Machen's Oldfangled Minis

[Machen]

Hello antiquarian brethren,

I've solved my five body problem! I have a lot of squads in progress, but my enthusiasm for the space convicts was peaking, so they won the race and became my first-ever unit of five models.

The final three are:

Hercules Mulligan​

Mulligan is a Grogan alien from Mantic's Long Rock Lifers Dreadball team. He originally had a more "I'm wide open!" sports pose, so I re-positioned his right arm and re-sculpted the shoulder to give him a more aggressive posture.

Flay​

Flay is a Heroclix Parasite model that I gave a raw and visceral repaint. I upped the horror factor by using reds instead of the original purple, and by painting the fleshy parts of the body with gloss varnish, so it would look glistening and wet. I did try going with orange clothing at first, but I wasn't feeling it, and anyway his clothing doesn't look like a prisoner's jumpsuit. I can live with the difference. As for why he's a convict, his name's a big hint.

Mr. Phib​

This last kitbash is my favorite model in the group. I've had this head, which comes from a pack that Hasslefree Miniatures used to sell, for years and have been itching to use it. I juxtaposed it on a lark with a Heroclix Lex Luthor prisoner model and was immediately sold. It's a ludicrous combination, but for me, it works, the stiffly held posture giving the upturned snail head a snooty, domineering look. His demeanor and affect actually remind me of Giancarlo Esposito's Gus Fring from Breaking Bad. I imagine this guy as a mastermind adept at persuasion, the kind of convict who runs the prison from his cell.



I also pushed myself with some delicate brushwork on Phib's eyestalks and the back of his head that I think paid off.

Here's a group shot of all five, ready to play a game of Star Schlock when the game releases:

 

[Machen]

Yowza,

Something a little more trad today: a goblin postman. I think I'll name him Mr. McFeely.

"Speedy Delivery! Speedy Delivery!"




Shown with two space convicts for scale. He's a wee dude.

 

[Machen]

Hello friends,

Here's my latest Chaos mutant:
Luke Lucas, follower of Malal and wielder of the bloodsaber.



Luke was sculpted by the Oldhammer Master of Mutation, Phil Lewis, and is currently sold by Matchlock Miniatures as "Cloraz."
A fantasy version of the same figure called "the Claw," minus the sci-fi techno elements and holding a sword instead of a lightsaber, is also available there.
I want to credit Geroak II for inspiring me to try using lots of tiny vertical brushstroke lines on the stomach-mouth's lips. I admire his extensive use of this technique on his own miniatures; this is my first attempt at incorporating it into my own work.



Just one more Chaos mutant to go and I'll have a squad of five.

 

[ManicMan]

farm boy gave into the lure of chaos

 

[twisted moon]

great painting on a fantastic miniature.

 

[Machen]

Thank you, twisted moon.

 

[Machen]

Finished my 5th Chaos mutant, El Squid. He’s the first Bob Olley sculpt I’ve ever painted, but he won‘t be the last.



While I’m happy with how he turned out, El Squid wasn’t easy to paint. This is partly due to the flimsy sword he comes with, which bends and breaks easily. Mine broke in the middle of the paint job, so I had to drill it out and replace it. It’s much stronger now.


His brother’s sword is already teetering on the edge.

Finally, a group shot of my first squad of five Chaos Space Mutants:

 

[ManicMan]

nice job. Much better then what Warner have 'officially' done with Squiddly diddly

 

[Machen]

I actually almost named him Squiddly Diddly.

 

[twisted moon]

good work. it must have been a pain trying to work out where tentacle ended and gun began on el squid.

 

[symphonicpoet]

Oh, well done! I hesitated to paint my first Bob Olley for quite a long time. They're the odd miniatures that really come to life as you paint them, that really don't look as appealing simply cast. But once you've painted one . . . watch out! Way to join the club! Squiddly Diddly looks great!

 

[Machen]

Olley certainly has incredible attention to detail, symphonic poet - look at all the texture he put on Squiddly’s tentacles. As per your comment, Twisted Moon, Olley made distinguishing tentacle from gun easier by making their boundaries clear. There aren’t any lazy, muddy in-between spaces on this model.

I just finished my third squad of five, a gaggle of NuWho Cybermen:

YOU WILL BECOME LIKE US.
​

I also intend to paint some classic Black Tree Design / Harlequin Cybermen.

 

[Geroak II]

Lots of cool additions since I last checked this thread. Very nice and seamlessly working conversions and kit-bashes, and extra effort you put into painting Mr. Phib really paid off, I think he's my favourite of the bunch!

Luke is looking good as well and it's really flattering my painting inspired you to try a new technique. Maybe you could have gone with even lighter color for stripes to get more contrast, but that's obviously a matter of taste and it does look very good as is.
Also, is it just me imagining things or did you add some gloss varnish or similar to make gums and tongue look wet? Looks great in a disgusting way!

 

[Machen]

Hi Geroak, thanks for all of your thoughtful feedback! I'm glad you like Mr. Phib; it's always good to hear that someone notices and appreciates the extra effort.

I'm trying to push myself by studying the work of accomplished painters like yourself more closely. It's well known that the early Eavy metal painters learned a lot from each other, and while I've tried to find other people in my area who like to paint minis, most of them only get together to play games. I envy the ease with which my wife can find people to practice her crafting hobby with; she's a knitter, and "Stitch and Bitch" groups are common. At least there are online forums like this where we can swap ideas and learn from each other.

Regarding your suggestion to use lighter color on Luke's lips, you're picking up on my tendency to shy away from strong color contrasts. I appreciate the comment, because I've suspected for awhile now that my contrasts are often too timid and that I need to get more comfortable with making bolder choices.

As for the gums and tongue, you're correct, I used gloss varnish to give those areas to an organic "wet" look that contrasts with Luke's matte-varnished skin. These days I varnish everything by hand so I can get different effects like that.

 

[Geroak II]

Hi Geroak, thanks for all of your thoughtful feedback! I'm glad you like Mr. Phib; it's always good to hear that someone notices and appreciates the extra effort.

You're very welcome. Adding details by painting or converting can really make a huge difference in how interesting and distinctive miniature ends up looking. It's the details that make the big picture, or something along those lines.

I'm trying to push myself by studying the work of accomplished painters like yourself more closely. It's well known that the early Eavy metal painters learned a lot from each other, and while I've tried to find other people in my area who like to paint minis, most of them only get together to play games. I envy the ease with which my wife can find people to practice her crafting hobby with; she's a knitter, and "Stitch and Bitch" groups are common. At least there are online forums like this where we can swap ideas and learn from each other.

You're too kind. Thanks, I appreciate that.

For inspiration I'd recommend checking Lead Adventure Forum if you're not already familiar with the place. It's another great forum with many talented hobbyists and there's a whole lot to draw inspiration from the projects people there have going on.
Though I personally prefer learning by doing myself rather than watching how others do it, perhaps painting guides on youTube might have something to offer you? There's many painters making step-by-step videos of painting using various techniques.

If there's a game store or a hobby club in your area maybe they do host group painting sessions? From my limited experience (with painting nights, not knitting groups ) that is propably close equivalent to knitting groups, only for us geeks to paint and jabber away.

Regarding your suggestion to use lighter color on Luke's lips, you're picking up on my tendency to shy away from strong color contrasts. I appreciate the comment, because I've suspected for awhile now that my contrasts are often too timid and that I need to get more comfortable with making bolder choices.

I struggle with the same problem and often it feels like a very fine line between "not enough contrast" and "argh, my eyes!"
Good painting light with as natural hue as possible can help a lot with colours looking like they should, it's always like looking at a completely different miniature when I look my paintings in daylight compared to that terrible painting lamp of mine with yellowish tinted light .

But you got me thinking; maybe it's not that highlights on lips are not bright enough, but rather the pink you used as base colour was not dark enough and would not lend itself to bigger contrast? Then again, I think it looks good as is.

As for the gums and tongue, you're correct, I used gloss varnish to give those areas to an organic "wet" look that contrasts with Luke's matte-varnished skin. These days I varnish everything by hand so I can get different effects like that.

Nice, it's a cool little touch (and makes the mini look positively gross as I mentioned).
I used to paint fresh blood on weapons with slightly brownish red mixed with gloss varnish and quite liked the results. Been thinking of experimenting more with varnishes, maybe trying to paint some slime on nurgle minis.

 

[twisted moon]

excellent superhero cybermen.

 

[Machen]

Hi folks, it's been awhile. I've been busy painting up original series Battlestar Galactica Cylons to use in Star Schlock, and decided I'd wait until I had a sizeable group before posting anything this time.

Here's the group shot, followed by close-ups of individual characters from different angles:

​

Imperious Leader, side view



Amulon, IL Series Cylon



Baltar, Human Traitor





Argus, Cylon Paladin (StarGrave Paladin)

​

 

[symphonicpoet]

^Holy crap I like this! I'm not sure I even remember an episode with the lizard cylons, buy I've read enough to know they were originally planned at least. Well done! Love your standard, paladin, and illuminating cylon robots too. Blinking gorgeous!

 

[Machen]

Glad you like them! I'm going to do another five Centurions, which should give me plenty of Cylons to skirmish-level harass other factions with.

As for the reptilian Cylons, apparently they were initially planned to be the entire faction, but studio execs didn't want the show's heroes to be killing living things, so they changed the Cylons into robots that had been made long ago by a now-extinct reptilian race. The main legacy of the reptilian angle was the Imperious Leader, but despite his organic appearance, he was understood in the show to be 100% robotic. I've also read that despite the fact that they made a full reptilian mask for the Leader, they only showed it from the back during the actual series, probably to avoid audience confusion.

 

[ManicMan]

As I understand it, also including dialogue in the show and including the alternative intro for the Movie version (not just the normal movie version 'Mission Galactica') the Imperious leader IS still living. They decided not to show the front face shot mostly cause it looked better not to, but the figure still used it of course. The Original Cylons were reptilian. They built Robotic servants. Over time, the original Cylons pretty much all died out but there are a handful left who kinda run things, but mostly there Robotic soliders, the Centurions, and .. Admin? (the IL series, of which the main one seen is Lucifer, though not the only one).

As there is only ever one Imperious Leader at a time, It's not quite clear what the others did while waiting (there was a bit of an iffy thing on one book about the number of brains they have being a rank but.. non-cannon stuff ^_^).

Much later, two prototype new models were created, Andromus and Andromidus, who were indistinguishable from humans but these were only for a certain mission really as on the whole, it was a failed design (less advanced to look just like Humans, where were the enemy after all).

Something which always bothered me is for the Pilot version (where Baltar lives), The new imperious leader sends him on a mission to make peace with the humans, as he believed that is possible, where the previous one was more war focused. Baltar then ignores this command and tries to wipe out the Galatatica. No problem there, but they don't really bring that point up again. which is a bit annoying I felt they should have atleast brought up the fact that it was HIS wish to wipe them out.

Anyway, there are plenty of living foes which at attacked and killed in the series as the universe is a hostile place, and they are quite happy when they come across some friends (or atleast believed friends) in the universe.

that said, while they are different models, I have only one Centurion painted fully, two half way, and a bunch still to do ^_^