Nuclear Jones

Once upon a time, in the darkest alleys of Newport, two brothers led the sinful life of crime and terror. Such were their feats that the watching eye of the Mysterious Man turned their way and he nominated them the ambassadors of his evil empire in Pulp City. The goons became his trusted lieutenants, but when Heavy Metal invaded Kodo Island, the kingpin didn't hesitate and unleashed the brothers, side by side with his monstrous creations. The rampaging dinosaur, tore the goons to pieces before the might of C.O.R.E. stopped him. One of the brothers was beyond help, but the other still lived, and the heroes retrieved him from the island. To sustain his life, his body was rebuilt upon the small atomic reactor, the nuclear heart. Thus Nuclear Jones was born, half-man, half-machine, with a debt of returned life to be paid off.

Sculpted by James van Schaik, Nuclear Jones is the heroic antithesis of Nuke. On opposing sides, neither is really able to harm the other so they can cancel each other out, yet both are very dangerous in their own right.

I really enjoy James van Schaik's sculpting, and this mini is no exception. I am glad he has more upcoming Pulp City projects (Kitty Cheshire for example), and with minis such as Nuclear Jones it is increasingly possible to aim for a more 'spandex-y' looking team. One of the great things about the range is the eclectic nature, so much so that various themes are available to hobbyists.

I may re-photograph this model at some point as the lighting makes it appear darker than I would like, but that said I was fairly pleased with the painting, particularly on the NMM (Non Metallic Metallics) parts of the mini, as well as the OSL (Object Source Lighting). I have not yet perfected either technique, but I hope I am improving.

Androida

In Heavy Metal, Androida acts often as a public relations person, while on battlefield she employs her tremendous speed and cunning mind.

I am still working on my Non Metallic Metallics (NMM) techniques, and tried them out on this mini (sculpted, I believe by Gael Goumon). It is an approach I never tried before last year, and with my self-imposed painting challenge I am trying out techniques such as this that I have never used before. In other words, I still have quite a way to go, but I can see small incremental improvements.

This was the second version of Androida that I painted. The first was painted very quickly with regular metallic painting (see below), and even with the limitations of my meagre ability with the NMM approach, I think the NMM version is simply nicer to look at.

In game play Androida can be very quick, but also potentially very fragile, so she needs to be used cautiously. One approach some gamers take is as a resource delivery system (basically a super-courier!), carrying items like Force Field, First Aid Kit or Spare Parts. It may be something I try out soon. She can also be used to grab/contest objectives in agenda play.

Sentry Bots

After the first Ulthar invasion in the early 70s, inquisitive minds in Pulp City embarked on a project of fighting Ulthar fire with fire! The first of the reprogrammed bots fought alongside Nuke in a short and violent battle in a radioactive waste dump in Mexico.

Sculpted by Jarek Smolka the Sentry Bots are a universal Minion resource. Intended to be very 'pulp sci-fi' in their depiction and styling, I think they look just the job. A few options are available in terms of heads arms, and backpack to make the Advanced Sentry Bot version.

No guesses as to what the source of my colour scheme inspiration was. That however isn't the full story. A fellow Pulp City hobbyist (Undead Jon) painted Rook in a manner inspired by Iron Man also, and I thought his idea was so good that I should...ahem...borrow it. Well imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, isn't it?

The second picture contains the Sentry Bots with the Advanced Sentry Bot I also completed last month.

Advanced Sentry Bot

Androida of Heavy Metal managed to build on the frame of the Ulthar Bot a new technically advanced version that possessed a higher AI and a very efficient and fast tactical computer built in.

Built using the extra backpack component form the Sentry Bots pack, Advanced Sentry Bots are exclusively available to the Heavy Metal team and just that little better than 'normal' Sentry Bots. The Sentry Bots/Advanced Sentry Bots are sculpted Jarek Smolka.

I painted this one at the same time as Androida, but opted for less sharp highlighting. I think it came out okay, and I am not unhappy with the result, but I am still working on the techniques I used, so hopefully there remains room for improvement.

Hellsmith

Hellsmith is the minor Greek deity of forges, his true name long lost in the sands of time.

Sculpted by Edgar Skomorowski (Degra Miniatures), this is actually the second Hellsmith I started, but the first (and so far only) one I finished. The other version is painted in more 'human' skin tones. When the alternative version is finally done, I will try to remember to post images of that one also. Despite this version being finished with an aim to quick completion, I am pretty pleased with the results.

This was a nice quick mini to get painted, especially as I had stalled on the other version. I do find it satisfying to get minis completed, not least due to painting challenge I have set myself.

The model was completed along with several others in February, but camera issues (as you may have read about in other posts) have prevented me from taking any pictures of models until today.

In game terms a big, bad bruising villain. Brutal and effective - so therefore fun to play with!

Camera Problems Now Over?

I picked up a new camera today, and I hope it will be sufficient for my miniatures photographing needs (although that may not be the purpose that it was specifically bought for...).

If I figure it out, and it takes adequate quality of pictures, either today or tomorrow I will hopefully photograph the 4 remaining minis from last month (Hellsmith, 2 Sentry Bots, and an Advanced Sentry Bot) and the two I have painted so far this month (Nuclear Jones and Androida).

Welcome

My latest welcome aboard goes to the tenth Pulp City follower, Lee.
As always I hope I can repay the kind soul who joined by posting something of interest from time to time.
Really, I offer thanks for anyone joining, and to everyone who happens by, I really appreciate it.
There are a few who have joined now, and as ever I am glad to have feedback or commentary.
I would also remind anyone visting that there are some great, weird and wonderful blogs out there that may be worth a look from time to time (my list keeps the most recently updated examples that I follow).
Now, back to painting and writing I hope!