Slave to the Power of Death

Tomb of the Screaming Pharaoh
15mm scale

Tell me why I had to be a Powerslave
I don't wanna die, I'm a god
Why can't I live on?

 

 

It was said that the pharaoh Ser-Akh-Aten, seeking to escape not only bodily putrefaction but mortal death itself, entered a pact with forces far older and darker than the gods of his people.  He expired, shrieking in an incomprehensible tongue, his body grotesque and contorted, and was hastily mummified and interred under the Elder Sign by his priests, in the hopes his madness would be buried and forgotten.

It was not forgotten, and did not long stay buried...

 

He knew the Black Pharaoh
Servant to the Faceless Sphinx God
He gave me the book of the dead

 

These figures were a kind gift from CP Models.  I made the tomb from Fimo (the face) and insulation foam (the wall).

(A bit of a "Zardoz" vibe now that I think of it)

She sells seashells

Mary Anning and "Tray"
28mm

 

A woman.  Born to a working-class Dorset family in the 19th century.  Without higher education.  Ineligible for membership in the Geological Society of London, due to her sex.  

But by age 12 Mary Anning had unearthed her first ichthyosaur, and by 24, a complete plesiosaur.  She discovered countless other fossils including England's first pterosaur, Dimorphodon.  And she impressed the hell out of most of the major paleontologists of her day, who visited her regularly and sought her fossil-hunting expertise.  She was just that good.

That said, she always struggled financially and like most people of her time, had to work very hard to support a quite modest living.  And while many prominent scientists of her time lauded her and considered her a friend, others had no qualms about leaving her name off the manuscripts they wrote about her fossil finds.  Still, her impact on the fledgling science of paleontology was striking, both in her time and ours.

This fantastic set, clearly based on a well-known painting of Anning and her beloved spaniel Tray, is a recent release from Antediluvian Miniatures.

 

“Her history shows what humble people may do, if they have just purpose and courage enough, toward promoting the cause of science. The inscription under her memorial window commemorates “her usefulness in furthering the science of geology” (it was not a science when she began to discover, and so helped to make it one), “and also her benevolence of heart and integrity of life.” The carpenter’s daughter has won a name for herself, and has deserved to win it.” - Charles Dickens, 1865

Emissary of Carnage

TROG
15mm

While GORT model automatons travel the universe promoting peace and understanding, TROG seeks only to visit planet after planet, spreading death, fire, and destruction.

TROG is a slightly modified Alternative Armies figure.  His spaceship is made of foamcore board, coated with Modpodge and dirt, with an LED inside.

DESPAIR, MEATBEINGS.

Thankfully, GORT arrives in time to save (some of) the planet...

Remember the Pigs

The Terraformers' Memorial
15mm scale

"The company put that statue up, you know.  Paragon Exoplanetary, the ones who had this world terraformed.  It's dangerous business, terraforming; hard to get workers willing to travel light-years just to scrape by on a toxic planet for decades.  They came up with the idea of making workers.  Genetically engineered pigs, with enhanced intelligence and opposable thumbs!   Picture that, eh?  Pigs, man!  Anyway, the pigs did the terraforming, god knows what they told them would happen after.  But just as this place became inhabitable... boom!  A mysterious disease.  They all died within weeks, just before they would have gained full First Settlers' rights here!  Way too convenient, if you ask me.  And then they built a god damn memorial to their 'selfless sacrifice'..."

 

These pigs were a Kinder Surprise toy that floated through the house for a while before I came up with the germ of this idea.  Then yesterday I felt the need for a quick, easy project so I finally did it!  Those poor pigs... never trust the company.

Metal Gods

The Void Marauders
15mm

Long ago
we watched the videos
on Headbangers Ball
that's where we learned it all

Wearing Spandex pants
six-string lasers in their hands
synchronized guitars
they laid out the master plan...

The heavy metal life isn't an easy one... long hours traveling, practicing, tuning instruments, worshiping the dark gods of your choice.  But when you get out on the stage and thousands (or for less successful bands, dozens) of screaming fans are "throwing the horns", it's all worth it...

These metal legends are from the "Entertainers" set from Alternative Armies (which I also used for "Dazzler").  I now feel like I should have done something more with the bases, but I just don't know what...

No drummer, no problem.  Rock on!

(The Void Marauders are named in honour of my longtime online acquaintance Spacejacker, who has finally been able to return to Ontario after a lengthy Covid-restriction-related stay in Australia.)

Urban protector

Foxy Detective
28mm

There's no pretending it goes away
With every step that you take, you pay your dues
And I ain't lying
You got to struggle to see the light
Cause someone's looking to steal your right to choose

Maybe her little sister got hooked on drugs... or her friend got shot.  Maybe she found out her man double-crossed her and was mixed up in some corrupt business.   Or maybe she just got tired of the good people in her neighborhood living in fear of the pimps and pushers.  Whatever it is, she's going to teach criminals a lesson... any way it takes!

 

 

The figure is Reaper's "Ebony Foxx, Modern Heroine", a lovely Bob Ridolfi sculpted homage to the "blaxploitation" genre of 70's action films.  As lovely as it is, I think the part of this I'm happiest with is the fire hydrant, which I made from scratch after poring over photos of New York City fire hydrants.

Inspired by, of course, the incomparable
Pam Grier, star of "Foxy Brown" and "Coffy".

Catsong

Indy, Ragdoll Bard
28 mm scale

Tomorrow will take us away
Far from home
No one will ever know our names
But the bards' songs will remain

A bard's coin and living rest on their reputation, and Indy's songs and sagas are certainly well-reknowned.  His passage through town always leaves behind happy, entertained folk purring a new song or two... and the occasional unexpected litter of kittens...

This Cats & Catacombs figure is actually the first bard I've ever painted.  As lovely as it is on its own, I felt like it deserved a well-done pastoral base, to suit a bard's itinerant, poetic nature.  I used bark for the rock, and these are my first sculpted mushrooms, which I think turned out okay.  The figure is posed pretty statically, but makes up for it with a poised, handsome character that suits a notoriously charismatic profession.

 

Come, for the dusk is our own; let us fare forth together,
With a quiet delight in our hearts for the ripe, still, autumn weather,
Through the rustling valley and wood and over the crisping meadow,
Under a high-sprung sky, winnowed of mist and shadow.

Cowabunga Cruiser

Turtle Party Wagon
15mm scale

YO! It's the green machine
Gonna rock the town without being seen
Have you ever seen a turtle get down?
Slammin and jammin to the new swing sound
Yeah, everybody let's move
Vanilla is here with the New Jack Groove
Gonna rock, And roll this place
With the power of the ninja turtle bass

Gotta have some cool wheels while you're cruising NYC to take down Shredder and The Foot!

This (pizza) slice of the late 80's was a random Hot Wheels find at the dollar store before Christmas.  It's a very faithful design, AND pretty much perfectly 15mm scale!  All it needed was a paint job.

Of course I had to add some Big Apple civic pride along with the other graffiti:

And now for the kicker... A while ago, as part of a swap, @winnipegmichael on Instagram sent me these incredibly obscure TMNT figures he'd painted.  They're big-15mm scale, and this van suits them absolutely!

The sincerest form of flattery pt. 2

Ejhin de Vanth
28mm

Fear of the dark
Fear of the dark
I have a constant fear that something's always near

This Rackham Confrontation miniature has been kicking around my collection since... Confrontation was the newest and coolest thing, years ago.  It just never jumped out at me to be painted.  But, as they say... every dog has its day.

I've been following the amazing work of Matthias Radtke, aka @gravewraithterrain on Instagram for a while.  As well as experimenting with unusual materials and textures, his smoldering, dark paint jobs contrasted with intense light effects are both immediately eye-catching, and piqued my artistic interest.  So many of my works are bright... I wanted to try and duplicate his technique, and produce my own thing of sinister darkness.  And this arcanely creepy sorceress was a good sculpt to work from.

I think it worked pretty well... considering I have little practice emulating others' styles, and I deliberately asked for a minimum of technical advice from Mr. Radtke (who was, however, happy to oblige).  The eldritch green glow and filthy smoke coming off her staff was both the first thing I did here, and a great focal point for the figure.

This was a fulfilling hobby project, and I'm pleased to say, a quick one! I didn't agonize over blending or pumping my highlights up to eleven, just matching the grim mood and spectacular depth of my inspiration.  The results are at least fairly close to what I was hoping for.

 To conclude, this is where I plug the Grave Wraith Terrain Etsy store, if anyone's interested in owning one of Matthias' many lovely works.

Jungle Patrol

Jungle Patrol and monolith
15mm

 

The galaxy is filled with mysterious relics: the structures and artifacts left behind by long-lost peoples on a thousand planets...  Some are crumbling ruins, others are active and even dangerous technologies waiting to imperil the unwary explorer.  This squad of troopers have discovered such a relic in the deep jungle... crumbling ruins, but holding a huge crystal glowing with some inner power...

These figures were a gift from @winnipegmichael, they're apparently "Yenpalo troopers" from Brigade Models.  The CO's "fish head" is from CP Miniatures.  The monolith is just made from an aquarium gem and chunks of cork, with a light dusting of very fine foam flocking (so fine I rarely use it, actually, but it makes good moss).

"Fan out and scan for EM spikes!  There might be more of them!"

Oldhammer Original

Mercenary Abbadon
28mm

They say he was there at the beginning.  One of the originals; witnessed the birth of the Imperium.  But that's impossible... he's just a man, a lowly spacer.  Still, the glitchy old holos don't lie; there he is.

This figure is easily one of the most vintage models I own.  First appearing in 1987, the sculpt dates all the way back to the early days of Citadel Miniatures' "Rogue Trader", when there was a lot less rigid backstory or structure to their catalog.  Later, the Rogue Trader universe became the skull-piled Warhammer 40,000 we all know and (problematically) love, and street-level characters like Abbadon, Plunderino Pete, and Irn-Bonce the Squat are now a thing of the past...

1987: first appearance as "Ground Combat Trooper".

 

... then "Abbadon" a few months later.

 

It's an odd sculpt, hunched and bandy-legged with a very vague helmeted face that's almost skeletal.  But I like it, it has a grimy working-class-in-space appeal.

I picked this model up years ago, and a recent post by Matt S. of Oldenhammer in Toronto spurred me to paint it up.  I love his bold, lively painter's hand, and I think this paint job is definitely influenced by it.  I tried not to mimic his version of the figure, but the shoulder patches are identical as a small homage.

(Abbadon's name was of course recycled for a much different, more skull-licious 40k character later on)

"How long were you out there, old timer?... Hmm, a man of few words, I guess."

Chernobyl Man

Pripyat intruder
15mm

I'm nuclear
I'm wild
I'm breaking up inside
A heart of broken glass defiled
Deep inside the abandoned child

To enter the Chernobyl Incident Exclusion Zone is forbidden.  But some do it anyway, out of curiosity, desire for adventure, or to scavenge any remaining valuables.  It's certainly a risky venture however; while radiation levels are now low enough that exposure doesn't mean certain death, there are other, more immediate perils lurking within...

This is an Alternative Armies figure with a bit of detail added to the rifle and gasmask (giving it an oddly spider-like appearance).  The fences and sign are scratchbuilt, with model barbed wire.

"Good you are here, tovarisches!  They are escaping!"

 

Note: this figure and terrain are inspired by fiction like the PC game "S.T.A.L.K.E.R.", depicting the Exclusion Zone as a bleak, sinister, apocalyptic landscape full of savage, mutated horrors.  While this is a cool fantasy, the real Zone is actually what many areas abandoned by humans rapidly become: a safe haven for wildlife and flora to flourish without disruption:

The Exclusion Zone can even be visited safely, without automatic weapons and creepy, grotty Soviet-surplus gasmasks, via professional guided tours that visit highlights like abandoned schools, parks, and even the plant itself.

Paws of Sorcery

Solan, Persian Warlock

28mm scale

Solan paced the perimeter of the summoning circle, uttering the words of power that would draw forth an entity from the planes beyond ours.  One mistake and the spell would fail, or worse, the spirit would escape, free to perform whatever mischief it chose on our world... and the spellcaster who sought to bind it.  Solan's protective wards and potions were formulated with this in mind...

I had a hard time deciding which of my Cats & Catacombs figures to paint after my monk and fighter pair... but since I tend to have a shortage of magic-users in my display case, this guy was a great choice!  He has a distinctive pacing, slightly curved posture, which fits perfectly with a summoning circle on his base to give him a bit of a story.

Removing this little guy from his attached base was a very good idea; I don't know if you could even paint his belly completely without doing it.

 The bottles are from the same WizKids Deep Cuts purchase as the lighted cauldron I posted earlier (though these are from the wizard's accessories).  I drilled them out and painted the inside surfaces to make them look filled with liquid; the plastic's a bit soft and oddly hard to drill cleanly. But the result works, I think.

Light show

Firepower

15mm

Aim for the target
With laser and lights
Releasing the trigger
Puts victory in sight

This was a fun one-day project I did last week on a day off work.  The figure is an Alternative Armies "Star Viking" I've had for a while but was never inspired by before.  I just saw it in the pile, and the idea to paint it up with a gun blast effect and OSL just came to me.  The result, I think, is actually pretty badass.

Witch's Cauldron

28mm scale

 

I picked up a couple of WizKids Deep Cuts sets recently: "Witch's Den" and "Wizard's Room".  so now I have a fun assemblage of arcane dungeon dressing that I'll probably use to embellish bases or set up some fun photos.  The coolest item was a cauldron with a clear insert for the "potion" inside!  So I did the obvious :)

 

This was actually pretty easy, just a bit of drilling and positioning to get the LED snug inside.  The hardest part was fitting the wires under the very thin base I used.  I'd suggest a regular 30mm base if you want to make something like this.