Wednesday 25 May 2016

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...

24 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks, Michael. He's a very nice sculpt; that helps!

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  2. I was given the Tintin and Snowy by a fellow painter - they're amony my favourite figures.

    For ref the other two detectives in that Copplestone pack are Dashiell Hammett characters - the Continental Op and Nick Charles - as, of course is the Sam Spade character you recognise. Nick Charles was from 'The Thin Man' and in the films was played by William Powell; the figure is clearly modeled on him.

    Technically, the dog is Asta - Charles' schnauzer/fox terrier (the book and films differ) - but this is prob just because Tintin and Snowy are in copyright!

    Capt Haddock. I don't know if Black Cat are running properly again. You'll find the whole long story on the LAF, but personally I won't touch them with a bargepole. I've seen people use Blue Moon's Capt Josiah, but he's a bit chubby for my mind. For a full range of suggestions see http://www.lead-adventure.de/index.php?topic=61111.0

    I'm enjoying all this pulpiness!

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    1. Edwin, once again your knowledge is impressively detailed - thanks for this!

      Black Cat Bases have had their ups and downs, due to sickness, I believe. Personally I've never had a problem ordering from them and the latest (6-9 months) comments on the internet seem cautiously optimistic, if I've read them correctly.

      Having said that, I do appreciate the other suggestions from people who've followed this "Tintin" road before!

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  3. I do like your Tintin and Snowy but I'm less enamoured with your Zorgls. I do hope you post more SDE figures next time.

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    1. Well, I never claimed that the zorgls were great sculpts, or that my painting of them was anything particularly wonderful. But they will be very versatile :-) .

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  4. The Zorgls look how I feel this morning! Lets just say a rough night but for neither good or Bad reasons. And like you I can see multiple uses for them.

    As I was "encouraged" to read Tintin when learning French at school a lesson and teacher I was not best pleased with I cannot really enjoy Tintin as well as he has been painted. And he is painted well. Childhood hang up!

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    1. Any resemblance to people either living or deceased is entirely accidental!

      I'm sorry to hear about your early experiences with Tintin in French. It's a shame if you cannot enjoy the stories for what they do best: light pulp adventure with a wide range of character types!

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  5. well i love them, only partially read Tin Tin growing up (not the darker side stuff) but these figs are great.

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    1. I read quite a bit of Tintin as a youth, but nothing much since. However I can still remember enjoying it enormously. The 2011 film is good as well.

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  6. Replies
    1. Thanks, HW. I'm very pleased with the way he turned out.

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  7. Very nice, can definitely see lots of uses for Doctor Who. Must look out for that Robot Ape figure!

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    1. Tintin vs Doctor Who? Ah, I think you were probably referring to the zorgls :-) . Yes, I think that they'd be very suitable for chasing the Doctor and his companions down some tunnels or corridors.

      The robot ape, though - hmm. I still remember how awful that film was and it must be 30 years since I saw it. Seared into my memory - and not in a good way...

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  8. Lovely job on Tintin and Snowy! I am sure there is a good model in the Artizan thrilling tales range that would make a good Captain Haddock.

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    1. Thanks, Simon. The Artizan ranges do have some U-boat crew that might do, though I think they look a bit too young and fit to really represent Haddock. At the moment, I'm leaning towards the Old Glory "Captain Josiah" figure, but I haven't settled anything for definite yet.

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    2. I can't find the figure I imagined now. hmmm.
      What about this chap third one along
      http://www.artizandesigns.com/prod.php?prod=1399

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    3. Well, the head is good. However, he's not wearing the classic roll neck jumper, which is pretty much essential.

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  9. Great rendition of Tintin C6.
    I'm with Brummie's suggestion for a Capt. Haddock figure, but Bluemoon(or maybe Old glory) may also have a usable figure iirc. For the Thomson twins I'd look at possible 'Old West' ranges thereare several Pinkerton types out therewith the essential bowler hat - Artisan and Brigade do them I believe.
    This blog may also inspire:
    http://whiteknight.skynetblogs.be/weird-war-ii-civilians/

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    1. Thanks, Joe. I hadn't thought of looking at Pinkerton agents, but that might indeed be a fruitful source.

      Zombie Tintin? OK, that's well executed, but not quite what I was looking for :-) .

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    2. I was actually thinking of how easy the Prof. Calc. conversion looked and you could use a survivor type (or thw WF zed with the lab coat as a basis?

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    3. Hmm, yes - that could work. Although I always thought of Prof. Calculus as a rather short man (and I'm out of unbuilt WF male zombies anyway...)

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  10. Great work on Tintin and Snowy, Hugh. Am I one of the few who also like the Zorgl sculpts? What with these and your previous "SDE" models you really are clearly painting across a myriad of genres currently. Good to see the Colgar6 mojo working at full-steam once again :-)

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    1. Well, the Zorgls were a pain to glue together and the sculpting on them is...simplistic. Still, they are definitely usable and they'll fill their niche very well!

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