Innsmouth Bad Boys - Completed

 These little guys were a bit of an experiment so I'm not 100% happy with them, but they gave me a bit more experience in designing 3D figures. till, they expand my 'Assault on Innsmouth' collection and have given me some ideas for future fantasy projects.

'The Snapper Brothers' - Frog Man
A swivel-gun totting amphibian psychopath - the elder brother of this duo, his toxic bite is as deadly as the bark of his canon-ette !

'The Snapper Brothers' - Shark Man
He never sleeps and his search for prey is ceaseless! He'll get you, by tooth or he'll nail you...

These models take me slightly away from my original peg format with their modified bodies. I think I could have made something similar out of wood, but the great advantage of 3D modelling is it allows a lot more latitude for on the fly experimentation which encourages trying new ideas.

So, that's my monsters and now I'll have to finish off this small series with a few more human cast members. It'll be fun, though, setting these up against 'normal' figures in a skirmish game! 😁

Link to all posts in this project series: Innsmouth Bad Boys/Assault on Innsmouth.

Innsmouth Bad Boys - Progress

While I'm getting there with my 'Innsmouth Bad Boys' I wanted to show the intermediate progress rather than simply going straight to the completion photos (which are about a day away). That would be a bit too much like those frustrating Blue Peter 'and here is one I made earlier' reveals! 😁

While most of these figures have been pretty straight forward. I have topped the project with some painting that is a little more involved than usual...

In particular, my 'frog-man' has been given a facial that is more detailed than my normal cartoonish peg figures, with some graduated tones and textures.

The reason for this little departure from my usual super-simplified style is that I wanted to emphasise the monstrousness of these characters as compared to the 'normal' human peg characters in the series.

They are still - obviously - not 'realistic' by any means, but it was an interesting small departure for my painting style, if only to see what I could do for fun.

Innsmouth Bad Boys - Part 1

 Moving on from the 'good guys' I made for my 'Assault on Innsmouth' scenario (a H.P Lovecraft inspired pulp-horror skirmish game I have in mind), I have designed two of the townsfolk mutants. These are intended to be two of Innsmouth's heavies and will provide artillery support for the town faction.

Above: 'The Deep Ones', undersea demons that the the followers of
Dagon aspired to interbreed with. Source: The H.P. Lovecraft Wiki.

For those that haven't read Lovecraft's story, the inhabitants of Innsmouth displayed a spectrum of mutations culminating in their final change into immortal fish-like humanoids called 'Deep Ones'. In their abdominal worship of the demi-god Dagon, the townsfolk interbreed with the Deep Ones which culminated in a range of aquatic hybrids.  

Designing a Mutant Peg Figure!
So far I haven't really taken my peg figures into the realms of the horror genre, so what I am doing now is a bit of a jump into the unknown for me. In other words, I am - as I have done in the past - making this all up as I go along, I don't have any templates for these new designs.

My first attempt to create a mutant creature was simply to modify my usual peg body by adding a hybrid head...

But this first attempt at a 'shark-man' was not satisfactory at all, I needed to create something a little more monstrous - in both look and mass. So, I decided to create a new, slightly larger body and by doing so I would be able to mount a larger head on it.

Above: By simply upturning the normal body and enlarging the normal
component that I use I was able to create a base for more massive heads!

The massive heads do lend themselves to a cartoonish horror quite nicely, especially as I am trying not to let my monsters look too out of play against my other peg figures. Hopefully, I have maintained a balance here - I can't goo too wild or 'realistic' (relatively speaking).

First to be designed in TINKERCAD was my 'frog man' cannoneer. It's a bit tongue-in-cheek and a sort of cross between Lovecraft and 'The Pirates of the Caribbean' but it makes me smile...

Happy with my 3D design I printed out all the various parts in the form of a kit. Every time I make one of these 3D figures they do seem to get a tiny bit more detailed or have more components to them...

I was particularly please with the cannon and I think I will try to scale this component up to make a proper canon for my normal peg soldiers. That done I moved on to the second of my Innsmouth heavies - my new and improved shark-man (the cocktail sticks are just place-holders until I could fashion better harpoon spears)...

I'm quite pleased with how these little monsters turned out. I think I'm starting to get to grips with this 3D figure making malarkey (even for saying that my cartoon style is fairly simple). 

They are quite intimidating and should give the townsfolk a bit of a chance in their defence against the Federals and their puny human weapons! 😉

NEXT: Scratching my head over the colour schemes and painting.

Peg Figures Batch Complete - Mixed Bag

 Well, I got this little mixed bag of characters completed. Mixed is the key word here, as I have mixed feelings about this latest series of 3D printed 'pegs'. 😕

Three out of the four are original prototypes which were early 3D test prints, one of them - the musician - was THE first print and so I'm not altogether happy with them. Still, rather than consign them to the scraps bin I thought they might be interesting practise models for my painting.

The final figure is a new print that I made for my Lovecraftian 'Assault on Innsmouth' set. He is a salty seadog who is ready to repel boarder! Yar! (Any similarity to one Captain Haddock is purely coincidental! 😄

Anyway, here's the finish pics, enjoy...

'Private Toot' - An early prototype, but useful practise for a potential Christmas
tree ornament. Hence the Christmas colours!

'Mr. Clank' - Again, a sort of Christmas ornament inspired figure. I'm trying to decide
on what kind of figures to include in a Xmas ornament box set.

'Winter Soldier' - Yes, this could be another Christmas themed figure. But, I just
wanted to get back to doing traditional soldier models again!

And for my Lovecraft series, here's a salty seadog - one of the Innsmouth townsfolks!

As I mentioned in the 'Winter Soldier' caption, I desperately want to get back into making some traditional soldiers again (along side my Lovecratian themed figures). But, as you can see, I am already starting to plan for next Christmas as I hope to make even more of the family presents myself this year.

Latest Pegs - Lovecraftian Heroes Plus One

 It's been a busy week at work and as I come up to my annual leave I am suffering from that pre-holiday fatigue where I'm finding it very hard to be motivated and just want to veg in front of the TV with my feet up! 😴

The Good Guys...
Still, I did manage to finish off a small batch of my 3D printed 'peg' characters, all of which are 'Call of Cthulhu' pulp horror RPG themed. For my 'Assault on Innsmouth' series I managed to complete a couple of 'heroes' in the form of a US Navy shore party seaman and a Federal Agent...

And the Wise Guy!
This is a bit of a bonus figure! Someone commented - after seeing my detective - that they would love to see a mobster version of him with a Tommy Gun. This intrigued me as it was a chance to try out my idea of my 3D printed 'pegs' being multipart kits - so just changing a couple of arms and the gun should easily give me the basis for a gangster...

Well, I'm kinda Lovecrafted out at the moment - really I will have to sit down a doodle some designs for the next batch in the series as they might be a little more tricky! So, next I think I will get back to my roots and make some peg soldiers!

I still have a couple of my 3D printed prototypes to paint, both 'toy soldiers' in Napoleon-esque type uniforms. So we'll see how they turn out. 😁

1920s Peg Detective - Part 1

Another in my 'Assault on Innsmouth' series, this character is a Federal agent. It's been a while since I read 'Shadow Over Innsmouth' but as far as I remember Lovecraft relates that Innsmouth was eventually assaulted by Federal forces to clear out the degenerate elements which was mis-reported by the press as a 'prohibition liquor raid'. While this is - as far as I remember - fairly unspecific later narratives in the 'Call of Cthulhu' RPG mythology intimate US Marines, US Navy and government agencies like the FBI being involved.

Now the 'Federal' agencies may have been one of any number, like The Bureau of Internal Revenue, The Federal Bureau of Investigation or even - as pictured above - The US Postal Inspection Service, all of which - despite the mundane titles of some of these services - had a hand at dealing with the gangsters and miscreants of the time.

So, as I cannot be exact as to which department might have had a hand in the raid, my agent is a generic government agent (though I had in mind the 1987 movie 'Untouchables' when I made him).

“Arm your agents, and not just with revolvers. If these gangsters want to use machine guns, then give your special agents machine guns, shot guns, tear gas, everything else! This is war!” Bruce J. Gregory (Addison Richards), 'G'Man', 1935. 

The Makings of a 'G' Man...
As is usual with my peg figures I start by planning the hat - a hat is one  of the most identifiable characteristics of my cartoon figures. The hat most associated  with a detective from the 1920s and 30s was the fedora so that's where I started...

Obviously, to match the look of my cartoon figures I simplified the design of the hat by using basic geometric shapes to create something which looked roughly like the real thing (very roughly)! 😄

I also extended the 'body' of my peg figure to give it the look of having a long coat, another characteristic of the hardboiled detective - where would the gumshoe be without his trench coat?

And finally, as an active member of a armed raid I decided to give my man a pump shotgun - again very much influenced by the movie 'Untouchables'...

Above: My completed 3D 'kit' for my peg detective.

Quite a lot of the final detail will be affected during the painting process - such as the shirt, tie and the coat lapels. But, in the meantime, here's the assembled 'kit'...

As usual I did have a bit of a quandary over how to create a acceptable pose with a weapon. My way of making the peg figures does have certain limitations when it comes to modelling 'realistic' poses, particularly when it comes to the arms. So, I have to take a bit of 'artistic licence'... 😉

In this case, as you can see, I have my G Man holding his pump shotgun one handed, it's a bit iffy BUT is in keeping with some Hollywood movies!

NEXT: What colour is a dirty Macintosh? 😂

US Navy Shore Party Seaman - Part 1

 Onward and upwards with my 'Assault on Innsmouth' characters! Today I've been working on the second of my six 'good guys', this time a sailor with a honking great BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle)!

Above: My reference source for this figure, illustrations of 1920s era
USN Shore Party members from the China campaign.

I've kinda split my investigative team into two types of members - three are the traditional action hero types there to deal with the physical adversaries and traditional dangers, while the other three are paranormal specialists who are adepts in arcane knowledge. (Though in common with D&D conventions each individual will have their own specialist attributes.)

My seaman will be my 'tank', a very physically strong character who possesses heavy firepower and can soak up punishment. His BAR light machine gun will provide the investigative team with protection from waves of aggressors.

Hello Sailor!
I started with my stardard 3D peg figure, though I have now tried to incorporate a belt so as to make painting a little easier (gluing on a belt - plasticard strip - to the printed body proved a little fiddly and messy in previous figures).

Above: My 3D model file was created using TINKERCAD and I am slowly
creating a collection of interchangeable standard parts.

I was thinking about what other items I could add, but in keeping with my simplified cartoon style of my peg characters I decided 'less was more' and that other details were better just painted on.

So, the main new feature of this particular character would be the sailor's Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) which the US military used as a light machine gun. I wanted a roughly identifiable silhouette though it would still be designed to compliment my simplified 'toy' style. I began by laying down some simple blocky shapes in TINKERCAD (using my standard rifle model as a template for size)...

Above: You can see how TINKERCAD uses simple 'primitive' shapes to
build up your model designs. I wanted to create a rough overall shape that
was analogous to the real BAR but which fitted my 'cartoon' characters.

It actually took a couple of attempts before I came up with a design I was happy with, and I noticed that for these figures that I have sorta over-scaled the guns, I suppose in keeping with the chunky cartoon aesthetic. 

The gun done I printed out all the individual parts to make my peg figure 'kit'...

The only thing that was missing rom this set of components is the connecting rod which acts as the arm attachment 'shoulders'. This I would make out of 4mm wooden dowel (I tried out 3D printing this part but - in my opinion - it was a bit of a waste of time and material when a bit of dowel was perfectly adequate).

NEXT: In part two of this project I'll come up with my paint palette for this little seaman (and I am quite pleased with myself for getting right through this post without making any puns about seaman).

1927 US Marine with Tommy Gun

 First of my 'good guys' for my Assault on Innsmouth' series, 'Sarge' is the lynch-pin of my little RPG team. Hopefully, you will be somewhat familiar with the mythos of H. P. Lovecraft but if not think of a darker version of Scooby-Doo with lots of tentacles involved! (LOL - I simplify a lot here!) 😂

Anyway, I simplified the 1920s era USMC uniform a bit but I think it's been done in the right spirit. I'm really quite interested in this Inter-War period of the 1920 & 30s as it has a lot of potential for Pulp/Steampunk sci-fi and horror tabletop game scenarios.

I quite like this figure, he has a lot of character and it did tempt me to make a whole squad made up of marines turning a Lovecraftian scenario into a sort of retro 'Aliens' bug hunt! 😆 But, in the end, I'm sticking to my original idea of making a more diverse investigative team.

Starting to get a small army of peg figures - going to have to start looking at getting a display cabinet of some type.

Glad I decided to add the cigar!

New Project - 'Assault on Innsmouth' Intro

 Just a very quick introduction to my new figure set project (now I've finally gotten my mojo back after my furious Christmas flurry). 😊

Introduction to Innsmouth
For those of you unfamiliar with the Mythos works by H. P . Lovecraft here's a very brief account of the scenario which my new project is based upon:

The Esoteric Order of Dagon was the primary religion in Innsmouth after Marsh returned from the South Seas with the dark religion circa 1838. It quickly took root due to its promises of expensive gold artifacts and fish, which were desired by the primarily-fishing town.

The central beings worshipped by the Order were the Father Dagon and Mother Hydra, and, to a lesser extent, Cthulhu. Dagon and Hydra were seen largely as intermediaries between the various gods rather than as gods themselves. Even so, the cultists sacrificed various locals to the Deep Ones at specific times in exchange for a limitless supply of gold and fish. When they ran out of locals, they would go to other places to kidnap people to be sacrificed. Eventually, things became so bad that the US government sent the police force to apprehend Marsh and his cult. [Wikipedia.]

Above: The raid on Inssmouth from Osprey Publishing's 'The Cthulhu Wars'.

My figure set will include two groups of six figures, one set made up of the 'Federal Forces' who made the assault on Innsmouth and the other representing the citizens of Innsmouth. I hope to use the figures in a tabletop RPG mini-scenario pitting one force against the other.

On With the Good Guys!
As usual there will be figures which might be considered 'the good guys' and those some might consider 'the bad guys'. I leave the matter for others to argue over but for ease let's start with how I intend to make up the 'good guys'!

The first thing to consider is the 'historical' period we are talking about - in the Lovecraft mythology the raid on Innsmouth is said to have been taken place in 1927. This is a rather interesting as I have always wanted to do an 'Inter-War' years project based on H. G. Wells 'Funny Little Wars' rules intermixing historic military with a Science fiction/horror cross-over.

So, all the figures will be of this late 20s pulp style...

The Federal Assualt Team:
- USMC Sergeant armed with a Tommy Gun.
- USN Landing Team seaman armed with a B.A.R.
- FBI/Treasury Agent armed with pump shotgun.
- Photographer/Journalist with camera to record event.
- 'Priest' - though I am still a bit uncertain about this character.
- Lead Investigator - Some sort of professor, again a bit undecided.

For sources from which I can make my scenario I am using Osprey's 'Cthulhu Wars' for background and am trying to local a copy of 1992 Chaosim's 'The Raid on Innsmouth' for hints on how to run the game. But this is a work in progress.