7TV: Red Storm Rising

Given how delightful today's weather has been, any chance of nipping outside to undercoat recently acquired miniatures was kiboshed.  This lost opportunity instead became a chance for me to work on slapping some more paint on villainous forces for 7TV.

Whilst the Fifth Reich (“Das vierte Reich nie bearbeitet.  Ich ziehe an um!” ) had been written up as opponents for the Man From F.R.A.N.C.E., the lead pile doesn't actually contain any of its denizens.  Instead- for various reasons- attention has turned to the Communist antagonists to be found within the 7TV canon, primarily the Iron Ceiling.  These chaps click with me for some reason! 

So from left (naturally) to right, and in various states of completion: The Iron Ceiling and sneaking in from Siberia, the remnants of the Menagerie.  Overseeing this is a lovely statue of Stalin.  At least, it's thought to be just a statue..

A close-up of the Sky-Pirates.  Basing and a matt varnish, and they're good to leap into action.

Travers on the left is at the same stage as the Sky Pirates.  The dozen security guards and two captains are catching up.

 

Cloud Commissar Rostov flanked by Cloud Captain Vodyanova on his right and bureaucratic buffoon Laszlo Minsky.  The figure used for Rostov isn't the one I initially was going to use.  However, when I popped open the pack, this chap struck me as a superior choice (he's so menacing he doesn't need to wave around a weapon, and he's somewhat more similar to Don PLeasant, the chap who played Rostov in 7TV's The Daredevils...).  I looked at various WWII and Cold War online images of Soviet uniforms, before mixing them all up.  These are nowhere near done, but Vodyanova's final look should reflect the inspiration for her colour scheme- the Night Witches! 

Ah, the backroom boffins (actually, what is the Soviet/Russian equivalent?  The UK has boffins, the USA has Geeks, so what do our Russian chums say?).  Hovering at the back are some of the Iron Ceiling's infiltrating Aero-Drones, with a whole bunch of Iron Comrades lined up in front of them.  Right at the back are some Matryoshka, which I won't need to elaborate on if you've seen the first Austin Powers film.  Honeytrap-tastic, and a darn sight more lethal.  Of course, all this clockwork kit doesn't mainatin itself, hence the toolkit-toting minion in the centre, and treacherous Dr Vostok's cabal of scientists in the foreground.  Lastly, to the left is a minion who has got what appears to be a portable barbecue kit on his back (clearly an optimist, given the 'summer' weather the UK's had recently...).

Lastly (and sneaking in from one of the Crooked Dice pdf-only offerings), the minions of scarlet-clad Soviet psychic, Grigori Morov.  Snuffling for subversives we have his Grunts, and behind Morov we have his augmented gorilla (Humanzee?) sidekick and a Mutoid waving a tentcle.  Quite.

In all, there's about 1000 Ratings worth of Extras, Co-Stars and Stars.  Madness, but to use an apocryphal quote of Comrade Stalin's, "quantity has a quality all of its own"...

Yes.  I really should sort out a camera suitable for these kind of pictures and close-ups...