By the Power of Grayskull

 ...or is it Greyskull???  I'm not sure.  Anyway, I finished this cool He-Man on Battle Cat this morning.  I just tried to make them look as close to the cartoon versions as possible. The end result is decent.  I'm not sure what's next for the old hobby.  We'll have to wait and see.

   

Don't Go In The Water

I finished a couple of Reaper Bones Miniatures last night.  These deep sea dwellers are called Tiik.  The one with the sword is a Champion and the other is a Baron.  Both were painted silver.  The Champion then received blue accents and the Baron green ones.  When all was said and done, I clear coated them with a high gloss finish. The weapons were then given a coat of iridescent sparkle paint. 

Fish is supposed to be good for you, but I'm not so sure about this pair. Check 'em out.

Taking It All In

It is a beautiful Fall day here in SW PA.  Temps in the mid 50s.  Skies are blue.  There is that clean crispness in the air.  I had my rear deck enclosed over the summer.  It's now a 3 season room.  Turned on the portable heater and went out with the dog. We chilled out for a bit this morning.  I thought I'd share it with you all.  Take a gander.

Not My Idea Of Fun

It's been some time since I was a kid but I think I can still remember "having fun."  Playing kickball or wiffle ball on the street with friends after school was fun.  Going swimming and riding bikes was fun.  Playing with Hot Wheels was fun.  Going to a parade or carnival was fun.  But my very favorite thing to do for fun was Trick or Treat.

October would roll around and I would start getting into the spirit (pun intended).  Deciding what to wear/be.  Heading out into the cool crisp autumn night with friends.  Running through the piles of leaves to get to the next house.  Checking out all the other cool costumes.  And of course getting back to the house  at the end to see what an incredible bounty of candy that had been collected. 

Hershey Bars, Reece Cups, Kit Kat Bars, Pay Days, were among my most treasured finds.  Rooting out the dreaded Good & Plenty Boxes, Black Liquorish, or even worse...apples.  And then, if you were lucky, maybe go to a Halloween Party.  That, my friends, was fun.

We just had Halloween Trick or Treat here last Friday.  It was two hours long and we had about 120 kids come by.  When all was said and done, there was still around 50 pieces of candy left in the bowl.  As I have gotten older, my love of sweets has diminished quite a bit. (I'll take "real food" instead any day.)  Tonight however, I decided I "needed" a little sugar.  I went over to the bowl and pulled out these (see picture).  I was blown away when I saw the words "Fun Size" on them.  What the hell is fun about those????  Opening them there is only 4 or 5 pieces in each.  FUN!!!  NO FUN!!!  NO FUN AT ALL!!!!  Whoever is the marketing jerk that thought up that genius idea needs to be terminated right now!!!  Okay, okay,...I'll calm down now.

Seriously though, thank you for following me down memory lane for a minute and then allowing me to vent my less than candy-coated frustration.  I'm glad you dropped by to check out my humble little blog.  Stay safe out there and be kind to one another. Until next time.

  

No More Mr. Nice Guy

Happy Halloween to all you creepy ghoulish wonderful folks out there!  In the spirit of the season, I've been working on this vile little creature.  This is the Kallaguk Troll King from Reaper Bones Miniatures.  The hardest part about painting this monstrous monarch was deciding on a color scheme.  I have a bunch of trolls in my collection and didn't want to mimic anything I had already done.

As you can see I went with tans and browns.  I'm pretty pleased with the final result.  I think he (it??) looks pretty bad @$$ and ready to do some mean skull busting.

I'm considering having a Troll versus Orcs throw down. If/when I do, I'll post some pics.  Have a BOOtiful day, friends (fiends???)!!!

Predatory Nature

I haven't done much as of late as far as hobby time.  I did get this female Predator figure done a couple of weeks ago.  She turned out better than expected.  I found a picture online and used it as a guide for the paint scheme.  I think the finished product looks great.  Take a gander.

Zero Day

I finished watching the Netflix series Zero Day last night.  WOW!!!!  Great plot, script, acting (from DeNiro across the board)!!!  The entire series is riveting and keeps you guessing until the very end.  What makes it that much more intense is the plausibility of it.  I don't want to give away any details in the event you decide to watch it.  It is well worth the time.

For those of you who are more politically aware, you'll start to pick up the thinly veiled parallels to the current administration.  Many of the current casts of characters have counterparts in the series.  Any Sex Pistols fans out there will appreciate the inclusion of the song Who Killed Bambi?

That's all for now.  Remember to be good to each other.

Mars Attacks

These little green men are from the Mars Attacks game by Mantic Games.  I kept the paint scheme as close to the images I saw online from the movie.  Overall, I pretty happy with the end result.

Our Martian friends (foes) are joined by a trio of other aliens.  The one in the middle is a Shangheili figure from the Halo Board Game.  The two figures on either side of it are Kasatha Operatives by Starfinder Battles

Get ready Space Force, it seems like an alien invasion is eminent!  Look to the skies!!!!

Misfits*

Last night I watched Thunderbolts* on Disney+.  I was a big fan on the team when Marvel launched it way back in 1997.  That team was made up of a bunch of criminals disguising themselves as heroes in a time when the Avengers were nowhere to be found.

This new team is made up of B-List Heroes with a ton of baggage.  The new Black Widow, U.S. Agent, the Red Guardian, Ghost, the Winter Soldier, and Sentry are manipulated by Allegra de Fontaine into first fighting each other, and then coming together to save New York.  

I'm sorry but this film just didn't work for me.  Taskmaster ( a great Marvel character) was killed off in like the first 10 minutes of the film. What a waste!  The Red Guardian got on my last nerve in a hurry. Bucky, a U.S. Congressman, what???  I never cared for the Sentry character and after the film I like him even less.  The story was just too cheesy to be good.

On the upside, Florence Pugh's acting was fabulous.  Kudos to Julia Louis-Dreyfus as well.  Hannah John-Kamen did a great job as Ghost who was constantly saving the team's backsides throughout the film. (I love this character and would like to see more of her in the future.) 

SO, fan boys and girls, that's my 2 cents on the film for what it's worth.  Peace, Out, Sauerkraut! 

We Are The Robots

The Robots was a great song by Kraftwerk from their The Man-Machine Album back in 1978. I thought it was a fitting reference for today's topic: Kastelan Robots (with their Cybernetica Datasmith).  I bought this set on eBay a few weeks ago after seeing a fully painted model of one of the robots on Bluesky.

I decided to do a full repaint/paint and am super pleased at how the figures turned out.  The 2 robots are basically an antique gold paint scheme with black accents. The Datasmith was painted similarly to images of it I saw online.

 

Matching the way the one finished base looked was a bit challenging, but I think I rose to the occasion. Check out the pics.  I hope you like 'em.  Stay safe out there, folks!

Monkey Business

In honor of the new Fantastic 4 movie, I thought I'd share some of my recent purchases.  The Red Ghost and his Super Apes were favorites of mine from back in the day (1970s).  I loved when they appeared in the animated cartoon at the time.  You have to remember the Cold War was on and the battle between Democracy and Communism was in full swing.  The Soviet scientist, Ivan Kragoff, wanted to beat the U.S. to the moon (Space Race), like the Fantastic Four, his spacecraft was bombarded with Cosmic Rays giving he and his apes super powers.  

I got all four HeroClix figures from Noble Knight Games.  Pictured below (L to R): Peotr, Mikhlo, Ivan, Igor.  For more information on the Red ghost and his Super Apes click here: Red Ghost

Heady Situation

I've been wanting a cave for my Orcs for some time.  I was going to make one out of Crayola Magic Model Clay but decided the better of it.  I found a resin aquarium piece on eBay for a reasonable price and decided to go for it.  The piece was not in the greatest shape.  I added a couple of rocks and gave it a coat of gray paint.  When it dried, I gave it a wash with some brownish-black paint.  I went back in and dry brushed it with a grayish-tan color.  I clear-coated it with a matte spray.  I love the way it turned out.

Here is the final product staged with a Hydra figure I bought at Target years ago.  The Greek soldiers fighting it are from the Heroscape Sacred Band unit.  Take a gander.  Hope you like it.

Spaced Out

On December 9, 1965 a strange object flew through the sky over Western Pennsylvania.  It zig-zagged a few times before it descended and eventually crashed in the woods near the small rural community of Kecksburg, PA.  The object had been spotted over Ontario, Canada and Detroit, Michigan prior to its crash.  Locals at the time claim to have seen a seamless metallic object shaped like an acorn with some type of hieroglyphics on its exterior sticking out of the ground.  Some even claim to have seen some type of creature emerge from the object.

Soon after the crash reports of the U.S. Military began arriving on the scene. The area was coordained off  and civilians were told to stay out.  Various stories from the time indicate that NASA personnel were present and various other government agencies.  Reports that two flatbed trucks eventually hauled off what was in the woods.

Cameras and film taken of the object were confiscated.  Reports of the incident went missing.  Locals were told to keep their mouths shut about what they has seen.  In the days that followed, the media reported that it might have been debris from a satellite or even from a Soviet Space Craft.

Multiple investigations have been done over the years but none have proven conclusive.  Speculation as to what the object really was continues to this day.

Which leads me to the present.  Each July for the past  20 years the community has held a Kecksburg U.F.O. Festival.  This year I finally made up my mind to go.  It didn't disappoint.  I enjoyed checking out the goods of many of the vendors (arts, crafts, many U.F.O. and alien themed items, Big Foot statues, and my favorite, tinfoil hats (Hey, ya can't be too careful!  Swing away, Merrell!).  There was a ton of great food to try. ( Kudos to the Hot Sausage vendor!)  There was a hot dog eating contest, a hay bale toss, live music, and lectures on the incident (I got to hear Stan Gordon speak today.) 

All-in-all, it was a wonderful experience.  The weather held up. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits.  It was great to look at all the different t-shirts and talk  with like-minded folks.  As I was leaving, a guy said to me, "Hey! I remember you.  I saw you that night coming out of the spacecraft."  I laughed and said, "Don't say that too loud.  I might have to mindwipe you."  I don't think he thought I was kidding.  I saw him go buy a tinfoil hat.👽

If you would like more information click here: Kecksburg U.F.O. Incident.  

Welcome to the Jungle

I finished my jungle terrain project.  It was exactly what I hoped it would be.  It allowed me to be creative and challenged me to get the right array of plants together to get that full jungle look and feel.  I am stoked at how they turned out.

Twenty one-of-kind handmade hand-painted jungle terrain pieces were assembled when all was said and done.  Here's a pic for you to check out.  I used HeroClix Alien and Predator figures for scale.  You can take a look at them (Maybe buy some??!!) on eBay: Jungle Terrain

These pieces will be great for historical, fantasy, and sci-fi wargaming.  They could be used with 15mm, 20mm, 28mm, and 32mm scale figures.  I suppose they could also be used as islands for naval miniature games as well.

It's a Jungle Out There

For the past year or so, I have been thinking about a new project to engage the more creative side of myself.  If you recall, I made custom Sci Fi / D & D Spider Miniature Sets a while back.  After careful consideration, I have decided to embark upon a quest to make miniature wargaming terrain...specifically jungle terrain.

I have been gathering supplies for some time now: glues, plastic, Plaster of Paris, small plastic plants, Styrofoam, paints, dried roots, Spanish Moss, Modge Podge, hobby rocks and gravel, etc.  After some online research, I am ready to take on the task.

The bases are finished.  All handmade and painted. The foliage is done.  Most of the plants are also handmade and/or customized.  I'm ready to put them all together.  I have been studying jungle plant life on the internet and while I was on vacation in Florida.  I feel I have a pretty good sense of what I need to do to achieve the right ascetic.

Wish me luck.  It will be the challenge I've needed for some time.  Check right here on my humble little blog for pics of the finished products in the days to come.

Waaagh(tever!!!)

I meant to post some picks of my recently painted Space Orks with the Waaagh Buggy I did back in November of 2023.  I also have the Raptor I recently purchased in the pics as well.  So here you go!  Perouse the pictures at your leisure.  Enjoy!!!

Beauty and the Beast

I just finished a couple of what I think are really cool looking figures.  The armor-clad maiden is from Reaper Bones Miniatures.  She is called Taroya.  I renamed her Athenia.  She got pink armor.  A pink and gold shield.  Her pink helmet has a metallic-look white
plume.  She also has a metallic white and gold cape.  Don't let her fool ya, she's a killer to the core. 

Her sparing partner is a dragon I picked up at a thrift store for a buck.  I gave him a repaint and he's ready to light up just about anything that gets in his way.  

Not sure what I'll be doing next in this hobby passion of mine.  You'll just have to check back in to find out I guess.  Take care and be safe out there.

Smash Brothers

It's been a while since I painted any Reaper Miniatures.  After painting Space Orks and Dark Eldar, I thought I would like to do some fantasy figs for a bit.  I've had the one Hill Giant, Golan, for some time and recently purchased the other one Krug.  I took them out of their packaging, assembled them, and set off to get them painted.  I am fairly happy with the results.

Have a gander.  I can see them fighting off a nasty band of barbarians or some dwarves perhaps.  Anyway, they're done and ready to beat some arse.