It's Jack! My Pumpkin Pal by Bombshell Miniatures

Pumpkin Pal by Bombshell Miniatures 

Pumpkin Pal

No visit to the pumpkin patch is complete without bringing home a pumpkin to carve a Jack O'Lantern, but what happens when the Jack O' Lantern carves you first? Bombshell Miniatures has a great little sidekick Pumpkin Pal for your gaming needs. I plan on using this as a sidekick to my Reaper BONES Gauntfield miniature.

Bombshell Miniatures, as the name indicates, is best known for the Bombshell Babes line, but there are a slew of other miniatures that they now create including the Counterblast game. I have a bunch of pieces from the Counterblast Kickstarter which I'll be painting up in due time. I'll also have some posts coming that include the addition of a couple of Rottweilers that I'll be adding to my This Is Not A Test peacekeepers, the Gardia. I will also be using Delta the Wastelander either to lead up a new warband or as a freelancer.

Though Jack and Gauntfield are my Halloween offerings this week and I am kicking myself for not starting more Halloween stuff and a larger project, I wanted to direct folks over to Rob Hawkins' Halloween: Cornfield blog post where he covers creating a rowed field of corn with a block wall surround. This is great stuff and inspiring to create some terrain in the near future.

Carving up Jack, my Pumpkin Pal

Thankfully it is Halloween and with three small kids, I get to go to the pumpkin patch to do the hay ride out to the field and pick a pumpkin. I also get to do some real world research on pumpkin vines, flowers, and of course pumpkins.

Jack and Secret Weapon base

The first step was to give Jack a more substantial base. I was originally going to stick with a basic blank base, but after rummaging through some stuff, I found another of the Secret Weapons Field of Screams round lipped bases which is perfect since it matches Gauntfield.

Jack mounted on base and base litter

Since Jack is metal and the base is pretty small, I decided it was easier to modify the base than modify the miniature. I also wanted to be sure to maintain the roots/legs of Jack on the base. Using a chisel blade on my cutting tool, I removed the surface texture of the base until I had a nice flat location to mount Jack with Kragl. The base of the miniature was then painted with the Citadel Blackfire Earth technical paint to give it the same base texture/look as Gauntfield.

Finished Jack

As I did with pumpkin on Gauntfield's base, I painted the head of Jack with Reaper MSP HD Pumpkin Orange and then gave a wash with Vallejo Brown Wash.

For the eyes and the mouth, I wanted to get the feel of an internal fire. I mean this is a Jack O'Lantern after all. To achieve this look, I went with a mix of the Pumpkin Orange and a Vallejo Flat Yellow. I started with a small spot of yellow then added layers of the orange mixed with yellow to get the dulling of the flame as it moved outwards. I then mixed in some Reaper White to bring the yellow up lighter and added a small touch of nearly pure white to the brightest flame. After this was set, I went back over the jacks to highlight the oranges.

Finished Jack

The vines that make up his arms, body, and roots were painted first with Vallejo German Camo Bright Green. To add some depth, I used a very little of the Vallejo brown wash on the main section of the body. Now most pumpkin vines are brighter than this, so I went over the top parts with Vallejo Golden Olive. This game the vines more of a natural look.

The leaves were painted with Vallejo U.S. Dark green as the base. These are pretty well clustered and at all sorts of angles, so be sure to use a watered down paint to get to all of the recesses. I went over the leaf tops with the German Camo Bright Green to make them pop a bit more and because the leaves do get darker through the season, there is still a lot of life left in these.

Pumpkin flowers are usually a dull yellow this time of year. For these I used a Vallejo Flat Yellow and created one location for the flower on the right arm. There are no molded flowers on the piece, but after the trip to the pumpkin patch, you see them all over and I felt that he needed to have one. I would consider on the next one to attempt to sculpt out a flower for him. The flowers are longer and kind of limp semi-tubular things.

Gauntfield and Jack

I think I will have to get a bunch of these little guys to put together an interesting game and build out a corn field maze to go along with it. I think some special rules and another player and you end up with an interesting This Is Not A Test board. For a great tutorial on how to build the corn field, check out the Hobby Terrain: Cornfield post by Rob Hawkins.


As a bonus, Bombshell is running a Halloween special sale through midnight on the 31st. So get to the pumpkin patch and load up on some treats and save 20% off a selection of some of the most frightening miniatures.

Bombshell Miniatures Sale

This Is Not A Test Halloween Release

This Halloween get a bonus treat for yourself from This Is Not A Test and you won't even need a costume. There will be a new warband released on Halloween! I had the pleasure of being the editor for this release. Be warned though, if this group shows up at your door, the trick is you are the treat. The Mutant Cannibals are widely feared and rarely seen, mostly the stuff of legend and scary stories around campfires, unless you are in a small isolated community or running a caravan through remote territories. The Mutant Cannibals are familial units, most frequently lead by the matron, Mamaw, or patron, Pa. There are a nasty mix of familial relations and mutants made by interbreeding, exposure, and kidnapping. Many have become dinner guests of the Mutant Cannibals, but rarely do they take home a doggy bag. Book mark this site for the Mutant Cannibals ($3.99), it is now available! For more on the modules, check out Marshal's Report: The night has eyes and Marshal's Report: Caravanner raid.