We’re drawing closer to the end of the models from my Crisis Protocol Core Set with today’s Villain – Doctor Octopus! Otto Octavius Von Biz Markie to his friends, of which there are many. Well, at least five sinister friends…
This just leaves one more to go from the set proper, though I have been doing a couple of extras alongside, so the proper final model isn’t near complete yet – I’ve only just finished the cleanup and assembly in fact (though by the time you read this, it should be primed at the very least!)
This sculpt is pretty static. Being from the core box it has a few too many parts in some ways, and lacks the overly-dynamic pose that many of this game’s models have had for some time now. I’ve painted him in a pretty bright, traditional Doc Ock scheme inspired by the comics I used to read years ago, though I do have to admit that I’m quite partial to Alfred Molina’s portrayal and outfit in the Sony/MCU films. Perhaps I’ll add a more bespoke 3D-printed version down the line in more muted, realistic tones.
The tentacles on this model were a pain in the arse in more ways than one. Aside from being a nightmare for assembly, I painted them with Vallejo Metal Colour, then used Tamiya Panel Wash to fill in the lines – and they looked fantastic! One coat of varnish later and all of that lustre had gone. I went over them with Vallejo Metal Varnish, and… they still looked crap. So I repainted them again with Metal Colour, then tried to blackline them again, but the Metal Colour didn’t come out as well as it had the first time, and the Panel Wash was a bit blotchy. In the end, I just gave up since I was tired and went for “good enough”. If I use mineral psirits to try and remove the Panel Wash remnants, I’m sure it’ll do a real number on the Metal Colour. The messiness is more nociable in these “glamour” photos than in hand, so I’ll just take the L on this one since I really didn’t enjoy painting this model.
Does Doc Ock count as a Monster for the purposes of Monster March? I’m sure he’s been called a Monster by various victims across his villainous comics run (and probably by Spidey himself on a fair few occasions) and his stature is on the larger side (even allowing for the larger scale of MCP figures). Only Swordmaster can tell us the final answer to that, though!
Azazel's Bitz Box. 
Marvellous work on the doc mate, the model totally needs the comic book colours, and like you I liked the film version, and would suit a more natural tone. Shame about the wash but you’ve covered it well, and if you hadn’t said anything I would have thought the marks were purposeful
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Thanks Dave! I can always get hold of a 3d printed version of Alfred Molina at some stage as a proxy I’m sure. I do have a second one of this figure, but I’m not dedicated enough with my time or dedication to the character to attempt to sculpt an overcoat over the top of most of the existing model…
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One of Spideys better villains, but his costumes have mostly been uninteresting. Still you did a really nice job and he looks very much like his comic counterpart. The tentacles turned out good despite the problems. I have a feeling only you will really spot the mistakes on them, and over time you’ll probably look past them as well! 😃
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Thanks Faust – you’re right for sure – that’s the thing that we always do with our own models. It’ll just come down to how annoying I find it when using the model – hopefully one I can look past. Do you know of any other colour schemes that Doc Ock has used with this particular/specific “cut” of his outfit (not counting white lab coats, other add-ons, etc)?
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Honestly, I don’t know of other color schemes for that costume. The piping on the costume was something they started around 00s with Ultimates and maybe in X-men before that. I wasn’t paying attention to comics much at that time (though there are some gems in there!). Doc Ock has mainly been green and yellow or green and orange. The shades of the yellow and the green have varied a bit due to different printers, Colorists, etc. A classic trope in comics is to flip the colors for an evil version of heroes. There was a reversed blue/red Spider-Man costume that was pretty interesting. I’m not sure I would want to paint Doc Ock in Yellow/Green, but if anyone could pull it off, it would be you! I kind of envy you with the dupes though, as you have free reign on what you can do. Maybe a teal/white costume, since teal is similar to aquatic colors? 😃
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Some good points there on the way that comics move colours around in the hero designs. a deep Teal or Sea Green/White could look pretty good – close to the classic SHIELD uniform in some ways, or the John Byrne Fantastic Four uniforms, actually…
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Classic baddie, and very nice job on the classic colours! Acid green & yellow shouldn’t look this good, but somehow it does 😁
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Thanks Alex. Green and gold is one of those classic colour combos, I guess! 🙂
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I know nothing about this genre so can only look at what you have done and the painting is great. I really like the colours.
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Thanks Dave, just think of garishly-costumed super heroes and their villains (some of whom wear their undergarments on the inside these days) and you’ll be good! 😉
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He’s turned out great mate. Funny old thing, he’s the same colour as mine!
What did you use as a basecoat for the Metal colour? Vallejo recommend using Gloss Black, at least for the ones I have, and I find it does make a difference, though the few colours I have are darker shades of metal. Either way, I think they look good in the photos 😃
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Thanks mate. In this case I used a silver spray as the base. I’ll give gloss black a try next time it’ll work for the model I’m painting (it’s usually been fine over brushed-on dark metals as a base for me in the past).
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Doctor Octopus’ Revenge! The pose is static, but the expression very resolute: an imposing (we would say “monstrous”) enemy next to Berkeley! Did you use Contrast or traditional colors for the yellow and green colors of the suit? Probably this is not the right mini and the metal tentacles have already given you enough problems, but have you thought about resorting to the NMM?
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I’m not a huge fan of using NMM myself. I think it can look fantastic when well done, and I don’t begrudge other painters from using it but I find it has to be done exceedingly well to actually read properly as metal without thinking about it and deciding that it’s actually supposed to be bare metal like gold or silver as opposed, to, say, a nicely pastel-painted surface in yellow or pale blue.
Something I especially wanted to avoid on a model like this that I didn’t really enjoy painting! 😀
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Very nicely done with those colours! 🙂 I’d probably consider him dynamic with those tentacles waving about like that mind you!
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Thanks John. One thing I’ve learned is that either AMG or Marvel doesn’t seem to like many of their licenced minis to be in poses that aren’t some variation of flying, leaping, flipping or some other form of “action”-ing.
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Doc Ock looks great! I can only imagine assembling him was a bit of a pain though. I don’t mind that he’s more static because so many of the MCP miniatures are too dynamic or look silly doing a roundhouse kick only an inch or two off the ground 😀
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Assembly of this Doc Ock was pretty straightforward – I just painted him and the tantacles separately and glued them down last, before painting a “patch-up” area around where they were glued in. Much easier than the second Doc…
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Nice painting. Doctor Octopus’s sculpt is a bit dull here by AMG’s standards but it’s quite a nice contrast to the rest of the range – he doesn’t even have a tactical rock to rest one foot on.
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Thanks! I actually like the more subdued sculpts that don’t feature backflips or even tactical rocks. They’re more generic and adaptable/neutral to the table when they’re standing on the ground as opposed to hanging off a pole!
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