P A R A G O N S

A Return to Patriot City...

2010-06-04T04:53:00.000-07:00

Now, I've been immersed for a while in the Pulp City game. (Link here). The game disappoints me because it doesn't have any facility for creating generic characters (and I personally wish they had some more generic miniatures!) but the models are brilliant. I've ordered a bunch, and I'm going to be making a "Paragons Mk. 2" to continue this project.

Thunderbolt was the first character we created, and whilst I loved the idea, it suffered somewhat from fact that, because it was built around a plastic Eldar, it ended up looking very squat and short compared to some of the other models that we used. As a result, I've been looking at using the Pulp City model Nuclear Jones as the basis for a conversion.

My Pulp Miniatures arrived today - they were a bit of a mixed bag, really - they're very 'fine' models. By that I mean that they're very nice models indeed, but they're also "realistically" scaled, making some of them smaller than the GW models I was using. That said, they ought to work alongside models from manufacturers like Heresy and Hasslefree.

This image shows the old Thunderbolt alongside Pulp City's "Nuclear Jones", the model I've selected to replace him. He was intended to have a headswap with the donation from The Gentleman, but once I got the models together I saw that the Gentleman's head was just a touch too big for the Nuclear Jones model.

I've gone a different direction now, cutting the head off the "Doctor Mercury" model and transplanting it. It's perhaps a little too small, but that perhaps works, because I was hoping to greenstuff a faceplate onto it. (I was thinking, ironically, of using Apologist's MkII Crusade helmet guide as a basis)

Blight

2010-01-16T16:18:00.000-08:00

Finally, a villain character.

This is Blight as he stands. (I'm not 100% set on the conversion, and would like to change him up a bit at some stage.) He is intended to be based around poison/chemical warfare. The figure itself is the Scavvy Chieftain from the Necromunda range.

Heroclix, Spectre and the Marvels

2010-01-16T16:09:00.001-08:00

In my search for superhero models that I could get cheaply, I stumbled across heroclix models in the local Forbidden Planet.

I got maybe twenty figures, of which I was able to salvage a few. The plastic the figures are made of isn't the most cooperative, but I got a few models.

First was this Doctor Doom model, which suited a character concept I'd had, The Spectre:

1944: Nazi research into the occult has produced the Spectre. Markus Richter is the model Aryan, a perfect soldier in the elite Waffen-SS. A superweapon infused with the terrible energies of the beyond in order to bring down the Allies.

But the experiment went wrong. Infused with the energies of an avenging angel, Richter flees and defects to the Allied forces, where he is retrained to destroy the Nazi super-project before something altogether darker is released...

Spectre would survive until/arrive at the modern day, where he'd take a place on the Paragons for a while. It was an unashamedly/joyously derivative concept that combined elements of Weapon X, Captain America, Spawn, Hellboy and even Escape from Castle Wolfenstein into one character. At some stage, once I've decided on a decent scheme, I'd like to paint the model.

The Marvels
Next, three members of the Marvels, Patriot City's superhero team from the 1940s. Obviously they're named after the comic book company:

Centurion first; he's meant to be the leader, a sort of All-American character, somewhat based off The Statesman, the 'mascot' for City of Heroes.

Flamestorm, a sort of "human torch" character wearing a flame-retardant suit:

Bluejay:

And the three undercoated, awaiting paint:

The last two of the Marvels that I conceptualised where Greyhound (a speedster) and Ox (a sort of tank/Incredible Hulk-type character).

Paragons, assemble!

2010-01-16T16:06:00.000-08:00

Here's a bit of a dodgy photograph showing my original lineup for the Paragons:

From left to right we have Shield Maiden, Goliath, Thunderbolt and X-Ray.

Goliath and the Shield Maiden

2010-01-16T15:57:00.000-08:00

Here's Goliath:

(This guy is made from Hasslefree's Wolf.

I attempted to turn him from a Barbarian into a superhero, which due to the skintight nature of spandex was relatively easy. I removed the sword and drilled out his hands, so that he could wield a street-sign or lamp-post; all the better to clobber villains with!

The yellow in this picture is simply several thinned coats of Iyanden Darksun. The model was never completely finished, but here's two photoshopped pictures to show what I intended:

Also, Shield Maiden (I've never been 100% on the name, but I've never been able to come up with anything better)

She's Hasslefree's Jo.I sculpted a cuff on her boots to make them a bit more superhero-esque. I then took the feather out of her hair and resculpted to cover it up:

It's worth pointing out that I never finished this model either, because I was never entirely happy with how she turned out, in honesty. I bemoan the lack of decent (easily available) superhero models!

From the Depths!

2009-12-17T15:11:00.000-08:00

Here's something else I was working on before my Hiatus - The Atlantean, who filled a role somewhere between the Martian Manhunter and Aquaman.

Anyway, here you go:

Here's the Atlantean next to another Atlantean - his brother and a General in the Atlantean armies.

The shaft will be turned into a trident as soon as I can source a decent one. I'm also going to be resculpting the hands. The brother is much older than the Atlantean, and has a number of differences. I had thought that he was perhaps a different caste - I've explored ideas of the Atlanteans being a caste race. Anyway, he was made with a Termagaunt head rather than a Genestealer head so his head is a little sleeker and narrower, with a number of armoured plates.

These two guys need some more work (a little bit more GSing, and then I need to source some suitable arms!) but I'm really pleased with how they're looking thus far.

Not quite "Bare Bones"

2009-12-17T13:04:00.001-08:00

The second character I began work on was "X-Ray".

X-Ray was intended to be the "geek" of the team, physically frail but mentally powerful. He's a renowned scientist who was called in by the Government to examine a crashed space vessel. In the process of the examination he tripped some sort of mechanism, flooding his body with radiation and turning him into (to use his words) "a shadow at Hiroshima."

Based a little on Beast from the X-Men, and a little on Doctor Manhattan from Watchmen, as a result I planned on painting his skeleton entirely blue, as though his flesh had been completely stripped away, replaced with some sort of alien substance.

I wanted to give him a labcoat with my relatively limited green-stuffing skills, and my friend Tiberius and I did a bit of photoshopping to get an idea:

After a bit of green-stuffing and a lick of paint, I had X-Ray:

The staff he's leaning on is intended to be a relic from the vessel he was asked to investigate.

Thunder on the Horizon...

2009-12-17T11:18:00.000-08:00

The first character I came up with when I was working on the PARAGONS project was Thunderbolt, who I've always intended to be one of the central characters of my narrative. As an Iron Man-esque character, he's a wealthy industrialist akin to Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark, fighting crime but also having a good time with the ladies.

The model was created from Games Workshop pieces as that's what I have; specifically, the body and arms were from Eldar Guardians whilst the head was from a Space Marine Scout. In order to make his suit seem capable of propelling him around, I made a "jetpack" from four Space Marine backpack intakes cut up and rearranged.

After receiving comments that his proportions seemed a little "top heavy", I tried to counter by giving him that Superhero essential - the utility belt!

Here's the painted Thunderbolt:

Even after Thunderbolt was painted, I added a slight upgrade to his armour in the form of a micromissile launcher on the shoulder that can stun and entrap enemies. It's made from a Battlefleet Gothic Cruiser turret.

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A New Dawn...

2009-12-17T11:12:00.000-08:00

Hello! Welcome to PARAGONS, a blog that intends to follow my attempts to build 28mm models of Superheroes (and villains!) and then give them the opportunity to bash seven bells out of each other!

This is a project that's been on my mind for a long time. Indeed, it's been stalled for almost a year as I've attended to other things. Initially this blog will serve as a retrospective, gathering up all the models I've worked on, but it will slowly showcase newer work.

I've spent a great deal of time creating characters and setting up scenarios that may or may not see the light of day. I'll make it clear in advance that in some instances, I've stolen wholesale from other, existing characters by Marvel, DC and others. In part that's because I like this being a little cheesy. it's also because Marvel, DC and others have neatly sewn up the market!

I've decided on a setting - the New York-esque metropolis of Patriot City. The main characters will be the Paragons, an Avengers-esque group of heroes. At times they might do their own thing, follow their own storylines, but otherwise they'll join together to fight for Truth, Justice and soforth.