Greetings Terrans, I hope this finds you well. My apologies for not getting this out sooner, but this week has been pretty full on – nothing major, just work shit, but enough to push a few things out a few days. Never mind, better late than never, and what could be better than a cheeky bit of mini-monster madness for the weekend – this time with a rather more aquatic twist!
Let’s get straight into it with these imaginatively titles ‘Tentacles’ and ‘Tentacles Alt.’:
Not much to say here really – I googled up a few pictures of (plural octopus) and picked out a natty little number in red & orange with blue spots and white suckers. I hedged my bets on the bases & went for something that could be a scummy pond, a swamp or mire… I didn’t want to commit to full on water bases! Here’s a few trying to get to grips with Conan the Wanderer:
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While I was in the mood for tentacles and such, I grabbed hold of the mighty ‘Thaug’:
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I followed the same paint scheme as for the other tentacles – I figured that all the bits could be played as the same creature if required. Not much else to say really, the mouth was awkward but satisfying to paint, and the glowing eyes were good fun too. Here is Thaug about to get a yard of steel inserted somewhere:
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Anyway that’s all for this week – a bit of a strange selection I suppose, but I think these will come in handy for Ghost Archipelago, or as some kind of mutant/alien sump dweller in a sci-fi skirmish. Catch you all next time 😊
Greetings Terrans, how goes it? Welcome back & good news – we are on the home stretch with the Conan kickstarter! Ironically, I’m finishing with the models that got me hooked on this project in the first place – the Monsters!!
Let me explain – I’d been looking for creatures with potential to crop up in games like Frostgrave & Ghost Archipelago, and there are a good few in the Conan KS that suited. Me being me, I knew I had to eat (i.e. paint) the vegetables (shit minis) before I could get on to the meat (good minis)… ok, so the metaphor is a bit weak, but you get my drift & so here we are, 5 months later and I’m finally getting stuck in to the Monster minis I wanted to paint all along. Let’s get started.
First up isn’t technically a monster (though having ridden one, I’m not convinced!):
The camel was included in the game as a bit of a joke I think, thanks to the infamous ‘Camel Punch’ scene in the Conan movie. It was a lovely thing to paint, with Contrasts making short work of the basecoating & ‘normal’ highlighting and shading doing the rest.
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Next we have a beefy man/beast called ‘Thak’:
He’s a funny mini – the proportions are a bit iffy, but he is true to the book so we’ll let him off I think… Difficult to see what use he might be, but he was a nice paint & I’m glad to have him done.
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Next up is this ‘Swamp Demon’:
I really like this mini – it was a doddle to paint with Contrasts & wet blending straight on the mini, followed by a quick drybrush & some tidy up… I honestly thing that it took about 15 minutes (not including drying time) – talk about low effort/high return!
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Next we have this ‘Dark Demon’:
I’m not too pleased with how this fella came out – it’s a funny, lumpy thing & I tried for a ‘dark fate to purple’ vibe with it. I also experimented with the GW Gloss Nuln Oil, and I’m not hugely pleased with how it came tbh… that said, I don’t care enough to fix it either, so it is what it is.
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Lastly, we have this imaginatively named ‘Gray Man-Ape’
He was good fun to paint – similar to the Swamp Demon, I wet blended on the mini, did some normal highlights on the black skin & drybrushed the rest… really simple and effective!
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Here’s a final shot of all five together:
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And that’s all for now – more monster madness to follow next week 😊
Greetings Terrans, how goes it? I am extremely happy to report that this is the final ‘Characters’ post relating to my painting of Monolith’s Conan game… I still have some monsters to get through, but the never-ending tide of characters is now done – so what better way to finish than with the eponymous hero himself!
Including stretch goals, the set contains 6 iterations of the steely-thewed Cimarian – some of the minis are better than others & there are a few size discrepancies, but overall, these minis are up there with the best in the game.
Let’s get started with the basic ‘Conan’:
This is a lovely mini, and while he isn’t titled ‘the Barbarian, it’s hard not to think of him as such – this is quintessentially ‘fantasy barbarian’ in my opinion. All that lovely musculature was a joy to paint and I really went to town with the skin tones, even taking some inspiration from Frazetta with the shading.
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Next we have ‘Conan the Wanderer’:
This is another belter of a mini – compared to the simplicity of the last one, this version nicely detailed & I really like the pose… The double-axe loadout is particularly cool! Again, having plenty of skin to work with made this a very nice mini to paint.
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Next is ‘Conan the Mercenary’:
I love this mini – the ‘come at me’ pose is so gloriously over the top that it is hard not to love it 😊 From a painting perspective, there is plenty going on here with skin, cloth, leather, fur and metal all prominent & well executed – another real joy to paint.
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Next is ‘Conan the General’:
I really like this version of Conan – he’s a bit more grown up here, well-armed & armoured, but the mini still captures the wildness and grace that is so central to the character. All the metal was fun to paint, and nicely offset with the flowing cape. I had fun painting reflections on the sword 😊 If I were being critical, I’d say that the sword pommel is a bit crappy, but otherwise this is a lovely mini.
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And so we come to my personal favourite – ‘Conan the Warlord’:
I adore this model… in fact it is a solid contender for ‘best model in the whole damn game’ if you ask me. The pose is spot on, the detailing is excellent, and this mins really showcases what can be achieved with cheapy plastics. He was another beauty to paint too, with all of the combined interest points from across the range so far, and I’m really pleased with that axe blade. Again, if I’m being really critical, I’d have to pint out that the axe handle is bowed, but that is a minor gripe.
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Finally, we have ‘Amra the Lion’ – aka ‘King Conan’ and his pet lion:
This model is a bit of a let-down compared to the other five – objectively, there is nothing wrong with it, but it’s a bit plain and uninspiring from a painting perspective and the mini just doesn’t have the impact that the others have… He’s also a bit puny compared to his other incarnations – solid enough in his own right, but lacking that superhuman physique that Conan is supposed to display. The lion was nice to paint, and I’m particularly pleased with how the face worked out, but the exaggerated size of the beast annoys me & just draws more attention to how wee Conan is… It’s a shame, because this pair could’ve been awesome instead of merely ‘ok’..
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Still, this doesn’t detract from an otherwise excellent group – here’s a final pic of the whole Lamentation:
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Anyway, that’s all folks – I’m going to be tackling the monsters next, but in the meantime, I’ll leave it to the man himself to sum up what’s best in life:
“To paint your minis, see them arrayed before you, and to hear the compliments of your followers!”
