Earl Harbinger and a few others.

As I've mentioned before, I'm using Hasslefree Miniatures' Capt Isseki as Earl Harbinger, CEO of Monster Hunter International.  I've finally finished him, and here's proof!

Yes, that is a werewolf penis.  I didn't have the heart to cut it off.

I've also finally finished Tripp Jones, adding a place for the MHI patch and doing some touchup.  I attached a little blob of putty to make a patch, and have only painted it green so far.  My other freehand attempts at the patch have been poor, so I'm thinking of making a few decals to use.  Earl has the same putty patch on his sleeve, which isn't too obvious in the pics.

Earl and Tripp, coming and going.

Also, I did get my hands on a Heroclix 'Rick Jones' to do a second version of Earl Harbinger.  (really a third if you count the Werewolf).   I think that mini 'fits' better with the description of Earl.  I found a few images online of Earl.  The first is from the book/game called 'The Monster Hunter International Employee Handbook and Role Playing Game"  I'm not really a role player but I did buy the book, mostly for the art and fiction scattered throughout it.  Plus, it has fantastic character descriptions in it, which have been pretty handy for my project.

The second image here is from Larry Corriea himself.  He posted this on his Monster Hunter Nation blog.  Larry likes to model and paint little miniatures (yeah, it's a weird hobby) and he's actually a pretty decent painter.  He's mostly into Infinity and Privateer Press stuff.  Anyhow, this is a GI JOE sized 'action figure' he converted into his version of Earl.  Pretty nifty.

Larry Corriea's Gi Joe converted Earl.

So, as I was saying, I got a Rick Jones Heroclix and began to convert it.  I added a little cigarette butt to the corner of his mouth, and added a tommy gun.  But, then for some weird reason I primed it black.  I hate painting over black, and I'm not entirely sure of what I was thinking.

I see a mini and I want to paint it black.

The details were pretty soft, and I hope I can salvage this with paint.  We'll see, and I'll keep you posted.

The Monster Hunter Memoirs: Sinners is now available for Pre-order at Audible, and much to my delight, Oliver Wyman is back as narrator.  Although the first installment of John Ringo Co-authored story wasn't quite as good as Corriea's solo stuff, I still enjoyed it, and am working on a mini for the lead character, Chad 'Iron Hand' Gardenier.  I'm looking forward to listening/reading the newest effort.

Hopefully, I can stay focused on this project, as I have many other mini related projects cooking right now.  Painting Zombicide minis, assembling a Batmobile, sorting through my Conan Kickstarter.

Lastly, I just wanted to post up the Wolfman from the Monster Squad I had been doing.  It only seems fitting he appears in Earl's post.

Bark at the Moon

As always, thanks very much for taking the time to read this!!  I hope you find some enjoyment out of my ramblings.

Hunters, Monsters, and more.

In the world of MHI, there are plenty of other Hunter groups out there competing with MHI for bounty money.  Several of these have appeared throughout the novels such as Grim Berlin, the very proficient German team led by Klaus Lindamen.

Another team that shows up is Briarwood.  A Chicago based team that wants to compete with the big boys, but is severely out of their league.

The idea of all these teams throughout the world would work well for a skirmished base miniatures game.  I've been checking out differing rules systems, and I think Ganesha Games' Fear and Faith may fit the bill for a modern monster hunting game.  I'll discuss this more as I get the set and read through the rules.

Anyhow, the fun of that would be building my own teams to fight the ever growing hordes of Monsters.  I've had a few older miniatures, painted years ago, that fit nicely into this world.  I'm not sure if pics exist anywhere out there on the internet, so I'm going to put them back up here.  All the pics are clickable to make them bigger.

That Puff bounty is mine.

The design I painted on the back is a globe with a sword through it.
Dunno why I did, it just sounded bad ass.

My tattooed little Stubbs.  If you have keen eyes, you can spot the flat spot on the top of his head.  That's where I dropped him on the floor.  Curse words did indeed follow.

Vampire Killer

The top pics are a range of minis now in the Fenris catalog, and the stocky fella is an old Copplestone, I think.  All three work well in this setting, complete with the 'team logos' on the backs of the jackets.

Updating a few vampires I had shown WiP awhile back.  I'm not overly fond of these.  I was going to use them as Susan and Ray Shackleford, but now I think they'll be generic Vamps to cause Hunters fits.

Huge hands, (unlike our new President)

I'm also adding this Vampire to the group.  He'll work as a Master Vampire.  He's an old Grenadier Miniature, and holds up pretty well, even with today's standards.

I vant to suck your blood.

Earlier in the year, I participated in a Kickstarter held by Studio Miniatures.  They are most known for their very nice line up of Modern zombies (some that will show up here soonish)  Anyhow, some of the Kickstarter minis were 'Classic' monsters, and I couldn't pass up.  The set arrived just a few days before Halloween, and I'm just not a quick enough painter to have them done by then, but here's what I've got so far.

Frankie

He did the Mash.  He did the Monster Mash.

I snapped this before the 'liquid water' resin dried.  It should dry clear.  I wanted a 'swampy' look.

Are you my Mummy?

Wolfman doesn't get any paint love yet, just a quick blackline.

The funny thing is, although I snapped these guys up right away, I was wondering why they didn't look so much like the 'Classic Universal' miniatures.  Then I realized what they were really inspired by.

Monster Squad is a late 80's cult classic movie.  I haven't seen it in years, but I recall it being pretty good, in a cheesy sort of way.  Check it out if you get the chance.

Lastly, again speaking of zombies, here's a couple I've had for some time, but just didn't have any decent photos.  These were minis done by Fenris for the FrothersUnite Zombie line from several years ago.  Obviously heavily inspired by the  Left 4 Dead video game.

Zed Smash!

Tanks for the Memories.

I'll certainly be adding these to a cool skirmish game.  Can't wait to see how my Monster Hunters handle these abominations!!

Thanks for reading, see you soon.

And we're back!

My last post was just as we moved the clocks ahead for Spring, it's only fitting that as we move the clocks back, I make another MHI post!

I've been working on a few miniatures here and there, but now as overtime season is coming to an end, I'll hopefully get more time for serious work.

I have been working on a Earl Harbinger, the bossman of MHI.  He's described as a chain smoking, average looking man, wears a leather jacket (made of Minotaur hide) and prefers a .45 Tommy gun.

I chose a Hasslefree miniature for the basis, and have began painting it.

Keep away from full moon

I'm close to finishing it now, and although it 'works' for Earl, I just haven't been real happy with it.

So, like I did with Agent Franks, I think I'll make more than one miniature for him.  I stumbled upon a mini, from the Heroclix ranks, that just looks the part.  And, using ebay, I was able to land two of them for a lowly dollar.  

Rick Jones, soon to be converted to Earl Harbinger.  I figure an addition of a Tommy Gun, a new paint job, and maybe a cigarette in his mouth should do the trick.  I'll keep you posted!!

Heroclix NEVER look anywhere near as good as the renders.

And in other Monster Hunter International news...

Monster Hunter Memoirs: Grunge came out on August 2nd.  I immediately downloaded it via Audible.  

It was mostly written by John Ringo, and although it was still fun and helps build on the Monster Hunter universe, it seriously wasn't up to the same caliber as Correia's solo efforts.

I think the main character, Chad, was just a bit too perfect.  He

never seems to fail, or really have too much of a struggle with anything.  But, it's still worth the read, especially if you are craving more from this universe.

The setting of 1980's America really works well, and just like the MHI books, attention to weaponry is paramount.  Most of the action takes place in Seattle (thus the Grunge) and I really enjoyed the way it intermingled some Japanese Yakuza into the storyline.  And, it made me have serious sushi cravings for a month or so afterwards.  I certainly will be adding some of the characters into my project as I move forward.

I can't stress enough on how cool the Audible versions' are.  The narrator, Oliver Wyman absolutely makes the characters come to life, and it's probably why the MHI setting has captured my imagination so thoroughly.

The second book in this series  Monster Hunter Memoirs: Sinners will be hitting the shelves next month and will continue the 80's scene with Chad moving on to New Orleans.

The Pre-order is available for the hard back over at Amazon, but I've yet to see anything about an Audible version yet.  I'm sure hoping they have kept Wyman as the narrator.

Lastly, in MHI news, is another pre-order from Larry Corriea.  They are re-issuing the MHI series as leatherbound books.   It's also due in December (just in time for Christmas) and I think a bunch of copies are being autographed by Larry, so if that interests you, order now, since it's a limited edition.

I have place a nice sized order for a bunch of minis to help fill out the ranks, and I'll be showing those off as I get them going.

Thanks for reading!