The Iron Mole!

Having completed my recent batch of ‘Antediluvian Miniatures’, it was inevitable that the next thing to hit the painting table was the Iron Mole.  I have wanted one of these splendid pieces from ‘Ironclad Miniatures’ for such a long time and with the release of the ‘not’ At the Earth’s Core Adventurers, I decided that the time had finally come to raid the piggy bank and purchase one.

As I was scrutinising the ‘Ironclad Miniatures’ website, I noticed that they do a version on tracks, but went for the one triumphantly emerging from the ground.  It is a large chunk of resin or more correctly three large chunks of resin that I glued and pinned together for added strength. 

Having primed the Iron Mole some time ago, I have been studiously ignoring it, worrying about how I was going to paint it.  Finally, when procrastination was no longer an option, I called upon the trusty airbrush and blocked in the metal and wood sections.  Buoyed with a renewed enthusiasm for the project, I employed a fair bit of dry brushing using successively lighter colours to achieve the desired effect.  With the addition of some weathering and detailing the job was done and I have to say that I’m rather pleased with the final result.

Looking at the paint table, I see this is likely to be the last entry for ‘Dinovember 2016’, what with news that the ‘VII Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge’ is due to commence next month my attention will undoubtedly turn to prepping and planning.  Once again it has been great fun to indulge predilection for all things prehistoric and I thank all those that offered kind words of encouragement along the way.

At the earth's core

These latest additions to the collection are more from the curiously addictive ‘Antediluvian Miniatures’.  The adventures can actually be purchased across two different packs and are wonderfully named Shug McClure, Professor Peter Cushion and Caroline, I believe all sculpted by the talented Matthew Bickley*.

*Do let me know if this is not the case.

Now it is probably worth mentioning at this juncture the celluloid inspiration for these fabulous miniatures.  At the Earth's Core is one of those films that instantly stirs waves of nostalgia, but curiously is a film that I have not watched as often as I thought.  I revisited it not too recently and whist the steaming jungles and steamier Dia** were as I remembered them I seem to have erased from memory the giant, telepathic prehistoric birds!  I think on reflection that this might have been one of those occasions where young Master Awdry, having watched the film, had scurried off to consult the species in his vast library of dinosaur related material only to discover that they were an imaginary creature and therefore of no real importance.  Petulant at best, and I can but apologise for the Young Master’s intolerance, but it seems that these curious beasts still lack something today, that said the wrestling, bipedal, warthog like ‘dinosaurs’ are just superb! 

**Amply played by hugely talented Caroline Monroe.

Anyway I digress, instantly recognisable as having been inspired by the film, these were ‘must have’ sculpts and when it came to painting I decided not to be overly imaginative with the palette, taking I reference directly from the company’s website and of course the costume design worn in film.

What with these and the previously completed, ‘Raquel Scotch’, ‘Dinovember’ is starting to reawaken a Lost World vibe that I had previously suppressed.  Whilst not sure where this will ultimately lead, I know that my ‘Iron Mole’ has to be next!

Steggie!

I had hoped to have had this post to you somewhat earlier in the week, but a combination of the ever demanding day job and the lure of my armchair of an evening has meant that it has waited until now.  It seems almost incredulous to have 'Dinovember' without dinosaurs so allow me to present the imaginatively named Steggie.  Always one of my favourite dinosaurs, the Stegosaurus manages to combine attack and defensive qualities in equal measure, after all just look at that thagomizer!  

This fine specimen was kindly donated by that most splendid of gentlemen, Jeremy Winstanley Esq. of the 'Carrion Crow's Buffet' who had tracked down and captured the beastie in one of his earlier expeditions.  It was, in fact,  shipped with a companion, a mighty fine Iguanodon, something to look forward to next year perhaps?

Now I have to say that I am not overly keen on brightly coloured dinosaurs, Young Master Awdry  liked to keep things simple, Tyrannosaurus Rex was green, Triceratops was brown and Diplodocus was a daring shade of grey, that was pretty much your lot and quite frankly what more could a chap want?  It was no surprise then that I was immediately taken by Steggie's light tan plastic, but more and more recently I have been made aware of the radical thinking that these fabulous beasts might have been adorned with all manner of spurious and brightly coloured designs.  In fact I have some rather lovely 'Schleich' dinosaur toys proudly disporting their livery and so it seemed to make sense to match Steggie to my existing models, after all the only thing better than having a dinosaur is having a herd of them!

So having affixed the beast on a 'Warbases' MDF pill shaped base, I coaxed the trusty airbrush into life and set about laying down the colours that I felt best matched the larger model.  Although not completely confident in handling this piece of specialist equipment, the outcome was satisfactory and ultimately only needed a few hand painted additions to complete the job.  

Seeing them together, I have to say that I am rather pleased with the result looking, as they do, like a young family so all that remains is to thank Jez for his generous gift and to apologise for taking so long to paint it.

One Million Years BC!

This is a story of long, long ago; when the world was just beginning.

Welcome to this, the first post of 'Dinovember 2016'.  This is the month that I indulge in my love of all things Prehistoric, or at least things connected to that bygone age, no matter how tenuously!  My first offering is an adventurer from 'Antediluvian Miniatures' and one that is rather amusing titled, Raquel Scotch.  This delightful sculpt, as far as I am concerned, is a wonderful homage to Loana the fair, one of the central protagonists in Don Chaffey's One Million Years B.C.

Now I would like to tell you that this was one of Young Master Awdry's favourite films, but sadly this was not the case.  When I first saw it, I remember being decidedly unimpressed by the Dinosaur quotient even though they had been ably brought to life by the fine work of Ray Harryhausen.  Over time this disappointment gave way to the appreciation of the outstanding costume design, how Miss Welch's outfit was not oscar nominated still remains a mystery?

Now purely, in the interests of research, I decided to revisit this celluloid spectacular whilst painting the miniature and can report that I may have been a little hasty in my original analysis.  Yes there was still a sense of disappointment that the Dinosaurs didn't feature as much as I would have liked, but there were plenty more stand out performances that the ten year critic had missed; Martine Beswick's portrayal of Nupondi being an obvious one!  Still, I think that it is fair to say the special effects haven't aged well, but the whole adventure had a reassuringly nostalgic feel to it.

Returning to the miniature and I was happy to recreate the look of the film with the colour palette, not that there was a lot of outfit to paint!  Raquel actually came in a pack with a couple of adventurer types and I am hoping to share those with you over the coming month; for the time being let me leave you with one of the film's more memorable exchanges:

Loana: [pointing to Ahot] Ahot.

Ahot: [pointing to himself] Ahot.

Tumak: Ahot.

Loana: [pointing to Ahot] Ahot.

[pointing to herself] Loana.

[pointing to Tumak] Nnn?

Tumak: [misunderstanding] Ahot.

Loana: [pointing to Ahot] Ahot.

[pointing to herself] Loana.

[pointing to Tumak]

Tumak: Tumak.

I'm sure the scriptwriter had many a sleepless night coming up with that!  Hopefully a dinosaur up next if I manage to get the airbrush working this afternoon.