Saturday 18 March 2017

Tribute to Phil and Sylvain: HP Lovecraft and a Exloding Star Destoyer(!) (20 Points)


The task of coming up with something to present to Phil and Sylvain, our Friday Minions, was fairly simple as I've been friends with them for several years and know some of their favourite things.


Phil and I are both big fans of the pulp genre, especially anything having to do with the Cthulhu mythos. So I thought it fitting to paint for him a rendition of the Great Man himself, Howard Philips Lovecraft.


HP Lovecraft was a bit of a strange cat. From reading biographies of the fellow you get a distinct sense that he considered himself out of step with the rest of society. Much of the horror of Lovecraft's writing is based on a sense of humanity's relative insignificance and powerlessness when juxtaposed against the terrors of the cosmos. Many believe Lovecraft's own feelings of social unease, racism and misanthropy are conveyed directly in his writings. Yes, 'ole HPL may not have been an especially cheery or warm human being, but he certainly had a knack for writing some of the creepiest stuff in English literature.






This figure is from Uncle Mike's Strange Aeon's range of miniatures. It's cast in an odd resin material which makes the detail somewhat soft. Nonetheless, I really like this impressionistic rendition of Lovecraft, with his tall, gaunt frame and his characteristic lantern jaw.  I decided to give him minimal groundwork and to base him a little off-center to give him more of a sense of unbalance and loneliness. 

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For Sylvain, I've made up a critically damaged Victory-class Star Destroyer.




Sylvain is an avid participant in our current Star Wars: Armada campaign, commanding a Rebel fleet in the hotly contested Corellian system. He's tasted both victory and defeat in the campaign and I know he dreams of putting this model down on the tabletop to mark a 'kill' against his Imperial foes (much to Peter's chagrin, I might add).




This model is a 3D design that I've resized to better match the scale of Armada. It's a fairly minimalist model, with not a lot of fine detail, but I think it serves nicely for acting as a casualty/wreck for the game. (I think I may go back and paint-in some running lights on the bridge and superstructure.)

...and check out the wonderfully dorky base I made for it!

Similar to my work on the Nebulon frigate and Corellian corvette, I've used fractal models of  explosions, adding some fire, debris and armoured plate in an effort to add a bit of drama.


I hope you like the figures guys. Thanks very much for taking care of the Friday crew - you did a terrific job.

I'm going to score the Star Destroyer as a 28mm vehicle as it approximates that size, so 20 points total.


12 comments:

  1. Strange Ian? I went to high school with that guy!
    ; )
    Very nice work, Curt, especially the asplody ship!

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  2. Love the exploding star destroyer. The 3d printing bug is creeping up on me

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  3. Wonderful tributes - I'm sure that Phil and Sylvain will love getting them :)

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  4. Amazing work. I'm a huge fan of HP Lovecraft and I love this model of him (and your painting of course).

    The exploding Star Destroyer is in a completely different class. Outstanding work for an outstanding model.

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  5. Oh Curt, thank you very much for this tribute. I've been delving into the Mythos quite a lot in recent months, with a particular highlight being the excellent Arkham Horror Card Game from FFG.

    Your version of HP Lovecraft will take pride of place on my shelf, and hopefully feature as an unsettling figure in future Pulp adventures. Him not being central in the base will drive me up the wall - what a neat touch from a true master of the hobby.

    Sylvain's Star Destroyer is great too, great explosion effect.

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  6. Many thanks Curt! It will be added to my collection of Rebel trophies...

    And the Lovecraft figurine could add some curious twists to a Chtulu campaign.

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  7. Gosh love the Star destroyer

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  8. Ooh....Vader is going to be a little annoyed! ;)
    The Lovecraft mini is unsettling enough without the off center ( there is a pentagram there I know it)
    I like that exploding vessel too. I have derelict ships for BFG, but the explosion and debris really adds to the drama!

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  9. Great SD and base, but putting HPL off-centre is quiet genius.

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  10. Great stuff Curt. I admired the HP figure on Friday night but hadn't realized who is was. The Sylvain tribute is fitting - I think we could save a lot of time by just placing two of those down in the deployment phase next game that I play against him!

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  11. Fantastic work Curt - these are wonderful. You continue to be dangerous with the 3D printer...

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