Takhisamat! (or: Buglips butchers a Limited Edition)

[buglips*the*goblin]

Ok, so with the Ogre nearing completion I've decided for my next magic trick I'll turn my attention to my limited edition Ral Partha Takhisis. But, I don't like Takhisis. So I'm painting this as Tiamat. The head order is different between the two, but I'm going to paint the colored heads same as given for Takhisis.

 

Basically all I'm doing is painting her black parts red, except for the black dragon head.

 

Now, usually I start a WIP thread at the beginning, but this one was already under way before I started WIPing around here. So instead I'm going to post pics of my progress, run you through what I did and what I have to fix, and then document the (possibly very slow) attempt to bring this Dragon Goddess to full frightful fruition.

 

I wasn't going to document this, but since I'm not the only one with a Takky to wrassle then I decided I should. Problems I run into, and especially mistakes I will make, may save somebody else a pile of hardship when they go to do theirs. Make no mistake, this kit is as evil as she is beautiful.

 

Also, normally when I do a WIP thread I don't ask for advice. That doesn't apply here - here I'm tackling something quite a bit more challenging than the usual fare. If you've got something to say, I'm all ears.

 

I'm going to divide the pics over multiple posts so I'm not just creating one giant wall of text.

 

So first here's a picture of the work done so far, minus her heads: (Ogre for scale):

 

 

I didn't want to assemble this much before starting to paint, but with this beast I didn't see a way around that. The fit is atrociously bad. Mine is Takhisis Local 2406 out of 5000, which is middle of the run. If you have an earlier number, it may be better. If later, especially in the late 4000's?

 

May god have mercy on your soul.

[buglips*the*goblin]

Okay, so she isn't attached to the base yet. I'm not that silly, I'd never get the paintbrush in around under there.

 

So here's the base. The plaque came off, which is just as well since painting around it is a pain. I'll glue it on after. Takky is display-only, so she doesn't need to be Front Line Ready.

 

 

This is a "nub and pit" style attachment, and the only attachment (possibly save the wings) that's actually molded half properly. She sits in there securely enough and won't need a lot of greenstuff. Gap-filling glue might suffice to hold her if she didn't have to also support those gigantic wings. I'm not confident that joint will hold under her own weight.

 

This means pinning, but I have a problem. None of my bits will fit straight into my pin vise. They're just a little off-center, so they only drill in a couple of mm before augering out. I'm not sure that's deep enough. If I can't get hold of somebody's microdrill, I may have to chance it. Yes, that scares me as much as it does you - but all I need to do is buttress against sway. She'll hold if she's solid enough not to wobble.

 

Thank the heavens she's not made out of lead, is all I got to say.

[buglips*the*goblin]

Before we get into the really gruesome results of my early surgery, here's a nice non-horrific wing. White spots are primer splash from the Ogre. Whoops, prolly should've moved the wing before getting all sloppy.

 

 

Anyway, I thought about doing the underwing membrane in an off-yellow for contrast . . . but I'm thinking instead I might highlight the bone structure and the membranes with layers of successively brighter reds, and then go in and pick out the veins in purple and blue. Tiamat seems to be colored with red membranes top and bottom, though this may be just a product of the limits of 80's animation and WotC being half-lazy about colour use on their plastics. So opinions on that if you got 'em.

[buglips*the*goblin]

Now things are going to get ugly. If you've got a weak stomach, you might not want to look!

 

 

 

So here you can see some remaining gaps, and my very poor attempt to fill with greenstuff between the heads. That's not overspill, those gaps are HUGE. You could drop a halfling in between them and trap them in her belly. Maybe even a paladin!

 

 

A better look at the horrible greenstuff job I did. I think I have a promising future as a sculptor for Reaper, don't you think?

 

 

Here's a less horrible greenstuff job on the gap where the tail connects underneath.

 

 

And remaining gaps, poor fit, and other horrors that need correcting.

 

 

So . . . should I yank out that greenstuff and try again? I mean, I could probably blend over it and make it not look too bad . . . but on the other hand there's only 5000 of these (less now, probably) so I think she deserves a more proper job.

 

Perhaps I have answered my own question.

 

Anyway, that's where I am now. Thoughts and opinions, if'n you please.

[Adrift]

I'm a bit rusty on Tiamat..but I googled the 1980s cartoon version and 2 different pictures confirmed that the black and blue dragon heads are on the left shoulder. You appear to be doing them on the right?

 

You're being much too hard on yourself with the green stuff. It isn't easy, and you knew you'd have to get to it eventually since you could drop a halfling between the gaps as you stated. Plus, as you paint her up, no one will care b/c she'll just be badass.

 

 

* Disclaimer: If you want to set her to me, I'll be happy to break it all down and start over. This may preclude you ever getting her back.

[buglips*the*goblin]

I'm doing the heads like Takhisis's heads. The WotC DDM Tiamat also has a third different head arrangement. I figure it doesn't especially matter, and it's easier for me to just duplicate the head order provided on the box art (with the really nifty painting by Caldwell).

 

 

Edit to add: although . . . since either way the white dragon head doesn't look like an AD&D white dragon . . . I suppose I could just go white/green/blue/black instead of black/blue/green/white. At least they'd be in proper old school colour order.

 

I think I'll do that.

[DSModels]

That's a nice model. Looks like you have a lot of work "aHEAD" of you .

[ced1106]

Last two greenstuff pics look fine. Really, it's your miniature (and it's a frickin' expensive one, right?) so do what you want.

 

I just keep painting until the model looks like an orc, which is hard if you're painting a wolf. :P

 

Anyway, maybe a few tips from this video (for the membrane) although I'd guess you know this stuff already?

 

 

Thanks for the WIPs. I'm learning quite a bit from them. Thanks for the Ogre Bones WIP project!

[Adrift]

I'm doing the heads like Takhisis's heads. The WotC DDM Tiamat also has a third different head arrangement. I figure it doesn't especially matter, and it's easier for me to just duplicate the head order provided on the box art (with the really nifty painting by Caldwell).

 

 

Edit to add: although . . . since either way the white dragon head doesn't look like an AD&D white dragon . . . I suppose I could just go white/green/blue/black instead of black/blue/green/white. At least they'd be in proper old school colour order.

 

I think I'll do that.

 

In your first post you stated you didn't like Takhsis and were going to paint this model to be Tiamat. Which is it?

 

I'm gonna start calling you bugbrains in a minute...

[buglips*the*goblin]

I discovered that you can file greenstuff. Well, whatever mutant mix I put on this, anyway. So I tidied up the "broccoli neck" a bit. A lot of those seams are gonna be hard to fill with GS. I might just put some gap-filling super glue in there and try to camouflage it with paint rather than try to fill it with GS and match the crosshatch/diamond hide. That promises to be an evil and tedious task.

 

With the layers of red blended with the other neck colours, it ought to be disruptive enough to hide the seams unless it's under very close inspection.

 

And anybody that picks my takhisamat up for a closer look better have some hardcore modern samurai back-up, or I'm gonna give them an up-close and personal inspection of my Hattori Hanzo sword.

[buglips*the*goblin]

I'm doing the heads like Takhisis's heads. The WotC DDM Tiamat also has a third different head arrangement. I figure it doesn't especially matter, and it's easier for me to just duplicate the head order provided on the box art (with the really nifty painting by Caldwell).

 

 

Edit to add: although . . . since either way the white dragon head doesn't look like an AD&D white dragon . . . I suppose I could just go white/green/blue/black instead of black/blue/green/white. At least they'd be in proper old school colour order.

 

I think I'll do that.

 

In your first post you stated you didn't like Takhsis and were going to paint this model to be Tiamat. Which is it?

 

I'm gonna start calling you bugbrains in a minute...

 

It's a Takhisamat!

 

Look, we wouldn't even have this problem if D&D didn't rip itself off. I'm not sure of the timeline, but I bet Tiamat got licensed out for toys and cartoons and then the Dragonlance people had to go and make up a Not-Tiamat who, somehow and most egregiously, became more popular.

 

I'm trying to set things right. So it's a Tiamat. Proper head colour order and all.

[buglips*the*goblin]

Last two greenstuff pics look fine. Really, it's your miniature (and it's a frickin' expensive one, right?) so do what you want.

 

Thanks for the WIPs. I'm learning quite a bit from them. Thanks for the Ogre Bones WIP project!

 

I lucked out and got this one for 99 bucks - which is the first and only time I've ever seen it go for less than 200 on eBay.

 

I'm glad my WIPs are useful, even if sometimes it's only to illustrate what not to do. That's why I don't tidy up the macro shooting or zoom out to make them look cleaner. I'm going to show you every squiggly line, rotten seam, and lazy face-smush job I do.

 

Ideally, if somebody brand new comes along and sees my WIPs they'll go develop their skills and become better at it than I am - and any part I had to play in that will give me great gobs of satisfaction.

[MonkeySloth]

I love seeing this old Dragonlance miniatures painted. I use to, back when I was 14, paint and had a lot of this stuff (not this miniature but I did have the cool Ralpartha Dragon on the bridge fighting the centaur diorama) from the Dragonlance line. When I started back up 2 years ago, after not having painted in over 15 years, I was able to track some stuff down and managed to get a great deal on the Draconian box set ($30). One of these day's I'm going to start panting that set up.

 

I have look for others but sadly people think the Heroes of the Lance and Lord Soth are work $100 each.

[Adrift]

Look, we wouldn't even have this problem if D&D didn't rip itself off. I'm not sure of the timeline, but I bet Tiamat got licensed out for toys and cartoons and then the Dragonlance people had to go and make up a Not-Tiamat who, somehow and most egregiously, became more popular.

 

Touche'

[buglips*the*goblin]

I love seeing this old Dragonlance miniatures painted. I use to, back when I was 14, paint and had a lot of this stuff (not this miniature but I did have the cool Ralpartha Dragon on the bridge fighting the centaur diorama) from the Dragonlance line. When I started back up 2 years ago, after not having painted in over 15 years, I was able to track some stuff down and managed to get a great deal on the Draconian box set ($30). One of these day's I'm going to start panting that set up.

 

I have look for others but sadly people think the Heroes of the Lance and Lord Soth are work $100 each.

 

 

 

I just paid a ridiculous $150 (shipping included) for Lord Soth's Charge that wasn't worth that much in the condition it's in. But I missed a better deal, and it is complete, so I figured I might as well.

 

And the diorama is Bridge of Sorrows - which I never bought because all the ones I saw had resin bits. But now, I'm told, IWM makes a full metal version.

 

I've been meaning to grab me a T'Char, and a Clutch of Fear, so I might as well get that one, too.