25mm Indiana Jones by West End Games

A few weeks back, I posted up some 25mm Indiana Jones figures from 1984 that TSR had produced. I ran across a different range of six figures (from 1994) produced by West End Games and finally got a hold of them.

There were two, three-figure packs produced before the line went out of production and they used slotta bases (hexed, although I swapped in round).

The first pack had Indy, a reporter, and a student. The second included an older professor, Sulla, and a spy. These figures were a bit fine boned, lacked motion, and every hand is clenched into a fist. But, otherwise, they were nice figures. Oddly, no one is holding a gun.

Usually, the assumption we make about scale creep is things get larger over time. Below, you can see the slotta based figures from 1994 against the 1984 figures on washers. The older figures are clearly beefier and bigger (although they were also sold as 25mm).

I suspect that WEG kept using the old armatures they used to sculpt the Star Wars line into the 1990s while TSR had moved onto bigger ones in the mid 1980s. Leia, with a slightly lower base, is a good proxy for the student. On the left is a modern (Pulp Figures) 28mm woman.

We see something similar here with Ben Kenobi and the older professor (who I painted to look like Indy's dad). The modern Einstein is again from Pulp Figures.

I couldn't find a Star Wars proxy for the reporter but the two modern figures illustrate the thinner and shorter nature of the older sculpt.

The WEG figures do fit in well with the 1985 supers I painted recently from Mayfair Games.

Up next: I'm not sure. I'm slowly winding down my painting for the summer and will likely take July and August off from posting.

Some palm trees

I've had zero time to paint these past few months but I did manage to finish some terrain, inspired by Bruce's latest addition to his Vietnam collection.

These are cheap cake decorations and came 12 to a pack (I bought 36). The palm fronds come a nice two-tone green and I left them as-is. The trunks were a dark brown and I did the sloppiest wet-brush I could to bring up the highlights. 

I also glued them to washers for stability and sanded the bases. Bruce used poker chips for his bases and I think his wider base was likely the better choice. When combined with some bushes and some figures, I think the effect is good enough for wargaming.

Up next: I have some more Indiana Jones figures from the 1980s on the paint table, if I can find some time to sit down and get to them.

Mayfair Games 25mm Super Heroes: Justice League

Back in about 1984 or 85, Mayfair Games released a superhero rpg called DC Heroes. For a kid who loved dungeons and dragons and comic books, this was fantastic. They also released a bunch of boxes of 25mm superheroes and villains. 

I recently bought the Justice League box to see what they were like. Straight out of the box, these were hugely disappointing, being very small 25mm figures with very flat and static poses. After some work, though, they started to grow on me. 

The heroes in this box were Batman, Green Lantern, Superman, Hawkman, the Martian Manhunter and Green Arrow. The lack of Wonder Woman is notable, but not as notable as the insane pose they gave Batman (which looked way worse on bare metal).

In the end, I was reasonably happy with the results. There is some nice detail on Hawkman and the rest do well with simple, bold colours and a quick wash.

 

I presume the Bat-wahtuzzi or whatever the hell is happening here is an homage to the campy Batman of the 1960s and 1970s so I painted him in those colours. Th eGreen Arrow sculpt was super dissatisfying but then suddenly came alive with some paint.

I struggled with Sup's chest emblem and finally decided that this the best I can do (you are seeing him at least 2x) and he looks fine on the table. Ditto Green Lantern's emblem.

The backs of the figures are also pretty decent in terms of detail and animation.

The only modern comparator I could find in a matching pose is Green Arrow, with a heroclix on the left. He'd probably about 32mm and you can really see the effects of scale creep over the 25mm 1980s standard.

The box also contained four "super" villains.

Sinestero is an okay pose, I guess, and the Joker is fine enough (again, evoking the 1960s and 1970s renderings).

Brainiac is a pretty nice sculpt that I struggled to paint up with the detail of the comics. Darkseid, a villain I have always hated, is just an awful figure and three tries (with different colour palettes) and this was the best effect I could get (the sculpt is just terrible, terrible work, even by 1980s standards).

Overall, I had a fun time with these guys and, if I see the other boxes for a decent price (especially the Titans and the Outsiders), I will definitely pick them up.

More 25mm Indiana Jones

I finished off the box of 25mm Indiana Jones figures that I started last week. These figures represent the baddies from the first two films.

Below we have Chatter Lal, Mola Rama and a Thuggee from, I think, Temple of Doom.

From the first film (I think), we have Deitrich, Belloq, Toht, and a mine guard (so maybe he is from Temple? I initially took him to be the dude with the scimitar that Indy shoots in the square--whatever).

For 40-year-old sculpts, the detail is pretty good (note the scar on Toht's hand). I've no idea what Deitrich is leaning so far forward.

25mm Indiana Jones

Back when I was a kid (1984), there was an Indiana Jones rpg released by TSR along with a set of minis. I finally found a box of them for a reasonable price and bought it.

There were 12 miniatures in the box, representing key characters from the first two films. The figures are described as 25mm and have bases that are both very thick (stupidly so, really) and very small. After some dithering and messing with slotta bases, I stuck them to some washers and used sand and glue to try to smooth them out (meh).

There were five "good" guys, including Indy and that's what I finished this week. Short Round was probably the most fun to paint. I used movie stills where I could to get the colours right. I did give him a brighter ball cap and I decided against trying the checked pattern on his sweater.

The other Temple of Doom alum is Willie. I haven;'t seem Temple since it was in theatres (1983?). The mini mostly matches the pictures I could find. Indiana is a pretty good likeness,

The two sidekicks from the original movie are Marion  (note the monkey on her shoulder) and Sallah and both are pretty accurate sculpts. I painted them pretty much as they were in the film even though the embroidery on Marion's short doesn't really translate into paint.

In terms of scale, although these are listed as 25mm and from 1984, they fit in pretty well with contemporary 28mm figures. Interestingly, a different set of 25mm figures from the same era (Mayfair's DC Heroes from 1985) are clearly smaller (see partially painted Superman below). 

Up next: The baddies.

28mm Vietnam Xenos Rampant

A few weeks back, Bruce and I played a game of Xenos Rampant with a Vietnam theme. Bruce set a beautiful table with some palm trees. The Yanks need to eventually capture with village and they start with three units on the edge of the table. The open area is a landing zone for the choppers, which, when the LZ is clear, can deploy additional troops as well as hover and provide heavy support fire. The Men in the Black PJs can deploy into any cover that the Americans have not yet moved through.

The first turn saw the American's enter the board while the VC moved their one on-board unit into the LZ to slow the US reinforcements. Additional VC deployed into cover to start harassing the US troops.

 

There was a sharp fire fight on the right side of the board but the US managed to clear the LZ and drop their first reinforcements. Heavy MGs quickly chewed them up but the helo lifted off and was annoying as hell for the rest of the game.

The VC eventually managed to start eliminating the US units on the board while jamming up the LZ and setting up a defensive line between the US troops and the village.

The US finally withdrew due to losses. We'd probably change the deployment to slow the rate of VC deployment but otherwise, the scenario worked really well.

I just cannot get over how slick Xenos is for modern small arms combats.

Up next: I may be posting a bit more sporadically as my real life has become a bit busy these past few weeks. We'll just have to play this by ear.

28mm furies

I continue to paint when I have some time and, this week, I finished off five 28mm fantasy figures.

These are some kind of feathered, bird-based monster. Maybe they are sirens or furies or some such? Anyhow, they were an easy paint and I think I have finished all of the monsters in the fantasy boxes Chen gave me. Now it is on to the last dozen or so adventurers.

Up next: Hard to say. I would guess some 28mm adventurers.