Sunday 3 January 2010

Miniature Vampifan & Vampirella

It's my first post of 2010 and what do we have here? A figure review that doesn't involve zombies? That's right - here we have Vampifan (that's me, folks!) and the love of his life, Vampirella. After posing with 332 zombies in my last post I figured Vampifan needed a break. And who better to pose him with than Vampirella?
The figure of Vampifan is one of five figures in the Copplestone Castings Civilian Militia set 2, which is part of the Dark Future range. The set costs £8.00, which is good value for money these days. As soon as I saw the figure I knew that I wanted to convert him to look more like me. Not that he needed much converting. I added the glasses and increased the size of his belly with modelling putty. It was nice to see Mark Copplestone sculpting someone who was overweight and it was this, more than anything else that attracted me to this figure. I make no bones about it, I'm fat. I don't exercise enough and I'm overly fond of junk food. However, my weight is coming down due to me cutting down on a lot of the things that I shouldn't eat and eating smaller portions of the stuff I do like.
When it came to painting Vampifan there was only ever going to be one design for his T-shirt and that's the portrait of Vampirella that I frequently use as my avatar on various web forums and which you can see on this blog-site as my portrait. And just in case you are wondering, I actually own that T-shirt in real life. It's hardly ever been worn as I want to keep it in good condition. The painting is one of my favourite portraits of Vampirella and was painted by Joe Jusko, an artist for whom I have great admiration. Reproducing Joe's portrait on the T-shirt was the hardest part of painting this figure but I'm pleased with the result, even if the word "Vampirella" underneath the portrait is an indecipherable squiggle.
The baseball cap is something I frequently wear and my current cap is identical to Vampifan's being navy blue with gold trim. I do not own any combat pants or boots and I certainly don't own any firearms. The Vampifan figure has seen numerous outings as leader of my gang, the Slayers, for the Gangs of Mega City One skirmish game. Both he and his gang have fared well. Rather than call him Bryan Scott (my real name) I called him Scotty Bryant. Although he is designed as a near future character I see no reason not to use him in a contemporary setting like All Things Zombie. Indeed, if I ever get round to running an ATZ campaign, I will certainly use this figure to represent me. Having seen how much fun Veloci is having with his ATZ campaign (you must check out his blog. You'll find the address for it, Tactical Miniatures Gaming, listed under My Favourite Websites in the sidebar. He writes the most entertaining battle reports) I too want to run a campaign rather just one off stand alone games. Whether that happens remains to be seen but I can dream, can't I?
Moving on, let's look at the Vampirella figure. She is a conversion of a 30mm scale vampire by Blood Moon Miniatures. You can visit their website here: http://www.bloodmoonminis.com/store.html
You'll find her listed under the Ladies Set 1, which consists of two vampires, retailing at $10.00 for the pair. The other figure is lying down on an animal skin rug or blanket. I guess for copyright reasons they can't call the figure Vampirella but one look at her costume (or lack of it!) and you could not mistake her for anyone else. The figure came with bare legs, so I added her knee length boots out of modelling putty and I also added a pair of bracelets to her upper arms to make her look even more like Vampirella should look. The sculptor has captured Vampirella in a playful mood and I absolutely love the figure. A few other companies make figures of not-Vampirella but of them all, this is my favourite. She has a stunning figure but if I was to be brutally honest I'd have to say that the sculptor has made her breasts too big. Given that I'm unashamedly a breast man, I can't believe I've just typed that! Still, Vampirella's vital statistics are 36C-24-36. Too many amateur artists over-inflate her breasts. Get real, guys!
The only time I have ever used Vampirella in a game was in a GURPS Supers campaign that I ran recently. Sadly it came to an abrupt end when one of my two gaming colleagues left, never to be seen again. Once he left the campaign just came to an abrupt halt, which is such a shame as Vampi was an awesome character. Perhaps I'll use her in a game of All Things Horror if Two Hours Wargames ever bring out rules for major vampires. I'm sure she could kick zombie butt without any problem. I've just thought, would zombies feed on a vampire? Probably not, I'm guessing but if the vampire has just fed then they just might.
I hope you'll forgive me for being so self-indulgent here. Normal service will be resumed with my next posting, I promise! Oh, and seeing as this is my first post of 2010, happy new year, everyone!

9 comments:

  1. Okay. This is TOO weird!!! LOL I just came across and read your blog and when I showed it to my girlfriend she pointed out that I was WEARING the exact t-shirt you're referring to! I have an old one that I use to paint in and didn't even realize I had it on! That said, I'm REALLY flattered by your appreciation of my work! I'm always astounded that something I've painted can be so remembered by someone. Thank you!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Joe, how wonderful to hear from you! Thanks for popping in and leaving a comment. You've absolutely made my day! That portrait of Vampirella that you painted is certainly my favourite. As well as the T-shirt, I have a poster of it upon my bedroom wall and a postcard with it on that sits next to my computer. You'll have seen it next to the About Me blurb in the sidebar of this blog as well. Let me tell you another thing. Whenever Harris offer a Vampirella comic with variant covers, if you've painted one of them I will always choose yours over the others. Such is the regard I hold for you. You, sir, are one of my heroes and I salute you for your outstanding work. Thank you for bringing my favourite comic book heroine to life!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow Bryan, you sure draw a distinguished crowd. As much as I like your Vampifan conversion, I must say that I still think Vampirella is a wee bit cuter! Both are fantastic conversions.
    I don't think I could paint a figure as hot as Vampirella because my hands would shake too much.

    ReplyDelete
  4. @Joe. Many thanks for becoming a follower of my blog. I feel honoured. I've added a link to the home page of your own website under my list of favourite websites. I urge anyone who views Joe's site to click on the Paintings tab, then click on the portrait of Vampirella entitled Sad Wings of Destiny to see my favourite Vampi painting in all of its glory. It really is a stunning piece of artwork!

    @Willy. No offence taken, mate. Vampifan or Vampirella? Who would you chose? It has to be Vampirella every time! Yes, I know Vampifan is a good conversion, and a good likeness as well... but he's not exactly sexy, is he? Whereas Vampirella... well, what can I say? Hubba, hubba, hubba!
    Painting that figure of Vampirella had to be my ultimate labour of love. With so much flesh on display, I used a lot more layers of paint for the flesh tones than what I normally use when just painting hands and faces. Yep, a steady hand was essential!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great paint job Bryan! I love both figs.
    It was a great idea to make a fig of yourself.
    I cant force myself to do that, it would be too awful to comprehend, so the avatar zed is me-30 years ago!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks, Roger! And can I say you don't look a day older than your avatar? Lol! Only joking!

    ReplyDelete
  7. My pleasure!!!! I look forward to seeing future posts. It's a really fun blog 9and thanks so much for the kudos. Stuff like that really makes what I do worthwhile! Have you seen the 40th Anniversary poster yet? Here's a link

    http://joejusko.deviantart.com/art/VAMPIRELLA-Poster-FINAL-143767055

    ReplyDelete
  8. Every time I look at Vampirella my eyes get stuck and I get a bad case of the "stares".

    ReplyDelete
  9. @Joe. Sorry to take so long to get back to you. Yes, not only have I seen the 40th anniversary poster but I've got in order too. It's a lovely piece of work!

    @Willy. Vampires traditionally can enslave humans with their eyes but in the case ofr Vampirella, who's going to be looking at her eyes?! Lol!

    ReplyDelete