Slann Solo

SlannSolo1

They’ve encased him in Carbonite.  He should be quite well protected (and part frog)… if he survived the freezing process.”
HanInCarbonite1

Han Solo in carbonite is as recognisable a sci-fi pop culture image as currently exists. Its as recognisable as the USS Enterprise, the Batmobile, R2D2, Marylin Monroe, Lego or pretty much anything else you could mention really.

Quite a large frog person.

Quite a large frog person.

The visual is so iconic in fact that Im surprised that it has taken me this long to end up with a painted 28mm version of it.  Even if this one does contain a frogman rather than a Harrison Fordman.

BrokenToadInCarbonite

Malebolgia got in touch with me when he heard that Broken Toad was making a limited edition “Toad in Carbonite” available last week, for a single week only.  Malebolgia wasnt certain if I would be into a space frog in carbonite or not, but happily, he was bang on.

CarboniteMonitors1

A doodah.

The model arrived yesterday and I gave it a pretty simple paint job that still conjures up the right vibe I think.

More doodahs.

More doodahs.

SlannSolo2

I used a little artistic licence on the various doodahs on the side of the casing (see below to determine what each bit apparently does fellow pedants!), but I reckon that it still feels right.

Technical doodah breakdown.

Technical doodah breakdown.

The model will be a fun maguffin for scenarios.  Who knows, perhaps some of the scenarios might even feature Slann Solo suffering from hibernation sickness after being woken mid game by another frog person disguised as a bounty hunter that says “Someone who loves you.”?  It could happen.

The shady deal concludes...

The shady deal concludes…

Regardless, this is the slightly peculiar (and surprisingly topical) official start of my space frog people project, huzzah.

30 Responses

  1. I hadn’t really thought about it, but it’s a very good point that this image is one of the most iconic from Star Wars, one which virtually everybody will recognize. It’s also one of the cooler plot points of the series in my opinion: the quest to rescue Han Solo results in so much cool stuff happening in Return of the Jedi, that we almost forget that Solo was only supposed to be a test run for freezing Luke Skywalker for delivery to the Emperor.

    Anyway, I love your toad, you captured the quasi metallic look of the carbonite, and the appearance of the support frame, perfectly. It should make a great plot point from one of your wacky games.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Han in carbonite is the two tone Che Guevara poster for the series I suppose. I would consider wearing Che in carbonite t-shirt 😀

      The quest to save Han fleshes out the Tatooine setting a lot, showing that like Cloud City, there is more to the galaxy far, far away than militarised good guys and militarised bad guys.

      The painting was very simple really, the only decision I had to make was to decided how much brown should be in the visual of the carbonite itself. As my memory of the material is that it had a very vaguely bronze hue I split the difference and gave it a brown wash rather than the black was that I prefer on gunmetal.

      Thanks for the feedback No Such Agency, and happy holidays!

      Like

  2. Brilliant. Gorgeous. Funny. You’ve done a stellar job on him cheetor!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Im glad that a frog fancier like you approves axiom, thanks 🙂

      I need to track down that unreleased Citadel Slann now, I shoudl have bought it earlier this week…sigh.

      Like

  3. That’s a great model to have, and a sterling job you’ve done on it too. I can see it getting more use than one would think for a frozen frog-dude.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Thanks, the simple paint job delivers where it counts I think.

      As for opportunities for use, as is often the case with things like this I expect that I will find it more difficult to avoid including it in games than to find justifications to do so 🙂

      Like

  4. Available for a week only? NOOOOOOOOO!!! I want this mini so badly. Would make a great objective marker for a 40k Pulp Alley game.

    Liked by 1 person

    • A Plot Point role in 40k themed Pulp Alley is absolutely the very first use for the model that I have planned Don, no question.

      As for the limited availability, you could always shoot Broken Toad an email query. You never know, they might be able to hook you up, I dont know.

      Like

  5. I seen him somewhere last week & should have guessed you’d end up with one Paul, a great model & a great paint job but what I really can’t wait to see is how you paint it when the corbonite is starting to melt after someone releases him in a game lol

    Liked by 1 person

    • I would have missed the opportunity to pick one up if someone hadnt pointed it out to me Frank. It was easy to drop everything and quickly paint it though, it is a fun model.

      Im considering picking up a naked frogperson, possibly from Eureka to represent the hibernation sickness stricken character after being thawed, but I have no plans for the visual effects stage as yet. Maybe an animated gif in the battle report perhaps 🙂

      Thanks for the feedback Frank, and happy holidays to you!

      Like

  6. Fantastic find there. Great camera angles on the last pic too, hovering away with the deal concluded….

    Liked by 1 person

    • Thanks Dave. The hovering does look amusing, although I should have taken an extra minute or so getting it bang on. It is atmospheric though, and thats the main thing.

      Like

  7. Paul… that is brilliant mate – great idea for a model, and a lovely bit of painting… looking forward to the ‘frog men in spaaaace’ project!

    Liked by 1 person

    • It is a great idea for a model isnt it? Painting it was really very straightforward on such a nice piece.

      The frogmen are croaking at the moment, trying to convince me to drop everything and spend all of the holiday break working on them… hmm… so very tempting.

      Thanks for the feedback Alex, happy holidays!

      Liked by 1 person

  8. That is very cool 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    • Its a fun idea for a sculpt for sure Warburton, it was a pleasure to paint and I am sure that it will be an entertaining hook to hang a few scenarios on.

      Happy holidays!

      Like

  9. Hahaha, this is pure gold! Oh, man, you made my day 😀 This one is really awesome, I love the mini and what you did here.

    Liked by 1 person

    • I can only take responsibility for applying a simple approximation of the movie colour scheme to a well conceived and nicely manufactured model Suber, but I am glad that you got a kick out of it.

      Happy holidays to you 🙂

      Like

  10. This is absolutely brilliant, down to the punny name.

    Liked by 1 person

  11. What a fun sculpt, and very useful for “rescue” type scenarios. Who knows, maybe this fellow is the last of his species, hunted to extinction for the narcotic effect of their skin oils…

    Liked by 1 person

    • That’s a good plot, I hadn’t thought of that.
      Somebody on Facebook was having trouble thinking of 40k themed scenarios using the model, so I rattled these off the top of my head:
      1) Thorian Inquisitors could be after the carbon freezing tech to aid in their sinister Golden Throne experiments.
      2) Necrons might want to speed up their silvery suspended animation sub routines.
      3) Dodgy Adeptus Mechanicus types are always into odd alien tech.
      4)Eldar were the favoured children of the Slann, perhaps this particular guy knows ancient info about the necrons.
      5) Slann might just want their buddy who had a price on his head back.

      Thanks for the feedback Lasgunpacker, have a great holiday season!

      Like

  12. the eriu shaman from you frog link would make a great bounty hunter who loves the Kermit solo heh

    Liked by 1 person

    • It’s true. With the mask and the wrist mounted weaponry that model would be perfect in that role.
      “Freddo Phett” maybe, like the chocolate bar frog? I can probably come up with better than that.
      Thanks for the feedback kalon!

      Like

      • How bout Fredda Phett? Your welcome I love narrative building one of these days I’ll have to start my own blog about my models and campaigns

        Liked by 1 person

  13. also idea for a campaign/scenario based on him, you could do a treasure hunt in 3 parts, finding the map then, a large maguffin maybe a super weapon or portal, and the key to opening it is to find and awaken the slann who created it, depending on who wakes him and why he’d be a good warband extra member someone who can activate or destroy the device,
    maybe there is another faction who wants to awaken him to take him home

    Liked by 1 person

  14. I’m planning on building a Han Solo in carbonite coffee table. Where did you order the side panels from.
    Thank you for your help

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hi Matthew. The ~2″ model is a single piece resin casting that I bought from the company shown (there is a link in the body of the text).

      Im glad that you like it.

      Like

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