Forgotten Heroes 2026

The World’s first superhero, a Forgotten Heroes 10th Anniversary episode 

"Set free by the Teen Angels from his prehistoric block of glacier ice, comes the world's first superhero, Captain Caveman!  Now the constant companion to the Teen Angels, Brenda, Dee Dee and Taffy in their hilarious, and sometimes scary mystery missions. Get ready for Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels!"

A chance encounter at Salute 53 with Jeremy Winstanley Esq. saw me receive an elegant Forgotten Heroes badge, a ten year anniversary special edition no less, and having accepted such a prestigious gift it seemed beholden unto me to take part in this year’s event. Although not blogging as such at the moment, I miss terribly the interaction with fellow chums and what better way to reconnect with some of them than to take part in an event that champions the camaraderie of a group of like-minded individuals. 

Those regular readers of this most humble of web logs will be familiar with the format for this event, but for any new readers* the idea is that during the month of June, you must create a figure of a character who has been unfairly overlooked by the companies who produce miniatures.  It can be any character at any scale, but the first post should provide an illustration of the character, as a point of reference. 

Those regular readers of this most humble of web logs will be familiar with the format for this event, but for any new readers* the idea is that during the month of June, you must create a figure of a character who has been unfairly overlooked by the companies who produce miniatures.  It can be any character at any scale, but the first post should provide an illustration of the character, as a point of reference. 

*other than the nefarious Russian SpamBots, yes I know you’re lurking out there!

The difficulty with any enterprise such as this is knowing where to start.  As soon as I waved goodbye to Jez, my mind started racing at the thought of possible heroes to rediscover, but it wasn’t until I stumbled across Crooked Dice’s 7TV game ‘The Eighth Wonder’ that a tangible thread of an idea presented itself to me.  I had always had an inkling to do something involving those ‘meddling kids’ and had even bought some miniatures, once upon a while a go, but never really explored it further.  Could there be another way to tap into the nostalgia of young Master Awdry’s childhood?

At the end of what had been a good visit to Salute 53, tied and exhausted and safely aboard the train home to the South Coast, my thoughts returned to the idea of a forgotten hero from my childhood.  Captain Pugwash sailed past briefly as did the idea of Wombles recycled from pieces of leftover sprue.  All had their merit, but not quite hitting the mark, but suddenly out of the dim and distant recess of my memory came a rallying cry, 

Captain CAAAAAAAVE MAAAAAANNNNN!

A firm favourite, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, was produced by Hanna-Barbera and originally aired from 1977 to 1980.  If of a group of mystery solving teenagers ably abetted by a monosyllabic hero sounds familiar then you won’t be surprised to read that it was created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears who had found success with a similar format for Scooby Doo.  The similarities to Scooby Doo are very obvious and in fact Cavey, as he is lovingly known to the Teen Angels, would see a number of crossovers with not only Scooby Doo, but the Flintstones as well.**

**Wider reading tells me that the format was routinely redeployed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and included such titles as Josie and the Pussycats and the Funky Phantom, although I can’t claim to have seen these.

Captain Caveman is, by my reckoning a genuine superhero.  He has super-human strength and his club gives him the power of flight, albeit temporarily before it fails him!  This same club acts like a bottomless carry bag containing all manner of equipment needed to help solve any given case and what couldn’t be found in his club was often retrieved from the mass of tangled hair that covered his diminutive body.

Now I am hoping that this is going to be a relatively straightforward win, with regards to creating and modelling our prehistoric protagonist, but if experience has taught me anything it is that best laid plans often go awry.  As I type this, I am already wondering if it will be possible to include the Teen Angels themselves and perhaps their equivalent of the Mystery Machine!  Regardless of outcome, I am looking forward to the challenge and the opportunity to catch up with a good many of you along the way. 

Captain CAAAAAAAVE MAAAAAANNNNN!

Risen from the Dead

I shall spare you all the overlong preamble regarding a lack of balance in my life, suffice to say that we are essentially well and I am still pootling about, never quite finishing anything, but enjoying the hobby when, and where I can.  

More recently someone, sadly only known to me as Anonymous, left a comment on my last blog post, Crocodiles in the Jungle (How is this over a year ago?!) simply saying, 

“Please come back Michael! You have been away for far too long.” 

I do miss the interaction with other hobbyists that came with the inception of this most humble of weblogs and I am truly fortunate that some have sought me out across other platforms or quietly sent an email to check on my whereabouts.  This is always a joyous moment and I need to do more to ‘pass it forward’ as it were to others that I have fallen out of touch with, but returning to this particular comment and I have to say that I was really rather touched by it and resolved myself to post something before the end of the year.

The world’s over indulgence with all things Halloween was the perfect incentive for this post.  What better day to post a spooky spectacle and showcase another of my recent distractions, 3D Printing.  This rather splendid mausoleum was a free sample from the incredibly talented Terrabloks, whose projects I have backed on more than one occasion and can gladly testify to the quality of their designs.  For those who take an interest in the technical side of this process, it was printed on my Bambu Lab A1 with a layer height of 0.1 and an infill density of 5%.  The final print has a working door and the roof can be lifted off to access the interior.  

The details are superb and it was fabulous fun to paint, mostly dry brushed and washed.  I based it on a ‘Warbases’ MDF terrain base and added a few other pieces for added atmosphere.  The ghostly resident is a ‘Crooked Dice’ sculpt and I have had far too much fun setting up the photographs using Jon Hodgson’s backdrop books, available through ‘Handiwork Games’, to bring everything together. 

So thank Anonymous for gently nudging me into making this post.  Sadly, I am not sure it will herald a full return to this cosy corner of the blogosphere, but I am not quite ready to give up on '28mm Victorian Warfare' so there is every possibility that I might find myself lurking around all those splendid weblogs that I do so enjoy. 

Crocodiles in the Congo!

I had hoped to post a full and detailed account of Dr. Jones' adventure in the Congo, but with the end of the long summer holiday and the start of the academic year, time just seemed to evaporate. That said, I am determined to keep some sort of momentum going even if that is just stumbling through the occasional month in order to clear a backlog of half finished posts that I have built up.  

Back to the game in hand and rather than post a step by step report, I thought I would summarise the encounter, detailing some of my thought processes before sharing the photographs of the day.  The adventure was to be a homebrewed affair, sandwiching two of the given scenarios together - The Sanctuary and A River Runs through It.  This was to be played using the Forest Tribes and White Men Expeditions factions, using roughly equal points.  The teams were fairly standard in their make up, but for the sake of the narrative sailors replaced soldiers.  

Our story revolves around an artifact said to possess significant power; the holder of which is believed to be the rightful ruler of the jungle.  This has seen the rise of a truly fearsome tribe whose belief in their own invincibility has corrupted their moral sensibilities to the point where they take human sacrifice.  Of unknown origin, the artifact is the stuff of myth and legend and so not surprisingly Dr. Llewellyn Jones has been tasked with securing it for the British Museum.  Local scouts report that the cannibal shine, home to a great many artifacts and fetishes, is through the next clearing.  Dr. Jones and his column need to locate it and make their escape, through the swamp, to where they hope the paddle steamer will be waiting for them.  

As far as gameplay was concerned the Forest Tribes got to place six totems in their area of the table, these could be out in the open or hidden within the 'Dangerous Terrain'.   Each of the totems was numbered on the base, although not visible to the opposing player, before a D6 was rolled to establish which of these is to be considered the fabled artefact.  As soon as the explorers locate the artefact they can make a break for the river, but this will inevitably take them through the swamp.  When entering the swamp, and at the start of each following turn if still bogged down in it a D6 is rolled.  Depending on outcome the result could be inconsequential, stressful or an attack by one or a group of hungry crocodiles.  

The joy of the Congo ruleset is its unpredictability and even though Dr. Jones' column is carrying signifiant firepower the overwhelming numbers of the pygmy archers, who instantly win on the roll of any double, can turn a game in the flash of a poisoned dart.  Dr. Jones, unsurprisingly split his column into three teams with the scouts roaming ahead as a possible screen.   Ably assisted by another scientist, Dr. Jones headed off with the trained Askaris and a couple of bearers and immediately came across a totem, seemingly abandoned  in a clearing; alas it wasn't the one they were looking for.  Alerted to the presence of the Forest Tribes by the rustling of the undergrowth the party headed off in search of the fabled artifact.  Any slight advantage now nullified, it wasn't long before the local inhabitants closed with the famed explorer and in a frenzied assault the Askaris were cut to pieces, Dr. Jones forced to flee for his life.  Meanwhile, Lady Marion, escorted by a Royal Navy landing party, decided to risk exploring some dangerous terrain and as luck would have it located the artefact at her first attempt!  The chase was now very much on as Lady Marion and her team race towards to swamp and the hope of retrieval by the paddle steamer.  The Forest Tribes abandoned their toying of Dr. Jones, much to his relief and looked to close the gap as quickly as possible.  Dr. Jones, not one to give up gracefully made a series of daring, harrying attacks that gave the good Lady just the time she needed to make it to the swamp.  The comparative safety of cover was short lived as the surface of the swamp erupted with the thrashing of scaled tail and gnashing jaws - a crocodile attack!  Several good men were lost to this encounter, before the good Lady managed to extricate herself from the unforgiving terrain and started the swim for the steamer.  With the artifact no longer in the possession the Forest Tribes also succumbed to a reptilian ravishing allowing Marion the chance to pull herself up and onto the deck of the boat.

This effectively ended the game, a fast paced romp through the jungle with a movie like narrative and hugely entertaining fun.  Ideally we would run through the scenario a second time with the opposing players changing sides, but it had taken us a little longer than expected to remember the rules and so time was called.  Fabulous fun and always lovely to get this collection on the table, but I was also thrilled with the addition of the swamp mechanic that just seemed to ramp up the excitement at the end of the scenario.

I have an elephant fetish!

Now there is a title to solicit all manner of casual browser!  By way of explanation, the planned scenario for the Congo game was based on a couple of adventures sandwiched together from the rule book.  The premise is that a mysterious artifact has to be located and taken somewhere else.  I already had my ape totems, but needed a total of six items and so set about creating some new fetishes.  Having had success with the playmobil monkeys, I had hoped that they may yield a suitable alternative but nothing seemed to fit the bill and so an extensive trawl of the infoweb followed.  With some considerable luck, I stumbled across these cheap metal pendants from a buyer on Etsy and simply trimmed of the hoop at the top and stuck them to some chunks of foam.  

These were, in turn, fixed to some MDF bases that were textured with pumice paste and small stones.  Once everything was dry some fine gauge chain was wrapped around both and made to look as if the chains had cut and eroded into the stone over time.  A few touches of superglue were required to keep everything in place and stop the chains slipping. 

The build was effectively done at this stage, but I have seen African Fetish sculptures and had a lasting memory of the nails, driven into them; dark, truly terrifying items.  So I did what any rational minded hobbyist would do and unearthed a bag of plastic skulls and cut lengths of floristry wire into tiddly, tiny pieces - the descent into madness was complete. 

I made painting far too difficult for myself as I was worried that my trusty rattle can primer would melt the foam.  Instead, I chose to paint the rocks separately and then applied a coat of matt varnish to the metal pendant before  giving it a series of heavy washes.  I allowed the rust to colour the rock and everything was flocked to show that these were very much part of the jungle.

On to the game!

My previous monkey totems can be seen here.

The Swamp!

 

With the game day fast approaching, I needed to turn my attention to terrain.  The scenario I was working on called for our intrepid explorers to try to escape the attentions of the Forest Tribes and make it safely back to their paddle steamer; to do this they would have to pass through the swamp!  

Congo has various different terrain classifications, one of the most exciting being the Dangerous Terrain.  When a group enters this terrain it most 'explore' the area which can throw up all manner of twists and turns.  I wanted to create some pieces of large terrain that our explorers had to pass through in order to reach the river, but also wanted to make the distinction that this was now a swamp area as opposed to the dense jungle previously encountered.  The results of that earlier build can be seen here:

Dangerous Jungle Terrain

Having thrown down a couple of printed mats to get a feel for the lay out, I was able to see how many pieces I would need, essentially three large areas to pass through and some blocking terrain to make the swim to the boats a little more tortuous.  I was fortunate in that I had some MDF terrain bases left over from the jungle build, I believe from East Riding Miniatures, but can highly recommend 'Wargames Tournaments' and 'Charlie Foxtrot Models' who also do similar packs and have excellent customer service.

I had a vision in my mind's eye of a dense, overhanging, verdant swamp but wasn't sure how to achieve it until I spied some bog wood, long abandoned, lying in our garden.  Bog wood, when immersed in water becomes incredibly heavy and forms an amazing, natural aquascape for the aquarium.  The twisted contorted shapes were just what I was looking for, but it is expensive.  This piece had formed the centrepiece of our aquarium, but the Saintly Mrs. Awdry's fishy friends kept growing and so had to be removed to allow more space for them.  Given its initial cost, I couldn't bring myself to throw it away and so it had been placed outside from where I was happy to recycle it for the build.

I cut the decoration down into three smaller sections, apportioning each piece to one of the irregular shaped bases I had chosen. Using off cut foam, I decided where I would have a way through the swamp and then braced the bog wood trunks in place with chopped down toffee apple sticks. This was a 'Eureka!' moment for me as I knew then exactly how I was going to realise my ideas!

The toffee apple stick braces had two purposes, structural integrity and to sell the mangrove swamp aesthetic.  Balance was key and I needed to consider carefully where the bog wood branches hung in relation to base profile, the sticks were key to support this.  They also allowed me to form the mangrove swamp roots that I was hoping to achieve.  Initially the stick itself was covered in milliput and given some simple texture before I added lengths of milliput rolled into tapered coils to represent the probing tendrils.  The joins were smoothed into the existing branches and allowed to set before given a quick blast of colour with the airbrush. 

Whilst absolutely thrilled with the progress so far, I felt that two of the larger bases needed some more branches in order to add more depth.  To achieve this, I took some thin willow branches cut to lengths and pinned them to the trunk before applying milliput to conceal the join and added additional tendrils.  Once everything was in place and set it was just a case of adding colour with a dry brush, the natural texture of the bog wood creating some wonderful effects. 

With the main structures completed, I just needed to add the hanging moss.  This is essentially teddy bear filling soaked in PVA glue and coloured ink with some basing turf sprinked in for good measure.  A ridiculously messy process, but one I had had some success with before in another swamp build.  See here: Through the Swamp

To complete the bases, self adhesive tufts, flock and some leave litter were all added.

The three main swamp bases were now complete and I just needed to fashion the remaining two blocking islands.  These were designed to form obstacles for our hapless adventurers to swim around and so were not to be considered explorable.  I had a couple of smaller MDF bases to hand and just added some foam as a base, using up the last of the milliput to smoothen the edges.  

Added to this were some aquarium plants that I had left over from the jungle build, but I wanted to achieve something more akin to the dense reeds that we see Charlie Allnut try to navigate the hapless African Queen through.  For this I sourced Long Reed lengths from the incredibly helpful 'War Paint Figures' and simply pressed them into the foam having first dipped the ends into some PVA glue.  I had hoped to give these stems some paper leaves, but time got the better of me and so had to make do with loading the base with various basing materials to finish the illusion. 

A fun and rewarding build, I was genuinely stoked at how well they had turned out using mostly found materials at my disposal.  I now had treacherous swamp terrain that my adventures would have to pass through in order to make it safely back to their boats.  That should have been everything completed for the game, but of course there was just one more thing I felt I needed!