The Innsmouth Look

Innsmouth villagers

28 mm

The secluded village of Innsmouth.  Odd rumors about its peculiar folk abound in the area around, but the village is isolated by a great marsh surrounding it, and the most... unwelcoming attitude of its residents.  

And a peculiar folk they are. The village is run-down and shabby, one might almost mistake it for abandoned except for the odd figures shambling through the streets.  Figures with a very distinctive faces: bulging eyes, large batrachian lips, receding foreheads.  Certainly rather inbred, but with a suggestion of something else too...

These characterful Lovecraftian figures are from the Mansions of Madness board game (sweater guy) and EM4 miniatures (thin man).  Lots of fun to bring them to life, even though they're not "flashy".

You take my life...

 ... but I'll take yours too

You fire your musket but I'll run you through...

The Trooper

28mm

Staggering forwards, he clenches his bloodied sabre and raises the battle standard in the enemy's face, as shots ring out all around... What can victory even mean, in this slaughterhouse of flesh and metal?

The Trooper is easily both one of Iron Maiden's best and most memorable songs, and one of their most iconic images:

The song is inspired by the Crimean War, specifically the 1854 "Charge of the Light Brigade" in which British soldiers attacked in the face of Russian field guns with severe losses.  So, there's a definite theme of mutual pointless death and the futility of war.

The Trooper is another figure from the excellent Iron Maiden Zombicide box set.

Student Sorcerer

Zimone, Magic Researcher

28mm

Some magic users bumble about in dusty sanctums with dried frogs and herbs. Some pore through ancient books seeking to uncover the old knowledge of others. And some, like Zimone, seek to determine an underlying structure of it all: the reproducible mathematical patterns that bind together every spell from simple fireworks right up to demon summoning... the science of magic.

Zimone is a "Magic: the Gathering" miniature, and the chalkboard is scratch built.  I had a lot of fun with this one 😁

Speed paints

Both these figures were painted using the underpainting and glaze technique I've been practising to try and do "quick, fun" paint jobs.  It results in satisfying deep contrast (eg. my WWI style Tau) but I think I'm learning to use it for a variety of subjects, both "grim/dark", and more brightly coloured.

Wererat Duelist

28 mm

With his two blades, he'll challenge you to defend his honor, or the last slice of pizza...

Ghoul Queen

28mm

To her, you ARE the last slice of pizza.

The Moses of her People

Harriet Tubman

28mm

“I had crossed the line. I was free; but there was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land; and my home after all, was down in Maryland; because my father, my mother, my brothers, and sisters, and friends were there. But I was free, and they should be free."

Harriet Tubman, born an enslaved person in 1822 in Maryland, finished her life as an American hero who personally liberated over 70 other Black people from slavery, and guided a Union naval raid of Black troops that freed 750 others and destroyed their enslavers' plantations.  

After escaping slavery as a young woman she secretly returned again and again, on foot, to guide others north to Union states where they would be free.  She worked as a nurse and spy for the Union Army and was an associate of abolitionists like Frederick Douglass, and armed anti-slavery insurrectionst John Brown.

Later in life she was a suffragette, working alongside activists like Susan B. Anthony to demand the vote for women.

This figure is from Bad Squiddo Games as part of their "Community Miniatures project".

Spooktober-Orctober

I had fun painting up a few Halloween themed minis this year!  I kept them fun and quick, and I think they turned out pretty well!  All of these are from my stash of old minis, and several had made it as far as being cleaned up and glued to a base before my attention... wandered.

Skeleton and Wolfman
28mm

A bone-chilling pair!  The classic Wolfman is a Reaper figure, the gangly skeleton is Confrontation.

Man-Bat
28mm

This one is an old Wizkids HeroClix miniature of Batman's beastly counterpart "Man-Bat".

And this Orctober Orc soldier, which is a very deep dive into the lead pile indeed...

Who knows where this guy is from, though a good guess might be pre-slotta Citadel...  I love his hangdog attitude and crude appearance, he's really the most expendable tier of greenskin grunts.

Evil Elephant

Chaugnar Faughn

(sort of) 28mm scale

"Originally from a dimension very different from our own, Chaugnar Faugn travelled to Earth in its far distant past.  Chaugnar Faugn appears as a 'statue' made from an unidentifiable element of a disgusting humanoid hybrid creature which combines the very worst aspects of the octopus, elephant, and human being. His proboscoid trunk sports a horrible lamprey-like mouth at the tip, which Chaugnar uses to drain his prey of their essence. This process also causes the victim to slowly transform into the likeness of The Elephant God himself." - Monster Wiki

This monstrosity is a Cthulhu Wars plastic figure.  It was my first paint job done using underpainting, so I painted the whole thing black, dry brushed it in light gray and white, and then glazed over it with thin colors.  I made the gore stretching from its proboscis to its claws using hot glue.

Up the Irons! Eddie lives!

Pharaoh Eddie 
Cyborg Eddie

28mm

There's a time to live, and a time to die
When it's time to meet the maker
There's a time to live, but isn't it strange
That as soon as you're born, you're dying...

Past and future... He's been an angel, a devil, a mystic, a king and an outlaw.  Eddie is immortal, following humanity through history witnessing our triumphs and our insanity, but unable to change our course no matter what form he takes...

 

These amazing models are from the Iron Maiden Zombicide box set. In addition to a bunch of game cards to use in a variety of different table top games, it comes with six detailed figures of Eddie in his different guises: Pharaoh, cyborg, Reaper, trooper, samurai and undead.  And there's a whole other box I didn't get, with six more!

"I don't want to die, I'm a god, why can't I live on?"

Science fiction triple feature

Dr. Luwazi Elsebo
Zan usu Zan usu Midaxon
Brett  Solaris
28 mm

Well, we had a lot of luck on Venus
We always had a ball on Mars
We're meeting all the groovy people
We've rocked the Milky Way so far
We danced around with Borealis
We're space truckin' round the the stars

I recently finished this fun trio of science fiction figures: very different concepts and designs but I think they'll all fit into my collection nicely.  Dr. Elsebo is a Starfinder figure, an explorer and scholar seeking to discover new things and unravel mysteries of the universe.  The other two... it's less obvious.  I see the non-human Zan usu Zan (Stargrave) as a telekinetic/psionic or Force user, and "Brett" (Ganesha Games) as a neutral-good leaning rogue or freelancer.  Like Han Solo... but with a lightsaber.

Science Fiction Double Feature

Astro Princess Warrior

28mm

Must be an alien, swear to god I am
dropped down, from another planet

With her laser jezail, this alien princess warrior is ready to defend her space kingdom from all enemies!

I deliberately went with a highly colorful campy look for this character, because the whole concept is pretty reminiscent of something from Buck Rogers or even "John Carter of Mars".  Or... Astonishing Science Fiction.

Slade, Cyborg Hero

28 mm

Man Machine
Pseudo-human being
Man Machine
Superhuman being

I knew I had to add some color accents to this figure, because otherwise he's extraordinarily similar to the DC comics character Cyborg, from the Teen Titans.  And since orange is the best color... 😄

Both of these are Reaper Bones miniatures, acquired in my very first expedition to the incredible Meeplemart in Toronto.

Rhino Boys

Rhox Gangster

28mm scale

"Can I go in?"
"Are you on the list?"
"Not... technically."
"If you're not on the list, then you can't go in. Now, shove off!"

This rhino man puts his muscle to work as a gangsters' thug, guarding, fighting, or intimidating as the need arises...

Rhox lawyer

28mm scale

Single rhino lawyer
Filing an objection
Up at night and reading law
For his clients' protection

Single rhino lawyer
Working pro bono cases
Got some brand new evidence
So back to court he races!
(w. apologies to Futurama)

... While his law-abiding brother argues in court.  His clients may be guilty, innocent, or something in between, but either way he'll make sure they receive the toughest defense he can muster.

This pair of thick-headed fantasy figures are a set from Magic the Gathering.

Champion of Rot

Smegatron the Pallid

28mm scale

Once his armor was gleaming and white, now a mass of scraping rust and foul suppurations. On the battlefield he swings a deadly flail, its spiked heads spewing contagious vapors even as they crush his enemies. One chain has snapped, but a helpful Nurgling has leapt up to take its place...

I popped into my local game store a while back and there was, by Father Nurgle's poxy benevolent hand, a single Series 3 Space Marine Heroes box left there.  So I bought it.  GW blind-boxing these is cynical bullsh*t, but I will not lie, the model is a good one.  It avoids most of the problems with plastic sprue figures, and its icky, Nurgley design is uncompromising.  I love it!

"Scabboth".  I chose the other head option and it's definitely better.

15mm terrain goodies

Shipping containers

 

My Instagram buddy @winnipegmichael generously sent me a bunch of nice corrugated craft paper, so naturally the first thing I made with it was that classic terrain piece, intermodal cargo containers.  If you own something manufactured, there's a good chance it once traveled in one of these...

I tried to make them look used but not totally abused.  The graffiti was fun, I did some of it with my child's Posca paint markers.

Wind turbine and solar unit

These two pieces were surprisingly easy for how good they came out looking. They're made from cardstock, corrugated paper, printed papercraft designs, and some toy parts.  The techy turbine blades are from a Kinder egg toy; there's a bit of Lego in there too.

Fearless Vampire Hunter

Stake-Wielding Friar

28mm

The peasants come to his door, telling tales of a fiend risen from the dead to drink blood.  Christian and pagan alike bolt their doors and tremble in the night.  So the friar does the only thing he can do: finds a mallet and sharpens a wooden stake, and ventures forth to destroy the creature, protected only by his faith... and the largest silver cross he can find, hung around his neck.  Finding the vampire's crypt, he impales it through the heart and stuffs a consecrated wafer into its mouth.  "By the body of Christ I send you back to hell, unholy abomination!  Prey upon my flock no more! Domine deus, libera nos a malo!
Amen!"  With a hideous screech, the bloodsucking demon withers and disintegrates into stinking dust...

The Friar is a Midlam Miniatures figure.