I haven't painted many super hero figures of late, having been distracted by my Conan range, and the Sci-fi crew, and by my Diorama of Doom entry. Finally I decided that enough was enough, and so I painted this geezer tonight.

This unsavory character is a nameless, vicious underworld criminal- dangerous, brutal and mean- don't cross him, or you may find yourself sleeping with the fishes.
This is a Mark Copplestone miniature, from Copplestone Castings (one of the 'Bad Guys in Suits' pack). We needed some more generic thugs and criminals for our campaign, and after a quick root through the metal mountain I came across this guy. I like him a lot, as he has a portly figure, rather like my self. For some reason I though he had a seventies styling to him, hence the retro green suit.

Hats of to the excellent KR Multicase, who make really useful carrying cases for minis, in all sorts of sizes and shapes.

I am moving house soon, and so I need to pack up my precious minis ready for the journey (about a mile down the road). I have used KR Multicase before, and been pleased with the product, and so I naturally turned to them when I need some more cases.

They have a good deal on at the moment, where bu if you buy one of their carrying cases in a nice bag, they will send you another sturdy card board one, plus foam inserts, free. I ordered a this deal on Sunday night, and was delighted when it arrived Tuesday morning- now that is service!

I went to Games Expo 2009 in Birmingham last week. It was lots of fun, and much bigger than I expected.
Leon and I spent a few hours wandering around the stores and chatting to some of the figure designers. I spend far more than I had budgeted for, but bought some cool things. Some of the minis I bought are destined for the Super Hero range, and will certainly make it onto the Blog at some point, while others are barbarians for my Conan-esque range, and others are Scifi.
We spoke to Mark Copplestone, of Copplestone Castings. His Kiss Kiss Bang Bang range of minis have some very nice evil genius minis that might well be added to my lead mountain at some point. Mark is currently working on a strange idea. He is making poster sized flood-plans for various locations, like an evil genius lair and an nuclear missile silo, primarily to use with his Kiss Kiss Bang Bang range, but which would obviously have a use in games like Superfigs and Pulp City, and may be even Heroclix. The production quality looked very high, so I will look forward to seeing the finished product.
Mark also hinted that he might be tempted to do some generic super figures, perhaps as a one off, and possibly in multiple parts, so they can be assembled in a number of ways.

Go on Mark, you big tease!

I also bought some resin stuff off a company called Ramshackle Games. They were cheep, but very cool.
I bought a BADGER armoured patrol vehicle for one of my Superheroes, and a few bits and bobs. Sadly they had sold out of the 'Boring Machine', because I would have loved one of those- very Evil Genius.

Here is a quick look at some of the minis that have been distracting me form my Super Fig collection. It is a fairly random collection of scifi figures, representing the crew of a beaten up old space freighter. I am not really painting these with any particular game in mind- their just for fun.

Minis by Game Workshop, Hasslefree and Hasslefree
Minis all by Herasy, but middle one has a converted hand.

Minis by Hasslefree and Herasy

Minis by Ikor (I think) and Privateer Press (Iron Kingdoms)

Azure is a deadly freelance assassin, who only works for the wealthiest crime bosses, rogue nation states, terrorist organisations and underhanded corporations (as these are the only clients who can afford her extortionate fees). That said, you get what you pay for- few of her targets have survived an assassination attempt by Azure, and those who have can be counted amongst the most powerful Supers on the planet.

This mini is another Mark Copplestone sculpt, Kindly donated to my lead pile by Leon. I think she makes a lovely Super Assassin.

I'm sorry, did I break your concentration? This is an unnamed street thug (and any resemblance to any characters in any films in purely coincidental).

Yet again this one is by Copplestone Castings, and is one of a handful of thugs I am working on for my Supers to beat up.

Sorry I havn't posted for ages. I have been busy on other projects, but here are some of the things I have been working on.

The Brotherhood of The Serpent

These three rough looking types are highly trained henchmen, belonging to a shadowy organisation known as the Brotherhood of the Serpent. Generally considered to be a terrorist organisation by most of the western world, their true motives remain unclear.
I painted these as part of an organisation for Leon's campaign. he specified the colour scheme, and I interpreted them in my own way. These figures are by Mark Copplestone, and are available from Copplestone Castings. I just bought some more from EM4, also sculpted by Mark, with very similar styling, only a bit cheaper.

Seeker is a mystic warrior form the east, sent out by her sensi master to try to readdress the imbalance in the worlds mystic harmony by battling injustice and restoring peace. She kicks ass and takes names.

This is a Superfigs mini, not a brilliant sculpt, but quite dynamically posed. the base is by Fenris Games again. Painted using Games Workshop foundation paints. The name Seeker is "borrowed" From the old Champions RPG (it's good to recycle).

Wytch is a troubled teenage with phenomenal mystic powers. Sometimes she is a heroine, and other times a villain. It juts depends on what mood she is in. The demons that haunt her at not all in her mind. Oh, and don't call her a goth; She is and EMO!

This is another hasslefree figure. Very nice, but very slim and not that much fun to paint. The base is by Fenris games.

I am acutely conscious that I haven't posted anything for a long time. I have been working on a number of side-projects, such as my growing range of pulp-era minis, my small range of generic SciFi scum and villainy, and some Conan-esque barbarians. I have also been seduced by the lure of my new X-Box 360, but fear not readers, for I am now back at the painting tray, and have just finished some new Super Villains.

This big fellow is Sumo, Japanese enforcer for the organised crime network known as Black Dragon Club. He is a formidable opponent, already a skilled martial artist, super tough and super strong, but he also has the ability to expediently increase his mass, making him the ultimate unmovable object.

I like this figure. He reminds me of the sumo wrestler in Street Fighter 2. He is from the Martial Artists range from Hasslefree.

Keep checking. I will be posting more soon.

I went to see Watchmen last night with my wife. And I would have to say that I was wholly underwhelmed.
I am a big fan of the book, having read it several times over the years, most recently last summer. I believe it is arguable the most important graphic novel of all time. I have been excited about the film since it was announced, and have been eagerly waiting for its arrival.
If you haven't seen the film yet, don't read on. I'm not going to give the plot away or anything, but I don't want to colour you opinion before you see it.
I thought it was slow, lacking pace, and confusing to anyone unfamiliar with the book (like my wife). Visually it was exceptionally good, and faithful by and large to the imagery portrayed in the book. It was also faithful to the plot, more or less, and there lies it's fundamental problem. By trying to shoe horn in scenes and characters fleshed out fully in the book, the director was left with a sluggish plot that crawls along at it's own relentless pace. Seemingly no thought was made how to interpret the book into a film, of which bits to edit out and which bits to embellish. There were good bits, and even some exceptional bits, but the characters were two dimensional (odd considering the source material), and the film dragged on apparently indefinitely. At one point, about half way through Silk Specter asks Doctor Manhattan "Why don't you just tell me how all this ends so we don't have to go through it all?"
A sentiment I have to echo.