We’re starting to really test my knowledge of roman numerals now! Before I discuss the subject of today’s title, I thought I’d share some more progress on the Arkham Horror Organizer. I still continue to get pieces done each week somehow. This time I got a bigger card organizer finished which looks quite nice with the cards in it. As an organizer, it really works nicely. You can put the two sets of location cards right across from each other so they’re super easy to locate. This is a real time saver which setting up the game.
I also managed to get another small token tray done. I forgot to take pictures of the sides which have tentacles on them similar to some of the other token trays I’ve showed previously. This one holds “Points of Interest” which are often things you need to interact with in a given Arkham scenario. It is meant to hold the dice that come with the base game. I “upgraded” to a Chessex set that are normal sized and as you can see, they don’t fit. So I probably won’t get a ton of usage out of that part of this tray. I may throw the official dice in there and just not use them as I like the red dice set much better both visually and I swear they roll slightly better too!
I have two small token trays and another larger card organizer to finish up. As I keep saying every week, that’s probably more than week’s worth of work so I’ll keep chipping away at this and hopefully I’ll be done with it soon. That will be a great accomplishment and a relief because I have all the pieces scattered across my computer desk currently and I don’t care for how messy it makes everything look.
And now we can discuss Lokaris. The forever running project of 2026! In all seriousness, I got an email from MMSI last week that there are seven weeks until the show. At this point, I think we’re down to six weeks so I’m definitely on a deadline at this point, though I’m not letting that affect my painting process. I took my sweet time on the axe blade this week and have had a lot of different feelings about it throughout the process. My main goal was trying to preserve some of the texture sculpted into the axe. it has a few cracks in it and I wanted to keep those as it fits the overall look I’ve been going for with the miniature. I also wanted to try some different colors for the blade that might fit the “earthy” overall look of the mini. Most axes have steel looking blades and so I kind of mixed feelings about this idea now.
The blade is such a key part of this miniature and so its really great to have it up on his shoulder. It really sets the mood of the overall piece. The front of the miniature really looks sharp now, though there is clearly a lot left to be done on the back yet. My only point of dissatisfaction is I feel like maybe the scratches are a bit too bright on the axe blade as they look a little cartoony compared to the rest of the mini. I’m going to think on this a bit more and maybe phone a friend to see what I can do to improve it. I’ll press on with the rest of the mini this week as I am running out of time and there’s a decent amount of real estate left to work on, unfortunately for me.
While I still don’t have time to work on anything Monsterpocalypse yet, I have joined the 21st century and bought my first STL. I want to get some of the supporting Empire of Apes troops (which are unsurprisingly, all apes) and the original releases are all metal. I’d rather not have to fiddle with metal miniatures in the diorama so I managed to score the STL file for all 9-10 of the different sculpts for about $10. Thanks to friend of the site, Azazel’s help, I’m in touch with a local 3D printer and we’ll see what kind of results I can get working with them. Hopefully, the quality is high enough that I can use them in the diorama. If not, I can always shop around for another printing service, I would imagine.
Last week I had a conversation with Dave Dredd, aka, Dave Skywalker, aka Dangerous Dave Stone (he has many aliases as it turns out) of Wargames Terrain Workshop and I decided to try reading a 2000 AD comic for the first time in my life. For those of you not English and possibly not European, 2000 AD is available in American comic book stores but my comic book stores does not stock them with other comic books so they are definitely not prominent or easy to find. The comic book store I regularly visit has a small magazine section right below the front counter that are pretty easy to miss (partially because there can be a line of people checking out in front of the magazines but also because they’re just off the ground and you have to stoop down to really see them) and that is where Judge Dredd and 2000 AD comics are. After probably two years of visiting said comic book shop nearly weekly, I finally figured that out and so I bought 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special #1 which is at least allegedly a good place for new readers to start with 2000 AD comics, including Judge Dredd.
Before I talk about the issue itself, I want to comment upon how overwhelming 2000 AD is to get into. There is SO MUCH content and its also not really cheap to buy in the US. This issue was $7, magazine format (so bigger pages than a typical comic book which is nice), and full-color for the most part. Its not a bad deal though still more expensive than $4 and $5 issues I usually am buying and the page count isn’t a lot higher for the price. What is confusing is that there is also Judge Dredd Megazine which is $10 and there is 2000 AD itself is also $7 an issue. There’s also 2000 plus issues of 2000 AD at this point which is insane. This is more daunting than your typical superhero comic from DC or Marvel where the numbering is confusing because it isn’t that uncommon for them to restart the issue numbering or change a series’ name overtime to up readership but even still, even something as venerable as Superman or Batman is not up to that many issues, I don’t believe. Regardless of all that, I remain a little confused by all of this which will become relevant in a few minutes.
In terms of Sci-Fi Special #1, I opened it and read that the theme was going to be body horror for this issue and sighed. I don’t like Horror movies at all. Lovecraft, Poe, and Gothic horror is really the only thing I enjoy in that genre, which I fully admit is very tame compared anything else in the genre. So I didn’t have high hopes but I was pleasantly surprised as I read the issue that generally, I liked each of the stories even if I didn’t fully grasp the characters. Judge Dredd I knew well enough from watch Dredd 3D a while back. Karl Urban really played that character well because the comic book version looks dead on like him (or perhaps its the other way around!). I was not at all familiar with Judge De’ath, Stickleback, or Strontium Dog but the stories were short and easy to understand. Each one was maybe 10 pages long, so shorter than even a single issue of an “American” comic book. While I can’t say this issue made me fall in love with the characters and want to seek any of them out individually, what I was struck by and liked was how cynical and pessimistic 2000 AD is. It depicts humanity and its faults in a realistic and believable manner. So that part of 2000 AD was very interesting and appealing to me. There’s also something about it that reminds me heavily of Necromunda, which I like as well. I’m sure Necromunda took its influence from 2000 AD and not the other way around, because that is what Games Workshop does, but I like the dystopian future feel, all the same. I should also mention that there are no Marvel or DC comics that resemble 2000 AD either. It really stands on its own as a unique flavor of Sci-Fi story. This issue definitely makes me want to read more, if I can figure out a good way to do so. I should also thank Dave for the recommendation because I would have likely never watched Dredd 3D or checked out 2000 AD without knowing he really enjoys it. I have some more research to do to see what else I might like to read from 2000 AD but I will try to remember to report back when I get around to reading more 2000 AD.
Kuribo's Painting 
Not many bits left to finish on your organiser now, so keep up the great work.
Lokaris is really coming together now, I think you are right the scratches look bright, but I would vary the color of them, so some being old with maybe a little rust color in them, some remaining bright like new scratches, some darker that have started to oxidise.
Shall be interesting to see how your 3D prints come out.
I always found it took a while to start picking characters I really liked, now the original Judge Death when he first appeared as a super villain, and later with the rest of the Dark Judges, was a wow moment, not read any of the young death stories, but would imagine it shows how he comes to see all the living as guilty, yes trying to catch up on 2000ad from the start would be monumental and expensive, issue 1 can go for well over a £1000 now ! LOL once you find a character you like, the graphic novels are the easiest way to read most of their stories in my experience, as the prices are only likely to increase.
Yes GW came after 2000ad, and at one point even did a range of Judge Dredd miniatures, so you can see the influence in Necromunda.
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Forgot to mention you can get digital downloads (which are cheaper) from here News | 2000 AD
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I think that is the way to go since I have limited book storage space and its quite a bit cheaper to go digital with 2000 AD, which I really appreciate. While I didn’t mention it, I have discovered that 2000 AD actually serializes stories across many AD issues and that is not how I would like to read them. Having individual stories collected in a single volume would be much easier and more enjoyable for me. I have found a couple of Judge Dredd stories that are highly recommended for new readers so I’ll likely pick those up in the near future and see how I get on with them. I look forward to it!
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So close and yet a little bit far away on the organizer now. Probably a couple weeks away yet but definitely looking forward to the end at this point.
I think you’re right that the scratches are too bright. I can see about dulling them down this week and seeing if that doesn’t fix things.
One thousand quid is quite a lot though early issues of Batman or Superman probably fetch even more sadly. That is good to hear that you didn’t necessarily gravitate towards one character straight away. I wasn’t sure if that is what the issue was trying to do or not.
GW wasn’t exactly subtle about borrowing from 2000 AD, were they? Its amazing how much Necromunda cribs from it and here I was thinking GW was a little more creative than that! 🙂
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Good progress, Jeff! 🙂 Way back in the late 70s a bunch of us used to use 2000AD for ideas for making our own sci-fi armies by converting plastic figures with plasticene! Brilliant fun!
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Thanks, John! That does sound like a great time to me. I would imagine there were some imaginative miniatures being made during that period 🙂
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Lokaris is definitely looking good now! Very impressive stuff, I don’t think I would ever be able to get something to look quite as good as that!
Really interesting to see you’re dipping into 2000AD. It was a big thing over here in probably the late 80s, early 90s? My brother was big into that, I seem to recall. It used to evoke similar memories to Terminator, until a few years ago I started to look into it for myself and was surprised by how different it was. You’re right about the Necromunda / GW link though (I mean, the Adeptus Arbites are straight up Judge rip-offs). All very interesting, I hope you’re going to continue that adventure!
The organiser, though, is looking great! So beautiful to see those cards lined up like that, I must say. However, the real star of this post is those dice, man! They’re superb! I feel distinctly second-class in my dice now, and I think I need to upgrade… 🤣
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Thank you, mate! Honestly, I didn’t set out necessarily thinking I would ever get to this point myself. I just tried to keep getting a little better with each miniature I painted and now here I am! I’ve heard other painters say similar things so that leads me to think there is some truth in it, even though I found it hard to believe when I was starting out truthfully.
I’m afraid I’m becoming more and more British with each passing day 😀 Of course, at the moment living outside of the US is greatly appealing but England doesn’t seem like a terrible place to be to me anyway. Having said that, 2000 AD and Dredd are all new to me and so its exciting to have a big world to read potentially. Not that I’m lacking in stuff to check out. I still intend to read Conan and Lovecraftian fiction but haven’t been able to find time to progress on that goal as of late sadly.
I think the organizer is looking more and more useful, the further I get. As for the dice, that is very kind of you to say. I bought them for another game that didn’t work out and so I’m getting my money’s worth now. I’d love to have a set that is even more Lovecraft-inspired but the ones I’ve seen can be quite pricey. The Chessex dice are quite affordable, I want to say I paid $10 for the set so you can definitely snag yourself some new dice without ruining your bank account! 🙂
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I can remember being heavily into RPGs in my younger days, and would definitely ruin my bank account with getting fancy dice, so that is definitely a cautionary tale there… It’s definitely time to upgrade the dice though. Arkham & Eldritch give so few dice compared with what you usually need…
You definitely have your work cut out for you, with Conan and Lovecraft, and now Dredd, yeah! Makes me smile because it feels a bit like how I am with flitting between so many games 🤪
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I was really surprised how expensive dice can get. I can’t imagine wanting to spend $50 on a set myself but I’m sure they have their reasons for it! There are some Lovecraftian dice sets out there so I have a feeling you’ll find something cool before everything is said and done!
Ha, that is very true! It doesn’t even account for all of the comics I read and don’t really discuss unless one is particularly good. Those are what really keep me from having time to really dive into those other reading goals. Such is life though and hopefully I’ll get a bit more caught up on my reading goals… eventually!
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I think the most expensive dice I bought were the solid metal ones. I still have an oversized d20 on the nightstand, as my wife doesn’t think it’s worth having out anywhere else in the house, but I like it!
While not related to the comics, your comment has just reminded me you said you were getting into a card game a couple of weeks back (my mind works in mysterious ways!) Any news on that yet, as well..?
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Metal dice do sound nice and like they’d roll in a satisfying manner. I’m glad you can display your d20 somewhere too. My wife would probably do the same to me, truthfully!
All you had to do was ask, mate! 🙂 I was nearly done with it and planning on getting it done this weekend, since its a holiday weekend, but you gave me a little extra motivation!
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that axe is coming along very nicely, any critiques will have to be from people with more experience and better eyesight 🙂
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Haha, don’t mention eyesight! I’m start to suspect mine is getting a little worse now that I’m middle aged though it isn’t impacting painting yet, thankfully…
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2000 AD brings back so many memories! I’m glad you had a good time with it! I read that and Slaine a lot in the early 90’s, I also remember a Judge Dredd/Batman crossover that was pretty wild. Let’s just say Dredd doesn’t bother taking anyone back to Arkham…
Simon Bisley did a lot of work on the Slaine series, which I loved. I think the closest Marvel ever came to anything like 2000 AD was Epic Magazine, which tried to be a cross between 2000 AD and Heavy Metal magazine. Some of it was good, some was crap, but most stories were only a few pages, so it wasn’t a waste of time.
Loving Lokaris, watching that model come together has been a treat!
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That’s great to hear! I am intrigued by the Dredd/Batman crossover since I’m now a fan of both.
That is very interesting about Epic Magazine, I have not heard of it, but I also didn’t really get into comics until around 2010, if I remember right so it probably predates my time in that hobby. It makes sense for Marvel to at least try something like that.
Thanks for the kind words on Lokaris. Looking forward to showing more progress sooner or later!
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Wow, Lokaris looks even better now! I quite like the way that the scratches in the axe blade work; I didn’t think of them as cartoony at all – or at least not any more than the huge size of the weapon in the first place.
Judge Dredd is born out of the 80s Thatcher era Britain, which is probably why it seems so cynical and pessimistic. Obviously those days are in the past now but in the meantime 2000AD became it’s own behemoth and so, at least to some extent, it continues those themes. Probably they’re more relevant now that ever.
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Cheers, mate! There is a fine line between realism and something that looks exaggerated in mini painting and its good to hear I’m on the right side with you 🙂
That is good context! I was a born in the 80’s so I’m not terribly knowledgeable about her, though I haven’t heard great things. I’m reading some more Dredd at the moment and will share my thoughts on it soon. Probably next week!
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