Tuesday 28 April 2015

One Man And His Dog

I'm sure most other collectors have that elusive 'most wanted' figure. The one that never appears in your ebay saved searches. The one that never comes to light on trading groups. My figure was this one:
 
Photo from the Collecting Citadel Minatures Wiki

He's the Leader from the Elite Gang from the rather uncommon Confrontation range, circa 1991. Although he was available in blistered packs of hive gangers, the bulk of the Confrontation figures were quietly retired and replaced in the mid-1990s by Necromunda gangs. I particularly like the contrast of his absurd outfit with the mean muscle-dog and AK47 styled autogun.

I would guess that I spent in the region of 10 years looking for this guy on and off, and I was delighted to pick him up with a bunch of his fellow Elite gangers earlier this year.

Of course, once a highly prized figure is obtained, the next logical step is to paint it. I must confess, I prevaricated for quite a long time before taking the plunge. He's a complex model, and one I wanted to do justice to.

However, I finally bit the bullet, and here's the resulting painted figure, Eduardo Murat:


I replicated a colour scheme from one of my earlier models - Equus, the Ecclesiarchy combat servitor. Not only do I like the scheme very much, but I have half a mind to include Eduardo and his fellow gangers as a militant element in an Ecclesiarchy warband.


I particularly enjoyed painting Eduardo's muscle-dog up as a bull terrier, with colouring and markings copied from some random google images.



All in all, I'm pretty pleased with the results, and delighted to finally have a painted version as part of my collection.

"Say, that quilted jerkin is quite the fetching article Eduardo."
"Snazz suit too Duke-bro!"

18 comments:

  1. So nice to see you getting one and painting it after all this time ! This one went to a good home for sure !
    Like you, I really fancy the mixture of grotesque and lethal in this guy, conforntation stuff at its best for me.

    The blue and yellow scheme works a treat too as th ecolours chosen are not too bright. Special thumb up for the dog's face which is brilliant with the patch and pinkish nose.

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    1. Cheers JB! He's been ready for painting for several months - it took a deep breath to actually get on and do it! I was originally minded to do chequers on the hood, but the shape and all the other details meant it would be difficult and possibly detract from the overall figure.

      The yellow is really a mustard with white added. I really like the slightly muted finish, which as you say, isn't too bright (not like the nomads ;) ).

      Glad you like the dog - my favourite part :)

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  2. Worth the wait and a great looking mini.

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    1. I agree...I'm more than happy to have waited and finally picked him up. Glad you like the result :)

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  3. Great work - I thought the unpainted miniature looked a bit pants, but it looks superb painted up.

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    1. That's the trouble with seeing only dodgy scans of figures. Nothing beats seeing a painted version to help work it all out :)

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  4. Congrats on getting that "most wanted" miniature, I'm still hunting for mine... A great job on him too, I particularly like the dog and the pitbull ad the way you've painted his muzzle. Awesome!

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    1. What is your most wanted Stuart? Good luck tracking it down :)

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  5. Jester cap, pelisse, quilted armor, and a dog? Clearly a man who knows what he likes.

    I too really like that yellow, and although there is quite a lot of it, it is not too bright, which it certainly could have been.

    I guess the only criticism that I might venture is that the gun is a bit mono-chromatic, and you might mix it up with a wash or shade.

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    1. Thanks! I agree, he's making a definite fashion statement.

      You're probably right on the gun. I'll take another look at it over the next couple of days.

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  6. I've not seen that mini before but I can see why you spent so long looking for it!

    The paint job looks excellent - good work!

    Warburton

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    1. Thanks! Glad you like him :) It's a shame the Confrontation ranges never got wider circulation - they're lovely models and would have worked perfectly in Necromunda and latterly as Inq28 models.

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    2. A great shame indeed.

      W

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  7. Great work Jon, the dog steals the limelight I think.

    I tracked one of those models down at around the same time that you did. I had been considering adding it to some sort of Mega City One gang, as they tend to have significant overlap with Necromunda/Confrontation figures.

    Taking a look at your work I am more inclined to add him to something more feudal future dark age now, its that hood and associated collar I think. I could see him being an enforcer/leg breaker for an Inquisitor or Rogue Trader or Nobleman perhaps, something like Bronn from Game of Thrones (the guy played by the Jerome part of Robson and Jerome).

    Its a great model, a tiny vignette almost.

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    1. I think you're right Paul, it's the dog everyone is focussing on. Perhaps I'll paint more dogs ;)

      I think he might work in a Mega City One gang with a circus / jester type feel perhaps? My inclination though is that we works better in that latter setting as the hard man with questionable fashion sense (I wouldn't want to call him out for wearing a big yellow hood though!).

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  8. Really nice miniature,I know many of them but I have never seen it

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    1. He's a pretty uncommon figure, only released in a short timeframe :)

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  9. Really very nice indeed. Well done sir. Well done.

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