The Dastardly Governor

The dastardly governor and his trusty cane (though he hides something a little more reliable behind his back just in case). While turning a blind eye to Monastario's excesses (when he is not, in fact, instigating them in the first place), the governor keeps up an amiable front during his public appearances and his dealings with the Don's. It is whispered a large portion of the ever increasing taxes end up lining his pockets, though it is a dangerous matter to utter such accusations in public. The figure is made by Boot Hill Miniatures and a mounted version is to follow.

Group shots:

Off To The Market...

Another civilian taking the fruits of his labour to the market and hoping he won't get robbed by bandits or tax collectors on the way back. The figure is another civilian from the Perry Miniatures Carlist War range. The small cactus is from the Pegasus plastic set.

And another groupshot, I'll probably need a bigger backdrop soon...

The Capitan

An unparallelled swordmaster from Spain, the Capitan was secretly hired by the Commandante to pose as a masked hero for justice and gain Zorro's confidence in order to deliver him in the hands of the authorities. But Monastario may have gotten more than he bargained for as faced with the reality of the Commandante's oppression and the true nature of the "bandit" Zorro, the Capitan's innate sense of justice will make him question where his true loyalties should be...

The Capitan is a not-Zorro produced by Brigade Games, under the name "El Capitan". It can be found in the Western range. The small cactus on the base is from the Pegasus small cacti set. There are a few differences from the normal Zorro costume (the sleeveless vest instead of a cape), but the figure is too nice not to find a place for.

The background for the Capitan was taken from a storyline from the 1981 "The New Adventures of Zorro" cartoon. The character in that story was named "Mario", but I prefered to call him "The Capitan" in my interpretation of the character.

And a groupshot with all the painted models so far (my display board mock-up is starting to get crowded)...

The Spanish Envoy

Word has reached Spain that trouble is brewing in the Pueblo of Los Angeles. A special envoy is sent to deal with it. A cultured diplomat and veteran soldier, he'll present a challenge to our hero's Don Diego and Zorro alter egos alike.

The figure is from Perry Miniatures' Carlist War range.

More Peons

Two more Foundry peons. Not much to say, other than that the eyes on the one that's hunched over seem too big now that I see them at larger than life size. I will have to slightly touch them up.

And a group shot of all the civilians so far (mix of Foundry and Perry miniatures).

Locals from the Pueblo of Los Angeles

Some more locals from the Pueblo of Los Angeles. These figures are made by Perry Miniatures and are meant to be Spanish civilians from the Carlist War, roughly contemporary to Zorro's time and it stands to reason you'd find elements of their traditional dress in California residents of Spanish decent. These are slightly better off than the poorer peons.

Casting on the figures was rather rough, which required a lot of cleaning and generally made the painting experience far from pleasant. Still, they are done and while not my best work for this project, they will fit in just find as random bystanders.

And another group shot.

El Commandante

A good hero is often judged by the quality and evil of his adversaries. And no Zorro villain is more memorable than the dashing but treacherous Capitan Monastario (usually referred to as "El Commandante").

To offset Monastario's ruthless evil is the goodnatured though often misguided and "slightly" overweight sergeant Garcia (sometimes suspected of being a secret admirer of Zorro, based on his feeble attempts to bring the masked bandit to "justice").

Both (excellent) figures are made by Boot Hill Miniatures and painted using shades of grey for that authentic black and white serial feel.

The brave Capitan urges on his troops (from the back) to apprehend the masked bandit who goes by the name of Zorro.

Zorro - The Black Fox

The most important of all figures in such a collection is of course Zorro himself and luckily for us, there are a few versions out there. I used the one made by Malamute's Boot Hill Miniatures, because it comes with a mounted and unmounted version, though I do have the Artizan Designs limited edition one as well).

Zorro is the only one of these that actually uses black as a basecolour. All the others use shades of grey and no white paint was used anywhere. 

First of the Presidiales

After the test with the peons came out well enough to give a green light to the project, I moved on to the rank and file troopers who would be ridiculed in combat with Zorro. I should probably paint a Z on one's tunic at some point.

The presidiales (from Boot Hill Miniatures) are painted using only two different colours (a dark and a light grey) and were the most work due to all the different shades of grey.

Next for these will be an overweight Sargento and his dashing but thoroughly evil Commandante.

Some Humble Peons

What does Zorro need (aside from his mask, his horse, his sword and a willing oppressor) most of all? Defenseless bystanders to protect and lots of them. Here are the first, three poor, lowly peons in need of a hero. Though the one the left (that makes me think of a young Charles Bronson) will actually serve as a fighting figure as well, since he's armed with a pistol and knife.

The peons were actually the first minis I did to see if I could manage to paint in this style. It was a bit of a learning curve but they came out well enough for me to try the presidiales (which show some improvement I think). These are Foundry miniatures. For some reason the bases look a bit off, I may have to fix that. I will use the small 20mm bases for the non-combattant figures and the larger 25mm ones for the action figures.

A New Project In Glorious Black & White

I had wanted to do this project for some time since I had the idea. What I wanted was to recreate the true Zorro of childhood Sathurdays, as portrayed by the unforgettable Guy Williams.  None of that modern Antonio Banderas mythology for me (he's not even the real Zorro). I can respect the Tyrone Powers version as it clearly inspired the later Disney show and I'll even admit to a soft spot for the Alain Delon version (though again, not a true Zorro), but in the end, there is only one true Zorro and this is the man:

Now, the only way to do justice to my childhood hero is by representing him on the table as he was presented to me on those treasured Sathurday evenings. In glorious black and white. And so I did...

When I first encountered this black and white painting style (actually shades of grey) I thought it a mere gimmick that would have little more use than a diorama if one was so enclined. Vikotnik's wonderful "Nosferatu - A Symphony of Horror"-project made me reconsider and what project could be better suited than this one to try it out?

The pictures are full colour and have not been adjusted (aside from the usual correction of sharpness etc...). I printed out a custom background and floor in black and white to serve as a backdrop, otherwise the effect would be spoiled. 

And a shot with some colour (background and landsknecht mini in the center) (as if you couldn't see him) in case someone might think it's a fake: