28mm Spy-Fi

This week I have a selection of miniatures I painted in 2018 to use in my 7TV games.  If you're not familiar with 7TV, it is a fun system that is usable for just about any spy, action or sci-fi setting from movies & tv.  Think James Bond style spies, Doctor Who and everything in between.  Manufacturers included in this post are Beast in the Broch, Black Cat, Black Tree, Crooked Dice, Hasslefree and Reaper.

Ape-X from Reaper's Bones line.  A great model and very fun to paint.

 

Three Doctor Who characters: (l-r) The renegade Time Lord Omega from Black Tree Design, the twelfth Doctor and the eighth Doctor, both from Crooked Dice though sadly no longer available.

 

Two miniatures from Crooked Dice to go with their Department X line: (l-r) General Gordon and Big Tam Frazier.  Big Tam is based on the character Sean Connery played in the movie The Hill, which I watched for the first time when I was painting this miniature last year.

2018 was the year for painting apes.  Just in from Skull Island is a Giant Ape in resin from Crooked Dice. The right arm and front of the head were separate pieces that attached easily.

  

 

If you are wondering about the relative sizes, here is a group shot with the Giant Ape, Ape-X, Warlord's Zombie Beast (from my previous post Apocalypse Survivors II) and a regular human from Brigade Games.

A Double Agent from Crooked Dice.  Whose side is she really on?

 

From Black Cat Bases, on the left  is HP Lovecraft and his cat.  Black Cat sell several versions, each with a different selection of right hands.  I chose an ancient tome of forbidden knowledge.  On the right is a priest with crucifix and pistol.  He reminds me of the Episcopal priest from the early Peter Jackson movie Dead Alive, who before unleashing his martial arts skills on a group of zombies says (in a cool New Zealand accent) "I kick ass for the Lord!"  Watch the clip now and the rest of the movie later:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfkHkdu5IEI

 

The Guru from Crooked Dice is leader of the secret organization SHIVA (Secret Headquarters of International Villainous Agents).  He is accompanied by his three pet black panthers, made by Black Cat.

 

On the left is Horace 'Action' Jackson from Reaper's Bones line.  I've posted him before, though he is now pictured with his new colleague Destiny from Hasslefree.  I need to go watch Shaft (original 70s version only) for some scenario ideas for them.

 

On the left a police detective from Crooked Dice; on the right martial artist Fist of Golgo from Hasslefree.

 

Two more villains: on the left a Federated Security Commander from Beast In the Broch Miniatures with an alternate Crooked Dice head and on the right an Inhuman Servitor from Crooked Dice.  What nefarious plot is this alien carrying out for his masters?

 

On the left is secret agent Winter Morgan from Hasslefree; on the right a sniper from Black Cat.

 

These are the last group from my New Year's photoshoot.  Check back soon for a convention report from Siege of Augusta.

28mm Apocalypse Survivors II

More survivors from my New Year's photo shoot.  Today is a mixed bag of miniatures from Brigade Games, Brother Vinni, Copplestone, Hasslefree, Studio Miniatures and Warlord.  All were painted in the fall of 2018 unless noted otherwise..

First up are three dearly departed characters from The Walking Dead.  The father and son duo of Rick (c) and Carl (l) are from Studio Miniatures, while Abraham (r) is from Brigade Games.  Good representations of all of them.  Rick appears to be going through one of his rough periods.

The next two are from Copplestone's Future Wars line, the Citizen Militia I pack.  I bought them back in 2013 because I wanted to use one of the miniatures in the pack for a Doctor Who character (Mickey) and the other four have been patiently waiting for their turn to be painted.

The other two from the same Copplestone pack.

These are a pack of three Postapoc Citizens from Brother Vinni cast in resin.  The arms were separate and easily pinned.  I painted them in the same uniform to serve as a town militia.

This is a Zombie Beast from Warlord's Project Z line.  Unlike most of that range, it is metal.  It came with a choice of heads.  Is it a zombie?  A mutant?  An experiment gone wrong?  At that size what difference does it make?  Run!

These are both from Hasslefree.  On the left is Karl Drax, based on the character Ronon Dex from the tv show Stargate: Atlantis.  It was the first role I saw played by Jason Momoa, now much more famous due to Game of Thrones and Aquaman.  On the right, Dynamic Jynx is conjuring a ball of energy.  Perhaps the radiation gave her powers?

These two are both from Studio Miniatures.  The model on the right is, I believe, based on Kris Kristofferson's character in the movie Blade.  I haven't seen it since it first came out in the late 90s so I don't remember it very well.  I bought it because I liked the leg brace, he looks like a grizzled survivor defending his homestead or settlement the best he can.  The model on the left is, of course, Indiana Jones.  How is he still alive after the apocalypse you ask?  Well, he did drink that elixir in 'The Last Crusade'.  He is smiling because there are plenty of new artifacts to excavate in the post-apocalypse world.  Also because in my game world, The Crystal Skull never happened!

Last is a model I painted back in 2010 or 2011.  It was part of another Copplestone Future Wars pack and I have somehow never taken a picture of it.

Next time I'll post some spy-fi miniatures for 7TV.  Thanks for looking!
Jason

28mm Apocalype Survivors I

Over the fall and winter I've been working on painting all the post-apocalypse miniatures I have.  Besides reducing the mountain of unpainted lead I have, I am also planning on running games in that genre in 2019.

Today's post includes primarily miniatures from Brigade Games.  They have a nice P-A line that began as a Kickstarter a few years ago and that they have been expanding it since.  I bought some of these at a convention back in 2016 once they were selling them at retail.  The rest I bought last September during one of their sales.  They have good detail with things like torn clothing, different types of backpacks, etc.

A couple of marauders looking for other survivors to prey upon.  I like the coats they are wearing.

 

One of the things I like about this line is the variety in weapons; not all the models are carrying assault rifles or machineguns.  The one on the left has a drill and several tools in a belt and the one on the right is holding a knife with a pistol in a holster.

 

More weapon variety with a baseball bat.  Hoods and sheepskin jackets are a good look for the post-apocalypse.

 

Some more civilized survivors.  Perhaps they are from a settlement?

 

A pistol and machete seem like a good combination.  I've named the one on the right 'Curly' after the Three Stooges.  He doesn't seem to be suffering from the food shortages, does he?

 

 

The one on the left is a resin model from Brother Vinni that came with separate arms which were easily attached.  On the right is another from Brigade.

 

The one on the left is from Hasslefree.  I started assembling it with a previous batch and had problems getting the arms to attach well.  I finally got them pinned and glued on.  The one on the right is a mechanic with only a wrench to defend himself.

 

While the weather was good I took two more sets of pictures, so check back soon.

Thanks for looking!
Jason

28mm Oil Rig - Under Construction

In mid-2018 I was brainstorming ideas for a convention game for Historicon 2019.  My thoughts turned to unbuilt models I had; top of the list was a large oil or mining rig from a kickstarter by wargame model mods (http://www.wargame-model-mods.co.uk/) that had arrived in December2017 and was still in the shipping box.  After talking it over with my friend Mike while we were at Historicon in July, I had the outlines of a scenario.

Over Christmas break I finally started putting the rig together.  After several nights of work I finished on January 4th.  This is by far the largest model I’ve built.  Fortunately the pieces fit together well and the instructions were good with lots of pictures, because there were a lot of parts.  The building doors slide open, which is a nice touch.  It is easier to store than you would think, the pieces come apart so I can fit the 5 legs, the walkways and the small platform in one box and the large platform is one large piece.

I still have to paint it and I have been looking at photographs of real oil rigs to get color ideas.  I have plenty of time to playtest which was one of my reasons for building it now.  I will have to buy some more spray paint!  Potential uses are an oil rig for modern or post-apocalypse games.

There are several 28mm miniatures in the pictures to give an idea of the scale.  Can you find them?

 

 

  

New Project - 28mm Motorcycle Gang

It is time to pick a new project, since I am finishing the last few models from 2 batches of spy and post-apocalypse miniatures.  Spurred on by my planned scenario for next year’s convention game, as well as the recent Kickstarter for the post-apocalypse version of 7TV, I chose the motorcycle gang I’ve been gathering.

I can use them in both modern and post-apoc games so that is a bonus.  After some assembling earlier in the week I primed them after Thanksgiving lunch.  They should paint quickly, with plenty of jeans and black leather.  The only choice I have to make is what name and logo to put on the back of their  vests, it needs to be something I can paint in a small area.

The first 2 groups of 4 are from Studio Miniatures.  They were made for the Kickstarter game Turf War Z but are now available through their website.  They bear a distinct resemblance to characters from the Sons of Anarchy tv show.  Except for the 2 in the middle of the first picture, they came with separate heads and arms, with several extras of each.  They fit together well and I pinned them for a stronger join.  Now that they are primed, I see a few gaps that need to be filled with green stuff.

These are from Warlord Games Project Z line.  I bought them during one of their 50% off sprue sales.  They come with lots of extra parts. They are a bit taller and thinner than the Studio ones, but close enough for me to mix them.

Also from Warlord, the ones on each side come on the same sprue as the foot miniatures, while the middle one is on a separate Hero sprue.  I primed them in black to get coverage in all the nooks and crannies, especially underneath the bikes.