20 Leagues Under My Belt - Living Statue

While technically not an entire league, I wanted to post this latex adversary paint-up. This is a plastic stone or claw golem miniatures from the Reaper Bones line. I have cut it from its original base to help with an issue in how the plastic legs were positioned and re-based it. This is a simple paint job with a brown base coat, yellow sand wet-brushing, then a washing with brown tone from Army Painter, over which I did a drybrushing of a lighter sand color to highlight. 

Figures such as these are indispensable for Pulp Alley. They can pop up everywhere from tombs to desert ruins or even in the ranks of villainous leagues. They are also great for museum scenarios, art galleries, rampaging through the city after being mistakenly awakened. There just aren't enough uses for an animated statue. This particular miniatures is extra useful as it is quite generic in it style and could easily be placed in any number of cultures.

20 Leagues Under My Belt - Two Curious Fellows

It's been a bit since I dipped my brush and got some color on my way too big collection of pulp miniatures.

This latest duo is made from a modified Copplestone Miniature and a chimp from a company that escapes me at the moment. These two should look quite familiar to anyone who grew up reading the antics of a certain inquisitive simian and his mustard-hued caretaker. 

The newer Pulp Alley league rules allow players to make leagues as a small as two characters. This is great for players on a budget or looking to get into the game with minimal painting or miniatures purchases. It also allows players to field those famous dues, dynamic and otherwise, that are such a solid part of the genre. I think for this league I'll write the ape up as the leader.

20 Leagues Under My Belt - The Investigators

Hailing from the across the world, Dr. Helena Sigurdson and her team of dedicated investigators delve into the mysteries of the past, present and tomorrow. 

Seen here with her Egyptian contact, Omar Jaffar, antiquarian, mystic dabbler and knowledgeable in those thing buried in the sands of antiquity, Dr Sigurgson is a tough, capable woman who few would expect to be a lady of learning. Buried under those dusty leather and well-oiled gun belt are both beauty and brains.

The European branch of Dr. Sigurdson's network is made up of (from left to right) writer and arcanist P.D. Hitchcraft (United Kingdom), antiques dealer and appraiser Udder Brotten (Germany/Austria), and historian Pierre LeBeau (France). These three provide a vast degree of support staff and useful skills and knowledge when hunting down treasures and items of historical value.

But don't forget the yanks! Former cub reporter turned paranormal journalist, Margaret "Maggy" Malone is charged with photographically documenting all the teams finds and travels. Not one to let his kid sister out into the dangerous world by herself, her brother Sean "Buster" Malone brings some useful heft to the team's adventures. The forces of darkness may have come looking to feast on the blood of the innocents, but I'm afraid only knuckle sandwiches are on the menu.

This league is one that began as a bunch of figures intended to be used as NPCs in various scenarios - contacts, objectives, red herrings, etc.. While I still plan to make use of them in those capacities, they also make the basis for a really great way to playtest some new rules being explored for Pulp Alley which allow the creation of a league made up of more capable lesser characters.

20 Leagues Under My Belt - The Curse of Apshai

Back in the day I loved the various Apshai adventure games. Even though they never came back in any new form, the memory of Egyptian themed dungeon crawls has never left me.

The various Mummy movies with all their bugs, mummy minions and such were a good example of this and I so, I decided to do this new conversion off another Reaper Bones miniature.

This miniatures represents a tomb guardian who has been cursed by the insect god, Apshai...

My apologies for the blurry back shot. Holding a camera while holding the miniature in the light was a bit tricky. No matter how i shot this figure while it was sitting down, I couldn't capture it well. I also noticed a horrible mold line too late. But when the figure is on the table, it's hardly noticeable, so I didn't bother going back and correcting it.

Here is a list of what was done to the original figure...

1) Reshaped in green stuff the jaw to make it stretched and crooked, adding to the torment of the scarabs pouring forth. The tongue you see is the original jaw line.

2) In addition to the scarabs on the body, several are sculpted erupting from the flesh of this mummy.

3) The abdomen was re-sculpted to show undulating bulges, hinting that this creature is a husk full of scarab beetles. 

4) There are a few lumps added to the surface indicating scarabs moving under the skin.

Enjoy!

-Eli

20 Leagues Under My Belt - Zakaar and The Moonstone Guardians

Hailing from mist-shrouded jungle in some hidden land beneath the Earth, comes the orphaned Atlantean boy Zakaar, his adopted mother Nabba "The Ghost Killer", the Trog Brothers - Roku and Doba, and M'wapi - the undying vengeful warrior prince of the Gtungi Worms.

This league was created from spare figures floating around my collection when I first picked up Pulp Alley. I really like the chemistry of this band of outcasts. They really feel like something out of an old pulp comic series. Zakaar is a miniature from Alternative Armies. Nabba is a Primaeval Designs saber-toothed cat. The Trog Brothers are converted Black Tree Viking Berserkers. M'wapi is a converted Games Workshop metal skink.

Zakaar is the leader. The orphaned son of one of the last remaining populations of Atlanteans in the Hollow Earth, he was found by the spectral sabertooth, Nabba - known to those in the jungle as The Ghost Killer. Zakaar wields great power drawn from the energies of the Moonstone, a relic of ancient Atlantis and a piece of the great crystal that once powered the island city-state (which he has unceremoniously turned into a club). Nabba is no mere albino, her fur casting an eerie glow, like moonlight and her eyes radiating the same blue energies as Zakaar's and the Moonstone.

Roku and Doba are "evolved" trogs, meaning they are roughly the equivalent of Neanderthals. Their advanced intellects drew the mistrust of their more bestial kin who drove them into exile where they were rescued, by Zakaar, from the jaws of Tokor the Terrible, a vicious, scarred, tyrannosaurus colored black as night. Ever since, they have joined The Boy Atlantean in his endeavors to defend the folk of the Hollow Earth.

When Kro-ak the Swamp God enslaved the Gtungi Worms and bent them to his evil will, M'wapi and the other tribal leaders and heroes fought valiantly to try to defend their people. Alas, they were no match for the evil of the bloodthirsty frog demon and all fell before him. M'wapi's fallen body was secreted away by what remained of his clan and buried in a hidden tomb like the warrior prince he was, but his rest would not be long.

In his adventures, Zakaar happened upon the tomb of the fallen Gtungi prince, the energies of the Moonstone stirring something in the angry dead warrior. M'wapi woke in a frenzy, thinking his tomb desecrated and a battle between he and Zakaar ensued. If not for the silent whispering of the Moonstone and the clarity it granted to M'wapi, their tale might have ended there. Instead, M'wapi found common ground with the Moonstone Guardians and joined the band. Still, his unliving nature distances him from his more vitalized companions and all will admit that there is something "off" about the G'tungi warrior.

20 Leagues Under My Belt - Countess Velasco's Treasure Hunters

So, in a frenzy of painting fever, I pulled out a partially completed league and finished it up.

This league is my European treasure hunters, led by the cold and calculating Countess Velasco. She is joined by her lieutenant and supposed lover, Bronzini and his hired guns. Rounding out the league is the Countess's personal mystic and fortune teller Madame Zelda.

The Countess and her band stand poised at the mouth of the Gtungi lair, certain that the riches of this savage land are to be found inside. Hopefully, the Gtungi will be kept at bay by the relic displayed by Madame Zelda. Bronzini and his men are ready, nonetheless.


This league is one of my first and was made up of minis I had on hand when I first picked up Pulp Alley. It tends to follow the middle of the road for leagues in Pulp Alley, utilizing a lot of shooty, some tricks and a characters (Zelda) who doesn't do much except aid the rest of the league. 

This league is made up mostly of Copplestone Castings figures from several different codes with Countess Velasco cast into her role from Artizan Miniatures.

20 Leagues Under My Belt - The Gold Lama

The first accomplishment in what can only be described as a fail of a project, the Gold Lama and his faithful yeti (Hey! I'm a yeren...grumble...mutter..) driver, Talaga, are the first league to reach full painted status since I announced this project in *sigh* August. To add insult to injury, they are a small league of only two figures - leader and sidekick. On the other hand, I should be proud because I painted them in one day.

The Gold Lama races into the ruin of the old estate bent on making the scoundrels pay for their misdeeds. Meanwhile Talaga stands ready to back up his friend.

The Gold Lama is a Superfigs miniatures available through Old Glory. He was painted with an intentional nod to Marvel's Iron Fist, one of my favorite comic book character. The golden skin was a late thought that I feel really sells the pulpy nature of this character as a mystic, versed in the ancient secrets of the East.

Talaga is a Judge Dredd miniatures Ape Gang Gorilla from Mongoose. The Gold Lama has always had a yeti as a sidekick and when I saw this gorilla, it was love at first sight. What better a pulp sidekick/driver/major domo than an ape in suspenders, trousers and a bow tie. He's packing heat in his pocket and stands ready with a crowbar. 

The Gold Lama and Talaga take a moment to pose after chasing off the mobsters

Oopse Paint

I'm sure this is nothing new but I figured I would share for the sake of those who may not have discovered the wellspring of cheap project paint. I am always on the lookout for the inexpensive sources of paint, especially for the purposes of base coating large areas such as in the case of terrain projects. I have found that the local DIY stores are a great source for this.

Many of them have a rack, nestled, not always so visibly, next to their paint counter. This is where they keep what my wife called the "oopse paint". Oopse paint is that stuff that was mixed and not the right shade or mixed wrong or whatever else can befall the masters of paint alchemy. The bottom line is that you can get some good shades at about $0.50 per 7 ounces. The pic in this post shows my latest acquisition which was a collection earthy greens and sandy tones. Even if you can't find the colors you need, I find this is a good way to get some good, but cheap paint that you can slop onto a piece of styro terrain that you need to seal up.

Check it out!

-Eli

Painted Preview Figs

Every time I sculpt some figs for 15mm.co.uk's SHM minis line, part of the deal is that I get preview sample of the figures I sculpted. This last batch included more poses of the popular toady Prang aliens. These filthy scavengers, pirates and raiders use crude blasters and powerful heavy weapons to rip into the hulls of vessels and to raid colonies and installations, taking what they want and leaving their hapless victims to fend for themselves. 

These figures will be available in the next couple months from 15mm.co.uk in their SHM miniatures range.

Check Hell's Thermostat

I actually painted a miniature...

Seriously, this is the part of the hobby that I really stink at. It's not so much that I'm no good at painting (I'm not great), but I really just don't enjoy it. I enjoy having painted figures but the process of getting them there isn't as entertaining as it is for some. 

Anyhow, the figure I chose to paint is one that I sculpted myself, back about the time I first started sculpting for real. I was on a zombie kick at the time and wanted to have a big ol' Mega Zed to slap on my table. The resulting figure wasn't really suitable for molding and casting, but it was still cool. I based it up and it sat on my shelf. 

The figure is a nasty one with horribly mutated muscle and bone structure, a talon hand and a giant piercing spike. His face is deformed, exposing crooked teeth and eyes of differing sizes - one bulged out, the other in a deep socket. Oddly enough this mutant freak seems to have found the same amazing line of pants as the Incredible Hulk and as such, I have painted them an appropriate purplish hue. He works wonderfully as a Mega Mutant as much as a Mega Zed and can be seen below menacing a group of post-apocalyptic wastelanders (converted from French Indian Wars figs).

20 Leagues Under My Belt - Introduction to the Family's New Painting Motivator

With the family becoming more and more interested in Pulp Alley, I thought this would be a great time to try to motivate myself, along with the rest of them, to get some painting done.

Pulp Alley affords me with a really simple, direct, and purposeful way to paint up a wide number of my 28mm miniatures. Because it breaks my collection into leagues, the basic unit of the rules, I can focus on completing a league, or two, at a time seeing results without having to paint legions of figures (just leagues). The other main motivator is to capitalize on my youngest daughter's sudden and enthusiastic interest in miniatures gaming.

While I'm not even sure we have a total of 20 leagues among the family, we do have quite a few and as contagious as they are, it's likely there will be more. In addition to leagues there are NPC sorts and encounters to paint, scenery and the like that I'm pretty sure will sneak into the mix along the way. 

So, stay tuned and hopefully we'll have some things to show you soon. School is starting so it may be a bit slow to get rolling, but I can think of worse ways to spend drizzly fall afternoons than sitting in the dining room painting with the fam.

-Eli

I Painted Something - Episode 1

Hey all,

With last month's declaration of painting at least one thing a week for the month of December (and possibly beyond), I set to it a day early and on Friday, November 30th, I sat down and finished up painting some figures I started on about a year ago or more. 

The figures are Vleta Reavers from Blue Moon Manufacturing. They are 15mm scale, though being large aliens they come in at a whopping 18mm tall. Taking the advice of a few sagely painters on the Internet, I stuck to painting just a single squad of them from start to finish instead of tackling the whole lot of ten. 

The paint scheme is inspired by the plant men from the John Carter stories and I figured that by painting them in these colors I could maybe even put them into double duty as VSF figures with a sort of morphed concept of the plant men. Their organic weapons definitely help with this. This meant a lot of blues so I set down a base of a medium blue and then highlighted with a lighter blue made from blending the base with a more pastel blue. The eyes were painting a flat white and the teeth, horns and joint spurs were painted with the same color as the weapons - a sort of bone whitish colored marked "straw". Over the base colors and highlights I applied a liberal amount of Devlin Mud.

Basing was quick and dirty and involved super glue on the bases which was then run through a bag of fine scenic grit. A little poking and prodding with a pin and this makes a nice uneven and natural looking surface that dries to a concrete hardness. More Devlin mud on the bases and then a dry-brushing of grey.

The final effect isn't amazing, but i do not seek amazing, only serviceable. Quick and dirty like all my other gaming stuff.

It felt good to get back in and paint something. I am still not fond of painting, but I think I have identified the source of my loathing as the basic steps. The priming and base painting are what I think turns me off to the painting experience. Getting in and doing the detailing is much more enjoyable and seeing these figs finished down to the bases really does inspire me to do more.

Thanks for reading,

-Eli

Stop Being a Baby!

Yes, I am a big baby when it comes to painting miniatures.

It's the worst affliction to have in this hobby. I love gaming. I love miniatures but I'm a big whiny baby when it comes to painting. I'm afraid I'll mess the minis up. I'm not good enough. I'm not fast enough. The orc in the corner is laughing at me. I'll do nearly anything to avoid painting my own miniatures.

Well, I'm not rich and I can't pay somebody to paint them for me so I'm going to suck it up.

Starting December I will be painting SOMETHING every week. I don't care if it's a single figure or a whole bunch of troops painted to a bleh standard. I will cover lead with pigment. Of course I'm going to cheat and short-cut the crap out of it but I'm going to paint.

To warm up, I'll be finishing up existing work and then working on some simpler models - civilians, tribals, etc.. Then, I'll take on some of the more complex things. My paints are old, my brushes are pretty spare but I'm going to paint. 

Maybe if people see me painting, they'll buy me painting stuff for Christmas!

-Eli

Elistonian Infantry

Just another quicky for today folks!

Before Alcovia, there was my imagi-nation of Elistonia. The name was cheesy and eventually got eclipsed by the much cooler Alcovia, but the nation is still alive in my little imagi-world. for my VSF games Elistonia was going to be a landlocked nation with aspirations of becoming a colonial power. Their uniforms show the poor and simple nature of their uniforms, with very little in the way of color. These blue kepis show these to be regular riflemen. The figures are 15mm Battle Honours Wurtemberger skirmishing riflemen .

Thanks for looking.

-Eli

Devlin Mud is Magic

So, after dragging my feet for a bit, I finally went out and bought a couple bottle of Games Workshop's Devlin Mud wash. It has now been a couple of month's since buying it and I have finally had a chance to use some of it. I have to say that I am happy with it.

I found that a quick, one might even say sloppy, application to a few basically painted figures really added a lot and got the figures in good order. This is a real boon for me who really doesn't feel the desire to put in the time to paint my figs to really high standards but doesn't want them looking dog ugly on the table.

Yay Devlin Mud!

-Eli

I Do Not Like Painting

After many years, I have finally had to accept that I do not like painting miniatures. I love playing wargames, I love converting, even sculpting new figures, but the act of painting is tedious for me. I am amazed and awed by people who can really get into the art of it, but for me all that is lost and I find myself rushing through paint jobs, if I bother at all.

As a really good example of this is my old Imperial Guard army for 40K which I must have had for pushing a decade and barely touched brush to metal. So, by the time I finally sold the huge force which pointed out at about 6,000 points under 3rd edition rules, it was known as "The Pewter Legion". Whoever it was who bought that off of me on EBay got themselves a pretty sweet army starter for sure.

Even now, I have a huge Troll Blood for Hordes that are unpainted as well as countless historical, fantasy and scifi figs. I do have rare fits of motivation that allow me to accomplish some amount of painting, but overall, I'm not a fan.

-Eli