1st Pterroman Done - Forge of Ice FEB

Kappetu "of the night's winds" is the first of the three pterromen to get painted as part of this special painting event. As a confirmed anti-integral base extremist I took the integral base off and made sure to get the areas between his toes. I think that removal turned out pretty well.

Most of the painted examples I've seen of the pterromen have been more traditional dinosaur colors (the pterasaur community would be upset that I called them 'dinosaurs')- browns and greens and the like. So I wanted to do something radically different. I came across some great pictures that were more like tropical birds that helped spark this color scheme.

The red bit isn't his eye, it's around his eye because that's something a lot of the fancier pictures I came across showed that I really liked. The rest of the pterromen will likely have different colors than Kappetu, but similarly strikingly different from the standard.

The base is from a resin piece of Egyptian tomb terrain I copied with some UV Resin. I wanted at least one of the pterromen to be standing on some more civilized ruins because I see them as defilers of human civilizations, but more on that some other time.

Here we see the Sleazy Merchant presenting a gift to Kappetu to help seal their dark pact.

And here's the Sebeki Priest in a pose-off with Kappetu.

And #forgeoficefebruary rolls on....

Shrine of the Cyclops - FOI FEB

I didn't expect to finish the biggest most impressive piece first for #forgeoficefebruary, but there you go.

It was an easy series of drybrushed layers to get an effective result.

 

I had half a mind to use some reds and greens to pick out all the intricate symbols carved into the skull but decided it would be way too much trouble for not much payoff.

Here we have the Sleazy merchant showing off his latest acquisition to the Sebeki Priest as two guards stand watch, more or less.

Here we have the Snake Priestess tempting the Courtesan with twisted promises.

Forge of Ice February is About to Begin!

With the arrival of the Eye of the Cyclops Kickstarter minis last fall my inventory of Forge of Ice miniatures got a major boost. This surmountable amount of miniatures will be an easy win on the plus side of painting stuff. How likely it is that they're all going to be completed by the end of February is an open question (let's ask the partially painted peacock who has sat in that state for too  many years).

The plan is to paint up as many of these miniatures from Forge of Ice as I can throughout February and do a wrap-up showcase at the end. Why February? Well it's the only "F" month so it works itself out.

Let's first look at the minis that have yet to be put together and freed from the curse of their integral bases. One of the cult guards (this one I decided to give the optional shield to) and two of the excellent-looking pterromen who need some pinning for their heads and wings.

Next are a couple of partially painted things from far too long ago (that could be said about a bunch of minis I have). A large 40mm scarab swarm (I think I have another that was already finished) and the aforementioned peacock strutting around like he owns the place.

Here we have the third pterroman assembled and on his fancy base. I made a mold of some Egyptian terrain piece mural of seated figures specifically for one of the pterromen to stand on becuse I think it will be pretty cool.

Next are 3 members of the Cyclops cult from the Kickstarter. The female guard captain (maybe my favorite figure from the Eye of the Cyclops), Kandar Itaa (the priest of the cult), and one of the regular guards (I left the optional shield from this guy because I think it will look better).

Here's an assortment of objectives/scatter and a nasty lizard. I've painted up one of the jumping boar arks before but I've got a different idea for this guy.

The Okroi pack animals were originally planned to have magnetized packs but I've decided that's way too much trouble. If I really want some of them without packs I can just order them. We'll see how they paint up. Their bases are 2 20mm bases pinned together to make the perfect 20x40mm base they deserve. a regular 25x50mm base looked too big and a 25mm square base had them at an awlward diagonal. This 20x40 looks perfect to me.

Cyclopses! The (IMHO) less impressive armored one on the right and the more impressive unarmored one on the left. The armored one will just get a normal sandy base because of his less impressive status.

I can't believe that I almost forgot about the big mammoth cyclops skull centerpiece! This thing has been sitting by the side of the painting table since I got the Kickstarter package. It's a wonderful resin piece.

So there they are- the 18 Forge of Ice minis I have to be painted throughout the month of February. I do have a few tiny accessories form Forge of Ice like a paleolithic Venus figurine, some various shields, and a couple of prehistoric daggers in my bits box. These will be saved for just the right project whenever it comes along.

If you've got some forge of Ice minis you should really think of painting them up in February and posting on Instagram under #forgeoficefebruary because it would be nice to see other peoples' paint schemes for these great miniatures.

WarGods Minis Month 2020 - FINALE Skull Pig 2, Basti and Snake Priestesses

We sadly come to the end of the 2020 extended WarGods Minis Month. If there had been a physical GenCon I would've gotten a bunch of stuff finished up in time for whatever event Crocodile Games would've put on. We end where we began with a humongous Skull Pig (Entelodont) from Forge of Ice, but first a couple of character minis...

First up, the Snake Priestess from the Olympus line of miniatures from Crocodile Games. She helps make the Dionysus Amazon warband I used at the 2019 WarGods event more complete. I used a great Forge of Ice mini since I think this miniature was first available at last year's convention. She was a little flat with the snakes facing off to the sides, so I thought I'd make her a little more cinematic by carefully turning the snake heads towards the front a bit. I painted her back to sort of look like snake scales because there's something not quite right about this chick...

Above is the Snake Priestess with Absynthia, the Demigoddess of Dionysus from last years WarGods event. Below we have the Snake Priestess with the Sleazy Merchant from Forge of Ice.

Next up is a character for some WarGods skirmishing (or she can be a plain old priestess), Ashara 'Voice of the Dawn.' There will be stats and some background for her on my WarGods Skirmish Blog soon. She was given the bow and quiver on the ground behind her because she's a known archer (and after she died she was part of Shefdu's Grand Warband at the Battle of Ankhara as a Crypt Lord. In life she was known to travel with the renowned Nile Blues legend Big Bukka (as we can see below) and was likely the inspiration of his song "Her Arrows Were Poison."

Finally we come to the second of the two Forge of Ice Skull Pigs. This guy was a lot of trouble but he survived a couple of drops to the floor while painting without coming off his base or losing his head. I wanted to add something for him to be trying to gobble up on the ground and a skull seemed fitting for a Skull Pig!

And here we have both of the Skull Pigs rampaging through the desert wastes in search of some grub...

WarGods Minis Month 2020 - Antediluvian Pirates

As we close in on the end of this extended WarGods Minis Month we have some "pirates" to help complete the Cretan Pirates unit so I can take a Minotaur for an Olympus warband.

First of the pirates is a conversion of a Crocodile Games Asar swordsman.  I took off the peg from his left arm where the shield would normally go and pinned a sword into the left hand. The part sticking up against his chest is a little off center but I didn't realize it shifted until after the glue had set. It was done last year around this time when time was running out to get the warband ready for the GenCon 2019 WarGods event. He'll probably be in the second rank most of the time to hide this embarrassment. 

Next is an old Earthdawn mini that I thought would be a cool Atlantean or something (he looks a little lizard-y, so maybe a S'syth agent).  He's been based and primed for a very long time and now he's ready to join the pirate unit. I think he turned out pretty good. 

Finally, a miniature I've been afraid of painting since I got it years ago. From Hasslefree Miniatures, Xanthia is a wonderful sculpt (like pretty much every Hasslefree fig) that needed no conversion. I hope she turned out okay. I was having trouble with her face so decided to make her scary by giving her skull facepaint (an effective copout). Since she's such a nice figure I gave her a little more of a fancy base. She'll likely see action in some skirmish games eventually. 

Here we have a view of a 13-strong Cretan Pirate Unit with their Minotaur. More potential members will surely be painted because you can never have too many pirates, especially if they get a Minotaure for you...