Shiny! Gunfighters

It's a long time since I did a post about new minis!  That's because it's a long time since I bought any.

For many people, the enforced leisure time Lockdown gave us was a chance to put brush to paint to lead/plastic.  Not for me.  I don't think I've painted a mini for almost 18 months.  In part, that's because of the domestic upheaval of moving into a new house (which doesn't have the great natural light I used to have), but also because my 'hobby time' has taken a new direction and I've been mainly playing RPGs with theatre of the mind.  I'm hoping that some new arrivals might get me back to the paint table.

But when Bad Squiddo announced that they were going to be stocking the new Gunfighters set from Great Escape Games, I couldn't resist and signed up for a pre-order.  With commendable efficiency, the box was delivered to me yesterday, the official lauch date.

I'm not sure what I'll do with them, but I watched lots of Saturday afternoon Westerns as a kid, and couldn't resist.  And of course, being kits, they're adaptable.  Everyone loves Gunfighters in Space don't they?

So what do you get?  Two identical sprues, with enough bits to make ten 28mm minis (and have all sorts of bits left over).

I'm not one of those people who can look at a sprue and comment on the figures (a lack a visual awareness, I suppose).  The first thing to say is that I don't see the parts to make some of the characters from the splendid box art.  Well, these things always have some artistic licence.

One the back of the box, however, there is an indication of how some of them might turn out.

I don't have much experience of Great Escape Games' sculpts.  I remember being very disappointed back in 2014 with their group of three casualties: - two of them looked as if they'd meet their ends under a steam roller.  The fourth, however, was very charactful and ended up being a joy to paint.  I'm hoping I might be able to recapture some of that. 

Some of my best work

And looking at that post from 2014 reminds me that I've still got some of the Old West figures from Artizan to paint.  They're always fun.

Buck McIntosh

Yesterday I complained that I hadn't come up with any back story for my PBB character.  I must have been worrying about it, because last night as I lay awake at 3am it came to me

Buck McIntosh was born to a family of Virginia sharecroppers.  The ninth of twelve surviving children, there was never much left for him when it came to his turn.  He didn't stay on the farm long, joining mining and forestry camps. 

After the war he drifted West where he spent time as a prospector, broke horses and worked in a saloon.  He find his true calling with the railway company,  He was 'foreman' to Chinese labourers and found he had a skill as an enforcer - driving Indians and other 'squatters' from their land. 

He terminated his employment with the railway company the week he was entrusted with delivering the payroll to the rail-head camp...

All Quiet on the Home Front

Nice is't it?  It's a figure RoyW has supplied to represent my character in his Old West play-by-blog game.  Unusually for me ('a fluffy kinda guy'), I've not been able to come up for any back-story for him other than his name.  I'm going to have to put my head together for it.  Any suggestions chaps?

It's down to a lack of mojo - I had a very difficult few weeks on that side of late.  I've not done anything hobbywise since finishing my Daleks before Christmas.  This isn't a tragedy in the big scheme of things of course, but I am supposed to be in a painting challenge!  It means that I've missed two bonus rounds, despite having the figures and plans for them.

Today I had a little victory then, in that I put the Meeples and Miniatures podcast on.  It went on so long, that no only had I finished the book work I was doing and tidied the room, but in the end I sat at the painting table and did an hour's prep.  [They're still at it as I type!]

So that's a good thing.

The Old West Comes Into Town

For my latest submissions to the Analogue Painting Challenge, I went Western.

First were three 28mm figures from Artizan Design - their 'Pinkerton Detective I' set.  These are the first Old West figures I've painted and (like all Artizan's) proved to be a joy to work on.

 

Born killer?

I went with the classic bluff duster coat look - it's hard to imagine that these figures were supposed to be done any other way.  That being said, I was tempted to convert the guy with the glasses into Prof Calculus for my Tin-Tin league!  Another time... 

I see the dude in the blue suit as The Boss - it seems to me he could be quite at home as a rancher, saloon-owner or hired gun.  The other two certainly have a professional killer vibe about them.

In contrast to the Artizans, the figures I chose for the Casualties Bonus Round were of inferior quality.  These resin casts were the Dead Men's Hand 'Lawmen Casualties'.

I should have been able to tell from the shop photo...

I was disappointed with both the poses (which were quite unnatural) and the modelling.  The sitting figure (which had sold this pack to me) was alright, but he has the strange thing going on with his left foot that the prone figures are suffering from.  They at least seem to have and concept of Heath and Safety - they've taken the sensible step of putting their heavy-duty mittens on before sticking their right arms in the path of a steamroller.

In the end I went with the seated figure for the bonus round (the other two will be submitted later).

He came out much better than I expected, and I think looks much better alone.   As I said in my submission, I think there's some pathos in the character that ties in with the idea of him being left to die alone on the range...