Mirelurks

Yurians are the crustacean people of the D&D world that have evolved from the crabmen of the Fiend Folio to the Aldani of D&D 5E.

The original crabmen are only represented in miniature form by Citadel in their Fiend Factory line.

The Citadel figure is difficult to find, and from what I can tell, way too big to use for 1/72 scale.

Citadel also made a Crab Man as part of their C38 Chaos Beastmen line, which I think was previously known as the Bird Man from the C27 Chaos Beastmen line. But outside of having crab claws for hands, it isn't really crab-like.

In 15mm, Khurasan Miniatures makes Sponks that are similar to 2nd/3rd edition crabmen.

Each set comes with three different bodies, and six different claws. The models are designed with pins on the arms that fit into sockets in the body, allowing not only different combinations for the arms and bodies, but a degree of posability as well. Some of the holes did need to be drilled out a bit, but I appreciate the consideration that went into the design of these models.

For my three models, I copied the builds used for the Khurasan showcase pieces. The bases are really narrow, and one of the miniatures kept falling over after its claws were attached.

The Sponks also resemble the Mirelurks from the Fallout video game series. Though they lack the horseshoe crab-like tail, they seem to be about the right size for 1/72 scale.

Mirelurks first appeared in Fallout 3, and just like the Yurians of D&D, they underwent design changes with newer editions of the game.

In Fallout 4, Mirelurks start to look like Garthim from Dark Crystal. The design from Fallout 5 might have been inspired by London Fashion Week.

I still prefer the original Mirelurk from Fallout 3 myself.

Reaper makes an amazing giant crabman that looks very similar to the 2nd edition crabman as well, but I think it is entirely too large for 1/72 scale. Still, I'm tempted to get one to use as a giant mutated Nukalurk.

Bones Black 44110

Another type of Mirelurk is the Mirelurk Hunter. The original Hunter looked no different than other Mirelurks in Fallout 3. The new version in Fallout 4 is said to have mutated from lobsters.

It reminds me a lot of the Aldani from 5E, albeit with a regular lobster head instead of a humanoid head. I guess the Lobstrok from World of Warcraft might be a better Aldani analog, but I don't mind using them as Mirelurk Hunters.

The first figure is a regular Aldani (Tomb of Annihilation #13). The second one is armed with net and trident (Tomb of Annihilation #17). The third is a modified Aldani that I removed the net and trident from.

The last member of the crustacean-like Mirelurks is the Mirelurk Queen.

My own inclination is just to use the D&D CMG Chuul (Legendary Evils #09) or the Reaper Tidal Lurker (Bones Black 44099) as Queens.

The Tidal Lurker looks closer in appearance to the Queen in the video game, but neither are particularly similar. They do complement the Aldani though.

The sole non-crustacean member of the Mirelurk family is the Mirelurk King.

The King is said to be mutated from a snapping turtle, but it looks more like a Deep One in the concept art.

In the final render, it still looks very fish-like, and reminds me a lot of the Reaper Tiik Champion.

Bones 77187

I don't have this particular miniature, but I'll probably get one in the near future.

Mad Max

For reasons long forgotten, two mighty warrior tribes went to war and touched off a blaze which engulfed them all. Without fuel they were nothing. They'd built a house of straw. The thundering machines sputtered and stopped. Their leaders talked and talked and talked, but nothing could stem the avalanche. Their world crumbled. Cities exploded. A whirlwind of looting, a firestorm of fear. Men began to feed on men. On the roads it was a white-line nightmare. Only those mobile enough to scavenge, brutal enough to pillage would survive. The gangs took over the highways, ready to wage war for a tank of juice. And in this maelstrom of decay, ordinary men were battered and smashed.

– The Road Warrior

I think that the Stranger and the dog Max (Warlands ABGWL021) produced by Aberant Game is the only expy of Max Rockatansky in the 20mm world.

The Stranger is true 20mm, while the dog is enormously oversized.

To bring Max up to size, I lengthened both his torso and his legs. I felt the torso (or perhaps the jacket) looked too short, and needed modification to look proportional.

While I was at it, I fixed his hair a bit, added a leg brace, and switched the boot knife on his left to the right.

The right sleeve of Max's jacket is missing in the movie, but it would have been too much effort to modify the miniature. I'll just say he's wearing a long sleeved shirt under the jacket like he did in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

I probably should have smoothed out the sculpted eyes of the figure, but since I didn't, I had to paint them. Because of this, he is somewhat bug-eyed in close-up.

Max accompanied by a 15mm dog from Peter Pig.

Stalkers

Roadside Picnic is an influential Soviet Era science fiction novel that I had frankly never heard of until trying to determine the origins of the Stalkers figure sets from Dark Alliance.

My first thought was that Dark Alliance based the figures off of some sort of video game (which is largely correct). This line of inquiry lead me to the Shadow of Chernobyl FPS game, which had a connection to the 1979 film Stalker, and terminated with the book Roadside Picnic that influenced both of them.

The story seemed interesting, so I decided to look for a copy of the book, and strangely enough, I noticed a marketing blurb on the front cover of the 2012 edition stating that it was the inspiration for both the movie and the game.

I think the 2012 translation might be the version that most English readers would want if they are getting the book. The previous translation was done in 1977, but it's not clear to me what source material was used for the translation (the original uncensored version of the book was not published until 1990).

Anyway, on to the figures. I'm not sure if any of the figures represent specific characters from the book, film, or games, but maybe someone who is more familiar with the various media can tell.

The figure on the far left looks like he might have come from the STALKER: Clear Sky cover art, while the figure with the minigun is possibly based on Nikolai Fedorov from the 2010 movie Predators. The only character I can definitely identify is the peerless Lara Croft (next to George), but she is from a completely different franchise.

The rest of the Set 1 figures are either in paramilitary dress with gasmaks, or post-apocalyptic fashion with goggles.

Next up is Set 2. The first three figures wear outfits with some sort of fishnet pattern (the female sniper must be at least 7' tall standing up!), while the next two wear PNB-4UZ(?) Exoskeletons.

A mix of scruffy figures in goggles, including two armed with bows round out the rest of the set.

I think the look of the figures is largely influenced by the video game since a lot of the art specific to the book tends to show more futuristic kit like in the concept art from the stillborn WGN television adaptation.

For those into post-apocalyptic gaming, doing a search for the concept art from the game will turn up a lot of really nice work to fuel your imagination.

Dark Future

Games Workshop's short-lived post-apocalyptic Road Warrior/Car Wars-based game was released around 1988, and set in the year 1995. What made this game of interest to me was that the miniatures were stated to be 20mm, as opposed to their usual 28mm. The miniatures have been particularly difficult to find at a reasonable price, but there has been a slew of them on eBay recently, so I was finally able to obtain some examples.

From left to right are first release figures DF600108, DF600113, DF600114, and DF600117.

From left to right are first release figures DF600121, DF600127, DF600128, and a second release figure DF600148.

The figures are obviously dated with their 80s Glam Rock hairstyles, but they're otherwise good solid sculpts produced by Alan Perry.

The female figures in their heels are taller than their male counterparts, and look fine compared to George. The male figures are on the short, stocky side, but are otherwise okay. I will probably have some of them undergo height enhancement surgery though.

I doubt that I will complete this range of miniatures. A small sampling of figures is probably enough, unless I see them at a ridiculously low price. I'm still looking for some of the motorcycles at a price that is reasonable to me, but the design of the cars are a little too much Hot Wheels, and not enough Road Warrior/Fury Road for my tastes.

Caldecott Miniature Models

Caldecott Models appeared in the early years of the 2000s, and produced diecast models of Australian cars in 1/43 and 1/72 scale. Some of the models made their way to the U.S. around 2004, but the company seems to have disappeared in the following years.

They made two diecast cars in 1/72 scale – the Ford Falcon XC Coupe, and a Ford Falcon XY GTHO – both in a few different color schemes. I have been aware of the models for a number of years, but never ordered any, due to the cost of shipping from Down Under. However, that has changed, and I am now in possession of a Falcon XC (John Player Special) in black and gold, and a Falcon XY in "diamond white".

I actually ordered three of the XCs due to their similarity to the Falcon XB, and I will try to convert one of them into the post-apocalypse version of the Pursuit Special from Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior.

Sent to the scrapyard after filming.

Rectangular headlights... Doesn't that mean the car is a Fairmont?

I don't have any plans to create the car from the first film at this point, but I'll keep the extra model around just in case.

The really nice thing about these cars (from the perspective of someone who wants to do modifications), is that the body is attached to the chassis by screws rather than the typical rivets used for diecast cars.

Anyway, the models are nicely detailed, and a nice change from the typical German, Japanese, and U.S. cars that dominate the 1/72 diecast world.