Undead Master of Knowledge

Count Orlok, Scholarly Vampire
28mm

Immortality... a gift, and yet also a burden.  A vampire can only enjoy rampant carnage for so long before even the hunt becomes a chore.  The weight of centuries can lead to apathy, immobility, descent into near-stasis... or a realization that all that time opens up new potential.  Some like St. Vigeus embark on martial conquest, amassing a vampire army and putting humans to the sword as well as the fang.  But for others, their intellect guides them.  An infinite quest for knowledge, discovery of lore and arcane secrets, and possibly immense power! With nothing but time, they scour the world for obscure tomes, magical artifacts and substances, hideous rare beasts, and other arcana.

A CP miniatures figure, with a scratchbuilt desk and accessories from WizKids Deep Cuts.  I also added a few details to his base, implying some tentacled horror imprisoned beneath his floor.

"Ah... nothing like a bottle and a new book.  It's a pity there's nobody
here to share them with... oh right, I hate company."

Brutally Enhanced

Grafted nightmare
28 mm

There's no shortage of possibilities in artificial body modification.  Many mods are sleek, streamlined or even invisible, greatly augmenting their wearers' abilities without even changing their clothing size.  But for others, the visibility is intentional: bulging vat-grown muscle tissue, extra or extended limbs, and bulky cybernetics.  The most extreme mods go beyond even the minimal legal restrictions, and must be sought from overseas black clinics, or just a medical school dropout operating in a dirty garage with stolen tools.  The results are often horrific: barely-human monstrosities driven by social disengagement, distorted self-image, and violence...

This miniature is a real mystery! I received it in a swap many years ago, and have no idea who made it or what exactly it's supposed to be.  It kind of has shades of "Weapon X" from Marvel comics, and "Adam" from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

"Stay back... This guy's one of those Shinjuku jobs..."

 

Dark Troopers

Viridian Marines
28 mm

I got no face, no name, I'm just a killing machine

These sinister soldiers, Viridian Colonial Marines from Scotia Grendel, have been sitting in my lead pile for a LONG time (so long that I'm very surprised they're still in production).  These sure aren't my best paint jobs, but I decided it was time to get them done.  I always imagined them resembling the horrible fascist troopers in the anime "Jin-Roh", and that's definitely the look here.

I tried a variant of gently drybrushing with a fairly wet brush to speed-paint them, but they definitely turned out looking... drybrushed.  As chalky as a glass of metamucil.  Oh well.

"Halt!  Who are you?  You're in the wrong place, citizen..."