December update

well, ok the Sontarans aren't technically part of the update a month thingy as they were done mid 2008, just needed rebasing... however, I've not got much else finished at the moment, I'm working on some stuff for the Frother's game for Salute 2010 - ruined tower and some warbands, but I need to contribute more ruins - and am doing my first painting commission which may be my only one as it's not nearly as much fun painting for someone else...

the Frotherheim stuff will get a showing on here in time...

the good news is I've finally tracked down an Ice Lord which means I can finally do my Ice Warrior unit, which means I then need to finish my Draconians so they can both donate models to Abslom Daak and the Star Tigers...

The ur-Sontaran Warburg

time to finish the rebasing... so here are my Sontarans from about a year and a bit ago... first up are the Sontaran Special Space Service, the elite storm troopers of the Sontaran Empire:

all of the Sontarans are from Black Tree Design, with a little bit of conversion work (head swaps and some reshaping of the collars - which meant the probic vents needed to be changed as well) to make them all uniform. The bare heads come from the Sontaran trooper figure... I've reglossed the armour and fabrics after they've been dullcoted to give them the shine they had in the series... the banner is scratch built - I wanted something to look similar to the flag Lynx planted in the Time Warrior that expanded out from a simple rod, hence the sectional look. The banner itself is also from the Time Warrior and was printed out and painted over. next up are the Sontaran Assault Infantry:

I've been a bit free with the standard Sontaran trooper figure, first off, new sleeves and collars for all of them to fit in more with the other minis, the two helmets that came from the S.S.S.S. conversions find a home here (seeing as the bare heads came from here in the first place) and, as the guns and arms are seperate castings, by a stroke of good fortune I was supplied with an extra arm that allowed me to convert the leader figure... the Meson gun is one of the worst designs ever, but it was in the series, so what can you do... fluff has since explained the strange curvey bits as blade attachments, so the weapon is part gun, part hand to hand weapon which makes it bearable... I went with the red armour from the Shakedown spin off to distinguish the unit from the S.S.S.S. and it stands out nicely... Lords of the Storm by David McIntee expands the whole Sontaran Army and gives the colour divisions for each arm of the Empire, if I ever get the chance, I'll do some more for the other arms... finally, the Sontaran Experiment...

the Sontaran Military Assessment Survey with the continuity hiccup of five fingers and a different gun... the helmet was greenstuffed over the bare head as I prefered the helmeted look... the comm unit is just greenstuff, the scout sphere is a Christmas bauble with the door scratched into the surface and the Enslaver robot is a Star Wars Probe Droid with the head replaced with a 25mm round slotta and an eye and panels from greenstuff... not 100% happy with the tufts on the comm unit and the sphere, tried to hide the wire that gives the floaty appearance, but will probably strip off the tufts and redo them some how... the wire on the robot was necessary after a house moving disaster... sigh

the new boy...

well this fella was waiting in the post when I got home yesterday, and I got a bit obsessed/possessed and finished him off this morning...

I'm aware that in my OCD painting session he's possibly a bit rushed... I'm not 100% sure on the face, but then thinking about it, I'm not 100% sure on Matt Smith yet either, so I figured I'd let it grow on me...

I am very happy with the shirt colour as a match to the source and the suggestion of a weave on the jacket works, but the jacket is a bit too dark... may have a crack at another one in time...

and finally, the new series trio, all available from Heresy...

another Master, another TARDIS

first off a big thanks to fellow Frother onebigriver who very kindly acquired a dolls house clock for me... which then meant I had to paint my decaying Master to do with it... not overly fond of the mini to be honest, the way the cloak looped around the hands always bothered me, so some g/s to hide that nonsense...

the clock was a great base though, I made it deeper with some plasticard to give it some more bulk when it stands alone, continued the fancy edging bits with mixed success and added a rear access panel so an obvious door exists in game (I know the Masters TARDIS opened at the front when it was a clock, but this looks nothing like that clock anyway so there...)

and of course, it had to be black with silver and bone trim... perhaps a little more Pratchet than Who, but I like it...

another restless month...

...annoyingly I had been working on my Sea Devils... did the netting on the 18 Pertwee Devils and the armour on the 9 Davison Devils I have with the plan on doing the skin next... and well... just not getting the urge with the skin, maybe it's the colours I'm trying for the leathery look, maybe it's the flaws in the BTD sculpts just not winning me over... dunno... either way, a WIP shot at least of a couple of the Pertwee ones (the Davison ones are just black armour and you've seen enough of my blacks recently)...

oh, and figured I'd do the Myrka while I was at it as well... here's the WIP from last year that got caught in the purge... the BTD one doesn't have the tail that is clearly visible in Warriors of the Deep, so one added with some g/s and plasticard... may try my mojo on something else over the weekend at least... but I suspect these are going back in the queue for now... sigh

a TARDIS for the Master...

finished the Master's TARDIS...

obviously the column was more popular with the later Master, but always liked the computer bank... a working chameleon circuit means it could be anything, but this'll do for me...

it's half of a Copplestone Castings KissKissBangBang databank (cheers for the cut Ian), which unfortunately isn't that great a cast... lots of edges and angles on the piste as it were, made more obvious by the cut - also removed the two rows of round lights/buttons on the front as they were completely off kilter, just put a thin bit of plasticard over the open space as another panel...

changed the access panel at the back into more of a door, again with plasticard and the thing isn't a bad size against the old Ainsty Police Box... after struggling with various 60's/70's computer suite colour schemes, finally went with a plainer grey/black - the more garish colours would work better in context, as this will be plonked anywhere, it just stood out wrong, grey/black may not be accurate but it makes it his...

Granny and Nanny...

Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg from the Discworld books... lovely minis (although massive and out of scale with almost everything), great fun to paint - I'm really proud of the blacks on these, which is just as well considering... they're available through Antenociti's Workshop (bases by Fenris Games)...

they were done a while back as a birthday present for some friends - surpise done so there they are...

So you're my replacements — a dandy and a clown!

finally finished my first and second Doctors (bloody hedges - still not finished, but needed a change)...

nothing really that spectacular, although the Troughton sculpt is horrible (for some reason they have him in an ill fitting tail coat rather than the baggy coat he's known for - so out come the g/s, not my best it has to be said)... I may try and track down the limited edition in the hat, that has more character (and the first Doctor in the cape)...

overall there are no real details or bits and bobs requiring fancy pics, so in with the third Doctor just so I can use the quote...

The Hedge of Destruction

(sorry couldn't resist)*

ok... so the scenery slowly trudges along with some hedges... I've had two grand plans for scenery - the main and first one was always for some urban scenery but that takes up a hell of a lot space with buildings and so on... the second was rural, the beauty of it being I already have some grass gaming tiles and the majority of it becomes universal - hedges exist in the alien invaded English countryside for Doctor Who and in wherever I decide my fantasy stuff exists...

these are rapidly looking like my first ever finished proper bit of scenery... they're made from industrial polisher pads from eBay (have loads left as well), plasticard bases and balsa for the stiles, gate and posts...

this is where I am with them now... had a fun time with the scatter grip and the flock... that stuff is great... although it appears to help stick the flock somehow in places where I didn't put any, so the gaps I left aren't always visible... most obvious on the upper of the two gateways... I will let it cure and see if it gives up more loose stuff...

so... just need to add the foliage now... downside as I've just discovered is I don't have anything to keep the foliage in once I open the packs, so that may have to wait til after a trip to Poundland... which means that in the meantime I get to work on UNIT's latest bit of kit...

*very sad Doctor Who pun if you didn't know...

The Master...

well two of them anyway...

The Anthony Ainley version is a pretty dodgy likeness really, the pose is quite nice, but the head is about as unlike Ainley as you could attempt. Not a fan of the mini, but it needed doing:

Now the Roger Delgado version is a lovely mini, captures the character and the likeness lovely... the profile in particular is perfect, but then he is my favourite version as well:


have the Decayed Master and the Eric Roberts version kicking about, but it's been one of those months... can't seem to finish anything... have also run out of dullcote so that will need replacing at the end of the month...

lots of planets have a north...

the long anticipated Doctor Malcolm Ecclescake from Heresy... uncannily a good match for the Ninth Doctor...

I'd tried to go for the worn leather coming through the black of the jacket... stands out better in real life actually... was a bit worried I'd done my usual and screwed up the varnishing, but I think it's ok (no patience me)...

and of course, with Heresy's Doctor Hugh McCrimmon:

setting the scene...

Nothing overly special... always been desperately lacking in scenery and really need to do some... had a play with some moveable walls and props and quite like the finish... has inspired me for the larger scenery project, but then will probably not get much done on it... urban scenery is such a pain...

Robomen

Again, some old models, rebased... some Robomen allies for the Imperial Daleks:

The standard Black Tree Design models, with a female recruit from Artizan Designs (for equal opportunity enslavement):

Renegade Daleks

More catch up photos... again, my Renegade Daleks were done ages back, but got lost in the reboot/purge... anyhoo...

for the Renegade Daleks I went with the panzer grey finish of Genesis of the Daleks (complete with Aryan blue eyepiece)... although not strictly renegade at that point, they are a nice colour scheme, and Davros in black is waiting to join them at some point... 11 Warrior Daleks and the Special Weapons Dalek (not strictly canon but hey...):

A couple more specialised Dalek types... first off, from the Daleks Master Plan, Warrior Daleks equiped with flame units, just what you need for clearing a path in the jungles of Kembel:

... and from Destiny of the Daleks, Suicide Daleks:

And finally, a couple of command options, the Gold Dalek from Day of the Daleks and the Black Dalek from Resurrection of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks:

There is an Engineer Dalek as well, but I appear to have forgotten to include him in the photos... and they do have some Ogron allies waiting for them...

Imperial Daleks

Some catch up photos... my Imperial Daleks were done ages back, but got lost in the reboot/purge... anyhoo...

Imperial Daleks as seen in Remembrance of the Daleks... 10 Warrior Daleks and the Special Weapons Dalek:

The Emperor with a Black Command Dalek (can't have the Emperor in the field every single game now) and Engineer Dalek:

The Emperor Dalek and the Emperor/Davros:

and some Spider Daleks... some nice if pricey models from Reviresco based on an online fan design based on a couple of scenes in the really terrible novel War of the Daleks:

And for allies, there are some Robomen along with a couple of Slythers...

Age of Steel...

I swear I'm going to go blind one day... it can be the stillest day imaginable, but as soon as I press down on that dullcote nozzle a bloody breeze will make sure most of it goes right in my face... sigh...

nothing that special really... finished the Micro Universe Cybermen I started mucking about with ages ago... nothing flash really with the paint job, although just noticed the gammy knee on the Cyberleader which will need a touch up... no idea what happened there... anyhoo just a quick paint job as a side project to something else I'm working on at the moment...

there would have been more of them, except you just can't get the Gangs of Mega City One Street Gang set anymore, so my source of replacement hands has dried up.... I had also planned some part cybernised humans, but the difference in physical dimensions between the MU and metal mini's made it look really odd... do have some plans though for other part cybernised types...

two more Doctors...

the 5th and 6th Doctors...

the likenesses aren't great and the casting on the 6th Doctor looks like he's had a mild stroke as his face has dropped slightly... also, oddly, the casting looks like the head was removed and reattached off centre... wish I'd noticed that before I'd started painting as I would have removed it and repositioned it... what I did notice is that the casting of the 6th Doctor doesn't have the long lapels of the actual costume, so they were added with greenstuff and are present in a vision of yellow and pink...

the alternating red, cream, brown, cream stripes of the 5th Doctor's trousers were tricky and at that thickness, the red and brown are very similar, but I'm happy enough...

the 6th Doctor's clothes... well, they're as close as I can get, except the collar and pocket flaps - for some reason I just could not get something that looked right for how they actually were... so I fudged it and went with a blue/white check (and there was never any blue in the original coat due to limitations of the special effects work)... looks ok, not 100% but spent about as long on those three small bits as I did on the rest of the coat... his waistcoat and necktie changed between stories, so I made that up a bit... only downside is the brightness plays havoc with my auto focus... his face looks a bit soft in some shots...

now, something I didn't notice til I was commited with the paint job was the absence of a button tie detail thingy (whatever that may be called) at the rear above the tails...

and the Doctors so far...

UNIT rollcall...

right, this is UNIT as it stands (minus sundry civilian hangers on - hmmm... I guess Harry falls through the cracks there)... at least almost everyone is in focus...

UNIT Landrover

photos aren't brilliant as I was running against the low battery indicator...

1/48th white metal model I bought about 10 or 12 years ago and promptly buried in the lead mountain. It was only when I saw one on eBay (which went for a horribly large amount) that I remembered it. The hamfisted gluing of a decade ago made it unlikely to fetch anything near the mint kit got...



It's the same scale as the Mobile HQ and (assuming the BBC OB van is based on a standard Bedford chasis) they match up quite well and really gives the Mobile HQ some real bulk...