SuperFigs: Chrononaut!

I've got a number of unreleased SuperFigs in the hopper, most of which I've shown off on this blog over the last couple years, but this weekend I painted another one that I had never shown before. He's a very slick conversion from one of our existing alien henchman miniatures, and I call him the Chrononaut!







This guy's name is Gulg, he's Chrononaut 717A, an operative of the 36th Century's Time Agency. Their job? Make sure no one from the past mucks with the flow of time. Using his Chrono-staff and the other gadgets in his power armor, Chrononaut 717A has traveled back to Four-Color Earth to make certain that Mr. Cranium does not complete his latest device: a time-convergence apparatus!

Here's a few comp shots of Chrononaut and a couple of the heroes he'll team up with:



The Golem is no stranger to the passage of time, although as a virtual immortal he's taken the "slow path" from his time as a hero of WWII to the current era.



Lucky Strike's fortune altering powers make him an ideal companion to the super-scientific Chrononaut.

At this point, Chrononaut and the other unreleased SuperFigs only exist in master form and I am uncertain if and when we will ever make production molds for them. If you'll pardon the pun, time will tell.

As always, thanks for checking out the blog!

--Scott

Hordes: IronBack Spitter!

I know I said I would swear off painting minis for skirmish or other miniatures battle games for at least a week, but then the Ironback Spitter showed up at Phantom, and I had to work on it!

I've blasted PP in the past for bizarre mold-making decisions that lead to hellish assemblies. The Spitter suffers from no such issues. For a Heavy Warbeast, it goes together quite well. I would even dare say that it's design is ingenious.

Anyway, I went with my version of the studio paint job--I thought about working some green in, but I ended up happy with where the paints took me, and the basing ties him to the rest of the force.













And here are a couple of comp shots for scale ref:





Look for more RPG minis this weekend!

Thanks for checking out the blog!

--Scott

Old Glory Rioting Peasants

In my effort to add more role-play figures to my painted miniatures collection, I dug out a trio of OG's Revolting Peasant Mobs and gave them a quick paint job.

The sculpting on these figures is crude, but they take paint well and are super to fill out the populace of a town or village. They make great minions for the player characters to mow through.











At $35 for 30 figures, you can't beat the price!

Thanks for checking out the blog!

--Scott

D&D Miniatures Retrospective Podcast

I'm pod-casting again! Well, at least a little bit! My buddy Rico started an awesome news site called Play Unplugged that covers the adventure gaming industry, and he asked me to participate in its inaugural online radio podcast, a retrospective on the now defunct D&D Miniatures sets released by Wizards of the Coast.



He and I gab for more than an hour on our favorite, and least favorite, D&D miniatures. You can listen to it right here.

Thanks for checking it out!

--Scott

Another Bugman Warrior Painted

I've had a 4th Aegis Bugman Warrior prepped for painting on my table for quite some time. In my effort to spend some time painting role-play minis over the next week or so, I decided it was his turn, and here he is!







Once again Foundry Butter Fudge comes through--this is becoming a really useful color for all manner of jobs. And here's a comp shot showing my quartet of Bugmen Warriors:



Later this week I hope to nail down my D&D Dragonborn Druid's animal companion, and maybe a few other surprises!

Thanks for checking out the blog!

--Scott

D&D Essentials: Dragonborn Druid!

I think I'd like to retreat from painting miniatures for skirmish battle games of any sort for a week (maybe more!) or so, and do some one-off pieces for RPG's, and just personal enjoyment.

To start off, I picked up a great Reaper Reptus Wizard to use as a Dragonborn Druid for a possible D&D Essentials game my buddy Rico may run on Sunday mornings. D&D at dawn? We've done it before!

I didn't like the scroll hand, so I swapped it with a plastic closed fist from some of my spare Warhammer Lizardmen bits, a near perfect fit!



I wanted this mini to have a unique story, and I wanted to do some 3-step white blends again after a while away from it. So I decided he would be a foundling, some scion of a long-lost tribe of albino Dragonborn that worshiped a massive White Dragon as their god. Raised by human druids, he too would take on the mantle of a protector of nature and wielder of its power.

I've decided his name will be Zephyr Frost-Tongue, a title given him by the mountain dwelling druids who raised him as their own.

I went with my go-to green for the robes and hood, Foundry 3-step Phlegm Green. The shillelagh was meant to be ash, so I used Foundry Butter Fudge on it. Here are some more shots:











I need to do a bit of clean-up work on that eye.

Here are some comp shots for scale:





Next up, I need to do an animal companion for Zephyr, and you can pretty much bet it won't be a mammal!

Thanks for checking out the blog!

--Scott

WFB: Rats In Unusual Numbers

My buddy Rico and I were talking about playing Warhammer Fantasy Battle again, and I realized I had not yet shown off my recently completed unit of 60 Giant Rats. Yes, I went there. It is a horde of hordes, and surprisingly effective in the two games I have fielded them in.

If anything, they're a tar-pit that when placed in the center of my lines, proves difficult to avoid!











In making the unit I used GW rats from every conceivable source, including Necromunda and some long OOP fantasy models (thanks, Lou!).

As impressive as they are, a bit of good cannon fire sends them packing! They are Skaven, after all!

Thanks for looking!

--Scott

Hordes: Skorne Paingivers

I've decided to do a small 15 pt. Skorne force containing only the models I like best from the line.

As a test, I picked up a unit of Paingiver Beast Handlers to try out my paint scheme, which features a lot of Foundry 3-step Conker Brown. So far I am happy with results.









Next up will be the Warlock, Mordikaar.

Thanks for checking out the blog!

--Scott

Off The Shelf: SuperFigs!

Man, I have painted a lot of SuperFigs over the years. I though it might be fun to show some more off here on the blog.

Today we have shots of Karthoum and the normal sized version of the Fission, one of our shrinker packs.









Designed by the amazing Thomas Scioli, Karthoum possesses that unmistakable Jack Kirby vibe. He's also larger than the average SuperFig, as you can see in the comp shots above.

The robotic Fission (seen above with Karthoum) was designed by my friend Jan Anarella, and he has a really classic Marvel silver age feel. The idea behind him is that when he shrinks he splits into two smaller versions of himself.

I have never got around to painting the two shrunken versions in this red scheme.

I'll use this feature to show off more SuperFigs in the future!

--Scott

Hordes: A Murder of Croaks!

Well, not quite. But how about a duo?

As I've stated in the past on this blog, I do not like duplicate poses in skirmish games like Hordes. I wanted to use two Croak Hunter solos, so I asked a sculptor associate of mine to make a few minor adjustments on my second Croak Hunter before I painted him. It's not a huge change, but it makes a big difference to me.









And if I might rant for a moment. Hey, PP, sculpt like you've got a pair! You're a big-boy miniatures company, one of the best in the biz, so step up and deliver some alternate poses of these sorts of models. I know how the process works. This could be accomplished for minimal cost and outlay of time. The original becomes a dolly for the new pose. Not hard. Use some of the funds you've saved on pewter from hollowing out all of those miniatures and funnel them back into alternate poses.

Again, I love PP and most all of their stuff, but I just want them to be better in certain areas.

Anyway, thanks for checking out the blog!

--Scott

Off the Shelf: Radagast the Brown

I really dig the Lord of the Rings miniature battle game, and I have a large army of Dwarfs that I will show off on another installment of OtS, but today I'd like to share my paint job on Radagast the Brown, one of the coolest wizard minis ever done in 28mm, IMHO.





Unfortunately, Radagast is less than effective in the game, but I guess you can't have everything!

Thanks for checking out the blog!

--Scott