Wednesday 17 July 2013

Lord of the Jungle.


 Well here are my versions of "TAR&AN" Good cast. I'll sort out the stats for them all later. Not making excuses but I did find them very hard to paint. All the figures are from NorthStar  and are well cast and well proportioned, a little too well proportioned if I am honest and as such the muscle definition is not as easy to pick out as one would enjoy to paint. Then again you know what bad craftsmen say about their tools. Four figures in a pack, Tarzan, Jane, Boy and Cheetah. And very nice for the price they are too.

Starting with Tarzan armed with his typical hunting knife his hair covers half of his face which I found difficult to get too much expression on and he has ended up looking startled! With Just a loin cloth and a single feather the bulk of the figure is an exercise in blending skin tone and defining his muscles. Being honest he was the second hardest figure in the pack to paint. but given the 2 foot rule he will look very pleasing on the table top.

Jane by contrast was the most fun to paint. I did have to repaint her clothes as I did try to make a leopard skin pattern first time out and it all went horribly wrong. Again she caries a knife but no other equipment, not even a feather. The TV version of Jane is with dark curly hair, yet the films have her a blonde. So I went for a natural looking brown colour, as the blonde look would have made the figure too light in tone in my opinion. She could also be used as "Sheena Queen of the Jungle" or in a pre-history game as could Tarzan.

 Boy was by far the hardest to paint. But I am not sure I will actually be using him in the scenario so I am not worried about that. The reasons he was harder to paint is that his muscles should be less well defined as he is younger and still growing. Yet when painted that way he just looked anaemic stood next to Tarzan and Jane. It is interesting to note that Boy is usually just called "Boy" in most encounters but does have a couple of other names depending on who the script writer was. So I will just stick with the name "Boy as it is the most usual.

Lastly but not leastly "Cheetah" the staple side-kick to Tarzan in most TV productions, presumably because Chimpanzees are easier to control and take direction better than Gorillas! This was an easy paint job, especially by comparison. Having looked at several pages of Google images of chips I went for pink skin rather than black again for contrast. The big open mouth is packed with teeth, you are forgiven for looking at the picture and thinking he had been drinking milk, ready to give anyone who threatens Tarzan et al a nasty bite. You are forgiven if you thought he had been drinking milk from looking at the picture, I may have to give them a dirty brown was to dull them a little.

And Finally a group shot of what I think will be the whole of the Heroic cast for the TAR7AN game. This gives you a very good idea how large the Gorillas are in contrast to the chimp.

I shall now start the Villainous Cast and hope to have them finished by this time next week.

I shall try to do a bit more work on the board today and tomorrow and if it progresses well I'll do an update on Friday. Thanks for reading, have a good couple of days and I hope to see you again on Friday. Until then take care and enjoy whatever the weather brings you. Cheers Clint



21 comments:

  1. Looking good! My own Tarzan model (Reaper, I think - not North Star) has been sitting on my workbench for a year or 2 because I just can't decide how to finish him. Glad to see that you got past the "nothing-but-acres-of-skin" thing!

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    1. "Nothing but Acres of skin!" Is pretty much how it felt. Best way to decide how to finish them is plan a game in a weeks time. It will make you get it done!

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  2. Excellent painting Clint, love the Cheetah figure!

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    1. Thank you Ray, you did happen to mention that Fran has no shorts!

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    2. Ray claims you don't own a pair of shorts Fran. I think it was his way of saying that he'd like to see your shapely calves:)

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    3. Cheetah has no shorts either!

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  3. Thank you. Now to get the "baddies" done!

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  4. Cannibals next and A Bad Game Hunter are next on the paint table..... and an evil African Priestess! Shortly after. Oh and a couple of Crocs thanks to the generosity of a fellow Blogger!

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  5. Very cool, Nice looking set. I almost bought the Reaper Tarzan a while back but bought more zombie hunters instead :D

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    1. Zombie hunters were the right choice at the time I am sure. As I don't know how much use I'll get from the TAR7AN set up.

      And thank you for your kind words.

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  6. They look smashing Clint. Stop posting such good stuff Im a terrible butterfly enough as it is, now im trawling Northstar to spend pennies.

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    1. It gets worse Copplestone also sculpted a Tarzan which is produced by Foundry..... so you have more choices. Don't forget the Reaper version..... now you have 3 to look at.

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  7. Good group shot and nice work on Tarzan's crew, especially with the great apes as a backdrop.
    "Boy", I think is the weakest sculpt of the lot looking more like a small man than a boy imo.
    Even as a kid I was always confused over why a Chimp was called "Cheetah" and wondered if the Chimp was confused too (I did have a friend who called his dog "Cat" though)
    Now on to the villains of the piece ?

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    1. You did ask for a scale shot with the Gorillas so that one is just for you. I agree with you on the sculpt of "boy" but it comes in the pack so I was always going to paint it as well.
      I have never until this week thought of the Chimp being called Cheetah I think I was to young at the time to question it. But now that it's in my head.

      yes Villains and to finish the board....

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  8. I think they turned out smashing! Tarzan looks better than you think he does. Your transitions are smooth and the skin tone is good. I'm pleased that you enjoyed painting Jane the most. Females to me are the most enjoyable of figures.

    That last group shot is great and gives us a good idea of what is to come with this project.

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    1. Thanks you Anne. I am and will continue to be my own harshest critics when it comes to both life and painting. I know I could have painted Tarzan better and if I was not in a rush to finish I would have.

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  9. Very nice Clint, paint wise you have done well with these figures, even as miniature painters we must stretch our skill set otherwise how do we keep improving, and whats the fun of painting the same thing over and over?

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    1. Thank you Extra. It just rankles a bit as I know I can do better on faces than how Tarzan turned out. Still I will not be re-painting so I'll have to put up with it, learn a few lessons and move on.

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