I'm not dead but I admit I haven't been painting as often as I'd like. Here's what I've finished recently.
Back in 2014 I backed a Kickstarter for Blackwater Gulch Rebels and Reinforcements, by GameSalute (who later turned into Gangfight Games) simply for the miniatures. I backed at the level of selecting only the miniatures I wanted. I thought they were cool and interesting enough to warrant it. They were delivered, I think, on time. I've never used the rules (which I think are/were free somewhere) as I have a ton of rules already, plus I just didn't care. (I *did* back their newer Kickstarter for their newer updated rules, supposedly universal and generic, because I was feeling generous. It is currently over a year late. It will, I still believe, deliver.)
The miniatures were interesting in that they are of the "not-" variety. As in, this is not a miniature of Clint Eastwood, ie, a not-Eastwood. Etc, etc, etc. They were varied enough and well-sculpted enough for me to get. The others were generically-Western enough to be used as regular Cowboys if I ever wanted to.
Anyway, I got tired of painting whatever it was I was painting before and wanted to paint something different. Therefore I give you 4 of the 5 gangs I got from the Kickstarter. These are metal, with separate plastic bases. Also, you know what to do: click on the pictures to embiggen them.
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| On the Kickstarter, these are The Widowmakers. First I present Lily, Oleander, Buttercup, Wisteria and Nightshade. Yeah, those names.... Anyway, what would the Old West be without murderous, tightly-clothed-in-revealing-clothing women? More historically accurate, for one thing, but we're not going that way today. |
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These aren't bad, per se, but they lack spark to me. The body positioning is a bit odd in places, and the casting is mangled in some of the detail.
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They came with cards for the game, but since I've never read the rules I have no idea what it all means. WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN!!?? Sorry....
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Next we have Wilde's Rangers: Corporal Thompson, Private Ambler, Private Connors, Private Watson and Sergeant Wilde. I have no clue if those names are supposed to mean something so I ignored them. I painted them as U.S. Cavalry circa 1880-1900ish plus a heaping helping of my own imagination. They aren't meant to be historically accurate so I didn't make them historically accurate.
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These are decent castings with not too many mangled areas. They painted up well, although the poses still irk me. The guy with the knife: who stands like that?
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This gang also came with a gatling gun but I didn't feel like painting it yet.
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Moving on, we have Mickey Finn, John Blackwood, Marshall Callum Stewart, Father Allen Schneidewent and The Norwegian. These are supposed to represent, I guess, a more generic Western gang, because what Old West gang wouldn't have a Christian pastor toting a gun in it? It turns out that Father Al and the Marshall were "sponsored" by people actually named Callum Stewart and Allen Schneidewent. My condolences.
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I attempted to give this gang a more unified look by painting them a common color. I didn't do this with the Cavalry for obvious reasons, and I couldn't really see a way to do so with the ladies. Again, the poses bother me. The guy with the cards: really?
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This group was unusual in that 3 cards were actual photographs of models rather than concept art. I don't know why. Most of these were not in a gang, but were solos.
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Now we finally come to the real "not-" figures. I grouped all of these together only because where else would they go? Most of these were originally unlocked as "bonus figures" and so didn't go with any particular gang. This group, and the 5th group (which I have not painted yet) are the primary reason I backed the Kickstarter (although the other figures are certainly useful). From left to right, we have Clinton Wales, Doctor Kilmer, Kurt Wyatt, Rooster Morrison, Doc Lloyd and Nevada Dave. I can't impress upon you how much I really dislike those names. There is no consistency at all. Some mangle the actor's first name, some the actor's last name, and / or the film character's first / last name. Rooster Morrison? I get the Rooster Cogburn reference, but Morrison has nothing to do with John Wayne. Did they think this was some other actor? And Nevada Dave? With Indiana Jones, Jones was his last name. Arrgh.
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I gave them a somewhat similar color scheme when I could, but mostly I went with a more film-accurate rendition. Although the not-Indiana Jones looks like it was sculpted by someone completely different than the others. It's actually quite horrible. It's practically a different scale.
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So yeah, those names....
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I'm a bit burned out on Western figures now, especially these. They really aren't that great and I painted them to a level I felt fit their quality. It was a bit more slap-dash than I usually do. If I ever get around to the 5th group I'll be sure to link it to here. Oh by the way, the 5th group is not-Firefly. They're called the Tranquility Crew.
It only took me six years to paint these, maybe I'll get to the 5th group before the end of the decade.
Thanks for reading!
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