Top Ten Manufacturers Of 2014 - A "Fantorical" Viewpoint

The fifth article covering my favourite miniature manufacturers over the years, this period focused predominantly upon my obsession with World War Two, whether it be the odd 10mm Soviet tank by "Pendraken Miniatures", some 28mm Allied vehicles originally cast by "Bolt Action Miniatures", or a veritable horde of brain-hungry German zombies by "Westwind Productions". However, it also encapsulated a remarkable fascination with some of the smaller scales within the hobby, such as 6mm and 15mm, which seemed to stem from a desire to pigment a variety of Modern Day British forces, as well as some "Rogue Trader" era inspired 'space knights'.

No.10 (Joint) - "Bolt Action Miniatures" - "Bolt Action"

It’s incredible to think just how long this particular resin model of a British Daimler Dingo Mk II Scout Car was left languishing in my ‘To do’ pile. But considering that “Bolt Action’s splendid line of 28mm World War Two miniatures and vehicles” was sold to “Warlord Games” in late 2008, this resin automobile must have been sat gathering dust on my painting table for a good six years or so before being finished. Fortunately, despite having little interest in historical gaming, the scout car made a welcome armoured mobile unit for my allies “Weird War Two” force using the “Savage Worlds” rule-set by “Pinnacle Entertainment Group”.

No.10 (Joint) - "Warlord Games" - "Bolt Action"

Despite having little interest in actually playing Rick Priestley and Alessio Cavatore’s “Bolt Action” tabletop game itself, this “re-release from the BEF Miniatures range” was one of a small handful of vehicles I planned to add to my British Commonwealth forces for “Weird War Two”. However, unlike the partially-painted A11 Matilda Mark I Infantry Tank which was meant to accompany it, this “classic light truck” was not only completed, but actually saw some occasional battlefield action; albeit my Flying Standard 10' "Tilly" Truck's most enigmatic role was probably being a simple ‘prop’ for a game of “Zombie TV” by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio”, which saw Doctor Who and U.N.I.T. battle an ever-increasing invasion of Cybermen….

No.8 - "Pendraken Miniatures" - "Alien Creatures"

Something of a mixed bag, but predominantly motivated by a desire to reinforce my H.R. Giger aliens with an alternative fast-moving unit, this Middlesbrough-based manufacturer initially caught my eye courtesy of their somewhat oversized 10mm Face Huggers. These diminutive parasitoids not only proved straightforward to paint, but fortuitously proved perfectly scaled to accompany my larger “Ground Zero Games” Xenomorphs in their bloody battle against Humankind. In addition, I was rather pleased to pigment a few stands of reinforcements for both my English Civil War Royalist Army, and Russian (winter) World War Two force.

No.7 - "Ground Zero Games" - "Xenomorphs"

Bearing an uncanny resemblance to H.R. Giger’s famous motion picture extra-terrestrials, these xenomorphs seemed the perfect opponents for my 15mm Prydian Army by “The Ion Age”, and finally saw some tabletop action as a sizeable antagonistic horde during the year despite actually being bought at “Colours” 2013. To make their journey to the battlefield even more remarkable though, a number of the figures were actually stripped in methylated spirits and re-painted during this period, whilst others were re-based from their original 40mm x 60mm rectangular stands onto some “Battlefront Miniatures” bases so as to better tie-in with a never-realised “Flames Of War” cross-over…

No.6 - "The Ion Age" - "The Prydian Army"

Strongly influenced by this 15mm range’s nostalgia-inducing similarities to the old “Rogue Trader” miniatures by “Games Workshop”, I returned from “Salute” 2014 with a rather sizeable consignment of these models and quickly set to work painting up a small(ish) force of Retained Knights and the Prydian Army Muster. Admittedly, I didn’t actually pigment these figures in their “famous red and white” uniforms, but my desire to field some proxy Crimson Fist Space Marines and Imperial Guard still saw a fair few of these figures on the tabletop, as well as a couple of vehicles.

No. 5 - "Pulp Figures" - "Boys In Blue"

Pigmented purely as a somewhat straightforward submission for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, as part of a Pulp-themed side-challenge, these ten Boys In Blue were supposedly the spearhead of a huge push of Bob Murch’s miniatures for the event featuring many more figures from the Canadian sculptor’s Gangland Justice Range. Sadly however, despite managing to include the first black police officer in New York City,  Sergeant Samuel J. Battle, as well as a vintage call box and fire hydrant into the mix, my momentum for this project disappointingly soon petered out just before the year’s end…

No.4 - "GHQ Models" - "Micro Armour"

As a wargamer I am somewhat prone to impulse purchases, and never has this weakness been more aptly demonstrated than by the Micro Armour boxed sets by “GHQ” I bought at “Colours” in 2011. Three years later and I finally started to plough my way through both my Modern British Combat Team and Modern Mujahadin/Al Qaeda Combat Team. These “super detailed 1:285 scale figures” were incredibly fun to paint, despite their eye-watering diminutive size, and I became so enthused with the range that I even managed to finish a fair few vehicles for my British forces as well.

No.3 - "Mongoose Publishing" - "Judge Dredd"

There can be little doubt that the 2012 “Judge Dredd” Kickstarter by “Mongoose Publishing” had both a positive and negative impact upon my hobby. True, the tardiness in the company's sculpting, casting and delivery of their supporters’ numerous pledges would debatably ruin their reputation. But it also provided me with an opportunity to slowly pick my way through a number of Street Judges, two versions of “Old Stony Face” himself, and the arch-nemesis of Mega-City One’s toughest lawman, Judge Death. I even managed to pigment Nu-Earth’s last surviving Genetic Infantryman, despite having wisely ‘backed out’ from Mongoose Matt’s calamitous “Rogue Trooper” Kickstarter at the last minute…

No.2 - "Westwind Productions" - "Secrets Of The Third Reich"

Thoroughly enthused by the “Weird War Two” setting for “Savage Worlds” by “Pinnacle Entertainment Group”, and the sheer range of supernatural forces on offer by “Westwind Productions” and their “Secrets Of The Third Reich” miniature range, it was probably inevitable I was going to end up painting a significant number of zombies for my battlefield; both German and Soviet. In addition, the Oldham-based manufacturer also lured me into their darkly Gothic Steampunk Victorian setting, with four well-sculpted London Bobbies from their tremendously successful Kickstarter “Empire Of The Dead: Requiem”.

No.1 - "Wizkids" - "Heroclix"

Undoubtedly inspired by several battle reports utilising the “7TV” rule-set by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio”, and much more “Marvel Worldwide” focused than “DC Comics”, my collection of re-painted (and re-based) plastic “Wizkids” models saw its numbers significantly swell throughout 2014. However, it arguably wasn’t until the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge towards the very end of the year that I truly ‘knuckled down’ with my “Heroclix” and polished off a small raiding force of U-Men to follow the Black Manta, as well as a trio of Dreadnought robots to do the bidding of Ultron.

Top Ten Manufacturers Of 2015 - A "Fantorical" Viewpoint

The fourth article covering my favourite miniature manufacturers over the years, this period was clearly dominated by my love of British science fiction television programmes such as “Doctor Who” and “Blake’s Seven”, as well as an affection for the Doug McClure fantasy movies of my childhood. Interestingly, I also found my participation in the “Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge” something of a catalyst to start ploughing through my sizeable collection of Bob Murch’s painter-friendly “Pulp Figures” and a dalliance with the free rule-set “Pillow A-go-go” by “Fiendish Fabrications” a surprising motivator to pigment numerous “Heroclix” super-heroes and villains…

No.10 (Joint) - "Reaper Miniatures” - "Chronoscope"

Bought as an experiment to ascertain the difference between their “Bones” sculpts and metal castings, this particular sojourn into the world of “Reaper Miniatures” pigmenting a pair of Black Mist models certainly helped me make up my mind that I wouldn’t purchase any of the company’s unpainted polymer 28mm-sized humanoid figures in the future, as I found their loss of detail disconcerting. However, it did lead me to eventually purchase a fair few of the range’s larger monsters as the financial savings were quite significant. Sadly, both of my Black Mists actually ended up in Canada as payment for entering the Fifth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, and I have yet to purchase a (second) metal version of the crime-fighting vigilante to use on my own tabletop.

No.10 (Joint) – “Antediluvian Miniatures” – “Lost World”

Basing their sculpts upon some of my favourite fantasy childhood films, such as the 1976 cult classic “At The Earth’s Core”, this Ross-shire based company completely caught me off-guard with its characterful castings in the Summer and seemed destined to be one of my most popular manufacturers of the year. Disappointingly however, having quite quickly pigmented Professor Peter Cushion, I then found my attention wandering elsewhere, and not even their subsequent release concerning a squad of Guardians of Lemuria (heavily influenced by “The Warlord Of Atlantis”) managed to restore my motivation.”

No.10 (Joint) – “Steamforged Games Limited” – “Guildball”

Intrigued by this alternative to the legendary sports tabletop game “Blood Bowl” by “Games Workshop”, I actually spent quite some considerable time plugging away at the contents of a Union Starter Set for “Guildball”. Yet was ultimately beaten by the incredibly fiddly detail found on each sculpt, an utter aversion to the complexity of the actual rule-set, and a serious dislike for the ‘difficult to reach’ pose of my team’s captain, Blackheart. In fact, my problems progressing the central midfielder with a brush-tip alone were enough to put me off “Guildball” for life, especially after his head fell off part way through the painting process, and I discovered that a far more paintable pose of the player was available; albeit at a significant cost.

No.7 – “Wizards Of The Coast” – “Star Wars”/“Dreamblade”

Fuelled by the speculation concerning the imminent release of J.J. Abrahams’ “American epic space-opera film”, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens", this dalliance with “Wizards Of The Coast” was initially confined to just a pair of their models from the long defunct “Star Wars Miniatures Game”. However, as part of my “Zomtober” challenge I later decided to re-paint three plastic “Dreamblade” Gutsoup Golems in order to turn them into proxy Krynoids for a “Doctor Who” flavoured game of “Zombicide” based upon the February 1976 six-part television story “The Seeds Of Doom”. Lamentably, this rather over-ambitious project was never fully finished, and despite some temptation to simply pigment a few more of the collectable miniatures game’s innovative-looking models just for the ‘fun of it’, no more of the “spawning dream creatures” saw a paint-brush.

No.6 – “Nexus Miniatures” – “Super-hero Dinosaur Zombie Apocalypse”

Encouraged by Simon Quinton’s enthusiastic postings over on “Brummie’s Wargaming Blog”, I rather badly fell in love with this company’s D-Rangers and Caprican Legion Troopers courtesy of their sculpts bearing more than a passing resemblance to the main characters from Glen A. Larson’s 1978 “Battlestar Galactica”. Admittedly, the figures themselves were a little crude and mis-proportioned, with the ‘Cylons’ significantly smaller in stature than their human counterparts. But their attention to the detail of a ‘Colonial Warrior’ uniform more than made up for this, and resultantly I eagerly painted up proxies for Apollo, Starbuck and Boomer, alongside a trio of the Imperious Leader’s finest centurions.

No.5 – “SLAP Miniatures” – “Moon Howlers”

Heartily recommended to me by Bryan Scott of “Vampifan’s World Of The Undead” blog fame, I ended up painting eight He-Wolves as an entourage for my repainted “Heroclix” model of the Hyena. Slightly painful to assemble, with plenty of super-glue, green-stuff and pinning definitively required, these furry fiends were still a joy to paint in a multitude of appropriate browns and greys, and were completed within the space of a fortnight before having them subsequently devour Batman in a Caped Crusader-inspired game of “Zombicide” by “Guillotine Games”. Sadly, my plans to pigment Skipper Fred, Bosun Ace and Steward Gladys for the Sixth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge as a (not) “Popeye” entry never materialised into anything more than a trio of colourfully-primed miniatures…

No.4 – “Pulp Figures” – “Lost Tribes”

Originally planned to be part of a much larger “Pulp Figures” contribution to the Sixth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, these Bob Murch sculpts seemed destined to be the start of a significant expedition into the savage worlds of pulp. However, despite both Jai and Cheetah joining Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor for a mid-year “Doctor Who”/“Tarzan” tabletop team-up, my enthusiasm for the somewhat cartoony range of miniatures never materialised into a full-blown painting spree, and resultantly I simply ‘scatter-gunned’ a few hominids here and gun-toting gangsters there.

No.3 – “Black Tree Design” – “Doctor Who”

It’s incredible to think that a New Year clear-out uncovered the vast majority of this “Doctor Who” treasure trove, and lead to the creation of a sizeable Cyberman force for the tabletop. In fact, with hindsight it is hard to imagine my eventual immersion into “Age Of Sigmar” by “Games Workshop” the following year, if I hadn’t been inspired to pigment quite so many Mondasian and Mark II Cybermen during this period and subsequently used them play-test the fantasy rule-set. At the time though, I was simply determined to provide my “Eaglemoss Collections” Cyber-King with a suitably large retinue, and these silver giants were reasonably straightforward to paint.

No.2 – “Wizkids” – “Heroclix”

Arguably initiated by a desire to field the numerous members of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, this range of collectable plastic figures proved consistently popular throughout the year, and helped me add a significant number of models, both large and small, to my ever-growing collection of finished re-painted “Marvel Worldwide” and “DC Comics” characters. In addition, this range of super-heroes and despicable villains caused me to re-imagine the “Pillow A-go-go” ruleset by “Fiendish Fabrications” into a short series of rooftop battles which occurred across both the Gotham City and New York City skylines.

No.1 – “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” – “7TV”

Indisputably down to my love of the BBC science fiction television series “Blake’s Seven” and “Doctor Who”, I not only managed to paint a formidable force of black-clad Federated Troopers, including a heavily-moustached Commander and cybernetically-enhanced Stefan Travers. But also progressed a significant number of Spawn, Robo Rodents and grotesquely-mutated Failed Experiments with which to vex the time-travelling Tweedy Mattinson and his Plucky Assistant. In addition, my enthusiasm for “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” saw me involve their miniatures in a number of popular Battle Reports which either saw their Freedom Fighters teaming-up with the likes of Rocket Raccoon and Judge Dredd, or the company’s Robo Rodents proving pivotal as proxy Runners for “Zombicide” by “Guillotine Games”.

Top Ten Manufacturers Of 2016 - A "Fantorical" Viewpoint

The third article in my ongoing look back over the years at my favourite miniature manufacturers, this particular period interestingly precedes my utter obsession with “Doctor Who” and his adventures through Time and Space, and instead clearly demonstrates an almost unhealthy preoccupation with comic book super-heroes; both those created by “Marvel Worldwide” and “DC Comics”. In addition, I was just starting out with the then highly-controversial fantasy-based world of “Age Of Sigmar” by “Games Workshop”, and surprisingly popular “Frostgrave” by “North Star Military Figures”…

No.10 (Joint) - "Black Tree Design" - "Doctor Who"

Predominantly pigmented simply because Yeti were quick to paint and I needed some figures to post reasonably quickly, this horde of half a dozen abominable snowmen was actually the second such time I had finished an assortment of the Great Intelligence’s automatons, having previously painted a sizeable batch when the sculpts were originally produced by "Harlequin Miniatures". Bemusingly, I did later add the animated gargoyle Bok to my overall tally, but other than that “Black Tree Design” simply hit my radar through necessity/quantity as opposed to a desire to actually game with its models.

No.10 (Joint) – “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” - "7TV"

Building upon the back of a huge push during the previous year to paint up enough plant-infected humanoids with which to play a “Doctor Who And The Seeds Of Doom” flavoured game of “Zombicide”, as well as a similar desire to use “Guillotine Games” cooperative adventure board game to recreate Terry Nation’s world of “Blake’s Seven”, the only surprise concerning “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” was that more miniatures from its coffers weren’t finished during the year. Disappointingly, this was undoubtedly due to my “Doctor Who” game never being fully realised, and the “Blake’s Seven” campaign, which was actually using the original “Space Hulk” missions as a basis”, was brought to an abrupt halt after just a couple of battle reports.

No.8 - "Irregular Miniatures" - "Star Trek"

Featuring in the very first of my (Lead) Mountain Musings, a themed monthly attempt to try and reduce my backlog of unpainted lead, plastic and resin, this assortment of 6mm spaceships were predominantly posted during the month of September, and whilst the reimagined “Star Trek” vessels have never seen any actual tabletop action, the likes of ten tiny Blitzspear Class Corvettes (Romulan Raiders) and Perry Class Frigates (Soyuz-class Federation starships) still managed to leave a lasting mark upon my annual painting tally. Indeed, not only did this mini-project take on a life of its own as my initially modest ‘Federation Starfleet’ quickly dwarfed that of the ‘Romulan Star Empire’, but “Irregular Miniatures” Kitakami Class Tug (U.S.S. Enterprise) was voted my Eighth most popular model of 2016 by Dick Garrison in his annual Top Ten Miniatures - A "Rantings From Under The Wargames Table" Viewpoint post.

No.7 - "Mongoose Publishing" - "Judge Dredd"

For any pledgers badly burnt by the “Judge Dredd Miniatures Game” “Kickstarter” run by “Mongoose Publishing” in September 2012, my participation in Zomtober 2016 was doubtless something of a sore point, as I showcased several of the Undead models financed by that particular farcically-run crowd-funder. However, despite predominantly utilising the plastic torsos of “Mantic Games” zombie sculpts, there is no doubting just how strongly these figures sparked my imagination for the Undead denizens of Mega-City One, and I even went so far as to personally contact ‘Mongoose Matt’ in order to secure supposedly the last of his Zombie Judge figures.

No.6 (Joint) – “Pulp Figures” – “Weird Menace - The Strange Villainy of Pulpdom"

Despite having previously pigmented Bob Murch’s marvellous Boys In Blue collection some twelve months earlier, there can be no doubt that the motivation behind painting this particular batch of sinisterly-robed goons was entirely due a need to safely reach my target tally in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge rather than wanting to progress any actual opposition for my characterful cops. However, that didn’t stop me undertaking a simple conversion so that at least one of the fearsome figures would be better armed with a rifle (as opposed to a lantern) should their diabolical machinations ever be interrupted by the law.

No.6 (Joint) – “Warlord Games” – “Doctor Who”

This ‘handful’ of “Doctor Who” figures initially caught my eye due to representing characters from “Nu Who” as opposed to the classic BBC Science Fiction Television programme, and resultantly helped me overcome my initial scepticism concerning both their significantly larger 32mm scale and my somewhat negative perception that the Nottingham-based producer was behind a number of other popular casters receiving ‘cease & desist’ orders for their ‘not-Who’ models. In addition, the re-booted Zygons were an absolute joy to paint, despite depicting the somewhat contentious ‘official’ paint-job of blackened hands/feet, and quickly became one of my favourite factions to field whilst playing  the “Doctor Who: Exterminate!” tabletop game.

No.4 – “North Star Military Figures” – “Frostgrave”

Arguably the successor to the old “Games Workshop” skirmish game “Mordheim”, I was ultimately somewhat disappointed by the sheer brutality of combat within Joseph A. McCullough’s rule-set, and as a result found my desire to continue playing “Frostgrave” rather fleeting. However, that dissatisfaction didn’t set in until after I had finished painting both an entire warband with alternative Mage and Apprentice, and a sizeable menagerie of animals. In fact, towards the end of my time exploring the frozen ruins of Felstad I even started trying to progress enough hard plastic skeletons so as to play the skirmish game’s Mausoleum scenario.

No.3 – “Reaper Miniatures” – “Chronoscope”

Churned out like so many cans on a food factory production line so as to provide me with a plethora of points for the Sixth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, this assembly of automatons actually proved much more time-consuming that initially envisaged due to both the need to pin several of their stick-thin limbs in place and my concern that any heavy-handed dry-brushing would actually result in a breakage. Fortunately, despite these fears, I actually managed to paint a staggering sixteen of the Cyber-Reavers up, plus finish the second member of a travelling party I planned to have wander the post-apocalyptic wasteland of “Gamma World”.

No.2 – “Games Workshop” – “Age Of Sigmar”

Definitely something of a fantasy gaming revelation for me, “Age Of Sigmar” firmly took me by the scruff of the neck and before long had me producing Plaguebearers like the puss-filled daemons were going to go out of fashion. Not only did this “successor to the discontinued… Warhammer” capture my imagination enough to paint a plethora of the Chaos Gods’ finest, ranging from the diminutive Nurglings, to monstrous Beast of Nurgle, but it additionally encouraged me to complete a whopping ten-strong unit of Bloodletters as well. In fact, I probably haven’t felt quite so strong a motivation to be able to field a fully-finished faction since I worked on both a British and German force for “Secrets Of The Third Reich” by “West Wind Productions” in 2014.

No.1 – “Wizkids” – “Heroclix”

By far and away the most popular genre, these pre-painted plastic superheroes dominated my hobby table, starting with a quantity of readily re-painted OMAC robots for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, and ending with the far more time-consuming stars and stripes of Captain America. In between times I also managed to whittle my way through an entire nine-strong swarm of “Horrorclix” Aliens, a ten-man squad of U-Men, and five members of “DC Comics” Metal Men, as well as converting a few of the New Jersey-based company’s Lackey figures into the bobble-hat wearing minions of Mister Freeze during the annual “Forgotten Heroes” challenge.

"Oh, The Cult Is Very Old. They Once Had Power And Influence On A Scale You Can't imagine."

"I... Saw great things. Heard great words. Words of destiny..."

This 28mm metal "Pulp Figures" model comes from Bob Murch's "Weird Menace - The Strange Villainy of Pulpdom" range and is one of five figures that can be bought as set PWM 05 - Evil Hooded Minions II.

The cultist was initially undercoated with "Vallejo" Heavy Violet and then had his shoes painted using a combination of Heavy Brown and “The Army Painter” Strong Tone Quickshade. As his trousers were rather difficult to reach with a paintbrush I settled with simply painting them Citadel" Abaddon Black.

"...the cultists widened their circle to give the summoned newcomers enough room."

I used "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey, with a wash of "Citadel" Nuln Oil for the metalwork on the fiend's firearm, and then applied a coat of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna on the rifle's butt. This area was subsequently shaded using Strong Tone Quickshade. Next the villain's hands were given a layer of "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone, before being washed with some watered-down "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade", and as a final highlight the fingers were picked out with more "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone.

In addition to finishing my tenth and final Hooded Minion, I have also managed to base a 20mm resin model of a "Stargate" which I must have painted several years ago at least. I believe it was once sold by "M.J. Figures" as part of their "Armies Of Mythology" range, a somewhat peculiarly oval-shaped alien Einstein-Rosen bridge device which is clearly inspired by the American television series "Stargate SG-1".

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - The two infected security guards are almost finished

Lastly I have once again managed to get some more paint on the three “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” figures I've yet to finish as part of my (arguably overly-ambitious) Zomtober 2015 project "Doctor Who And The Seeds Of Doom". Having finally finished painting the two infected security guards' blue overalls, as well as laid down a second layer of white upon Arnold Keeler's laboratory coat, I'm actually hoping to have these miniatures finished within the next few days...

Blake, Jenna, Vila and Travis battle Aliens in order to save Mankind...

"Weird Tortures In A Ghastly Abode Of Horrors."

"A tale of devil worship."

These three 28mm metal "Pulp Figures" models come from Bob Murch's "Weird Menace - The Strange Villainy of Pulpdom" range and can be found in either PWM 04 - Evil Hooded Minions or PWM 05 - Evil Hooded Minions II. The Cultist holding a rifle was 'advertised' as carrying a lantern. But as I wanted all my garbed goons to be armed I swapped this hand with one carrying a spare rifle which I had left over from painting my New York City 'Boys In Blue' last year.

To make painting these cultists reasonably simple, all of the models were initially undercoated with "Vallejo" Heavy Violet. I then managed to pick out all of their shoes with a combination of Heavy Brown and “The Army Painter” Strong Tone Quickshade, and a trousers with "Vallejo" Heavy Blue and "Citadel" Asurmen Blue. The other two minions' slacks were just too difficult to reach with a paintbrush, so for sanity's sake I settled on them being "Citadel" Abaddon Black.

"Seized by the Devil's disciples... for sacrifice in the Temples of Hell."

All of the bounder's firearms were predominantly painted using "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey and then washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil. Although I used "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna for the rifle butts and applied more Strong Tone Quickshade on these areas. The villains' hands were initially given a layer of "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone, before being washed with some watered-down "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade" and then received a final highlight of more "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone.

Besides beavering away at more "Pulp Figures" I have recommenced trying to re-base a number of my old “Copplestone Casting” figures in order to get them back on to my tabletop. This particular figure is from Code FW23 Zombie Troopers, and was probably painted back in 2007, when I gave all my models a "protective coat of PVA". At the time I started using "Citadel" Space Wolves Grey for my zombies flesh as I wanted to paint a unit of waterlogged undead, and felt the bluish hue was more appropriate. 

Re-basing the Undead - This Zombie Trooper has been re-painted before having his new base flocked

I have managed to re-paint a couple of areas on this figure in order to bring out more of the model’s detail, such as using "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey and "Citadel" Nuln Oil on his automatic rifle and armoured knee-pads. I've also applied some Doombull Brown to his belt pouches and repainted his damaged Snakebite Leather shoes before washing all of these areas with “The Army Painter” Strong Tone Quickshade.

"...And They're Gonna Come In Here And They're Gonna Get Us!"

"Oh yeah, sure! With those things runnin' around? You can count me out."

These five 32mm scaled resin "Prodos Games" miniatures of H.R. Giger's Aliens are from the company's "Alien Verses Predator: The Hunt Begins" board game. But can also be bought separately as AVP Alien Stalkers. Each model comes in a number of separate pieces, presumably in order to provide different poses, and are predominantly designed to be positioned somewhat forward facing, as if they are moving at speed. However as I wanted the Aliens to stand a little more upright than advertised, I simply repositioned their limbs in order to make them lean over less.

"Let's just bug out and call it even, man!"

I initially gave these "different kind of animal" an undercoat of "Citadel" Abaddon Black before simply dry-brushing each model with "Vallejo" German Grey. The Stalkers were then washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil before I applied a second, significantly lighter dry-brush of "Vallejo" German Grey over the figures' more prominently raised surfaces. Each Aliens' mouth was painted using a combination of "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey and "Citadel" Nuln Oil, whilst their head carapaces were treated to a thick coat of Abaddon Black.

The "Alien Verses Predator: The Hunt Begins" board game comes with another ten Aliens in the shape of Infants, which I hope to have finished within the next few weeks in order to use for "Zombicide". However if you want to get a proper feel for all the miniatures within the game then I'd strongly recommend visiting "The Angry Lurker" and seeing all of Francis' hard efforts; as he's painted all of the figures which come with the box set already.

"Pulp Figures" WIPs - Just some inking to do on the Hooded Minion

With Bob Murch March drawing to a close, and my latest three Evil Hooded Minions simply waiting for their grass flock to dry, I thought I'd try and squeeze in some painting on a final few of the sculptor's "Pulp Figures". As a result I have finished block colouring the tenth (and last) of my Cultists from Bob's Weird Menace range and made some more progress on a couple of miniatures I've still outstanding from his Kojar And The Forest Tribe packet; a Tarzan-inspired blister which currently is currently only available as part of the Heroes & Personalities catalogue.

The Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge 2015 - WIP - Final Week

Evil Hooded Minions WIPs - These heavily-armed scoundrels just need some washes to be applied

With the Sixth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge closing in upon its last few days, I have been busily block-painting these three Evil Hooded Minions made by "Pulp Figures" in order to use them as my final Pulp Side-Challenge submission.

As with the other Bob Murch disguised desperadoes I've finished over the past couple of weeks, I have tried to give at least one of the heavily-robed goons a different coloured pair of trousers and light brown shoes in order to 'break up' their all-purple monotony. In addition I've armed one of the cultists with a spare rifle I had left over from painting my New York City 'Boys In Blue' last year.

"Heroclix" WIPs - Batman and Mister Freeze simply need a wash and dry-brush to be finished

I've also started trying to clear up a large number of "Heroclix" figures I currently have 'lurking' in and around my painting area. Some of these, such as my latest Batman miniature, are actually new arrivals which have immediately leapt towards the top of my painting queue. Whilst others, like Mister Freeze, have been sat waiting an eternity for me to simply add the odd layer of paint here and there upon them.

Because I'm currently rather enthused with the "Games Workshop" rule-set "Age Of Sigmar", and equally taken with the idea of fighting some large super-hero related battles in the near future. I fully expect both of these figures to now be finished in quick succession, especially as they simply need a quick application of some washes, and the odd bit of dry-brushing to bring out their sculpts' finer detail.

"Frostgrave" WIPs - Plenty of painting left to do on this boar, small construct and snow troll

Lastly I'm still trying to whittle down my 'mountain' of "Frostgrave" models, and as a result have been tinkering with a few more "North Star Military Figures" from the skirmish game's Bestiary. These creatures, both flesh and animated, range in size from the tiny Small Construct and portly Boar, to the much larger Snow Troll.

It really is early days for all of these 'chance encounters'. But I'm hoping for a couple of them to be painted alongside the last of my Witch's "Frostgrave" warband; which has impatiently been awaiting its final two members (and a BatRep or two) since I assembled them towards the end of last year...  

"Nefarious Members Of A Criminal Cult..."

"...Occult villains steeped in arcane lore..."

These six 28mm metal "Pulp Figures" models come from Bob Murch's "Weird Menace - The Strange Villainy of Pulpdom" range and can be found in either PWM 04 - Evil Hooded Minions or PWM 05 - Evil Hooded Minions II. These purple-garbed goons are my latest entry to the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge's Pulp Side-Challenge, and in addition have scored me enough to complete my 500 point goal for the three-month long event.

To make painting these cultists reasonably quick, all of the models were initially undercoated with "Vallejo" Heavy Violet. I then picked out their shoes and trousers with a variety of colours, predominantly using a combination of Heavy Brown and “The Army Painter” Strong Tone Quickshade for their footwear, and "Vallejo" Heavy Blue and "Citadel" Asurmen Blue for their slacks.

"...Sinister villains plotting world conquest..."

Any fiendish firearms were painted using "Vallejo" Gunmetal Grey. Whilst the scoundrel with a sword had two coats of "Citadel" Ironbreaker applied to his blade. All of these weapons were then washed with Nuln Oil. The little areas of flesh showing on these shadowy schemers were first given a layer of "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone, then washed with some watered-down "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade" before being highlighted with more "Vallejo" Heavy Skintone.

Finally, despite future plans to have these blaggards lead by the fearsome Crimson Scorpion, another of Bob's terrific models from his "strange villainy of pulpdom" collection , I thought I'd paint one of the minions up as a (sub)leader of sorts. As a result I've decided to spotlight one of the miniatures, a wealthy bounder known as Sir Awdry, who is clearly pointing in the direction of an order he's just given, with a "Vallejo" Heavy Red and "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson hood .

"Horrorclix" WIPs - These large 40mm tall pre-painted plastic models have simply been primed for now 

In addition to my six featureless fiends I have been merrily basing and priming a small number of "Horrorclix" miniatures. The formidably large Carnage Bot is another much appreciated gift from the ever-generous blogging-legend Bryan over on "Vampifan's World Of The Undead". I'd never seen this terrifyingly tentacled automaton but have already got plans for the killer robot to represent a Mark III Eradicator in my "Gamma World" project.

Having previously painted an awful lot of Aliens by "Wizkids" I also thought it was about time to start on some 'worthy' opposition, so have started with a 'pilot' Predator piece. Like his 'acid-for-blood' opposition, this 40mm scaled Yautja is rather large compared to many of the other "Horrorclix" sculpts. But that should simply make the finely-detailed model stand out on the tabletop even more.

"Once This Is Paid, The Soldier Will Fight..."

'To recruit a Templar, a Wizard must pay a retainer of 100 gold coins.'

This 28mm metal model of a Templar is made by “North Star Military Figures” and can be bought together with a Knight as code FGV202 from their “Frostgrave” range. I initially undercoated this dynamic sculpt of a 'Poor Fellow-Soldier of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon' with “Citadel” Abaddon Black in order to create a nice foundation for his heavy chainmail, leggings and boots. All his armour was then painted with "Vallejo" Gunmetal and washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil. Whilst his footwear, belt and straps were painted using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and “The Army Painter” Strong Tone Quickshade.

As I wanted the warrior to be wearing a white tunic, but balked at the idea of applying some red chevrons to it as illustrated in the skirmish game's rulebook, I gave the knight's clothing two coats of "Vallejo" White and then simply washed these areas with the transparent acrylic Pale Grey.

Finally I concentrated upon the Templar's side-dagger and sword. The hilt of his double-handed weapon was painted using "Vallejo" Gold and more Strong Tone Quickshade. However as I wanted his weapons' blades to stand out somewhat from his dark(ish) chainmail and helmet, I picked them out using "Citadel" Ironbreaker, shaded them with Nuln oil and then highlighted them with a little more Ironbreaker.

Evil Hooded Minions WIPs - These unrecognisable fiends just need some washes to be applied

In addition to finishing the latest addition to my Witch's warband, I have managed to block paint three more Evil Hooded Minions made by "Pulp Figures" and destined to be entered as part of my Pulp Side-Challenge submissions for the Sixth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.

As with the other Bob Murch criminal cultists I've been progressing I have tried to give each disciple a different coloured pair of trousers and shoes in order to try and 'break up' their all-purple monotony. In addition I've armed a midget with a rather nice little torch and set it alight with a combination of "Vallejo" colours and a "Citadel" wash.

Sharkman WIP - This mutated shark still has a lot of work yet to be done on it

Lastly I have been working on a huge "Bones" model of a Sharkman by "Reaper Miniatures". Having simply undercoated the entire brute "Vallejo" Bluegrey, I have washed the monstrosity with "Ciatdel" Nuln Oil and then dry-brushed it with more "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey. This has provided the figure with a nice layer upon which I plan to blend over some additional grey and white, as well as helped define the sculpt's great detail.

This model was bought in order to represent a Sep or Land Shark as part of my slowly progressing "Gamma World" project. But it would also make a terrific Co-Star for a water-themed game of "7TV2" by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" or a deep-sea abomination for a "Zombicide" scenario I have in mind...