From The Vault: VBCW

The Very British Civil War craze from a few years ago was one I really wanted to join in with. I loved the idea of the Abdication Crisis spiraling out of control and into civil war. The figures that were put out for it were incredible, and I couldn't resist buying and painting a few, even though there was absolutely zero chance of ever getting them to the table.

My first unit was repainted Black and Tans from Musketeer Miniatures (now carried by Footsore). I decided to theme the force around my old college – Lincoln – hence the dark and light blue bonnets. These guys were members of the college's UOTC formation – hence the more uniform appearance.

Of course, every college needs staff, and so these Musketeer/Footsore IRA figures were pressed into service as porters, groundskeepers, and the like. Their armbands were painted in the same two-tone blue to tie in with the uniformed chaps above.

Of course, as a college with close ties to the Church, it made sense for Lincoln to side with the Anglican League, which gave rise to this command group. A limited edition (I think – at least it used to be) Foundry figure, flanked by two from Artizan's pulp range.

Long since departed this world, there was also a Hurricane, painted in the same two-tone blue colour scheme (light undercarriage, dark on top), complete with a flight stand made from a coat-hanger. It was a mess, but I did enjoy the brief foray into Airfix kits.

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Disclaimer: All links to third-party sites are solely for the purposes of sourcing the products I have discussed, if anyone is so inclined. I have simply linked to the original manufacturer or the source I used (but feel free to shop around!) and make no money from people clicking through.

From The Vault: Tcho-Tcho

Call of Cthulhu was the first real RPG I played, and for as long as I've been aware of Lovecraft and the Mythos, I've loved the Tcho-Tcho. I don't know why, exactly – perhaps because they are almost always creepy, with the setting's cosmic horror reflected in them in a less overt way than some of the other antagonist options. It's the same with Deep One Hybrids – they're brilliant and creepy, but full-on Deep Ones... meh.

Regardless, when these guys came out, I snapped them up!

While I have my doubts about some of the scaling on the firearms, these are incredible little models, and I wish I could remember the manufacturer.

I tried to get a sinister, unnatural complexion on these guys, using green inks on khakis and light browns. It worked better on some than on others (the chap with the kitchen knife looks like he's been to a kids' facepainting party!), but they definitely don't look entirely human.

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Disclaimer: All links to third-party sites are solely for the purposes of sourcing the products I have discussed, if anyone is so inclined. I have simply linked to the original manufacturer or the source I used (but feel free to shop around!) and make no money from people clicking through.

From The Vault: WWWII Germans

Man, what was I thinking? Look at those bases. Why did I think brown edges would look good? This is a very quickly painted Weird World War II German force, with miniatures from a range of sources.

The scientist is an AE-WWII model, and one that I keep painting. This was my first attempt at it, and (base aside), is more polished that my more recent effort. I am especially fond of the bloodstained apron.

I'm pretty sure the gorilla is a conversion – the main body is from AE-WWII, and the arm, I think, is from a Confrontation model. It kinda works.

The scientist and the gorilla are joined by two German officers from Artizan and a dog-handler and his pooches from AE-WWII yet again.

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Disclaimer: All links to third-party sites are solely for the purposes of sourcing the products I have discussed, if anyone is so inclined. I have simply linked to the original manufacturer or the source I used (but feel free to shop around!) and make no money from people clicking through.

From The Vault: Pulp Cult

Another batch of figs from Pulp Figures (to accompany my cops), these guys reflect my feeling that a cult makes for a cracking villain, no matter the setting.

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Disclaimer: All links to third-party sites are solely for the purposes of sourcing the products I have discussed, if anyone is so inclined. I have simply linked to the original manufacturer or the source I used (but feel free to shop around!) and make no money from people clicking through.

From The Vault: Pulp Cops

I love The Untouchables – It's easily one of my favourite films. I also love Bob Murch's sculpting for Pulp Figures. You'd think it'd be inevitable that I'd have some gangsters. Nope. I have cops. And no gangsters whatsoever, it seems. Even I thought I had some gangsters...

All the Pulp stuff paints up like a dream. Nice, large details and chunky weapons (a pet peeve of mine is flimsy weaponry – I'll take robustness over realistic proportions any day of the week).

These guys really need a couple of detectives to lead them...

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Disclaimer: All links to third-party sites are solely for the purposes of sourcing the products I have discussed, if anyone is so inclined. I have simply linked to the original manufacturer or the source I used (but feel free to shop around!) and make no money from people clicking through.