Munchkin Aerostat Corps – Hot Air Balloon with Crew (Wars of Ozz)

In building out my available troops for my Wars of Ozz games, I have focused on infantry, cavalry, and artillery units for the most part. I started with the Munchkins in this vein, then moved onto other factions as I have shared in previous posts in this blog. My Munchkin forces are excellent with musketry, but as far as mobility on the battlefield goes, well, they do have very small feet and do not move quickly…

Meanwhile, as you may remember, the Winkies (the oh-we-oh dudes) in Wars of Ozz have very mobile units, especially in terms of cavalry and the Great Flying Apes.

I decided that it was high time that I got the Munchkins some air power of their own. While I have in some games given them allies (like the Great Owls), there is one organic flying unit available to the Munchkins. It is OZZ-110 “Hot Air Balloon & Crew“. The model consists of a foam balloon, three crewmen, a basket, and some wires. In the game, it is called a part of the Munchkin Aerostat Corps” located at the Emerald City. The Aerostat Corps is commanded by Professor Wogglebug. Balloons in the game are 360-degree aerial sharpshooter firing platforms for the Munchkins. They are faster than the Munchkin infantry and their movement is described as semi-magical (not just by the wind). While they cannot under normal circumstances engage in melee, other flying units may engage them in melee. As befits a sniping unit, they just engage the enemy with harassing attacks of sharpshooters and bombs – from above. While there are only three figures in the basket, it takes 5 hits on the balloonists to eliminate the unit – the balloon itself cannot be shot down.

This post will be quite WIP photo heavy as this was a stiff modeling challenge for me to be sure. I started on June 20th and finished on July 3rd.

I bought the model a while back and decided after looking at it to delay working on it until I had a few more other Ozz units done. I really wanted to make it cool (in my own way) – and I could see this would take some effort – so it languished in my collection of unpainted Ozz stuff – daring me to take it on. It is 28mm in scale. The figures and the basket are metal, while the balloon is a foam casting. There is an acrylic dowel as a stand that goes into a metal flight stand base, plus some wires for attaching the basket to the balloon. The rules stipulate that the base should be 4″ x 4″, so I used styrene for that..

The kit as received with the styrene sheets. I did not end up using the metal bases seen here under the styrene.

WIP Shots…

I had visions of trying to recreate the font on the balloon to match that of the movie, but I decided otherwise as this is Ozz not Oz, and the foam cast needed some TLC.

Now, I take on modeling challenges not expecting that everything would be perfect – and here is a good example. You have to be reasonable as what you buy is a starting point, not a finish line. Let me be clear:

I LOVE THIS MODEL!!!! I highly recommend it!

However, there were a number of voids that needed to be fixed, and I just channeled my innovative juices. I needed to address that – as well as how exactly would I mount the basket and more that you’ll see shortly. The figures themselves are really nice. So what to do?

Sculpt with green stuff! That would allow me to bulk out the sculptor’s intended design as well as make the balloon “pop”…ok sorry about that…

This took more time than I wanted but I did need to let one part cure before moving on and this was a 360-degree operation. Once this was done, the mounting options swirled around in my head. I did not like the idea of using the wires – plus I was hesitant to run the wires through the foam balloon itself. I wanted the look of ropes – and that meant something to tie the ropes onto – so I made an “oreo cookie” of sorts with styrene, green stuff, and screw eyes to fit the bottom of the balloon, and let that cure. Then I drilled lined-up holes in the middle of the cookie and the balloon for the insertion of the acrylic flight pole. Once these lined up, I affixed the cookie with more green stuff and made it part of the balloon itself.

After this had cured, I covered the outside with more green stuff to make it match the balloon body.

At this point I moved on to the crew and the basket. Because there were tiny prongs on the boots of the crew and corresponding tiny holes on the basket floor for their mounting, I took two approaches. One was to use a pin vise to drill tiny holes on three popsicle sticks to accommodate the boot prongs and secured the crew with a drop of PVA glue. The second was to modify the basket bottom with matchsticks so as to hide the holes in the basket bottom.

The basket bottom after some initial painting with the matchsticks glued to the bottom.

Back to the crew, I primed them then covered them with a dark wash (Secret Weapon Washes “Heavy Body Black”. Once this had dried, a strong white dry brush application was made.

Returning to the balloon, I used my airbrush cleaning pot and an old brush handle to mount for priming and painting. As Munchkins love blue, I decided to follow the pattern of colors shown on the OZZ-110 “Hot Air Balloon & Crew“ picture on the website. I did have some trouble with one panel section that necessitated a repriming and repaint as the light blue contrast paint did not fully adhere – but that worked out fine (after a bit of repainting frustration of course). The basic sequence is shown in the gallery below.

Moving back to the crew and the basket – I painted each separately then assembled them. As I mentioned before, I wanted to use ropes (using twine) instead of the wires to connect the balloon to the basket. That required drilling out the four mounting holes on the basket and inserting two jewelry rings into each hole. The rings in each hole were then glued to each other with Gorilla Glue as shown in the sequence below.

As for the acrylic flight stand pole and the metal base, they were affixed to the styrene 4″ x 4″ base. I then added small stones and green stuff to support the pole as it was not overly supported by just the metal stand. I tried to level it out as best as I could.

The next section I dreaded doing, because rigging a balloon like this could easily come out horribly if not relatively level. I went slowly with the twine and measures out lengths carefully and tried to use appropriate knots.

I gave the twine a coat of PVA for stiffening, then gave them a speed paint hue to represent rope.

Then it was time to flock the base.

Eye Candy

First, the balloon in it’s entirety from three angles.

And three close-ups of the crew in the basket:

I really was happy to finally get this done – but wait – I need to transport this contraption! So, I took a 6.5 liter Really Useful Box, customized some foam padding, and voila!

This was a project that I am certain will be a lot of fun on the tabletop – until Great Flying Apes or similar attack – or the balloonists get shot up!

Next up – Gillikin stuff!

And yes, I still have more to come…

Miscellaneous details and references for those interested in that sort of thing:

For all of my previous posts on Wars of Ozz games, figures, units, and other related projects – please see this page.

PAINTS, INKS, GLAZES, SHADES, WASHES, PIGMENTS, FLOCKING, GLUES AND MORE THAT I USED ON THIS MUNCHKIN AEROSTAT & CREW:

Green stuff (kneadatite)
Plastruct styrene sheet
Vallejo Mecha Surface Primer “White”
Vallejo “Airbrush Thinner”
Gorilla Glue
Elmer’s PVA Glue
4 small screw eyes
Secret Weapon Washes “Heavy Body Black”
Vallejo Model Color “White”
Vallejo Model Color “Red”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Murder Scene”
Vallejo Model Color “Wood Grain”
Battlefront “Black”
Vallejo Game Air “Beastly Brown”
Citadel “Auric Armour Gold”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Beowulf Blue”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Royal Robes”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Caribbean Ocean”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Aggaros Dunes”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Crusader Flesh”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Aethermatic Blue”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Pylar Glacier”
Army Painter “Tanned Flesh”
MSP Core Colors “Fair Shadow”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Baal Red”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Snakebite Leather”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Contrast Medium”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Magmadroth Flame”
Vallejo Model Air “Gun Metal”
Martha Stewart Crafts “Pale Bronze”
Vallejo Model Air “Wood”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Hardened Leather”
Vallejo Model Air “Bright Brass”
Citadel “Agrax Earthshade” (wash)
Citadel “Nuln Oil GLOSS” (wash/shade)
Vallejo “Flow Improver”
Vallejo Varnish “Satin Varnish”
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Matte Varnish”
Small jewelry rings
Wooden matchsticks
Cotton twine
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Skeleton Horde”
Small rocks
Vallejo Earth Texture “Brown Earth Gel”
Army Painter “Battlefields Grass Green” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefield Field Grass” (flocking)
Shadow’s Edge Miniatures “Tan Tufts” (flocking)
Shadow’s Edge Miniatures “6mm Light Blue Tufts” (flocking)
Gamers Grass “Wild”

Again, as you may want to check out the Wars of Ozz figures’ range – there are two places to get them (and I make no money from this btw). The game rules and the figures are available from the following two places:

In the US Old Glory has a site – Wars of Ozz Miniatures.

In the UK go to Sally 4th.

Adventurers of Ozz (Wars of Ozz)

There was one group of miniatures that I did not get a chance to finish before my trip to HUZZAH! 2023 last month. It was the “Adventurers of Ozz“, OZZ-515. There are five figures in the SKU – the Kansas Farmgirl, The Tinman, the Lion, and the the Scarecrow – plus a little Toto-like dog.

These are all very useful figures to add as point roundups or just as themselves to add depth to a game. When attached to a unit, each figure (except Toto) increases different attributes of that unit. Speaking of Toto, the Kansas Farmgirl (think “Dorothy”) already has a small dog in her basket on the figure itself. So, after thinking of how to handle that duplication – I decided to make Toto as a separate game/objective marker instead of mounting him with The Kansas Farmgirl on the same base. I can foresee games with saving Toto as an objective perhaps.

As for the attributes, at 1 point of cost, each of the figures gives a special bonus:

Kansas Farmgirl – adds one to the Resolve of an attached unit (Resolve is basically a unit’s capacity to stay in the fight and face the enemy).
The Tinman – adds one to the Melee of an attached unit (Melee is fighting hand to hand).
The Lion – adds one to the Elan of an attached unit (Elan is basically a unit’s desire to close with the enemy or rally after taking losses).
The Scarecrow – adds one to the Marksmanship of an attached unit (Marksmanship is a measure of a unit’s accuracy with missile weapons).

I had really liked seeing the figures on the website – but decided to take a different painting tack on them than what you see there. I think mine are a bit more serious, maybe even dark. This was purposeful, as I wanted to be able to add them to any side’s forces, not just the Munchkin’s or Quadlings.

I also decided early on that they would get mounted on the round MDF bases from Wars of Ozz miniatures, and that I would get their bonus abilities/attributes printed off to be placed on the little MDF tabs that go on the MDF bases. This would give me flexibility in future games – so that if I wanted to make one of these a brigade or army commander for example – I could.

There was no assembly needed on these. As I have before, I’ll share a few WIP shots and then some eye candy of the Adventurers of Ozz. All of the paints that I used will be listed at the end as I normally do for those interested in that level of detail. As the 5 figures were very different, I used many different paints.

WIP Shots…

I airbrush primed them white, and then used some SWW “Heavy Body Black” as a wash. I had this wash for a few years, and figured I’d use it instead of another before it turned to sludge.

After the wash applications had dried, I dry brushed all of them with white except for the Tinman, who I dry brushed in flat aluminum.

After this it was on to painting each figure one at a time. First up is the Kansas Farmgirl. I did choose to paint her without a headscarf as I thought the brown hair looked better. And yes, those are “ruby boots”.

Then, I moved onto the Tinman – which was my favorite figure. Love the weaponry, the tailpipe, the face! Why he has a scarf is a mystery – but I made that an Ozz green.

My next figure was the Lion – who I decided to give a “royal treatment” to in terms of rich purples and blues.

As for the Scarecrow – he looked quite creepy to me. So I decided to give him zombie flesh tones and cloak him in dark shades of green with a yellow scarf . I love that all of the weapons are so multi-barreled and weird.

Lastly, Toto the objective marker!

I subsequently varnished these with a coat of satin followed by one of matte and let them dry. Once dry, I glued them to the assembled MDF bases. Once that dried, I began serial flocking work.

First stage of 3 or 4 of flocking the bases.

While the first PVA/flocking coat dried, I went to my computer and used PowerPoint to make the abilities tabs.

After the flocking dried, I had a pretty nice collection of Adventurers of Ozz!

On a side note, I had decided that I needed to up my photographic game. I had been using my airbrush spray booth as a photo booth, but wanted better. Therefore, I bought a moderately-priced photo booth that stores easily.

The new collapsible 24″ x 24″ booth. You can move the booth lights to come in from the side as well. I still need to work with it – but I do like it.

Plus here it is packed away:

So, how about some eye candy from the new booth?

Eye Candy

Kansas Farmgirl

The Tinman

The Lion

The Scarecrow

Toto (the objective marker)

Group Shot

Hopefully, I can get these into a game soon. And I hope that my booth helps my photography too.

These were a lot of fun to paint. I hope that you liked enjoyed the post and the figures. Thanks for taking a look and any feedback is always appreciated. Do YOU have a favorite? I’d love to know!

What’s next for me hobby-wise – well I am not sure – but I might be going airborne…or not…

And yes, I still have more to come…

Miscellaneous details and references for those interested in that sort of thing:

For all of my previous posts on Wars of Ozz games, figures, units, and other related projects – please see this page.

PAINTS, INKS, GLAZES, SHADES, WASHES, PIGMENTS, FLOCKING, GLUES AND MORE THAT I USED ON THESE ADVENTURERS OF OZZ FIGURES:

1.25″ steel fender washers
1/2″ steel fender washer (Toto)
Gorilla Glue
Poster tack
Vallejo “Flow Improver”
Vallejo “Airbrush Thinner”
Vallejo Mecha Surface Primer “White”
Vallejo Premium Surface Primer “White”
Army Painter Airbrush Primer “White”
MDF round bases from Wars of Ozz miniatures
Secret Weapon Washes “Heavy Body Black”
Vallejo Model Color “White”
Tamiya “Flat Aluminum”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Peachy Flesh”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Fire Drake”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Beowulf Blue”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Royal Robes”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Baal Red”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Contrast Medium”
Vallejo Model Air “Gun Metal”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Wyldwood”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Hardened Leather”
Battlefront “Dark Leather”
Vallejo “Thinner Medium”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Tyrian Navy”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Broadsword Silver”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Nazdreg Yellow”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Cloudburst Blue”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Talos Bronze”
Citadel “Spritstone Red” (Technical)
Citadel “Agrax Earthshade” (wash)
Vallejo Mecha Color “Steel”
Citadel “The Fang”
Vallejo Model Color “Neutral Grey”
Vallejo Model Color “Sunny Skin Tone”
Citadel “Nuln Oil GLOSS” (wash/shade)
PS Model Color “US Olive Drab”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Ancient Honey”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Flesh Tearers Red”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Iyanden Yellow”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Purple Swarm”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Ironjawz Yellow”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Apothecary White”
Martha Stewart Crafts “Pale Bronze”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Plaguebearer Flesh”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Camo Cloak”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Shamrock Green”
Vallejo Model Color “Wood Grain”
Citadel “Tesseract Glow”
Vallejo Varnish “Satin Varnish”
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Matte Varnish”
Elmer’s PVA Glue
Army Painter “Battlefields Grass Green” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefield Field Grass” (flocking)
Gamer’s Grass “Green Meadow” (flocking)
Gamer’s Grass “Wild” (flocking)
Shadow’s Edge Miniatures “6mm Light Blue Tufts” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefields Field Grass” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefields Meadow Flowers” (flocking)
Army Painter “Lowland Shrubs” (flocking)
Army Painter “Meadow Flowers” (flocking)
Brown Sharpie pen
Small stones (flocking)
Small oak twigs (flocking)
Avery shipping labels

In the US Old Glory has a site – Wars of Ozz Miniatures.

In the UK go to Sally 4th.

Great Owls (Wars of Ozz)

It’s time that I round out the last group of Wars of Ozz figures that I painted and used in games at Huzzah 2023.

The Great Owls make their combat debut at Huzzah 2023.

In my last post, I gave you all a hint at the subject of this post with the following great album cover:

It was my way at connecting the Great Owls, OZZ-530, listed in the “Allies and Mercenaries” section – as are all the Land of Harvest figures. Plus, I really love this album and the Who…who…who…

These Great Owls are not part of the Land of Harvest – but can be added to any side as an ally in a game. As flyers, they have an advantage in mobility and maneuver, plus while they are treated as infantry in the game, they may, unlike infantry, charge cavalry. Their ability to vertically envelop an enemy and hit them in the rear are also quite powerful. Their Melee value is 7/10, while Resolve (stay in the fight value) is only 5/10 and Elan (take the fight to the enemy value)is 6/10. At Huzzah 2023, I added this regiment to the Munchkin player’s forces. As the Winkies had the Great Flying Apes as flyers, that was also a consideration for me in play balance.

The figures come as a pack of 10 owls with stiff-wired flight stands and a log base. The stands are of different heights. All the pieces are metal, and 28mm scale. They are quite nice figures, and pretty straightforward to assemble and to paint. I went with a basic brown on the feathers, and black eye circles with red eyes. I dry brushed the bodies, and added a brighter yellow for the beaks and feet. Again, pretty easy.

WIP Shots…

After assembly – the log bases hold the wire stands which hold the owls. I mounted the log bases on 1.25″ steel fender washers.

The Great Owls painted up and ready for varnish and flocking.

A close up view post varnish – the eyes are redder than shown here.

As these figures are pretty much the same, I did not take photos of each stand like I normally would do. Additionally, I found it difficult to light and to shoot each one with an Ozz background as you can see below:

I mean, you get the idea, but I was not very happy with this situation. I did try my alternate photo booth – which is a cardboard box with cloth over it:

This photo came out better – and I was pleased that now on the Ozz website part of this photo is up as the “official” image for OZZ-530!

I have since bought a new light booth which I think will improve over the issues that I have been having. More on this in my next miniatures post…as my next one is likely going to be a golf post.

That wraps up the Great Owls and the units and individuals that I did for HUZZAH 2023.

Thanks for taking a look and for any feedback. Next, I will get to some characters with which you are ALL intimately familiar – except that this is Ozz and not Oz… Stay tuned!

And yes, I still have more to come…

Miscellaneous details and references for those interested in that sort of thing:

For all of my previous posts on Wars of Ozz games, figures, units, and other related projects – please see this page.

PAINTS, INKS, GLAZES, SHADES, WASHES, PIGMENTS, FLOCKING, GLUES AND MORE THAT I USED ON THESE GREAT OWLS:

2″ square steel bases from Wargames Accessories (#21)
Gorilla Glue
1.25″ steel fender washers
Poster tack
Vallejo “Flow Improver”
Vallejo “Airbrush Thinner”
Vallejo Mecha Surface Primer “White”
Army Painter Airbrush Primer “White”
Battlefront “Black”
Vallejo Model Color “White”
Citadel “Skrag Brown”
Vallejo Game Air “Sun Yellow”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Magmadroth Flame”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Contrast Medium”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Pallid Bone”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Ruddy Fur”
Army Painter “Speed Paint Medium”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Dark Wood”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Burnt Moss”
Citadel “Hexwraith Flame”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Forest Sprite”
PS Model Color “British Brown Drab”
Americana/DecoArt “Honey Brown”
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Gloss Varnish”
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Matte Varnish”
Elmer’s PVA Glue
Army Painter “Battlefields Grass Green” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefield Field Grass” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefields Field Grass” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefields Meadow Flowers” (flocking)
Shadow’s Edge Miniatures “6mm Dark Forest Plum Tufts” (flocking)
Small stones (flocking)
Small oak twigs (flocking)

3 Pumpkin Headed Generals and a Harvest Witch (Wars of Ozz)

In my previous post about King Jack and the Great Pumpkin Heads of the Great Land of Harvest, I discussed his leadership abilities – in that he’s the only one among the pumpkinheads who actually can speak to other races. I am sure that he must be able to communicate (in ways non-pumpkinheads can understand) to his kind like the Lesser Pumpkinheads, the Harvestland Artillery, and other Land of Harvest units and individuals. There must be something to the guttural moans emanating from the menageries of vegetable troops of the Great Land of Harvest that is a form of communication in some way.

But wouldn’t King Jack need some able-bodied lieutenants to help him to command his army? Plus, hell, he’d need some type of witch or wizard to even out his forces against enemies with their own magic users? And yes, I know he needs cavalry – which exists in that world – and I eventually hope to add them – but not right now…too many figures are already in the queue!

For these reasons, my immediate need pre-HUZZAH 2023 was to get a few subordinate general officers for my Harvest forces – as well as a Harvest witch. Having more brigade commanders would allow me to field several brigades (albeit smaller at first) of maniacal veggies. And a adding a witch would make playing that side more fun too.

Way back, I accidentally ordered two Zoraster the Wizard figures during the initial Kickstarter. I was able to trade my excess wizard with Greg Priebe of the Harford Maryland H.A.W.K.’s for a generic witch.

I have named her Lady Thistlethorn, the Harvest Witch. It’s a good a name as any. She’s an Ozz figure, and was part of the random wizards and witches for Ozz available as OZZ-513. Of course, Lady Thistlethorn will have her spells assigned randomly each game.

As for the three generals, they came from OZZ-531, “Pumpkin Headed Generals”. In the rules, they are listed as General Gourdvine, General Squashblossom, and General Crustfiller. Each has a single defined benefit and a random one – and all can serve as either brigade or army commanders.

The figures are not identified/associated with a particular name, so I chose to make General Gourdvine as the figure with the traditional jack-o-lantern head, General Squashblossom as the jack-o-lantern-headed figure with the carrot nose, and General Crustfiller as the figure with the burlap bag over his head (?). All 3 are mounted on skeletonized horses. The three are metal, 28mm scale, and came in two pieces (rider trunk and mount with the legs).

As with the Lesser Pumpkinheads, my goal was to use the basic colors of the Great Pumpkin Heads for these – and especially the yellow-green eyes. Once again, I also needed to show straw (like the stuffing of a scarecrow) coming out of the holes in their clothes and near their wrists.

For Lady Thistlethorn, I went with a black outfit with green facings – and a slightly different green for her skin. I am not fully happy with her, as the two green shades are too close, but in the rush for Huzzah 2023 prep, I decided that she was good enough for now. She’s a bit sexy with her thigh-high boots and leather bustier – and certainly I will get some more witches in the future.

I’ll share a few WIP shots of the PHG’s and the HW and then move onto the eye candy for both types. I will list my paints etc. at the end as I normally do for those interested (and for my own reference in the future should I need that information as often is the case).

Pumpkin Headed Generals

PHG WIP Shots…

Painting completed pre-varnish and pre-flocking.

Harvest Witch (Lady Thistlethorn)

Harvest Witch WIP Shots…

Now-named Lady Thistlethorn the Harvest Witch after cleanup.

Eye Candy

Pumpkin Headed Generals Eye Candy

General Gourdvine

General Squashblossom

General Crustfiller

Harvest Witch (Lady Thistlethorn) Eye Candy

Group shot

That’s the Pumpkin Headed Generals and Lady Thistlethorn, the Harvest Witch. They did all debut at Huzzah 2023.

Thanks for taking a look and for any feedback. The next post will round out my pre-Huzzah 2023 painting scramble. Hint:

And yes, I still have more to come…

Miscellaneous details and references for those interested in that sort of thing:

For all of my previous posts on Wars of Ozz games, figures, units, and other related projects – please see this page.

PAINTS, INKS, GLAZES, SHADES, WASHES, PIGMENTS, FLOCKING, GLUES AND MORE THAT I USED ON THESE PUMPKIN HEADED GENERALS:

Mounted Brigade Commander MDF bases from Old Glory/Wars of Ozz Miniatures
1 1/4″ x 1″ steel bases from Wargames Accessories (#FOW1)
2″ square steel base from Wargames Accessories (#21)
Gorilla Glue
Poster tack
Vallejo “Flow Improver”
Vallejo “Airbrush Thinner”
Vallejo Mecha Surface Primer “Black”
Vallejo Model Color “White”
Citadel “Tesseract Glow”
Battlefront “Black”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Dusk Red”
Vallejo Model Color “Black” (metallic)
Battlefront “Gunship Green”
Hataka “Beige”
Citadel “Mechanicus Standard Grey”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Striking Scorpion Green”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Bad Moon Yellow”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Contrast Medium”
Tamiya “Orange”
Tamiya “X-20A Thinner”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Nazdreg Yellow”
Vallejo Model Color “Light Orange”
Vallejo Model Color “Clear Orange”
Vallejo Model Air “Gun Metal”
Vallejo Model Air “Steel”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Skeleton Horde”
Army Painter “Mid Brown” (wash/shade)
Citadel “Nuln Oil GLOSS” (wash)
PS Model Color “US Olive Drab”
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Gloss Varnish”
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Matte Varnish”
Elmer’s PVA Glue
Army Painter “Battlefields Grass Green” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefield Field Grass” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefields Field Grass” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefields Meadow Flowers” (flocking)
Shadow’s Edge Miniatures “6mm Dark Forest Orange Tufts” (flocking)
Gamer’s Grass “Orange Flowers” (flocking)
Small stones (flocking)
Small oak twigs (flocking)

PAINTS, INKS, GLAZES, SHADES, WASHES, PIGMENTS, FLOCKING, GLUES AND MORE THAT I USED ON THE HARVEST WITCH (“LADY THISTLETHORN”):

3/4″ steel washer
Gorilla Glue
Poster tack
Vallejo “Flow Improver”
Vallejo “Airbrush Thinner”
Vallejo Mecha Surface Primer “White”
Vallejo Model Color “White”
Citadel “Tesseract Glow”
Battlefront “Black”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Forest Sprite”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Striking Scorpion Green”
Citadel “Squid Orange”
Vallejo Model Color “Wood”
Reaper MSP Core Colors “Blackened Brown”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Nazdreg Yellow”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Black Legion”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Space Wolves Grey”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Snakebite Leather”
Citadel “Waystone Green” (Technical)
Army Painter “Green Tone” (wash/shade)
PS Model Color “US Olive Drab”
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Gloss Varnish”
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Matte Varnish”
Elmer’s PVA Glue
Army Painter “Battlefields Grass Green” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefield Field Grass” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefields Field Grass” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefields Meadow Flowers” (flocking)
Shadow’s Edge Miniatures “6mm Dark Forest Orange Tufts” (flocking)
Gamer’s Grass “Orange Flowers” (flocking)

In the US Old Glory has a site – Wars of Ozz Miniatures.

In the UK go to Sally 4th.

Mushroom Creatures (Wars of Ozz)

In my last blog post I promised something “fungal” this time – and here it is – a regiment of Mushroom Creatures for Wars of Ozz!

This unit was yet another part of my painting scramble to get ready for HUZZAH! 2023. It joins my other forces for the Great Land of Harvest. The unit is composed of 10 figures to be based each on 5 stands, 2 per stand. Similar to some other Great Land of Harvest regiments, the Mushroom Creature Infantry Regiment is comprised of 10 metal figures armed – with differently-sized stone sledgehammers and hammers. The figures are of different heights, but did not need assembly as each figure came in a single piece.

The photo of the unit on the Wars of Ozz website served as a starting point for me for painting. I liked the spotted mushroom caps – but wanted to have a greater variety of colors. This is, after all, Ozz! Plus I had a lot of new Speed and Contrast Paints to try as I got the 2.0 set.

I varied the different models so as to create a variety of bases. I took the same approach with the colors so that no two bases would be the same. They are based in the game on five 2″ square bases without a Regimental Commander. Their melee value is pretty strong at 7 out of 10. Their Elan and Resolve values are the same as the other Harvest units at 6 out of 10. In fact, they have the same stats as the Great Menacing Hammerheads.

These also have a facial look of intent to do great harm to their enemies, but were pretty easy to paint up. Again, to match my other Harvest troops, I did paint the eyes with a glowing yellow-green (Tesseract Glow). I’ll share a few WIP shots and then some eye candy of the Mushroom Creatures regiment. I’ll briefly describe the painting process that I used with the contrast and speed paints. All of the paints that I used will be listed at the end as I normally do for those interested in that stuff.

WIP Shots…

The figures as received – very cool and pretty easy to paint up. I mounted the figures on 3/4″ steel washers, then onto poster-tack covered specimen jars for ease of painting.

I primed these white so I could get the best results on the mushroom caps (the most visible feature on the tabletop). That white also “absorbs” colors from Speed and Contrast paints the best. You can make out the penciled dots that I have placed on the caps – which I would line out with black and then regular white paint before adding colors.

Very simple to paint! I decided that the caps should vary, but that the rest of the figures colors should be relatively uniform.

Once painted, I airbrushed these with two coats of varnish sequentially – first a coat of gloss then a coat of matte. Then I flocked the bases with the same color themes as my other Harvest troops.

Who doesn’t love anthropomorphic mushrooms armed with stone hammers anyways?

How about some…

Eye Candy

As the figures are really uninteresting from behind , I decided to stay with frontal shots. Sorry to disappoint all you miniature mushroom figure butt fans out there…

Stand 1

Stand 2

Stand 3

Stand 4

Stand 5

Group shot

Similar to what I found with the Great Menacing Hammerheads, photographing these was difficult – this time due to the mushroom caps shading the figures. I think you get the idea of how they look in the group shot. From above they look quite fungal!

I did find that the contrast paints tended to have cracks/microfissures on wider surfaces like the mushroom tops when they dried and were “stretched out”. Adding a second coat was enough pre-varnish to fix that problem. Not my finest work, but I like them, and they will be just fine on the tabletop.

That’s all for the Mushroom Creatures Infantry Regiment. Like me, I’m sure you want a pizza now with mushrooms now! Well, I always do…

I hope that you liked this slice of Ozz wackiness as much as I did.

I currently have just 2 more Ozz blog posts in the queue and then I can get back to painting more stuff – so stay tuned.

My next post will make you consider – who would work for or under King Jack?

Thanks for taking a look and any feedback is always appreciated

And yes, I still have more to come…

Miscellaneous details and references for those interested in that sort of thing:

For all of my previous posts on Wars of Ozz games, figures, units, and other related projects – please see this page.

PAINTS, INKS, GLAZES, SHADES, WASHES, PIGMENTS, FLOCKING, GLUES AND MORE THAT I USED ON THIS MUSHROOM CREATURE INFANTRY REGIMENT:

Gorilla Glue
3/4″ steel washers
Poster tack
Vallejo “Flow Improver”
Vallejo “Airbrush Thinner”
Vallejo Premium Surface Primer “White”
Vallejo Mecha Surface Primer “White”
Army Painter Airbrush Primer “White”
Battlefront “Black”
Vallejo Model Color “White”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Contrast Medium”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Holy White”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Dark Wood”
Citadel “Mechanicus Standard Grey”
Vallejo “Thinner Medium”
Citadel “Tesseract Glow”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Purple Swarm”
Army Painter “Speed Paint Medium”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Baal Red”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Dusk Red”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Familiar Pink”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Battleship Grey”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Caribbean Ocean”
Army Painter “Speed Paint – Beowulf Blue”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Aggaros Dunes”
Citadel “Nuln Oil GLOSS” (wash/shade)
PS Model Color “British Brown Drab”
2″ square steel base from Wargames Accessories (#21)
Army Painter “Light Tone” (wash/shade)
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Gloss Varnish”
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Matte Varnish”
Elmer’s PVA Glue
Army Painter “Battlefields Grass Green” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefield Field Grass” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefields Field Grass” (flocking)
Army Painter “Battlefields Meadow Flowers” (flocking)
Shadow’s Edge Miniatures “6mm Dark Forest Orange Tufts” (flocking)
Gamer’s Grass “Orange Flowers” (flocking)
Small stones (flocking)
Small oak twigs (flocking)

In the US Old Glory has a site – Wars of Ozz Miniatures.

In the UK go to Sally 4th.

Great Menacing Hammerheads (Wars of Ozz)

In my painting scramble to get ready for HUZZAH! 2023, I painted a number of regiments, leaders and individuals for my Wars of Ozz games. You may have noticed several of them in my last post. Most of these projects involved regiments from the Great Land of Harvest. One of them was the Great Menacing Hammerheads, SKU#528. The unit is composed of 10 figures to be based each on 5 stands.

The photo of them on the Wars of Ozz website intrigued me:

What exactly are these?

Great Menacing Hammerheads on ***Wars of Ozz*** website.

They are listed in the rules as part of forces available to the Great Land of Harvest. Still, again…

What exactly are these?

The rulebook is silent on this, except to suggest that these creatures may be one of many mutations that occurred after the Madness Bombs fell 300 years ago. I am by no means expert on the original Baum Wizard of Oz works that inspired the game. With a little digging on the old internet, I found a couple of clues. Apparently these do appear in the Oz books around the year 1900 – and are quite xenophobic and weird. There is an Oz Wiki site – and there I found this:

“They had nearly reached the first rock when they heard a rough voice cry out, “KEEP BACK!” “Who are you?” asked the Scarecrow. Then a face showed itself over the rock and the same voice said, “THIS HILL IS OUR HILL, THE HILL OF US HAMMER-HEADS, AND WE DO NOT ALLOW ANYONE TO EVER CROSS IT!” “But we must cross it,” said the Scarecrow. “We’re going to the country of the Quadlings to see its ruler, Glinda the Good Witch, so we must.” “BUT YOU MUST NOT!” Replied the voice, and there stepped from behind the large rocks the strangest man the travelers had ever seen. He was quite short and stout, standing no more than three feet high and had a big, oversized head, which was smooth on the top and as flat as a hammer. The head was supported by a thick, long, fat neck full of many layers of wrinkles. But the body had no arms at all, not even stubs.“―The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
from the Oz Wiki

A little more digging found these images from the original books:

It appears that their attack mode is a whipping-extending forward-head-butting action. How they button their clothes, tie their shoes, or perform acts of personal hygiene are certainly left to the imagination…

Another site (The Creature Codex)shows an interesting artist’s concept of these as monsters as shown by the photo below:

“Hammer-Heads” © Orion’s Bell LLC, by Daniel Silberberg.

These look more menacing and Ozz-like, but lack the “hammerheads”. As for why the Great Menacing Hammerheads (let’s call them the GMHH) are listed as part of the Great Land of Harvest forces, I am not 100% sure given the above. I can accept that given the previous quote and their alleged xenophobia, they probably would only fight alongside their nearest neighbor mutants? In any case, I happily bought them and proceeded to build and paint the regiment.

Similar to some other Great Land of Harvest regiments, the GMHH unit is comprised of 10 metal figures, and each is unarmed – save for their heads, which are different types of hammers. The figures are of different heights, and needed assembly insofar as each figure came in two pieces – a torso and a long neck/head combination. The figures reminded me a bit of malevolent sneetches – if Dr. Seuss had disarmed them…(sorry for that)…

Let’s move on to the figures shall we?

I needed to assemble the unit and affix the two pieces. I decided to channel my inner Roger and use green stuff and sculpt a type of sneetch-inspired ruffled collar on them which would also serve as a bond for the models. I varied the heads so that no two bases would be the same. They are based in the game on five 2″ square bases without a Regimental Commander. Their melee value is pretty strong at 7 out of 10. Their Elan and Resolve values are the same as the other Harvest units at 6 out of 10.

I wanted them to look wild and crazy – and certainly as “menacing” as I could. Their varied head positions helped with this as did varied base flocking. Lastly, to match my other Harvest troops, I did paint the eyes with a glowing yellow-green (Tesseract Glow).

As before, I’ll share a few WIP shots and then some eye candy of the GMHH regiment. I’ll start with assembly of the figures and then move to describing the painting process. I used a number of contrast and speed paints, but did also use highlights and washes. All of the paints that I used will be listed at the end as I normally do for those interested in that level of detail.

WIP Shots…

The GMHH Regiment assembled with the green stuff-sculpted “collar ruffles”.

After priming and some initial work on their flesh. I went with green flesh as they are part of Harvest forces.

Made their hammerheads quite metallic, and their bodies brown like a quail. The neck collars are fiery orange.

Close up of face and body work – left 4 figures…

I varnished these with a coat of gloss followed by one of matte. Then I flocked the bases with the same color themes as my other Harvest troops. How about some…