From TeemuL: Retro in Two Acts and More! [1980s or Retro] [Limo] (105 points)

"Aren't those black and white movies boring? Nothing to see. I see you wandered to our 1980s or Retro studio, they not much better, they are colourful and often have nice explosions, but they are old and not very HD. Yes, people like new movies, that's why we are here, make great movies and grand profits, this is an industry after all! Some of this old stuff can be used as a base of remake, but who actually watches these oldies, I have no idea. Of course our new movie has nothing to do with this oldness, it is brand new in every possible way and here you can see some of the new extras, dwarf warriors, come on, now..."

Here are two sets of quite retro minis, they are both from Crooked Dice, so retro is almost granted. Originally I had an idea to post one of them as Sci-Fi and another as 1980s or Retro, but I didn't know which way. Then I had that idea of Genestealer Hybrids for Sci-Fi and decided to put all these to 1980s or retro.

These ape-like creatures are called Simians, there is a Simian Elder and Simian Leader with two Simian Minions. They have a strong resemblance to 1968 film Planet of the Apes, but of course they really aren't them, they are Simians. I hope they still count. :) I have painted other Simians in the past and during the previous Challenge I found out that Crooked Dice has created this kind of set, too, so during the summer I made an order there and made sure to include this pack.

I tried to emulate the colours used in films and Crooked Dice page. I used mainly Contrast paints and I had to use all of my brown(ish) colours to have enough variation - I almost mixed two paints together to create an unique tone, but I resisted myself. Who knows what horrors that kind of heresy might let loose?!?

The other set is 3/4 of Galactic Villains set and they have enough retro feel to satisfy my conscience to include them here. I have no idea, if they are inspired some movie, but they don't look familiar to me. Please enlighten me, if you know something of their origin. I used pretty much every non-brown(ish) Contrast colour on them to mimic the feeling of 1980s and some gold.

They are Alien Tyrant (painted like human, since I didn't do any research), Ruthless Lieutenant and Diabolical Fiend (which is painted almost like the Crooked Dice even though I didn't do any research). Last year I played couple of games of "Five Parsecs from Home" with my six year old son. The game is a solo game, but I was like an umpire, letting my son to do the decisions, remining him of rules and options of course, but letting him decide, while I was going through the rulebook and kept the world running and enemies moving. It was very nice, although very random and included lots of bookkeeping and quite heavy between-scenarios mechanics. We used almost exlusively Crooked Dice minis and if we play again, these three make great characters there.

I have been wandering in the Studios, but I have not forgotten my main project, that one Ikea box. This time I present you five more Dwarf warriors to support the previous six. One frame makes 12 dwarfs, but since these were a second hand purchase, I'm missing an archer. I used Contrast paints on these and kept to the chose colours, they look pretty nice.

One thing that amazes me, is how GW can create these Lotr models. 12 different models in one sprue, almost all have only one part. But if they create minis to other games, the whole sprue is made of identical figures or if they are different, the models consist of 5 or more parts. I really like the simplicity and variety of these models, even though they might not be fully 3D from every angle.

With the 1980s or Retro studio visited, I have gone through 4 green areas and I'm ready to move to the blue zone. I need a Limo ride to Swords and Sandals and I hope this Sword and Sandals wearing Amazon called Rania from Bad Squiddo Games provides me the lift. Yes, I could have used her as the film location entry, but that would have been too easy...

Rania is one of the (random) female minis, which I picked up and primed prior the Challenge, since I knew I need them for taxi service. This was a nice mini to paint and fits the scheme. I got her as part of YourModelBox subscription some years ago and I don't have any game specific use for her. Now she is painted and hopefully sees something else than insides of brown Warchests...

She is a mix of Contrast and traditional paints, most of her is covered in metallics. Skin and hair is rather dark so I chose quite pale colour for the small areas of cloth. Quite a lot of girl power in this post, Rania, two Galactic Villains and female Simian Minion, so I have tagged this with "Sarah's Choice."

Totals for scoring: 13 28mm miniatures, 13 * 5 = 65

2 locations, 1980s or Retro and Sarah's Limousine, 2 * 20 = 40

Total 105 points.

Minion Miles: Love the planet of the Apes theme!