Sunday 12 February 2017

Pulp Women: Archaeologists and Missionaries

Introduction

My mission continues: to build a suitable number of Pulp figures from which to form a crowd at an airport (for scenario 2 from the Perilous Island scenario book for Pulp Alley).  I've shown some of the men I have collected already (here); now it's the turn of the women.

Female Archaeologists

These four figures come from Copplestone's "BC19 - Female Archaeologists" pack.  BC-19 is currently available from North Star, who have (I believe) taken over the selling of all Copplestone Castings figures.  Mind you, I'm not entirely sure what makes any of these women "archaeologists", as not one of the miniatures has a trowel or a small brush...



Henrietta Smith is a thrill seeker who relishes the chance to live by her wits, beyond the reach of normal law and order.  She likes animals, plays chess and enjoys discovering lost worlds.



Betty Pickering is the daughter of a rich Kenyan tea plantation owner.  She found finishing school in England very restrictive and now wishes to travel the world, in first class (of course).  She likes fashion, tropical sunsets and thinks that honest men are few in number.



Jean Cameron comes from a long line of Scottish antiquarians.  Somewhat more adventurous than her ancestors, she has decided to apply her talents and knowledge to some archaeological digs in the more remote parts of the empire.  She likes hard work & frugal living and abhors liars.



Cassie DeLancy comes from Ireland, though much of her adult life has been spent in the Far East.  She is quite the innocent in many ways and doesn't understand why so many men with questionable morals pursue her.  However, she is practical enough to know how to fend off their advances with a .45 pistol.  Cassie likes singing, cooking and breaking up criminal enterprises.


The Missionary


Lady Isobel Poppington is another North Star figure, though this time from their own-name range rather than the Copplestone Castings brand.  The model comes with a display base of luggage which includes a chest, African tribal mask, ivory/tusks & other souvenirs on it and is topped by a bible.  I've chosen to place this luggage on a separate base (not shown here); it will make an excellent plot point or piece of scatter terrain in games of Pulp Alley, Congo or the like.

She's a rather stern looking woman, dressed in an old-fashioned style and drinking a cup of tea.  Lady Poppington likes tea & singing hymns and won't tolerate bad manners!


Conclusion


Traditionally in Pulp adventures, a woman is just there to scream when the bad guys/monster/... appears so that the hero can then come to the rescue.  I think this started to change from the 1970's onwards with space operas such as Star Wars and video games like Tomb Raider.

I'd like to think that any of my heroines were more than simple, helpless damsels.  Each of these characters could hold her own against whatever the world throws at her, though I suspect that they would all have very different approaches!

22 comments:

  1. Wonderful posting Colgar6, and some great paint-jobs on show too. I especially like Betty - the blue is very striking indeed.

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    1. Thanks, Blax. The blue did work out quite well, didn't it?

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  2. A fine job. One of my favourite range of figures.

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    1. Agree entirely, A.J. I like all of the Copplestone figures as well.

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  3. A bevy of beauties well-suited to the setting. I especially liked the mini-profiles of each character, although they did read almost like dating profiles "seeks rugged adventurer, gsoh, non-smoker preferred". How big is the 'crowd' now?

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    1. The mini-profiles were intended to be ironic - ah, well :-) .

      I guess that I've got somewhere between 20 and 30 figures that I can use for the crowd. Perhaps a few more if I include children and dogs...

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  4. I do like these sculpts they are very versatile (except perhaps as archaelogists!).
    You've done a great job on Lady Poppington's dress too *the colours on all the others are good too btw).

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    1. Thanks, Joe. I had originally intended to alternate the direction of the decorations on Lady Poppington's dress, but when I picked up the paintbrush I forgot to do this. D'oh!

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  5. The are definitely more and then some! Nice work Colgar.

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    1. Thanks, F.E.M. I'm very pleased with the way these figures have turned out.

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  6. They look great. Pulp adventures in ancient ruins are definitely on my list of 'things to do at some point'.

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    1. Ancient ruins, lost worlds, secret societies, strange rural [or urban!] communities... All good :-) .

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  7. While I do very much like them all. "Betty" has a fashion sense that sets her apart. Great colour choices.

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    1. Thanks, Clint. To me, Betty seems the least capable of surviving any adventure which has a threat of violence in it, but who knows? She may surprise us all :-) .

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    2. I agree she looks like she can tell her ladies maid what to get in a Harrods sale, but in the wilderness she sees more frail. But never judge a book by it's cover!

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    3. I think it's a mistake to underestimate Betty. I hear she was handy with a shotgun at boarding school, and there's room to hide a 2 inch mortar under that hat of hers.

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  8. Nice work, I have that set myself C6 & oddly enough the the model you picked to be Irish I did as well, but mine's a red head called Connemara Feeney.

    Here's a link where you can see her if interested.
    http://ifitwasntforone.blogspot.ie/2017/01/makeup-first-bunch-of-new-stars.html

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    1. Thanks, Frank. I've had a look at your link; that's nice work.

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  9. Lovely paintwork Hugh Especially on the missionary's dress simple yet very effective. Will have try and remember this next time I have a character in a dress comes up.

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    1. Thanks, Simon. I felt that at least *one* of these ladies should have a patterned costume, given how common such things are in real life. Of course, painting checks or tartans on a heavily-folded piece of [model] cloth is really hard, so I went for the simpler option of a recurring "motif".

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  10. Nice Work - I really should get more of my pulp minis painted up for some gaming, too...

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