[Minis] Relic Knights
Mar. 2nd, 2018 10:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jordangreywolfEarly in the morning, while still waking up, I've been putting a little paint on some miniatures before going to work. All things considered, it's probably NOT the best time of the day to try squinting through a ring-illuminated swivel-arm magnifying glass while trying to apply tiny dots of paint with a slightly warped (or curled) brush to a tiny area of a figure's barely-defined face ... but it's what I have. After I've been at work all day, on the road for an hour (or more, if there are errands to run), then I cook supper, etc., I'm usually in no mood to do much detail work. That, and paint has to dry, y'know? So maybe working in quick little sessions is the best way for me to make any progress at present.
For the Iron Kingdoms campaign, a while back I had the idea that Digital_Rampage's "Noh Empire" miniatures (basically a bunch of "space oni") might work as what's left of the Orgoth. Why? Well, they seem to have a thing with having frowning/grimacing faces portrayed on their armor, and that's DEFINITELY an Orgoth thing. Furthermore, if a select elite few of the Orgoth have ascended to pseudo-immortality upon the backs of countless underlings (including their own offspring), having them take on a more monstrous aspect seems somehow appropriate.
Digital_Rampage also had a handful of figures from the "Doctrine" faction -- sort of a loose "magic academy" theme. One of those figures, he picked up back when Relic Knights was all pewter and PAIN -- PAIN, that is, because many of them had spindly parts that defied assembly. In particular, there was "Kisa," a cat-girl with some pseudo-Egyptian touches to her costume (what little there was of it), and super-thin, spindly arms and legs. And of course, where would there be a spot I'd have to attach a piece? Why, it would be a forearm, joined at the elbow -- not at a shoulder joint or a sleeve or even an upper arm (where the join point might be disguised with some sort of bandle), but rather right on the elbow -- so I can't do a straight pin (the pieces attach at right angles) and either side is barely wide enough to accommodate my narrowest drill bit (or wire). I ended up injuring my finger trying to get all that to work.
And, when he signed onto the Kickstarter, he bought a starter pack of "Black Diamond" minis -- which he gave to me, since he thought I could use them for something. (I'm sure I could ... but I've already got so many clusters of "generic sci-fi megacorporate mercenary future soldier" types. Eh well. I feel obliged to paint them up as well.)
And then, by chance, I saw a bundle on Ebay, and buried in the details was that the seller was including a bunch of "bits" -- complete or almost-complete minis totalling more than the main item he was advertising in the title and the main picture. It was a perfect situation: for just the main items he was selling (Doctrine and Noh Empire starter packs), he was asking too much, for packs that were already opened, with breaks and missing pieces. But once I figured in all the OTHER models I could make out in the other photos, that were being classified as "bits," it was a deal (even with the shipping and handling). I managed to get a minimum bid ... and then thought, "WHY am I doing this again?!?" Ah well. Logic goes out the window all too often when I think I see a "bargain."
Anyway, I have this inkling of an idea that perhaps for Necronomicon this year, I could use some of these Relic Knights figures (specifically Doctrine) to do some sort of anime-inspired "magic high school" type scenario. A little Harry Potter, a little anime, and -- I hope -- a more creative approach toward magic use (i.e., rather than giving the players simple attack and defense spells, I'd like to give them some "Swiss army knife" type low-powered spells, and a handful of "useless" spells intended for "magic practice" -- and then encourage the players to come up with creative uses for them to deal with problems). Thus, I might paint up a few of the "schoolboy" and "schoolgirl" types for use as PCs and/or bystanders.
The trouble with running something "anime-themed" is that some players might assume it's THAT sort of anime. (Player or Lurking Observer: "Oh, tee hee! Japanese school girls! I sure hope there aren't any TENTACLES!" Me: "You're only the fourteenth person to suggest that, and I don't even HAVE that many players.")
Oh! Irony. (Digressing a bit.) One of the figures included was that same pewter "special edition" Kisa model. And, no, the previous owner didn't even try to figure out how to attach that arm. Worse, it was MISSING the other arm. That's something I definitely can't scrounge out of the bitz box. Worse, I'm probably going to have to SCULPT it. Okay, that's on the back burner for now.
So what do I have done? Given my "factory assembly" method, all the most practical "troop" types are still in progress. Rather, I've just gotten a few "special" characters done. It's a start, though.
Delphyne & Ekhis (AKA "Little Red" and "BB Wolf")
Ekhis: "Grrr."
Delphyne: "Aww, don't FUSS! There -- now you look PRETTY!"
Ekhis: "(whine)"
I saw these figures long before I had any clue about the setting, and I found them far more appealing and amusing than the "pin-ups" that typify the line. There's just something silly and cute about some twist on Little Red Riding Hood where the girl ends up with the wolf as a PET, who's so long-suffering that he puts up with having his fur braided and with little pink ribbons tied in his fur, and big obnoxious bandages slapped onto every "ouchie." How'd that happen? Well, apparently in this universe, Little Red Riding Hood (AKA Delphyne) happens to be enrolled at the Doctrine Magic Academy. So, I guess being a mahou shoujo definitely helps in making the story turn out rather differently.
Digital_Rampage made the hill, grass tile, and cottage terrain pieces in the background. The cottage piece is particularly nice -- it's made using Hirst Arts Castlemolds, but instead of using Hydrocal like normal, it uses durable casting plastic, and it has a piece of thick sheet plastic for the foundation. Digital_Rampage originally made it for Dr_Rhubarb's game store, and then for the Armadillo Game Shoppe, as players at the store game tables were rather rough with the terrain. (For a while, we had a "craft night," coming in to try to do repairs to some of the more abused terrain pieces, in order to try to turn damage into "battle damage," or otherwise salvage what was left.) The roof section can be lifted off to position miniatures and furniture inside, and the wall sections come off in "breakaway" sections so the house can be treated as "destructible" for miniatures games.
Cordelia Clean
Cordelia Clean is a special limited edition character from the original Relic Knights Kickstarter. The fluff indicates that she's a "sentient chee" (or, in this universe, an android -- a expect the "chee" is meant as a reference to the main character from the demented-but-popular CLAMP series, "Chobits") who was built as a maid -- but now she uses her weaponized vacuum cleaner to clean the galaxy by fighting bad guys.
(Weaponized vacuum cleaner? Sounds like the Salesman from my Fallout campaign. Great minds think alike, eh?)
This was part of that grab-bag deal I got, and the figure was broken -- the left arm was broken off, and the upper arm is so thin that I simply could not pin it (i.e., arm diameter was the same thickness as my thinnest drill bit -- and my pinning wire). I ended up fixing it by cutting off the upper arm segment (which was so thin as to be pretty much featureless), drilled a hole into the base of the forearm and into the shoulder area, then the pinning wire served the role of the upper arm. It's one of the best "joins" I've done for a figure; I guess there's no better way of hiding a pinning joint when the pin IS essentially part of the figure.
Anyway, she's NOT part of Doctrine, but is rather part of a "meta-faction" called Radiant. Radiant characters can be used with any of the "good-guy" factions (Shattered Sword, Doctrine, or Cerci Speed Circuit), whereas Void characters can be used with any of the "not-so-good-guy" factions (Black Diamond, Star Nebula Corsairs, or Noh Empire). More recently, with the second kickstarter they've shown an intent to flesh out Radiant and Void into their own factions that could be played alone, but those miniatures aren't out there yet.
(Ironically, the good-guy Radiant minions look suspiciously like the retro-futuristic Germanic power armor from "Jin-Roh." Which just goes to show, kiddies, that just because they wear face-obscuring gas masks doesn't mean they're EVIL! ;) )
Candy and Cola
These characters (Candy and Cola) are mascots for Soda Pop Miniatures, and as such they've shown up in various incarnations in games that Soda Pop Miniatures was involved with. Somewhere along the way, the makers of Relic Knights parted ways with Soda Pop Miniatures to become Ninja Division, so I'm not sure if Candy and Cola are still "canon" in the current game.
In any case, the "Soda Pop" connection goes toward explaining why Cola, a little Kitsune sidekick, is always in the company of soda bottles, and why Candy's walker mecha has a bottle-shaped blaster cannon.
These were also in the grab-bag deal, and also broken, though fixing them was a lot easier than with Cordelia. As with Cordelia, I've put them on the plastic "techno" base inserts that were included with the original kickstarter, since I think it fits the figures' theme far better than Delphyne & Ekhis (where I only get a fantasy vibe, without any technological elements).
If by some chance I ever get another grab-bag deal that includes Candy and Cola (and a lot of the Ebay bundles DO include her -- sometimes even more than once), I'm tempted to paint up Candy as the Nuka Girl (and give her a plastic bubble helmet somehow), paint up the walker in Nuka-Cola colors (red and white), and then paint Cola to cosplay Dogmeat (keeping the red bandanna -- which is also a common Dogmeat accessory -- but adding goggles on his forehead). Not that it would be "canon" to the Fallout universe at all, but I just think it'd be cute.
...
Anyway, that's all I have done at the moment. The Noh Empire "oni" are pretty much "just good enough for tabletop," as I've had them at the ready for my Iron Kingdoms campaign for a few weeks now, but still could use some more detail work before I bother to take any closeup pictures of them. For the Doctrine forces, I've spent some time doing some putty work on the skirts of the "Novitiates" -- the minor "minions" of the Doctrine, who are essentially "magic boy" and "magic girl" models in "anime-style Japanese school uniform" outfits, and ugly ones at that. They've got clodhopper shoes, the girls have skirts that are physically too short to cover their underwear (even if they weren't flared out), and the boys have high-water pants that look more like tights (no folds, VERY huggy to the calves and backside), and ponytails.
The new Kickstarter released replacement models for the Novitiates. GOOD MOVE. These figures are pretty ugly. I've tried using some putty to extend the skirts of the girls, though I can't manage to recreate the pleating properly, and it's overall a hack job. (To do it properly, I should probably go back in with a Dremel, but I'm afraid I'll slip and destroy something.)
There's also a model of a professor who's grabbing the backside of a teacher who also has a too-small skirt and too-large backside, while he's got a visible tongue and ... good grief, but the guy needs a lightning bolt to the face. The 2nd kickstarter completely replaced these models as well, as the new professor looks far more distinguished, much less impish (he's got a bear and mustache now), and the two characters are just walking along, side-by-side (the teacher carrying a stack of books rather than being in the middle of oopsie-daisy dropping them in the original figure). I've segregated the figures onto two separate bases; I'd have to reverse that for actual game play, I suppose (since they normally come on a single base), but that should be a simple operation. I'm portraying the professor as casting a spell with his outstretched hand, while I've posed the clumsy teacher with a tipped-over candelabra so it looks like she's simply tripping over that rather than over her own feet or due to getting grabbed by the professor. I've thought about giving her an actual dress (her "skirt" is practically nonexistent), but I'll have to consider how that'll look.
On the side, I have a few assorted Shattered Sword models ("space paladins"), but not enough for a game-legal fighting force. (Just a few special characters -- no minions.) I've started painting them up anyway, just because they're there. I'd be hard-pressed to figure out where to use them, though. I've been using one Shattered Sword mini in the Iron Kingdoms campaign for TheNewGuy's paladin character, but it's a bit of a fudge, since there are some anime sci-fi elements on the armor that don't really fit the steampunk-fantasy setting at all.
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Date: 2018-03-03 07:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-03-07 01:58 am (UTC)