Supervillain: Odyllic

Odyllic, named after a term related to the pseudoscientific Odic Force, is a master mentalist. While he only has minor telekinetic powers, his telepathy is second to none. With the accoutrements of a classic hypnotist, he uses dazzling illusions and mind control to commit crimes for fun! While he could be a serious, world-level threat, he prefers to think of crime as a game, with the heroes playing their parts in his story.

The model is another Reaper Miniature from the Bones 4 Kickstarter, and the figure is now named "Meligaster, Iconic Mesmerist, Halfling Bard" on the website. I did a little putty work to turn his bare feet into passable boots. Being a Halfling, he's a little short, but his hat makes up for it; additionally, as I'm sure he would tell you, "physical stature has no bearing on the MEASURE of a MAN'S MIND!!!!!!"

The colors are red and purple, which is a villainous power palate like Magneto. Some bright "Gehenna's Gold" paint from Citadel really makes the metal bits pop. The painting turned out really well and I'm happy with the result.

Urban Terrain: Biggut's Fish Franchise

I've been learning how to use Blender for 3D modeling, and I used it to design (and then 3D print) this 28mm-scale building. It's a small, modern fast food restaurant that specializes in fish, loosely based on "Urist Biggut's Fish Franchise" from our homebrew D&D world.

The restaurant is printed on a 4" by 8" base so that it can be used as a modular component of a larger board. The base and walls were printed together, then the roof was printed separately. (The small beam across the top of the skylight was also printed separately, using less than one gram of filament.)

While I'm not finished painting (with mostly weathering to do), it's currently in a table-ready state. First, everything was primed with Craft Smart Black, as usual. The brick is a haphazard mix of FolkArt Imperial Red (4669) and FolkArt Matte Coffee Bean (940); having a bit more or less on each brushstroke gives some nice color variation. The blue is Vallejo Blue (70.925) and the grey is Vallejo Heavy Bluegrey (72.144). The front concrete is actually a different grey, Ceramcoat Rain Grey (02543), but the two are very similar. The roof was a progression of dabbed colors with a coarse brush, though a sponge may work better in the future. I went with a mix of Black (70.950) and Basalt Grey (70.869), then some haphazard mixes of that with Luftwaffe Uniform WWII (70.816) and Rain Grey, then some FolkArt Real Brown (231) and Coffee Bean. The metal bits are a mix of Gunmetal Grey (70.863) and Oily Steel (70.865), with a bit of that mixed with Craftsmart Orange Spice for a little bit of rust.

The closed security gate at the front is actually a piece of thin cardboard. I scored lines into it with an old ballpoint pen, then painted the whole thing with Oily Steel. I then dabbed on some Real Brown and Coffee Bean—especially around the base—to dirty things up.

The big sign is just a placeholder, as I hope to make up a bunch of (scale) signs, posters, and other things, put them all onto a single sheet at high DPI, and get them professionally color printed. I may also finish the interior with scrapbook paper (for flooring and wallpaper); scale restaurant furniture is possible, but unlikely for the foreseeable future.

I hope to design and print more modular tiles for this set soon!

Supervillain: Veinglory

Sometimes the puns come first. Veinglory takes down those he feels are overburdened by pride: imposters, corrupt executives, and those who take others' accomplishments for themselves. These are the targets of his blood-themed crimes. A dedicated martial artist, Flynn Harkon was set to become a global champion, but then a blatantly unfair, nepotistic judgment in the world tournament cost him his chance for fame and fortune. Determined to have his revenge on the powerful judges who had cheated him, Harkon hunted them down and killed them using his distinctive "Hundred Bloods" technique. While the superhero Tempest was unable to stop him before he killed the tournament winner, Veinglory was subsequently captured and imprisoned. Veinglory is one of Tempest's rogues; they are nearly evenly-matched martial artists, but Veinglory claims Tempest's wind powers give her an unearned advantage.

This model is made from Anvil Industry Parts. The body and arms are from the "Secret Service Team" pack and the head is from the "Wasteland Survivor Heads." The mask was painted right onto the plain white resin, with a layer of Ceramcoat Cardinal Red, then a layer of Vallejo Bloody Red (72.010). The mask's white lines are Dead White (72.001). The shirt is Heavy Red (72.141). The suit is a mix of Heavy Red and Black (70.950). Everything except the mask was then washed with old Agrax Earthshade. (Those few remaining drops are priceless.)

Superhero: Umbra

Umbra is a shadowy urban vigilante, unpowered but highly trained in stealth and martial arts. Basically she's like any given member of the Bat-Family. While trained in the arts of the assassin by a shadowy cult, she escaped and traded in her swords for specialized stun batons. She can light up the tips of her batons to throw off her enemies in the dark, and she has specialized flash bombs on her belt.

The model is Reaper Miniatures "Serena, Dreadmere Rogue," which I got in the Bones 4 Kickstarter (the gift that keeps on giving). She originally had a sword and a dagger, but I clipped them off. To replace them, I cut one-centimeter pieces of paperclip and glued them into holes that I drilled into the sword handles. Instant batons!

Originally, I planned to use a purple and black paint scheme, but I realized it looked practically identical to the Stephanie Brown "Spoiler" costume. I went with heroic blue as the primary color instead. Everything on the model is a combination of some or all of the following Vallejo paints: Black (70.950), Blue (70.925), Heavy Charcoal (72.155), and Basalt Grey (70.869). On the batons, I worked up from blue to a blend with Deep Sky Blue (70.844), then Sky Blue (70.961), then Dead White (72.001) at the tip. The warm skin tones and basing give a nice contrast to balance all the cold hues.

I'm very happy with how this miniature turned out. The blue on the costume pops just enough, and the white tips of the batons give two nice spots of visual interest.

Supervillain: Couture

Couture (coh-tyur) has the power of cloth manipulation. She can change, extend, and otherwise manipulate any fabric that she touches, often using her dress for defense (armoring), attack (extending bolts of cloth), crowd control (wrapping people up), disguise (extensively shifting her outfit almost instantly), and transportation (using cloth for grappling/swinging). It's a surprising number of different powers rolled into one.

A former—and technically current—fashion designer, Raschel Weaver discovered her powers while working in Paris, preparing for what she believed would be her bold, breakout fashion show. However, the show's organizers burned the venue for insurance money with Raschel inside. In a panic, Raschel's powers activated and she used the fabric around her to escape and exact revenge on those who had tried to kill her and ruin her dream.

Nowadays, she has returned to the United States, where she does extensive business in bespoke supercriminal and gang costuming. She also enjoys the thrill of supercrime, sometimes undertaking heists with other supervillians and sometimes leading her own sartorially elegant crew of henchmen.

The figure is from the Reaper Bones 4 Kickstarter. It's currently being sold in a two pack called "Vampire Bloodlords." I trimmed a tombstone off the base to make the model less "vampire," and masked the upper face to finalize the transformation into superpowered territory. The colors are an unusual combination, but it works as a bold statement. The orange is Craftsmart Orange Spice. The dark color is a mix of Vallejo Heavy Charcoal (72.155) and Luftwaffe Uniform WWII Blue (70.816). The light blue is a mix of the Luftwaffe blue and Deep Sky Blue (70.844)—which is basically the same as Caldwell's blue from the previous post. The hair was Dead White (72.001) given a wash of old Agrax Earthshade for a very light blond color.