FORGOTTEN HEROES 2023

 The 1 st of June see's the start of this years Forgotten Heroes challenge which you can find all the rules for carrioncrowsbuffet I've been debating what to do this year, and was thinking of just ploughing my way through a load more Star Wars characters, but felt I hadn't done anything based on comic's for a while either, so what to do ? With all the large models I did last month I wanted to do something large, as the bigger models have been pushing my limits on the painting side, and I do like to challenge myself, so I decided that I was going to make a display piece this year rather than gaming pieces, and had the perfect piece to do that with.

The above picture is of D.R. & Quinch (the big pink one) with Crazy Chrissy ( the one sat on a bomb). These three characters are from 2000 ad, here is what Wikipedia says about them :

D.R. & Quinch is a comic strip about two delinquent alien drop-outs. It was created by Alan Moore and Alan Davis for the British weekly comics anthology 2000 AD. It first appeared in 1983. The strip was the tale of how two alien teenage students Waldo "D.R." (for "Diminished Responsibility") Dobbs, a scheming criminal mastermind, and Ernest Errol Quinch, his muscular purple-skinned companion in crime, have influenced Earth's history in various anarchic ways.

Publication history

Creation and concept

D.R. and Quinch began in 2000 AD as a one-off comic in the Time Twisters series titled “D.R. and Quinch Have Fun On Earth”. The characters were initially meant to only appear once but they proved so popular that they were given their own semi-regular series.[1]

D.R. and Quinch were inspired by the National Lampoon characters O.C. and Stiggs.[2] The film Animal House has also been cited as an influence.[3] Alan Davis took visual inspiration from the cartoon style of Leo Baxendale’s Grimly Feendish.[3] Alan Moore has described D.R. & Quinch as belonging to the tradition of British teenage delinquency comics, comparable to Dennis the Menace except with “a thermonuclear capacity”.[2]

Later appearances

The pair's last storyline, "D.R. and Quinch Go to Hollywood," ran from progs 363 to 367 and is considered to be Moore and Davis's finest D.R. and Quinch story.[4] However, at the time, the Moore/Davis partnership was undergoing strain due to Moore refusing permission for their Captain Britain work to be reprinted. The pair's last D.R. and Quinch work together was in the 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special in 1985.

D.R. and Quinch continued to appear in 2000 AD from progs 525 to 534 in the form of an advice column with readers sending in letters with personal problems solved by D.R. and Quinch in their own way. One such column was "hijacked" by D.R.'s girlfriend Crazy Chrissy. These later episodes were written by Jamie Delano.

In 1986 Titan Books released a collection of all D.R. and Quinch stories from 2000 AD called D.R. and Quinch's Totally Awesome Guide To Life. It became one of Titan's best selling books in their lines of 2000 AD reprints. The book went out of print several times and it has since been collected as The Complete D.R. and Quinch (ISBN 1-84023-345-1) in 2001.

In 2018, INDIO comics released a story, "D.R. & Quinch Hijack Free Comic Book Day", which was part of a "2000 AD Regened" all-ages comic created for Free Comic Book Day. The strip was created by Owen Michael Johnson and Colin Bell.[5]

Characters

Waldo "D.R." Dobbs — scheming criminal mastermind

Ernest Errol Quinch — D.R.'s muscular purple-skinned companion

Crazy Chrissy — D.R.'s girlfriend, formerly known as Chrysoprasia, or Chirpy to her friends

Pulger — paranoid veteran of the Ghoyogi slime jungle wars

Reception

D.R. & Quinch's anarchic humour was popular with its original audiences — the feature won the 1985 Eagle Award (for comics published in 1984) for Character Most Worthy of Own Title; and the supporting characters Pulger and Chrysoprasia were both nominated for Favourite Supporting Character.[6] In addition, the first collection of stories, D.R. & Quinch's Totally Awesome Guide to Life, won the 1987 Eagle Award for Favourite Comic Album.[7]

The series has had a strong reputation since it was first published. It stands out as something so obviously different when compared to the rest of Moore’s body of work that it is worthy of attention.[1] It has been called the "absurd, cartoony, delightfully vicious other side of Halo Jones".[8] Writing for Time, Douglas Wolk described it as, for the majority of its run, "one of the funniest comics ever"[4] and Neil Gaiman has credited it with being one of the greatest 2000 AD stories.[9]

In a later interview, however, co-creator Moore expressed discomfort with how the series exploits violence for comic effect, claiming that it has no “lasting or redeeming social value”.[10][2]

I always found these characters funny and even had pictures of them on my bulling brushes when I was in the army ( No one was taking them without anyone spotting they were mine ! LOL). I'm going to build them in 100 mm scale, which should allow for plenty of detail, and give me a few challenges, as is customary I need to show the base model I'll be working from.

Yes they will be scratchbuilt from foam and greenstuff, I'm hoping to do all 3 plus a few bits to go around them to go on the base, and if I get them all done before the end of the month, maybe I'll do a couple of Star Wars figures as well, that's all for this post so until next time stay safe and have fun !

Cheers Dave

THE BITCH IS BACK

 My last entry for Monster May(hem) is my biggest, standing in at over 13 inches tall is the Halcyon Alien Queen. I have had this model for well over 30 years now, it was built once before, which was a challenge in itself, as this was the first PVC kit I'd ever built, and provides all new challenges compared to a plastic kit. It unfortunately had an accident some 18 years ago, but more on that later, first the cool pictures (well as cool as my limited photography skills can muster).

Here is a shot of her with the Ripley and Power Loader I have previously shown on this blog before.

Below are some WIP shots of the missing parts I had to replace.

I had to put the head back together again for this build, refit one of her legs, refit the fins as well, I think the fitting and blending this time are actually better than the first time, but was disappointed the the PVC fins would not reset straight, so had to make do with them as they are. That's all for this post, next month is Forgotten Heroes challenge, which I am deciding what to do this year, so until next time, stay safe and have fun !

Cheers Dave 

ONE VISION

 Sometimes distractions fall into place, this month being just such an occasion as when my eldest son brought up the Dragon Egg, he also brought a Cyclops, which also fits perfectly for Monster May(hem). This was another 3D print he picked up at a show, and did suffer with the dreaded shallow detail, but just means I have to push my painting ability harder. There is no conversion on this model, and the colours were what my son chose, all I did was pick the shade and highlight colours.

A straight forward paint, and the base was what was provided with the model. My youngest son, hasn't caught the model bug yet, but that isn't to say he doesn't provide extra distractions as well ! LOL The other day he asked if he could paint his skating helmet, after convincing him to draw his design first, my wife and I agreed, he did all the base colour work, and then I did all the detail work for him.

He now has a one of a kind crash helmet ! LOL That's all for this post, so until next time, stay safe and have fun !

Cheers Dave

FE FI FO FUM

 Todays entry for Monster May(hem) is a plastic Chaos giant from GW, I've had this model for 16 years, did all the conversion work, got it undercoated, and then it's sat since then. Originally I bought it to add into my Khornate Marauder army, all the troops horsemen and chariots, were marauders, with a chaos warrior mounted on a dragon leading them, for steeds I used the mutie steeds from Gorka Morka. When Warhammer ceased to be, I sold off the army, but kept the giant, as it was still a current model and I still wanted to paint it. When I put the kit together I used parts from the chaos version as well as parts from the Orc version, so the mutations were more varied, plus I really liked the dragon skull club.

I went for pretty simple colours, nothing too bright, with occasional pops of colour to add interest points, overall happy with the end result. That's all for this post, so until next time, stay safe and have fun !

Cheers Dave

FROG ON A BOG

 The above title was my staff at GW affectionate name for a Slann on Palanquin, which is one of the leader options for the Lizardmen army. This model is the third version that GW released, the first was carried by human slaves, the second was carried by Saurus Temple Guard, then this one, there is now a new plastic version, but I don't see anything wrong with the version I have, so wont be getting the new one.

Before putting the Slann into place, I remembered to take a picture of it's back, as you don't see it  once it's in situ ! LOL

For the Slann I went with the colours of a Golden Bell frog, which I have included a picture below, my pet one was closer in colour to the version I've painted, but unfortunately I never took a picture of it.

All the lizards , frogs and snakes on the model are based on real ones, and the base I wanted to try a swamp feel, quite pleased with the result, but want to experiment more with this. Hoping Keith will except this as my next entry for Monster Mayhem, that's all for this post, so until next time, stay safe and have fun !

Cheers Dave

WOULD YOU LOOK AT THE A** ON THAT

In the original Star Wars, there is a scene outside the Cantina, in both the original and extended version, where we see a Dewback and the back end of another creature, which never really gets mentioned. In the Return of the Jedi we get to see it's head mounted on a wall in Jabba's Palace but it's only a fleeting shot and in a lot of shadow. Being me I wanted to know what it is, and have one in my collection, eventually I found out it was called a Jerba, this is what Wookiepedia has to say :

The jerba was a smooth-haired animal considered to be ugly by some.[2] The species were shaggy quadrupeds found in desert environments including on the planet Tatooine.[4] Jerbas produced milk.[2]

History

"There's a whole subculture of breeders—I once smuggled a mated pair off Tatooine for a private seller."

―Han Solo[2]

Jabbas trophies

A jerba's head (right) was featured among Jabba's trophies.

A subculture of jerba breeders existed in the galaxy, and the creatures were kept for their milk or for their meat. Some were also ridden. Han Solo once smuggled a pair of mated jerbas off Tatooine for a private seller, although he considered the beasts to be ugly.[2] Tethers for jerbas and banthas were kept outside Tosche Station in Anchorhead, and wary jerbas were known to frequent the exterior of the building. Jabba Desilijic Tiure kept the trophy head[4] of a jerba mounted on the wall of his palace on Tatooine, along with other hunting trophies including the head of a tauntaun.[5] During the era of the New Republic, Senator Grelka Sorka owned a prize show-jerba which was taken hostage to ensure the politician's vote against launching an attack against the Imperial remnant at Jakku.[2] The hide of a jerba could be used to make leather. Leia Organa sometimes wore boots made of jerba leather.[6]

This adds a lot of the scope for the future, but to begin with I wanted the one for the outside the Cantina, It was sculpted completely in greenstuff over a wire frame, as seen in the below pictures.

Apologies I forgot to take pictures in excitement to get it painted ! LOL

For painting I wanted to try and match the colours from the movie as close as I could, and I'm happy with the end result.

This is my next entry for Monster May(hem).That's all for this post so until next time stay safe and have fun !

Cheers Dave

HERE BOY

Today I have a couple of GW Dark Eldar Khymera as my next entry for Monster May(hem), these look a bit like skinless dogs, the official synopsis is as follows :

A Khymera (pl. Khymerae), are terrifying creatures, literally born from an intelligent being's nightmares. They spawn in the Warp or on Daemon Worlds, coalescing into existence like malignant cysts around the psychic energies that fear and terror leaves in the Immaterium. They do not form at the whim of the Chaos Gods nor do they appear to be fragments of these powers.

Taxonomists of the Ordo Malleus classify them not as actual daemons but as Warp creatures, one example of the many unnatural flora and fauna existing in the Immaterium, though this distinction is usually lost on those facing the beasts.

Khymerae lack a proper corporeal form, allowing them to flicker between realspace and the Sea of Souls at whim, appearing momentarily before a foe and then vanishing suddenly to launch an attack from an unexpected direction.

Their phasing powers also mean Khymerae can appear inside areas thought secure -- such as locked rooms or the fighting compartments of armoured vehicles. They have even been known to appear inside of moving voidships, meaning they were either drawn by on-board psykers or were directed in the attack by agencies unknown.

Khymerae are among the creatures tamed by the Drukhari Beastmasters, technically members of the Wych Cults, though they are always male and remain remote from the true Hekatarii. Some Imperial savants who know of such things suspect they are part of an ancient Aeldari shamanic tradition, for when the Beastmasters go to battle, they wear totems and masks echoing the nature of the alien predators under their control.

It is partially because of these artefacts that they enjoy such mastery over their ferocious beasts, for their masks harbour complex sonic emitters and pheromone traps. The Warp-beasts called Khymerae are living proof of the Beastmasters' skills as a spirit-hunter.

Beastmasters must hunt down and harness their own Khymerae in perilous fugues or dream-quests, but if they are successful, they can draw entire packs of Khymerae back across the veil to the physical dimension to do their bidding. Khymerae set loose on the battlefields of realspace can wreak utter havoc before fading away like mist.

I've gone for similar colours as the GW version except on the tongues and tentacles where I've used the same colours as the Fiend's tail. 

Just noticed the flock in this picture, and have now cleaned it off !

I found these two on Ebay recently at a reasonable price, just before GW rereleased them on their webstore, which would have been more expensive with the postage, than the pair I found, so I was happy. I need 3 more to finish the unit, which I will sculpt, to add some variation. That's all for this post, next timne I will be returning to a galaxy far far away for my next entry, so until then stay safe and have fun !

Cheers Dave

A FIENDISH PLAN

 My next model for Monster May(hem) is the clawed fiend I showed the green of last month, I've used similar colours to my first one, but changed some of the tones and markings so they look similar, but different, like animals in nature.

Below is a picture of it with it's fellow fiend, and the two beastmasters

Currently working on some Khymera to finish of the last beast pack, that's all for this post, so until next time stay safe and have fun !

Cheers Dave

HERE BE DRAGONS

 Let the May(hem) commence, this is my first entry for Monster May(hem) and I'm starting out with my dragonkin, the colours I've gone for tie into my Fire Breathing Dragon so that can be a Old One as part of the faction. I've also tried a few new things on this one, Dragon Glass blade, and a different way of doing blue gold.

Below is the reference picture I used for the blue gold.

I've also painted up a baby dragon for my eldest son, who got this 3D print with another piece that I will hopefully get done for MM as well.

Tried using gem paints for a different effect on the egg, which I really like and so does my son. That's all for this post, so until next time stay safe and have fun !

Cheers Dave

MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU

 For some people May the 4th is the day to celebrate all that's Star Wars, for me that's most days ! LOL I do like to show my support just the same. So what Star Wars goodies do I have today, well I've finally finished painting up all the mini busts from Phantom Menace, that I collected from a certain frosted cereal. First up is the two Sith no more no less, Maul and Sidious

Next we have the three Jedi, Qui Gon, Obi Wan, and Anakin Skywalker

Next is C3PO and R2D2

And lastly we have the two Gungans, Jar Jar, and Boss Nass (Dai skip past these ! LOL)

There was one more in the set, Padme, but I never managed to get hold of that one, so I am now calling these finished, for the rest of the month I will be concentrating on Monster May(hem), so until next time stay safe and have fun !

Cheers Dave