WE ALWAYS CARRY A SPARE

 Well this challenge came down to the wire, but have finished a few more characters for Battle Beyond the Stars, first up is Nestor, in simple terms they are clones, but more complex than normal as they have a shared collective, what one sees all see, and taste and feel, to stop from being bored to death, some leave their home planet for looking for new sensations. They can also use mind control on others as well. For the model I wanted to push the alien feel on the face, so made adjustments to make it less human, then cast up the 5 needed, they only require 4 to operate their ship but they always carry a spare ! LOL

Next up is Quopeg part of Caymen's crew he is his Kunar, now before anyone asks I have no idea what a Kunar is, and it never got explained in the film. Model wise I wanted him ready to throw his spear, as he does in the movie.

Last up is Shad of the Akir, he is the person who scours across the galaxy looking for people to help save his planet. The planet was named after Akira Kurosawa who directed the Seven Samurai, on which "The Magnificent Seven" and "Battle Beyond the Stars" was based on. Model wise I changed his weapon to a scatter blaster, as he came from a peaceful race and was unlikely to be a great shot just by picking up a gun.

Here is a group shot of all I managed to get done for the challenge, although I didn't manage to get Nanelia done which would have completed the set, I'll have to try and get that one done soon.

So that wraps up another Forgotten Heroes, will need to start working out what to do next year ! LOL Incase you missed the post, don't forget you can sign up for this years season-of-scenery-2022 on the post I've linked to, we already have a new participant, as some returning patrons. That's all for this post, so until next time stay safe and have fun !

Cheers Dave

SEASON OF SCENERY 2022

 It's that time of year again, to dust off those scenery projects, and take part in the annual challenge. The same rules will apply as normal, and for anyone new to the challenge they are as follows :

This can be a new project, or an old one that just needs finishing off, it can be a bought piece, or scratch built, size doesn't matter, so it can be a small scatter piece, or vast rooms, it's all up to you, and as in previous years, I will be accepting vehicles in the challenge as well. If your interested in taking part, leave a comment below, and if yours isn't a blog I follow, then please leave a link in your comment to your blog.

So how long have you got, two whole months, the challenge starts on the 1 st of July, and runs till the 31 st of August. Below are some of the great entries from previous years to inspire you.

Until next time stay safe and have fun !

Cheers Dave

HAIL THE CONQUERING HEROES

 As I continue on with this years Forgotten Heroes entries, I have 3 to show today. First up is Caymen of the Lambda zone, when not wanting Sador's head, he and his crew hunt Zime (Space Jellyfish), that they then boil down for protein, although they are not afraid to sell a person as well, what ever makes them the most money. He has an intense hatred of Sador, after he wiped out his entire race.

Next is Cowboy, who is a Space Trukker from Earth and is rescued by Shad from some Space Jackers. He was hauling hand guns, to another planet, which Sador destroyed, and then offered them to Shad, and agreed to set up the ground defences for them. On the model I added a laser rifle, even though they didn't have any in the movie, as I felt it was a nod to the Winchesters in "The Magnificent Seven".

Last today is Gelt, a mercenary who is exceptional at ending disputes quickly, the side effect is there is a bounty on his head in every corner of the galaxy, so accepts the payment of food and lodgings on Akir. For the model I gave him two blasters, instead of the one in the movie, and upgraded his holsters to magno holsters, these are magnetic holsters that release the weapons when his palm prints are read by the handles.

Here's a group shot of all the characters so far.

There's four more characters to do, and I hope to get at least 3 finished, but only time will tell, so until next time stay safe and have fun !

Cheers Dave

WOULD YOU RADIATORS MIND STANDING BACK !

 Two more models done for this years Forgotten Heroes 2022, these are the two Kelvin from the film Battle Beyond the Stars. There names were Ourim and Durim (not sure on the spelling as I can't find the names listed) . The Kelvin are a thermal race and communicate in degrees of heat, which can cause discomfort to many of the human cast. The Kelvin were part of Caymen's crew but were part of the planet defence force, and defeated the sonic tank the Malmori were using.

I made the first model, then took a cast to replicate for the second model, as they looked very similar in the film, and were always in the same pose at the same time. As I didn't have the restrictions of using real people as they did in the movie, I changed the nose a little, to make them look more alien. I've now also finished the three greens I showed last time, Caymen, Gelt, and Cowboy.

I've got another two greens on the go Shad and Quopeg, hopefully I can get them done and all the greens cast and painted before the end, so until next time stay safe and have fun !

Cheers Dave 

SAINT EXMIN

 Well I finally have a miniature finished for this months Forgotten Heroes Challenge done, this is really late for me, but real life had a lot of demands on my time this month, hopefully I can get some more finished before the end of the month, but we'll have to see.

The first to be finished is Saint Exmin of the Valkyrie, she comes from a warrior race, that have to leave their homeworld seeking great battles, to prove themselves worthy. The character was played by Sybil Danning, and you can see the very 80's styling in her costume or should I say lack of it. I gave her a sword as well, even though she didn't have one in the film, as I thought it would fit her character, the wepon itself is designed for trapping an opponents blade between the prongs and then braking their blade, I've included a reference picture below, so you can see what the sculpt is based on.

Now while were talking about challenges Matthew has been working on some very early Rogue Trader models on his blog oldenhammer where he also does a lot of Star Wars miniatures ( How I found his blog) and was asking to see other peoples first release models, now the only one I still have/ painted is the Piscean Warrior, so below is my rendition, the colours for the skin came from a Dwarf Gourami that I used to have, and because of these colours, I kept the cloth and tech to black and white.

That's all for today, next time will hopefully be more Forgotten Heroes, so until then, stay safe and have fun !

Cheers Dave

MY FORGOTTEN HEROES 2022

 Roger at rantings from under the wargames table has set a side challenge this year to run alongside Forgotten Heroes where we show the toys of our childhood that we still have, now I sadly don't have all the great toys I had, as I was convinced to part with a lot of them, if I hadn't I would be probably be sat on a small fortune ! LOL I do have a few bits left which I will show you now. First up is a set of Matchbox toys that were released in conjunction with 2000 ad the comic, and the first one featured in the Judge Dredd story "The Cursed Earth" where a group had to make the long haul from Mega City 1, to Mega City 2 to deliver vaccine.

Next up is another Matchbox model, the Eagle from Space 1999, I've long since lost the cargo pod, but wouldn't get rid of it.

Next I have a couple of pieces from Battlestar Galactica, first is a Cylon Raider

Next is a launch bay, that used to fire rubber Vypers, those have long since vanished, but I have an idea of turning this into some scenery.

Being a huge Star Wars fan, you probably expect loads of the original figures, sadly I have virtually none, other than the MT-7 vehicle

And the original Millenium Falcon, I do plan to utilise this for my gaming, and contemplating making an interior for it.

Now I haven't got much painting done this week, as I've been finishing the cake topper for my eldest daughters wedding this Sunday.

Quite pleased with the end result. Next time I will hopefully have more on my Battle Beyond the Stars project, so until then Stay Safe and have fun !

Cheers Dave

HELLO IS THIS THING ON ?

 I'm back, I know it was a bit longer than I said it would be, but that was due to a broadband problem, not me being stuck in a foreign country ! LOL it's amazing how much catch up I had to do for being away from the internet for just two weeks, and took about 3 hours to go through all your lovely blogs, hopefully I haven't missed anyone's, but apologies if I have.

So where was I for week one, I was in very sunny Malta, now this wasn't just a holiday, as my son was competing in the European Kempo championships, he did very well and came home with 7 medals, 4 bronze and 3 silver, for different aspects within the discipline. We are so proud of all he achieved, and his excellent sportsmanship, going round and congratulating all who took part, and supporting all the rest of his team.

While we there we also got to take in some of the sights, including Blue Lagoon, several museums, I've included pictures below.

Now before I went away I managed to finish another squad for my Kroot, these are the females I've done to go in the hound unit, I made all their quills shorter, and went for a muted colour scheme compared to the males, lighter blue, no patterns and pale quills, in keeping with modern day birds.

FORGOTTEN HEROES 2022

Were almost two weeks into this event, so I'm a bit late posting up what I'm going to do. For this year I'm going to be working on some characters from the film Battle Beyond the Stars. The film was originally released in 1980 and was effectively the magnificent 7 in space, I've no idea how many I'll get done, so I'll just keep plugging away, and see how far I get, here are some greens I'm currently working on.

Next post will be for Roger's My Forgotten Heroes, where I will be showing the toys that I've still got from my childhood, so until then stay safe and have fun !

Cheers Dave