The Meknificent Seven and Friends - 2014/10/26 Meks and Mercs (p.16)

[Commander Vyper]

Really nice to see to see this progress Chris.

For my sins I've got the council of judges ks to work through but also around 120 of the old citadel 2000ad minis, which thankfully a certain good Dr is working through for me.

I will put a thread up when I get chance until then I'll continue to drool.



The Commander.

[Westfalia Chris]

Hi all, a small update!

First, some guys I had on my workbench for YEARS, the Citadel Ape Gang, consisting of Don Uggie Apelino, Fast Eek and Joe Bananas.


A bit puny next to more modern figures, but rather charming. I went for a "Huey, Dewey and Louie" type colour combination to tie them together, but make each ape recognizable at first glance; first, I had intended to give them all red suits (as a bit of a "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" nod), and while it would give a nice contrast to the yellow bananas and skin/fur tones, I decided it would leave them too uniform.

Second, from a deal I struck with Cheetor, a set of East Meg One Sov Judges.

Sov Judge Officers:



Sov Judges:



Sentenoid:



Those are really nice figures, cleanly cast and, most importantly, very compatible (size-wise) with the large Foundry figures as compared to the older Mongoose Dredd stuff. I enjoyed painting them tremendously, most of all the Sentenoid which must be one of my favourite robot models ever - I opted for a scheme that would allow using them with a VolgBot/Marsokhod force (if I ever get that one off the ground). Big thanks to Cheetor at this point, I hope my part of the deal works out just as well for you.

Thanks for looking!

[Prof.Witchheimer]

Awesomness

[Diakon]

Very nice. Love the Apes but the Sov Judges are just spectacular. 

[Mason]

Great stuff, Chris!
 

Love that big bot, it is a great sculpt.
 

Best for me are the Apes.
I have had those critters staring at me for just as long, must get around to them soon.
Love the colour choices.
Not a dirty ape amongst them.
 

[Westfalia Chris]

Best for me are the Apes.
I have had those critters staring at me for just as long, must get around to them soon.
Love the colour choices.
Not a dirty ape amongst them.
 

I guess the first one to call them "dirty apes" will end up in the Black Atlantic with his feet tied to a banana box faster than you can spell "lawgiver".

[cheetor]

Those are brilliant Chris, fantastic work!   

Considering that I posted those from Ireland to you in Germany on the 13th and you have them finished, photographed and posted here on the 18th, that has to be the fastest and most productive miniatures trade that I have been involved in yet

Its great to see them painted.  Carrying the judge scheme through to the sentenoid and satellat worked out really well.  They Sovs have a nice comic book villain look to them.

The apes are really nice and the bright Dick Tracy sort of suits are definitely the way to go with those.  That the models are a bit small doesnt make any difference in my opinions.  I mean, what size is a real genetically modified ape?  I dont have the model with the tommy gun (Joe Bananas?).  I really must try to get my hands on that at some stage, its great.

Do you plan to add the Mongoose Ape gang and mobster to those guys?  They are probably the best set of miniatures in the range.

I hope my part of the deal works out just as well for you.

I am sure that it will, although I definitely wont be able to compete on the speed of turnaround

[Westfalia Chris]

Those are brilliant Chris, fantastic work!   

Considering that I posted those from Ireland to you in Germany on the 13th and you have them finished, photographed and posted here on the 18th, that has to be the fastest and most productive miniatures trade that I have been involved in yet

What can I say, I just felt inspired.

Its great to see them painted.  Carrying the judge scheme through to the sentenoid and satellat worked out really well.  They Sovs have a nice comic book villain look to them.

I hummed and hawed quite a bit when it came to the robots. First, after discarding the black/red scheme of the Judges, I wanted to do them in a Russian Uniform olive (the one used for the gloves and boots on the Sov Judges), then, blueish Russian green with white markings on top, before settling on the scheme you see now (German Uniform with a green filter on top plus the red accents). I consider it the right choice to deviate from the Judge uniform, but to meet a "Neo Soviet" cliché so that they'll work together.

The apes are really nice and the bright Dick Tracy sort of suits are definitely the way to go with those.  That the models are a bit small doesnt make any difference in my opinions.  I mean, what size is a real genetically modified ape?  I dont have the model with the tommy gun (Joe Bananas?).  I really must try to get my hands on that at some stage, its great.

"Joe Bananas" is the guy in the green suit with, well, bananas in every pocket. The yellow guy (on the right) was dubbed "Fast Eek". I quite like those Citadel/2000AD naming conventions, puts the much-joked-about Foundry pirates and Old West figures to shame. I don't really mind the size that much, though, as they are still quite bulky - it's similar to the issue with using Crooked Dice Minions with Gorilla heads, as it looks more like a guy in a monkey suit rather than a true ape.

Do you plan to add the Mongoose Ape gang and mobster to those guys?  They are probably the best set of miniatures in the range.

Those are quite good, indeed. If I get the chance, I'll probably add a set or a couple of figures. At the moment, I'm quite happy with the various judges and the Necrowitch I still have to paint (assembled and based them this morning and will prime them once the rain stops).

I am sure that it will, although I definitely wont be able to compete on the speed of turnaround

Let's be confident, for this stage, that the stunty ones arrive safely at your place - although I'm looking forward to seeing them in the blacks-and-yellows.

[Westfalia Chris]

A small update including Chief Judge Cal, Judge Dekker and an academy instructor (all Mongoose figures).







Apart from the goggle eyes on Dekker (looks less awkward on the real mini, honest, guv!) I'm not really happy with how Cal turned out - the purple/red on the coat works well, but the blond hair coupled with the slightly paler skintone than usual doesn't provide enough contrast to the shoulder pads. I'll probably repaint the skin and make him a redhead to provide for a better visual combination. Comments and suggestions welcome.

Thanks for looking!

[cheetor]

Its cool to see you getting through these

Cal is illustrated in lots of different colour schemes and even with quite differing facial features so you have a lot of scope to play around with while still remaining canonically accurate (if that sort of thing bothers you).  Cals cape in particular was coloured in a number of different ways and of course its always feasible that the character owned more than one cape anyway.  I dont remember the stripe down the side of his pants in the comic: did he have one or did you add that on your own?

The Dekker and Cal sculpts are quite nice, although the Tutor is a bit goofy and stiff I think.  Its not going to stop me from painting my own tutor model or anything, but the standard of sculpting in the Mongoose Dredd range varies a lot.  It reminds me of 80s/90s Citadel, where its really hard to tell how good or bad the next figure will be: the sublime and the ridiculous side by side.  Like a 2000AD prog really.

[Mason]

Great stuff, Chris!
 


You have gotten me looking at my bits box and trawling ebay looking at Dredd stuff because of this thread.
Looks like I am steering dangerously close to another tangent....

[Westfalia Chris]

Its cool to see you getting through these

Cal is illustrated in lots of different colour schemes and even with quite differing facial features so you have a lot of scope to play around with while still remaining canonically accurate (if that sort of thing bothers you).  Cals cape in particular was coloured in a number of different ways and of course its always feasible that the character owned more than one cape anyway.  I dont remember the stripe down the side of his pants in the comic: did he have one or did you add that on your own?

The stripe is an addition of mine. I had originally intended to do the cape in some "Imperial Purple" with gold rim and possibly an imprint of "FIAT IUSTITIA ET PEREAT MUNDUS" (as a less-than-subtle pickup on the "Mad Emperor" angle), but the purple colour didn't work at all next to the golden yellow shoulder pads and the black jumpsuit in particular. So I went through various coats of red on the cape and left off the edging. To add a bit of colour as a "framing device" and mark him out as a bit different from the street judges, I added the red stripe (taken from Wehrmacht general staff officers). Furthermore, if covers up the heavy mould lining in that area. I may still go for the lettering, but am unsure as it will be hard to see and even harder to get to look right.

The Dekker and Cal sculpts are quite nice, although the Tutor is a bit goofy and stiff I think.  Its not going to stop me from painting my own tutor model or anything, but the standard of sculpting in the Mongoose Dredd range varies a lot.  It reminds me of 80s/90s Citadel, where its really hard to tell how good or bad the next figure will be: the sublime and the ridiculous side by side.  Like a 2000AD prog really.

  I actually like the instructor quite a bit, although I agree the crispness of the sculpt and casting quality are more responsible for that than a dynamic pose.

The Cal figure was poorly cast (not your fault, obviously), and I had to do some hefty scraping and sanding to get him to a workable level. Around the head and right arm in particular, there was a lot of flash to the extent of some mould mismatch (although the cape and boots were less pronounced). Overall, I think it is a different and less overtly funny pose than the Foundry one (it took me ages to recognize that he was holding Judge Fish aloft), and works quite well for his deranged persona. Amusingly, his right index finger is massive enough to cover up for Dekker's left index finger which was not fully formed!

Channeling Digby Von Klausewitz there, I guess.

I consider these "new" figures to be much better than the older Mongoose stuff, particularly in terms of sculpt crispness and size which makes them much more compatible with Foundry. I'm still pondering how to paint the Necrowitch, though, which is in a leather basecoat so far - not quite sure to go for a more "Cursed Earth Couture" look (leaning towards that) or some Mega-City evil garishness.

[cheetor]

Levitating sci-fi psychic futuristic zombie mistresses can wear whatever they want to of course, but that model suggests the catwalks of the Cursed Earth to me.

[hubbabubba]

Hello, nice painting through out the thread. A comprhensive collection you have going on.

Could you tell me what the quality of the cast was like of the Judge Dekker fig? I boiught one and my copy is really soft, lacking detail, especially around the face.

[Westfalia Chris]

Hello, nice painting through out the thread. A comprhensive collection you have going on.

Could you tell me what the quality of the cast was like of the Judge Dekker fig? I boiught one and my copy is really soft, lacking detail, especially around the face.

Mine was overall quite crisp and well-cast, with the marked exception of the left index finger, which was not fully formed. The facial details and hair were quite alright, the former being a bit softer than on "male" figures, which I find acceptable. Very little flash as compared to the "Cal" figure. Neither of the figures above were as good as the Sov Judges shown earlier, which required almost no cleanup.

It makes it sound like the figure quality is a bit hit-and-miss, and I am suspecting quality control is not a top priority with Mongoose. These are figures from the Kickstarter, if I am not mistaken (got them from Cheetor in a swap), and the casting quality and sculpt on all was much better than on some older figs (Riot, SJS and Street Judges) which I got back in 2010.

I hope that the casting quality gets more reliable now that Warlord will be taking over the range, but judging from their German Paras which I bought a box of last year, I am not 100% confident.