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Writer's pictureBlaxkleric

“Mankind Is An Evolutionary Dead-End."

"And my super-plants are the harbinger of the future!”

This 28mm scale resin model of Blackthorn is produced by "Kitbash Games", and was purchased from their highly successful "Supers Unlimited" Miniatures "Kickstarter" in August 2019. "A scientist noted for his radical ideas on human-plant hybridization as the means to cure illness", I actually plan to use the figure as an American super-hero known as Everglades for an upcoming Weird War Two campaign utilising some homemade rules.


Having super-glued Walton Thorn's alter-ego onto a 28mm lipped base, I originally undercoated the sculpt with "Vallejo" Heavy Brown and 'picked out' all of the intricate vines snaking around his body with some "Citadel" Abaddon Black in preparation of pigmenting them in "Vallejo" Heavy Grey. However, I wasn't at all impressed with the result, so swiftly re-primed Blackthorn with a layer of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna.

"Welcome to a world of supers gaming..."

I then applied plenty of Strong Tone Quickshade by "The Army Painter" over the model, before dry-brushing him with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna. This gave me a nice dark(ish) brown basis which would let me avoid needing to painstakingly highlight every single snaking branch, and additionally help me create the murky swamp-coloured palette I was hoping to achieve.


However, I did still want to 'highlight' all the figure's details in some way, so gave the miniature both a light dry-brush of "Vallejo" Heavy Grey and a sporadic wash of "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green. Lastly, I treated Blackthorn's hair to a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Green, "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green and Strong Tone Quickshade by "The Army Painter". This area was then delicately dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Green and I spotted the mad scientist's eyes with a couple of dabs of Heavy Ochre.

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - Four FedSec Troopers

In addition to completing another of my "Kitbash Games" models, I have pinned, assembled, based, primed and dry-brushed the last of my FedSec Troopers by "Crooked Dice Game Design Studio". Despite currently playing quite a bit of "Blake's Seven" using some homemade rules, I wasn't actually planning on painting any more of the Federation's black-clad enforcers.


But the discovery of some more separate balaclava heads (this time without bushy moustaches) and a long out-of-production pot of "Citadel" Thrakka Green has changed my mind. To be honest I wasn't at all impressed with the (new) "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green helmet bands on my most recently painted goons, so am somewhat hoping that the aging wash can replicate the (old) effect and actually motivate me to re-paint the helmets on the figures I finished at the end of last year...

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joehcc
joehcc
Mar 08, 2021

For some reason, this 'Blackthorn;' character really draws me in, great sculpt, great finish to him and those eyes (especially in the group shot)!,.

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Blaxkleric
Blaxkleric
Mar 08, 2021
Replying to

Thanks Joe. I think the change in direction with Blackthorn was definitely a vast improvement over my initial idea to painstakingly pick out all his vines etc. The dry-brushing and shading did a lot of this for me in the end. The group shot of Blackthorn is definitely closer to his appearance to the naked eye than the close-ups for sure.

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undercoat2670
Mar 05, 2021

I really like Blackthorn. Looks great, especially in the group shot. Could also be a dryad in a fantasy game.

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Blaxkleric
Blaxkleric
Mar 05, 2021
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Thanks Undercoat. If I ever do buy some Dyrads then I'll certainly be considering my recipe for Blackthorn as a quick tabletop standard paint-scheme.

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wargamesterrainworkshop
wargamesterrainworkshop
Mar 03, 2021

Great work Simon, was going to say that he seemed a little dark, but can see that's already been covered by you and Roger.

Great find on the Thrakka green, so when you've finished all the models listed in the comments are you finished, or do you have more stashed in a box ?

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Blaxkleric
Blaxkleric
Mar 03, 2021
Replying to

Cheers Dave. I think the lighting is usually always better on the group photos for some reason. Maybe because there's more a mix of colours? I certainly plan on doing more showcase shots this year for the website, so people can see the difference in model sizes compared to one another.


This'll be all the FedSec Troopers I own, and I only have six Mutoids and a couple of Robots. But I do still own plenty of Freedom Fighters and variant sculpts of both Servalan and Travis to paint in the future, so my "Blake's Seven" project is far from complete, LOL!!!

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wsd50
Mar 03, 2021

Nice work on Blackthorn, I originally thought he looked a little too dark in the original photo's but is much better in the group shop, so I'll blame the photo's not you. 😉


That is a great little group shot as well to be honesty there are some really nice mini's there, I think the two ladies are my fave's though.


You must have more Fecsec troopers than the BBC ever had by now!! though always nice to see you paint these as you do them so well!


Cheers Roger.

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Blaxkleric
Blaxkleric
Mar 03, 2021
Replying to

Thanks Roger. I'm not sure what happened with the photos of Blackthorn as I actually lightened them up with Photoshop too. I think the camera just struggled with the brown-green shading against a white background, so decided to just darken everything out.


The group shot is much closer to how Blackthorn looks to the naked eye, and hopefully shows just how colourful a bunch the "Supers Unlimited" range can be. There's some really nice minis in there, with many more to come, so expect a few more group shots as my painted collection grows.


Along with the four FedSec Troopers I have six Mutoid Troopers on the painting table too, along with a pair of Sentry Robots, so expect plenty…


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