Painting – Lead it Be

I popped in to one of my local stores last weekend to pick up a pin vise. I’ve been assembling the Marvel/DC Universe figures over the last while and some of the limbs are so thin that they need to be pinned. The weather had warmed up enough that I was also able to prime a bunch of the ones I’ve already assembled.

While there, the owner showed me some figures that he had painted. He knew I used to paint (a lot more than my recent figure painting totals would reflect). These were the first figures that he had painted, having mostly been a card gamer. He had painted some of the Rebel Legion figures in a light green color. He was going for an ‘army men’ look.

I congratulated him a bit for painting but then mentioned that if he hit them with a wash, the details would really pop. We discussed drybrushing a bit as well.


Later, upon reflection, I realized that I had done him a disservice in this. While I would apply a wash and then highlights, as well as basing, he may not want to take these extra steps. In fact, in doing these extra details, it might even take away from his design aesthetic.

I messaged him later and pointed out my error. I circled back and welcomed him into the painting fold, advising him that he had taken his first steps into a larger world. I stressed that he did not need to make any other changes to what he had done, unless he wanted to. I blamed my years of Games Workshop 3-color-standard.

Just a reminder to us to think back to when we first started out painting. We need to celebrate what has been accomplished, and point out the good. If asked, we can give advice to nudge the new painters along the path but they don’t ever have to get to the same destination that we are at or heading to.

I remember seeing a 40K battle at a convention in Regina back in the late 90s. One player had painted his Tyranid army in pastel colors – blue, pink, yellow. A lot of the people walking by did not like it, but I found his sherbet-colored forces quite striking on the table.

A destruction of Hulks?

The Hulk figure for the Marvel Universe game was huge, heavy, and expensive. It was supposed to fit on the large 60mm base. I was able to pick up an alternative but, if you missed out, you also have options.

There are a couple of Heroclix figures that are larger than normal, but would still be smaller than the right size. While they would be lighter, they are still a bit moderately priced. They are already painted, unless you buy the Red Hulk version, which would need to be repainted.

The new Hulk figure from Marvel Crisis Protocol is close to the same size, and light, but also pretty expensive. It will also need to be assembled and painted.


I had picked up this one. It was moderately priced, is light, is painted, and is the right size. The base needs a small amount of work to make it 60mm though. You can glue it directly to a 60mm base, or cut the figure from his base and then glue him to a proper one. I would cut a 60mm disk from styrene or cardboard, hot glue him to it, and then blend the edges with extra rubble made from styrene and paint to match.

Dollarama/Dollar Tree had some large scale superhero figures. These were light, the right size, painted, and cheap. They are closer to 1/35 scale but that is about the right size for the Hulk figure. This one already comes on a base that is almost 60mm. I had picked this one up a few years ago and haven’t seen any recently.

I did find some WWE wrestlers at Dollar Tree that were also close to 1/35 scale. They are light, a good size, and cheap. John Cena and Brock Lesnar have okay figures that could be used for A-Bomb and Red Hulk. They are both wearing boots so that would have to modified and the pant edges torn if you want to make a normal Green or Grey Hulk. They don’t have full bases, so that would need to be cut away and both pinned to a 60mm base. Both would need a simple paint job as well.

Why so many? I could not find the cheap Hulk, or anything equivalent when I was looking so I picked up the other one at a convention. Then I picked up the wrestlers while looking for ones that others would be able to find easier. Finally, while sifting boxes to storage recently, I came across the original one I had bought.