“His Brain is His Weapon!”

Whilst everyone else has been beavering away on their Forgotten Heroes entries, regular visitors may have noticed that I have been somewhat quiet.

A change of job, a weekend away and some more home-brewing resulted in less time to crack on with entry.

But, it did result in this..

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A 4.8% treacle stout that a confirmed Guinness drinker stated that they actually preferred to the black stuff…

Anyway, when we last saw my version MODOK he looked like this;

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Now, as MODOK’s doomsday chair hovers, I needed a suitable base, as at the moment he looks like he’s in a child’s car seat.

Quite a lot of the models of MODOK have him rising on a pillar of flame, but this is not really accurate and the only flying bases I had were black.

However, I discovered that the hole in the transparent plastic washer I’d used for his hover-jet was the same diameter as a some old metal shelf supports I’d saved. This meant I had a solid shaft to support him, I just needed a base.

Realising that if I removed the bottom ‘cup’ that holds the peg on the flying base, I could then make the hole in the top big enough to take the new metal shaft. As this was cast with a small ring midway down the shaft, this would prevent the shaft just going straight through, giving MODOK the apoearance of hovering, like so;

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I’ll probably just paint the shaft black, but may try some kind of funky ‘heat haze’ effect, If I can work out how to do that.

Examing the model, I realised there were a couple of cavities at the rear of the armrests, which didn’t look right.

A quick rummage and a length of cable tie was cut down, the ends trimmed and then glued into place as further detailing. (NB: If you scatch-building any kind of tracked vehicle, cable ties are your friends. Uniform, textured, flexible and come in a variety of sizes. Ideal replacements if your model tank has lost its tread).

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The final stage before painting was to get out the Milliput and give MODOK his distinctive hair. A suitable blob of grey Milliput was mixed up and slapped on top of his head, then smoothed down into a dome, ensuring that the ‘hair’ did not overhang the main structureof his chair.

Using an old dental probe, lines were then scribed in a radial pattern on this dome, to represent MODOK’s frankly awful hairstyle.

Further putty was used to fill in some gaps around his face and repair some damage done by some over-zealous filing, like so;

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Now, I need to wait for the putty to set and I can paint him up – hopefully before next Wednesday.

I mean, I can’t fail my own challenge now, can I?

The Call of the Wild

As June is creeping ever closer, I thought I really ought to sit down and get my Wendigo finished before the end of May – especially as I failed to complete my monsters for last year’s Monster May(hem).

And as Forgotten Heroes 2021 is due to start on the 1st June, I need to clear the decks for that project.

Work stuff got in the way, as it does, along with this side project:

That’s right, baby, more beer! 5 gallons of Irish Stout to be precise. I may have strayed a little from the recipe – by adding a tin of dark treacle to the mix – but I am confident this won’t fuck it up.

Well, as confident as I can be, bearing in mind this is only my second brew.

Anyway, enough beer talk, on to the monster…

When we last saw it, it looked like this;

I decided that a Burnt Umber wash was called for on the entire model, as this should give a good base for the next step.

This does work a treat combined with the Linen I used for the bones and antlers, as it does give an aged bone look.

It also tones down the Chocolate Brown I’d used for the base and gave some shading to the model.

Once this had dried, I broke of the White paint and a small sponge. This was used to gently dab all exposed parts of the monster, which gave a bit of a mottled appearance to the plain bits and acts as dry-brushing on the raised parts.

I then moved on to the base, dry-brushing with Jungle Green, Goblin Green and Orc Brown to give the impression of vegetation.

The teeth and exposed rib cage were given a wash of hand mixed pink, and the ‘mane’ given a wash of Marine Dark Blue. The latter was not watered down quite far enough, so out came the sponge again to mottle the fur.

The final touches were to add some Cherry Red to the lower jaw and the tips of each clawed hand, to suggest that the spirit of cannibalism had been rooting around in someone’s chest cavity and paint the eyes with Classic Gold, as when you’re driving at night and your headlights pick out a deer or fox by the roadside, it does look like their eyes are glowing gold.

I think the sponging has worked quite well, as it has added some texturing to what was a flat surface and also makes it looks like it has been dusted with snow, which is appropriate given that it is a creature of the Great White North.

Pretty pleased with how it turned out, as it does look suitably horrific.

My next post will be the first for Forgotten Heroes 2021, which with be the 6th year we’ve indulged in this madness, where I shall be introducing my chosen subject and explaining how I intend to create him.

Joining me this year (so far) are Dave from Wargamessculptors Blog, Simon from Fantorical, Roger from Rantings from Under the Wargaming Table, Keith from Dead Dick’s Tavern & Temporary Lodging, Alan from Golden Age Heroes and Harry from War Across the Ages. They will ge joined by Matt from PM Painting and Tom from The Good Ground.

So, to paraphrase Cap “Assemblers… Assemble!”

And if anyone else wants to get involved, just comment on this post and I’ll add you to the list.

Once Tried, Never Forgotten

As mentioned in my last post, thanks to a Christmas gift of a home-brewing kit, I have made a foray into a new and different outlet for my creativity.

Now, before you become concerned that this blog will turn into a platform for the discussion of such arcane terms as ‘mouthfeel’, ‘lacing’ and ‘wort’, fret not. This is merely a brief diversion and I shan’t be growing a beard and insisting all ale is served at room temperature.

The kit I received came with all the necessary ingredients to brew an India Pale Ale with a target ABV of 6.2%, which was branded as ‘Docker’s Merseyside IPA’.

Now, whilst I did follow the instructions to the letter, as it was my first time and I didn’t want to cock it up, as this was brewed in my own “brewery” (the corner of my dining room), I felt that I should be able to name both the “brewery” and the beer myself. And maybe get some labels printed up to stick on the bottles.

Because… well, why not?

Regular readers may recall that a certain Constable Rowan walked past a brewery on his way to work, so it seemed obvious that any beer I made would come from The Blackwell Brewing Co.

As for the name of the beer, it had to reflect both the type of beer and be significant to me. And this is how my mind works…

It’s an IPA, which stands for India Pale Ale and as I’d already decided it’s from The Blackwell Brewing Co., I’m in the Victorian mindset, so thinking the Raj. It’s 6.2% ABV, which is pretty strong… India, strong…elephants. Elephant beer already exists, so can’t do that. However, one of the most famous Victorian circus elephants was named Jumbo…which also happened to be my nickname when I was a baby, due to being quite big. Boom! Jumbo IPA it is…

“Once Tasted, Never Forgotten.”

And the proof is in the pouring…

Tune in next time, when will return to you regular scheduled programming…