Yup, I recently picked up a few Hasslefree Sci-fi Adventurers bearing astonishing resemblences to three characters from one of my favourite shows: Battlestar Galactica [spoiler warning, if you still haven't seen the series then get on with it! Just look at the pretty pictures in this article]. As usual these are absolutely not Admiral Adama, Colonel Tigh and Caprica Six. I just painted them this way as part of the eclectic display I call Cathode Ray Conquerers.
The Cathode Ray Conquerers have no real place in any of my armies and are just display pieces painted for the sheer hell of it. So far I've done characters from Doctor Who, Hellboy and Hot Fuzz and I'm fairly certain there'll be more! Anyhow, on to the painting, lets start with the good Admiral:
Now to prove what a geek I am, the uniform as sculpted somewhere between the everyday blue uniform (which should really be belted) and dress greys (which ought to have a sash). I decided to err on the side of the everyday and paint the uniform as blue as the belt was a lot easier to ignore than a girt great sash. Getting the blue right was simple, Kantor blue mixed with Vallejo black (which I've shifted over to having become frustrated with the coverage and depth of colour of Abaddon Black), highlighted with pure Kantor Blue and then glazed back down with Drakenhof Nightshade (seriously, "blue wash" has eight letters and a space, sheesh) . I then washed the shoulder and cuff sections with Nuln Oil because they are a darker blue. Given that the Colonel Tigh model has just the one eye it places the models at a particular point in the continuity, thus, Bill Adama is an admiral and has the gold piping on the uniform. It does make me laugh, the continued adhereance to military code of dress. The president has to get a jeweller to make the admirals pips, they've got shortages of everything but plenty of uniform piping... Along those lines I also made an attempt at the colonial fleet insignia on his left arm, given that it is 3mm across it is tough to do anything but suggest its presence.
Saul Tigh is one of "those" characters. You like them when they are doing the job right and despise them when they are screwing up. Or being screwed up by the wife, yeesh. Anyway, Saul was painted the same way as Bill except that I added more grey to the skin tone and obviously needed to pick out the eyepatch. This is that classic "nobodies skin tone" colour that medical supplies tend to come in. Ungor Flesh made a nice analogue. Its worth mentioning the bases. These are Black Cat base inserts. For display models base inserts are great. Cheaper than buying the metal/resin for a full base and all of the character. Yes, I could probably have fabricated these out of plasticard but it would have taken as long as painting the models. And speaking of models in every sense of the word:
The "Gina" model (named for one of Six's many clones) by Hasslefree is a stunning piece of work. Anyone who knows the series knows that Kev White has captured perfectly Tricia Helfer's figure and stance, oh and "that" dress. Getting her skin tone and hair right needed a lot of fiddling around with very subtle differences in shade. Guy skin you can go for high contrasts (especially Edward James Olmos (Bill Adama) who has the craggiest face on any living human) but girl skin needs softer contrasts. As a result, the difference in shade between the highest highlights and the lowest shades on Six are very very slight compared to normal. The hair (which could have been even lighter and still been the right colour) started as a shade of bone so light it was almost white and than shaded down with seraphim sepia before being rehighlighted with the original mix. Annoyingly, I've just noticed the left eye (right from our perspective) which while looking fine in real life looks gods aweful in the photo. Grr. Something to fix.
All in all a very pleasant day and a bit of painting and something I can recommend to anyone. Its all very well doing my usual thing of keeping tightly focussed to army projects and "useful" painting but it can be a bit wearing. Doing occasional "pointless" painting like the Cathode Ray Conquerers is like a drink of water in a wine tasting, cleanses the pallete and leaves you fresh for more of the same. Plus, you run into unusual problems to solve which improves your painting. Using popular TV shows and comics and the like just give me another bridge to the "normals" in my friends and family who don't wargame in order to interest them in my output and hobby. Give it a go, have some fun and cleanse your hobby pallete.
Thats all for today, Purple marines on my workbench again before work starts on Pyladii Alpha. Work in progress as always on Today I've Mostly Been... which you can also follow on Facebook or Twitter, whatever takes your fancy really. Until next time
TTFN
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