Construction Vehicles on the Shelf

Next to the desk where I do all my writing and painting is a large bookcase. This is where I keep most of my favourite books, my gaming books, and my own works, so that they are all within easy reach while I work. However, I keep one shelf open for one of my current painting projects. This both beautifies the room and also encourages me to continue with the given project. Right now, the shelf contains my Dropship Down stuff. 

Most recently added to the shelf is a second construction vehicle from the Games Workshop Galvanic Servohauler set. It's a really great set and can mostly be painted in a generic way if you don't want to use it for the 'grimdark universe'.

I painted this smaller one to more or less match the first one, with a dirty, weather-beaten look. I try not to spend too long on such things as they are basically just terrain and most of the detail is wasted when viewed at 'playing distance'. Also, I don't want the terrain to outshine, or distract from, the miniatures during play.

The Red Guardian

Last year was not a particularly good year for me. Professionally, things went well, but I had some major struggles with anxiety. I won’t go into that here or now, but thankfully, I am doing much better at present, and generally feeling a lot more positive about life!

During those rougher times, one of the things that helped get me through was a return to the Marvel Comics I had loved as a teenager. I got a subscription to Marvel Unlimited and read something like a thousand comics during the year. (That’s getting my money’s worth!). I also started painting Marvel Crisis Protocol figures.

I think MCP is a pretty cool game, with some very neat and interesting mechanics that really simulate the feel of super battles. If that is your thing, it is definitely worth a look. It is, however, a very tactical, competitive game with lots of intricacies and rules interactions, which isn't what I’m usually looking for when I play miniatures games. So really, I have just been collecting and painting the figures, more as modelling/painting projects than as gaming pieces. I love getting to paint with brighter colours than I usually use on my fantasy/sci-fi figures! Plus, the figures are larger, which is nice on my slowly fading eyesight!

I haven’t posted any of that work to my blog because I was trying to stay offline more, and to keep one bit of the hobby to myself. These days though, as I am feeling better, I have started to have the desire to show off some of my work. So, here is the latest MCP figure I have painted: The Red Guardian.

In truth, I’m not overly familiar with the character. I have come across his team, the Winter Guard, a few times, but they never made much impression on me. That said, I really love the four figures they have released for the team. What I really like about Red Guardian is how generic he is. I mean, aside from his colours, he’s just about a ‘typical superhero’ at least in my mind. I painted him mostly by the book, except for his shield, which I made all red and white because I thought it more striking and fitting.

For the red body suit, I tried something new, in that I layered the red up by adding yellow to it. It’s subtle, but I think it worked well without making him go orange. Thankfully, I was able to use an ink to pick out the little hammer and sickle on his belt buckle, because that is some tiny detail!

I will likely go back and show off some of the other figures I have painted over the last year and a half.