More Pulp Characters

Introduction

We've started playing the Perilous Island campaign for the Pulp Alley rules.  Scenario 1 can be seen here and that was easy enough to set up because I already had all the figures and terrain I needed.  However, Scenario 2 in this campaign is set at an airport, with a large crowd on the verge of rioting.  I think I need some new scenery for this; also I'll need as many "crowd" figures as I can find.

I did consider making some 28mm standees for the crowd, either of individuals or of mobs.  However, my early searches failed to find any pictures that I felt were suitable for this purpose.  Plan B is to search through my spares boxes and paint up all the figures I can find which could plausibly be found at an airport in Africa, some time in the 1930s or so.

The Dapper

First up are a couple of very smartly-dressed gentlemen:

• On the left is a figure from Copplestone's GN9 - Sleuths pack, in which he is named as "Nick Charles".  I believe that this is a model of the main character from "The Thin Man", but I'm not familiar enough with either the book or the film to know anything about the character portrayed.  He's obviously very smartly-dressed, though!
• The miniature on the right is "Captain Citroen" from Artizan Miniatures' "Thrilling Tales" range.  He's obviously based on Captain Renault; the corrupt Vichy French police chief played so superbly by Claude Rains in the movie Casablanca.
  In my photo, it looks a little as if the model only has one arm.  That's not the case; his left arm is definitely present, though held close to his side.

The Gumshoes

Next, I present the remaining 2 figures from the Copplestone GN9 - Sleuths pack:

• The first model is of "The Continental Op"; a fictional private detective created by pulp author Dashiell Hammett.  I don't know anything about the character other than what is readily available on Wikipedia, but the model will work well enough for my immediate needs.
• On the right is "Sam Spade", another Dashiell Hammett private investigator and hero of the story "The Maltese Falcon".  In the movie of that tale, Spade was played by Humphrey Bogart - who was the same actor to play "Rick" in Casablanca.  Since Bogart wore an almost identical greatcoat in the last scene of Casablanca (at the airport), I think this model is unarguably suitable for my upcoming game!

The Airmen

My last 2 figures for today are both from Artizan Designs, again from the Thrilling Tales subsection:

• The model on the left is "Captain Withnail", presumably a reference to the film Withnail and I.  Since that isn't in any sense a pulp or adventure movie, I'm somewhat puzzled by the association - unless someone else knows better?  Anyway, the figure wears a greatcoat and carries a revolver and a bottle; I've painted him up to suggest a hung-over and somewhat disreputable RAF ground crewman.
• Finally, we have "Midshipman York", who I think must be modelled after Michael York's character from the movie Zeppelin.  As it is, I got this model second hand and the right arm (with pistol) was missing.  I've replaced that with a spare plastic arm from the Gripping Beast Dark Age Warriors set; he now looks as if he could be swinging a propellor to start a primitive aircraft engine or something like that.

Conclusion

Why are these characters at the airport?  Are they trying desperately to get on the last flight out of the country?  Perhaps they're trying to arrest a fugitive, or they're spies who are shadowing someone?  Maybe they just work at the airport?  Who can tell?

6 figures isn't really a crowd.  Even if I add all the other miniatures I have which are vaguely plausible for this setting, I'm not sure that it'll really look like a mob.  But I've got to try...

Captain Colquhoun and the Panzerbots

Introduction

I'm still trying to clear my workbench of part-completed models, with a certain amount of success.  There's a long way to go yet, but at least I am now able to put a model down without having to move something else first.  It may not sound like a huge achievement, but it really does feel good!

Here are some more of the oddments that I've managed to complete over the last week or so.  They're all additions to my small collection of pulp figures.

The Aviator

First up is Archie Colquhoun, the pilot.  He's a Biggles lookalike in flying helmet & goggles, khaki uniform, fur-liked overcoat and silk scarf, so he would probably fit in from about 1916 through to 1930 or so.  Possibly a bit later in some remote part of the world that still used open-cockpit aircraft.

 Archie is carrying his trusty service revolver, so I suspect that he's made a forced landing in hostile territory (though whether the threat is from Central Powers forces during World War I, Sky Pirates, Chinese bandits or Afghan tribesmen in the 1920s or something else altogether is anybody's guess)...

I think that this miniature comes from North Star Miniatures, possibly from Artizan's Thrilling Tales range, though I could be wrong.

The Panzerbots

 These 2 models definitely do come from the Thrilling Tales range.  They are "panzerbots" - Nazi robots from some alternate weird science version of World War 2.

 Both of the panzerbots are armed with machine guns, though there's no obvious ammunition feed to these weapons.  I suppose that I could have satisfied my misgivings on this score by adding a belt of bullets or a drum magazine, though this issue has only just occurred to me.

As a computer scientist myself, I can't imagine that 1940's artificial intelligence would have been up to much, even in an alternate history where the robotic servos and other machinery was available.  Consequently, I'm tempted to categorise these as rather stupid machines.  In addition, they're probably quite vulnerable to bullets or other weaponry since kevlar and the like don't yet exist.  Not the all-conquering stompy robots of fiction, though very intimidating to those who haven't encountered them before!

Of course, it's always possible that they are powered by occult forces or by alien technology and are therefore considerably tougher and smarter than I've suggested here...

Conclusion

These models all came from a "Bargain Bag", if I remember correctly, so there's no particular theme to them.  I've painted them up because I like them, not because I had any particular game or scenario in mind.  However, given that I've already got some Egyptologists, mummies, scarabs, snakes, Nazi agents and Arab diggers, I don't think it would be too difficult to come up with some ideas...

Pulp: The Mad and the Bad

Introduction

A little while ago (I thought it was but a few weeks, but it turns out to have been October last year), I showed my painted model of Herr Stengel, a sinister pulp Nazi villain.  Since then, I've finished off a few more pulp figures including some associates of his.  Today is the first day of the week where I've had good enough sunlight to take semi-decent pictures of them, so here they are...

The Bad

This is a pair of fairly generic 1930s or 1940s thugs.  The only thing about the models that really makes them "Nazis" is the German sub-machine guns they are carrying.  However to make their affiliation a bit more obvious, I've painted an arm-band on one and a "swastika" tie on the other.  Mind you, I think that the design on the tie may be a little too small to spot!

So, here they are with their boss, just ready to thwart some American archaeologist or British pilot/adventurer.  Good luck with that, boys!

The Mad

I've also completed another Artizan figure, billed as "Mad Jack, the Lighthouse Keeper".  I liked the name so much that I kept it, though I did consider "Crazy Joe" as well.  I can just see him being the lonely caretaker for some semi-ruined building in a remote part of the Northumbrian coast!

Although I think it's unlikely that Mad Jack will fit into a scenario that involves Nazis, I might use him with Mystery Inc in a Scooby Doo game.  Alternatively, I could get out my Sea Devils and related Doctor Who miniatures; he'd be a perfect victim for these maritime pests!