Dinosaurs are Red, Orko is Blue…

As the last few days of September fade into the Season of the Witch, it’s time to bid farewell to Eternia once more, as the second round of He-Month draws to a close.

Those who have been following both myself and Roger Webb’s progress on our slight obsession with re-creating the denizens of Eternia in 28mm will know that Roger has already completed his three characters – namely Man-at-Arms, the Sorceress and Orko. The results of his hard work and talent can be viewed over at his blog, Rantings from Under the Wargames Table. Go directly there now – you won’t be disappointed!

Due to the fact that I decided to add to my modest target of three Masters of the Universe characters – namely Fisto, Beast Man and Orko – by setting myself a further target of converting a cheap plastic dinosaur into a representation of Devil Dinosaur as he appeared in the Nextwave title from Marvel, I could have been setting myself up for a fall. Or in modern parlance, an Epic Fail. However, as my work decided to upgrade one of their essential computer systems this weekend, this resulted in an “extra” day off, so I leapt out of bed, paintbrush gripped between my teeth like an artistic pirate and in a flurry of activity, I have now finished everything! That’s right, not only do I have three completed Masters of the Universe characters, I also have my Devil Dinosaur finished!

So, without further ado, let’s take a look at the results…

We’ll start with Fisto, the unfortunately named heroic warrior, who since the Masters of the Universe cartoon finished, has moved into adult entertainment, which unsurprisingly didn’t require a change of name…

Rather than use my standard white backdrop, I decided to go for a more scenic backdrop this time round. Only real difference from my last post is that he’s had his base painted to match the rest of my Eternian models. I decided not to attempt his eyes, as I felt if I got it wrong, then he would look like some kind of crazed redneck…

Next we have Beast Man, whose control of almost all natural animals led to a career as an animal trainer once the royalties from MOTU dried up.

Having realised that the washes I’d previously used failed to bring out the needed details, I went darker and am now happy with the results. I have also added details, such as his claws, studs on his harness, a black ink wash on his whip and actually managed to do his eyes, including the blue eye-shadow(?) that he sports. A quick paint of his base and he joins Skeletor on the side Evil. Whilst some were surprised at my choice of base figure for this conversion, now that’s he’s finished I think we can all agree he IS Beast Man!

Now for the floating elf who some love to hate, Orko. Whilst his dream was to headline a Las Vegas magic act, Orko was reduced to becoming a children’s entertainer, until his growing bitterness and disillusionment led first to the bottle, then harder substances. That’s right, Orko broke bad…

Whilst opinions are divided on the character of Orko, I have to say of this batch of Eternians, he is my favourite, as I think I’ve nailed the look and colours of the character almost spot on. Since last time, I’ve given his hat a darker wash, applied a wash to his scarf, painted his eyes and his ‘O’, which I was dreading, but actually managed first time without mucking it up. Go me!

So, time for the obligatory group shot of all the characters completed so far. First the Heroic Warriors…

So, left to right, we have my versions of Fisto, He-Man, Orko, Man-at-Arms and a slight re-imagining of Teela. Now the Evil Warriors…and Zodac.

Having realised that I’d not got Zodac’s helmet quite right, I took the opportunity to add the cheek panels and chin strap, so he looks more like his cartoon and toy version. The reason he’s pictured with the ‘baddies’ is that there would have been too many in the previous picture. As with Roger’s creations, I seem to be “hero-heavy”, so when He-Month returns in the New Year, I’ll be looking to add to the ranks of Evil. But there will be at least one more Heroic Warrior too…but you’ll have to wait to find out who the next batch of characters will be, as I think I almost broke Roger this time round.

So, that’s the Masters, what of Devil Dinosaur? Well, whilst a large-scale figure makes adding sculpted details a lot easier, it also means that they take longer to paint. However, I have to say that the time and effort I’ve put into this crazy idea seems to have paid off. So, just to remind you all of what the goal was for this side project, it was to re-create the version of Devil Dinosaur that appeared in Issue #12 of Nextwave, who looked like this:

And this is what I came up with:

And because his stance makes details of the front of his robe, including his belt, a little difficult to see, a close-up:

Yes, it is bonkers and I have absolutely no idea what I’m going to use him for yet, but I’m really pleased with how this side project came out.

So, October beckons and I’m currently in several minds as to what to do next. Knowing me, it will probably start off as one thing and mutate into something else… But it is a Buffet and you never know what you’ll be served!

Comments and feedback appreciated, as always.