New Gang: Sons of Thor (German Village chapter)

The Sons of Thor (German Village chapter) are the next of my fictional gangs in my urban warfare project

 When I first decided to go ahead with this project, I had my eyes on Foundry's Ancient German line of 28mm miniatures. I had one or two for my Dark Ages project and new that a number of them were simply bare-chested guys with pants. Since both hands were empty for most, there was nothing overly Ancient about them. I had my friends Tim and Don, who were heading to Fall In 2018, pick up some from a vendor who I knew would be in the flea market selling them.

28mm Foundry Ancient Germans were the figures I used for this gang, with scratch-built weapons

I picked out twelve that I liked the best, and then sat down to make weapons for them. I decided to make some sledgehammers, pipes, clubs, and chains for them. For the chains, I decided to do an experiment with a metal handle with a length of chain attached. The handle was just brass wire, and the chain was a leftover one from a broken piece of jewelry. I had done this with one of the Bexley Blockwatch, but left the chain handing straight down. For these, I decided to paint them with the chain arranged as if it were swinging through the air. I liked it MUCH better this way. For the hammers, I took tiny little pieces of MDF leftover (punchouts) from the 28mm buildings I have been making. I drilled them with a pin vise, holding onto and squeezing the MDF firmly so it didn't split while it was drilled out. I epoxied in more brass wire, then wrapped a tiny bit of duct tape around the wire for a thicker and somewhat textured handle. I should probably have shaped the hammer head with an X-acto knife some, but I think they turned out okay, too. The pipes were aluminum tubes from the craft store, and the clubs were pieces of craft sticks trimmed up with an X-acto knife.

I like the chains whipping through the air much better than simply hanging straight down

The figures were done with my usual, brush-on white prime base coat. I then painted a craft paint flesh on them, followed by a ruddy orange wash that I have premixed. It really gives definition in the muscles. The jeans were painted with Denim craft paint color and dry brushed a Howard Hue light blue. Some jeans were done in a darker blue, and a couple in black. I gave them dark brown or black belts with highlights. For their hair, I went with a number of blonde or light hair colors as this was to be a gang from German village -- which used to be where many German immigrants lived in Columbus on the south side many years ago. I chose the Sons of Thor as a gang name, and postulated they are the local chapter of a nationwide, Teutonic gang. Thus, the proliferation of blondes, auburns, light browns, with a few darker mixed in. Each was dry brushed with a highlight color. The shoes were done as sneakers, mostly white but with a few blue and red.

The big auburn-haired dude is the only one with cast-on weapons that I used in this gang

The tattoos came last. I did a Google Image search of Viking+Tattoo and picked out ones I liked with elements I thought I could recreate with a brush. My efforts were so-so -- not stunning, by any means, but not embarrassing, I hope! I chose to do the tattoos in dark blue, dark red, and black to give it some variety. Some turned out better than others, some more clumsy than others. All in all, I am pleased with this gang - my fifth for the project. I think I will paint up two more before I start playtesting my rules. So, stay tuned!