Friday 11 February 2022

VAMPIRELLA

 I bought this model some 35 years ago, based on the cover art on the box, which showed Vampirella as seen in the comic strip. When I got it home, i was disappointed by the contents, as it looked nothing like the artwork, and instead was done in a anime style which I am not a fan off. I also noticed that several pieces were miscast, and had an almost double layer effect. So it sat for years occasionally, rediscovering the box, I slowly tried to correct the miscast, and then would leave it again. Recently I found it again, no longer with the box, and decided that this Fembruary I would finally get it finished. The model stands 5 inches or 125 mm tall, so on the larger scale size.


The bat you see above is not the original bat that came with the model, but one from the old Warhammerquest box set, which is a lot better than the original, seen below.


Sorry for the lack of responses this week, we had our internet go down, thankfully that has now been fixed, and normal service will return.

That's all for this post, so until next time stay safe and have fun !

Cheers Dave  

30 comments:

  1. Lovely work on such a fab looking miniature.

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    1. Thank you Simon, personally not fond of the anime face, but did give me an interesting challenge to do something with the face ! LOL

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  2. Bryan (Vampifan) would wholeheartedly have approved of both the subject matter and your excellent painting of her, Dave. Absolutely marvellous stuff. Good swap work on the bat too, imho. Seems to be the month for Bryan-related postings too - what with some of his old Judge Dredd figures appearing on eBay and Joe fortunately saving a load of his Zombicide models.

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    1. Thank you Simon, if Bryan was still here I would have sent him the model if he liked it, the bat needed to be changed, and managed to hide the pin, as part of the bats tail, to give more of an illusion. Great that Joe was able to save a lot of his models, and have enjoyed his posts showing some of the models. Have seen some of the models on Ebay, wasn't amused that the seller of Harry Heston listed it as a WTW model, as it has never been released by my company, or available to buy as such !

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    2. Yes. I saw the Harry Heston auction and its exclusivity status as a limited edition WTW model. The £80 price tag was outrageous too, LOL!!! Still the seller seems to have a nasty habit of mislabelling its wares - I spotted Bryan's Death vs Dredd Warlord Games model as being OOP - when its still available on the WG site as part of the odd deal box etc. I am though hoping that deadly trio of Judge Stone, Judge Webb and Judge Moore make an appearance at some point as auctions, as would like to get hold of my campaign counterpart, and let you and Roger know that yours are up for grabs too. I did spot Judge Gilbert is currently available ;-)

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    3. Did notice that on several of his auctions, and yes that price is ludicrous ! LOL Do hope you can find the models you're looking for, so they can carry on they're adventures in your campaign.

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  3. She looks good Dave. Never a fan of the character in general, but from the images I have seen, your version looks the part and 5” tall too?! Yikes, that’s a lot of flesh to paint and make look good!

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    1. Thank you Dai, I read a few of the comics, but didn't follow it a great amount of the time, not like Bryan did. There was a lot of flesh to paint ! LOL Had to do a midtone glaze at the end to tie all the different layers together, it would have looked harsh otherwise, but was happy with the end result.

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  4. I'm terrified of painting such a large area of flesh and getting it minimally decent, but you made it look so natural! I think I'm revisiting these pics in the future for reference, really lovely paintjob!

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    1. Thank you Suber, large expanses of a single colour can seem very daunting, a small progression between shades is necessary on larger models to look natural, and a finishing glaze, helps tone everything together, if you have any questions please feel free to ask , more than happy to help.

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  5. I'm a big fan of vampires in general but I don't really know much or understand the appeal of this character. Maybe it is an age thing and I'm from the wrong generation? I can't really say but what I would say is that you painted her up very nicely. She looks lifelike enough that I'd be scared to paint this one and draw the ire of my wife! :D

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    1. Thank you Jeff, I think a lot has changed over the years, and Vampirella doesn't fit well with current society. My wife is very understanding, and has even posed for sculptures for me over the years.

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  6. What a hugs figure ! It's always difficult with larger figures as making even the slightes mistake will be spotted, but you've done a great job with no mistakes that I could see !

    As for Bryans things appearing on ebay, I suspect it was a 'bundle' deal done by his brother Michael when he sold his collection od 200Ad and Dredd comics.

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    1. Thank you Joe, I had my eraser brush on standby the entire time ! LOL Actually wouldn't mind doing some other large scale pieces, if I can find the right subject material.
      Bryan did have a vast collection of the comics, so can imagine it was easier to sell in a job lot.

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  7. Would agree with Joe above about painting big models Dave & would also agree with him on the great job you done of it & changing the bat was a very good idea.
    A shame Bryans not around to see this as he'd have loved it been the big Vampi fan that he was.

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    1. Thank you Frank, it's great to finally have her finished, rather than being another abandoned model, the bat was terrible, so when I started work on her, had a look through the bits box to see what I had.
      Hope he would have liked what I did.

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  8. Great stuff Dave, as others have said that much flesh to paint must have been daunting - give me the usual two hands and face any day 🤣
    Honestly though I find it way more impressive that you completed a 35 year old purchase, well done - if the divorce and moving into this apartment has shown me anything it's that I have WAY too much stuff and need to start selling a lot of it as I know I'll never get it built or painted.

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    1. Thank you Ivor, I do like to challenge myself, so was a great exercise in that.
      Probably the oldest project in the house, so good to finally have it done. I had a big clearout about 7 years ago, and sold off anything I didn't think I would get round to, and treated the wife and children, plus something I wanted from the proceeds. I may do another, to clear some more space, for projects I'd like to expand.

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  9. Great work on "Vampi" mate, it's always a bit more daunting tackling larger scale stuff, but you've done a smashing job here. Has much of Bryans stuff appeared on Ebay then? must admit5 it's not somewhere a frequent a great deal, but it would be nice to at least see it again if not actually own some of it.

    Cheers Roger (Oh and your bat is much better than the original by the way 😀)

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    1. Thank you Roger, I don't mind doing larger scale models, as I've done quite a few large dragons, but the larger flat surfaces, do create more challenges. I've seen quite a few of Bryans Judge Dredd miniatures available, but not all of them, think the seller must be drip feeding them on there, so would expect to see more over time.
      Glad you like the improved bat, I know I do ! LOL

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  10. I think that if I had a 5” tall mostly naked woman on my desk the wife would think I was up to something devious. 😀

    Nice job! Looks cool.

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    1. Thank you Stewart, I'm very lucky, my wife doesn't worry about models, especially ones that I've had since before I met her, plus it's not the type of model I would but now ! LOL

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  11. John@justneedsvarnish12 February 2022 at 13:53

    Very nicely done, Dave! :-) I'm always amazed how Vampirella manages to wear/not wear the things she's meant to be wearing/not wearing! Not read much about her apart from in the Legenderry graphic novels series and she's dressed more modestly in that!

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    1. Thank you John, indeed a costume not designed for movement, without serious wardrobe malfunctions ! Good to hear they have moved the artwork with the times, as that's not happened with all the comics, and was highlighted in the series " The Boys"

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  12. Awesome work, Dave, and getting the skin tones even over that amount of bare flesh must have been fun! I think her face looks OK but she does look too old. Her costume is bloody ridiculous LOL!

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    1. Thank you Matt, an overall glaze, helped smooth all the tones and transitions. The character is thousands of years old ! LOL The problem is getting past the anime style sculpting of her face, to give a more realistic feel. As with most comics from the 70's and 80's most females were put in extremely revealing outfits, nice to see we have moved forward as a society.

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    1. Thank you Keith, long time coming, but finally finished ! LOL

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  14. Wow Dave she's great, and one mean looking vamp!

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    1. Thank you Justin, was never really sure when I read the comics, if she was supposed to be mean, or just seductive, as I read it in my teens. Very pleased to have finally finished her though ! LOL

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