Sunday, 1 February 2015

The Spectrum Angels

Introduction

Not so long ago (here), I unveiled my undercoated "daredevil sisters".  These are 28mm models from Crooked Dice and it should be obvious to anyone who cares that these are closely based on the Angels from the old Captain Scarlet TV series.  In that show, they were mostly the pilots for the Spectrum organisation's fleet of air vehicles, especially for the Interceptor fighter aircraft.  Spectrum's field agents (such as the eponymous Captain Scarlet) were the people who were more directly involved in confrontations with the bad guys  Occasionally the Angels had to play this role as well...

Individual Angels

In the TV show, there were 5 Angels.  However I ended up with 6 models (due to forgetting that I had bought a pack of 3 models and later buying another, duplicate pack).  Since I didn't want to leave any model unpainted, I had to come up with a 6th Angel in my world.  Aficionados of Captain Scarlet will be able to tell immediately which is the non-canon Angel, of course - but I've tried to keep my 6th Angel in character with the rest.  Mind you, I did consider briefly using that model as an evil counterpart, in much the same way as Captain Black is an enemy of the Spectrum agents!

Painting white uniforms is hard.  In my view, it's all about the colour of the shading; this can change the character of the model completely!  My research into the Angels suggested that in many of the pictures their uniforms had a slight cream tint to them.  That might just have been a trick of the light, but I took that idea and went with it.  I've used a couple of shades of tan when painting the undercuts and seams, but the upper parts are still pure white.  Please let me know what you think...

Without further ado, here are my 6 Spectrum Angels:







All Together Now...

Finally, a group shot.  This shows quite clearly that I painted the bases in 3 different styles (2 models in each style).  I think that the concrete bases (the last 2 models on the right) are a bit dark, but otherwise the bases are quite straightforward.



Conclusion

I knew that I wanted these models as soon as I saw them on the Crooked Dice website.  Due to my purchasing mistake, I ended up with 6 of them rather than 3 - ah, well.  But now that I've finished painting them, I've no idea what I'll use them for!  The obvious answer would be to use them in a game of 7TV, but I fear that poor Captain Black would be considerably outnumbered by my Spectrum personnel if I include all my agents and all my Angels!
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16 comments:

  1. Blaxkleric1 February 2015 at 20:09

    Great stuff C6. Not sure if I've got these somewhere myself as I've never liked the pose of the one stepping on the stone. But its clear from how you've assembled the others that there are still plenty of conversion possibilities for the others, and very good they look too :-)

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    1. Colgar62 February 2015 at 19:51

      Thanks! The basic poses are not so easy to modify but there's plenty of conversion potential with different heads and hands!

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  2. Simon Quinton 1 February 2015 at 21:48

    They look great Hugh. I think with photos this close up its spoils the image you get of them looking at them in the hand with the normal eye. I perhaps would of took the white a bit closer to the edges and had less shadows.

    I can't find a reason to get these yet or the TLS which is a shame as there all great minis.

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    1. Colgar62 February 2015 at 19:53

      I think you're right, Simon. These look better (to me, anyway!) from a little further away. The close up from the camera makes all the imperfections only too obvious!

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  3. Vampifan1 February 2015 at 22:11

    I grew up watching Captain Scarlet so I'm a big fan of these ace pilots. I really like how you've painted them and I do like Serenity - the odd one out. She fits in so well.

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    1. Colgar62 February 2015 at 19:53

      Thanks, Bryan. Now I just need to think of a way to use them in a game or two...

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  4. Hobbyworker2 February 2015 at 02:51

    Have never watched Captain scarlet but nice work any way :)

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    1. Colgar62 February 2015 at 19:55

      Never watched Captain Scarlet! From that I deduce that you are either younger than me or not British. Or a girl. Mind you, that doesn't really narrow it down much, does it :-) ?

      Thanks :-) .

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  5. Unknown2 February 2015 at 03:25

    Lovely job C6. I'm big fan of this show and the girls look great dude.

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    1. Colgar62 February 2015 at 19:57

      Thanks, Bob. I think I could make a really good diorama if I just had an Interceptor or two. Hmm - perhaps a scenario could be built around Mysteron agents attacking Cloudbase?

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  6. Zabadak2 February 2015 at 04:24

    The tan undertones looks the part and better than a harsher, straightforward white, not sure about the mix of base types though.

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    1. Colgar62 February 2015 at 19:58

      Thanks, Joe. I thought that grey-based shadows would look too harsh and monotone. I still don't know if I've done the right thing with the bases - I suppose I was thinking that most scenarios wouldn't use more than a couple of these models at any one time?

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  7. cwheeler2 February 2015 at 08:06

    I really like them. They are figures I should just get to paint even though I have no real idea what I would use them for.

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    1. Colgar62 February 2015 at 19:59

      Thanks! That's what I did - I bought these models (twice!) just because I liked them. I still don't know how I'll use them...

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  8. Clint2 February 2015 at 16:59

    Spectrum is Green.
    I have the DVD box set (not yet watched though) and grew up watching these sitting under the dining table on a Saturday morning. One has to wonder if they will ever do another Captain Scarlet film...... it has not stopped them re-doing Thunderbirds and Dr Who!!( Even if we all know it will not improve it!)

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    1. Colgar62 February 2015 at 20:02

      S.I.G.! Supposedly, Captain Scarlet was my favourite when I was young, though I don't personally remember the details. Still, we've picked up enough videos and DVDs from charity shops over the years to give the show another go.

      There *was* another series a few years ago - an animated show called "New Captain Scarlet". Fairly forgettable, if I remember right ?!

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