We managed to get a few copies of the much anticipated Super Dungeon Explore, also referred as "SDE", just before Christmas 2011. Being anime fans ourselves, the game is a throwback to classic Japanese role playing (video)games that occupied much of our youth (think Final Fantasy Tactics, DragonQuest, or a Nate favourite, Shining Force - like old school Sega Genesis style). Out of curiosity about all the hype surrounding the game, Nate decided to un-box a copy of the game, for our own, quote-unquote, demo copy (or that's what he keeps saying, though he has more ulterior motives -.O).

Just so this doesn't degrade into an otaku's pet project done in the confines of his basement (not that there's anything wrong with that) that may take years to complete (ok, now that's a bit of an issue), Nate does promise to do a few things as part of this un-boxing...

• paint the figures, so the demo copy at least looks presentable - with a few bottles of paints from a previous fascination of fielding a Menoth/Mercenary army still available (one day, that army will be fielded, says Nate), Nate and his kinder-grade painting skills will get the figures to a non-monotonous state of colour, within a reasonable amount of time (while still making sure WoodForSheep runs efficiently)
• blog about it - at the very least, it will be fun to see how well (or badly) this experiment goes... but it also ensures there's some more content to the site, which will hopefully get Nate to get more organized and into a regular routine, to add more content in the future (where was that worker placement article you keep saying you were going to put together, Nate?)... and, as most writer's try to figure out (or that's what Nate keeps reading), to find his 'writing voice' (or style), besides random ramblings...
• figure out how to use that camera... even though Nate has had his FUJI S5200 for a few years now, he still hasn't managed to figure out what all these buttons and knobs are for (wait, don't do that... uh oh, now it's not turning ON)... -.-

So, with those factors in mind, the goal is to have all (or a decent majority) of the figures in some form of coloured condition by our library-partnered event in March, which is about 11 weeks away (THAT'S NUTS!). You're all free to chime in and make sure Nate stays the course.

As with most things Nate does, the simple route (i.e. painting the figures as presented/suggested by the character cards) was just not enough of a challenge. He wanted something more thematic/recognizable (what an otaku), so he's decided to choose a painting scheme (or several schemes) in tribute... but to what?

First thought was to follow a few schemes from the Fate series of animes (e.g. Fate/Stay Night, Fate/Zero, etc), but got stuck on the minions and villains. As his following of fantasy-genre animes was more limited than he initially thought (Slayers didn't seem to fit either), he figured may as well go with something even more recognizable - comic books! But then comes the question, Marvel or DC? What would look cooler - shaman 'hulking out' to the angry bear or the paladin decked out in kryptonian armour colours? Without having to prolong this article unnecessarily (because it actually did take Nate a few days consideration to settle on a decision), DC won out on this little internal debate. Anyone out there is more than welcome to give the other universe a shot, and send the link back here so we can check it out!

With the painting scheme settled, this week's victims, err... subjects, are (since there's two of them), SDE sub-bosses Rex... and Rex.

As Rex (and Rex) are supposed to represent a formidable challenge to the SDE heroes, Nate whipped out his (now out-dated, thanks to the "New 52") DC Encyclopedia in search of dastardly villains. Flipping through Killer Croc, Gorilla Grodd and a few other heavy weights (BANE!!!), Nate settled on war world tyrant, Mongul (or it could be his son, Mongul II, who looks fairly the same). An initial attempt at a more golden epidermal layer was an epic fail (see facebook gallery, link further below), and Nate had to eventually cut his losses and use a more substantial base for the skin. Apparently, Mongul does not have any fingernails, which sort of made the colour options a challenge - though Nate settled on the purple since that was the other prevalent colour Mongul sports. Throw in some other purplish hues and the blue, and Rex Mongul is ready to bash some SDE heroes.

The other Rex was an easier decision... big, boney and bad... sounds like your unfriendly, Superman-killing Doomsday! Someone (or is that something) warped enough to rip out their own tail, and use it to bash whatever gets in their way (as opposed to Mongul, who'd use another's tail to do that). Grays, greens and bone tones complete this Rex's scheme.

The final products:

Nate was pretty satisfied with the outcome for Rex Doomsday. He looks ready to bash SDE heroes around the dungeon with no abandon. A bit more mixed feelings on Rex Mongul (isn't it cute, Nate's named them)... hard to visualize how the colour scheme would have worked without diving right into it. Then again, it reminds Nate of a Warjack, still unfinished, that had a similar scheme... that also left Nate with mixed feelings. Perhaps its another lesson learned through this experiment. Rest assured that you don't have to despair too much, Nate isn't loosing too much sleep over it.

More pictures on our Facebook page.

Comments, suggestions, critiques, questions and whatever else are always welcome. Those irrelevant or not very constructive will be simply ignored (Nate's just being upfront about it).

Preview for next week: