My latest endeavour. I'm churning things out quite rapidly these days... I guess August is compensating for the complete silence that was July. Made the fellow primarily for use with my Malifaux Zoraida crew (as Mysterious Emissary), but I reckon it will see the table as a witch's construct in the Gardens setting and as some sort of creature in Frostgrave, as well.
The Bark Fiend. In the Gardens setting it's a lankier cousin of the Moss Monster, both being magically animated constructs built by witches out of decaying
plant material and animal bones.
*
The original model.
The carnivorous vegetation and changelings that are meant to be a part of Emissary's base did not have a place here. I fixed a horse skull from GW Black Knights kit on top of the original head like a mask (this involved some filing). The jaw bone was split in two and hung on the creature's chest like grim ornaments. Next, it needed antlers - sizable ones, but not as impressive as Moss Monster's. I knew I wouldn't be placing much moss on this one, so I reckoned it could use some Milliput fungi on the limbs to provide extra detail. Converting was done in an evening, and painting the morning after.
Just like the Moss Monster/Bad Juju was based on the Ancient Leshen from The Witcher 3 videogame, the Bark Fiend was made to resemble a 'regular' Leshen, to some degree. The Mysterious Emissary model's physique is much more akin to the source material than Bad Juju's hulking frame. What I dislike about the Leshen design in the game is the cloth skirt they wear. I purposefully left that out.
The blog had a month-long hiatus, but now I'm back with reports of what occurred in the meantime.
Black Queen
Hobby and Miniature Painting Competition
UMS "Agram"'s annual painting comp was held during the second weekend of the Arena, parallel with a Warhammer 40k tournament. I bring some new work to the contest every year. This time I managed to take home five medals and a bag of prizes kindly provided by the event's sponsors.
My entries that placed in the comp - the Tor Megiddo technobarbarians, the stag beetle duel, Space Marine Terminator Librarian (painted as a birthday gift for my brother) and the Moss Monster (not in the picture). And these are most of the prizes that came with my medals. Looks like I'll be painting some busts in the future.
Space Marine Librarian. I haven't shown him here before. A nice figure, even though I don't find Space Marines particularly attractive.
* * *
AAS'17 Malifaux tournament
The third and final weekend if the Agram Arena Summer event we had a Malifaux tournament. I was happy that I managed to finish my entire Swampfiends crew in time for the tourney, complete with its display base and markers and tokens. The updates on that are included further below.
Along with the local players, this year we received participants from Austria and Poland, who came for the first time, and a party from Bulgaria that has been visiting the Arena for three years now. The tourney consists of six games played over two days, and traditionally begins with a pre-tournament get-together in a pub the evening before. The weather that weekend was not too great - I am not fond of summer heat, but we all pulled through successfully. The Austrians dominated the tourney, taking the first five places. I was in the lower middle of the chart, but my Swampfiends took home the Best Painted Crew award. They had tough competition to beat.
A pleasant Arena once more, had a good time.
Above photos courtesy of UMS "Agram".
If you're interested in a more extensive report of the tourney, written from the perspective of our Polish guest, you can find it on his blog here: What The Faux.
I played a few friendly games in the comfort of my own home, too. Pictured here: Zoraida's Swampfiends versus Rasputina's blue popsicles. The amount of forest scenery I put on the table worked too much in my favour. I need to add more variety in terms of terrain types when hosting games of regular Malifaux.
* * *
Before the Arena I needed to come up with Scheme
markers and Tree markers for my Swampfiends. Originally I intended
these to be hand-painted, but my deadline was approaching and I was
running out of time. Rather than rushing the painting, I came up with a
quicker and easier solution that still looks good.
30mm Scheme Markers.
50mm Tree
Markers. These are placed by the Waldgeists' Germinate action. If there
is more than one Waldgeist in play it is important to keep track which
pair of trees belongs to which Waldgeist. This is why I marked them with
their faces and numbers, which match the ones on their respective stat
cards.
The
markers were made out of the figures' packaging. I cut out the parts of
the boxes that had artwork on them and glued the cut-outs on MDF bases.
I distressed the edges to cover up the imperfections of my cut.
Hoarding those boxes has finally payed off...
The final set of models I was missing were the Gupp swarms. The
official Gupps are rather cute, but too cartoony for my version of
this crew. Once more I turn to the Hobbit goblin kit for bodies. The
fish heads are copies of the fish familliar's head from WHQ Silver
Tower. The number of heads poking out of the water indicates whether it
is swarm 1, 2 or 3.
The display base I made is rather basic; not impressive in itself. But it does
serve its twofold purpose well. It enhances the crew's presentation by
framing it, and during a tournament I can use it as a tray to carry my
models to the next table. Since it is flat it was not difficult to
transport the base itself to and from the tourney.
The
base is actually a picture frame. I used MDF base extensions as slots
for the minis' bases. This didn't work perfectly because MDF expanded
slightly due to moisture from clay, glue and painting. The tight fitting
bases no longer fit, so they needed filing down. I don't think my next
display base will have slots at all. I had the display base in mind long
before, so in advance I dressed the minis' bases according to their
planned position on the display.
* * *
Trakošćan
The weekend after the tournament I went to see Trakošćan - a castle in northern Croatia. I had been there at least twice before, but that was 15+ years ago, so it seemed it was time to revisit the place. It left a lasting impression on me as a child; I was curious how I would perceive it now.
The castle stands atop a small hill, and the estate that surrounds it includes a park, a forest and a lake. It dates back to 13th century, when it was a small fortress. It was later upgraded with towers and improved defences, to sustain the fire of Turkish guns. Once it lost its strategic significance, Trakošćan was converted into a residence. For a long period of its existence the castle was in possession of the Drašković family. The name of the castle is thought to be a warped combination of Latin "draco" and German "Stein", which would translate to Dragonstone. Nowadays it is open to the public as a museum.
It was not much different than I remembered it. There are plenty of rooms to explore, filled with furniture, paintings, arms and armour, trophies and other useful reference material for Castle Wayvode. However, photography is prohibited...
Since I was not allowed to photograph the rooms, I was hoping to be able to buy a monograph about the castle or a catalogue of the museum exhibits, but I found no such thing at the site. I'll have to search elsewhere, it seems. The museum's website is nice enough, though. The EXHIBITION section gives a few lines about each of the rooms, and one can even take a 360 virtual tour.
I reached the stage of my club's Malifaux campaign when my crew can purchase a Master, so I got to work on a model to represent Zoraida herself.
The Witch is my Zoraida proxy. The original plastic model would have been passable, but as soon as I saw this released I knew I had to get it as a substitute. It's the Hag from the Guildball game. I had to convert a bit to change her from a sea hag into a swamp hag, but it was totally worth the effort. I like her so much better than the plastic Zoraida.
Instead of fishing gear she originally came with, I gave her a bundle of sticks. Them, the skull and the fish are motifs that make a connection between her and the monster characters in her crew.
The round buoy is now a crystal ball - and Zoraida actually has an upgrade called Crystal Ball. I added shrooms to her belt; they are made of pins and PVA.
Hex doll, shaped by the Witch from a clod of red clay. The doll is Zoraida's Totem, and an essential tool for her to work well in the game. I'm not too fond of the original Voodoo Doll model. It is huge, cartoony and the flawless patterned texture screams computer-sculpted. So I took a tiny doll left over from the Bad Juju sprue and painted it with Martian Ironearth. Being so minute, it would fit much better on a 25 or 20mm base. However, it must be 30mm to be playable in regular Malifaux games.
I had room for one more purchase this Campaign Week, so I panted a second Wisp. Now Zoraida and the Spawn Mother can each have one for herself.
* * *
In other news, I attempted to sculpt a shield for the first time. The result could be better, but what's more important is that the process was educational. I'll be getting some new sculpting tools soon.
The yellowish one is the unpainted original, sculpted from Milliput. The three painted ones are plaster copies.
Another Silurid joins the Swampfiends. I'm gradually getting to know the crew as I play the campaign, and these jumping fishmen are just fantastic.
Like his brother, this one was only slightly modified and painted in a matching colour scheme.
The first Silurid and the Spawn Mother's basing has them standing in water. This one is in a jumping pose, so I made him jump from a muddy bank into the water. As you'll see further below, this has to do with the display base I'll make for them.
I also painted the original Gupp
swarms I got in the Spawn Mother set because they are essential to how
her crew works and I needed them for the campaign. I hate the models,
though. They are terribly cartoony and don't match the feel of the Swampfiend
crew I'm going for at all, so I don't even want to show them here. They
can't even be converted to fit. I do intend to make my own version of
the swarms from third party bits that will have the right look, but that
is not high on my priority list right now.
The fish family.
The future display base. I don't have the right tools to cut neat round slots on the display base, so I bought some MDF round base extensions for that purpose. The base itself is a picture frame.
* * *
I'm working on a small illustrated book that I'm hoping to publish some day. I painted a couple of test illustrations for it; I thought you might find them interesting:
When we last saw Spawn Mother she was a work in progress. Got her finished now, along with a Will o'the Wisp. With this I have the full starting crew for the campaign we're starting at my local club next week. I'll have to make Gupp swarms soon because, althought I won't hire any, I'll be summoning them during the game.
SPAWN MOTHER
Fish monster... I used the same colours as on the first Silurid.
Before painting I added a few bubbles made from
balls of Milliput cut in half. The base was painted black, with lighter areas around the parts where
legs and hand touch it. I made ripples around the legs with Vallejo Heavy Gel. The base was then coated in several
layers of Vallejo Still Water. The final touch was some foliage: flock, grass tufts and moss tufts.
One with a white backdrop. Some things are better visible in this one.
*
WILL O'THE WISP
The Wisp gave me some trouble. I couldn't get the skin right. Originally I imagined it light blue with lights that have a greenish hue. Repainted it several times until I settled on this. Those wings, on the other hand, were fun to do. I liked the design from Will o'the Wisp boxart so I tried to emulate it.
It's supposed to have a glowing bum. Looks slightly better in person but still I see room for improvement. I'll try to do better on the second Wisp.
*
I'll make a small display base for them. For now it's still in the planning stage.
To be ready for the upcoming Malifaux campaign at my club I have to paint a small starting crew (35SS). After a bit of thinking I came up with a list that includes Spawn Mother as the leader, Bad Juju, a Waldgeist, a Silurid and a Will o'the Wisp. I'll also need a few bases of Gupps because Mother can (and most certainly will) summon them during the game. This will gradually grow into a larger pool of models led by Zoraida.
Two
Silurids and a Wisp. They were all subtly converted - just changed some
details I didn't quite like. The assembly was not too difficult, luckily. Malifaux plastics can be a real pain when it comes to that.
First Silurid painted. Most people go with green skin (I guess because box art suggests it). I wanted to take mine a different way.
I assembled Spawn Mother, too. She is smaller than I imagined. Even more now that I cut off her feet to make it look like she is wading through water. Again, there were some details that bothered me. Her claws and fangs were ridiculously long. And there was something about the shape of that dorsal fin that just didn't look right. I sculpted whiskers so that she would resemble Silurids more; Wyrd made her look like a completely different species for some reason... If you care to see exactly what I changed you can find good images of an unconverted version HERE for comparison.
Painting starts from a light undercoat.
Then I go crazy with washes and glazes. This is still early WIP.
* * *
After reading my Crew's stat cards I realised I'll be able to generate Burning tokens as well as Poisoned... Took care of that right away:
And I made a second Scheme Marker, as you can see all the way at the beginning of the post. I like the idea of painting a new one to accompany each new post. They make neat thumbnails. I'll see if I can go through with that.
* * *
Before I sign off, just a small update on my Fae faction. Many thanks to Florian Wortmann for sending me 15mm Fairy swarms I originally wanted to use for the Piper's crew, only to find out they had gone out of print. He happened to have them and kindly offered to give them away. The Fairies arrived through the post recently and I quickly painted them so they can join their master. Thanks again, Florian!
