Monday, December 5, 2011

Little Green Men

For my birthday I received a set of grey aliens from Zombiesmith. They arrived about a week and a half ago, and I tore open the envelope giddy with anticipation. I'd been lusting after these minis for a while, and was ready to get to work on these fellows. I laid them out on my table and checked them out. There was a bit of flash, but nothing an X-Acto blade couldn't cure. They were lightly coated with mold release, so they took a quick bath in some hot water and dish soap. Onto the drying towel they went, and after a bit they were ready for cleanup. The flash came off pretty easily, and a couple of mold lines were easily cleaned up. Some of the tabs were too long for the slots in the round bases provided, so I clipped them down with side cutters. From there, it was supergluing time.


 All of the (now cut down) tabs went into the bases without issue. As expected, the tiny little fellas' bases were much too large for them, so I had to cover up the holes left in the base. I tore up little bits of of receipt paper from a recent shopping trip and attached them over the slots using Elmer's Glue-All.

 
Base issues resolved, I glued down some ballast...


Then outside for some primer...


As usual I used Rust-Oleum automotive primer. I then went over them with thinned-down Chaos Black, and began painting. I was inspired by Invader Zim,  so I decided to paint their skin green and give them beady red eyes. Their skin was basecoated and washed the same way I painted my Yu-Jing minis, and their eyelids were highlighted with green mixed with a little bonewhite. Once their eyes were painted red, it really made the faces pop. I gave the models different uniforms based on their roles, the commander a bright red, the psychic turmoil team colors revolving around which role I have in mind for them, and the basic warriors got a black and purple uniform (shocking, I know based on my propensity for painting things purple). The bases got painted in a moon-like grey since they're from outer space and all.






I'm tempted to collect an entire army of these guys. It's a shame the sculptor seems to have fallen off the face of the earth, as that means the promised heavy weapon troopers and robotic familiars will probably never be seen. Boo, hiss. I'm pleased with these minis in the end. Maybe I can convert some of these guys into special weapons troopers if I buy some more.


...With my sculpting skills, maybe not.

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