I Can't Believe It's Not Mutants

I've been filling out my Brotherhood of Mutants affiliation with some larger models, who don't really fit the definition of the word...

First up is Mister Sinister, an iconic X-villain who is more mad scientist and mutant antagonist (and I'm not sure he even counts as a mutant, since he was a Victorian gent engineered by Apocalypse). 

Still, he was behind the legendary Mutant Massacre in the comics, and has some neat tactics in the game. Although he'll be doing it from the Cabal affiliation, since the Brotherhood don't want him.

With two layers of stringy cape, and a gene pool to dip his toes in, this model was definitely going to be a sub-assembly. For his metallic armour, I tried to drybrush Leadbelcher and then contrast Leviadon Blue, but it wasn't showing up. So I used a Deep Blue from Scale 75, lightened it a bit, and just layered it on.

The goopy smoke was Tesseract Glow, which is so good it may as well be cheating.

Next up was a personal favourite of mine: Juggernaut. Despite having ties with the X-Men almost back to the beginning, he's not a mutant, but a beneficiary of the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak, so he could get even with his half-brother, Xavier.

The knack here was to paint a character that was basically all brown or, at best, reddish-brown. I ended up mixing my own colours to match what I was looking for:

• Boots and belt: Gal Vorbak Red base, Skragg Brown/Khorne Red layer
• Body: Mournfang Brown base, Skragg Brown/Mournfang Brown layer, Agrax Earthshade wash, Snakebite Leather contrast
• Helmet: Rhinox Hide base, Skragg Brown/Deathclaw Brown layer, Gor-Grunta Fur contrast

The model had an option of either wielding a traffic sign or bare-handed. Crowdsourcing opinions favoured the traffic sign, but I can't imagine Juggernaut needing to wield anything smaller than a truck. So with a timidity that Cain Marko would never show, I magnetised it.

I've already taken him out for one outing and he does not disappoint - when he builds up a head of steam, Juggernaut really can plough through things.

Finally, a lesser-known bad guy, but the only actual villain (with secret government enhancements) here. Omega Red was a creation of the 90s (in case the pouches, ponytail, muscles and metal prosthetics didn't give it away) and seemed fairly one-dimensional (although he may have filled out since).

For all that, I really enjoyed painting this character, and he's a pretty good design. I had another attempt at non-metallic-metal for his armour (just to give myself a bit of a push) and the rest was a simple matter of layering for the reds and the hair. The coils were naturally added at the end.

Red is also not a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants, instead finding his affiliation among the Cabal and Criminal Syndicate (which is narratively appropriate). He's also a member of the Winter Guard, which is a Soviet-Avengers that I've not collected yet, but now I've started...

Three more down, and a whole X-universe to go!