beast was given a third and final dry-brush of Dead White and had his claws, nose and eyes simply 'picked out' with "Citadel" Abaddon Black.

"Your curiosity will cost you dear, Human."

In addition to Pat Mills' savagely brutal co-creation, who I also plan to utilise as a fearsome addition to my frosty "Gotham" crew for Mister Freeze, I have also completed painting a 31mm tall plastic "Wizkids" Dire Wraith Queen. This green-hued extra-terrestrial can be bought as number 010b from the "Marvel" Guardians Of The Galaxy "Heroclix" range and is destined to lead my previously finished band of sorcerous shape-shifters.

Created by Bill Mantlo and Al Milgrom for the December 1979 issue of "Rom", the Skrullian deviant was undercoated with two layers of "Vallejo" Heavy Green and heavily washed with "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. She was then dry-brushed with more "Vallejo" Heavy Green before having her eyes 'picked out' with a tiny dollop of "Vallejo" Heavy Ochre. As I wanted the super-strong sorcerers' pupils to particularly stand out, I didn't bother shading them, and instead simply tidied their edges up with some additional "Citadel" Abaddon Black.

Putrid Blightking WIPs - The two boil-covered armoured warriors are half-way finished

Lastly I have made some significant progress on my final two "Age Of Sigmar" Putrid Blightkings. This pair are all I need to field a five-strong unit of the "enormous, bloated warriors" for my 1,000 point Nurgle Host, but are proving rather time-consuming on account of each sculpts incredible detail; whether it be simply the amount of pustules and boils littering their bare flesh, or the number of decaying skulls tied about their plate armour.

Fortunately, my enthusiasm for this "Games Workshop" fantasy rule-set is currently riding rather high on account of the Nottingham-based company finally revealing their latest faction for the game, the Idoneth Deepkin. These Sea Elves look tremendous, with "colossal sea beasts", "living tidal waves", and "predatory shoals of fish", as well as "Aelves riding sharks and giant turtles with bolt throwers" too. Marvellous stuff...

"Nurgle Wishes To See Rot And Contagion Bloom Across The Mortal Realms..."

"...Drowning the bastions of his enemies in a tide of putrid filth."

This 28mm scale Putrid Blightking is one of the five multi-piece plastic figures which can be assembled from the sprues found inside the “Games Workshop” Putrid Blightkings boxed set. I had initially thought to use the predominantly plate armoured combatant to represent a particularly blessed Plaguebearer, and resultantly super-glued a Plagueridden's head upon the stump of his neck to better illustrate the point. However, the "hulking warriors of Nurgle" aren't actually daemons but blighted mortals, so I later ended up replacing the head with a formidably horned one from the kit and repaired any damage with a bit of grey-stuff.

Due to the "favoured mortal servant" wearing so much armour and chainmail I undercoated the model with "Citadel" Abaddon Black, before laying down a couple of layers of "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey over it. He was then washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil and dry-brushed with more "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey. The brute's soiled loincloth was treated to some "Citadel" Abaddon Black, two thin coats of "Vallejo" Heavy Red", some "Citadel" Nuln Oil" and lastly a careful dry-brush of "Vallejo" Heavy Red.

"Yet Nurgle is not malicious - far from it."

With the basics finished, I began slowly working my way up the miniature by picking out all the severed skulls handing from his armour with a combination of "Vallejo" Iraqi Sand, "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, and "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green. Each grisly ornament was subsequently lightly dry-brushed with "Vallejo" Iraqi Sand, and made a little more gory with a dab of "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson.

In addition I applied some "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna to both the Blightking's sword and shield as a base-coat, and then treated the "slime-encrusted" armaments to some "Vallejo" Brass, a shade of "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade and then the "Citadel" Technical paint Nihilakh Oxide. These areas were later dry-brushed with more "Vallejo" Brass to help blend in the patina.

Polar Bear WIP - The 'Ursus Martimus' needs to have his claws, eyes, snout and mouth picked out 

Whilst picking out the few spots of pustule-covered flesh on the "Age Of Sigmar" model, I also took the time to simultaneously apply the exact-same recipe of “Vallejo” Heavy Khaki and “Citadel” Biel-Tan Green to a couple of Nurglings. I plan to use a plethora of these tiny pot-bellied gremlins as Wound Markers for some of my host's larger miniatures, so was pleased to get a pair finished as I waited for the paint to dry on my Putrid warrior.

Finally, I have salvaged a Polar Bear by "Copplestone Castings" from out of my partially-painting backlog, and applied a fresh undercoat, wash, dry-brush, shade and second dry-brush to the animal. Originally I did consider placing 'Ursus Maritimus' on a lipped circular base and using him for "Frostgrave", but then felt he might make an excellent addition to my ever-increasing "Gotham" crew for Mister Freeze...

(Lead) Mountain Musings - "Boromite Work Gang" March 2018

Boromite Work Gangers WIPs - The alien miners have an incredible amount of armour

This month's themed attempt to try and reduce my potentially insurmountable collection of metal, plastic and resin miniatures is to simply focus upon a unit of five Boromite Work Gangers which I desperately need to finish in order to finally complete my 500 point Scouting Force. I've been occasionally beavering away at these "Beyond The Gates Of Antares" sculpts for a few months now, and actually managed to complete the squad's first figure at the end of January. However, since then I haven't really found the motivation to get the other "Warlord Games" models tabletop ready...

Admittedly, part of my reluctance to tackle these extra-terrestrial miners is due to their incredibly time-consuming detail, but the recent loss of their leader (who most probably fell into my bin unobserved) has meant that I simply couldn't face painting them until I had obtained a suitable replacement. Now that has been done, along with a few extra personnel, I plan to have the "genetically engineered" workforce varnished, flocked and fighting for their survival within the next few weeks.

Putrid Blightking WIPs - The warrior has yet to have his bronze weaponry weathered and dry-brushed

Of course that doesn't mean I'll be turning my gaze away from the remaining Putrid Blightkings I require in order to field a five-strong unit of the "enormous, bloated warriors", nor the four tiny Nurglings I plan to use as wound markers for some of my larger "Age Of Sigmar" Chaos models. I want these miniatures to be finished sooner rather than later in order to be able to field a 'genuine' 1,000 point Nurgle Host and then begin work building up the strength of my Khorne forces.

There's also a lot of new models on the horizon for this rule-set too, with the Daughters Of Khaine army looking set to include harpies (Khinerai Heartrenders) and serpent-bellied warriors (Melusai Blood Sisters); all of which are going to be nearly impossible to resist purchasing. Plus I've been sat upon a boxed set of Kharadron Overlords for far too long, so its time to start thinking about working on a sky-fleet of iron-clad warriors, all "aboard fantastical machines of war armed with powerful aetheric weapons."

"Since its founding, the Black Templars have campaigned on a never-ending crusade."

Finally, I couldn't help but notice that the Nottingham-based company are about to embark upon a new subscription service involving "Warhammer 40K" which appears similar to their 2002 "Battle Games in Middle-Earth fortnightly magazine (published by "De Agostini"). As seems to be the way with all these offers "Warhammer Conquest" thus includes a number of deliveries per month "with minis and gifts included with each issue." Of particular interest to me though is the prospect that the publication will teach me how to play Warhammer 40,000 "in bite-size chunks"; something I enjoyed doing when learning their "Lord Of The Rings" tabletop rule-set almost two decades ago.

Hopefully this investment will help me finally get some use out of the "Dark Imperium" boxed set I bought last year, as it has already encouraged me to seek out my old Black Templars and re-grit/flock them. Admittedly, these members of the "second Founding chapter derived from the Imperial Fists" are on smaller bases than the Adeptus Astartes stand upon these days, but the models date back to a time when I 'protected' my figures using PVA glue as opposed to varnish, so I didn't want to risk needing to repaint any of them if I damaged one whilst re-basing them...

"-- The Baboon! He Too Was Affected By The Cosmic Rays!"

"He now has the power to change his shape -- To turn into a copy of anything!"

This 28mm plastic “Wizkids” model of the Super Ape Igor is miniature number 019 from the Supernova Marvel "Heroclix" range and is based upon one of the three trained apes the Red Ghost used in order to attack the Fantastic Four when he battled the super-group on the moon. Mutated by Cosmic Rays, the baboon had the "ability to transform himself into any shape" he wanted as long as the shape was "roughly equal to his normal size." He was created by Stan Lee and artist Jack "King" Kirby for the April 1963 issue of "The Fantastic Four".

"Trained to assist in lab work and in operating spaceships" the monkey was initially given a double undercoat of "Vallejo" Heavy Brown, so to completely cover its original pre-paint, and then shaded with "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. The model was subsequently dry-brushed with more "Vallejo" Heavy Brown and had his eyes 'dotted in' with a dab of "Citadel" Abaddon Black.

Putrid Blightking WIPs - The warrior has had all his bronze weaponry weathered and dry-brushed

I'm rather keen this month to try and finish at least another three Putrid Blightkings for my "Age Of Sigmar" Nurgle Host, but despite being a lot of fun to paint, these multi-part plastic "Games Workshop" miniatures contain an incredible amount of detail to apply a brush to. Moreover, the recent release and immediate purchase of the faction's "Blightwar" boxed set means that I'm fast becoming overrun with pustules to 'pick out', glistening pink entrails to paint and plenty of boils to burst.

To matters worse, I've also started collecting the "corpulent cornucopia of new models" the Nottingham-based company have begun selling in order to support their "Battletome: Maggotkin of Nurgle", and have an eye on expanding my Khorne force with Marakarr Blood-Sky, due to the much-publicised "Malign Portents" campaign which is currently running nationwide...

Daleks and Fisher King WIPs - Early days on all three miniatures currently

"Warlord Games" are proving equally as troublesome in the sheer amount of boxed sets they are currently producing. This month alone they've already helped stack my shelves with "The Eleventh Doctor And Companions", "Voyage Of The Damned" and "Tomb of The Cybermen" boxed sets, and these have followed almost straight upon the heels of last month's "Movellans" and "Maximum Extermination!" kits.

With next month arguably looking just as tempting I've shuffled into my queue a pair of their "Doctor Who: Exterminate!" plastic Daleks (with one being painted up as an Emperor's Personal Guard), as well as pinned my spare Fisher King model on top of a resin podium, in order to 'convert' it into another bronze statue. I'm hoping to get both Kaled mutants finished reasonably quickly, with the terrain piece probably taking a bit longer to complete...

"Hulking Warriors Of Nurgle..."

"...the Putrid Blightkings carve their way through the enemy with slime-encrusted axes..."

This 28mm scale Putrid Blightking is one of the five multi-part models which can be assembled from the sprues found within the “Games Workshop” Putrid Blightkings boxed set. Built and painted to represent a simple "favoured mortal servant of Nurgle" I therefore equipped the Rotbringer with a large well-used scimitar, a Nurgle sign-shaped shield and a few tiny tentacles. I already own a finished Blightlord, so need just four more of the bloated infantrymen to field a unit as part of my "Age Of Sigmar" Nurgle Host. 

Having assembled the figure using the 105-piece plastic kit's instruction booklet, the warrior was initially primed “Vallejo” Heavy Khaki and washed with “Citadel” Thrakka Green. The big-bellied brute was then dry-brushed with more “Vallejo” Heavy Khaki and had details such as his face mask, stomach plates and armour base-coated with “Citadel” Abaddon Black. These areas were subsequently painted using "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey, and washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil. Because I wanted the battered helmet's grill to especially stand out, I also highlighted it with some Ironbreaker.

"N-FX Game Design Studio" Flip Card Box WIPs - The MDF has been primed black and layered silver 

The lumbering murder's skirt and plume was painted using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Red and "Citadel" Nuln Oil. However the areas were later dry-brushed with more "Vallejo" Heavy Red in order to bring a little colour back to them. The rotting fighter's pouch was simply 'picked out' using "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. Whilst the severed head dangling from his stomach was treated to a layer of "Vallejo" Iraqi Sand, a wash of "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade and a dry-brush of more "Vallejo Iraqi Sand. 

So as to try and encapsulate the warrior's Virulent Discharge ability, which can cause any non-Nurgle units within 3 inches to suffer D3 mortal wounds on the roll of a 6, I dabbed a combination of “Citadel” Biel-Tan Green, Agrax Earthshade and Carroburg Crimson over the Blightking's decaying flesh. As a last touch all of the figure's numerous zits were ‘pimped out’ with “Vallejo” Heavy Ochre and treated to a coat of “Citadel” Reikland Fleshshade.

"Black Tree Design" "Doctor Who" WIPs - A Sontaran, an Axon and a Kroton

As I want all my Putrid Blightkings to really stand out on the battlefield, I used both "Vallejo" Brass and then the "Citadel" Technical paint Nihilakh Oxide on the "blessed" model's "filth-encrusted" hand-weapon, shield and right shoulder-armour. These areas were subsequently dry-brushed with more "Vallejo" Brass to help blend in the patina.

With so much detailed-painting taking up the majority of my hobby-time, I've been working on another, far more straightforward, piece of MDF from "N-FX Game Design Studio". Their "Flip Card Box" is obviously designed to just hold cards off-table, but I thought the shape made for a potential Cyber-vault, so I've added a resin air-lock by "Second City Games" to one of its sides and primed the entire ensemble silver. Hopefully I'll be able to shade and dry-brush it over the next few days, and then get some "Doctor Who: Exterminate!" cards in it...

The crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise ready to face Klingons, Romulans, Andorians and a Horta

Finally, I have been having a bit of a major sort through my back-log of partially-painted miniatures, and stumbled upon a load more "Doctor Who" miniatures by "Black Tree Design" which were, rather disconcertingly, probably based and primed over a decade ago. Having dusted a few down, I'm hoping to make some in-roads on these over the next few days, and start clearing my increasingly cluttered painting queue.