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Kimera Models – Minerva III

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Another week and more progress on Minerva. I had the pleasure of working on some of the gold parts this week and I’m trying out yet another new gold recipe to see if I like it any better than the one I used on the Knight-Judicator. So far, its working well and is easier to manage with less complicated paint blending. I spent most of the week glazing to get smooth blends on the larger surfaces which were a bit tedious and harder than I expected. Glazing on flat surfaces is always easier than rounded ones in my experience. 

Unfortunately, my camera is struggling to take great pictures of this mini right now because of my photo setup. If I took the mini off the paint handle, I think the shadows would be lessened and you’d see everything a little better. I guess you’ll have to take my word that the gold is a bit more subtle and interesting than it looks currently. At least the edge highlights come through pretty nicely. There’s still quite a bit more to do on the leg armor and then her sandals and toes need work too so I’ve got a ways to go yet. One of the two legs will mostly be blocked by the shield but this is a display piece so I’m leaving no stones unturned. 

I did take the opportunity to try Kingdom Rush: Rifts in Time to make sure I liked it and I’m happy to report that I do. My initial impressions of the game is that the rulebook is not bad but the game was a little hard to fully grasp from reading it.  There are a few things I had trouble getting right and the first time I played, I put it on a much higher difficulty setting than I should have and lost pretty handily.  The second time, I understood the rules better and won on the easiest difficulty. It was still pretty challenging so I’ll have to hone my skills if I want to conquer the harder difficulties.  The game is definitely fun and captures the feel of tower defense video games.  I think it is a great game to play solo and if you have some friends that like cooperative gaming, then I think they’d enjoy this one. 

The game comes with some tokens which are surprisingly unpainted. While waiting for some paint I needed for Minerva, I went ahead and painted up the heart tokens which were in a dull gray color originally. I tried to blend the red colors a bit but it just wasn’t working like expected. This is my first time painting wooden meeples and it was harder than expected. It looks like some of the paint I applied may already be chipping off too so maybe that wasn’t the best use of my time. Time will tell how these hold up!

I’m going to set Kingdom Rush aside for now since I’m already playing a strategy video game which kind of overlaps a bit. I’ll talk more about Kingdom Rush and write a proper review once I’ve had a chance to play through the whole game. I also need to paint up some of the minis so I’ll have to try and squeeze those in when I can in the near future too!

Lastly, I have not one but two books to discuss in Comics Corner. After recently reading the Wizard of Oz, I was pleasantly surprised by how different the second book in the series is.  I got a little bit of a Lord of the Rings vibe with recurring characters and locations which were enjoyable to see.  The Scarecrow and Tin Man return, among others. 

The main character is Tip, who is a boy that is captive to a lower-level witch named Mombi.  One of the funniest parts is that Tip magically gives life to Jack the Pumpkinhead, who calls him father throughout the story.  Tip is maybe 10-13 years old so that joke definitely landed with me.  The other surprise is that the main villain is Jinjur, who is a girl that is tired of doing feminine chores (namely cleaning and cooking) and leads a rebellion against the men in the Emerald City to make them do the work instead.  She also is easily distracted by jewels so its not a flattering depiction of women and its hard not to imagine that Frank L. Baum was trying to do something in response to the women’s suffrage movement.  I quickly understood why this book has never been turned into a movie.  They’d have to completely rework Jinjur’s character for her to work with modern audiences. 

While I can’t say that I enjoyed this as much as The Wizard of Oz, it was still a fun read and the art is fantastic as with the previous story.  The Marvelous Land of Oz has a few annoying and inferior characters compared to The Wizard of Oz but beyond that, it is an adventure well worth taking.

4 out 5 stars

You may recall that I read Rorschach by Tom King a while ago and liked the ideas but found the reading experience to be a slog.  Well, I gave a critically acclaimed Tom King book a try this week.  The series is 12 issues long and is self-contained which is cool and makes it easy for new readers to check out.  Thankfully, Vision is much less wordy than Rorschach and the plot moves along at a solid pace.  Essentially, the Vision decides to create his own robotic family and it goes badly.  The book largely consists of tragic and dramatic moments where this robotic family is trying and failing to find some sense of normalcy in a human world, in this case, the DC suburbs.  For example, the Vin and Viv, the two children, are soundly rejected at school and their attendance causes prejudices to surface.  The book has some really well-written scenes where the strangeness of Vision’s life come through too.  An example is when a friend visits who insists that they go out to eat and the Vision family can’t eat because they’re robots so they pay for food at the restaurant but request that it not actually be made or brought out to them.  These moments are surreal, clever, and interesting. 

In fact, I would say Vision is a solid read if you like something that makes you think and are okay with a superhero book having almost no superhero antics in it.  This book is much more focused on being a family tragedy and having odd and tense moments than showing what Vision’s superhero obligations are like.  In many ways, this book feels like an influence on WandaVision, even though the stories go in pretty different directions.  For me, the only area of disappointment was the ending.  I’m not going to spoil anything but I didn’t love the shift from most of the book being a tragedy and making you squirm to what seems like a brief moment of happiness to an even darker and kind of horrific turn.  Its not that I wanted a happy ending, its just that I didn’t care for the even darker turn.  It felt kind of cheap and unearned to me.  I haven’t seen many others complain about it online so maybe it is just a matter of my own taste.  I’d rather see the full-on tragic ending instead of the horror tinged ending I got.  That doesn’t diminish that this book is well-written and engaging to read at all though and if you liked WandaVision, are a fan of Vision in general, or like surreal, family tragedies, then I’d recommend the Vision.

4 out of 5 stars.

That’s all for me and I may not have too many more updates the rest of this year. If I can write another update or two, they may be less predictable than they normal as well. If I don’t talk to you between now and then, I hope everyone out there has a Merry Christmas!

34 thoughts on “Kimera Models – Minerva III”

  2. Hope you and your good lady have a very Merry Christmas Jeff.
    Some great progress on the model, and always find it interesting to watch the NMM colours develop.
    Mombi and Jack, were characters that appeared in the Return to Oz movie as well, but the stand out characters for me in that movie were the Wheelies.
    The Vision story sounds like a analogy of modern society, and how in general people don’t accept differences, and shun the different, may give it a read, thanks for highlighting it.

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    1. I hope the same for you and your family, Dave! I’m glad people don’t find these long projects too boring. There are some weeks where I think I might be at risk of boring everyone!

      I should have known that they did indeed make a second Oz movie. I just watched the trailer and it is quite a departure from the The Marvelous Land of Oz. The Wheelers are not in the comic book version at all!

      I think you hit upon something The Vision does well. I don’t think the book sets out to talk about differences and prejudices which is good because those things are really hard to write about in an interesting and non-lecturing kind of way. And yet, being different is depicted in a really realistic fashion. If you decide to pick up Vision, I think you’ll probably at least like it. The quality is easy to see from the very first issue and it is a hard series to put down too.

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  5. Minerva is coming along nicely! Your ability to get some painting done, a game played and comics read in a week is quite remarkable, I would be lucky to get one of those three done, you must not have a yard to take care of 😄

    Enjoy the holidays and have a Merry Christmas!

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    1. It does sound like quite a lot, I suppose! I take the odd reading break while working, don’t tell the boss, so that helps! Thankfully, I don’t have any yard work other than wrangling leaves. I’ve been working on those for the last two months and keep finding more to bag up…

      I hope you and your family have a great Christmas break as well!

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  6. Well, I think the gold is looking pretty damn amazing so far. Even if the camera didn’t catch it all. That part on her torso will also be gold?
    Vision by Tom King…people raved about it. I tried an issue or two, and it just wasn’t my thing. One thing that kind of bugs me, is Vision is NOT a robot. He’s a synthetic being and can actually eat if he chooses, though he gets most of his energy from solar radiation. But maybe his consciousness was transferred to a lame robotic body, which would make my point moot. But I’ve noticed this a number of times with new writers. Especially Bendis, who is too lazy to do any proper research on a character before writing them. I’m reading a series right now, that has some glaring mistakes, which has only reminded me of this issue. I think modern editors/publishers are more desperate to bring in people outside the industry (or just new writers) and give them total leeway with continuity and characters. But hey, when the ship is constantly sinking, I guess you try whatever random crap you can. Whew, that’s my tirade for the night, haha!
    I hope you and your family have a Happy Holidays too! 😃

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    1. Thank you and you got it. There’s several more gold parts to go. I told myself I’d do it all at once but it just is too much to try and do in that way.

      I don’t know Vision’s backstory well at all though I could see purists not caring for this take on the character. The Vision is not depicted as being particularly noble here. I think this book is the equivalent of a DC Black Label book as well. It has nothing to do with past continuity and has to be read in a vacuum to be enjoyed.

      Tom King is very much a novelist who got into comic books somehow. His interests are more aligned with literature than a lot of other comic writers. I think that and the fact that he uses a lot of words in his books are causing him to become a loved or hated writer. I’m honestly down the middle on his work so far. The literary stuff I kind of like but I still prefer Bendis (gasp!), Brubaker, Mignola, and quite a few other writers to Tom King’s work thus far.

      And I agree that newer books try to appeal to new readers more and more. I think there are a lot of “new” characters in the last 10-15 years that are clearly designed to be that. Miles Morales and Ms. Marvel both come to mind.

      I hope you and your family have a nice break! Maybe Santa will bring you some new paints 😉

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      1. Ah, I see…so that Vision series is something like DC’s Elseworlds? I guess I’ll see what I think of his Human Target once that book finally arrives. I think it’s held up with another order, so it will be a long while. Not like I don’t have a million things to read in the meantime! 😉

        I actually went to the hobby store to pick up some of the AK military colors that I don’t have…but they don’t have any. So the only thing we walked out with was a new toy for my daughter! 😂

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      2. Yes, Elseworlds would also be a good comparison, maybe even better than Black Label. You can tell that I’m not a big DC reader! Marvel doesn’t have a line of comics exactly like either of those two though I think they should. Human Target is on my get it when its on sale list too. Its got a lot of hype around it like The Vision had. Truthfully, I think Tom King likes to write about deeply flawed and somewhat depressing characters so I think you have to enjoy that at least a bit to enjoy his work. Or at least that is a recurring theme that I’m seeing in what little I’ve read.

        That is a somewhat shocking development on the paint too 😉 I guess your collection is nearly complete then!

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      3. I’ve heard of Black Label, but haven’t really read any of it (that I recall). But from what I know, it’s sort of the new Elseworlds but for certain creators?
        Marvel had What If?, Ultimate Universe, …but maybe something also closer to Elseworlds and I don’t remember now. My memory is directly related to the amount of sleep I’ve been getting, haha!
        I don’t have any strong ties or much knowledge of the Human Target (and from what I recall, he was one of those DC characters that didn’t have any personality anyways), so deeply flawed and somewhat depressing character probably would be just fine for me.
        I’ve started to stock my tablet with a few random small Image series that caught my eye over the years. It’s amazing how many short comic series they’ve done. Should be good reading while I have some time off!
        AK has a large number of paints, most I skipped. Things like inks and some others. But I’ve found the military uniform colors (just like Vallejo has) can be some pretty interesting paints to have. Especially when you want an optional brown color for straps, shoes, etc.

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      4. Rorschach was my first Black Label book. Black Label has a reputation of mostly being Batman books though there is other stuff mixed in there. I need to read more DC in general. Watchmen was a very belated step in the right direction but I’m sure I could find other things I’d enjoy in their universe.

        That’s a great plan! I read an issue or maybe two a day if I’m really enjoying something and I often don’t read at all on the weekends and I’m able to make decent progress on series so I’m sure you can squeeze some reading in here and there. Reading comics is so much faster than books which is one thing I like about them.

        Between Vallejo and AK, just about any color you could want should be out there. I do think they put Citadel’s range to shame in terms of variety and color options. One day, I will get a bigger desk and expand my paint collection into AK Interactive even more. I think I like theirs best though I’m so used to Citadel’s that it will be a hard habit to break! 🙂

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      5. Oh yea, I read Rorschach at least. Not sure what other black label stuff there is.
        I have to read whenever I can, and it’s usually when the kid isn’t around. Then I can read a few issues at a time, which is nice when it happens. I’m mostly alternating between older Marvel stuff I missed and a few “newer” items.
        The difference in paints is small enough that it doesn’t matter that much which brand. I like Reaper because they are some of the thinner paints I’ve worked with, whereas Citadel is on the other end. But add more water to Citadel and you can end up with something like Reaper anyways. I guess with AK I’ve found them more consistent overall. If I have a base color in mind, they are usually the first thing I will reach for. If I want something that it really going to pop, I’ll for Reaper. But both lines have some nice base and highlight paints.

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      6. There is a Wonder Woman book with outstanding art in it that I’m very curious to read. Wonder Woman Historia, I think its called. And while I may have more opportunities to read, I take a similar approach and squeeze a bit in whenever I can.

        That makes sense on the paints. I tend to be a stick with what I know kind of person so I may say that I’m going to try new things but its much more likely that, I won’t 🙂

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      7. As a character, I’ve just never been fond of Wonder Woman. I’ve seen some good artists on the comic, but I can’t say I’ve ever read a WW story and said “Wow!”. I liked the movie, for the most part, but I think that had more to do with Gal Gadot than anything.

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      8. I’ve never read a Wonder Woman comic. I know some WW delves into mythology which would be right up my alley. I mean look at what I’ve been painting lately after all! With that said, I bought into the hype for the Wonder Woman movie and found it to be pretty average. I will give some Wonder Woman comics a read sometime soon thanks to this conversation. DC has a big sale going currently on Comixology so it’d be rude not to pick something up! 🙂

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      9. You can’t tempt me with the Comixology sales! I will resist!! Haha!
        Yea, some has delved into the mythology. But most of what I’ve read was ‘comic writers mythology’, which isn’t as interesting as something that had been well researched. But who knows, maybe there have been some good writers (like Mignola) who have delved more deeply and made it interesting.

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      10. Jeff Bezos would like to personally invite you to the sale! 😉

        I did some further research and found at least one run (Greg Rucka) that is highly acclaimed and under $10 to pick up so it’d be rude not to try it, right? 🙂

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  7. First, Merry Christmas! Second, Minerva is comong along well – and photos never give a figure true justice. Lastly, I abought all the original Baum books (not the comics, the books) so your descriptions of the comic were interesting as I am just finishing book 2 about Tip.

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    1. Thank you, Mark and the same to your family! That is cool that you’re reading the books. I hope you enjoy the series and I’m sure its great for inspiration for Ozz. I think the comic books are pretty faithful to the books from what I hear though the only way to know for sure would be to read them side-by-side. That would be quite an endeavor!

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  8. Coming along grand mate! 👍

    The Oz comic sounds like my kind of thing. The Vision one, not so much.

    I keep telling Mrs. GG she really needs to watch the Wizard of Oz, if for no other reason than to have a foundation for all the spin-off stories and retellings. Like the Wizz. I dislike Michael Jackson but I do want to watch the Wizz at some point. And there are plenty of other Oz related shows I am keen to see. If only the Wizard of Oz was on Disney+….

    Things have been busy, busy, busy on this end by the way. Not much to show off on my end hobby-wise. But I will try to get a proper blog post up soon.

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    2. Thank you, mate! The Oz comics have both been a great read so far. I will continue to read the rest of them and hope they maintain the same quality.

      Wizard of Oz does have a lot of spin-offs. I’ve only seen the original movie though I’m aware of The Wizz and some others. Actually now that I think about it, I did see the very mediocre Oz movie that Disney released with James Franco and Mila Kunis with an ex. That is one well worth skipping, both the movie and my ex! 😀

      I look forward to your next update and I hope the holidays give you a chance to get some hobbying time in too!

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    1. Thank you, Nic! I’m eager to see some progress on the mini too. Hopefully, I can make some inroads over the next couple of weeks. I hope you have an excellent festive season and I look forward to seeing what 2024 brings us both!

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    1. A half-serious and half-joking answer would be too long! I didn’t keep track of hours spent, but it definitely took me at least 5-7 nights of painting which is usually about two hours each day. So 10-14 hours is a rough guess though I suspect it is probably longer than that.

      Funnily enough, the parts that look the best was where I edge highlighted everything and those probably took around 2-3 hours in total. So a small part of the overall time spent. Go figure!

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      1. That is an impressive amount of time for such a relatively small amount of the miniature. That said, the results speak for themselves so clearly the time is well spent. And of course, the time spent enjoying yourself is the best possible time.

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      2. Cheers, mate. Many parts of this mini have been fun to work on thankfully and the more I get done, the more I like how it looks too which is always what you’re hoping for.

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