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Hellboy – Does that Chimp have a gun!?

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With a title like that, I will try not to waste any time on a lengthy introduction. I painted a new Hellboy miniature for the first time in a long time and I’m also officially ready for Planet of the Apes miniatures to finally be made after finishing this one.

Truthfully, this is a simple miniature with not much detail to work with. I tried to paint in the eyes and the arm holding the gun made it too difficult so I quickly gave up on that. This chimp is a random special enemy you can add to your games so I look forward to seeing how he works in-game.

I even tried to play a game of Hellboy last week and it went alright. I forgot that the tutorial case is too easy and kind of boring but it was nice to re-familiarize myself with the rules. I’m also going to try and keep a digital journal (okay, a Word file) a record some of my thoughts about the cases to help me pick which cases to play more effectively. I need some more motivation to get back into painting Hellboy so I wouldn’t be shocked if I play again some soon and see if I have more fun playing and want to paint a bit more.

More importantly, I finished the last piece of street terrain for Fallout that I own. I hadn’t quite finished it at the time of the photo below but I went ahead and put four pieces out on the mat and took a quick and kind of mediocre picture. It looks good but isn’t super impressive from that angle. I was surprised to see that I probably only need about 4 inches of the fifth and final piece of street to reach a 3×3 size which is what you need for most scenarios. I guess there’s no harm in having a little extra!

Fortunately, I did take a couple of much better pictures with the finished junk barricade. These are the type of cinematic pictures I love to take. In this sense, the street terrain definitely passes the look test!

Unfortunately, it wasn’t all good this week because I tried to build and prime Anubis before the weather gets too cold for priming and I messed it up a couple of times in the assembly phase. That was a byproduct of going too fast and not being careful enough. Then I didn’t come up with a good way to attach the mini to a painting handle and it flew off and broke in a way that I can’t fix. I was really looking forward to starting him and tackling my first 75mm miniature. Instead, I’m going to have to rebuy him or go for something else. I’m currently pondering my next move because I was all set to paint a larger display piece.

In happier news, I bought a new camera after a lot of waffling. It is a DSLR instead of a point and shoot so I’m hoping we’re going to see some improvement in the picture quality with the increased camera size. It is arriving tomorrow (Saturday) so I am excited to give it a try very soon. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are some comparison pictures to pore over in the next update either.

Finally, we have another trip to Comics Corner. As I mentioned last time, the Image Comics sales are over so this likely means there will be a bit of a break in Comics Corner. I also forgot to mention this previously but thanks to Goodreads, I discovered that I passed the 1,000 books read mark. Granted, almost 700 of those books are graphic novels (!) but I’m still proud to be in the 1,000 Books Read Club all the same. Here’s a look at book 1001 and 1002!

Skyward: Volume 1 – I had heard that this was good on the iFanboy podcast (which I’ve been listening to for ten plus years, where does time go!?) and it is by Joe Henderson who is a TV writer who broke into comics. I have to say that he is talented and a great fit for this medium. Skyward has a great premise. What would happen if gravity just stopped working one day?

I’m not really spoiling anything to say it would certainly have some sad effects. With that said, the book is not overly dark and its not hard Sci-Fi either. It explores a few interesting ideas that may or may not be plausible. I liked that part of the book, though I don’t know anything about Physics and am not a science guy generally. This is one of the only books that I’ve read since this renaissance started that I think would work well with female readers as well. Seeing tons of reviews from female readers on Goodreads confirms this for me. The art is beautiful throughout and this is a fun, fast read.

4 out of 5 stars and I will definitely read the next volume.

The Department of the Truth: – Volume 01: The End of the World – Do you remember when conspiracy theories used to be fun? Or at least seemed harmless? Well, this book is all about conspiracy theories but in more somber and literary way. I loved it and this is art of the highest order.

The plot is a little hard to summarize but basically, if a conspiracy theory gains enough belief or followers then it becomes real/manifests in the world. So naturally, there is The Department of Truth which is trying to prevent that from happening and Black Hat who is trying to create new realities. This isn’t as comic book sounding as it might sound either. For example, and this is perhaps a minor spoiler, the protagonist who gets ushered into the Department of Truth trails a women whose child was killed in a school shooting. She’s being harassed by gun nuts and Qanon types who accuse her of being a crisis actor and who faked her child’s death in a government ploy to take guns away from private citizens. Yes, this all basically has been going on in pockets of the US, particularly during the Trump administration. The plotline, just like real life, is heartbreaking and it makes you think about the reality we live in.

This book is dark, but it tackles the world that we’re living in right now. I’ve talked to my brother and maybe one or two of you about how scary social media is nowadays and I feel like this book tackles this issue in a believable and authentic way. If I had to criticize The Department of Truth, the plot takes a little while to get going and at first the book seems a little more lighthearted than it is. The art is not going to be everyone’s taste either. I really like this style quite a bit though I would say it kind of becomes samey because so many panels are dark and kind of dream-like. The art style matches the tone of the book perfectly however. I’m giving this book a high score because I value literature just as much as a purely entertaining comic book. I can’t wait to see where this goes from here and what else it says about the world we’re living in. I don’t know if this is something others would enjoy but if it sounds interesting at all, I’d certainly recommend it.

5 out of 5 stars and I will absolutely read the next volume.

30 thoughts on “Hellboy – Does that Chimp have a gun!?”

  1. Love the chimp! You did a great job on that! Also nice to see the fallout terrain in situ! Keen to see what the new camera lets you do!

    I haven’t tried painting 75mm scale yet but it’s definitely an interesting one for display! Hopefully you get better luck next time, that sounded terrible.

    Department of truth sounds extremely up my alley and I’ll definitely check that out!

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    1. I’m glad to hear it! It was nice to see the terrain on the board for me too. I get impatient with terrain and forget that it takes a long time and a lot of effort to build a collection of it.

      I am, for once in my life, eager to try larger scales. I’ve always been scared of the eyes and faces which require a different set of techniques to do them well. It will be interesting to see how I get on. I’ll certainly share any information that I learn from the experience which might help others.

      Lastly, I hope you enjoy Dept. of Truth when you get around to it! I’m looking forward to reading the other two volumes whenever there is a sale on them myself.

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  2. Great work on the roads.

    A suggestion for the future, if you look at how the barricade looks on the road… several small scatter pieces of dirt and junk might help make the road look less “flat”. I now you are working on a bunch of scatter terrain but I mean super simple scatter lumps of dirt and small debris items, like the size of a 25 or 32 mm figure base. Ideally not perfectly round but just putting stuff on figure bases may work too. Or for a bit more money buy any of the various wasteland junk bases from different vendors and paint them up but do not put a mini on them. You can also do some small scrub brush pieces like that. It can really help with desert wasteland to add texture where you do not have lots of vegetation to add texture to the table.

    Getting an airbrush took me a long time and I still have not used it to properly paint a mini but it has proven incredibly useful in allowing me prime things no matter the weather. I highly recommend biting the bullet. A bit of expense in the beginning but it really pays off in the long run.

    I look forward to seeing your Anubis!

    And I look forward to seeing how your new camera works out for you. I really need to improve my photography skills.

    That Ministry of Truth sounds entirely too on the nose for me right now. I can not begin to express just how disappointed I am in America and humanity in general right now.

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    1. Thanks for the suggestion, mate! You and I are thinking alike as per usual. I think I forgot to glue on any vegetation which is a miss on my part. I do think there should be some on the streets so I will fix that. I also agree that the roads need a bit more signs of life and I need to get some little bits and bobs to scatter around. Getting some vehicles is also high on my list of priorities now. Sometimes it feels like it will be ten years before I have a truly impressive and extensive collection of terrain for Fallout but I’ll keep plugging away at it.

      I’ve killed three starter airbrushes in the past so I’ve been pretty reluctant to get another one. I hated having to troubleshoot them but its possible that I just need to get a higher quality one and I’d do better. Its certainly something to think about down the road.

      The Ministry of Truth does sound downright Orwellian! Not that the Dept. of Truth is much better. I can totally understand your feelings and being immersed in that isn’t for everyone. I will tease what I’m currently reading and say that its something that you enjoyed recently. That gave me the kick I needed to try the comic version so I’m sure you’ll enjoy seeing that when I finish reading it.

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      1. Doh! I must be getting old… I did it again, misremembering the name of something I just read. Sorry!

        I forgot to mention how good your chimp looks. Ace work mate!

        As for terrain…. it is a never ending story!

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      4. No worries at all 🙂 I’m starting to get middle aged brain and am not as sharp as I was even a couple of years ago though it pains me to admit it.

        I couldn’t agree more on terrain. I suspect I’ll never be fully happy with what I have but that’s the nature of the beast!

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  5. I think those roads are in better shape than some I’ve driven on. Gouge out a few pot holes and then I can relate better.

    I too tried out a starter airbrush once with poor results. Not knowing if was operator error or poor equipment I’ve been too scared to buy a better one as I’m concerned the results will be the same.

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    1. I can relate to that. We have plenty of roads here that are perpetually undermaintained. I wouldn’t mind some more damage to these street terrain pieces but I do appreciate that they maximize playability.

      Its good to hear that I’m not the only one who has had that experience too. I know how useful airbrushes can be just for priming and varnishing and I miss having one for those tasks but it will likely be a while before I’d consider spending the money needed to get a better one since I have so many other things to upgrade/replace around here.

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      1. I decided to skip a starter airbrush after watching several airbrushing advice videos on YouTube. I burned out my first compressor by not checking the moisture build up in the vapor trap. And I destroyed one airbrush trying to disassembly it too far to do a deep clean. Expensive mistakes individually but the time and money I saved in the long run has been well worth it.

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  6. Nice work on the chimp, Jeff – looks really good! 🙂 I like the roads as well! Shame about Anubis though!

    And I have a daft question! Why not prime by brush? I usually use Vallejo Model Color primers on resin models that might not take kindly to enamels and they seem to come out fine. The primers are relatively thin but dry well enough and don’t leave brush marks in my experience. I’ve never had a problem priming with enamel over the years and still use it for plastic and metal models, but some resin model manufacturers advise using acrylics for their products. Just a thought!

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    1. Thanks for the kind words, John! And yeah, Anubis is off to underworld a bit earlier than expected, I’m afraid. I will get another copy and paint it up though!

      That is not a daft question at all. I do prime with a brush fairly often, especially gaming pieces because it isn’t too much of a time sink. Resin in particular can be tricky with taking paint. Sometimes it works totally fine and other times its not so easy. I try to spray resin with a rattlecan primer for that reason. My concern with priming a display model by brush is to get the paint on but still keeping it thin so that you preserve all the details. In this case, a 75mm miniature is about as big as an action figure, if not bigger, so it takes a couple of hours, if not more, to get that task done so you can certainly save time with a rattlecan. I am going to get a new 75mm miniature any day now and I will have to prime with a brush so I will certainly do it when needed (or if there’s no alternative). Hopefully that makes sense! Its a dangerous place entering the mind of an artist at times. I should also add that I have a painting friend from outside our community (who lives in your fair country) who gives me grief about not priming every single miniature I paint as it is too 😀

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  7. That’s pretty cool, but somehow in these weird worlds that we play in, a character that is ‘just’ a handgun-wielding chimp isn’t actually that bizarre! I do like the clean and simple way you’ve painted it.

    I’ve added The Department of Truth to my ‘to read’ list too – your recommendations are going to start getting expensive 😉

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    1. In Hellboy, the chimp is one of many amusing side characters. I can’t remember the backstory for the chimp. I need to get the remaining Hellboy stories I don’t own so I can figure it out 🙂

      Haha, I’m glad to hear it! I can add a disclaimer to spend responsibly to future posts if that would help 😀 Truthfully, I’m not sure how many of us in the hobby do that as it is though!

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  8. I could swear I posted a reply to this already, but I must have gotten distracted before I hit send! At any rate, the chimp looks good and has a bit of a 2001 vibe to him. I don’t recall seeing him in Hellboy, but I’m far behind in my reading still.
    The street tiles look good all lined up like that and it’s cool to see your muties and such all gathered around.
    It’s too bad that Anubis broke, he looks a beast! I think paint wise, he’s right up your alley too. Hopefully the next goes together better.
    Department of Truth sounds like something I might read, but I’d probably get too depressed by how close it is to reality. The art reminds me a bit of Bill Sienkiewicz’s work.

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    1. No worries! Thank you for the kind words as always. I’m pretty sure the Chimp with a gun is a side character that shows up for a couple of pages, if that. It is definitely a minor character so don’t sweat it if you can’t remember it.

      Yeah, Anubis should be a great one to paint. I’ve long wanted to paint something Egyptian-looking which he fits the bill. He is quite expensive to buy online so it might take me a while to obtain a second copy but at the latest, I will try and get another one at Adepticon if Scale75 has any available.

      I would say Dept. of Truth is something to read when you’re in the mood and right headspace. The art is pretty similar to Bill S.’s work from what I’ve seen. Personally, I liked that about it.

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      1. Yea, it’s a great art style for a moody indie comic vibe. Though that page isn’t as frantic (or confusing) as some of Sienkiewicz’s stuff is.
        Well, hope you pick up an Anubis someday, I think you would definitely do it some justice!

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      2. I see what you mean. Department of Truth is pretty grounded and there isn’t a lot of action scenes for better and worse!

        I appreciate it on Anubis! I finally purchased my replacement project so you’ll see me paint something in a larger scale soon enough 🙂

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  9. The chimp is an excellent piece Jeff, the subtle tone variations add real depth to a great sculpt, and I appreciate the natural look of the sculpt. Your roads look great all laid out together, the only thing I can think to add extra depth to them would be some oil or petrol staining, but would probably veer clear of tyre marks on these. The barricade looks amazing and your weathering is sublime on it, you should be super proud of it. Sorry to hear about the large model, as it would have been a great piece for you to paint.

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    1. Thanks for the kind words on the chimp! I actually drybrushed the fur, if you can believe it so it was very quick to paint.

      Some oil stains would be a great idea. I’ll have to look into that. I still need to add some vegetation to the street tiles but I will get around to it sooner or later.

      I certainly learned a lesson on Anubis and so I ordered a miniature that is a bit simpler and easier to handle. We’ll see how I get on with it this week.

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  10. A chimp? With a gun? Sign me up! He looks great, a very natural pose (especially the left arm and legs) and your painting’s really brought him to life. The fact he’s holding a gun is just the cherry on a chimpy cake 🙂

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