Tintin and the Zorgls

Introduction

Time for a quick, mid-week post.  Here are some models that I've completed recently...

Tintin & Snowy

I've mounted Tintin on an Escenorama urban base and sculpted a simple, matching base for snowy.

This pair should need no introduction; there are few pulp heroes more famous than Tintin and his faithful & highly intelligent companion, Snowy.  I've even heard that Indiana Jones took at least some inspiration from the many adventures of this young Belgian journalist.

Mind you, Tintin's history is somewhat tainted by a few of the early books in particular, which were deemed racist and ignorant even at the time of writing.  Information on this is readily available for those who care to research it, but I wouldn't bother if I were you.  Just stick with the middle and later works and enjoy the story...

Both of the miniatures here are from Copplestone Castings' "GN9 - Sleuths" pack, which also includes a very nice Humphrey Bogart lookalike and a couple of other investigators that I don't recognise.  This set of 5 models can be had from North Star Miniatures for £8.50 .

Now if I'm going to create a Pulp band with Tintin as leader, then I'll need to find some other figures as well!

• Captain Haddock is essential; I've got my eye on "Fisherman with pipe and gun" from Black Cat Bases (though I'd swap the gun for a bottle, of course).
• Thomson and Thompson are also a must.  I'm not sure where I can get suitable figures for them, though.
• Professor Calculus would round out the group nicely, adding some real smarts to counter the dim-wittedness of the other sidekicks and followers.  Again, I'm still hunting for a model which can represent him.

Zorgls

Time from some hairy monsters, I think!  These are Zorgls, from the somewhat patchy, but always inventive, Golgo Island range.  They aren't the most detailed figures I've ever had and the separate arms were a real pain to glue (& needed quite a bit of filling as well).  Those are the bad points.

In their favour, though, are 2 very important things:

1. They're really easy to paint: base coat, drybrush and some detailing on the face and claws.  I did these when I wasn't feeling very enthusiastic about model-making, but the sense of achievement at completing them so easily brought back some of the joy...
2. I can think of quite a lot of pulp genres which can make use of the "men-in-a-rubber-suit" style of monster: Doctor Who, Star Trek, Scooby Doo, to name just a few.  These will fill that role very nicely!

The Zorgls come in a pack of 4 from East Riding Miniatures and cost just £5.  There is an "Alpha Zorgl" available as well, though he doesn't quite fit in with my plans for these creatures.  The Alpha Zorgl has a deep sea diving helmet on top of his gorilla costume and is clearly modelled on "Ro-Man" from one of the worst sci-fi films of all time: 1953's "Robot Monster".  A nod to such an awful B-movie is very much in line with the bizarre world of Golgo Island, I think (and don't get me started on the giant zombie hamster!)

Next time: probably more Super Dungeon Explore, though I haven't really decided yet.  Wait and see...