Friday, January 17, 2014

Lead Time Lords: The Second Doctor (1)

Over the break I didn’t just holiday – I also painted. First off the rank is a completion of my Second Doctor figure. As with the other four ‘classic’ Doctors of their range, the Patrick Troughton iteration was first rendered lead-wise by Citadel Miniatures as a gargoyle 28mm piece in the mid-80s. Check out Modeller Chris Clayton's excellent paint job.

Harlequin’s 90s effort adopts a similar pose – though there is a rarer, alternative version, based on a still from the as-yet missing debut Power of the Daleks, featuring the Doctor with 500 Year Diary and birdcatcher’s hat:




But back to the one I have, the more regularly seen Oscar™-style pose with recorder. Unlike the ‘Power’ version this is a tad more generic, which is useful, but wiser heads than I – notably An Evil Giraffe, have seen the error in Harlequin’s design – inadequate pockets and a too-short jacket, making the Troughton Doctor a little less tramp-like in appearance. AEG rectified this masterfully with green stuff, and I’ve followed suit as best I could. In addition, and because I also think the recorder a little lazy in rendering, I’ve added some green stuff tassels. There’s not a lot of colour variance between the First and Second Doctors’ outfits, so I’ve strived for as much as I reasonably can; the tassels help to break up a mid-section that is equal parts unimaginative (come one, guys – it’s the Second Doctor!) and sausage-fingered. The result is that my Second Doctor with his grey trousers, red hanky, salt-and-pepper hair and George Hamilton tan is more your actual Eighties incarnation of the Second Doctor – fresh from a trip to Seville, if you will (and not to suggest, I trust, that he is an orange.)


I’ll make no apologies – it’s not a great paint job, and is a little wobbly in places, but it’s time to press on. I do have another of these figures sitting around, however, and might well revisit the Cosmic Hobo in time – again, with some green stuff to hand, and maybe with an eye to a different kind of coat altogether, and from a less-Mediterranean clime…

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