Rashaar Warband for 'Carnevale'

Hi Everyone!

A few years back I picked up the starter box for 'Carnevale', you know, as one does when one already has loads of other game systems to play. I'll take a page out of the Orange Toddler's playbook and blame someone else for clearly what I did myself. So, I blame Jamie and David as, over the years, they have posted some wonderfully painted miniatures from the game and I thought, 'Geez. This is essentially parkour street combat in 18th century Venice with some Cthulhu vibes thrown in... Well, pass me an espresso, and take my money!'

So here are my efforts with one of the factions: The Rashaar. 

The Rashaar unashamedly draw upon Lovecraft's Innsmouth creepy-watery mythology of Father Dagon, Mother Hydra and their Deep Ones. So lots of aquatic nasties to take advantage of Venice's network of canals. The Rashaar are also slavers, so they can call upon the unwilling support of poor unfortunates to assist them in their nefarious plans. A damp, villainous crew to be sure.

I have to say I wasn't really feeling it with these models. That's entirely on me as the models themselves are great. I simply ran out of steam with them. Thankfully they're not very complex, so I managed to get a lot done with the airbrush and some light brushwork.

I think they'll be fine on the tabletop, and they help set a colour palette for any upcoming additions to the faction.

Thanks for dropping by for a peek!

- Curt

'Rage', 'The Flower Thrower' for the AHPC 'Resistance' Theme

Hi All!

My entry for our Resistance theme lifts shamelessly from the theme's poster, which is Banksy's 'Rage' or also known as 'The Flower Thrower'. The original can be found in Beit Sahour near the wall separating Israeli and Palestinian communities on the contested West Bank. It depicts a rioter in sharp black and white, throwing not a Molotov cocktail, but rather a bouquet of flowers, which are depicted in colour. 

It is one of Banksy's most iconic pieces and can be found on t-shirts, posters and geegaws everywhere (in fact, Sarah has it on her favourite coffee mug). I found a 3d design of the image on Cults and printed a 40mm copy to work on.

To echo Banksy's stark contrast of the figure to the flower, I pulled out my greyscale recipe and did the figure along the same lines. 

It's a powerful image of protest and non-violent resistance, and I thought it particularly apropos in our current climate as the people of Minneapolis have been recently nominated for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for their nonviolent resistance to the ICE activities in their city. I'm sure the President was thrilled to hear of this as well. :)

Thanks for dropping in!

- Curt

More characters for 'Devilry Afoot' - Johann, Felix and a Leprechaun

Hola!

Some may have noticed that I've been a little quiet, and somewhat tardy with updates as of late. Well, Lady Sarah and I and are enjoying a much anticipated vacation to Costa Rica. 

So while my Canadian countrymen, especially those in the Prairies, are enduring the last body-blows that winter has to offer, we, in turn, have been lounging by the pool and enjoying the warm weather. I don't want to gloat, but it's been glorious.

This all being said, before we left for our vacation, I did manage to get a few figures done to help nudge my tally along. Here are a few more figures for 'Devilry Afoot'.

On our way home, we will be stopping in Toronto to visit with Greg and his lovely wife Linda. On top of food, drink and catching-up, I look forward to playing some games with Greg and being complete geeks. One game on our roster is 'Devilry Afoot'. 

Greg has made up a hero for Devilry Afoot, Johann von Saxe. A scholarly priest, a jaded survivor of the Thirty Years War, Johann now wanders the land, hunting monsters and fighting evil where he can. 

This was a 3d print from Michael Evans on MyMiniFactory. A wonderfully expressive figure - nice and chunky. I like how he's slightly stooped, road-weary, but still stolid in his resolve. 'Johann' will be staying with Greg as a thank you for his hospitality during our visit. 

Next is a Leprechaun to serve as a 'Pact Devil'. In 'Devilry Afoot', Pact Devils tempt heroes and NPCs to enter into 'special arrangements'. For NPCs they are simply whisked off to the land of the fae to be the playthings of fairy folk, but to players, Pact Devils will give them boons to help them in their missions. Of course, these boons always come with a price, and they are often quite steep. Fun!

I thought this grinning little trickster, raising a big mug of foamy beer, laying amongst a heap of treasure, an excellent 'pact devil' I think. 3d model by Epic-Miniatures, coin stacks by Metalik Studios.

Finally I offer 'Felix' the faithful, if somewhat incontinent, terrier.

Dogs in 'Devilry Afoot' provide a significant benefit to heroes as they can alert them to threats in the darkness (it's ALWAYS dark in DA), and be a general nuisance to monsters. 

I love the pose of this little fella, especially as, in the game, dogs need to be in base contact with their masters. I thought his pose perfectly lampoons the more posh adventurers who are facing the horrors of 17th century Europe. Fellix, what a good boy!

Thanks for dropping by!

- Curt

'Lab Eagle' from 'Space 1999'

Hi All!

Like many hobbyists of a certain 'vintage', I was a child of the 'Space Race' between the USA and the USSR, with the Apollo and Skylab missions occurring throughout my early childhood. Everything that was in vogue during that time was 'space age' and 'futuristic'.  It seemed that the world had this optimism that, after the lunar landings, we could do absolutely anything. Riding upon this 'space enthusiasm', in 1966 NBC launched 'Star Trek' (which surprisingly debuted 2 days earlier on CBC here in Canada), with 'UFO' coming along in 1970. 

My first experience of 'Star Trek' was when in went into re-run syndication, and like many around my age, I was completely entranced with it. Nonetheless, as good as 'Star Trek' was, there was another show launched in 1975 that, for me, eclipsed Captain Kirk and the USS Enterprise, and that was 'Space: 1999'.

I've shamelessly copied Wikipedia's description of the show as it's better than anything I could do:

The premise of Space: 1999 centres on the plight of the inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha, a scientific research centre located within the crater Plato in the Moon's northern hemisphere. Humanity had been storing its nuclear waste in vast disposal sites on the far side of the Moon, but when an unknown form of "magnetic radiation" is detected, the accumulated waste reaches critical mass and causes a massive thermonuclear explosion on 13 September 1999. The force of the blast propels the Moon like an enormous booster rocket, hurling it out of Earth orbit and into deep space at colossal speed, thus stranding the 311 personnel stationed on Alpha. The runaway Moon, in effect, becomes the "spacecraft" on which the protagonists travel, searching for a new home. Not long after leaving Earth's Solar System, the wandering Moon passes through a black hole and later through a couple of "space warps" which push it even further out into the universe. During their interstellar journey, the Alphans encounter an array of alien civilisations, dystopian societies, and mind-bending phenomena previously unseen by humanity.

'Space: 1999' had this vibe that was completely different from 'Star Trek'. One could definitely see 'Star Trek' originating from the United States, whereas 'Space: 1999' was from the UK and Europe. 'Space: 1999' seemed darker, more realistic and quite introspective. The stakes seemed higher and there was more of an edge running through it. Though it only lasted for two seasons, I thought it made its stamp on the genre and I still enjoy watching re-runs when I come across them.

I really liked the technology of the show as it seemed quite practical and utilitarian, but still stylized and kinda groovy. The Moonbase itself was wonderful, with all these pods radiating from a central core, and the costumes and gear were excellent as well (so very 70s). 

You can see how these uniforms influenced the designs for 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture'

Maya was such a hottie and rather kick-ass as well.

My absolute favourite bit of 'Space: 1999' kit was the 'Eagle Transporters'. These were girder-framed spaceships and kind of insectoid-looking in design. They had this neat modularity about them, and could be configured by swapping out their central module to fit a wide assortment of missions. As the show did not have 'beam-me-down transporters' like Star Trek, the 'Eagles' were often pivotal to many of the episodes. 

I was absolutely transfixed by them. So cool.

There was this wonderful model railway shop in Saskatoon that had all the diecast Dinky Toy versions of the Eagles.

I can tell you, I spent many an hour with my nose pressed against the display cabinet glass, pining for them. I remember them being quite expensive at the time, and I knew very well what the answer would be from my parents if I asked for one, so I just made due with looking and daydreaming of what it would be like to have one. 

I've looked at these on Ebay several times but have not pulled the trigger on one... yet. I'm sure it will happen as nostalgia and disposable income often make a convergence, so it's only a matter of time. Nonetheless, for this post I thought I'd print an Eagle and try my hand at painting it up. 

This is a 'Lab Eagle' with the central module having booster rockets and little more room for, you know, lab stuff (besides what bad thing can happen in a space lab...). The model is only about 3 inches long, so about 1:600 scale.

I have to admit, it was a bit of a rush job as this week was busy, but I think it captures the fundamentals of the original design, though there is some damage to the exhaust (damn aliens). Perhaps I'll print a slightly larger version, but that will be another day.

Thanks a bunch for stopping by!

- Curt