I have a more modest update for this week, partially because it was late in the week when I updated last time. I managed to knock out another investigator for Hellboy and this time its Sidney Leach. Its been a minute since I read Hellboy but I definitely remember this guy and that’s not just because of his soul patch! As I recall, he has a bit more personality than other B.P.R.D. members (outside of Hellboy, Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman, etc.) who show up in the comics so he’ll be interesting to try in the game. I unfortunately forgot to look at his rules so I can’t speak to how he plays. Most of the regular human agents are noticeably weaker than the big name characters which is realistic to the comics.
Unfortunately, this miniature has a pretty bad lean and while I improved it with some heat and cold water, its still far from perfect. There are some other issues with the sculpt itself but you can’t see too many of them in the final paint job, thankfully. Outside of that, he was a very straightforward mini to work on and a nice palette cleanser after the Empire State Building. One thing that is interesting about this miniature is what Sidney’s doing with his hands. Can you tell that he’s taking one of his gloves off? Its definitely an unusual choice for a miniature sculpt but I guess that fits his unique personality.
My expectation is that I’ll chip away at some of my gaming backlog for a bit until I get fired up to do some display painting again. Part of this is because I want to have some actual miniatures to show off for Dave Stone’s Paint What You Got Challenge which will be kicking off soon and I encourage any and all to join, if they’re interested.
The only other thing worth mentioning is that I finished reading an actual book (and not comic books!) for the first time in too long. I read Patriot by Alexei Navalny, who some of you probably know was a political activist in Russia. I expected it to be a sad book because we all know how the story ends unfortunately but many parts of the book were quite uplifting. I learned quite a few things from it as well. Navalny is somewhat outspoken (which not to stereotype but I find a lot of Russian people tend to be) but he has really interesting opinions and insights into the Soviet Union’s fall and some of the leaders before Putin. I know Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin from when I was a child, but nothing really about them or their tenures in the Soviet Union. Of course, Putin and the corruption of the Russian government gets a lot of coverage too and deservedly so.
About halfway through the book, he is imprisoned for made up crimes because Putin and his government view him as an enemy and and this is also fascinating. Russian jails are very different from US ones, perhaps unsurprisingly and the way they “turn the screws” on prisoners is cruel and almost difficult to imagine. Navalny didn’t write the book to expose the prison system or anything like that but the problems are laid bare all the same. It amazes me that he was able to write this portion of the book while in jail and somehow get his diary entries out of the system through his attorneys so this book could be made. That alone makes this quite an interesting read as well. I can’t help but feel like he died trying to make a difference and this is one of his last contributions to the world and so reading it was the least I could do. I know this book is more contemporary and political than what I usually talk about but it exceeded my expectations and I was glad I read it so I thought I’d mention it, in case someone else out there might be on the fence.
As I often say around this time, this could very well by my last update of 2025. I usually take a few days away from the hobby desk over Christmas Break and this year will be no different so if I don’t update again until the New Year then I will see you then! I hope everyone has a nice holiday break and gets everything they want from Santa. I’m really looking forward to the time off and I hope to do at least a little bit of tabletop gaming as well.
Kuribo's Painting 
That is a cool model, you’re right the glove coming off is an unusual choice (in that I don’t think I’ve seen it done before, it looks very cool). Must be nice to paint something smaller after all that work on the building!
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I’m glad to hear you like the sculpt! The gloves/hand confused me when I first started the mini but thankfully, I figured it out in the end. I probably spent 3 or maybe 3.5 days working on Sidney so it was quite a change of pace!
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Whenever I see your Hellboy stuff, it always puts me in mind to get this game to the table again… though mine is totally unpainted plastic… Maybe I’ll get it out of the attic over Christmas, that could be a start… 😬
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I’m glad that you find it inspiring! I know you have your hobby goals already but you might as well slap some paint on some of the Hellboy miniatures. The frogs for example see a lot of use so painting those will definitely pay dividends. At the same time, if you’re like me and use Hellboy every game pretty much then he is a great candidate too 🙂
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I’m fairly sure I’ve played Hellboy each time I’ve played this, yeah 🤣 We shall see, anyway! Anything can happen in the next twelve months, but the more I think about it, it could be nice to have some painted minis for this one…
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That is quite the compliment! I appreciate it. If you’re good at batch painting, you can plough through a lot of the similar sculpts pretty quickly as well. I find it a bit dull but I did resort to that kind of thing for some of the Hellboy miniatures. So maybe that will give you some inspiration too 🙂
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My years of 40K have prepared me well for batch painting, I must say! I might dig the game out and play it again first, try to get myself back in the mood!
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Nice work on Sidney (and everything else you’ve been doing lately – I’ve not been commenting half as often as I’d like). Have a great Christmas and New Year!
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Thank you, mate! I know you’re busy in the last couple of years so while its always great to hear from you, I totally understand that you can’t comment as much as you would like. I hope the Red Gobbo stops at your place and that you get a break from work soon!
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Excellent work on Sidney Jeff, as you say weird sculpt but you can make out that he is taking his glove off.
Sounds a very interesting read, openly criticizing the Russian government never goes down well, even hiding it in the story Animal Farm didn’t go to well for the author.
Hope you have an awesome Christmas mate
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Thank you, Dave! It was definitely a change of pace, if nothing else.
You said it well on criticizing the government in Russia. I forgot to mention this but I often thought to myself as I read, could I do what Navalny did? And truthfully, I couldn’t go from Germany, where it was safe, after I was nearly poisoned to death, right back to Russia knowing that I’d be arrested and killed in jail. He was definitely brave for doing that.
I hope you have an awesome Christmas as well!
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Nice work on Sidney! 🙂 I like him! Hope you have a good Christmas, Jeff!
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Thanks, John! I hope you have a great Christmas too!
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Interesting sounding book; the Russian government is truly scary. Merry Christmas and enjoy some well deserved rest & relaxation time!
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Indeed! There are some shady characters running things there, I’m sorry to say. I hope you have a Merry Christmas too and are able to get some gaming in! 🙂
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Nice painting. I don’t know enough about Hellboy to know who this is, but I guess part of his role is to show how weird Hellboy and most of his pals are by being just a regular human.
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He is a very minor character. I think she shows up in one or maybe two story arcs so even some Hellboy fans probably don’t remember him. To put it in Marvel terms, he might as well be one of the more minor members of the Inhumans!
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Haha, I love that you put it in terms I would understand 🙂 Anyway, he looks super regardless of how minor he is in the comics.
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Hey mate! Sidney came up well, despite the foibles of PVC boardgame models. I know all too well “the lean” – just don’t be surprised if he goes back into it after some time….
As for Navalny, you do need to wonder what he was thinking by stepping back into the Lion’s Jaws. Was he hoping to become a martyr for his cause, or just blindedly thought his chances were better then they were? (much like Prigozhin or even Khashoggi going into the embassy)?
We all know that there’s only one possible outcome in these situations.
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Its good to hear from you! Unfortunately, I know all to well what you mean about Sidney leaning. I’m not sure the hot/cold trick does all that much and in the long run, I imagine he’s going to look goofy again.
You pose a great question. Navalny does get into it a little bit in the book and basically says that he felt like he wouldn’t be living up to his morals if he didn’t go back to Russia and keep fighting. I admire his moral courage but I couldn’t do that after nearly dying from the poisoning on a plane. I do think he wasn’t under any delusions that it would be the death of him which is more than I can say about “Putin’s Chef” and what he attempted…
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