Humanities Professor - 23 Aug - Idle Pulping

[Idle Doodler]

I've got several miniatures lying around with varying numbers of layers of paint, but this is the only one I've managed to work up enough enthusiasm to paint. Relatively straightforward with no nasty hard-to-reach areas which I'm finding with the others. A bit cartoon-y compared to some of the other modern pulp miniatures I've done up over the last few months, but that just made the face more fun to paint. I won't complain at more caricature-lite minis on the market!

I think he's from Black Tree Designs who have a selection of unarmed miniatures, which I'm finding to be a bit of a rarity, or at least not as common as I'd like. I would love to hear folks' recommendations on ranges / companies with modern-ish male and female non(obvious)combatants.



Polo-neck jumpers are surely due their day in the sun again sometime soon, at which point this chap will once again be very sharply dressed. As things and fashions stand, he just looks like he's trying too hard.

Maybe that's what he wants me to think...

[Panama]

Nice work Idle & as I remember very well when polonecks were in fashion thanks for making me feel old 

[Idle Doodler]

Oh, woe to us who mark our passing of years according to the whims of fashion! Ten years ago skinny jeans looked weird. Five years ago it was hideously not-hip to have a beard. Last year, it -- whom am I kidding, I haven't the foggiest idea what's fashionable now compared to a year ago!

[Panama]

Oh I gave up on fashion along way back Idle  but on to more important things, actors check you a great set of them as seen over these pages, sets check a little tip on white lines on card buildings get some felt tip markers & just run a long the line with whatever colour suits best, so all that's left now is lights camera quite on the set & action 

Looking forward to you giving us an ARR with you fab models 

[Lowtardog]

Spectre Miniatures do MENA civilians which would work for you mate

[Idle Doodler]

a little tip on white lines on card buildings get some felt tip markers

I've started doing that (felt tips unearthed from their dark, dusty corner under the more-loved art supplies) but always find I've left one or two edges un- or insufficiently-lined. I'll just have to cover the whole underside appropriately! At least with my homemade houses I can extend the brickwork pattern across the sticking tab.

Spectre Miniatures do MENA civilians which would work for you mate

I've not got any Spectre minis yet, but have been very tempted - they look beautiful on their store pages. I wish they had more female models, particularly civilians, but I suppose Spectre doesn't really focus on warzones with a great number of women combatants. Alas, the one or the other packs of female operatives have alway been out of stock whenever I've looked with money jangling in my online wallet.

[Idle Doodler]

First of the two muggle-dressed witches painted up.

I struggled to enjoy painting this one, and I'm not altogether sure why. It's not the sculpting style, because I've enjoyed painting Offensive Miniatures products before and she's not dissimilar to the male rioters. There were tricky areas to get a brush into - particularly the neck - but I found myself losing momentum before I reached those stages. I liked working on the miniature with green stuff, and she should tick all my 'fun to paint' boxes - not overly detailed, a limited palette of colours, expressive face...

I dunno.



I'm happy with how the hands turned out, anyway - don't think they stand out too much from the rest of her.

I'm struggling with painting her companion too, so it may be a while before I start gaming regularly in Potter Alley!

Aside from them, I'm hurrying through some 'plot points' for the next Pulp Alley game - hopefully I should get another game in before the week is out.

[Codsticker]

That happends to me too and I am not sure why. Sometimes I am underwhelmed painting a mini that before I started I was very keen to paint. Perhaps we know by the time we are half way through that the finished product, depsite our best efforts, is not going to turn out quite as smashing as we thought when we began.

[von Lucky]

Same here - but you finished her, and she looks good.

[Idle Doodler]

Cheers, von Lucky.

I think you're right, Codsticker - it all went wrong after the undercoating. I dithered over t-shirt and hair colours.  I re-did the t-shirt from the original plan of warm yellow (which is now going on her companion's hoodie), shifting to something that would contrast the brightness of her flesh and trousers. I hadn't realised how much of a scowl she had, which would have seemed incongruous with the original sunny outfit. I do think the simple shirt switch just jarred my mental image of the end product enough to derail the momentum. The faltering approach turned into a labourious paintjob - not what I want in a hobby!

[Panama]

That's a fab paint job Idle so much character in the face, I couldn't paint that well even when I'm in the mood 

[Idle Doodler]

You're very kind, Panama - that's pretty much how I feel when I see the excellent set-ups during your photoshoots. I'm very envious of your terrain!

[Idle Doodler]

Some speedy jobs (as in, they only took days rather than weeks...) to cover some plot points in future Pulp Alley games. The middle gent is a Hasslfree miniature I did a year ago or so when I was putting together a zompocalypse collection, and I felt he was generic enough to transfer across. He just needed a new base.

The chaps flanking him are a mix of Studio Miniatures zombies, Wargames Factory survivors and an arm from the Wargames Factory Russian Infantry sprue. The arm in question has had its grenade trimmed down to form a torch-ish shape. Other than greenstuffing the arm joints, that was about as much effort as I was willing to commit to this pair. Painting-wise I did no more than a hurried basecoat, wash and highlight with the basecoat colour, with a further highlight on the skin. Certainly not my most creative of miniatures, but hopefully they're vague enough to pass for security guards or police officers (or even just general thugs) according to requirements.

[Ballardian]

 Very nice (I'm also old enough to be hoping to be able to break the glass on the emergency polo-neck box again).

[d phipps]

Excellent! Looks like they are ready for action.