Painting Marvel Crisis Protocol With 144Artist

Talk about a classic, Silver Age, Jack Kirby created villain.  One of my first comics was an oversized reprint treasure of Thor stories and this fellow was right on the cover, he and Thor getting ready to bash each other.  He was “Mightiest of the Trolls” and while I really didn’t know what that meant and was astounded that trolls could be mentioned in a superhero story.  Tiny me was very much into compartmentalization already.  This guy was big, scary, and releasing an even bigger monster on Asgard (some guy called Mangog).  I was hooked.  When I saw AMG’s sculpt I was beside myself.  It looks like a 3D Jack Kirby drawing.  I swear ol’ King Kirby could have sculpted it.  They even got those big chunky teeth right.

In game this guy throws really big terrain and has a very nasty punch that can even cause the target to lose their Activation.  Ouch, stomped on and no actions.  He is just the start of my current push to build up my Asgardian Affiliation.

I’ve been finishing up the heroes from the first core box and have gotten to Captain America, not to be confused with Captain America: Steve Rogers or Captain America: First Avenger or even Captain America: Sam Wilson.  This is the first version and he only got beefier after this.  I mean, First Avenger looks like a weight lifter though not as bad as the Rob Leifeld’s attempts. I really don’t know how someone who has no understanding of anatomy was so successful drawing comics but then that was also when I stopped reading them.

This is the classic look, helmet strap showing, looks like the whole costume is made of blue leather.  I like how the shield came out but not how it photographed.  Regardless, finishing this one greatly appeals to my OCD and collectors gene.

I don’t recall more than a couple appearances of Strucker during my comic reading days. I’ve got to like a guy who has a burning hand and clearly didn’t skip Leg Day.  In game he seems quite formidable.  He throws conditions onto enemy and can cure wounds and conditions with his allies.

…and by finished I mean his paint job is completed.  This one took a lot more thought and pre-planning what with the tiny face that has to be painted before it’s even glued in and the entire front torso being transparent.  All that aside, it is a good looking mini and I feel I did a pretty good job on the walking computer that is Armin Zola.  I’m really going to have to play a Hydra list some time as I have a decent collection of them painted.

Now I can get back to the Sanctum Sanctorum assembly and priming.

I continued working on Zola once he was primed.  I applied base coats being careful not to get any on the transparent part.  I then highlighted everything, going with a NMM technique for the metal legs and belt.  He and Strucker are finished (you can see both of them in the final photo) and round out the tray waiting for Sealant.  When I get home from work I will take care of that task and try to get everything photographed.

Zola always looked like a fun figure to work on, especially once I found out there is a clear shield over the face in his chest.  I figured I would get him assembled and painted before popping the clear shield piece into place.  I mean a separate transparent piece just big enough to cover the spot where the face is would make sense, right?  Not to AMG apparently because the entire front chest piece is cast in clear plastic AND the face is one of the very first pieces to be glued in.  That meant I had to paint it before I could attach it to the back of the torso.  Once assembly was done I used Blu-Tac to mask the part of the chest I needed to keep clear before spray priming over the added rubble.

I have been lucky enough to find a few of the NYC Apartment Building kits from Atomic Mass as they are rare as hen’s teeth anymore.  My own fault for coming to the game after they had already left production.  I grabbed one from my FLGS, the last they had actually, and got a second on eBay which was already assembled, primed, but lacking fire escapes.  I’ve also picked up a third through diligent online searching but the prices are getting ridiculous so I think this maybe my total.  Good thing there’s the Sanctum Sanctorum kit out there at good prices.  Considering how much terrain I have built in multiple genres over the last 50 years, it’s hard to believe a contemporary “New York” has escaped my attentions until now.

One of the projects I’m putting in my list of terrain projects that need to be finished are the wonderful Terrain Tiles I got from Secret Weapon Miniatures years ago. Necron099 and I primed our sets at the same time with the idea that they would work together.  We have never gotten around to actually painting them even though We have played some games on them.  When I discovered MCP I knew right away that they would be perfect.

I will be updating the progress on these as well as a couple others in an actual TerrainFest blog.