Saturday 3 January 2015

From SimonM - "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" - Federated Security (25 Points)


These five 28mm Federated Security models are by “Crooked Dice Design Game Studio” and are ‘dead-ringers’ for the dastardly black-clad henchmen of the Federation from the BBC science fiction television series “Blake’s Seven”. Three of the miniatures, which are slightly thinner than ‘heroic 28mm’ scale and are somewhat sedentary, have been sculpted by “Crooked Dice” regular Ian Mountain. Whilst the more dynamically posed and slightly thicker-set Federation goons are by Martin Buck. All of the models came with separate heads.


Each figure was initially given a double undercoat of “Citadel” Abaddon Black before they were all rather roughly dry-brushed with “Vallejo” Heavy Charcoal. This is a new paint to me, although I have owned it for quite a while as it came as part of a larger set of dropper bottles, so I wasn’t entirely sure what effect it would actually have on the models. Needless to say I’ll be using it in the future to highlight all of my predominantly black coloured figures as it really brought out the detail of each model’s sculpting. However I did feel the need to tone down its contrast to the undercoat somewhat so I applied the first of three eventual washes of the “Citadel” Shade Nuln Oil over each miniature.


Once dry I painted each helmet’s green trim with a combination of “Vallejo” Heavy Khakhi and “Citadel” Thrakka Green, and all of the figures’ visors with “Vallejo” Heavy Red. Finally their belt buckles and Federation rifles were painted with “Citadel” Boltgun Metal and their key chains with “Mithril Silver”. All of these areas, except the helmet trim, were then given two coats of Nuln Oil to tie them all together.

From Curt:Very cool! These fellows have that armed minion look down pat. I really like the addition of the green trim - it brings some visual interest to otherwise very dark figures.  My curiosity is piqued regarding your experience with the Vallejo 'Heavy Charcoal'. I'll have to nab a bottle and give it a whirl as I'm always on the lookout for alternate ways to shade dark tones.  
Great work Simon.

30 comments:

  1. Great to see these done Simon. Glad you enjoyed them!! It's a pity some of your other B7 stuff is not eligible .. Be good to see it all together.

    Curt.. Try out the Andrea Color Black paint set...

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    1. Thanks Dave and do I detect from that comment that my Secret Santa isn't so secret any more? In which case many thanks indeed. They're superb! Definitely a pity about Jenna but as they've got me in the mood for more B7 goodness I plan to paint up a few more minis from the series before this Challenge is over. Plus I've a few Batreps coming :-)

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    2. Andrea Colour Black? Check...

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    3. Goody, I love your batreps!

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    4. Thanks Anne. Blake's Seven & Rocket Racoon should be on the blog by tomorrow evening :-)

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  2. "Through unity to strength" (The federation's motto). As a huge (I should slim) Blake seven fan I commend you on doing such a fine bob on these.

    LOTR seems to have been surpassed this week with CD figures!

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    1. Many thanks Clint. A distraction, but an extremely enjoyable one, from what I had planned for this week's submission. But as I saw this Challenge as an opportunity to paint up loads of henchmen/minions anyway, they've fitted in rather nicely.

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    1. Thanks Tamsin. Much appreciated - and looking forward to seeing your Bob Murch 'Boys in Blue' :-)

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  4. Great looking minions! I have actually never seen Blake's 7. With these fellas as bad guys, it seems I've missed out. Lovely work on the dark ones, the head bands are great spot color!

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    1. Cheers David. I've seen a few different colour schemes for the helmets but went with the classic TV version.

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  5. What a blast from the past!

    Blake's 7 is one of those shows I remember with a good deal of affection, despite its often uneven production values. Thanks Simon!

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  6. Possibly my favourite show ever. I'm halfway through watching it again right now as a matter of fact. The goons in B7 were wonderfully kitted out, but there seems to be no pick-axe handle here :-). I'm seriously tempted to buy some of these and you're not helping me resist mate!

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    1. Sorry Michael and nice 'mind-wipe' reference from "The Way Back". You do know your stuff :-) If you're that hooked on B7 then the original cast are 'filling in the gaps' with a series of audio stories at the moment; such as Warship - which depicts the mass space battle at the end of S2. They're just like listening to the TV series. Highly recommended.

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  7. That show was certainly a product of it's time. When I look back at it, I remember the fashion and the clothes I actually wore in public. Gaaah!

    Wonderful figures Simon!

    PS You are a featured "Character" in my post on Monday :0)

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    1. Thanks Anne... and I look forward to Monday... I think :-)

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  8. Nice work Simon. What are you buying this month in the C.D. 20% off sale?

    I've made a note of some of those paints you've mentioned:
    GW Black (I'm going to GW Darlington on Wednesday and Coat d'Arms paint isn't easy to buy nowadays).
    Vallejo Heavy Charcoal and Heavy Red (I'm hopefully going to Pendraken HQ this month, so will get some off Leon Pengilley).

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    1. Many thanks Roy. You clearly now me quite well already, as I've already made my CD purchases for this month, though sadly none fell into the 20% discount range as I bought the new temporal travellers and the Danger 5 starter set as well. Please give Leon my very best when you see him. I haven't spoken to him since Christmas.

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  9. Loved B7 and you have done it proud

    Ian

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    1. Cheers Ian. Much appreciated and all thanks to Secret Santa :-)

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  10. They look very sinister.
    I can never read or hear the word "henchmen" without thinking of "The Venture Brothers" so your post made me smile.
    Blake's 7 is another SF show I don't know. Mental note made.

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    1. Thanks Michael. Much appreciated and I'd certainly recommend B7.

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