“Rhode Island Red”, a mutant that featured in a single story, “The Fear That Made Milwaulkee Famous!” from Judge Dredd Annual 1981.
One “nobody” does end up using that term a number of times over the course of the story.
A mutant from the Cursed Earth wanted for “crimes against the city”, Reds appearance irritated me as a kid: I thought that the chicken head thing was too silly. I liked my mutants to look like they were melting from the effects of post apocalyptic living, rather than ending up with weird hybridised animal mutations.
Regardless of my feelings on the matter, Red became strangely iconic. I got over it. Its a fun model.
L to R: Mongoose Publishing/Warlord Games Mega City Judge, Citadel Rhode Island Red
The figure is an old Citadel model from the mid-eighties. I dont have many miniatures from that range, partly because they are just a little too small to mix with most of my other models. I take it on a case by case basis though, with things like mutants, robots and aliens being a little less scale sensitive than Judges and the like.
I dont tend to be hugely fussy about scale and in this case it certainly doesnt matter a jot. It is also the very first Citadel Judge Dredd miniature that I have ever painted. It was fun.
I stuck fairly closely to the palette used on the character in the original story. His outfit seems to have been rather heavily defined by the printing technology of the time. I added a little variation in colour between his boots, webbing and trousers to give a bit more interest.
I used to wonder if the model was some sort of reference to the Kellogs cockerel, but I suppose it is difficult to make a cartoon cockerels head without it looking a bit like that logo.
The law tracks Red down to a Cursed Earth shanty…
Mr Saturday is scheduled to have another Judgement Day submission next Monday. Guessing what it is will be a safe bet I reckon.
Filed under: Miniatures | Tagged: 2000AD, 2015, Dredd, Judge Dredd, Judge Dredd Miniatures Game, Judgement Day, Mutant, Sci-fi |
sho3box 
I must admit that when I was a young’n I never much liked civilian, wounded or “different” minis at all. I considered them a waste of time because you couldn’t use them in an army.
I’ve had a complete reversal of opinion in recent years, seeing them now as an excellent addition to tabletop gaming.
That chicken headed dude looks like a lot of fun, painted up great…as always 🙂
Cheers.
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Yeah, I found that while I wanted more “different” miniatures to feature in my games, I would almost never assign painting time to those projects. I feel very differently now.
Thanks for the feedback Optimus!
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Dredd is just a cornucopia of bizarre characters… It seems there’s a figure of every one!
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At its core Dredd is satire. To me it seems that aspect pushed some of the ideas and characters in extreme directions in the early days, making a template that has encouraged similar since.
That said, it’s all about perspective. There are plenty of oddball characters in the background of Batman and X Men comics for example.
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I love him Paul & I think the cockerel might mean he’s a Spurs fan, your high lighting is amazing & really help to bring life to your models.
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Thanks for the kind words Frank. Red was a particularly enjoyable miniature to paint.
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I MIGHT be partial to oversized cockerels but I really like this one. I have an eagleman in the exact same vein in the “to do” list but this one. Can’t say which version I love best between th efat beelied and the broad shouldered one but the modle is definitely cool even with its proeminent man boobs.
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Yeah, you could hang a damp duffel-coat on those nipples.
The model demands the viewers attention. If the viewer cant appreciate the models charms at that stage, then thats their loss.
I hope that you get one of those models JB, you would do a lovely job on it.
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>Yeah, you could hang a damp duffel-coat on those nipples.
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I love this mini, and with that paint job I love it even more, you’ve done a great job on him. I think Red stand up pretty well for a 30 year old sculpt, man-tits and all. I’m quite keen on the Citadel muties, I think they’re a fun bunch.
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I enjoyed painting the figure for several reasons from nostalgia to palette to interpretation. It was a bit like finally painting some Judges a few years ago: it was the realisation of something that I had been waiting to do for decades.
The Citadel Dredd range varies a lot in sculpt quality, but Red is right up with the best of them.
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I just love the craziness of a cockerel-headed mutant. Just like you, as a kid it would have irritated me by being too silly, but now it’s hilarious. Great job on the mini too!
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Thanks Mikko.
I now embrace the inherent absurdity of the concept and refuse to hide Reds light under a bushel any longer. Im looking forward to getting him into a game.
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Bonkers… brilliant, but mad as a brush, love it mate 😅
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Its peculiar subject matter alright, but lots of fun to paint 🙂
Thanks for the feedback Alex!
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Cool painting as always. I see that Red had done a fair bit of time in the gym between his appearance in the comic and being immortalised in lead.
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I have my suspicions that the miniature represents the characters shorter, less well known, over compensating brother, Rhode Island Fred 😉
Thanks for the feedback, Im glad that you liked the fig.
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I now find myself needing a figure of Rhodey.
I never knew he existed. Thanks for the goto.
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No problem Legion, it does look like the sort of figure that might be up your street 🙂
The entire old Citadel Dredd range is rather small, more like 25mm really, so they may have some incompatibility issues depending on what you want to do with them. There are some fun figures there though (the ape mobsters are great for example).
http://www.collecting-citadel-miniatures.com/wiki/index.php/Judge_Dredd
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