Saturday 20 December 2014

From SimonM - "Pulp Figures" - The Boys In Blue (40 Points)


These ten 28mm miniatures come from “Pulp Figures” Gangland Justice range and consist of all the models from packs PGJ06 Boys In Blue 1 and PGJ07 Boys In Blue 2. The neighbourhood beat cops come in a variety of poses and with an assortment of weaponry as well as a vintage call box and fire hydrant.

All of them were initially undercoated with two layers of “Vallejo” Heavy Blue before their boots, belts, buttons and badges were painted with “Citadel” Abaddon Black. I then applied a generous wash of “Citadel” Nuln Oil over all the overcoats, collars and caps before applying a similarly heavy wash of “Vallejo” Blue Shade. As I simply didn’t want all eight officers to appear too alike to one another l decided to paint a couple wearing white gloves and one to be based upon Sergeant Samuel J. Battle; an inspirational cop who was the first black police officer in New York City.


As a result I painted the hands of five of the models with a coat of “Vallejo” Heavy Skintone and then washed them with “Citadel” Ogryn Flesh before ‘picking out’ their fingers and any flat surfaces with more “Vallejo” Heavy Skintone. For the gloves I initially undercoated them with White, before washing them with watered-down Heavy Bluegrey. As with the bare hands the fingers and flat hand surfaces were then ‘highlighted’ with more of the base colour; this bearing White for the gloves. For Samuel Battle I used a combination of “Citadel” Dark Flesh”, Agrax Earthshade and then Dark Flesh highlights. All of the officers’ faces were painted in the same manner.

Any rifle butts, truncheons or brown leather pouches were painted using “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna and “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade. For the badges, belt buckles, pistols and rifle barrels I used Boltgun Metal and Nuln Oil. The last paint to be applied was a dollop of “Vallejo” Gold on all of the cops’ buttons. I was planning on then washing them with “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade but forgot to do and ended up varnishing a few of the models before I realised what I’d done. However, I think perhaps this was a moment of serendipity, as the ‘brass’ buttons really stand out as they are, and as a result I have purposely left them all alone.


The fire hydrant was painted using a combination of “Vallejo” Heavy Red” and the “Citadel” Shade Carroburg Crimson and will join the vintage call box as objective markers; why else would you have an emergency source of water or telephone in the middle of some grassland…

All but one of these miniatures was very simple to paint, and I especially liked the ‘running’ pose with the open face as this not only allowed you to customize the model with a different hand weapon; such as a truncheon, pistol, rifle or shotgun. But also provided some great facial detail to highlight. The beat cop with his hands clasped behind his back was another favourite, especially as it provided me with an opportunity to ‘try out’ my “Vallejo” White and watered-down Heavy Bluegrey combination for his gloves.


Unfortunately I did struggle awfully with the miniature I chose to be based upon Samuel Battle. The model’s cap appears to be at a slight angle with the figure’s head tilted in the opposite direction, as a result the eyeballs, which Bob prominently sculpts, just did not align themselves in my mind and I repeatedly kept having to paint them then scrap off the paint and start again. At one point I even tried to just get away with painting a single eye with the second being ‘over-shadowed’ by the cap peak.

Eventually I believe I have found a middle ground and painted both eyes in. But I must confess I am not happy with the way they have turned out. This is a shame as the model itself, sporting a wonderful sub-machinegun looks great. “Pulp Miniatures” do two more Police officer packets; Police Special Weapons and The Sixteenth Precinct. Once I have painted a few more of Bob’s miniatures up I certainly plan to get both in the New Year.

From Curt:Great work Simon! I've always been a great admirer of Bob's sculpts as they are both minimalist yet have such great character. I particularly like the black officer with the white gloves but I have to say my favourite is the fellow with his hands clasped behind his back. The bright brass buttons are perfect. Great work!


28 comments:

  1. Great looking flatfoots! I too like the officer with his hands behind his back." Oh-hoo! So you hid Rocky in the stove, Rabbit!?!" ;)
    The brass buttons do look great on them!

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    1. Thanks David. I'm delighted with how they've turned out. Though in the photos the black lining around the buttons and badge is far more prominent than to the naked eye, where it merges nicely with the dark blue wash.

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  2. I do like Bob's sculpts, and have a bunch to paint up. Who knows, maybe there will be some 28mm Pulp from me during the Challenge?

    Nice work on these Simon :)
    quick Q - are you leaving them glossy?

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    1. Thanks Tamsin. Yes I'll be leaving them glossy as I like the look though I appreciate its not everyone's cup of tea. Goes back to wargaming with 'proper toy soldiers' with rosy cheeks :-) I look forward to seeing some pulpy goodies from you on your splendid WIP blog then!!

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  3. The fire Hydrant and the phone box are very nice additions. I like them all and I can see the "Pulp Race" is now up and running. Looking forward to more.

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    1. Cheers Clint. You can never have enough objective markers in my books :-)

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    2. He's in the lead now, but it won't last. I've some Murch figures up on the table :)

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    3. Oh I look forward to seeing those Anne. No more Pulp for me for a while as I've a load of "Heroclix" to get done and a few rider/mount models to paint up.

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  4. You did a fabulous job with the skin tones on those faces. You've done so many little things to make these stand out as individuals and keep them as part of a group.

    Well done and congratulations on all those Pulp points!

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    1. Many thanks Anne. I'm happy with most of them. Just the odd eye here and probably the mouth on another which are irking me - though the photos seem to have really brought out the contrast between the different colours. Something you can't see with the naked eye.

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  5. Very nice figures with an interesting painting technique.

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  6. Wow! Brilliantly painted.

    I think I'll be buying some of these come the New Year. They might just be destined for a certain 7TV cast, to face off against the evil Dr Kim.

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    1. Many thanks indeed Roy. They are very nice indeed, and would certainly look good up against the evil machinations of your Dr Kim :-)

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  7. A mean bunch of peelers alright..

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  8. Top brushwork Simon and I love the fact you've mixed a bit of significant history in there too...

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    1. Thanks Michael. Just a shame I wasn't up to the challenge of doing his eyes as well as I'd liked. nothing wrong with Bob's sculpts. Just my poor painting skills. Still I always like to include something historical into my Pulp when I can.

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  9. Now I think 'shiny' goodness describes it pretty well! Nice work on all of them.

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  10. Looks like you will have a good looking bunch to keep law and order

    Ian

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    1. Cheers Ian. Certainly enough for a few games of "7TV" in the New Year.

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  11. Terrific stuff - love these coppers. I am sure if they could speak it would be with a heavy Irish brogue. Nice to see such a strong pulp entry.

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    1. Thanks Michael. I agree that the odd "begorra!" can almost be heard :-)

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  12. Nice work, Simon! I like the extra "street furniture" items too. That officer looks like he would be just the ticket for a "Red Skull" conversion I've been thinking about! Great idea to add in the first Black officer too.

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    1. Cheers Kevin. Much appreciated. Always like to include a bit of 'true' history to my projects when I can. There's a very nice "Heroclix" Red Skull, stood with his foot on Captain America's shield. I don't know if you've seen it? There's also some very similarly posed Nazi officers in the "Pulp Figures" range you might like for conversion purposes too.

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  13. I really likes them. A fine job and interesting looking figures. cheers

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