Tuesday 5 November 2013

Cheap and Plastic!


Now there is a title to conjure with!  Sadly nothing more  provocative on show than these chaps that I picked up in 'The Works', whilst waiting for an eye appointment.  I've often heard stories of great finds to be had in this most wonderful emporium of tat, but up until now I'd lucked out!


Reasonably sculpted in a 'hardish' plastic I decided that the two Parasaurolophus models needed a more substantial base and were duly attached to a 'Warbases' standard MDF 70mm base, loosely garnered with some pieces of slate, stones and foam packing.   


After a quick spray they were given a succession of colours dry brushed on, taking the marvellous work on display at 'Carmen's Fun Painty Time' as inspiration.  All that remained was to pick out a few details with the brush, which included the eyes and toenails and the transformation was complete at a fraction of the cost that these beasties normally retail for.  


Finally a quick reminder of the 'Pay it Forward' book giveaway, details of which can be found here.






77 comments:

  1. Why is the dimetrodon hiding behind its price tag? Surely its not that shy?

    Pip pip

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    Replies
    1. Oh but it is... it hasn't shown its' paint job yet.

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    2. He's so shy, I can't find the little devil! I think he may have been tidied away!

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  2. These saurs are super painted, Michael. You've made drybrushing look easy.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Jay, dry brushing can be great fun.

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  3. Excellent find and very nicely painted too.

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  4. Nice work, I often find myself staring at these types of toy beastie in the toyshop, but have so far resisted, mostly as I dont currently have a specific use for them... however I keep thinking of grabbing some rhinoceros ones to use for the beasts that pulled Grond - though that would be a huge project in itself and I havent built Minas Tirith yet! ;-)

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    Replies
    1. Rhinoceros for Grond, now that is a genius idea!

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  5. St Trinnians Dinosaur hunting! surely NOT! Victorian Dinosaur racing? Possible but unlikely. Lost word shenanigans! Far more likely. I shall watch with much interest. They paint up well. Very impressive.

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    Replies
    1. Lost word shenanigans is definitely a plan, but you've now got me thinking about a St Trinnians Dinosaur caper - think 'One of our dinosaurs is missing' with hockey sticks!

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    2. You can always add some of your hopping vampires as Peter Ustinov's Inscrutable Orientals!
      Pip pip

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  6. Bloody Hell ! These look amazing! Good work and a good tip for the financially challenged, thanks for sharing.

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  7. Nice work mate. They've come up a treat and like you say at a fraction of the cost you might pay. The trick is to find the hard plastic ones, not the softer rubbery ones!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Millsy, they were just the right side of hard - if you know what I mean! ;)

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  8. I bought some of these for my nephew yesterday, I found the circle round the middle too annoying to add them to my own prehistoric creature collection, but you've done wonders with them, maybe I should get some for me as well.

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    Replies
    1. You were not wrong about the ring around the middle - very annoying. I did toy with trying to hack it away, but did't think it would work. That was one of the reasons I popped on the base, it seemed to disguise it a little.

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  9. Cheap and looking great with your paint job!

    Christopher

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  10. Huzzaahh! An excellent find and conversion, to boot! Good work, sir!

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  11. great work they look fantastic with your excellent paint work on them too
    Peace James

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  12. cheap and effective.
    great drybrush job!
    bye

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  13. A great transformation of these beasties!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Edwin, all set for the Dinosaur Paddock.

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  14. Great conversion, you've really brought them to life! Really like your basing as well.

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  15. I would not have guessed the finished result started as it did

    Great work

    Ian

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  16. I love your parasorolophus ! I will show them to my son, "dinosaurs specialist' !
    It's always could be easy to find cheap toys which could used for our hobby, but it takes time and .... luck !

    Very good work !

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Sam, luck certainly plays a part.

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    2. Luck is good sometimes, but you must also have a lot of imagination : not everybody would think to buy them for what you have done!

      (... my son love them! it seems that there is no problem with the Palaeolithic Accuracy !)

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    3. I'm delighted that your son likes them, thank you!

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  17. My my they do look nice, cheap as well!

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    Replies
    1. Given how much has been pledged on the Mars Attacks kick-starter, cheap was defiantly the order of the day!

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  18. That is a brilliant use of 'lots-o-crap' store product!

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  19. That is a wonderful transformation on your bargains.

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  20. Nice looking Parasalo.. Parasoro... Parasilopopi....Dinosaurs :-D

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  21. Congratulation to a greate find ! They look realy good painted up !

    Best regards Michael

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  22. Hi,

    I'm putting together a, unofficial Warhammer army for the Chinese-inspired Cathay race and have been trawling the internet for cool/good ancient Chinese miniatures. Unfortunately, while John Jenkins' range were the best out there, they seem to have been out of production and supply for some time now. I've found Perry Miniatures' Korean range a good substitute for the most part, I'm still hoping against hope than I might be able to get my hands on some of the John Jenkins range.

    In my search I came across an old post of yours here ( http://28mmvictorianwarfare.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/terror-cotta-warrior-zombie-command.html?showComment=1383739303797#c1299609824226822434 ), and thought I might take a stab in the dark and ask:

    1) If you have any the John Jenkins Chinese range still around, specifically the Terror-Cotta Warriors (or any others)?
    and if so,
    2) Would you be willing to sell any of them? If so, name a price and we'll work from there.

    If not, thanks anyway for your time.

    Regards,
    Chris

    PS I also posted a reply to the relevant post, but have also posted it here in case the other reply never gets seen.

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    1. Hi Chris, thank you for you message. Like you I've been trying to get my hands on some more of these amazing miniatures. I think I got the last pack available in the UK as the remainder of my miniatures coming form John Jenkins private stash in Hong Kong! For that reason alone I'm afraid I'm going to keep hold of these. Thank you though for the idea of using Perr's Korean range - great idea!

      All the best,

      Michael

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    2. Michael,
      Ah well, worth a shot. It's a real shame that he no longer produces them eh? Seems they're really sort after. I did manage to find someone on a forum that is looking to sell 11 of them, waiting back to see if he likes my price. If you're after more Chinese-fantasy stuff I've had some success sourcing some in my internet trawls.

      One of my better finds was a cheap and pretty interesting Asian-style dragon by Fenryll, which a number of distributors have; http://fenryll.com/en/260-asian-dragon.html


      I also couldn't pass up the chance to get a great sculpt of The Monkey King (of Monkey Magic fame), also by Fenryll:
      http://fenryll.com/en/574-roi-singe.html

      Fireforge has an upcoming range of Mongols that are looking pretty good too:
      https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.645137525505575.1073741828.271339052885426&type=3

      For hero figures this guy in Hong Kogn has some really great and interesting ones. though actually buying them off him has taking a bit of back and forth emailing:
      http://www.dddhk.com/

      Happy hunting :)

      Chris

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  23. Great find and they came out wonderfully. I eagerly await the forth form Dino racing!

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  24. Great find. Youve' tidied them up nicely especially the bases.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Simon, a couple more beasties to add to the collection.

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  25. A great find and one to look out for.
    Cheers
    Stu

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Stuart, so some more there the other day.

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  26. Great work Michael! They look much better now!

    Greetings
    Peter

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  27. What a great paint-job you've done on these, very impressive indeed. I doubt anyone could identify the originals' origin.

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  28. Great find. Super job on the paint. Judging by the 70mm bases, these appear to be some hefty beasties. Best to stand well back during the dino-races so as not to be trampled.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you and I really should have done a size comparison shot, they are a tad tall though.

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  29. Great parasoph.. paralasauraph...

    Nice dinos, Michael!

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  30. Excellent idea and perfectly executed, Michael !
    I never thought that repainting those cheap figures would lead to such nice results.

    Cheers
    Stefan

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  31. Ah, the elusive Victorian dinosaurs! Just like those at crystal palace.

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    Replies
    1. But better painted. Of course.

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    2. Thank you, and wouldn't that make a great scenario - dinosaurs let loose in Victorian park!

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  32. Excellent paintjob Michael, the different colors are really impressive!

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  33. Just catching up on your blog and came across these. I lost interest in Dinosaurs after catching the end of Jurassic Park on TV for the umpteenth time. But have to say considering that you started with something that came from a pound shop and in its original state looks a piece of tat those are absolute beauties. That is a very impressive paint job.

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