Despite the fact that I painted a bit less than usual this week, I have more than usual to talk about, including thoughts on a video game and a movie. Hopefully there’s a little something of interest in here for everyone. As usual we’ll start with miniatures and the subject referenced in the title. I’m starting to work through the remaining investigators you can play in Hellboy and one of the biggest names left is Kate. Kate Corrigan is a very likable character who helps run the B.P.R.D. She is preceded by Thomas Manning, who is played by Jeffrey Tambor in Hellboy 2, and he is a somewhat stereotypical bureaucratic leader who all but causes Hellboy to leave the organization in the comics. Kate Corrigan later fills that role is a compassionate leader who cares about doing things the right way. In many ways, she’s a mentor to the B.P.R.D. like Hellboy’s adopted father, Professor Broom. Her miniature is pretty mundane and funnily enough, she kind of looks like a cop because of the shirt she wears, but she’s more middle manager than that. The sculpt has some issues, as most Mantic Hellboy sculpts do but they’re not very visible and so she looks decent enough in pictures anyway. Its nice to have her done and I’ll certainly use her in Hellboy in the future as I like her character quite a bit.
I also finished up the last piece of dead tree scatter terrain (for now anyway) and got the mat out for some more cinematic pictures.
I didn’t feel like digging out too many Fallout minis but I did happen to have the Deathclaw handy so here’s an even better look at this terrain at work. Not too shabby and I think the new terrain is doing exactly what I hoped which is nice to see.
And that is my hobby haul for the week. I did want to discuss something that surprised me a bit that is hobby related. I was working on putting together the Darkoath Chieftain that I mentioned a little while ago and something unexpected happened. My enthusiasm for painting the mini dropped as I started assembling it and there’s a couple of reasons why.
The first is that it is smaller than I expected and that means a lot of the details are very fine. That is par for the course for GW but after painting Monsterpocalypse which is 60mm scale and then busts and 75mm before that, I think my tastes are changing and I do prefer larger scale miniatures because they’re “painter’s scales”. Meaning everything is larger so that its easier to paint and you have more options for how you do so. It may not look it but those decapitated heads have tiny details on them. Even the shields are much smaller than I expected which makes it harder to do much with them, NMM wise.
The other thing that struck me as I was building this mini is that it is actually pretty fragile. The horse’s mane, the hair on the decapitated heads can all break pretty easily. Dropping this one on the floor would surely cause that to happen. One thing that I’ve learned is that really fragile minis are not something I favor. I learned that with Liath, from Kimera Models a year or so ago when I tried to paint her.
Models with really fine pieces can easily be broken and honestly, that worries me more than actually painting the darn thing. I don’t want invest a hundred or two hundred hours into painting something and a mistake can mess it up. The Darkoath gives me those kinds of concerns, in addition to the fact that it is not sub-assembly friendly so I doubt I’ll ever give it a go, especially because I got it for a really cheap price so its no great loss to not take that project up.
My 40th birthday is coming up very soon and I somewhat kiddingly would say the last year or so has felt like a mid-life miniature crisis. I haven’t quite been able to find my lane with display painting. I don’t know if its 75mm or busts or 32mm. Each has their own pros and cons and no option is perfect. My hope is that as I get the Monsterpocalypse diorama done, I’ll be able to experiment with these scales more and hone in on what exactly I want to focus on and which one I’m best at. There’s tons of cool minis at any scale so I just have to figure out what works best for me and the best way to do so is to experiment and try to have as much fun as I can.
The main reason why I didn’t get as much hobbying done as I planned is I tried to finish up Cyberpunk 2077 which was very time consuming. Thankfully, it is a fantastic game. Art of the highest order and so I thought I’d talk a bit about it because its an interesting video game in many respects. For those who don’t know, Cyberpunk is made by the same people who make the excellent Witcher games but Cyberpunk’s release could be accused of being smooth. Cyberpunk was a buggy mess at launch and got a lot of negative reviews. To their credit, CD Projekt Red kept hammering away at the game and now its in a pretty good place. That just does not happen with video games very often and I’m glad they did because there are very few games like Cyberpunk.
I’m sure many of you know what cyberpunk as a genre is. A futuristic setting that is generally dystopian where technology has dramatically advanced but corporations generally rule over everything even worse than they do now. Cyberpunk heroes are often rebels who fight against the establishment in some way. In this game, your character is a mercenary who is trying to climb “the ladder” and make something of himself in a world full of powerful and immoral people. Its kind of like Elon Musk’s wet dream, where everyone replaces parts of their body with cybernetic enhancements. I mean, we’re talking eyes, hearts, everything, here. There are off-putting people who do it to their faces even. So Cyberpunk is equally fascinating and horrifying, and its a world that doesn’t feel too far away sadly.
The biggest surprise is that Keanu (whoa!) Reeves plays a character, Johnny Silverhand, who is essentially in your head for much of the game. Silverhand is a basically a noir, punk/anarchist and you hate him at the beginning of the game because he’s a jerk but amazingly, by the end, he might just change your mind as you learn more about the character. I don’t rate Keanu as an actor much but he does a heck of a job in Cyberpunk and Johnny Silverhand is a fantastic character. There’s something a bit haunting about Silverhand and his story arc really makes you think.
Cyberpunk explores so many interesting themes like what does it mean to be successful, what is moral in an immoral world, how does technology positively and negatively impact us, and how do we co-exist with “the man”. The game is 4-5 years old but it seems more relevant than ever with the current political climate and the way companies are treating their employees. Even the side quests in the game often result in story beats that made me really think about the situation and whether justice was served. Truthfully, there are a lot of sad or melancholic moments that happen and quite a few characters do not meeting happy fates but I think that is another way that Cyberpunk stands out from other games. It defies your expectations in a pleasant ways.
If that wasn’t enough Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the best realizations of that setting ever. I love Blade Runner but Cyberpunk makes it look primitive. The graphics are beautiful and the world is so well-realized. For example, Johnny Silverhand was in a band called Samurai and the game’s creators somehow convinced one of the greatest punk/hardcore bands of all time, Refused, to record music for this fictional band. The soundtrack overall is pretty good in the game and really sets the tone for the world you explore as you play the game. In many ways, Cyberpunk 2077 reminds me of the great PC game, Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines, which I know friend of the site, Nic, is also a big fan of. Both games realize a unique and interesting world so well and then they populate it with interesting characters for you to meet. This is the kind of thing that movies and TV shows struggle to match and that is truly a commendable achievement.
My only criticism is that I played the game on easy (because there weren’t any difficulty-based achievements, thankfully!) and it was a cakewalk for the most part. Combat is pretty mindless in that you’ll pick some skills on a skill tree, use those skills as much as possible to kill a lot of enemies as needed. I would have liked some more depth than just FPS shooting or melee combat depending on your weapons of choice. The achievements themselves are a bit grindy too but most people aren’t going to go for all of them like me so that shouldn’t deter you from playing what is definitely a modern masterpiece. It gets a strong recommendation to anyone who likes video games and hates the man!
And finally, I teased that I would continue consuming Kaiji-themed content and I somehow managed to do that too this past week. I watched Godzilla (2014) which I believe is the first Godzilla movie I’ve ever watched. I was happy to see that none other than Gareth Edwards, the man who helped create Star Wars: Rogue One was behind this movie. Godzilla 2014 is perfectly fine as a movie though I think there are definitely parts that are a little slow. Brian Cranston and Ken Watanabe deserve credit for giving their all acting-wise in the movie too. The concept of the movie is good and the villain kaiju makes a lot of logical sense which is a strange compliment to give, but its true in this case. It takes a long time for Godzilla to show up but the fight scenes near the end of the movie are pretty darn cool so that made me feel rewarded for watching it. The special effects in general are very good too as you’d hope for this kind of movie. I was a little surprised that Godzilla is a hero in a similar way to how Kong is a hero in Kong: Skull Island but if it works there, then I guess there’s no problem with double-dipping! All-in-all, I’d say there are worse ways to spend your time and while I prefer Kong: Skull Island, I can’t say much bad about Godzilla either.
In terms of inspiration, I didn’t get a ton from the movie. The fighting happens in downtown San Francisco and the buildings are densely packed. That isn’t going to work well in this diorama as one of the characters is brandishing a rocket truck! I was struck by how much destruction was caused to the buildings in the fight. If someone was trying to capture scenes from the movie, I’d estimate that 75% of the buildings should show some major signs of damage. I hadn’t thought much about that in the diorama and I think I better start figuring out some ways to show some damage, if I can.
I’ll keep trying to check out Kaiju-centered content in the coming weeks and see what other inspiration I can find. If you have any movie suggestions, I’m all ears and will do my best to watch anything you recommend!
Kuribo's Painting 
Kate looks great, a nice addition to the collection!
Glad you enjoyed cyberpunk, it’s one of my favourite games of the last few years (maybe my favourite!). I’d recommend the phantom liberty expansion if you haven’t played it, it has quite a few missions that can’t just be resolved by blazing away, so adds some nice variety to the game.
Funny you drew the comparison to bloodlines, I think one of the less obvious attractions for both for me is the music in both games. Excellent soundtracks!
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Thanks for the kind words on Kate! I think I’d have to put Cyberpunk up there for me as well. There haven’t been many RPGs that are as good as it though I haven’t played Baldur’s Gate 3 yet. I am relieved that you like it since I all but said you probably should play it 🙂
I will be getting Phantom Liberty next time it goes on sale on Steam for sure. It was on sale a few weeks ago and I should have purchased it then. Now I’ll have to wait for a little while I imagine for another sale to happen.
And yes, both games have excellent soundtracks which stand out amongst all other games. Even other cyberpunk games like Deus Ex Machina don’t sound similar to Cyberpunk 2077. And the main theme for Vampire is so good. One of the best I’ve ever heard!
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Excellent work there on Kate. The mini is somewhat unexciting but I think that there is always a special pleasure in painting up a personal favourite character. Is she playable in the game? I kinda had the impression that she was more often the one who would be sending Hellboy et al out on their missions rather than participating.
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Agreed, mate! Kate is playable in the game and I’m guessing that she’s best at gathering clues and she’s fairly unremarkable in combat but I’ll have to look up her abilities card to be sure. I can only think of a storyline or maybe two where she has to defend herself so she is mostly doing managerial stuff in the comics.
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I like the character, a middle manager with a gun! Your tree works well with the house and I like how you paint your bases to match your gaming mat.
it’s funny how a word “woah” instantly identifies a person.
It’s too bad that the figure is fragile, I agree I would be constantly worried that I would knock it or knock something into it. As you have said before, paint what you enjoy.
Regarding your diorama, have you seen the catzilla destroyed city diorama base?
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Kate’s more powerful than most middle managers, I reckon! Glad you like the terrain as well. If I can impress a talented terrain maker like yourself, I must be doing something right.
I didn’t go into greater depth but after mostly assembling the Darkoath Chieftain, I can see why gamers don’t like GW’s fiddly models. It is quite a process to build that mini and there’s a decent amount that can go wrong. Just clipping stuff off sprues is delicate work on that particular mini, not to mention time-consuming…
I wasn’t familiar with Catzilla but I am now! What a strange product from Japan (which I guess shouldn’t be all that surprising). Those bases look pretty good, especially for mass-produced toys/collectibles. I will definitely keep that in mind as a reference as a lot of Godzilla dioramas I’ve seen show damage in the building “sculpts” but not in the paint jobs which is something that keeps them from looking more realistic, in my eyes anyway.
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I came across Catzilla when I was doing a cursory search on destroyed city models. I do not envy you in trying to find something that works for your diorama. Find something in 3D printing and then try and get the right scale?
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There’s a lot less of this kind of stuff out there compared to what you might think. That is the best bet, in my opinion too. I know of one company that does some buildings (that I think they 3D print themselves) so we’ll see if I can make the scales line up…
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happy birthday!
inthink the lady cop with a gun came out great, and seeing the trees on the table does show off well how they blend nicely.
too bad about the miniature. Course, I always feel a drop of enthusiasm when it comes time to paint it. 😀
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We’ve got a little bit yet before I turn 40, I was just thinking ahead 🙂 Thank you for the kind words on the terrain and miniature! Its funny you say that the enthusiasm drop happens right before painting, for me its the opposite and a new miniature generally gives me a little bit of excitement. Its funny how much the hobby can vary from person-to-person!
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I’m a bit behind on blog stuff, Jeff, but that’s not an unusual occurrence! Nice work on Kate! 🙂
I’m finding two features quite common in 3D printed minis is that the detail is very fine and that they can be quite brittle. If I can I look for those that are a bit more hefty the they’re usually more robust!
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It happens to all of us from time-to-time, John and it take some time and effort to catch up! 🙂
That makes sense with 3D printed minis. I can see where you’re coming from now that you’ve mentioned it. I think going forward, I will favor chunkier models, where I can. There’s no doubt that certain kinds of subjects, elves come to mind, tend to have more frail and lithe designs which is a shame as I enjoy painting them!
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Nice work on Kate here. I’m not familiar with the character at all, and so yeah, she does “read” visually like a Sherriff’s deputy. I can see that the model is lower detail just from the pics, but you’ve done a great job on her nonetheless – and like I always say – especially for boardgame models – it’s fit for purpose and will look amazing on the tabletop.
I’m just noticing the base edging on the tree here – what made you go for a dark rim rather than something closer to the mat colour? The colours you’ve used on the “ground” and rocks there do a great job of blending with the table/mat and given there’s no gameplay effect bordered by the edges of the piece…
Your scale dilemma has a clear answer to me, though you may not agree. You want (access to) a resin 3d printer. The ability to choose a sculpt that appeals to you and then scale it to a size that works for you easily. The cost of a resin printer is pretty affordable these days, so the biggest impediments would be the space and the toxicity of the fumes. I know you live in a Condo, so perhaps if you have a parents’ garage, etc that can be reasonably warm for a few hours there may be a solution.
Failing all of that, you could just purchase/find some STLs you like and pay a printing service to do it for you. A bit trickier in terms of not being able to simply reprint a model 12% larger than the last print but you then don’t need to own, store or PPE-up for a printer. And still a ton cheaper than buying expensive resin models that were probably also printed anyway!
I’ve been holding out on CP2077 because of (initially) CDPR’s awful release morality, then waiting to get a PC powerful enough to run it well (just got that, yet to finish setting it up) and also waiting for a bundle with the expansion at AU$50 on GOG. I do have a Disc for Xbox I picked up cheap a year or two ago, but I’ve always just waited and held off.
I didn’t realise that Gareth Edwards was behind that recent Godzilla film, I may have to check it out. From my understanding, one of the best Kaiju movies that you can see is Godzilla Minus One. I know there’s a few versions floating around, including one in B&W which is supposed to be very atmospheric. Now that you’ve prompted me there, I may have to watch it in the next few nights…
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I haven’t seen the latest Hellboy movie but I think Kate is only in the comics so it makes sense that you might not know her. Thanks for the kind words as well! If I remember correctly, you’ve got the base Kickstarter version of the game and if so, you’ll find Kate in there to paint one of these days 🙂
Oh boy, you’re teaming up with John now! He has asked about the black rims/base edges too. I don’t know why but I like it for some reason. I certainly could match the base rims with the dirt but I’ve seen other Fallout painters do it and I think it looks odd. When it comes to terrain, I probably don’t need the black however so I will give that some thought. I might have even done some terrain without black “rims”, so I should double-check on that and get things unified…
I do have the problem with fumes that you describe and I live about six hours away from my family so I can’t rely on their bigger houses either. When it comes time to move from here, I’ll see if I can’t fix this problem somehow. I’d like to get a printer when the budget permits. There’s TONS of Fallout stuff you can print and I could really go wild on terrain with a printer. It would be great for simple stuff like trees as well.
I think you’ll probably like Cyberpunk when you get around to it. It was worth the wait as the game has fairly minimal bugs now. The only thing I ran into is when you call your car, it does some funny things. Sometimes it falls from the sky and crashes but you can just call another one so its not a huge deal, thankfully!
I’ve heard great things about Godzilla Minus One so I’ll prioritize that one. It is cited as one of the few Godzilla movies where the people on the ground are as interesting as Godzilla so that makes it noteworthy. The characters in Godzilla 2014 are not terribly interesting overall despite the huge chunk of screentime they get. Its still a pretty enjoyable movie on the whole however.
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I should have everything Mantic’s released for Hellboy barring limited BS models as they have a habit of doing sometimes – I’m just missing a box that has disappeared into the ether right now. Another “pretty good” boardgame in the mountain that I have yet to find time to play! 😡
I do rims on my models as you know, but for me, terrain pieces are part of what (should be) a unified table for the models to run around on, so I like them to blend as well as possible with the tabletop surface. Not always so easy when you have varied basing and mat types, but you’ve done such a good job matching the piece with the mat…. ultimately though – your models, your choice.
CP2077 is on sale on console again right now, but I want to wait for it on PC. I’m also waiting for it to drop to AU$50 including Phantom Liberty before adding to my library and the closest it’s been has been $60. Now I have a PC powerful enough to go nuts, I might make that extra $10 jump when it happens next. We’ll see what Black Friday brings in a few weeks. I was going to watch G-1 the other night, btu it was too late to read a movie so we just watched some South Park instead. Perhaps we’ll watch 2014 next time we’re in the same situaiton!
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I’m wrong then! You have a collection close to mine then it sounds because I think I only have one of the limited edition minis. I enjoy Hellboy but you have a great collection of dungeon crawlers so hopefully you end up being glad with your purchase when you get around to play it.
I looked into the terrain situation and I accidentally flipped to painting the rims black on these three trees so I’ll have to go back and fix that. I didn’t even think about it until you mentioned it and I’m happy to unify everything because it will look almost definitely look weird with some dirt colored and some black!
I just bought Phantom Liberty today since it was on sale again. I payed $46 in total for the two on Steam so Cyberpunk is not exactly cheap, especially considering its age. Hopefully that changes soon!
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Kate looks great mate
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Thanks, mate! Much appreciated.
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