Caravan Update 9 - More Okroi

The minis that sparked the whole Caravan Project (formerly known as "The Okroi Caravan") were the first two Okroi pack animals I painted. I had to order some more from Forge of Ice. They sat primed and partially painted for a couple of years before the recent Belan figure sparked a return to the Caravan Project. Now these wonderful dino-deer are done and joining the rest of the caravan.

...the (current) Okroi flock without the foal...

I should have left their baggage alone, but instead I did a little converting on one and a total replacement on another to add some variety. Next time... The easiest way that these new okroi were made different than the previous two was with their red stripes. I probably took way too much time working on the stripes, but I think they turned out pretty good, and it helps make each one an individual.

These first two have the unmodified baggage (we won't go into the mad tangent of possibly magnetizing the cargo- it's just madness). I've painted the fruit differently from the original one, because variety is good.

The 'barrels' on this one are also different from the original. I used some washes to help bring out the details.

This first modified baggage okroi apparently has some magical stuff in the containers. There is an upcoming member of the caravan who is likely the owner of this okroi.

Finally, my least favorite of these favorite minis. Were there barrels in Ægyptus? It matters not. The barrel and bag are both plastic bits from some Warhammer kits. Instead of a leg bone, I put some greenstuff on it to make it look like some vague ancient tool, sort of.

Could this be a use for tofu containers? I believe it could.

In the span of a few days, the caravan has grown significantly (I am no math guy, but I think it's gotten a 20% increase). The two little plastic tubs I've been keeping them in are now overflowing. I need to look into a better storage solution with room to grow. There are at least 5 non-pack animal members of the caravan that are primed and their painting has begun. Not to mention the upcoming pack animals and possible additional members of the group. All this sparked from those 2 weird and wonderful pack animals that Alex had sculpted...

Caravan Project Part 8 - Belan Pack Animal

A huge resin figure from one of the Anyaral- World of Twilight Kickstarters joins the ongoing Caravan Project, finally finished and ready to join the caravan.

I sponged on a couple of layers of progressively lighter browns before going into the colors. The painting was pretty quickly finished before adding a couple of different washes to make the wonderful details pop. Then I touched up areas before deciding to call him done. I think he turned out pretty good for taking over a decade to paint.

the Belan with the first finished mini of the caravan project, the Void 1.1 Saurian.

The Belan is HUGE, one of the reasons I think I was intimidated by it for so long. It's a great sculpt, though, and I'm thinking about painting the second one I have that's buried in a box somewhere.

I need to dig out more of the Anyaral caravan pack animals and get them painted, these three look great together.

The Caravan beast handler and the To-Tanem smith with the giant Belan.

So what does the caravan look like now? It's getting nicely bigger. There are additions still in the painting pipeline (a few more Okroi from Forge of Ice, the minis that prompted this whole project, thanks Alex), but seeing the caravan together again for the first time in over a year, I decided to go through my WarGods and adjacent miniatures. I think it needs a couple more guards, some guys with spears or polearms. Plus, we need some more not necessarily combat oriented folks to join it. I'm sure there will be other random ideas that those additions spark once painting begins anew.

Flesh Hulk for the Nekharu Warband

Long ago I didn't get an official Nekharu Torturer and Flesh Hulk, I decided to convert them both. They were okay but nothing special. I never really used them in any games. Recently, I got the actual figures (the Torturer was finished here) and now they're both finished.

Here's the olde Flesh Hulk with the new guy. My original was was a simple conversion by adding some GW plastic zombie parts to a metal Reaper mini.

The headswap on the official figure was a last minute decision. I had this extra head from some Heresy Miniatures figure that had been sitting in the bits box for a very long time. His mask was painted to slightly match the feathers on the torturer. The only other major change was to slightly reposition his left arm by gently bending it.

Painting his skin was a mess of slightly different browns and tans and pinks mixed together. I guess it turned out okay. The only really fancy painting part was using some pigment powder on his blade to get a sort of bloody/rusty look. That part felt like a nice accomplishment.

the Flesh hulk with his torturer

with the converted Scorpion Sorceress and Heru Spearman

with a couple awesome mummy conversions

Ankhara City of the Dead part 7- Ankheftu the Skull Collector

This excellent mini was originally painted sometime in the late '90s or early '00s. She's a RAFM miniature from their line of angels. She saw a little use in WarGods games for the 'Lair of the Monster' subplot (using the rules I wrote for the issue of Croc Tales with different monsters to use- she inspired the Harpy rules before there were Harpy rules for Olympus). I wanted to repaint her and use her as a powerful beast in the Ankhara skirmishing setting.

The original paintjob was not so good. For the time, it was passable. So into the jar of LAs Totally Awesome and she came out nicely clean. There was a tiny bit of cleanup that was missed back when she was originally painted.

But first, a pile of skulls based on the sketchy lore I created as Ankheftu was getting painted. This is a weird 25x40 MDF base picked up from the bins at the Gale Force Nine booth at one convention or other. The skull are a mix of my preferred (but dwindling supply) of resin skulls from a couple different Kickstarters, some GW plastic skulls, and one or two plastic skulls from some other source. 

The painting was some simple drybrushing of various lighter colors followed by a wash, then some touchups. I haven't decided if Ankheftu will perhaps use these as a cache to throw at people or just as an objective marker.

Painting Ankheftu using better primer and modern dropper bottle paints was a joy. I used cork chunks and some resin skulls on the 40mm base to help her fit into the necropolis setting of Ankhara. 

Drybrushing and washes help Ankheftu turn out closer to how I think I originally wanted her to look. Ive had trouble with pale skin in the past, but I think her skin turned out pretty good thanks to all the practice I've had painting skin over the years.

Ankheftu's sketchy lore took shape during the painting process. There was a moment where I thought maybe she would be the protectrix of Ankhara, that didn't last long. Then I remembered the art from the WarGods rulebook showing an Asar Harbinger of Horus with the Aspect of the Avenger power. Then it clicked, she was a fallen Harbinger of Hors. Killed in some way that when she was raised as a Dark Harbinger it didn't quite take. She's very powerful, but not a Dark harbinger. She's got her wings and a couple of other powers that I haven't decided on yet. And she likes to collect skulls.

I think she may be a rogue element in Ankhara, guarding her precious skulls. Maybe she can be 'hired' by a party for a game or two, they just need to promise her a certain number of skulls. But it's all just in progress right now. I won't mention the possibility of her having an undead version of the Falcon Servant until I can find a good miniature for it.

with a couple of Ankhara-specific mummy conversions

with the Scorpion Sorceress and a Heru Hero conversion

with a Heru speraman conversion and a Crocodiliopolis City Dweller spearman