Down from the door where it began.

There had to be a first post. It will neither be about my beloved little Rats, nor will it be about my cute big Orks. It will be an opportunity to share with you a few pictures (taken by my dear friend, Pigeon du Canal) of my two first “Toughest Girls of the Galaxy” (TGG). This is just an introduction, and you will hear more about these two, but one has to start somewhere.

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Where do they come from?

If you went there or there, you already know I am a big big fan of the work done by the Raging Heroes team. I really hope you’ll enjoy and promote their minis. They have unique looks and are a pleasure to work on. But enough with the advertising…

I got my first minis as a reward for me backing their first TGG kickstarter (they did it again and so did I with TGG2 and I am waiting for their terrain kickstarter). It was also my first time as a kickstarter backer (and more broadly crowdfunder). I find this way of financing new projects great and it represents for me what the internet should be.

As you will soon learn I am not a really fast painter and after opening the box and celebrating with Chaussette (my cat), I started planning dioramas, scenes and color schemes as I wanted each and every one of these girls to look as stunning as they did in my head. And I painted nothing at all…

Mini of the century.

Then came motivation. With some of my friends we decided to each choose a scifi mini and paint it in a WWI theme (it was 2014, the beginning of the celebrations of the anniversary of WWI in Europe). I hesitated for a long time but decided to paint a German style mini, even though I am French.

There was a great opportunity to paint a TGG! The Iron Empire has a WWI look (see there). They are grim, dark and wear pointy helmets. I wanted the mini to represent violence and despair, as WWI is such a traumatic experience for Europe. I wanted a dramatic pose and a desperate feeling. I chose “Lady von Stroheim”, with the pointy helmet and gas mask.

Here is the result (in a scenic pictures which I love).

The base comes from minisocles and the scenery is scratch built (maybe someday I’ll make another post describing my work on this mini). The color scheme is not truly WWI, it is inspired by the Prussian traditional color scheme from the French/Prussian war of 1870, but I thought it was more striking and allowed contrast with the grim scenery.

What about what my friends painted? Well, we have until 11.11.2018 to finish, so maybe you’ll know then !

Belle et Rebelle.

The other mini I want to show you today comes from the same range. It is “One Shot Blondie” from the Jailbirds. It is an iconic mini since it was one of the very first concept art of the TGG kickstarter that I remember. You’ll find more about her here.

She had to be a symbol of rebellion, freedom and power. I see this mini as a defender of the weak and the oppressed. She is a feminine and contemporary Robin Hood. But she is brutal and merciless for the bad guys. Anyway, that’s how I see her. I like the idea because she is very “sexy” and obviously (outrageously) sexualized. But even though she looks like a guy most macho cliché, she uses it to assert her independence and power.

I wanted her to look like a freedom fighter, a lonely vigilante in the desert. That work is part of a larger one I have in mind: a range of female “strong” characters, female scifi and fantasy powerful warriors, but more on that later.

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That’s it for today. Not much, but that is only the beginning. Thanks for your comments !

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