Marvel project begins with an introvert and an extrovert

To add to the considerable pipeline of miniature painting projects on my workstation, I will be starting yet another long-term project in the form of superheros and villains from the Marvel Universe. This new endeavour will take centre stage along with my current Game of Thrones project which I am enjoying immensely due to the myriad of colour schemes and freehand heraldry designs involved. Other stuff in my to-do list are some stand-alone character pieces, possibly board game minis as well as my badly ignored W40K armies. Phew, talk about having your cake and eating it too.

Iron Man and The Hulk

My journey into the Marvel Universe, in particular assembling and painting the Avengers, begins with a contrast of two characters namely an extrovert in playboy Tony Stark aka Iron Man versus an introvert in the mild mannered and soft spoken Bruce Banner aka The Hulk. With the Iron Man movies into their third iteration, it is widely accepted among Marvel fans on how well Downey carries the Stark character. On the other hand, Mark Ruffalo is the third actor to play the movie version of Bruce Banner. And in my honest opinion. Ruffalo is by far the best Banner yet.   

Mark Ruffalo (left) as Bruce Banner and Robert Downey Jr (right) as Tony Stark

So where do I stand in terms of progress in assembling the Avengers? Using miniatures from Knight Models for both The Hulk and Iron Man, the former has yet to be assembled. The Hulk from the Knight Models Marvel Universe range comes with a few assemble options which includes three heads as well as two left and right hands each. It allows for three versions of Hulk - Red Hulk, Grey Hulk and Green Hulk. In line with the movie versions, I am planning to paint a green Hulk.

Knight Models The Hulk - a 1:22 scale resin model kit

At first glance, both Iron Man and Hulk seem like easy projects but the actual size of both miniatures - The Hulk stands at 90 mm from the base to the top of  his head while Iron Man comes in at 75 mm - as well as an intention on my part to paint both Iron Man's armour and Hulk's skin in extreme detail and hopefully with depth means it will be harder than it looks.

Knight Models Iron Man primed with Tamiya Fine Surface Primer

As for Iron Man, I have managed to get a few initial layers of basecoat on the miniature after priming him with Tamiya Fine Surface Primer. My current painting style is fairly fluid with repeated shifts between basecoats, shadows and highlights so even now the basecoat layers are incomplete. My starting point tends to be the mid-tones which will be blended accordingly with the shadows and highlights. Meanwhile, Iron Man will also see me try to paint Non-Metallic Metal for the first time.

Iron Man - Very early work-in-progress with initial basecoats done (front view)

Iron Man - Very early work-in-progress with initial basecoats done (back view)

Constantly shifting from one colour scheme to the next (as well as challenging myself with different miniature types) helps to stave off the monotony that sometimes plagues me in this hobby. Keeping things fresh also helps me to improve my painting skills ... one miniature at a time.