Black Mesa Survivor

Gordon Freeman and Alyx Vance
15 mm

"So Gordon, nice day huh?"
"..."

So I finally decided to tackle these two figures, Khurasan's "Dave Rimmer and Desiree Kim", pretty decent proxies for the protagonist of Half-Life 2 and his surprisingly resilient NPC sidekick.  It's a bit intimidating.  They're some of the most amazing miniature sculpts I've ever seen, in ANY scale let alone 15 mm!  The incredible paint job (edit: by Jen Haley, so yeah) posted on Khurasan's website doesn't help... O_O

Anyway, I hope my results are even half as good... I did try to make a cool base for them, matching the game's post-invasion wasteland atmosphere.  This was done mostly with Instant Mold: taking a texture impression of a rough stone and dabbing the IM against the putty base until it looked irregular enough.  The half-buried drum and tires were duplicated from some bitz using IM, and pressed into the base material.  It doesn't perfectly match my headcrabs, but it's close enough and looks good IMO.

Half-Life 2 sculpt and paint

Headcrabs
15 mm scale

I quickly made these and painted them over the last day or so as a fun, low-pressure project.    Headcrabs are the main "small and annoying" foe in the Half-Life games.  They only do a little damage to the player, but poor NPC's attacked by them are turned into inhuman "headcrab zombies" that are much more dangerous:

These will tie in nicely whenever I get to painting Khurasan's not-Half-Life-2 figures "Dave Rimmer and Desiree Kim".  I've already converted Dave's weapon to look more like one of the game models (the Overwatch pulse rifle):

"Staging" miniature photography

I've been envying certain bloggers' terrain collections for a while.  Not because I want it for gaming, but because with the right set-up,  it can produce some really impressive photos of miniatures that "bring them to life" as it were.  Some good examples from some of my favorite painters:

Yeaaaaaah, pretty nice.  I don't have nearly the time to make this kind of thing, or the space to display it, but some kind of thematic backgrounds might be an improvement over the blue-white gradient or simple coloured paper I use now.

The other day I found a page with a pretty amazing collection of  free Star Wars-themed downloadable paper terrain, that I thought might do the trick and be simple to use. I printed some off, and quickly whipped up this super-basic backdrop:

Your typical Death Star corridor, nothing to write home about.  But even this produces some fun photos:

"Only a master of evil, Darth!"

Trying something a little more elaborate:

"Hey, what's HE doing here?"

Wow, right out of the movies!  OK, maybe not exactly, but I like it.  And it gives the figures a bit more "story" or context, which any even halfway-decent sculpt should already be trying to evoke.  Also, while it's not very creative on my part, I could print these at different scales to display 15 or 28mm minis.

A Girl and her Dog

Sarah Jane Smith and K-9
28 mm

Finally done!  I'm pretty happy with this piece - not action-packed, not dramatic, just a couple of characters I like, together.  Sarah Jane Smith was a fun companion to my favorite Fourth Doctor, as well as his predecessor, and she was involved in some of the Fourth's coolest early adventures.

The eyes look pretty bad in this shot, for some reason...

I was really happy when she was brought back to be in an episode with the Tenth Doctor, as well as having her own show (aimed at teens, admittedly, but it doesn't suck).  Sadly, actress Elizabeth Sladen passed away in 2011, so Sarah Jane will never return.

"Again, K-9?  It's a good thing I brought bags."

Award Ceremony

This is an idea I've had for a while.  Looking back (8 years!) on my blog, I've had a number of visitors over the years, as usual coming and going over time.  But I have to say, there's one guy who just keeps coming back , since March 2006 in fact.

So, javi, this award is for you, my most loyal reader :)

It's easy to forget that the things we do online do have impact, positive or negative, on actual people in the real world.  So to everyone who visits here, thanks for reading!  And for those who leave comments, they're always appreciated.

Under the Sea

Sea Devil
28 mm

Whether you call them Sea Devils, Deep Ones, or CODENAME BLUE HADES, these quasi-amphibianoids have lurked under the waves since before humans tamed fire... waiting for their chance to reclaim the planet from uppity apes.  Consequently they and their Silurian relatives clashed several times with the Doctor, who was sympathetic to their wish for a living space on Earth, but not their violent methods.

Video: Doctor Who - The Sea Devils

Despite the simple colour scheme it was surprisingly difficult to finish this one.  The base had to be ripped apart and totally redone, as my first attempt at water (using clear acrylic medium with a little paint added) made it look like he was emerging from an ocean of green Kool-Aid.  So now it looks a little rough, unfortunately.

K-9 (sort of finished)

K-9 Mk IV
28 mm scale

Sarah Jane Smith isn't finished yet, but here's K-9!  On a quick temporary base so I can admire him while I work.

K-9 Mk IV was given to Sarah Jane Smith by the Tenth Doctor, after the events of the episode "School Reunion".  He appeared in the spin off series "The Sarah Jane Adventures" which I've never seen, but suspect was only average.

Three (More) Doctors

So these recently arrived in the mail from Heresy:

From L-R, the Ninth (Christopher Eccleston), Tenth (David Tennant) and Eleventh (Matt Smith) Doctors.  Simply incredible sculpts, 9 and 11 especially capture the respective actors amazingly well without being exaggerated caricatures.  They also happen to scale perfectly with my older Doctor Who figures.  I'm terribly slow painting anything 28 mm these days, but I'm hoping I can paint at least one of these up soon.

B-Movie Madness!

"With the swiftness of a deadly cosmic ray, the Earth is invaded by indestructible Moon monsters. Their ghastly mission: death for all Humans!"

Robot Monster
15 mm

So I finally got around to painting one of Khurasan's awesome B-movie critters!  In the original monochrome of course, since a movie this bad had nowhere near the budget to use Technicolor... 

"There is no escape from me!  Very well, I will recalculate... your death will be indescribable.  Fool humans!  There is no escape!"
 

A slightly more thematic presentation...

Two Doctor Who projects

Our whole household has been sidelined by a nasty flu this past couple of weeks, but just as a sign I'm still alive, I'm currently trying to work on a pair (trio?) of classic Doctor Who figures:

Sarah Jane Smith with the cybernetic dog K-9, and a Sea Devil, all from Black Tree Miniatures.  Not much done so far, I'm afraid, but... yeah.  The flu sucks :(

Space Adventurer #5

The Dark Warlord
15 mm

Hatred is like a long, dark shadow... It is like a two-edged sword. When you cut the other person, you cut yourself. The more violently you hack at the other person, the more violently you hack at yourself. - Haruki Murakami, "The Wind-up Bird Chronicle"

Of course I saved the best for last... and this is such a great figure too!  The sense of aggressive forward motion is really there, with that cape billowing behind him.  Seemingly beyond redemption, he charges into combat cutting his enemies down without mercy.  His powers are impressive, but his main allies are his own hate and anger.

My source lighting on this one is definitely inspired by dis's excellent version of this figure.  I think the figure looked pretty good without it, but that's no excuse to get lazy, now is it? ;)  The base is actually super simple - a piece of an old model kit that has a treadplate texture on it.  I wanted something cool but not so elaborate it distracted from the figure itself.

Space Adventurer #4

The Bounty Hunter
15 mm

Certainly there is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never really care for anything else thereafter.
- Ernest Hemingway
 

A coolly amoral villain full of menace and mystery (or at least he once was, before we learned all about his childhood and his many adventures in elaborate detail).  There aren't a lot of characters I'm willing to paint twice, in two different scales, let's put it that way ;)

"I shall call him... Mini Me."

Space Adventurers - Villains (WIP)

Space Baddies
15 mm

Evil for profit

Evil for principle

I'm just getting a start on the last two figures from this set - the bad guys! It took me days to get the basing and prep work done, in a parent's typical 5-10 min. leisure increments.  Dremeling the attached bases off was as usual a nerve-wracking exercise!  But they're ready to paint now and I'm really looking forward to it.  These happen to be two of the most dynamically posed figures in this set and really, they're head and shoulders above a lot of 15 mm sculpts in that regard.

Stay posted for the completed paint jobs...

Savage Sidekick

Leela
28 mm

Leela was a warrior of the savage Sevateem, a tribe of regressed humans. She joined the Fourth Doctor on his travels and with him fought for good causes. Although quite clever, she knew little of technology, and was continually amazed by her surroundings and the tasks she faced. Leela never lost her primitive edge, and remained quick to take up arms throughout her time with the Doctor. - Tardis Index File

Yay, another Doctor Who mini, though one that might not mean anything to non-fans.  I like this character because, starting in her debut in the excellent Tom Baker episode "The Face of Evil", she was never satisfied with not understanding something, rejecting magical beliefs and trying to rationally comprehend even the most bizarre things she encountered.  A scientific mind, despite her stone-age origins.  Although attempts to make her a proper Victorian lady failed ("The Talons of Weng-Chiang"), she eventually settled on Gallifrey, home of the Time Lords.

I again used my jungle base technique for this mini, effectively I think.  And it's always nice to have time to do 28 mm minis, they are where I started in this hobby.

"I know, there's no such thing as magic."
"That's right. To the rational mind, nothing is inexplicable; only unexplained."

"You're just a mechanical man!  You're not real!"

Third Doctor & TARDIS

The Third Doctor & TARDIS
28mm

I don't do a lot of 28mm painting these days, and these pieces probably demonstrate why.  I got the TARDIS as a Christmas gift last year, and quickly basecoated it... and yeah.  Just finished it this week.  As for the Third Doctor, I've definitely done better paint jobs.  I tried to set up a contrast between his grey wool cloak and his flamboyant clothes underneath, but overall he just isn't that interesting-looking.  Also, there's some pretty slapdash layering on this one :(

The signs on the TARDIS were actually made using this image, printed off on a regular laser printer at 10% zoom.  The result looks amazing, IMO:

Gingerbread 2012

Since, shockingly, the Mayan Armageddon failed to appear, I put together this year's Christmas gingerbread house.  Or, in this case, castle.  No real-life architectural inspiration this time; if anything it's inspired by the plastic tower from "Battle Masters" ;)  Little plastic men (unpainted, alas) were an obligatory addition.

"Camelot!"  "It's only a model!"

"Get me closer, I want to hit them with my sword!"

Two men enter... one man leaves!

Space Adventurer #3

Warrior Hermit
15 mm

Now and again it is necessary to seclude yourself among deep mountains and hidden valleys to restore your link to the source of life.
- Morihei Ueshiba, founder of Aikido

This one ended up being quite... Cecil B. DeMille.  Perhaps this mystic is parting a sea of sand, instead of the Red Sea?

Ordinary men hate solitude. But the Master makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe.
- the Tao Te Ching

Also, it's ok to lie to people who trust you about their dead or missing parents.

Space Adventurers #2

Lone Hand and the Big Furry Oaf, space smugglers
15 mm

"Dantes had not been a day on board before he had a very clear idea of the men with whom his lot had been cast... the people without name, country, or occupation, who are always seen on the quays of seaports, and who live by hidden and mysterious means which we must suppose to be a direct gift of providence, as they have no visible means of support. It is fair to assume that Dantes was on board a smuggler."
- The Count of Monte Cristo

Well these guys are what those bases in my last post were designed for.  Again, I'm not saying where I got them, but they're really nice.  They're good likenesses, and I think the contrast of tight/extended body poses make them also look good as a pair.

I've also now been reminded how nerve-wracking it is to grind attached bases off of tiny, tiny miniatures with a Dremel cutter.  But once again, nobody and nothing that wasn't supposed to be ground off, was ground off.  Whew!

Another daring escape!

Easy sci-fi basing with Instant Mold

For the next couple of 15 mm figures I'm doing, I wanted nice, high-tech "spacey" looking bases that would complement the minis' genre. The trouble is, the found objects I was going to make them out of are composed of soft, non-paintable plastic - ever try to paint those green vinyl army men?  (Also, sometimes an original object may be valuable or unique and one doesn't want to use it up to make bases.)

Enter my Instant Mold, and here I'm going to show you how I easily made multiple great-looking bases from a single textured original. Not rocket science, for sure, but since my basing posts here seem to get a good response, I thought I'd show you how I did it.
 

The object I'm using is an "embedding cassette" used to prepare tissues for microscopy.  Looks sort of cool and tech-y... but it's an unsuitable material.  Here, I've trimmed it down and stuck it to a tape backing.

Pressing the Instant Mold firmly onto the original produced a nice impression.

I usually base 15 mm figures on a Canadian penny, so this, covered with green stuff, is the substrate here.

The putty-covered coin is pressed onto the mold.  I tried to ensure that the putty layer wasn't too thick, and was of even thickness to produce a ~ flat "floor" for the mini to stand on.

Ta da!  Looks pretty good!  Once the putty was set, I peeled the mold off and carefully cut away the excess putty with an X-acto knife.  By varying the location on the mold where I pressed the putty, I made multiple  slightly different bases with the same general appearance.  And of course, green stuff is always guaranteed to be workable and takes paint well.

I can easily imagine a single dollar-store toy or random thing you found by the side of the road generating many bases using this method, and with a little ingenuity different textures could probably be combined on one base. I should also try it with rocks and other natural materials to see what kind of surfaces I can produce.