Dracula and His Minions - Vampire Bats

It is said Dracula's power extends to controling the creatures of the night. Large vampire bats have been spot in the city and unlike normal bat behaviour, they have been attacking humans without fear or hesitation. There are some who whisper these aren't true bats at all, but lesser vampires who have learned to transform into giant bats, though such claims have not been verified so far. One thing is for certain, alive or undead, they are ferocious creatures best avoided. 

Three giant vampire bats on the prowl

The original models are retired 28mm giant bats made by Masquerade Miniatures, probably as Warhammer proxies. Being as big as humans in 28mm means they are still a respectable child-sized monstrosity in 60mm and the added wingspan makes them a terrifying sight indeed. I had to sightly convert them to remove some off-scale details and then rebase them to match my other figures. I added a repainted Lemax fire hydrant as a support for one of them, which also helped to raise him at eye-height for the 60mm humans.

Attacking bat, with fire hydrant.

Soaring bat...

Grieviously wounded but not defeated...

And some "in action scenes":

Her Majesty's Finest trying to stop the attacking bats...

For some reason, the giant bats don't seem to like Count Orlok either...

Hellfire Club - First Zombie

Rumours are spreading of zombies shambling through the fog in the late hours in the poor quarters. According to whispered gossip, the Hellfire Club would be to blame for this new calamity. The mindless fiends seem to amble aimlessly, only spurred into activity by the proximity of the living, whom they will feast on givenhalf a chance. Their bite is said to spread the contagion and turn the victim into another zombie, either immediately if the bite is fatal or after a few hours or up to a few days if the wound is minor. Thankfully, they are slow... for now...

This lady probably had a different kind of night in mind, given her fancy dress. A grizzly wound on her arms tells us where the zombie got to her and traces of blood smeared around her mouth and on her clothes indicate she has fed recently...

Braaaaiiiiins....

The figure is a slightly converted Lemax figure from their Halloween range. The original model is supposed to be a young lady enthralled by a vampire. She had her eyes closed, so I resculpted them to be open and added some wear and tear (bitewound on her arm where it was miscast due to an airbubble and a tear in her dress). She was then repainted to match the other figures and her dress was dirtied at the hem, with random smears of dried blood.

"In the name of the Queen, you shall not pass!"

"Remarkable, Watson! Her personality seems to be gone, yet she retains basic motor skills."
- "Careful, Holmes, she can still bite!"

Dieeeeeee! (Again)

A follower of a different cult, about to decapitate a zombie.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - The Invisible Man

Hawley Griffin was a skilled research scientist who discovered a formula that makes a human being invisible. As all slightly mad scientists do, he tried it out on himself. The formula entailed taking opium and another drug, which made his blood clear, then processing him in a radiator engine. It succeeded, but he quickly found himself unable to reverse the process. Realising not only that his normal life was over, but also the potential for living a life of debauchery free of consequence, Griffin quickly came to embody the worst aspects of the Victorian male.

The invisible man, dressed for a night out on the town, or at least, the start of one.

A psychopathic murderer, rapist, and traitor to mankind, Griffin had to be coerced into joining up with the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and he doesn't hide the fact he feels little to no loyalty towards his fellow team members. A monster among men indeed.

Aheheh... careful Miss Harker, you won't see me coming, you know...

He may not be a team player, but it doesn't occur to Griffin that other Extraordinay Gentlemen may have a trick up their sleeves of their own.

Wha...what are you looking at?

The members of the team so far, with the newest addition

The concept for the model was taken from the League group foto from the graphic novel. The reason I went with more of a taupe colour for the suit than the grey from the image is that I used the same base figure as for my Dracula model and I didn't want them to end up looking too similar. 

The base model was the gentleman from the Lemax "attending services" set again. I removed the head and hands, repositioned the right arm, built up the shirt collar and sleeve so it would look hollow and built him a new cane from a piece of paperclip and some putty. The hat was cut off from the head and glued to his side, so he would appear to hold it next to his body.

Don't lose your head!

The Dracula I made earlier from the same figure is slightly bigger because I bulked out his arms and legs with putty, as well as broaden his shoulders and hips. I didn't do that on Griffin as I figured it would help to differentiate the two models a bit more.

Aheheh... I like your tailor.

The London Market - The tomato vendor

The London market is full of big and small stands selling anything from fresh produce to dusty  books and antiques. This old woman is selling some (overly?) ripe tomatoes. I originally painted her for my Three Musketeers collection, as she seemed fairly period neutral, but I decided in the end she fit in better in the Victorian age after all, so I rebased her (again).

Riiiipe tomatoes. Buy 'em before they spoil!

Seriously, buy'em now!

The base figure is Lemax' apple vendor, but painting them as tomatoes just seemed to fit. I've also aged her quite a bit with the repainting and I think it suits her.

I remember when I used to be young and was selling apples.

The size fits in perfectly too.

Watson, I believe I may have discovered an entirely new type of tomato disease on this woman's offerings!

Scotland Yard - The Boys in Blue

Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service, the territorial police force responsible for policing most of London, derived its name from the location of the Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became the public entrance to the police station, and over time the street and the Metropolitan Police became synonymous. When most people think of Scotland Yard, they think first of its detectives: Lestrade, Abberline, Reid, ... But the real backbone of the police force are its constables, who work the streets day and night.

Nothing to see here, folks!

The figures are different editions of Lemax christmas figures. I've rebased them, and changed the helmet badges of the portly one and the whistling one  so they would all match. I also made their clubs bigger, to match the one with the lamp. The latter being the only one of the three that's part of Lemax' current range, it seemed easier to take him as the standard, in case I get a few more copies to convert.

This portly fellow is my favourite of the three, as he oozes so much character.

Right, so tell me what happened and don't give me any crap.

The second one was standing on a trafic stand, but I figured he would work well as a copper blowing his whistle and raising his hand in an attempt to stop a suspect and alert his fellow constables.

Hold it right there! 

The third one is obviously on patrol on a cold night. He brought a lantern to shine some light on the things that lurk in the dark.

I can't believe I'm stuck with the night shift again.

The two older models are a bit on the short side, but they fit in well enough (keeping in mind that the Sherlock figure is particularly tall).

In the name of the law!

Dracula and his minions - Count Dracula

Count Vlad Dracula moved from Transylvania to England so that he may find new blood and spread the undead curse. He boarded a Russian ship, the Demeter, taking along with him boxes of Transylvanian soil, which he required in order to regain his strength. In England, Dracula successfully purchased multiple estates under the alias 'Count De Ville' throughout London and devised to distribute the 50 boxes to each of them to secure for himself "lairs". Despite attempts to stop him by Abraham Van Helsing, Jonathan Harker, Dr. John Seward, Quincey Morris, and Arthur Holmwood, Dracula first takes Lucy Westenra, who is subsequently killed, and Mina Harker, the latter being turned, but managing to escape his control and remaining mistress of her own destiny.

The count is an extensive conversion of a cheap Lemax Christmas figure. I added the shades, hair and beard, made a new cane and bulked out the legs and arms so he wouldn't look too weedy.

What did you expect, a black evening suit with a cape?

It wasn't easy to get the "eyes peeking over the top of the shades" look, but I think it worked. I would have prefered to do red shades, but decided to stay true to the source material which had them dark blue.

Is that what they call "bedroom eyes"?

My interpretation of Dracula is of course based on Gary Oldman's version of the Count:

I'm a handsome foreigner in a stylish suit, why won't they love me?

"You belong with me, Mina" - "I would rather die! ...Again."

 The base figure was one half of another Lemax model called "Attending services"

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - Mina Harker

Wilhelmina "Mina" Harker was the wife of Jonathan Harker. After the death of her friend Lucy Westenra, she joined the coalition around Abraham Van Helsing, bent on destroying Count Dracula, the vampire. Unfortunately, the Count learned of this plot against him and took revenge by visiting — and biting — Mina at least three times and feeding her his blood, dooming her to become a vampire should she die. Eventually, Mina was turned and became a vampire, but unlike many, she managed to hold on to part of her humanity and in her new found form, she is a valuable asset to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

My version of Mina is based on the LXG movie interpretation (rather than the graphic novel, where she never became a vampire). The figure is a Lemax christmas figure, representing a young lady carrying an umbrella. I sculpted on a scarf and painted her in pale skintones and black and red clothing. I gave her red pupils to suggest the bloodlust in her eyes and to mark her more clearly one of the undead. The umbrella adds to the suggestion of a vampire shying away from the sun, I think. All in all, a pretty easy, but effective conversion of a cheap figure. I'm quite happy with the way she turned out, though she looks much better in person than in the pictures.

I know it's not raining, I just don't want the sun to ruin this lovely complexion.

Gaze at my cold, dark beauty and tremble...

A comparison with the original figure. I quickly realised she'd make a fine vampire lady, which, after a while, mutated in the idea of using her for vampire Mina. These christmas figures don't always show it, due to seemingly being painted by a drunk person, but many are quite lovely sculpts if you look more closely.

The difference a decent makeover can make.

The members of the League so far:

Not exactly the glorious heroes you'd expect...

Madam, you have the most remarkable eyes.