These three 28mm Federated Security Mutaints were originally released by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio” way back in July 2013 and were sculpted by Ian Mountain. These days however, the sculpt is available as Mutaint B from "Beast In The Broch", along with many other 'dead-ringers' from the BBC science fiction television series “Blake’s Seven”.
Before being primed, each metal figure’s head was attached looking in a slightly different direction in order to give each trooper some individuality. The separate heads can actually simply be super-glued into place, courtesy of a small bump sticking out from their underside which can then sit upon the torso’s slightly hollowed out neck. In the past though, I have inadvertently dislodged the head whilst handling the model during its painting, so to make doubly sure it would remain in place, the two pieces were additionally pinned and green-stuffed in place.
Described as retaining “no memories of their previous selves” having “been conditioned to obey orders without question”, each miniature was primed in "Citadel" Abaddon Black and energetically dry-brushed with “Vallejo” Heavy Charcoal. I then picked out all the Mutaints’ gauntlets and chest coverings using pure "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal, and subsequently drenched each one in "Citadel" Nuln Oil.
In addition, I attempted to make Space Commander Travis’ Command Crew a little more sinister-looking by using "Vallejo" Heavy Warmgrey for their faces’ flesh as opposed to my regular Heavy Skintone, and shading them with "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade. Lastly, each trooper's firearm was pigmented using a combination of "Vallejo" Gunmetal and "Citadel" Nuln Oil.
With the latest additions to my Federated Security force finished, I have managed to persevere with my test piece taken from the “Zombicide 2nd Edition” Presidential Box Survivor Pack by “CoolMiniOrNot”. I’m still not convinced attempting to paint the hordes of plastic figures which were produced during this highly successful Kickstarter is going to be good for my health, but the Abraham Lincoln sculpt seems to be working out reasonably well, and might encourage me to do a second US President once completed.
I’ve also taken the time to return to my previously-painted model of Groot by “Atomic Mass Games” and attempted to lighten the extra-terrestrial's rather dark colour scheme with a dry-brush of “Vallejo” Earth. I rarely return to past projects, however, the Flora colossi’s predominantly “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna (and super-shiny) palette made it difficult to see a lot of the sculpt’s excellent detail, even after applying a couple of coats of Matt Varnish over the "Marvel Crisis Protocol" miniature.