I have a pretty quick update this week as I only managed to finish one mini. For those not familiar with Hellboy, it is Abe Sapien, a man from the 1600’s who got turned into a fish man who has been alive ever since. Abe’s design reminds me a bit of Swamp Thing of Universal Monster fame. Abe is kind of a tragic figure in Hellboy as he craves his humanity and yearns for his old life. I would also imagine he feels like a man out of his own time with his near immortality. Regardless, he isn’t the easiest mini to paint because he has had a lot of variation in color schemes. While I do like the schemes in the Hellboy movies pictured below, I decided to stick with the comic colors instead.
And here is a look at the mini from a few different angles.
There were some challenges like soft details and a floppy harpoon but I decided not to spend much time trying to straighten it because they always seem to stay a bit bent even with the hot/cold water treatment. Somehow I got the fins and Abe’s badge looking good even with the lack of detail so I am happy with that. I will have to tackle the bust/marker for Abe in the near future so that I then have enough investigators to play a game of Hellboy.
This week, I got a bunch of hobby purchases including a new bottle of rust paint which has prevented me from finishing a piece of terrain. The old one had paint dried in the lid that was so tough, I couldn’t get it open! I gave myself a nice callus in the process and I swear the lids on the AK Interactive paints are designed to do exactly just that. The lesson I’ve learned is don’t shake those enamel paints. Stir them instead!
I should have a few new things to show off next time I update as I’ve got some non-Hellboy stuff started. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to update next week and possibly not the week after that either. I’ll do my best to follow everyone’s progress in the meantime and should have quite a lot to share when I return.
Kuribo's Painting 
Looks like more of an up armored Creature from the Black Lagoon to me.
That side shot makes him look really menacing – well done!
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I don’t know where I came up with Swamp Thing. It absolutely is Creature from the Black Lagoon. I’ve played multiple pinball tables where that character is used so shame on me for not getting that right!
Thank you for setting me straight and for the kind words 🙂
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Looks great well done! Never knew the backstory of the character, only ever seen the movies. Clearly have some reading to do!
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Thank you! I think Abe is kind of shallow in the movies and the regular Hellboy series. If you check out B.P.R.D. and the Abe Sapien solo series, you’ll see the writers dive into it much more.
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Nicely done. 🙂
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Thank you, mate! 🙂
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Great work, you got the fin type bits looking great.
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Cheers, mate!
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Nice work on old Abe. I’ve only been a casual Hellboy reader so I didn’t actually know his back story. 👍
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Thank you, mate! I hope I didn’t spoil his backstory for you as well. Though to be fair, you kind of have to go looking for it as even Hellboy’s main series of comics only touches upon it lightly (unless I’m misremembering things, which I might be!).
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Nah, it’s not something that’s going to bother me. Like I said, a very casual fan. 👍
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Excellent job on Abe Jeff, the fins and badge came out brilliantly, I think you made a good call on the colour choice for him, even though I am also fond of the movie version. Shall miss your posts for the next couple of weeks, but look forward to seeing what you have to show on your return.
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Thank you, Dave! I like the movie design as well as he looks even more fish-like. I will miss updating for the next couple weeks as well but hopefully the extra time will lead to an extra interesting and action-packed update 🙂
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Very nice, Jeff! 🙂 Colouring looks spot on and the lighter eyes are a good choice for the mini!
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Thank you, John! I hadn’t thought about it but you’re spot-on that the eyes do work well against the darker colors 🙂
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Great work on soft soft features mate! A tragic figure indeed, his situation is often overlooked. Your empathy is on display yet again.
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Thank you, mate! I think Abe is so reliable in B.P.R.D. and was a part of it for some long that people took him for granted. In some ways, I feel the its easy for Hellboy fans to do the same!
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Nice job on the miniature. Especially the back of the jacket.
I think in the movies he never even holds a gun?
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Thanks, Stew! It took a bit longer than I thought to get this one done so I’m glad to hear people like it. I don’t think he wields a gun in the movies either. For some reason, the movie version of Abe reminds me a lot of C3PO which is not at all what he is like in the comics. Its kind of strange now that I think about it.
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Another great Hellboy mini, Jeff! Although I prefer the lighter movie colour, your painting of the comic book look is really good, the green has some lovely highlighting and shading and those blue eyes really stand out.
As a regular buyer of Reaper Bones figures I’m well used to bendy spears/swords/rifles and they drive me up the wall LOL! I never bother trying to fix them as the part never seems to stay fixed for more than 20 minutes 🙂
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Thanks, Matt! I don’t know why the movie deviated so much from the comics but they did strike on some gold there with Abe!
I can confirm that minis outside of Reaper aren’t much better and I find they behave in the exact same way! 🙂
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He looks really good. I’m continually impressed with how good you can get these minis looking even when they’re just board game quality material. You must have been a bit tempted to spend an eternity adding more and more detailed blends of green to his skin!
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Thanks, mate! I admit that I prefer when the minis are higher than board game quality but it seems like practicing on higher quality minis can help you figure out how to deal with soft details, if that makes any sense. I was tempted to do exactly what you described on the skin but I realized that I’d spent probably around 15 hours on Abe and needed to finish him up! 🙂
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Don’t know anything about Hellboy and associates, so thanks for the backstory…
“I would also imagine he feels like a man out of his own time with his near immortality,” or maybe like a fish out of water? 🤣 Sorry, couldn’t help myself there!
You’ve done a great job on is badge, it really looks neat and stands out nicely🙂
Looking forward to your next update…
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Somebody’s going to send you straight to pun jail with jokes like that, mate! 😉 Thanks for the kind words as well!
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Nice work on this fish guy Jeff, Yep I have finally got around to viewing your site !!!!
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Thank you, Pat and no worries! 🙂 Its always nice to hear from you so thanks for stopping by!
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As previously – not to mention belatedly – mentioned, lovely work on Abe. Regarding your reply to the Solo Meeple above I think you’ll find that the correct term is not “pun jail” but rather “punitentiary”. Somewhere I suspect I’m about to be sent…
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Thanks, mate! Not that I would know personally but the American prison system is no place to take lightly so pun wisely, mate 😉
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