I have just finished off a small group of MiB's and they will be posted up on my blog in a few weeks.
I decided to post them up here in advance, to get some feedback from the LAF'ers but mostly because I enjoyed completing such a straightforward, small and recognisable project and wanted to talk about it
I have had a few Foundry figures sitting in the lead mountain for a while now. I bought one of their deals way back in 2002 or so and while I got some of them painted, I couldnt really decide what to do with some of the others. I recently decided to transform some of the suits into MiB, starting with Agents B & C here.
L to R: Agent B and Agent CA quick weapon swap with a spare sci-fi weapon left over from a Reaper figure gave B the right look. B is a pretty large figure: it seems to be a rule that in every pack of Foundry figures there is one huge guy. He isnt so large as to be out of scale, but he is a large and imposing model, for a modern human anyway.
The rifle adds to this I think, making him more threatening. To add to that, his eyes came out looking quite staring and intense. I think that it suits him. B is the muscle in my small MiB force.
As another of the Foundry “Suits” Agent C needed to have her gun upgraded to a more retro 1950s looking sci-fi weapon in keeping with the movies. In contrast with B, C is quite a petite figure. As a result most of the sci-fi weapons that I have lying around looked pretty huge in comparison with her (GW dont really do “petite” when it comes to weapons).
I eventually settled on a Dark Eldar splinter pistol which had to be further cut down to look right. It isnt as small as the “Noisy Cricket” that Agent J wields in the first movie, but it is as close as I am going to get in 28mm I reckon.
As the palette on the MiB figures is by necessity limited I decided to play around with the skin tones that I used for the four members a little more than I normally would. B looks quite ashen whereas C has a warmer skin tone, possibly South American?
L to R: Agent P, Agent GAgent P's Vincent Vega type hairdo kinda gives me the giggles to be honest: P looks like he thinks that he is a lot smarter than he actually is.
P’s weapon is a GW plasma pistol, similar to G’s armament. P's pistol comes from a Chaos space marine miniature and is designed to look like a primitive tech was used to design and build it. I like the 1950’s style to it: it looks to me like part of a hot rod straight out of
Grease or something. And I mean that in a good way. Its very appropriate to the MiB aesthetic I think.
Agent G is about as close as I got to making a character reminiscent of K from the MiB movies. I used a different skin tone on K from that which used on either B C or P. As I painted the figure using that tone G ended up looking a bit older than the figure initially suggested to me, so I played it up and made his face look a little more aged. G is probably the crusty old veteran out of my four MiB agents.
One thing that does grate a bit is the angle that G is holding his pistol at: it doesnt really scream “old school” to me. The fact that my grizzled old MiB soldier holds his pistol like a punk from the ‘hood is something that I am going to have to live with. I really should have repositioned his arm/hand before I painted him. Oh well.
Top down shot of G to show his armament off, in the gangsta stylee.The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed that none of my MiB are wearing shades. While I would have liked it if one of the figures had a pair sculpted on, they didnt. In the interests of denting the lead mountain I decided to suck it up and use these guys anyway. The charcacters hardly ever wear shades in the actual movies anyway. Thats my excuse and Im sticking to it...
The fifth unofficial member is Freddie...
While the paint job isnt stellar, I really should have taken a better photo: that one is pretty poor. Ho hum.
A recurring character in the MiB movies and kids cartoon is Frankie the Pug, an interstellar negotiator. Frankie is apparently a
Remoolian (from Remoolia I guess...) and according to the cartoon (which isnt “canon” I am told) Frankie looks like a green pug with antennae and three (I think) tails when not disguised as a Terran pug.
Anyway, it seems reasonable to me that more than one Remoolian negotiator may live on Earth. It also seems reasonable that Remoolians show as much breeding variation as Terran dogs. Crucially, I also couldnt get my hands on a 28mm pug miniature. Mainly, I find the idea of the fifth and final member of my MiB project being a talking dog to be a gaming opportunity that would be a shame to miss.
Talking bulldogs remind me of Mr Beefy from Little Nicky anyway, and thats not a bad thing
Finally, I had to get some wheels for my MiB.
I picked up some multi-packs of toy cars recently, mostly because they were cheap and had a couple of Humvees in them which I plan to draft in for my Umbrella Security Service. Also in the sets was a pair of black Lamborghinis.
Now in the first MiB movie J and K drive what is described as a “Ford P.O.S.”. Thats Piece Of Shit in case you were wondering. They drive a nondescript car so as not to stand out. It appears however that by the time the sequel rolled around that this aspect of MiB policy had been relaxed as J drives a somewhat less than nondescript Mercedes throughout that movie.
In the spirit of everything in bad sequels being bigger, better (usually worse) and leet-er I figure that by the time my MiB hit the table that MiB policy has relaxed further, allowing them to drive such conspicuous vehicles.
It probably flashes neuralizer beams as it drives past anyway, just like when the Merc becomes airborne in MiB2. Whaddya mean you cant remember MiB2? They must have incorporated the neuralizer into the actual feature, wiping the minds of the viewers. That would be one way to explain why it was so forgettable I suppose...
Some goofy shots "in situ" follow, mostly to show the sweet rides that I picked up for the MiB. My modern terrain could do with an overhaul too, just to warn you guys: its not pretty but it is functional.
Agent G, Agent P and Freddie discuss extradition options with the Gargleflarkian Hive Mind
Agents B and C conduct "aggresive negotiations" with Diplomatic Envoy Flarz and his entourage.
With a squeal of tyres, MiB Agents B, C, G and P deal with an interdimensional parking violation, while a pair of talking dogs square off.I very much enjoyed the project, even though the poxy varnish ended up being satin or semi-gloss or something. Varnishing is always a pain in the ass.
Comments and criticisms welcomed and thanks for looking
Edited: for typos
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January 26, 2008, 09:24:00 PM