Street Division Judge and Tech Division Judge
Continuing on from the Mega City One Project post, my first pair of Judges for show are from Mongoose.
They are Gangs of Mega City One figures rather than Judge Dredd Miniature Game figures. That distinction is significant for only one reason: casting quality. Mongoose got a lot of deserved grief for the sub-standard quality of the casting of many of the figures that they released around the mid 2000s and there were casting problems on each and every GoMC1 judge figure that I bought. I can personally attest for the quality of the figures that they have released for JDMG though, they are cast to a much higher standard.
The Street Judge worked out fine, but I love the Tech/Tek. Something about the miniature and the colour scheme and its application makes it look like he came straight out of a comic. Which is fine by me.
SJS Judge and Street Judge
Next is another pair of Mongoose Judge miniatures. In addition to the fairly standard Street Judge is the SJS (Special Judicial Squad) Judge. SJS judges function as internal affairs, MP types. As their quarry is highly trained Judges, SJS judges are particularly bad-ass.
SJS judges have been depicted with various different uniform colours and features. The look above is my favourite as while they definitely have that judge feel, the grey eagle design makes them unique amongst all of the other specialist and street judges: perfect for an outsider like a member of the SJS.
Street Judge and Psi Division Judge
Another two Mongoose judges: a Street Judge and a Psi Div Judge.
I have mixed feelings about how the Psi judge came out. I am as happy with the uniform as I am with any of the other judges and I am particularly pleased the figures red hair. It looks quite a bit like real red hair, rather than the more fiery colour usually used on miniature gingers.
On the other hand I find painting eyes harder than ever these days (I think that I need a new prescription for my glasses). It took me several attempts to get these ones even to the barely acceptable, astonished expression that they have now. I also foolishly attempted to add something that looks vaguely like freckles (similarly to how ex-judge DeMarco is depicted in the comics) to the cheeks, which didnt quite work. In fact in conjunction with the miniatures rather prominent top lip it made her look a bit like a cat.
But I am just obsessively moaning really. She doesnt look *that* bad.
Riot Judge and Judge Giant
The first pair of Foundry Judges.
As a rule the Foundry judges have crisper detail than the Mongoose ones. The Foundry proportions are a little odd I reckon, with quite large heads. They also often have somewhat peculiar poses. They are nicer to paint than the Mongoose figures that I have painted so far nonetheless.
I can imagine some scale purists having issues with mixing figures from the two manufacturers. I dont think that its worth worrying about: on the table the difference are close to non-existent.
The characters represented here are cool. The Riot Judge carries a Riot Foam cannister, which is a signature judge support weapon.
Pic from Wikipedia
The judge on the right is Judge Giant. Two generations of Giant have featured in Judge Dredd stories (three if you count the civilian Jetball player who fathered the first Judge Giant). It isnt specified which Giant this is, although the MkI Lawgiver pistol suggests that it is the first Judge Giant.
Ppenultimately, those of you with an eye for judge uniforms may notice a couple of things about the scheme that I chose. Artists have always had some leeway with how they represented the MC1 Judge uniform over the years, both its physical shape and dimensions and its colours.
Originally Dredd was a black and white strip, with colour versions of him being shown on the cover of 2000AD and centre spreads. This has meant that Dredds undersuit has been depicted as blue, navy and black over the years. Similarly the shoulder pads were always yellow from the strips inception in the late seventies right through to the nineties, when gold started to appear (at least, thats how I remember it). Whether this yellow was supposed to represent gold or not is one of the mysteries of the four colour priniting technique. So basically, there isnt a definitive uniform scheme.
I dont mind this. I think that leaving those details vague helps to keep the character somewhat legendary, somewhat mythological. Usually when a setting like Dredds starts to lock down too many details it starts to collapse in on itself. Keeping it vague suits me.
Lastly here is a shot of the nine judges that I have painted so far. I get a big kick out of seeing a project about a setting that I have enjoyed my whole life taking shape like this 
They are the Law
Filed under: Miniatures | Tagged: 2000AD, 2011, Dredd, Justice Department, Sci-fi | 4 Comments »
