Jessie's Prints - Episode 27 - Greeblies for my Mega City Miniature Storage Case

 

This week, I are mostly been printing...  Greeblies!

I've been working on my Mega City Miniatures Storage Case for a few weeks now and part of this project has involved me creating an printing accessories to stick on the side. Whilst these have been designed with my 15mm Judge Dredd games in mind, they are sufficiently dystopian to be used in any cyberpunk or shadowrun games.

Apartment Facades - Thingiverse 6001311

I needed a montonous series of identical facades for the front of the block.  So i quickly knocked these up in sketchup.  I made a left ahand and a right hand version for a little bit of variety and they print out in about 8 minutes on the Photon Mono X. 

Air Con Units - Thingiverse 4974429 

I didn't even bother scaling down these 28mm air conditioning units as they fit my needs perfectly and come in 4 different models including battle damaged versions.

Block Light Enclosures - Thingiverse 6012356

These simple shapes help to diffuse the light from the rice grain fairy lights I used to provide cheap and simple lighting to the block.  There is a small triangular detail at each should you wish to make these into futuristic street lamps.

Block Sign Box - Thingiverse

I cranked up the SLA printer for the first time in like forever with the express intention of printing out an enclosure which could house a string of the supercheap fairy lights I have used as lighting on my block.  The corners include recesses for magnets so that you can add different signs to represent different blocks in the Mega City.  

I keyed the mating surfaces to make gluing them together much easier  The box is self contained so you can mount it on the Top or sides of the block using magnets to add that little bit of variety.  I recommend covering the inside of the box with tinfoil to bounce the light around and give that extra punch.

Block Signs - Thingiverse: 6034749

My games mostly take place in Sector 55 and so I wanted block signs to reflect my little corner of Mega City One.  I made a blank lid which could be printed in transparent resin and either paper signs glued on top or if you want to go real fancy you can make individual models for each block with raised lettering.

These are split in half to fit on the bed of my Photon Mono 4K and I have included keyed edges to make it easy to glue them together.   

Another way to create your block signs would be to print them onto acetate or OHP paper and fix them with magnets on the outside using the alternative frame I modelled.  I've included a GIMP file in the download which you can use as a template for your block signs.

Jessie's Prints - Episode 26 - The TIme Traveller

This week, I are mostly been printing...  Steampunk Time Traveller Girl

Whilst crusing around the STL sites (as you do) for a version of the H.G. Wells time travelling sedan chair, I came across this wonderful model on the site Pinshape.

The Timetraveller by Gokcen Yuksek

Wow what a model.  It's big snd impressive and scratches that anime and steampunk itch.

This really stretched the capabilities of my Photon Mono X build volume.  The base had to be split in two and some of the months rails didn't print properly so some PLA was used to join the months together.  However, The figure printed perfectly first time and I excitedly glued her together and to her base.

She comes in 25 parts, the body and base (7), the hour ring (2), the month ring (1), a small square controller (not pictured) 1) and the year ring (13).  I resisted the temptation to glue everything together as the rings are meant to float freely allowing you to rotate them.

Gokcen has released several of her models for free on pinshape and most of them have this same whimsical steampunk aesthetic.  Don't be surprised if I have a go at one of her other models.

Heroquest - A mid life crisis story

A fun day was had by all at the first Dragons Keep Roleplay Club Game Day of 2023.

Having recently picked up a copy of the re-issue Heroquest boardgame I was eager to revisit my childhood and go do some dungeon bashing 90s style

That first scenario is so tough and you essentially get thrown in at the deep end, ultimately facing off against a Gargoyle which is the toughest monster in the core set.  Needless to say we ploughed on and over the course of some very enjoyable hours Conan the Diabetic and his chums managed to get through 3 challenging scenarios.

Can't wait to pick up where we left off.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honour among Thieves

On a rare trip to the cinema I saw the latest Dungeons & Dragons Movie...

It was fantastic 

They pulled it off, and managed to put together a movie which pretty accurately reflects what playing a game is actually like.  Previous incarnations have made the cardinal sin of taking themselves too seriously because they built a world in which there are real consequences and motivations.  This is not D&D.

Let's face it most parties you have every had the honour of joining make up their plans on the spur of the moment.  Most of those plans go south almost immediately and the party scrapes a victory by the skin of their teeth.  This is well portrayed in the character of Edgin (Chris Pine) who even styles himself as the team leader and planner.  Every party needs a tank and Holgar (Michelle Rodriguez) fills this role with aplomb, they even give her a surprise romantic plot twist just to round out her character.

Low level mages are crap and this party's spellcaster is no different Simon the Sorceror (Jussie Smith) plays this to a tee.  Individual player agency even if that sends a plan spiralling into failure is a critically important part of the playing experience.  His triggering the bridge trap even whilst the rules are being explained to him is classic D&D.

The elf druid Doric (Sophia Lillis) is the only character that I struggled with because it was played as a jack of all trades.  This may have been for plot reasons but she felt a little NPC to me.  Talking of NPCs, who can forget the excellent Xenk Yendar (unpronounceable name starting with X... check!) the insufferable super character who cannot be bested in combat as he's too important to the plot to die, even though everyone kind of hates him.

Even the DM makes a sort of appearance as the hand of fate that tips the scales against our characters.  most noticeably in the carefully orchestrated portal painting scene when the frame "accidentally" falls over onto the floor.  So D&D.

Easter Eggs Galore

When you are dealing with a muti-generational fictional universe adored by millions you are going to need to lean on the fan service.  It's why your core audience, the fans, are going put down the cold hard cash to go see your movie.

This is where many of the current crop of properties go astray.  Instead of giving fans what they want the directors writers and producers all want to "subvert expectations" or lean into "representation" in order to chase some ethereal demographic of what they would like their audience to be.  This is so mind numbingly empted headed thinking that it beggars belief.  The first rule of any product is know your audience.

What this team did was mine the massive back catalogue of source material and pull out a few monsters that everyone is familiar with.

Aaracokra, Dragonborn, Rust Monsters, Owl Bears, Displacer Beasts, Gelatinous Cubes, Mimics and of course dragons.  Colour me surprised when up pops Themberchaud the fattest Red Dragon you are every likely to encounter.  He will be familiar to anyone who has had the misfortune to wind up in Gracklestugh the Duergar fortress city of the Underdark.  Last I saw of him he'd slain his jailers and was merrily setting the city on fire.

Familiar spells peppered the action like bullets from a machine gun.  Having a knock down drag out fight between two mages wielding Bigby's Hand was a sight to behold.  

In the run up to release, the internet was wild with complaints about how they should have written this with the characters of the original D&D Cartoon from the 80's.  The producers listened and lo and behold up they pop as contestants in the great games.  Nice. 

Will it Suceed?

Well if the runours are true and it cost $150 Million to make then it needs to turn $300 Million in order to break even.  With the recent debacle over the OGL and the social media backlash, I'm not so sure that it will.  Unlucky timing perhaps because without that cloud hanging over its head it should have been a no brainer choice for every D&D fan out there to go see it.

Savage Dredd - Gangs of Mega City One

Mega City One has its fair share petty criminals and none come more petty than the juve gangs who vie for supremacy in their respective blocks.  Here are just a few of the gangs I have created for my Judge Dredd campaigns set in Sector 55.

The Squid Squad

Residents of Little Korea, the squid squad are easily identifiable by their neon pink all over jumpsuits and black facemasks.  They are one of the most organised and disciplined gangs in Sector 55 and should be approached with caution.  Their suits offer protection against all chemical attacks and their masks include breathers and headsets rendering Stumm Gas and Sonic cannon ineffective.

I found a free guard model on Thingiverse 5021982 and scaled them down to 15mm to match my other Judge Dredd minis.  This was pretty much the limit of how small I can print a standard 28mm mini as they were a little vulnerable in the ankle area.  I love how they came out and with a quick lick of paint they are absolutely ready for a rumble in Mega City One.

The Fatties

It is almost impossible to find models of fat people on the internet.  Of course the officially licenced range has some fantastic minis but these are 35mm.  Milliput to the rescue.  I blobbed on some putty and roughly sculpted some corpulent citizens to flesh out any gathering.  I only made 5 but if I get a really great scenario idea that needs more then who knows. 

There is a distinct lack of protest banners as whenever they are depicted in the comics they always seem to be shouting about something or other.  I did have a go at modelling belly wheels but it was an abject failure.  They of course come in a wide variety of jumpsuits and track suits as they are always in training for their next big weigh in.

TV Media Crews

In Mega City One there are almost as many TriD TV channels as there are citizens.  From documentary channels to citizen broadcasters the airwaves are chock full of options for the discerning viewer and 24 Hour News is just one small slice of that media cake.

Looking like a cross between the anchor men of old and corporate shift workers, these guys are a common sight at any incident.  They band together like fleas on a rat, but when they smell a story it's dog eat dog.  Oh and don't think that they aren't above creating the odd incident on a slow news day.

The Barbarellas

These costumed crusaders can usually be found defending their home turf of Jane Fonda Block.  The Barbs, as they are colloquially known, work double duty as an organized crime gang and the block's Citi-Def. 

Armed with stub guns and reflective body armour styled after an old holovid from 1960s.  Membership of this gang is exclusive and you only get in if you are a prime specimen of health and vitality.  One of the gang's most lucrative rackets is running the many Fonda Fitness Centres which also give it access to a steady stream of new recruits in peak physical condition.

Jessie's Prints - Episode 25 - Efreet

This week, I are mostly been tasting...  Middle Eastern Delights

Regular readers will know that my favourite D&D setting is Al-Qadim but it was never well supported in terms of minis.  Time has been kind to the genre though and there are plenty of neat minis that can be downloaded all over the internet including. 

Efreet - Pinshape 48509

As soon as I saw this guy I new I had to print him my other two Djinn are a bit too weapony and this guy is all about giving out wishes.  I'm really pleased with the paint job on this guy and his muscles benefitted from the zenithal highlighting that I've been doing lately.

Talking of Al-Qadim, I recently acquired a copy of the Caravans boxset for the collection.  Whilst in these woke times there is absolutely no chance of WotC revisiting this setting on account of "Cultural Appropriation", I absolutely love how different it is to regular D&D.  If you are interested or have never heard of one of the best settings TSR ever came up with check out my Al-Qadim article.

Jessie's Prints - Episode 24 - I like Big Girls, I Cannot Lie

This week I are mostly been printing big women.

My foray into large scale 3D printed models continues in the early weeks of 2023 as I have printed off a series of large scale ladies.

Becca - Cyberpunk Edgerunners (Cults 3D) 

The standout character from last year's Netflix Original Anime Cyberpunk Edgerunners was of course Rebecca.  A cute little anime girl with a foul mouth and a fouler temper, Becca is the eptomy of the live fast die young aesthetic of cyberpunk.

There are a few Becca STLs out there some good, some bad but this is the only one I could find which was free.  That's why the pose is so weird but then so is Becca.

Harley Quinn (Fotis Mint via Printables)

When I heard that Fotis had put all of his sculpts onto Printables I jumped at the chance to print one out and chose Harley Quinn.

She is the spitting image of Margot Robbie and printed pretty well as a single figure with the exception of the back of her head which is nore an issue with my attempt at supports than the model itself.  The base printed seperately and I don't know what happened with scaling but it is a bit of a chonker.  This is going to be a real challenge for me to paint as I'm not very good with actual faces.

Ylenia Bloodthorne (Capritor Miniatures)

My clubmate Dan backed this Capritor Kickstarter and sent me the files to download and print for him.  This is my first foray into 78mm multipart minis and she came out okay.  I had little instruction in terms of sticking her together (hence the weird arm position) and she is so fragile that if you breathe on her she will snap.

This is part of the issue with resin printers and more specifically the resin you print with.  Sometimes a mini will just be too spindly to survive and Ylenia is in that category.  But I guess what can you exect for something so highly detailed and anatomically correct.

Is the OGL Debacle D&D Red Pill Moment?

I didn't get too excited when I heard about the release of One D&D, I'm not really a D&D player having moved over to the OSR years ago.

However, the handful of times I played 5th Edition, I found it was increasingly difficult to play without having a DnD Beyond account.  The shift to digital sessions and VTTs during lockdown was a gift from the Gods for WotC.  A whole new breed of player was introduced to TTRPGs without the Tabletop and this online thing just felt right to them.

Now that lockdowns have been lifted, IRL play has returned but for a growing segment of DnD players they have stayed online safe within the technology bubble and IP that WotC owns.  The revelation that they intend to milk this captive audience for every red cent they can should come as no surprise.

As Gary Gygax famously said,

"The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules."

Subscribing to a system with little option for homebrew and games being run by ChatGPT style bot DMs very much sounds like the plot of The Matrix.

My fervent hope is that, like Neo, this new breed of player throws off its bonds of slavery takes the red pill and finds out that other TTRPGs offer a much more interesting, diverse, challenging and satisfying experience.  

Jessie's Prints - Episode - 23 - OMG Akira is 40!

Today I learned that the classic Anime Akira is 40 years old.

Thanks to Katsuhiro Otomo for bringing this groundbreaking work to life and making such an impression on me as a teenager. 

Fortuitously this coincided with the completion of my 3D Printed Kaneda Bike model which I began back in July not long after I got my resin printer..

Where can I download a 3D Akira Bike Model?

Well handily you can download this model from Thingiverse

Life is a Journey not a Destination

This is a big model meauring 9 inches long and 3.5 inches tall and Kaneda is 4.5 inches tall, so too big for my Photon Mono 4K.  I had to slice each half of the bike using Meshmixer and in hindsight I should have hollowed it out because it used up a huge amount of resin.  

The sheer weight of the parts of the bike (480g) or the way I positioned it on the bed created some defects with tearing of the seat on the left side and the right rear tear drop and seat being mishappen.

It was a major job to get it all aligned and fitting nicely and if I had my time again I would probably scale this model down a touch.  I followed the glue-up with some milliput to gap fill and a lot of sanding.  I decided to reslice the control panel as the misalignment of the join between the parts was just too much for me to bear and I'm glad I did.

Kaneda came out great on the first try but I had to reprint his right hand after the fingers broke off during painting.  Kaneda is a bit low poly compared to the bike and I guess that few people bother to print the figure as a result.  Rescaling may also fix this issue to some degree but I would definitely try to learn how to smooth out those facets in blender or meshmixer.

The Future is Clear

The next challenge was to make the canopy without the use of a vacuum former.  I printed out the supplied canopy and then filled the inside with milliput.  With a screw driven into the milliput I created a sort of buck (red) which I could hold with a pair of molegrips.  I then clamped a piece of acetate (green) in my workbench and heated it up with a hot air gun (Thank you middle aisle at Aldi).  

When the acetate was sufficiently hot and drooping I plunged the buck into the acetate.  Overly dramatic? Perhaps, but this is seat of your pants modelling and, despite it being a completely sketchy process, it worked amazingly and I got a stunning result on only the second try.

It Ain't a Picasso

Painting was surprisingly pain free with the bulk of the work done with automotive rattle cans and plenty of masking tape.  Touch ups were done by spraying the paint onto a card and then brushing onto the model.  Surprising effective thanks to the self levelling nature of rattle can gloss paint.

Panel gaps were lined in dilute black acrylic and the detail work on the dashboard buttons and screens completed in short order.

Stickers or Decals?

IMHO an Akira bike without decals looks wrong so I scoured the internet to find decent images, harder than you might think, purchased some white decal paper.  You won't believe the hours I spent deciding if I would go with the poster version solo pill logo or the "Good for Health Bad for Education" roundel version for Kaneda's back patch.  I borrowed a laser printer (thanks Paul) and printed up a sheet.

What a nightmare!!! The laser copier couldn't cope with the decal paper and it made a right mess.  I briefly contemplated printing out a set on sticker paper, my rational being that in-universe these are actually stickers applied by Kaneda himself.  I persevered and managed to cobble together a set I was reasonable happy with.

The process of application was also troublesome with some of the toner coming off and the decals wrapping back on themselves.  If anyone has tips on making your own decals please pop a comment in the box below.  If you want to download the Akira Bike decals please feel free.

Final Touches

I scratchbuilt a headlight lens from plasticard and the indicators got a lick of paint.  Necessity is the mother of invention and, when it came to the mirrors, I turned to the foil inside a crisp (chip) bag.  Yes, trash went into the making of this model.

I'm pretty pleased with the end result especially given that this is the first really big model I've scratchbuilt.  There are some things I would do differently like creating two decals for the dashboard.  There are somethings I might go back and fix like adding some neon piping around the tyres.  It's never ending really, but for now (at least) I have stuck a fork in this project, I'm done.

With all modelling it's less about the finished article and more about what you learned and how you stretched yourself along the journey.  Please feel free to share links to your own modelling stories in the comments below.

Movie Modern Day Survivors - I think I fell in love

Cruising the usual suspect 3D model websites I found this collection of modern day survivors and fell in love.

Cheech and Chong

What an amazing addition to your modern day game.  A couple of lowriding survivors who just seem to have the ability to bounce through life.

Chuck Norris

You don't just 3D print Chuck, he prints you!

Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson)

If you are fighting zombies then having this cowboy fighting beside you is definitely going to increase your chances of survival.

The Lord Humungous

One of my favourite fictional bad guys from my favourite post apocalyptic property. 

Jessie's Prints - Episode 22 - Some Stuff For Friends

This week, I are mostly been printing...  Stuff for Friends

Bigby's Sign of the Horns - Thingiverse 4048680

My current DM Mark is a bit of a metalhead and in honour of his awesome DMing I printed him this equally awesome spell effect for the famous D&D spell Bigby's Hand.  I hope I get to see it in play in the not too distant future. 

Baby Yoda Lithophane - Thingiverse 4073323

Printing a Lithophane has been high on my agenda for some time and as I was due to meet my 3 old work pals from the Ministry of Defence what better way to celebrate our reunion after Pandemic.

This has been my biggest resin print to date and I really wanted to push the printer to see what it could do.  I am blown away by the mid bending properties of Lithophanes and how, on a budget resin printer, I can make photorealistic 3D art.  

Amazing and definitely fits into "optical Illusion" territory.

Displacer Kitten and Displacer Beast - Thingiverse 4830184  / My Minifactory

Fellow Dragons Keep member Kat told me that her DM had recently gifted her a Displacer Kitten as a moving-in gift so I quickly sourced this super cute mini and an equally awesome displacer beast to represent the kitten when fully grown.

Of course no birthday gift can come without a presentation gift box and my old 3D Printer sacrificed some of it's foam packaging for a custom box.

Jessie's Prints - Episode 21 - Some Characters

This week, I are mostly been enjoying printing some characters I found on the interweb.

The Dungeonmaster - Thingiverse 3850163

People of a certain age will instantly recognise this little fellow.  He looks harmless enough but back in the 80s he kidnapped a bunch of American kids and put them through all manner of trials and fights against dragons and monsters.  Today's generation would have none of his nonsense I am sure.

If Hollywood is listening, someone please make a live action remake of the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon.  It will be a guaranteed hit.

Bender "Bending" Rodriguez - Thingiverse 32188

There  are a lot of Futurama models out there (I do want to print a cosplay brain slug and a Planet Express) but having a Bender miniature means I can keep those anoying meat bags at bay.  I needed to scale this one down and poor Benders antenna was just too fragile at that scale. 

Destroy all humans!!

The Monster and The Bride - Thingiverse 3782040 and 3844313

In a previous episode I printed the mad scientist Dr. Frankenstein and his able assistant Igor.  It would be churlish of me not to include his two most famous creations, the monster and Frankenstein's Bride.

Both these sculpts are by GloomyKid on Thingiverse who seems to push all my buttons when it comes to the models he chooses to sculpt.  Awesome work dude.

The House of R'yleh: Part 4 - The Art of Negotiation

The House of R'yleh is a Call of Cthulhu adventure set in London in late November 1923.  The Games Master is Mark and play takes place at Dragons Keep Roleplay Club in South East London every Friday night.

Cast

• Yoshi "Kanagawa" Yamamoto - A disgraced former Sumo wrestler turned journalist - Tony
• Chester "Pretty Boy" Lyle - A bareknuckle boxer - Sam 
• Ryan Wurmshurst - A retired policeman turned private sleuth - Steve
• Thelma "Ginger" Purdey - A recently graduated botanist and girl about town - Matt 

Surrounded by Ghoulish Minions

The beret wearing creature ordered his minions to surround the friends but, despite their weapons, it was clear that they were going to have to talk their way out of the situation.  The cavern was dimly lit but four fully finished paintings could be seen leaning up against the far wall.  Chester addressed the beret wearing creature as Peters but the creature said this was not his name.  Yoshi put two and two together and realised that this was the macabre artist Thewlis, who had been drummed out of the Chelsea Art club for creating obscene art. 

In broken English Yoshi claimed that they had come from the Chesea Art Club who had had a change in leadership.  The new regime wanted to right a previous wrong and purchase all of the art on display in order to hold a grand exhibition, one of the conditions was the return of Davies and his two students. 

Thewlis was intrigued and pulled his forces back enabling Yoshi and Ginger to cross the cavern and get a better look at the four paintings.  

 

The first was of a grand country house with a rotting corpse in the foreground.  The second was of a strange ruin in the desert.  The third of the interior of a building its walls covered with intricate hieroglyphs. The final painting was of a fantastical island structure jutting out of a stormy sea.  A tiny boat battled the gigantic waves heading towards this island.  In the centre of the painting a great door imprisoned something powerful which wanted to be released.  Observing this final painting Yoshi and Ginger had a visceral out of body experience.  It was as if they were on board the ship heading towards the island.  Looking down at her feet Ginger noticed that they were wet with seawater. 

 

After some discussion Thewlis agreed to the terms on the condition that the friends retrieve an important artifact for him.  He passed them a grubby manuscript whihc detailed the history of something called The Shining Trapezohedron, an artifact which would enable Thewlis to truly convey the majesty of his art to canvas.  Only then would he release his "students".

 

The foursome agreed and, led by one of Thewlis ghoulish servants, they returned to the surface and cold snowy Lambeth.  

Saturday 17th November 1923

The friends reconvened at Victoria Police Station and Ryan went to inform Det. Sgt. Farrell that they had located the missing artists.  Farrell assembled a five man squad of his finest officers.  This came as a dissapointment to the friends who urged him to bolster his ranks.  Another five men were found and they piled into a black mariah and followed the directions to the tenament in Lambeth.

 

Ambushed in the Sewers

When they arrived in the basement they expected to find one of Thewlis's creatures waiting for them but the room was empty.  They decided that Farell would accompany them in a lead group whilst Sgt Forester and the remaining officers would be following behind as backup.  They proceeded to traverse the sewers until they were about 100 yards from the entrance to the excavated side tunnel when they heard gunshots from behind.  They had been ambushed.

 

a half dozen or so of the creatures came at them from both directions cutting them off from the officers behind and a pitch battle ensued.  They overcame their assailants with great difficulty and all were wounded in some way except for Chester.  They ran back through the tunnels to the ladder stopping only briefly to recover the collar numbers of the slain officers they found along the way.  

 

They only found four of them... 

Reaper Bones #41 - Human Fighter, Duke Gerard

You wait months and two Reapers come along in quick succession!

Human Fighter, Duke Gerard - Bobby Jackson (SKU 77063)

This is a great mini because it is so purposeful.  Every fantasy game you've ever played has this type of veteran fighter as an NPC.  They're usually the one giving the orders and putting your neck on the line!

The House of R'yleh: Part 3 - All Tooled Up

The House of R'yleh is a Call of Cthulhu adventure set in London in late November 1923.  The Games Master is Mark and play takes place at Dragons Keep Roleplay Club in South East London every Friday night.

Cast

• Yoshi "Kanagawa" Yamamoto - A disgraced former Sumo wrestler turned journalist - Tony
• Chester "Pretty Boy" Lyle - A bareknuckle boxer - Sam 
• Ryan Wurmshurst - A retired policeman turned private sleuth - Steve
• Thelma "Ginger" Purdey - A recently graduated botanist and girl about town - Matt
  

In the Lambeth Slums

The misshapen creature watches the foursome as it climbs out of the well.  Still shaking from the shock of it's appearance they come to the realisation that this is no man.  Wurmshurst draws his revolver and begins to approach the creature from their vantage point at the top of the stairs.  Yoshi's deep voice booms "Inugami" as he thunders down the stairs clattering into Ryan and knocking the gun from his hand.  Ginger runs for the kitchen to find a weapon.

The creature seems unphased by this and cautiously approaches sniffing the air.  Chester shouts at the creature to stay back as Yoshi tries to grapple it.  Ginger grabs a heavy poker and has a few practice swings before running back to the cellar stairs.

The creature lunges at Yoshi but is momentarily distracted by Ryan and the big man from Japan locks the beast in a bear hug, pinning his long skinny arms to his sides Yorikiri style.  Chester lands at the bottom of the stairs and slams a right hook into the creature knocking a tooth out and dark brown blood splatters over Yoshi's face and shirt.  Yoshi slams the beast against the brick wall.  Ginger grabs Draper and threatens him with the poker, he complies and she drags him down the stairs.  Ryan realises he has brought a gun to a fist fight so puts it away and joins in the melee.  

The creature attempts to bite Yoshi but the ex sumo is having none of it, with a twist of his body he drops his knee and flips the beast over his shoulder and down onto the ground.  The momentum forces Yoshi to fall onto the beast with a sickening crunch.  Uwatenage.  The creature convulses and dies.

Draper breaks down and confesses that Peters made him do it.  He lured the two girls and Davies here with false promises and Peters took them away.  Yoshi instinctively heads to the well but Chester protests.

"I aint goin dawn there without me sword mate.  Don't be a fool we've got to get tooled up."

Ginger agrees and leads Draper back up the stairs after Chester.  Left on their own Ryan and Yoshi decide to stash the body in an upstairs pantry cupboard and then follow after the others.

Mrs Miggins House for Single Gentlemen

Back in his room Chester grabs his katana and Yoshi's Webley & Scott .32 pocket pistol and stuffs them into his training bag.  Mrs Miggins stops him on the stairs and asks where Mr Yamamoto is.  He explains that he and Yoshi have had a disagreement and the lummox is cooling off.

"Big fight tommorrow night Mrs Miggins.  Gotta do some last minute training.  That pikey feenian won't know what hit him, wish me luck" 

he shouts back as he closes the front door.

Ginger and Draper are waiting for him outside.  He looks down at the poker.  "that thing's gonna be no use to you where we're goin'.  Can you shoot?"  Ginger says "I've won a few goldfish at the fair"  Don't worry, I know a man.  A cab skids to a halt beside them, inside are Yoshi and Ryan.  Chester tells the driver "Take us to the Bull and Hide mate and don't spare the 'orses"     

Seeing a Man about a Dog

Chester and Ryan walk into the Bull and Hide in Whitehapel.  A den of iniquity full of dockers, roustabouts and old Tom's.  Chester spots his mark sitting at the bar and buys him a pint of Old Peculiar.  After a brief discussion the man agress and he sends a runner to fetch another man with the goods.  Twenty minutes later a rough looking fellow sits at the stool on the other side of Chester and slides a hastily wrapped bundle of cloth across the bar.  Chester slips the man 25 knicker.

As a fresh flurry of snow floats on the cold late afternoon breeze, Yoshi, Ginger and Mr Draper are huddled in the cab waiting.  On the floor lies Chester's training bag, Yoshi slips out the handle of the Katana he gifted to him and checks that Chester is keeping the blade oiled.  The exquisitely made hamon pattern is briefly visible as he thumbs the blade from its lacquered scabard with a satisfying click.  "Good" he mutters to himself.   

When Chester and Ryan return they head to Lambeth with a brief stop off at a small hardware shop to buy supplies.

Into the Sewers

Draper leaves the intrepid monster hunters back to the tenament in Lambeth but protests and will not go into the well.  He is clearly scared and would be more a liability than an asset.  They let him go knowing that he will return to his house and the bottom of a bottle of whiskey.  One by one they climb down into the well and the darkness swallows them.

Chester picks up the bag of art materials which lies at the foot of the ladder.  Yoshi, armed with a torch and a handgun, takes point and they begin to traverse the dry tunnel following a set of the the creatures hoof prints.  As they travel the sound of flowing water gets louder.  

Entering the sewers proper they try to avoid slipping on the slick wet bricks of the walkway, Yoshi and Ryan unfortunately get showered in what can only be described as a Water Closet outflow.  The tunnels emerge into a large cistern with many pipes and tunnels flowing into it.  Yoshi finds a discarded tube of paint near the mouth of the only exit and the team continue.

Chester and Yoshi slip and fall into the main sewer and as they struggle to climb out something long brushes against their bodies.  Further down this tunnel they come to a section of wall which has been ripped away.  Discarded bricks lie piled at the entrance to a long dirt tunnel which stretched off into the darkness.  Among the dirt lies a discarded Chelsea Art Club lapel pin.

They continue into this tunnel which winds its way along in pitch blackness. Yoshi spots that several human remains lie in various states of decay embedded in the walls of the tunnel intertwined with tree roots and fragments of rotten wood.  Ahead they can hear voices and the sounds of screeching metal on metal like trainwheels on rails.

Eventually the tunnel opens into a large cavern.  In the dim light Yoshi can make out two women and a man who appear to be sitting in front of easels painting.  Between them stands another Inugami (a dog demon) wearing a béret who appears to be giving them artistic direction.  Yoshi instinctively shoots the Inugami.  The mussle flash momentarily illuminating the cavern revealing about twenty other Inugami lining the walls of the cavern.

It is only then that the gang get their first glimpse of what the artist prisoners appear to be painting.  In the centre of the cavern stands a wooden scaffold and suspended from ropes and hooks hangs the decomposing body of a women wearing a tattered and mouldy blue dress.  What is left of her body throbs and pulsates as maggots crawl in and on the surface of her rotten skin.  Looking at the remains of her face the friends recoil in horror as they recognise what was once Josephine Brydon...