Dr Boom

Definitely nefarious

I needed a dual axe wielding mini to play Kvetka, a bandit leader my Dreadmir party will encounter on their way to Raid the Sczarni safehouse. After snipping off Arnise's elf ears and giving her and extra axe I had lying around, Kvetka lives

Some fishy business down at the Dreadmir Docks. Quint the fisherman has returned from his daily foray out onto the lake with something extra he found in his nets. While he clubbed it into submission after dragging it on board, it revived just as he was mooring and now it's escaped into the Lebedev's workshop. Someone has to go in there and deal with it, so Quint, his wife Prinda and mother-in-law Beyla are looking for heroes braver than them. Firstly Quint. I realise that the time period I'm going for in my campaign predates yellow plastic raincoats, but I just had to try out the Lyanden Yellow contrast paint. Next up, Prinda: And finally, her mother Beyla

This guy was a bit of a no-brainer - another giant who pretty much already looks like a cyclops. A brief bit of exacto work and a greenstuff eye and he's there. I already have him in metal painted as a Stone Giant, and there are more Stone Giants than I'm ever likely to use in the Lost Valley expansion from Bones IV. When I got him in one of the earlier kickstarters (2 or 3) I momentarily considered replacing his mace for a microphone and moulding on some cargo pants to make a little mini Peter Garrett (former lead singer of Midnight Oil and Australian politician) because he's a dead ringer for the bald bloke and the pose even looks like he has his distinctive dance moves down. I'll just have to buy another one for that project. Spent a bit of time layering his skin up and I'm probably happiest with this than the earlier cyclops. Just one more to go (and then possibly another Cyclops Lich if I can get around to ordering it) . . .

You may call them quick and dirty, but as a former parasitologist let me say they look just like real ticks. Well done.

I love that saw shark mini

I remembered that I had an encounter with an Augur Kyton who was serving as a "Cleaner" to remove any evidence of the existence of Drow (None of this spider nonsense for my Drow - they're going full Hellraiser in my campaign). A quick trip through my bits box and I assembled this. All I can say is thank the Dark Ones for all the spare spikey bits and mysterious flesh gobbets you get in the GW Wracks box. An Augur Kyton is supposed to be a floating eyeball surrounded by whirling blades and spiked chains. I started off with that in mind but then got a bit carried away.The base is done with a bit of Citadel Mordant Earth over a purple and PVA glue base.

Got the rest of the Bones Bandits done for the Sczarni safehouse. Once again, mostly quick Citadel contrast paint jobs with a few touch ups. I'm happiest with Karl the Killer. Firstly, Hans the Brains . . . Next up, Karl the Killer . . . . . . and finally, Marco the Muscle.

Thanks - the method I used for the green on top was: an under coat of Wraithbone spray A thin layer of Plaguebearer Flesh (Citadel Contrast) Stipple of Militarum Green (Citadel Contrast), heavier toward the midline Pinkish belly was: Wraithbone spray undercoat Thinned down Carroburg Crimson (Citadel Wash) Highlight with Pallid Wych Flesh (Citadel layer)

Having run out of real cyclops miniatures, I've resorted to butchering modifying some of my older Bones. To be honest until I did a stocktake of my Bones, I thought this was a cyclops, so it wasn't much of a job to cut out the bridge of his nose and push in a greenstuff eyeball. Unfortunately I couldn't get a good angle on it, but trust me it's there and it looks great. Painted his armour in a bronze as that seems about the tight level of technology for cyclops, however it does tend to blend in a pit with his skin and base.

This pair gave me a bit of a break while I was painting the bandit mooks. Firstly, I started off painting the Razormouth based on a cane toad colour scheme. I thought I'd add the stripes to break up the pattern a bit and by the end it's looking like a toad you're going to need more than a cricket bat to deal with. Happy with the overall effect, althought he deep detail on the Bones Black makes painting it a easy task. Only the one angle because in my haste in unpacking all of my Bones IV I misplaced his left front led and had to sculpt a new one - not my finest moment with the green stuff. Next up, the Terror Fish. I've seen a lot of beautifully painted tropical style ones and I toyed with the idea of painting it like a Lionfish, however my Terror Fish lurk in the freshwater streams and bayous around Dreadmir, so I thought I'd be inspired by giant river catfish (and it allowed me to try out a colour scheme and technique I plan to use on the Admiral when I get around to him). I'm happy with the pink tinged belly and the eyes on this one. This pair will be harassing the party as they make their way to the Sczarni safe house. Back to the mooks . . .

Baba Smolluk is going to be my wife's Witch character's nemesis in town - a swamp witch who everyone thinks is mad who is starting to muscle in on Rhoda's matchmaking business with all manner of questionable love potions. I've modelled her clothing on some Russian peasant fabric - rather busy in design, albeit with a limited palette. Every town needs a crone for the children to tell stories about, and Baba Smolluk fills this need in Dreadmir. Baba Smolluk lives in a small shack in the woods near the town, however she makes regular visits to Dreadmir to buy supplies or simply harangue random townsfolk. She is known to attach herself to one person who will be the target for her barely comprehensible vitriol and who she follows all day. Her rants range between accusations of inappropriate contact and strange apocalyptic prophecies. Visitors to her shack in the woods will find it well stocked with curios and potions which she is willing to sell, although not always for money. Sometimes the cost will be a handful of beetles from a rotting log, other times a lock of hair or a drop of blood. On more than one occasion she has merely insisted that her customers listen to her opinions on a particular topic. The items she sells are quite functional, however each one comes with a minor quirk which might not be to the customer’s tastes. For all her ravings, most of the town regard Baba Smolluk as an annoying but largely harmless eccentric. There is the question of why she has been buying up all the chickens in town though . . .

So in a couple of adventure's time, my Dreadmir party will be raiding a Sczarni safe house deep in the swamp and populated with bandits, mercenaries and all sorts of other ne'er do wells. That means it's all hands on deck and painting up every disreputable looking type I have lurking in my various boxes of shame. I got these guys as part of the Stoneskull expansion for Bones II and while they are made from the soft Bonesium, I'm impressed with the level of detail on them (not as impressed with the mold lines I had to remove). Given I need a lot of bandit types in a relatively short space of time and factoring in my tendency to get bored painting the same sort of figure over and over again, I thought I'd use them as an experiment in using citadel contrasts and washes. Each of these was undercoated with Wraithbone spray and then hit with a range of mostly contrasts (plus Drakenhof Nightshade for the metal and Seraphim Sepia for the gold) and then touched up with a highlight or two. I'm fairly happy with how they turned out and they'll suit their purpose as quickly killed mooks when the hammer falls on the "safe" house. First up - their leader . . . The Bully . . . The Enforcer . . . . . . and the Knocker.

That is just wonderful. I can't decide whether my favourite bits are the green highlight scales to break up the tan or the non-metallic mother of pearl effect on the shell

Latest in my collection of Cyclops for The Island of Empty Eyes (#4 of the Skull and Shackles Adventure Path for Pathfinder). This bruiser will be playing the part of Istoreth the Greater Cyclops, although he's a little smaller than some of the plastic and Bones ones I've amassed so far. Nothing too special - I've tried to go for the classic Harryhausen look. I don't need the goblin mage on his back, so that little guy is only pinned in at the moment.