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So, just what happens when you take the desire to paint some sort of armoured vehicle or tank, and a rather fondness for gnolls? Well, you say screw it, let's see what would happen if gnolls STOLE A TANK! (and a LAV). This definitely isn't going to be NATO greens, or even remotely close to JGSDF colours. Green may be involved at some point, but not any actual real world colouration patterns... Naturally, ignore the obvious answer of "why not?!?!" what kinds of things give a fox inspiration for this project? Ghost In The Shell (the original video/movie) Akira also arguably has some inspiration for this too (both the manga, as well as OAV/OVA) Shenanigans and mischief Various musicians, but Daniel Graves especially (Aesthetic Perfection). A LOT. Borderlands, specifically Borderlands 2 Or, in short, I'm going into this with a few ideas, but not necessarily any particular plan... ^First up, is the initial haul. There's more in the mail (Toghra, as well as Reaver of Kargir), and they should hopefully be here in a few days. So up for contemplating I have two 1:48 scale kits from Tamiya, the JGSDF Light Armored Vehicle (aka LAV) as well as the Type 10 Tank, also from the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force. Miniature options include two different sets of Wizkids gnolls as well as the Pathfinder Deep Cuts, and for Reaper options we have a Krokuta, Bones Blacktongue, Bones Bloodmane 77236, as well as Bones Gnoll Warrior 77012 (to me he looks likes the Bones version of Boneflayer 14580). So yeah, seems like an easy-ish task right, take something that's 28mm scale and pair it with a 1/48 scale model. what could possibly go wrong? ^Okay, didn't quite realize the words "challenge accepted" would actually mean I'd have a decent sized challenge on my hands. Looks like my initial ideas are moderately out the window, or, uh.... Stuck in said window. Original idea was for dual knives/stabby blades gnoll to be the LAV's driver, with Blacktongue poking out of the gunner's hatch... And for the tank, Toghra to be poking out of the commander's hatch directing things.... And then Krokuta and others hanging out in the back or off of the back of either vehicle... I... Uhh... Might be rethinking a few things. Alternate caption for tank: Here's JOHNNY! Seriously, I've never watched the shining, but that's definitely the first thing I saw with Toghra's expression at that picture's angle... ...I probably should have thought about the fact that these vehicles are designed for a nation who's average height is 5'2" (yay Google!) and also according to Google (and the Forgotten Realms Wikia) gnolls are 7' - 7'6". Hmmm. Okay, so it's going to be cozy. Let's start with the LAV, as for some reason that one keeps really snagging my attention, as well as ideas and inspiration... ^Wait a moment, the Pathfinder Deep Cuts ones are noticeably shorter... Well now. He'll fit, more or less, and with some work I could probably get dual stabby guy poking out of the roof.... ^Two-ish hours of arduous assembly later (it's my first time doing up a model kit AND my first time using plastic glue, and there's six bajillion parts for some reason), and we're looking at this. Dashboard isn't attached, and the bases have been trimmed off of the two gnolls in question in order to better fit them. This is my basic premise... And where I left off last night. ^So first off, a basic test fit of the larger, stabbier gnoll. He barely fits... Good. Things will get tighter once the hatches go in, but I'll worry about that when that particular time comes... ^A while with some tools, and we're now here. Ignore the crooked dashboard, that happens when it's just sitting in place... ^Currently how things are looking in order for me to mostly fit the driver in. As eagle eyes might notice, I'm going to have to redo the legs, or more appropriately, the LOOK of legs. Since they tuck down into an area where they won't be seen, I went for the cruder approach. Sure, it isn't as pretty, but I did specifically purchase these minis with the impression that there might be some cutting involved... Odds are though he won't be keeping the axe (that formerly was a polearm or halberd?). So that's where things are at the moment... I've also been thinking about how to explain the smaller sized gnoll, and how he's part of the raiding party, since they're known for being more of a cruel society, especially to outsiders. Well, in short? I've come up with the basic premise that the smaller ones not only survive through perseverance, but also since they're smaller, they're able to get into tighter nooks and crannies, and therefore picked up skills that would make them not only useful to raiding parties, but also considered an essential, even valued partner. That's right, they taught themselves... to HOTWIRE VEHICLES. Sure, there are many ways of building vehicles, but it's nowhere near as much fun as just outright stealing them from someone else, and then using such for their raids, and cause a great deal of mischief and mayhem, potentially being able to raid even more through the initial confusion...

Assembled my crew and prepped and primed them. Two clopsen troopers, a lizardman recruit, sniper and another recruit/ chisler. A gnoll commando, medic and recruit, and a cultist recruit/hacker and trooper. Edit: It is a bit funny that My crew isn't using much of the actual Stargrave miniatures other than a few arms and guns, but then this is just the first crew, and I'll need some ruffians and pirates as well.

@malefactus sent me some old Games Workshop plastic night goblins, and instead of putting them together properly I decided to stick the heads on the bodies of some Frostgrave plastic gnolls. There's another one but he's badly unbalanced (in more ways than one) and keeps falling over.

Since I've been working on gathering the forces for Frostgrave, with "Into the Breeding Pits" being out, I had to work on a ton of Gnolls! All of these are from the official Frostgrave line by North Star Miniatures. The groups, both in plastic and metal: Gnoll Templar: Gnoll Apothecary: Gnoll Thief: Gnoll Marksman: Gnoll Barbarian: Hyenas: Treasure Hunters/Trap Experts/Tunnel Fighters: Gnoll Crossbowmen: Gnoll Archers: Thugs: Templars and Infantrymen:

I may have bitten off more than I can chew:

As I threatened last week, here is another batch of old enamel paintjobs from around 15-25 years ago. Troll Firbolg Mind Flayers Gnolls Owlbear Basilisk Xorn Finally, some fairies linked here in case anyone has a problem with a teeny-tiny glimpse of fairy flesh.

I started with 4 copies of the base model, weapon swaped one with an axe, one with a toothpick spear, I have bowmen, an alternate axeman and the shaman still to do. Putting my goals into practice I painted eyes on 5 gnolls, (betty davis eyes) I gave their heads and faces a few other colors and some of the teeth. Some of them took several tries, and I am not sure the eye sockets are symmetrical. still I am happy with the results. watching a fur tutorial (painting Buddha) than doing fur. at least on the browns, golden boy is still just a basecoat, no liner. Today I got my TMM set from USA Scale 75. It comes with a cheat sheet of how to highlight an axe. so I did. It may be one of my best weapons. The armor is more my standard quality, all the little scales remind me or recent dragons, just much smaller. The armor will see more work.

So to start out I have at least a base coat for the fur on these guys. I am trying to improve my skills with each mini I complete and thought what better way than to have the amazing talent on these forums guiding my hand. We start with one of the gnoll warriors. i am thinking his skin is done, excluding a couple touch ups here and there. What do you think? Also is the orange too much? If so I was thinking of making it the red/orange like the loin cloth. Any tips on making the copper stand out more? Maybe a darker color for the leather? Next is Toghra. I think the dark fur is about done, but let me know if you think it could use a couple more colors. Still trying to figure out the lighter fur. I just rebased the feet after creating a mess. I want to add some more color to the light fur but don't want it to blend too much with the dark fur. Not sure if I will stay with the red on the armor. Though I guess a red/orange theme on all would create a sense that they run together, and give a tribal feel. I am still working out the mouth as well so any advise on that is appreciated. Leaning towards another coat of flat black with some grey highlights. Next is one of my archers. I did the green because when researching I found out that apparently they are a ghoulish green. So I thought I should do at least one with this color scheme. It still needs work as you can see. Again not really sure how I will approach the lighter fur. Also the darker fur looks a bit too reptillian imo. Lastly is the whole bunch. After doing the fur on three I think I will stick to three different color schemes. I wasn't too impressed with the others.

Just in time for the party's not-so random encounter, here comes a cackle of Gnolls!

Swamp Denizens from Grenadier Shambling Mound, Giant Snake, Basilisk, Shaugin, Troll, and Gnolls Painted these this last December before Christmas. The two Lizard Men I posted on 4/1 are part of this set.