“Frankie & Johnny”

“Barman, a drink and some information”.

“Sure, but neither is free”.

After pushing some coin across the bar, “I’m heading into the badlands and need a guide, I was told this was the place to find one”.

“Frankie’s the best guide there is around here, and the only one crazy enough to go into the badlands!”

“And where do I find him?”

“Over in the corner, and it ain’t a him!”

Well while everyone else seems to be heading to Salute this weekend, little Cinderella here has been left at home toiling away at the figures I already own, and this week I thought I’d finally get some paint on a couple of the major heroes from my “Wasteland” project, “John Slater”, ex-special forces leader and disgraced hero of Salvation City, now tasked with recovering a very important “item” lost deep in the badlands and in the possession of some very bad people. And smart talking “scavenger” and guide extraordinaire “Frankie”. (It is worth noting that these two are the characters behind the most of the quotes from the previous posts). So after pulling two more figures from my “Moonraker Miniatures” collection, (strangely they are both armed with the same rifle, maybe Slater gave it to her as part payment for her services?) they were based up in my usual fashion before being given a coat of matt black and their trek across my painting table could begin (a trek a lot less hazardous than one into the badlands I hope!).

Slater, was begun in my usual way with a dry-brushing of chainmail over any metallic bits (shoulder pad and weapons), then I gave his trousers a coat of butternut and highlighted them with some khaki. His shirt was then painted coffee with cream forming the highlights here, I couldn’t decide if he had another shirt/jacket just visible under his coat or if it was just a ripple in his shirt, I decided on the former, so this and the pieces visible through holes in his coat were then added in chocolate brown with leather highlights. Turning to his flesh next, I mixed some European flesh with my flesh tone seven (dark flesh) and painted all the exposed areas with this, then after his eyes were added use more European flesh this time with a touch of pale flesh to highlight here. Scarf next, dark red with a pink burgundy highlight taking care of this, and light grey and a mix of the same with a little white for the highlight doing the same for the ones around his waist and knee. His hair was then added in more chocolate brown with chocolate brown mixed with some earth brown taking care of the highlights here. Finally I added highlights of dark grey to his coat, boots and knee pad, done.

Frankie, was also begun with a dry-brushing of chainmail, then I set to work on her dress (or what remains of it) with a coat of blue grey forming the base and highlights of porcelain blue over this, chocolate brown was then applied to some of her various leather pieces and the grip on her rifle with leather (funnily enough) used to highlight the leather and butternut the rifle grip. Her backpack and gas mask were then undercoated in deep bronze green with the same mixed with scenic green to form the highlights on the backpack, and mixed with stone green on the gas mask. Though you can’t see it in the picture scenic green was also used as the base on her water bottle case, with earth brown and light grey “splodges” completing the camouflage pattern here. Flesh next and as with Slater above European flesh mixed with flesh tone seven was used as the base here, and European flesh on its own formed the highlights, though she of course also got a little pink burgundy added to her lips. Her “yasser scarf” came next, coffee and cream covering this with dark red stripes painted over this. Hair next and as these two figures reminded me of two main characters from the movie “Spacehunter, Adventures in the forbidden zone!” I had to go with chestnut highlighted with orange for the hair, ala’ Molly Ringwald. That just left the jewel hanging around her neck to be touched in with some metallic blue, and some dark grey highlights on her glove and she too was finished.

Both figures were then given a coat of “Quickshade” strong tone and once this was dry their bases were painted as usualwith chocolate brown, that was then given successive dry-brushes of khaki and coffee on top of this. Then areas were picked out with some scenic green and then these same areas were flocked using “Javis” Summer Mix static hairy grass. A final spray coat of matt varnish sealed everything.

Strangely (and completely by accident I assure you) if you look at the picture of the painted figure “0039 Female Scavenger”, or “Frankie” as I call her, on Moonraker’s site I have painted mine in remarkably similar colours, subconsciously I must have had that image in my head, weird though.

Anyway as promised (admittedly it was back in August of last year!) I have now got some of my “star” characters finished. So till next time, cheers Roger.

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“Banged up bots!”

“We need to keep a sharp eye out for warbots in this area”.

“The war ended years ago, surely their batteries would all be flat by now?”

“Atomic batteries, two hundred year lifespan, luckily most of them are so rusty by now you can hear them coming a mile away”.

Not the most productive weeks painting this week, I’m sorry to say, but I have at least finished a couple more figures to add to the pile of completed “Wasteland Warriors”. This week I pulled out the couple of “Power Armoured” troopers that I intend to use as old “battle droids” wandering aimlessly about the wasteland battlefields looking for enemies that died years ago, I intend to use these more as a random threat than an actual faction (like the giant mutant rats featured a while ago).

Inspired by the fun I had painting the weathered appearance on my “shed” last week I decided to go all out on the weathering on these chaps too.

So once the figures were glued together (their arms were separate) I attacked them with my knife, cutting gouges and rents into their bodywork. Next I pulled out my cordless drill and taking a small bit proceeded to add “bullet” holes into their various parts. Once happy with how rough they looked they were mounted onto “tuppences” had the bases filled and were given a coat of matt black.

Painting proper was begun with a good dry-brushing with some chainmail and this was followed up by another with rust. Then using an old splayed brush to stipple in areas of deep bronze green around the figures avoiding any edges or areas where I thought the paint would have worn away over time. Once this was dry I mixed some more deep bronze green with some stone green, and used the resultant lighter green to repeat the process slightly inside the edges of these green patches, as if the paint had faded as well. The exposed areas of rust were then given more chainmail highlights along the sharper edges and scratches to represent fresh damage. There are a couple of “pipes” or “pistons” that can be seen at the back of the knee joints so I added these in dark red highlighted with bright red, and while it was out I used this and cream to add the badges on the shoulders with black symbols added to them once dry. After this I took my orange paint and added more fresh “rust” patches here and there. A few dots of day glow green and porcelain blue later and they were ready to be “Quickshaded” with the strong tone version, before their bases were added in my usual fashion. The final obligatory coat of matt varnish finished them off.

As I said at the start of this post, not the most numerous weeks painting ever, but at least I am making progress, so till next time, cheers Roger.

“The Professor”

“So you’re telling me that this genius of yours lives in that little blue shed, in the middle of nowhere?”

“I said he was an eccentric genius”.

“I mean he couldn’t even lay down in it for god’s sake!”

“It’s bigger on the inside”.

“Oh right, of course it is! You’re sure he’s the only one who’s eccentric around here?”

“I mean it’s just built over the entrance to an underground cavern”.

“Oh… well, I guess that makes sense”.

Well it’s back to painting figures this week (well figure to be exact), the inspiration for this little ensemble came from a couple of places firstly from Simon Moore and the excellent work he’s been doing on the new Warlord “Dr Who” range of figures that keep cropping up on his blog, but mainly I have to say from “Jez” Winstanley and his exceptional “Blackadder” time machine (There are links to both these brilliant blogs at the bottom of this post). Now back when my “Future Warrior” figures arrived I had picked this little chap out to be a bit of a “hero” and the brains of the bunch simply because he has a bit of an air’ about him of a certain time travelling “Doctor”, and a bit of a re-working on this theme began crawling its way around my brain. So genius Edmond Atkinson was born. One of the original architects of Salvation city he was betrayed when he threatened to reveal the corners that had be cut in his original design which rather than disposing of the toxic waste generated by the city in the environmentally friendly way he had planned, it was in fact being pumped out into the wasteland, contaminating the very people it was his dream to save with the creation of more “Salvation Cities”. Thought dead after his laboratory was burned to the ground by order of General Cowley, the horrifically burned scientist escaped through the sewers into the wasteland to begin a new life as a hermit, hiding his disfigured face and surviving on his technical knowledge, declaring that Dr Atkinson was indeed dead, he became known only as the Professor, vowing to never get involved with the human race again, something that didn’t quite go according to plan…

As for the figure after he was based up on a “Tuppence” and given a coat of matt black, I began by dry-brushing him with some chainmail, even though there was very little that would remain this colour it was easier to get to those bits now, then his belt, baggage, holster, trousers and hat were undercoated with chocolate brown, the first three highlighted with leather, the last two with butternut, I then added the stripes to his pants with some coffee. His jacket was painted in sand, and highlighted with the same only with a little coffee added, I added some pipping and the handle of his brolly in bright red, the rest of this was left black but highlighted in dark grey and while it was out I highlighted his shoes and painted in his rucksack too, this being highlighted in light grey. Flesh next European flesh highlighted with pale flesh covering this, and his ragged shirt was coffee and cream. The bedroll and tie were then added in blue grey with porcelain blue highlights, royal blue stripes were added to the tie. Lastly his gas mask and water bottle were added in deep bronze green, with highlights of stone green and olive respectively. After a coat of “Quickshade mid tone” the base of the figure was painted up by first giving it a coat of chocolate brown then dry-brushes of khaki and coffee went over this, and after patches were picked out in scenic green they had some “Javis” Summer mix static grass glued to them.

His “shed” was built from cardboard, the bottom of which was deliberately cut on an angle to add to the dilapidated feeling, then I added the details in card, coffee stirrers (what would wargamers do without these!), car body repair mesh and corrugated card, The front door I made from greenstuff, and I added some bits and pieces from the bits box around the side. Once based up on an MDF base, it too was given a coat of matt black before being dry-brushed in chainmail, then areas were stippled in rust coloured paint. I then painted in areas with royal blue and these were then highlighted with the same mixed with a little blue grey. Butternut mixed with light grey was then added around the edges of the wooden panels to represent where the paint had worn away. Orange was then stippled over the rusty areas, and I then basically went round the piece adding more of the colours above until I was happy with the overall effect. I added some slogans around the top like “This is not a toilet” and “Polite Box” for interest and finally I added some hanging wires coming out of the back of one of the robot arms in porcelain blue, yellow, red and dayglow green. This too had the obligatory coat of “Quickshade”

Once the “Quickshade was dry I dug out the sheet of “vine wall hanging” I bought last year from our local “florists supplier” and after pulling three “lumps” off of it, these were twisted together before being glued into the hole I’d poked into the filler on the base and glued up around the structure. I decided to paint the leaves olive as they were a little bright, and then added a few more leaves in green paper before these too were repainted olive. The base was then painted up to match the figure and a couple of rubberized moss pieces were added to the base, before both box and figure were given a blow over with matt varnish. I nearly called this week’s post “The madman with a box”, but just couldn’t bring myself to reference “Nu Who”.

Till next time, cheers Roger.

http://fantorical.blogspot.co.uk/

https://carrioncrowsbuffet.wordpress.com/

Liverpool Comic-com 2018

Now I don’t usually write up show reports on my Blog, so I’ll keep this brief. Last Sunday we (Myself, Dennis and our respective wives) went to Liverpool Comic-con, now I have always wanted to go to a large one of these, having only been to a few little shows, so I had been considering this for a few years, but as Dennis wanted to show off in the full regalia of his recently completed costume and had been banging on about it for the last month or so it had become apparent that we were going (no matter what). Now Dennis had wanted to enter the Cosplay competition but this was run on the Saturday and he was unable to attend that day, so the “Cosplay Masquerade” would have to suffice (this was basically an excuse to get all the cosplayers up on the stage one at a time to fill a break in the “celebrity” interviews).

Anyway we arrived at the Exhibition Centre at about eleven in the morning (Den and his wife are always late!), and after entering the hall it was clear that Den was going to be stopped every six feet or so for a photo, he of course loved this (it was the reason he wanted to go after all) much to his wife’s annoyance, so she wandered off with my good lady and I took the opportunity to nip off on own as well. One good look around the traders later and I was in possession of some “Micronauts” comics to fill some of the gaps in my collection, these were bought from the one and only “Comic book” trader (it seems comics are dying out in “comic” conventions) and my wife had covertly bought me a “Nostromo” Aliens themed T-shirt. I then spent fifteen minutes gushing to the owner of the Replica “A Team” van about how wonderful it was (well it was!), and had taken photos (well got my wife to) of all the props and cars on display as well as some of the cosplayers. I was not however going to spend the £20.00 they wanted to get photos or autographs from the “Celebs”, so if you are expecting any pictures of them I’m afraid you will be disappointed (there are also no pictures of me as I don’t “do” pictures (I look like Jasper Carrot apparently if you must know!).

So a good day was had by all, Dennis now wants to go to another one in October, but I must admit though I enjoyed it I’d rather wait a few years before I go again, this has already blown my chances of getting to “Salute” this year, so I need to start saving again if I’m to have any chance of getting there next year.

Till next time. Cheers Roger.