The Lord of the Jungle
This'll be a one-figure post tonight. I don't think I've ever done that before; all my other "showcase" posts have been displaying at least several models. Still, you'll just have to put up with this for now... |
| "This is a knife!" |
Since Tarzan has little clothing, no warpaint and few artefacts, he's very straightforward to paint. Just a basecoat of flesh with a wash over it, then a little detailing. Possibly I made his chin a little heavy on the stubble, though? Still, this is probably more realistic than the normal well-shaved and groomed Hollywood image (with just a hint of tangled hair to show that he's a wild man!).
I've got a tub of 40 or 50 rubbery "wild animals" that I bought from a B&M store (a large discount warehouse, for those who haven't encountered the chain before) for £2.99 some time ago. Although these are a wide variety of scales, perhaps half the creatures are usable for 28mm with a stretch of the imagination. There are 4 oversized "chimpanzees" (?) in the collection; I hope to use these as Great Apes to back up the jungle man. The first of them is undergoing experimental basing and painting even now, but isn't ready to be seen yet.
Awful Green Things
Actually, there's a good reason why this post is a bit rushed and I haven't got much to show. I've spent a bit of time recently playing games with my sons instead of making models r writing blog posts. Yesterday and tonight my middle boy and I played "The Awful Green Things from Outer Space" - a real blast from the past for me.In the first game, my son was doing really well as the crew, until he tried to trap a whole load of my things with an electric fence. Unfortunately, the random effect for the fence was "1d6 fragments" and I rolled a lot of very high dice. Suddenly, there were green things spilling out of the cargo hold in huge numbers! 2 of his crew eventually escaped in the scout boat, only to wander for 10 years before vanishing into a black hole...
Tonight's game was slightly different. I took the crew and pretty much every weapon I tried just turned the green things into multiple fragments. My son had me completely outclassed, but decided to let me rally my remaining people and escape just so he could see what happened next. I set the self-destruct and abandoned ship with enough crew to score a technical win. The 8 survivors then stole supplies from hostile natives on one planet before losing 6 of the crewmen to 2 bouts of disease. The remaining pair did reach their home planet in due course, which is quite an achievement - even if the victory was a gift!
This is a great looking Tarzan figure, really well painted and based (though I'm sceptic about his dagger grip).
ReplyDeleteAGTFOS was a game I played a lot of along with Snit's revenge, both were fast furious anf fun.
Thanks, Joe. He was painted somewhat quickly, but the end result isn't too bad :-) .
DeleteI've heard about Snit's Revenge, though I never played that one myself. But The Awful Green Things is a classic (and one that would work well as inspiration for a convention game with miniatures, I think)
AGTFOS has been done as a convention game, using homemade figures for crew, green things and all the weapons etc.(from FIMO), plus an excellent model spaceship with all the fitting you'd expect.
DeleteThere are a couple of pic of the stuff here :
http://www.matakishi.com/awfulgreenthings.htm
and on Boardgamegeek, uner the bit on the game
Very nice Tarzan dude.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of AGTFOS.
Thanks, Bob. AGTFOS is a minor classic, even if the crew usually die in droves!
DeleteAGTFOS I still have it tucked away and as Joe mentions Snits Revenge. Ahh good old days.
ReplyDeleteTarzan looks good and I will admit I have never given any thought to the fact he should be beared! An excellent point.
Since one often sees illustrations of heavily-bearded Victorian European explorers, I imagine that in the 19th century it was difficult to shave adequately whilst away from civilisation. Even if you prefer your Tarzan to be early/mid 20th century, the fashion may have changed but the practicalities are the same.
DeleteThat is a lovely figure, Hugh, and you have painted him very well.
ReplyDeleteI looked at "jungle lord" models from several manufacturers before deciding to get the Reaper one. Mind you, that was a while ago and I cannot remember now why I preferred this model over the alternatives. Thanks, Bryan.
DeleteNice job and I know what it's like when you have something languishing unfinished on the back of the desk. Looking forward to seeing how the apes turn out too.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Michael. I'm not sure if the apes will work - they're very cheap toys. Still, I'll do what I can to make them acceptable :-) !
DeleteGreat job on the Tarzan. I like the stubble, but where's his manly chest and arm hair? :P
ReplyDeleteWell, not every man has much in the way of chest or arm hair. Just look at almost any picture of a wrestler (if you can stomach the sight :-) )!
DeleteGeorge of the Jungle or Tarzan? :) Only gaming will tell
ReplyDeleteHmm - Tarzan, at least in my mind. But you're right: he could turn out to be quite hopeless :-) .
DeleteNice job on Tarzan. I really like the base, it gives a wild feel to the figure.
ReplyDeleteIts great that you got to play a classic game with your son! Keep working on that next generation, we need the reinforcements!
Thanks! I tried to do a little bit more than usual on the base, though even so I don't think it was anything special.
DeleteLatest news is that both sons played another game yesterday. Elder son's Green Things got completely whapped by younger son, with very few crew casualties !
Tarsan looks great and Awful Gren things is a superb game. I still have an original small green box version, it's an ace game
ReplyDeleteYes, my boys seem to have got the "Awful Green Things" bug at the moment. Tonight my younger son beat the elder by hiding a breeding population in the hospital and only venturing out in huge numbers!
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