Steampunked: Dr. Light

I may not have written anything to do with steampunk yet. (Does dieselpunk count?)

As I have looked through my box of Heroclix awaiting modification, there was a figure that just kept on telling me how much it wanted a steampunk make over. It happened to be Dr. Light. Like many of the figures in the box, I had never heard of this character. Apparently, this one is a villain. Must be the goatee that clinches it, I'm pretty sure it was the main inspiration for a steampunk look.

The Before:

Image from coleka.com

The Afters:

He's got a light-coloured goatee and moustache that aren't so visible here.

This doctor is more geared toward controlling electricity. The right hand holds an energy collection staff, the purpose of which is to attract electrical energy from his surroundings (the air, the ground, whatever) and channel it through the heavy wire to the energy amplification device on his back. The left hand is a kind of power glove used to project the electrical energy.

Other notable parts of this mod are the removal of the original cape which is replaced by the vest, which appears to be a tailed jacket with the sleeves removed, and the amplifier. Did quite a bit of shaving down of the original's arms and legs. Cut off the top half of the original's head, to be replaced by goggles and bowler hat, also adding bumpies on the back of the head for hair.

Paints, of course, were the paint-by-numbers left-overs on top of Army Painter black primer.

A fighter from the North

Another Heroclix mod to present. Nothing really special about it, basically a generic northern fighter (maybe a Norseman). The original sculpt was a Captain America type, but it wasn't actually the Captain, I don't remember the name. An axe and a hairy vest came to mind as the thing the sculpt needed. I decided on adding a helmet a little later on.

The axe is a piece of paper clip heated and pushed through the figure's fist and the axe-head shaped on the business end. Shaping the helmet was pretty fun, maybe looks a little like an old pilot's helmet, but hey, not too bad.

Primed with Army Painter black. Paint used was all acrylic leftovers from my mom-in-law's paint-by-number sets. I thinned it down with Liquitex Slow-Dri and Flow Aid. Clear coat with Pledge Floor Care.

As a side note, just wanting to emphasize that one doesn't need to spend a whole bunch to paint a mini to table-ready condition. The paints were free. I got the two bottles of medium for a total of about $16 (with a special Michael's coupon), but they will treat a lot of these little paint pots. And the $8 bottle of Pledge is still 5/6 full after all the models I've treated with it and the experiments of mixing it in paint. I bought the Army Painter primer ($18), but I know people use Krylon spray cans to prime for less.

It's all about experimenting and having fun right? These are for playing with, not for sitting around to be admired.