This is an ongoing work which I shall update over a number of posts.
This blogpost is my progress on painting plastic miniatures - not 35mm but the larger scale 70mm range aka "Fantasy Toy Soldiers" - there is an AWESOME blog on that subject - again a NSFW warning but not for naughty content like a buddy but rather for the W as in WALLET...
Lordy, I want to suck up all the Dragonriders of the Styx - but not at F-ing $400 range on ebay... F-it, we need to buy up that property and re-issue it. I do have cool stuff like the Dinosaurs with cavemen set and rock/cave background. My Dragonman action figure even out of case goes for big $ on ebay...!? So again I'd like this to return, for someone to reissue it.
Well, I am doing this to a point...
Not going to dig up whoever owns the "Dragonriders of the Styx" property and pay to have the 'rights' - going to make my own. This is as much inspired by MOTU - how I loathe Kevin Smith and what he's done to it. I don't live in Florida so I can't make an effigy of him and shoot it in the backyard in a mock execution - and if the neighbors scream as long as I've made a barrier of stone and dirt...Again don't live in Florida so no backyard rifle range in a city sadly. Good Castle/Gun laws otherwise.
Still more constructive to make my own.
Now for all the pandering and relying on Batman to get them $ I do like DC comics (of the PAST) for one big thing among many. Taking Mattel to court over copyright/trademark and WINNING. See they decided to get into the "Over-muscled barbarian scifi fantasy" toy market and Mattel tried to claim they copyrighted it - didn't want cheap competing figures.
A Judge sanely decided he did NOT want to deal with that or 1000 other lawsuits over who's sci-fi fantasy barbarian warlord infringed on whoever's copyWRONG so they could fight competition not legit have issues. So he ruled that as long as they didn't bootleg aka literally copy 1:1 the "Fantasy barbarian scifi warlord" type of action figure was GENERIC - too generic to be copyright/trademark save exact names, exact figures.
I really, REALLY thank DC comics for this. Most of the time it's the smaller one not having enough $ to begin the paperwork to fight and capitulating or a larger one deciding fighting isn't worth the $ and pandering. DC ponied up the $, took 'em to court, brutally GUTTED Mattel and unleashed a FLOOD of fantasy action figures to compete with other fantasy toys and action figures.
As a kid I simply saw tons of knock-offs that were CHEAP so I could have an ARMY on a kid's $ and they'd all be different weird creatures that'd fit with MOTU.
As an adult who does his own sci-fi/fantasy and would like toys made from them I like the freedom from pointless copyright trolling. I can make my OWN "Scifi fantasy barbarian in the distant past of the future far far away" just no cloning existing figures.
THAT - gentle reader - is exactly what I'm doing.
Omega Crusade - the final battle between Good and Evil at the end of time. The last sun in the eternal cold, dark universe, immortals from eons past and future emerge from stasis to fight in the final conflict! It'll be a few neat stories and comics and the springboard for a possible animation old school "Saturday morning cartoon" style. Also TOYS.
For now I'm going to go "Fantasy Toy Solider" and more as a personal art project make my own mini toys and sets!
So I'm designing toys - but per "Dragonriders of the Styx" they'll be "fantasy toy soldiers". Reason - IF I make toys on my own I can make many FTS vs Action figures and sell them to my fans of my stories much cheaper. THEN if some big studio picks it up my fans will be rewarded by these becoming HYPER collectible!
I'm getting the technology - some decent injection machine and some melting equipment - I can hand cast aluminum and copy models I make via impression/lost wax into tools that is double sided clamshells to force the melted plastic into.
While I'll charge more than Temu or Chinese made FTS it'll be supporting an indie Storyteller/Artist - AND be made in the USA. Ever notice how the Chinese COPY everything? Well they could buy my sets and bootleg those, but 1000x easier if someone sends the models to them to get them made there to cheat the American his ability to barter with his labor, time and skills. No offense to the Chinese - makes total sense what they do - what is OUR excuse tolerating it?
My buddy who does X rated stuff actually almost wants to send some of his work there to get made cheaply KNOWING they'll copy the models. Think sexy Women in Prison like Corman's Grindhouse, sleazy sci-fi with tentacles and nude space babes... Really funny if some of those show up in dollar store toy bags, eh?
Not me - if the Chinese have people BUY my toys and make new tools and copy them and re-sell them... Well I'd be flattered. Serious.
I do reserve the right to compromise and send stuff to INDIA. I've been there, plan to go back. I know lots of people there. They like us, they don't want to kill us. Unlike... However they'd NOT make my buddy's sexy figures - I can imagine it - "you need help. This is wrong, Sir! It is a toy. Imagine if a CHILD saw. What is wrong with you?"
But as it is it'll be "Made in the USA" by my own burned hands and I'll be open if I ship it to India!
So - the big priority is to write the stories and get the initial comic done! And online to sell - likely RedRoom and other non DriveThru unless the latter focuses on $ not politics even though if it was animated Omega Crusade would be Saturday Morning Cartoon stuff.
However here is how I'll make the toys.
First I'm painting mini figures - then I'll work with Green Stuff to make my OWN characters;
Omega Crusade - also perhaps Dominick Wytchburner, Shah-Azir, Rexx Rhyder.
Then I'll work out ways to copy them.
By then I should have gotten my injection machine and crucible/melting/casting setup. That'd make me feel like a high school kid in shop class. Don't know what baby stuff today's "Woke" world has but I handled melted metal and welded, had some nice pock burns from slag on my arms for years as a point of pride...
Thus - I begin by painting figures and then working with Green stuff along the way - progress will be updated separately, painting at first -
SECTION ONE - PAINTING EXISTING MODELS
FIRST:
I get two figures - a fairy from a generic $1 art thing for cutesy things - and an Indian brave from a classic but still sold Cowboys and Indian sets - and some paints.
Drilled the fairy's hair with a jewelry bit so I put a hole the wire could fit into. Drop of hot melt glue on the brave.
SECOND:
Got some primer paint and applied a base. Rigged up a foamcore photography lightbox to photograph these things easier. Nice grey basecoat.
THIRD - Got some other figures - a Wizard and Dragon from my Amazon ordered Fantasy Toy Soldier sets - Monster Scary Good - text opens in new window on Fantasy Toy Soldier blog - these are for purchase on Amazon and they are AWESOME! These are 70mm but they also have generic and cheap but good quality 35MM for TTRPG play with them on the map.
These I added the primer coat with a spray primer for the miniatures hobby. Drop of hot melt glue on wood block again - I added a cut paper skirt to protect the blocks but they'll get covered in drops of paint anyways...oh well...
FOURTH - I got to painting them at last! So many IRL interruptions... This is just the first stage and major colors. It is not to be a tutorial on how but progress blog for personal goals.
FIFTH - I added another major layer of paint. Feels 80% done already though I'll need to add a few more details and garnishments - such as Indian's black hair, gold stars on Wizard's robe, etc.
SECTION TWO - GREEN STUFF MODELLING
My ultimate goal is to do Pulsarion in his Halo chariot as a concept toy for Omega Crusade.
However, baby steps, I'll start with one of the bad guy faction leaders - Nihilanth aka "The Rusting Regret" very scary person you'd NOT want to meet.
A Beksinski painting would be a happy Bob Ross on his world. At the end of the Stelliferous era (age of Stars) they waged a war in desperation to try to secure their posterity into the eternal darkness but it backfired and caused at least a thousand worlds to be blackened and their essential memories lost. Their world was cast into a void to drift forever until perhaps a new universe forms. Their technology is Entropy based so they were able to survive it and somehow got connected to the OMNEX probe that created the final natural star and world of the same name and so joined the outer planets for the last Drama. Nihilanth is their leader and indeed regrets his actions but sees no way other than to continue struggling for resources and power.
Aside from backstory they are horrific mutant techo zombies on a cold world - but now enriched by the light of the last sun can move around and open space/time gates to nearby worlds.
I figure this is the best first place to start since if I botch I'll make horrible mutant zombies and - WIN!
First I bought some Green Stuff and Blue Stuff and a few tools I didn't have, had Nitrile gloves and wire and corks already - watched a bunch of YouTube videos. Even got a smaller digital scale so I can make sure I get the proportion right when cutting to mix the stuff...
Then I planned out some of the characters ---Pending Update for upload images and then Green Stuff.
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