From The Crypt

Having been playing D&D recently I was inspired to strip down some of my old Warhammer miniatures and have another crack at them. You may not immediately see the connection between D&D and Warhammer, but basically it boils down to not wanting to blow all my cash on a bunch of new minis when I have piles of potentially serviceable stuff kicking around.

Actually, it's not even a question of wanting. I'd much rather get a bunch of shiny new bits, but don't really have the time or money. So since these are sitting around I may as well knock out a few in between gaming sessions.

What The Hell Is The Plural Of Nemesis Anyway?

So yeah, I've been painting Cybermen.

Awesomesaurus

If you've ever looked at people discussing the whole miniatures painting hobby online you'll have inevitably seen those posts where someone walks you through the process of building and painting some great project, with lots of pictures of the work in progress so you can see how everything came together.

This is not one of those posts. Not quite anyway. The sad truth is I didn't actually think to start writing up any of mini painting shenanigans until a while after I'd finished this guy off. I suppose in a way it was thinking about how that could have made a good post that actually prompted me to start doing it all. So much for hindsight.

So, has anyone else ever heard of a Doctor Who novel called Blood Heat? It doesn't really matter if you haven't. The novel itself was okay, but all you really need to know for the purposes of this article is that it features the Silurians (who are one of my favorite monsters) and the cover looks like this:

I think you can see where this is going.

Rue The Line

So, chapter 2 in the painting of Shadowrun minis saga. Which I admit is less a saga and more of a miniseries. But I've been busy with other things, so sue me. I will get around to doing more at some point. But not until after I've recovered from painting this last lot.

The other blister pack I picked up on ebay after the Angels Of Death was a set of Black ICE Icons. These, I confess, enthused me initially a lot more than the angels. I had a great idea for how to paint them. Since they were all blocky and angular and from the internet I'd do them up up like wireframe models!

You know what I said last time about finding 25MM a tricky scale to work in? Yeah, should have thought that through a little more really shouldn't I?

To Rapidly Perambulate With A Noticeable Absence Of Illumination

Shadowrun then. I loves me some Shadowrun. Not that I ever really got to play it all that much outside of the SNES game, but I've always loved the setting and have quite a few of the novels. So, having completed various other mini painting projects I realized that, holy shit, I could try painting some Shadowrun minis!

So a quick trip to ebay later and I secured myself a couple of blisters. First up are the Angels Of Death...

But Is It Canon?

Well, yes, in manner of speaking. Several times. I have just returned from Kanon X Kanons gig at the O2 Academy. Or at least in a bit of it. I never knew that they had a super special secret extra bit hidden away. About the size of the Underworld I guess, but less grotty.  It was a bit surprising to find the gig in this smaller area. It was also a surprise just how far up the queue I was when I arrived. I was expecting there to be a lot more people, but then I was also expecting it to be in the normal place. This is of course all fantastic news. You can't beat this sort of set up in my opinion. I t makes for a special sort of gig, far more intimate and friendly than you'd ever get in a big venue.

And this was certainly a special gig. Very special and rather unusual. It's not everyday an artist plays a concert as their own support band. The evening was split into 3 acts. Firstly Kanon Wakeshima played some of her own songs. Then Kanon from An Cafe came out and DJ'd for a bit. Finally Kanon X Kanon finished of the evening. As I said, kind of odd. Whilst Kanon Wakeshima has a couple of albums of her own material, Kanon X Kanon only has a couple of singles. However, since it features 2 famous musicians it does have the greater star power. And let's be honest, there's not many bands that could pull of a full European tour on the back of five songs. One of which they didn't even play. But I digress, how did it go?

First up was the delightful Miss Wakeshima herself. She was, of course, quite adorable. Having said that though, I never before realized just how bad ass playing the Cello can actually look. It's like all that fiddly guitar stuff, only writ large. I don't know why more metal bands don't employ  a Cellist. Not that her music could really be described as metal. Suffice to say she started with the haunting gothic tones of Still Doll, and finished up with the ridiculously cheery bounce of Princess Charleston. Needles to say I was a happy bunny.

After this it was Mr Kanons turn, playing a selection of his favorite anime themes. I must confess that aside from a weird mix of a Kotoko song from Kannazuki No Miko there wasn't much I recognized. Although I do now have a list of new shows to check out thanks to the video projection of the various shows openings or closings. Of course he finished with an An Cafe track. But Kakusei Heroism is an awesome track, so who's going to argue?

It was after this that the REALLY strange part of the show happened. A somewhat protracted introduction to the art of Otage from 2 animated characters and a rather strange gentleman clad in a spandex grey alien costume was projected upon the screen. Otage is, apparently, an ancient japanese nerd technique of dancing incredibly badly but with great enthusiasm. This equally baffling and hilarious. And whilst it did go on a bit the purpose was quite clearly to buy time to get ready for the main event. It really can't be all that easy supporting yourself like this.

But after this rather unexpected interlude both Kanons took to the stage, resplendent in their outfits from the Calendula Requiem video. They busted out everything except Umigami Soup, which got used in part as the intro. Filling out the set were a couple of unexpected covers. Firstly A track from Sailor Moon, which I admit I only really realised when Mr Kanon jumped out dressed as Tuxedo Mask, and then a Hatsune Miko track. Which of course I only know thanks to the projector showing the leek wielding character in question. The final track was Koi No Dotei, during which Mr Kanon exemplified the previously discussed Otage dancing with terrifying gusto and a good time was had by all. They even came out and played it again for an encore. Which was both nice of them and pretty compelling evidence that they really should look at actually recording a full album soon.

As I said, a rather unusual evening. But certainly a most enjoyable one. The band were friendly and engaging, taking the time to shake hands with pretty much everyone at the front of the stage several times. What they lacked in flash and budget (there's only so much you can do with 2 people and a macbook) they made up in heart. All things considered this tour has been quite an impressive achievement.

Now, if they could just start work on that album...

Minis Catch Up Part 9: Monster Mash

Meanwhile, in the world of Doctor Who miniatures....

Minis Catch Up Part 8: For Science!

One of the few advantages to posting my various minis in this conglomerated fashion rather than at the actual time they were done is that we can try to compare some similar pieces. For example the Moonfleet scientists.

Minis Catch Up Part 7: I Am The Black Wizards

It's not quite all Doctor Who and Sci-Fi. I admit, it's MOSTLY that. But not entirely. I've managed to squeeze in a few fantasy type pieces in.

Minis Catch Up Part 6: A Miscellaneous Interlude.

Now, it should be said that I haven't JUST been painting Doom and Doctor Who miniatures. Oh no. Sometimes I also paint things to go WITH Doom or Doctor Who miniatures.

Minis Catch Up Part 5: Who Do You Love?

Having made a start on some of the monsters of Doctor Who in miniatures form, what was the next logical step?

Minis Catch Up Part 4: The Cave Monsters

So, we'd finished up the Doom minis at long last, and needed a new project. I'd managed to prove to myself that I could actually still paint, and I was actually quite enjoying the hobby. Which is, let's face it, rather the point of having a hobby. Taking to the internets I searched about for something new that appealed. What I really wanted to paint was some of the old Doctor Who miniatures. But they didn't still make those did they?

OH HELL YEAH THEY DO.

Minis Catch Up Part 3: Hexpansion.

In our last installment we finished up the pieces from DOOM: The Boardgame. Well, almost anyway. Because as the presence of the chainsaw weilding marines may have indicated we still have the monsters from the expansion to go. So let's get started.