Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Future Wars => Topic started by: Steve F on 23 November 2011, 09:30:43 AM
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A Contemporary or Modern 48th anniversary gift has a theme of Optical Goods.
(anniversaryideas.co.uk)
Well, here's something to look at, then. On 23 November 1963, Doctor Who began.
As with my Doctor Who 2010 thread, I'm going to work through that first series story by story.
For starters, here are the regular characters.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/1963Regulars.jpg)
An Unearthly Child
And some others from the first episode.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Unearthly1.jpg)
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Unearthly2.jpg)
My Doctor Who collections:
Doctor Who 1963-64: http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=35262.0 (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=35262.0)
Doctor Who 1996: http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=43312.0 (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=43312.0)
Doctor Who 2010: http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=23774.0 (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=23774.0)
Doctor Who 2011: http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=45461.0 (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=45461.0)
Doctor Who 2012-13: http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=41010.0 (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=41010.0)
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Great Stuff :D
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Some great minis there, Steve F!
Lovely paintjobs and like the idea behind the project.
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Ooh I am so following this thread - great work!
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nice idea... good luck with that...
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Now this is cool. I love seeing a great paint job on those not so great Harlequin miniatures. There are some gems in that line, but there's a bunch of coal too.
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Thanks, guys.
Now, onto the remaining episodes of that first story.
The Cave of Skulls / The Forest of Fear / The Firemaker
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Gum1.jpg)
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Gum2.jpg)
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Gum3.jpg)
(A note on the animals: Barbara stumbles over a dead pig in the forest. The others are frequently mentioned, but do not appear. Strictly, the dialogue refers to "the tiger and the bear", but as the tribe's children are seen playing a hunting game with a leopard-skin, I have assumed that the TARDIS's translation circuits are as unconcerned about the names of big cats as they are about water features or musical terms.)
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Nice collection. I've failed to buy any 1st Doctor stuff because, god help me, I can't get into the stories. I'm too much of a modern creature, it seems :(
I'd have painted 1st Doctor era stuff in B&W, but I can see how that would get tiresome and not look so interesting for so many figures.
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I'm really looking forward to some Daleks and Thals next.
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I'd have painted 1st Doctor era stuff in B&W, but I can see how that would get tiresome and not look so interesting for so many figures.
I considered B&W, but decided on colour for several reasons.
1) Some of these figures are double-use: I want to be able to use the policeman, for example, or the stone-agers, for games unrelated to Doctor Who.
2) For most of the stories in the first series, colour photos were taken on set. The historicals, in particular, look gorgeous (though you can only tell that the photos from "The Sensorites" were in colour from the actors' skin and hair - all the sets and costumes were grey!).
3) Even where colour photos were not available, it is fun to try to track down the colours used from other sources. I'll include notes about colour decisions alongside my lists of miniatures used.
4) Most decisively, when I was a kid, my mum would always complain when a film or TV programme used B&W to indicate a flashback. "We didn't actually live in black and white." she'd say. Years of that conditioned me quite thoroughly!
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Willim Hartnell, what an era to grow up in.......... :D
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Very cool collection with lovelly paintjobs :D
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Thanks again.
Figure sources and colour notes, then. All figures described left to right, unless otherwise stated.
Regulars
The Doctor, Susan, Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton are all unmodified Harlequin (now Black Tree) Doctor Who figures (the ring on the Doctor's right hand was just added with paint). DW101, 108, 107 and 106 respectively. Colours are based on photos taken for "Marco Polo", except for Susan's shoes (she's wearing boots in those pics) and Ian's tie. For the latter, I've used the Coal Hill school tie from "Remembrance of the Daleks"; this does not look like the ties worn in the opening episode, but I don't know what colour they were. The description Ian gives in "The Web Planet" not only differs from both of these, but also from what we see of the tie he's supposed to be describing in that episode.
An Unearthly Child
Picture 1 Policeman from Killer B's "Geezers! Shut It!" range. TARDIS from Ainsty Castings. The Doctor is Harlequin DW199, with coat and scarf added with putty. The scarf should probably be more colourful, but I thought it looked better (and drew less attention to my piss-poor putty work) in grey.
Picture 2 Reaper "Chronoscope" Townsfolk Chick and Nerd. Colours made up by me, except the nerd's tie (which is a putty addition).
The Cave of Skulls / The Forest of Fear / The Firemaker
All colours for this episode made up.
Picture 1 Hur is a Copplestone "High Adventure" cavewoman, with added furs and skins; Za is a Copplestone caveman ditto. Kal is Harlequin DW123, with the bone in his hand replaced by a flint knife.
Picture 2 Horg is another Copplestone caveman with added furs and skins; the Old Woman (called Old Mother in the end credits) is Sycorax from Gorgon Miniatures, with extra furs; the boy is Copplestone, again with extra furs.
Picture 3 The pig is from Foundry's "North European Bronze Age" range, with added tusks; the bear is from Gripping Beast (I think); the big cat is from Minifigs.
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"The Daleks"
The Dead Planet / The Survivors / The Escape / The Ambush / The Expedition / The Ordeal / The Rescue
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Daleks1.jpg)
Daleks
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Daleks2.jpg)
Dalek with cutting tool, Dalek creature wrapped in Thal cloak
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Daleks3.jpg)
Thals: Alydon, Ganatus, Temmosus
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Daleks4.jpg)
Thals: Dyoni and two others. The cloaks really were that stiff!
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Daleks5.jpg)
Skaro creatures, with Alydon again for scale. The one on the left is a Magneton or Magnadon.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Daleks6.jpg)
Swamp creature (like a rubber ring topped with lasagne) and Alydon again.
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Nice--like your Skaro creatures! The swamp base is great!
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These are terrific! I like your present Doctor Who thread, but this original series stuff is where it's at for me. Great compromise between black and white and color.
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superb stuff... your swamp creature is perfect ;D
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brilliant all of it..........
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Thanks, folks.
Now the obligatory "sources" post (boring, I know, but it helps me to keep track).
There are lots of on-set colour photos of Daleks and Thals from this story, which are what I have used unless otherwise noted. There seems only to have been one colour photo taken of a Thal cloak, and it looks a different shade of grey-blue in each of the 4 or 5 different reproductions I've seen; I've gone for something at the bluer end. The photos show that the ground in the petrified forest was the studio floor scattered with brown fuller's earth: I've disregarded this for something more appropriately ashen.
Picture 1; Daleks. These are Harlequin DW303 Daleks, with the side-slats on the "shoulder section" filed and filled away and a new horizontal band puttied on. I've also sanded the base section a little thinner.
Picture 2 The Dalek casing on the left has also had its sucker arm replaced by a cutting tool made of brass rod and putty. The Thal cape wrapping the Dalek creature is made from putty embossed with a home-made stamp. The hand is made from two Citadel Lizardmen skink claws. There is no colour photo of this. Designer Ray Cusick was asked by a newspaper shortly afterwards to provide an illustration of what was inside a Dalek. He painted it a fleshy orange colour. But I have opted instead to follow a number of cues from the description in David Whitaker's book Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks through to the 7th Doctor's reference in "Remembrance of the Daleks" to "little green blobs in bonded polycarbide armour". The decisive factor may have been the strong instruction from Terrance Dicks: "Gween! The colour for monsters is gween!"
Picture 3 Alydon is Harelquin DW118 "Alydon the Thal" with just a few corrections: a change to the tunic pattern (the quilted section should not extend to the waist), fastenings, anklets, sandals and a wristband. Ganatus is DW118 with its head turned and a coil of rope from the Citadel Mordheim accessory sprue. Temmosus is probably the worst conversion I've done in years, using a Wargames Factory Zulu body (the tubby one) as a dummy and a Hasslefree spare head. No blame should attach to either company!
Picture 4 Dyoni is a Hasslefree concubine, plus putty and a fuse-wire head-dress. The male Thal in a cloak is another repositioned DW118 with added putty wrap. The female Thal in a cloak is a redressed Copplestone cavewoman. The head-dress this time is made from thin brass rod - easier to do and more robust, but a bit clunky.
Picture 5 The Magneton (which seems to be the BBC's preferred spelling these days) was build over the dog on the Citadel plastic Brettonian command sprue. Ray Cusick's design drawing specifies a pewter colour. The bug creature was actually an inserted piece of stock footage of a caterpillar. I made mine from putty and painted it in the colours of a swallowtail caterpillar I found pictured on the net, just because I liked them. I guessed its size from the facts that (a) it had to be large enough to scare Barbara; but (b) it had to be small enough for Ian to stomp on it. Colour footage of the swamp creature (which I scratchbuilt) can be found in a documentary included as an extra on the DVD of "The Chase", about Shawcraft, the company subcontracted by the BBC to make many of the early Doctor Who props. The foliage was cut from aquarium plants and old toothbrush bristles.
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The Edge of Destruction / The Brink of Disaster
This story used only the regular cast and was set entirely inside the TARDIS, so this seems like a good point to post a TARDIS console.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Console1.jpg)
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Console2.jpg)
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Somehow I've managed to miss this thread! :?
A great collection you're building up there and the 'source' notes your including are a great idea!
Can't wait to follow series (yes series not seasons!) 1 through to the end.
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I'm impressed you got the details of the time rotor so accurate. Very good color choices too. Most excellent.
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Nice work on the rotor! Is that clear acrylic or resin?
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A nice addition.
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Great stuff SteveF. I'm really enjoying this thread.
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(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Unearthly1.jpg)
Do you have any suggestions on painting British policemen?
I have been having trouble getting my blue dark enough.
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Thanks, folks.
The console and its plinth come from the Harlequin DW1004 TARDIS box set. As it comes, the console has no underside, so I added one using a conveniently-sized "glow in the dark shape" hexagon from the front of Doctor Who Adventures comic (this doesn't show in the photos). I added support struts to the console above and below with plastruct rods, and a low raised guard around the central column from slivers of plasticard. I had to widen the hole in the middle of the console to make room for the tube I used.
The central column was cut from the protective tube from a paint brush, topped by a circle cut from a blister pack. The instruments inside were made from the same bit of blister pack, some partially painted, and some transparent plastic rod clustered round a brass wire core painted silver.
This is intended to be the version of the console used from An Unearthly Child in 1963 through to Inferno Episode 7 in 1970, so in its last year it appeared in colour on TV, and I have used the colours seen then (although when it was painted pale green in 1963, it was intended to represent white, but avoiding excessive reflection from the studio lights). The sculpted controls don't match the actual layout, but I think that they catch the right spirit.
Do you have any suggestions on painting British policemen?
I have been having trouble getting my blue dark enough.
I find that the trick is to paint British police uniforms black, and just add a little blue to the highlighting mix.
Go and stare at a policeman, and you'll see that the only reason the uniform looks blue at all is by contrast to the pure black of the nylon cover of the stab-proof vest.
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“Marco Polo”
The Roof of the World / The Singing Sands / Five Hundred Eyes / The Wall of Lies / Rider from Shang-Tu / Mighty Kublai Khan / Assassin at Peking.
You know, it occurs to me that, just maybe, not everyone reading this has perfect recall of of old TV serials broadcast almost 50 years ago (and which, in many cases, exist only in fragmentary sources). So perhaps I’d better explain who’s who as I go along.
So, our heroes find themselves on a journey across Cathay in 1289.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/120_2049.jpg)
Tegana, envoy from the Mongol warlord Noghai to the court of Kublai Khan. He’s up to no good.
Marco Polo, in the service of Kublai Khan, but hoping to persuade the emperor to allow him to return to Venice by bribing him with the gift of the Doctor’s “flying caravan”.
Ping-Cho, being taken by Marco to her arranged marriage to an elderly court official.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/120_2051.jpg)
Bearers and pack animals from Marco’s caravan.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/120_2052.jpg)
Acomat, agent of Noghai in Tun-Huang, with Mongol bandits, who attack Marco’s caravan.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/120_2053.jpg)
More Mongol bandits and guards.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/120_2054.jpg)
At Tun-Huang: Chenchu, way station attendant, and Malik, Acomat’s elderly henchman.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/120_2055.jpg)
Ling-Tau, dispatch rider from the emperor. At Cheng-Ting: Wang Lo, manager of the way station and Kuiju, a crook who defrauds Ping-Cho and assists Tegana.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/120_2057.jpg)
At the imperial court: a vizier and palace guards.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/120_2058.jpg)
Kublai Khan, war lord of war lords, mighty and fearful in his strength, ruler of Asia, India, Cathay and other territories, Master of the World, martyr to rheumatism and gout.
Dwarf, holding the backgammon board on which the Doctor and Kublai Khan gamble for possession of the TARDIS.
The Empress, who has some bad news for Ping-Cho.
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Fantastic! Great miniatures all around. I especially like the Thalls and the Marco Polo stuff. What a great idea, such fun!
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Steve – the mind boggles at the scope of this project, and your enthusiasm in carrying it off!
Marco Polo is particularly great – you've got Mark Eden nailed! Lovely work on Ping-Cho and Kublai Khan too. You could push these around a table in time lapse and do your own recon... ;D
Looking forward to Marinus!
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I've just begun watching all the classic series again on DVD/itunes - many of the 1st and 2nd Doctors episodes which I had never seen previously. You are doing an amazing job - the figures and custom work from the Daleks is very spot on. I'm looking forward to the Romans and Time Meddler (although you're still some way off those episodes).
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Great work Steve F.
I always love seeing your miniatures. :-*
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This is one of the most ambitious projects on the forum, and you are doing it with style. Terrific work, as usual.
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Thanks for the kind words, folks.
Here are the sources for the “Marco Polo” miniatures set.
No episodes of this story survive on film or video tape. The soundtrack is available on CD, thanks to a fan who stuck the microphone of his reel-to-reel next to the TV loudspeaker when it was broadcast.
Fortunately, lots of publicity stills were taken for this story, many of them in colour. Unless otherwise noted, I have relied on those photos when putting these figures together. The other visual source is a set of “telesnaps” – photographs taken from a 425-line video monitor for the director’s reference. Not all directors had these taken, but 6 of these 7 episodes were telesnapped, and the resulting pictures have been published by Doctor Who Magazine.
First picture.
Tegana is converted from a Mongol sub-general made by The Assault Group (TAG). The original model is in a floor-length hauberk – only the head and hands of the original are still visible.
Marco Polo is derived from a Front Rank War of the Roses artilleryman, with a Hasslefree spare head. Most of his clothes and his hair are putty. The sword, like most of those for this set, is from TAG.
Ping-Cho is a Eureka “Pax Limpopo” Chinese accomplice with hair and gown built up with putty.
Second picture
The bearers are Foundry Canton Coolie Corps; the donkeys are Foundry Darkest Africa.
Third and fourth pictures
Acomat is a TAG Mongol standard bearer from the same pack as the sub-general.
The other Mongols are by TAG, with some weapon swaps and home-made shields.
Fifth picture
Chenchu is a Foundry Chinese artilleryman, minus hat but plus big moustache.
Malik can only be seen in some telesnaps of scenes set in a dark cave, so apart from his (puttied) white hair, the rest of his appearance is a guess. The base figure was another Foundry Chinese artilleryman.
Sixth picture
Ling-Tau also appears only in telesnaps, but Ian Chesterton wears the same jacket throughout the next story, “The Keys of Marinus”, so only the trousers are guesswork! The base figure is a Foundry Taiping rebel with reworked hair and jacket.
Wang Lo is a Foundry imperial mandarin. The only conversion was cutting away a tassel from his hat and filing away a beard.
Kuiju is a Foundry Zanzibari, with his beard cut back, his hair built up, and his robes adjusted a bit. The original figure has both the eyepatch and the monkey I needed.
Seventh picture
It seems that I am destined to botch at least one mini in each set, and the vizier is the unlucky one this time. His face and a bit of robe are all that is left of the original Black Hat “Tales of the Dragon Kings” necromancer. The monstrous remainder is mine.
The guards are Foundry imperial Chinese guards, unmodified in any way.
Eighth picture
Kublai Khan is a Foundry Taiping Wang, with resculpted robes, a slightly built-up hat, and a walking stick instead of a sword. The Doctor somehow acquires this stick for use in later stories.
The dwarf started out as a Eureka Victorian Urchin Girl. In most of the surviving photos, he is carrying a spitoon, but I wanted to get the backgammon board in there, as it is important to the plot. (In case you were wondering, the spitoon does not affect the story at all.)
The Empress is Black Hat’s Chaos Queen with a Hasslefree spare head.
Now here’s the lot altogether.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/120_2061.jpg)
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I have not been this way for a while, but I am really glad that I did today.
Amazing!
:-*
A serious amount of effort has gone into this episode of your project, Steve, and I am very impressed.
The conversions and paintjobs are all excellent.
The work you have put into this is to be comended.
Well done!
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“The Keys of Marinus”
The background.
Long ago, the people of the planet Marinus built a machine, The Conscience of Marinus, which suppressed all their criminal tendencies. But a man called Yartek developed an immunity and passed it on to his followers, the Voords. He tried to use the Conscience to rule the world, but Arbitan, its keeper, removed the micro-circuit control keys and sent them to hidden locations around the planet.
After years of tinkering, Arbitan thinks that the Conscience can now overcome Yartek’s immunity. But the couriers he sends to recover the keys never return. So he press-gangs the travellers who arrive in a blue box on the shores of his acid-surrounded island to go looking.
But the Voords have reached the island too.
The Sea of Death
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/120_2100.jpg)
Voords in acid-proof wetsuits.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/121_2101.jpg)
Voord with one-man glass submersible.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/121_2103.jpg)
Arbitan with the conscience of Marinus.
The Velvet Web
First stop for the travellers is the city of Morphoton, where disembodied brains keep their servants in telepathic thrall.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/121_2105.jpg)
Servants.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/121_2106.jpg)
Sabetha, Arbitan’s daughter, and Altos, her boyfriend, who join Ian, Barbara and Susan for the rest of the story, while the Doctor heads off for the last key (and William Hartnell takes a two-week holiday).
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/121_2107.jpg)
The rulers of the city of Morphoton, with Sabetha again.
The Screaming Jungle
Next, the travellers arrive at a drastically overgrown villa, surrounded by booby-traps, where Arbitan’s friend Darrius has been conducting disastrous experiments to speed up “the natural tempo of destruction”.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/121_2108.jpg)
Booby-trapped statue and patch of jungle with over-active tendril.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/121_2111.jpg)
Darrius.
The Snows of Terror
The next key is hidden in a block of ice in a cave on a frozen mountainside.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/121_2112.jpg)
Vasor, a villainous fur-trapper, and one of the wolves that roam the mountain.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/121_2113.jpg)
The “ice soldiers” which come to life as the key is melted free.
Sentence of Death
In the city of Millennius, Ian is charged with murder.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/121_2114.jpg)
Chief Inquirer Tarron, Guardian Larn and Prosecutor Eyesen.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/121_2116.jpg)
Guardian Aydan and his wife Kala.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/121_2117.jpg)
The judges at Ian’s trial.
The Keys of Marinus
Back at the Conscience, Yartek cunningly impersonates Arbitan. Can you spot the flaw in his disguise?
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/121_2118.jpg)
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/121_2120.jpg)
The whole group of minis for this story.
Next episode:
The Temple of Evil
Wooooooo-wooooooo ….
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I do love this project :D
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I do love this project :D
Seconded. The Voords are overdue a revival. There's a great pic in one of the Dr Who hardback storybooks of the 10th Doc surrounded by Voord. Unfortunately there was no story with it.
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Fantastic work as always - you sir are a genius!
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Utterly insane to put in such a mammoth amount of work into something so completely obscure.
I adore it. :-*
Ooh, Aztecs next! :D
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Outstanding. No other word for it.
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Outstanding. No other word for it.
Agreed!
You sir, are a mad genius!
In the nicest possible sense, of course....
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oh god! i love this thread! it's pure madness!
keep posting please!!
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Just brilliant work love em all the keys i remember watching on TV wonderful stuff........
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Fantastic stuff! :o
This Dr. Who stuff is so original and strange. It's great.
Definitely a breath of fresh air over the "same old same old".
Love it. :-*
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Thanks, chaps. I'd be blushing if I wasn't so busy dribbling onto my straitjacket.
Seconded. The Voords are overdue a revival. There's a great pic in one of the Dr Who hardback storybooks of the 10th Doc surrounded by Voord. Unfortunately there was no story with it.
Here's the picture, for those who haven't seen it. Drawn by Andy Walker for The Doctor Who Storybook 2010 (published, of course, in 2009).
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/2012%20-%2005%20-%20May/Storybook2010.jpg)
I don't think that the Voord(s) have done too badly, given that they don't have the brains to remove their flippers indoors or work out what the plural of their own name is. Remember, their one successful act of villainy, in between falling through trapdoors, getting accidentally dissolved, and tripping over their own feet, was to stab an unarmed old man in the back.
Yet they co-starred with the Daleks in what may have been the first piece of Doctor Who spin-off fiction, serialised on Cadet Sweet Cigarette cards (art by Richard Jennings) in 1964 ...
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/2012%20-%2005%20-%20May/DrWho_TheDaleksCadetCards016.jpg)
... they legendarily oppressed "The Fishmen of Kandalinga" in the first Dr Who Annual, published in 1965 ...
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/2012%20-%2005%20-%20May/Kandalinga.jpg)
... and they even made a return as late as 1987 in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip "The World Shapers", written by no less than Grant Morrison, wit art by John Ridgway and Tim Perkins. In this one, they evolve into the Cybermen, bizarrely enough.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/2012%20-%2005%20-%20May/WorldShapers.jpg)
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Yep, don't really buy that Voord/Cyberman thing, much prefer the origin of the Cybermen as told in one of the Big Finish audios. The Voords are very sinister. I've considered buying some of the East Riding Miniatures' assassins as a basis for conversion. What are yours based on?
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Yep, don't really buy that Voord/Cyberman thing, much prefer the origin of the Cybermen as told in one of the Big Finish audios.
Even more strangely, another Doctor Who Magazine comic strip implied that the Cybermen were originally Silurians (the lamp on the head being the third eye, I suppose). But I agree with you, Marc Platt's "Spare Parts" is terrific.
The Voords are very sinister. I've considered buying some of the East Riding Miniatures' assassins as a basis for conversion. What are yours based on?
They are all Harlequin DW121 Voords, boringly enough. Full sources post will follow.
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They are all Harlequin DW121 Voords, boringly enough. Full sources post will follow.
:D D'oh!
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I love the rulers of the city of Morphoton. That's a fantastic modeling job.
You are doing such a great job with these I'm tempted to sell all my old Harlequin Dr. Who stuff. You've done exactly what I'd been planning, but you're doing it better then I ever could. OK, I'm not gonna sell the Dr. Who stuff. I've been tempted before and it never happens.
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You are doing such a great job with these I'm tempted to sell all my old Harlequin Dr. Who stuff. You've done exactly what I'd been planning, but you're doing it better then I ever could. OK, I'm not gonna sell the Dr. Who stuff. I've been tempted before and it never happens.
Damn! I was going to ask if you had any War Machines to sell. They're the only models I can't find from when I bought them all on subscription; so, naturally, they are the only models that Black Tree no longer sells! :-[
Thanks for the kind words, but, really, please just treat this thread as a spur to do your own. I'd love to see them.
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Right, then: the sources, explanations and excuses post.
The whole of “The Keys of Marinus” survives in the BBC archives, and is available on DVD. Colour photos were taken on the set of the second episode, “The Velvet Web”, so the colours I’ve used for models from that episode match the actual costumes and props. Otherwise, it’s guesswork, apart from one tiny and not very helpful colour shot of the courtroom from “Sentence of Death”.
The Sea of Death
The Voords are from the Harlequin Doctor Who range, with some repositioning in two cases. Although the novelisation and spin-off fictions invariably refer to the Voords as wearing black, one is clearly outfitted in a wetsuit that is much lighter than his headpiece, belt and flippers. I’ve chosen grey, because an orange Voord would just look wrong, somehow.
The beach by the sea of acid is made of glass, but the TARDIS crew don’t notice that at first; so I’ve painted the bases mostly in a sandy colour, with odd flecks of reflective silver, while the rocks are painted in what I hope is a more glassy manner, to add some colour and visual interest. The big pointy glass shards are, mostly, lumps of sharp metal that fell out of a couple of packs of Foundry pirates that I happened to open at the time, alarmingly enough.
The Voord submersible is scratch built around the cap of a Vicks Sinex inhaler.
The Conscience is a blank-faced d12 on a stick. Arbitan is a slight conversion from a Perry Carlist Wars armed clergyman. The set designer for this story, Ray Cusick, remembers that the walls for Arbitan’s HQ were reused leftovers from a light entertainment set and were “purplish” in colour, so I have used that as a cue for the bases and the main colour reflected in the Conscience.
The Velvet Web
The servants are Warlord Games Roman slaves, unmodified except where I had to repair the ankles of one.
Sabetha is a Bennet sister from Gary Mitchell’s “Space Vixens from Mars” range, with some awkward conversion work. The hair, bows and bare arms are my fault!
For Altos, I faced the problem that no-one makes a mini with such an indecently short tunic, so I decided to sculpt him up from a dolly. Unfortunately, the Hasslefree dollies that I had were too short next to Sabetha, while the Reaper one that I eventually used is, as you can see, rather too tall. The head is from Hasslefree, with puttied hair.
I have given Altos and Sabetha "glass beach" bases, because that is where they are last seen.
The rulers of Morphoton are scratchbuilt, with some kit parts for the machinery on the round plinth. I had what seemed to be the bright idea of sculpting and painting the brains, and then casting the jars around them with transparent resin. This proved to be a very messy and frustrating process – all the jars turned out mis-shapen in one way of another, and no two were quite the same. I also have a big blobby smear of resin to sand off my windowsill where the mould overspilled. I’m afraid that the odds on my producing a glass Dalek one day have now lengthened considerably.
The Screaming Jungle
The booby-trapped statue is a Black Tree 2nd Crusade axeman. The undergrowth is made from various aquarium plants, Woodland Scenics turf, static grass, Noch tufts and etched brass vines. The overgrown statue is a Doctor Who Adventures Weeping Angel.
Darrius has the body of a Ral Partha monk – the one in a pack with three succubi – and the head of an Immortal Miniatures ancient Greek civilian.
The Snows of Terror
Vasor is converted from a Gripping Beast Viking Bondi commander. The wolf is a Ral Partha model.
Lurking somewhere inside the Ice Soldiers are Gripping Beast Later Crusades knights on foot. Only the helmets remain visible, and two of them have been modified – I even replaced the arms, for reasons that now escape me. The flambard is from the Citadel Mordheim accessory sprue, the mace and axe from Front Rank.
Sentence of Death
The Guardian, Inquirer and Prosecutor are made from Foundry Victorian artillerymen with Hasslefree spare heads. Kala is an Artizan “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” figure. The judges are Eureka cultists with Hasslefree heads and home-made silly hats.
The one colour photo from this episode shows the back of Eyesen and a Guardian’s head. Their collars cannot be distinguished from their cape and tunic, respectively, but are lighter on screen. I opted for a dark blue collar on a black tunic, saving red for the lining of Eyesen’s tunic cape (which is a different shade of grey again).
The photo also reveals extras playing the citizens of Millennius to be dressed in dull brownish greys. Since Kala had a significant speaking part, I decided to give her a little more colour, without going overboard.
The Keys of Marinus
Harlequin makes a model of Yartek. I just made some small corrections, removing the antenna from his headgear (to be fair, it does appear in publicity photos), as well as the knife he did not carry and the flippers he did not wear. I also added the grille through which the actor spoke, I think (but I may be misremembering that).
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"The Aztecs"
(The Temple of Evil; The Warriors of Death; The Bride of Sacrifice; The Day of Darkness)
The TARDIS lands inside the tomb of Aztec high priest Yetaxa, and the time travellers find themselves trapped outside. Barbara is identified as a divine reincarnation of Yetaxa; Ian is made a Chosen Warrior, much to the annoyance of the existing Chosen Warrior, Ixta; Susan is sent to a seminary to learn to be a good Aztec girl, where she catches the eye of the Perfect Victim, whose every wish must be granted before his sacrifice; and the Doctor, searching for information that might help him get back into the tomb, accidentally becomes engaged to marry an Aztec widow.
Then Barbara decides to use her position to end human sacrifice.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Aztec1.jpg)
Barbara in her role of Yetaxa
Susan
Ian
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Aztec2.jpg)
Cameca, the Doctor's fiancée
Tlotoxl, High Priest of Sacrifice, who opposes Barbara
Autloc, High Priest of Knowledge, who supports her
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Aztec3.jpg)
Tonila, a priest of Knowledge, charged with taking care of ...
The Perfect Victim
Ixta, Ian's rival
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Aztec4.jpg)
Group shot
Next episode
Strangers in Space
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Sterling work, as usual, Steve!
Wonderful vision rendered in miniature!
:-*
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Fantastic stuff! :o
This Dr. Who stuff is so original and strange. It's great.
Definitely a breath of fresh air over the "same old same old".
Love it. :-*
So original and breath of fresh air from a tv show that was broadcast in 1964? You've missed loads of interesting ideas by being over the pond.
But some cracking models - would love to have the painting/modelling ability to do those.
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Really nice work! :-*
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Yet they co-starred with the Daleks in what may have been the first piece of Doctor Who spin-off fiction, serialised on Cadet Sweet Cigarette cards (art by Richard Jennings) in 1964 ...
I'd completely forgotten the Cadet card set, I preferred the 1967 Walls Sky Ray set (perhaps because I got closer to completing that set, there were only 30 compared to the Cadet 50, or it may be the more vibrant colours)
Although the Walls set could give you a few modelling challenges - thinking of the machines that look like robotic insects
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The Dr. Who Aztecs are wonderful. :-*
I'm really impressed!
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Ah, Steve – I was wondering when these were going to make their debut!
Splendid stuff, as always. Some fine conversions. I especially love poor Cameca. Lovely painting. Great painting all round actually – you must have had a lot of fun with those fabrics. Unless you actually drove yourself mad, in which case my sympathies! o_o
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Thanks for the kind words, folks.
you must have had a lot of fun with those fabrics. Unless you actually drove yourself mad, in which case my sympathies! o_o
Painting the textiles was indeed fun. It was the conversion work that drove me mad. I'm a very cack-handed putty pusher; if I try to do too much on a figure at one go, I inevitably squish and smear anything that hasn't set yet. So all those jewels and cloaks and loincloths and feathers meant that this was a very slow job indeed.
The next story is easier: all the models have already been converted (indeed, two of them are just as they came from the blister pack) and undercoated, and I finished painting five of them after I put my photography set-up away today.
I'd completely forgotten the Cadet card set, I preferred the 1967 Walls Sky Ray set (perhaps because I got closer to completing that set, there were only 30 compared to the Cadet 50, or it may be the more vibrant colours)
I love Patrick Williams's artwork on the Sky Ray set. He also did Doctor Who comic strips for TV Comic Annuals and Summer Specials (for the weekly, he drew The Avengers and Adam Adamant Lives!). His composition, figurework and line are all so lively and vibrant. But fidelity to the source material was obviously not his priority.
For those of you who haven't seen the Sky Ray cards, this site has scans of the booklet into which they were supposed to be pasted, with all the cards in place:
http://dalektricity.wordpress.com/dalek-books/dr-whos-space-adventure-book/ (http://dalektricity.wordpress.com/dalek-books/dr-whos-space-adventure-book/)
Here's a taster.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/2012%20-%2007%20-%20July/hq-sky-ray-page-22w.jpg)
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I love Patrick Williams's artwork on the Sky Ray set. He also did Doctor Who comic strips for TV Comic Annuals and Summer Specials (for the weekly, he drew The Avengers and Adam Adamant Lives!). His composition, figurework and line are all so lively and vibrant. But fidelity to the source material was obviously not his priority.
For those of you who haven't seen the Sky Ray cards, this site has scans of the booklet into which they were supposed to be pasted, with all the cards in place:
http://dalektricity.wordpress.com/dalek-books/dr-whos-space-adventure-book/ (http://dalektricity.wordpress.com/dalek-books/dr-whos-space-adventure-book/)
The Sky Ray cards were about 40 years ago.
I like the flagrant product-placement, the spaceships were based on the ice-lolly design. The robotic insect is on the Dalek card there with the Doctor riding it.
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How odd, looking at that book I get a kind of deja vu. It is so familiar to me from my childhood, and yet I'm not old enough to have had it at the time (Tom Baker is the first Doctor I can actually remember watching).
I guess my uncle must have had it or something. Damn, that's a weird feeling. And a weird Doctor, too. Looks like they took the Hartnell and Troughton Doctors and shoved them in Jeff Goldblum's machine from The Fly, and this Doctor is what came out the other end.
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Looks like they took the Hartnell and Troughton Doctors and shoved them in Jeff Goldblum's machine from The Fly, and this Doctor is what came out the other end.
Sounds almost like a script idea......
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And a weird Doctor, too. Looks like they took the Hartnell and Troughton Doctors and shoved them in Jeff Goldblum's machine from The Fly, and this Doctor is what came out the other end.
Trevor Martin's appearance as the Doctor in the 1974 stage play Doctor Who and the Daleks in Seven Keys to Doomsday could almost have been influenced by the 1967 Sky Ray pictures.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/2012%20-%2007%20-%20July/002hq-sky-ray-covert.jpg) (http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/2012%20-%2007%20-%20July/thumbnailaspx.jpg)
Mind you, he did wear a white wig in other publicity stills.
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And now, the obligatory sources post.
“The Aztecs” exists in its entirety in the BBC archive, and is available on DVD. A good number of colour photos were taken on set, so the only costume colours that I had to guess at entirely were Susan’s, though the colours on parts of the outfits worn by Ian, Ixta and the Perfect Victim are also guesswork.
Barbara uses the same head as the figure at the start of this thread, on the body of a Foundry Aztec priest (which lost its upraised arms as well as its head). The new arms, medallion, feathered cloak and main body of the headdress were made of putty, while the feathers at the back of the headdress were cut from blister-pack plastic.
Susan has the body of “Malinche” from the Eureka “Conquistadors” range, with a Hasslefree spare head. Hair and shoulder-piece were added with putty.
Ian was converted from a Foundry Aztec Eagle Knight, with a quilted tunic, feathered collar and other details added with putty. I reshaped the headdress a bit and added plastic feathers to it. I also botched removing some nasal jewellery, which is why his face looks a bit odd. Ah, well, it’s only obvious in photos.
As is generally the case, the Doctor made no attempt to blend in, and just wore his normal clothes, so I haven't made another figure for him.
Cameca was made from a Foundry Aztec priest (bizarrely labelled “Autloc” on the Foundry display picture). I cut off the feathered headdress, remodelled the shoulders and replaced the artefact held by the original with a bowl of cocoa, as used by the Doctor to propose marriage.
Tlotoxl is Harlequin DW115, with a bit chopped off the bottom because it looked too tall. I don’t know what height John Ringham, the actor who played the part, actually is, but he spent most of the story hunched over impersonating Olivier’s Richard III, so he seemed short.
My version of Autloc is a near complete swamping with putty of a Naismith Design Aztec warrior – only the face and feet remain, but the face was perfect for my purposes.
Ixta is a Foundry Aztec Jaguar Knight, with a new quilted tunic and other details from putty, and plastic feathers.
Tonila was sculpted over a Hasslefree dolly and spare head, and the Perfect Victim over a Reaper “non-heroic” dolly and Hasslefree spare head.
Edit: missed a bit. For the bases, I carved Yetaxa's emblem into a piece of foamed polystyrene and made a press mould. The emblem is seen on walls in the tomb, temple and garden sets, but since I wasn't making any walls, I put it into the flagstones instead.
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Three posts from me in a row. That's bad - I'd better offer something to make up. How about ...
"The Sensorites"
Strangers in Space; The Unwilling Warriors; Hidden Danger; A Race Against Death; Kidnap; A Desperate Venture
The TARDIS materialises on a spaceship from Earth orbiting around the planet Sense-Sphere. The ship is being kept from returning to Earth by the native Sensorites, who have telepathically sensed the humans' greed for their mineral deposits.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Sensorites1.jpg)
The spaceship crew: Captain Maitland, Carol Richmond, and her fiancé, John, who has been driven mad by the Sensorites' "thought transference"
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Sensorites2.jpg)
Two Sensorite warriors visit the ship
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Sensorites3.jpg)
On the Sense-Sphere, the Doctor and his friends become involved in Sensorite politics involving (from left to right) the First Elder, the Second Elder and the City Administrator
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Sensorites4.jpg)
More Sensorites: the two on the left are scientists, one using a thought transference device.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Sensorites5.jpg)
Survivors of a previous Earth expedition: Number One, "the Men" (there's only one of him), and the Commander
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Very cool updates Steve F! :-*
Great stuff like always. :D
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Fantastic stuff as always. I am truly in awe over what you've done. I usually wait till I have some extra time to check out any new entries you make on this thread because I want to savor the goodness. I was waiting till I had the time to check out your Aztecs update and by the time I get around to it you've already moved on to The Sensorites.
Bravo my friend. Bravo.
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Amazing stuff as ever!
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Thanks folks. I was quite pleased with painting, photographing and posting 15 figures in three days.
Sources, then.
"The Sensorites" exists in full in the BBC archive and is available on DVD. Colour photos were taken on the spaceship set for the second episode, and show that the costumes for both the humans and the Sensorites were entirely grey. Fortunately, the set designer painted his planetary backdrops in a vivid blue - sky, buildings, ground and all - so I have used that to inject a little colour via the bases.
Captain Maitland, Carol Richmond and the mad human Commander are all light conversions from Matakishi's "Starship Crew II". I should emphasise that the mess that is Captian Maitland's right arm is entirely my fault. The Commander carries a sprig of Deadly Nightshade (Atropa Belladonna) made from Silfor flowers.
John is from an RAFM "Call of Cthulhu" character pack, the Soldier, with a Hasslefree spare head swapped into place and some minor changes to his outfit.
The two Sensorite Warriors are Harlequin DW114 and DW134. All the other Sensorites were adapted from these two figures. They aren't very varied, but there's not a lot you can do to repose the legs with such big feet to get in the way.
The remaining two human survivors are Artizan Vikings (pack VIK011), with added tunics, and their trousers distressed with clippers. I resculpted their shoes to bare feet (badly), and added thick sharpened staves made from cocktail sticks.
Group shot:
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/SensoritesGroup.jpg)
Next episode
A Land of Fear
Woooo Woooo ....
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I love this. I've admired your curious (some might say obsessive) Doctor Who projects for some time now, but don't think I've ever actually remembered to say so.
Do you take requests? I'd like to see what the DVD marketing people call the E-Space Trilogy: especially those wonderfully over-the-top vampires from State of Decay, and everyone from Warrior's Gate. If you're doing the whole series in order, I'll be an old man by the time you get to them... :)
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i take my hat off again to your commitment superb, i rember that episode when the men were shown it scared the crap out of me
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Fantastic Stuff!!!!!!!
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Thanks, all
Do you take requests? I'd like to see what the DVD marketing people call the E-Space Trilogy: especially those wonderfully over-the-top vampires from State of Decay, and everyone from Warrior's Gate. If you're doing the whole series in order, I'll be an old man by the time you get to them... :)
My project planning is a bit like piloting the TARDIS: I have some vague idea of where I want to go, but there may be extensive diversions on the way.
At the moment my Metebelis 3 is the first half of the 2011 series (from "The Impossible Astronaut" to "A Good Man Goes to War"). I've gathered all but a handful of the figures I need.
Thereafter, it depends on whether I remain cash-strapped. If I can't afford to buy any more, I'll work from the stocks I've accumulated, perhaps doing all the regulars. That doesn't bode well for the E-space stories, I'm afraid. Other than the regular cast (which includes the unappealing prospect of Adric and the 4th Doctor in the costume which Tom Baker later described as "the shitty one"), I have no suitable figures for "Full Circle", none for "State of Decay" and only 3 Tharils for "Warrior's Gate".
By way of consolation, here's a green tinted picture of some bats, as seen in "State of Decay".
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/2012%20-%2007%20-%20July/GreenBats.jpg)
(Bat swarms from Masquerade Miniatures.)
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Hey, great stuff here! :o Very well done.
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The bats look really great. :-*
Actually some of the best I've seen. They are waaay better the the new EotD bat swarms.
Does a bat swarm need a facing triangle painted on its base though? ;)
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Does a bat swarm need a facing triangle painted on its base though? ;)
It just seemed .... incomplete without one, somehow!
The Masquerade bat swarms are brilliant models (and, thankfully, weren't dropped when Masq discontinued a lot of their fantasy models). They can be assembled in lots of different ways, too.
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Some amazing updates here, as usual, Steve!
:-*
It never ceases to amaze me, how much time and effort, never mind the imagination it must take, to put each of these episodes together.
Superb, sir.
Simply superb!
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Best thread I've seen for a while! :-*
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I love all your Doctor Who figures, and although I've never actually seen "The Sensorites", I love those figures! Maybe I should watch it... is it a good one?
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By way of consolation, here's a green tinted picture of some bats, as seen in "State of Decay".
Thanks, Steve. You're a star. So, no Adric, then... Oh well, every cloud has a silver lining, eh? :)
(Sorry I only just popped by to thank you, I somehow missed that there were a bunch more posts on this one - I blame BT, my phone was out for a while so internet browsing was a little problematic for a bit.)
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I've never actually seen "The Sensorites" ... Maybe I should watch it... is it a good one?
I wouldn't recommend starting with it. Even if you're acclimatised to the rhythm of 1960s TV, "The Sensorites" is very, very slow. If you've not watched the Hartnells, my rule of thumb is that the historicals have stood up to the passage of time much better than the SF ones. Even "The Daleks" runs out of puff after the first 3 episodes. But the design work has a period charm, and I admire its ingenuity: at this point, no-one had decided that Doctor Who aliens were automatically "monsters", so they felt free to produce tubby, wispery-bearded old men with giant flat feet.
Thanks for the kind words, everyone.
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Steve F, do you have plans to do figures of each episode of Doctor Who series 6 like you did with series 5? I would love to see such a project!
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Hi, Cyberalien.
Yes, I plan to do series 6. I love the Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe, even if the stories weren't the best ... ;)
But also the 2011 series, and that sooner. Probably once I finish 1963-64, unless I get distracted. In fact, I'm sure there was a conversion that I was working on earlier, but I can't seem to remember what it was.
(I find it easier and less confusing to use the broadcast years rather than the series numbers the BBC uses. Quite apart from the duplication of numbers, their refusal to count the stories from "The Next Doctor" to "The End of Time" as a series is batty. I'd love to just keep counting from series 26 [1989], but then I can never decide what to do about the 1996 TV movie - does it make sense to have a series of one? So years it is.)
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"The Reign of Terror"
A Land of Fear / Guests of Madame Guillotine / A Change of Identity / The Tyrant of France / A Bargain of Necessity / Prisoners of Conciergerie
France, 1794. In a farmhouse near Paris, the time travellers run across two fugitive aristocrats.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Reign1.jpg)
Jean-Pierre, a local farmboy, with Rouvray and D'Argenson.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Reign2.jpg)
Pursuing soldiers kill the aristocrats, capture Ian, Barbara and Susan, and leave the Doctor to die in the burning farmhouse.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Reign3.jpg)
The Doctor, rescued by Jean-Pierre, makes his way to Paris, delayed by an encounter with an overseer and his road gang of tax dodgers.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Reign4.jpg)
In Paris, the jailer locks up the other time travellers. But his sinister, mysterious and, it has to be said, wooden boss, Citizen Lemaitre, realises that Ian has overheard the last words of a dying English spy, and allows him to escape in order to follow him.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Reign5.jpg)
Barbara and Susan are rescued on the way to the guillotine by Jules Renan and his associate Jean. Also part of the escape group are Jules's sister Danielle and Léon Colbert. One of them is a traitor.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Reign6.jpg)
A tailor provides the Doctor with the uniform of a provincial official, but then betrays him to the authorities. Meanwhile a feverish Susan consults a physician, whose loyalties are also uncertain.
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Reign7.jpg)
Despite the tailor's best efforts, the Doctor ingratiates himself with Robespierre. But Paul Barrass and General Bonaparte are planning a coup.
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Great work once again... I love 'em!
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Thanks, CyberAlien.
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I love this thread, Steve!
Great work :-*
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As usual
1) you're nuts
2) I envy your painting time
3) amazing!
The Aztecs are gorgeous, I love the vibrant colours and sheer detail. It's a pity for the audience at the time that this series wasn't shot in colour, ass all those feathers etc. would have looked amazing. The story sounds like it's the same formula (Bad guy and his henchman oppose good/less-bad guy and his plans, Doctor et al thrown in the middle) as a lot of other DW's but it's a good formula that has produced some good episodes.
As for the French, I sense you are lucky that so many of the stories were historicals. Those are a nice selection of figures.
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Thanks, chaps.
No Such Agency, I think that "The Aztecs" was one of the more interesting historicals. It is largely about Barbara's moral dilemma - she believes that if she can persuade the Aztecs to give up human sacrifice, she can improve and preserve their society - but all she ends up doing is destroying the faith of her only friend. Similarly the Doctor's attempts to wheedle out information lead him into a genuinely affectionate relationship with a woman he must then betray and abandon. And, ultimately, the baddie - that is to say, the man trying to defend his way of life (and, assuming he is sincere, make sure that his people are not punished by the gods) and who is smart enough to recognise Barbara as a liar and a fake - wins. That sort of ambiguity wasn't common in 1960s Doctor Who. "The Reign of Terror", for example, is much more of a romp through the clichés established by A Tale of Two Cities and The Scarlet Pimpernel.
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Great work, Steve, executed to your usual, thorough, imaginative and ever-so-high standard.
You do not do things by halves, and I admire you for it.
:)
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Wow that does sound good. A lot of the "internal politics" antagonists in DW seem to be dishonest/faithless priests so an honest (if bloodthirsty) one would be a refreshing change.
Similarly the Doctor's attempts to wheedle out information lead him into a genuinely affectionate relationship with a woman he must then betray and abandon.
That reminds me of one Sherlock Holmes story. He courts a maid in the suspect's house so he can gain access, then has to dump her at the end of the story. Very morally dubious...
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That reminds me of one Sherlock Holmes story. He courts a maid in the suspect's house so he can gain access, then has to dump her at the end of the story. Very morally dubious...
Ah, but, unlike the Doctor, Holmes has no remorse or sympathy for his victim. A high-functioning sociopath, indeed.
Thanks, Mason. I sometimes wish that I could do things by halves, though - I might finish projects quicker. Anyway, you're one to talk! Krappefort dwarfs my efforts, and MOOSE isn't exactly a tiny project, either!
Sources again.
Two episodes (“The Tyrant of France” and “A Bargain of Necessity”) no longer exist. Cosgrove Hall are currently producing animated versions to accompany fan-recorded off-air soundtracks of those episodes for a future DVD release of the story.
Colour photos taken on set show Susan and Barbara (who I haven’t modelled), the Doctor in his disguise, the jailer, Lemaitre, Léon Colbert, the tailor, and some of the soldiers as well as Jules Renan in the plum-coloured suit he has on under that big cloak.
Jean-Pierre is from Perry Miniatures ‘ American War of Independence civilians pack. Rouvray is a Foundry French Revolution figure (to be found under “Napoleonic – French” on their website), with his hat and sword removed and hair added with putty. D’Argenson is a Front Rank 18th century civilian with his hat removed, his hair added and his clothes partly remodelled with putty.
The soldiers are fusiliers in ragged campaign uniform from Eureka’s Wars of the French Revolution range. They are mostly as they come, but the soldier with the striped trousers has had his hat removed and hair and an eyepatch added with putty to match a particular character.
The overseer is a Front Rank 18th century civilian. I removed the scythe he was carrying and the cap he was wearing, remodelled his coat into a waistcoat and shirtsleeves and added a straw hat, long hair and beard, as well as a purse and pistol. The road gang are (left to right), a Perry AWI civilian with remodelled hair and a scrachbuilt spade instead of the sack he was originally carrying, a Foundry French Revolutionary with a scratchbuilt pick-axe, and a Front Rank 18th century civilian, miraculously unmodified.
The jailer is a Front Rank Austrian engineer from the Seven Years War. I remodelled his hair and waistcoat, and replaced his tricorne with a bicorne and a blood-stained bandage. Citizen Lemaitre is another Foundry French Revolutionary. I removed an item I couldn’t identify from his right hand, and added a sash with putty.
Jules Renan is a Front Rank 18th century civilian, I think, though I couldn’t find him in their online catalogue recently. Jean is another figure from the Foundry French Revolution range (I simply removed a walking stick and repositioned his arm), as is Danielle. Léon Colbert is from Gary Mitchell’s Space Vixens from Mars range – only now do I realise how much this figure looks like Jeremy Northam.
The tailor is another from the Foundry range. I removed his hat, added hair and an apron, and remodelled his jacket into a waistcoat and shirtsleeves. The Doctor is Harlequin DW199. I added the 18th century clothes, sashes, ribbons and preposterously beplumed hat with putty. Kublai Khan’s old walking stick is made from a length of brass rod wrapped with fuse wire. The physician is another figure from the Foundry range, with his hat removed and hair added.
Robespierre is the C-P Models figure of General Kellerman, with his right arm (under which his hat was tucked) removed and replaced, his sword clipped off, and a number of changes to his clothes. The colour tones match those from the black and white TV image, but the actual colours draw on the contemporary portrait which illustrates his Wikipedia entry.
Paul Barrass is a Perry Miniatures Carlist War civilian with his hat removed, hair added, and clothes remodelled.
General Bonaparte is the C-P Models Young Napoleon, with the plumes trimmed from his hat. Again, I have combined the black-and-white tones with colours from contemporary portraits.
And here is a shot of all the figures I have put together for this story:
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/Reign8.jpg)
Next Episode
Planet of Giants
(Or perhaps “The Impossible Astronaut”; or something else entirely.)
Woooo woooo ….
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Next Episode
Planet of Giants
Does this mean you can use lots of differently scaled furniture from the doll house lines along with a big plastic fly? So many possibilities.
I just can't get enough of his thread. Fantastic work all around. Between the sheer number of miniatures you convert and the accuracy of your details I'm always excited and impressed when you add something new.
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Steve – as always, absolutely wonderful stuff. Congratulations on completing Doctor Who's first season! :)
How many minis in total have you done for this project so far? And how many conversions compared to those painted 'out of the box'?
Thanks, Mason. I sometimes wish that I could do things by halves, though - I might finish projects quicker.
If you want something a little smaller, maybe you could do a Verity Lambert, Sydney Newman and Terry Nation? Or should that wait for the drama-doc coming next year? lol
Anyway, well done and take a breather, at least for a few days. Because I reckon you've got an asylum-full of daleks heading your way very soon! ;D
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How many minis in total have you done for this project so far? And how many conversions compared to those painted 'out of the box'?
Would you like to count?
(http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/SteveFlanaganUK/Doctor%20Who%201963-64%20project/6364all.jpg)
I make that 141 models, of which perhaps 80% have required at least some conversion work. Perhaps everyone is right about my sanity. I may need an asylum of my own.
I just can't get enough of his thread.
Ah, sorry, Michka, but, as oxiana points out, that's the end of the 1963-64 series. "Planet of Giants" will be the start of a Doctor Who 1964-65 thread some time in the future, but next it's Doctor Who 2011. I've got three conversions started, and the figures for the regulars and the cast of "The Impossible Astronaut /The Day of the Moon" are all laid out on my workbench.
"Our destiny is in the Lead Adventure Forum; let's go and search for it."
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That's a lot of fantastic miniatures!
"Planet of Giants" will be the start of a Doctor Who 1964-65 thread some time in the future, but next it's Doctor Who 2011. I've got three conversions started, and the figures for the regulars and the cast of "The Impossible Astronaut /The Day of the Moon" are all laid out on my workbench.
Great to hear this. I'm looking forward to your 2011 figures.
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Very impressive. Is the writing on the police box freehand? I am just painting the BTD one up and not sure what to do about the writing.
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Lovely work, as ever. :)
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Very impressive. Is the writing on the police box freehand? I am just painting the BTD one up and not sure what to do about the writing.
The lettering is from decals I made up and printed. Unfortunately, I lost the file in my last computer death, or I'd offer to send you a copy.
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Bloody hell, Steve, that is phenomenal!
Serious output, with about 80% coversions..... o_o o_o o_o
My projects may be quite lengthy, but certainly do not require the attention to detail that yours require and you achieve.
You have a specific thing that you are aiming at, whereas I just fiddle around until I think it looks right.
You do it so well, too.
THAT is what I admire!
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(A little late with this but ...)
Superb stuff! You've actually made me re-evaluate the design work of the first season. :o
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(A little late with this but ...)
Superb stuff! You've actually made me re-evaluate the design work of the first season. :o
Well it DOES look better in colour ;)
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Well it DOES look better in colour ;)
Truer words, etc.