FitzBones: 77156: Owlbear

[MojoBob]

 

D&D is no stranger to stupid monsters, and this is one of them — the Owlbear. Mechanically, it's not terribly interesting; it's just a big biting, clawing monster, more dangerous than some, less dangerous than others, but with no real distinction about it. It might as well just be a bear. A rabid bear, but just a bear.

Its existence in the D&D canon does have implications for the standard milieu, implications that are borne out repeatedly: in the D&D universe, anything can be interbred with anything else. It's a concept that really doesn't hold water in the real world, though it appears to be central to the world view of those peculiar people who think that two men getting married is going to lead to general mayhem and apocalypse. But that's a bit beside the point.

This figure does have something going for it that I haven't really seen in others. The owlbear is supposed to be fundamentally bonkers insane to its very core, and this figure does look a tad doolally.

[Limey72]

Ah the infamous crazy owl ear sculpt. Really nice work on this I must buy one. The eyes rock.

[Pingo]

"Doolally" is a wonderful word.

 

Owlbears are an odd kind of monster, but somehow something about this sculpt brings out the best in painters. This is a nicely berserk one.

[malefactus]

You've captured the "several sandwiches shy of a picnic" look WONDERFULLY. The eyes definitely convey an impression of madness...GREAT brushwork & color choices. VERY WELL DONE!

TSR may think of the Beasty as an Owl Bear, but to moi it will always be a Psycho Chicken...from Hell!

[Bruunwald]

It may seem easy in hindsight to rag on the owlbear for being... well, weird and wrong-ish. But very few of the original, "weird" creatures of D&D sparked as much fear in the hearts of a majority of players, as did that one.

 

I can vouch, without irony, that many a conversation was had, between gamers back in the day, about what creatures you did NOT want to run into, and the owlbear was always on that list.

 

Mainly because back then the fluff meant EVERYTHING to us. The book said it was a terrible, violent, vicious, out of control thing, and we believed it. When one showed up, everybody held their breath. Because the DM was going to play it like a violent, vicious, out of control thing, as opposed to just a random collection of stats.

 

Plus, everybody always wondered just what deranged wizard (hinted at in the fluff) thought inventing such a monster was a good idea.

 

Oh, yeah. Plus this.

Edited December 17, 2014 by Bruunwald

[Pennyfew]

Looks like the cheese has fallen of this guy's cracker! Very well done.  The owlbear is one of my personal favorite D&D monsters just because it IS so crazy.  What's scarier than a pissed off bear? One with a razor sharp beak, huge talons, and an identity crisis!

[uncas]

Those eyes are amazing.

[zoroaster100]

Awesome! I've seen nice versions of this mini but yours is now my favorite. Excellent job on the fur, feathers and eyes.

[scorpio616]

It may seem easy in hindsight to rag on the owlbear for being... well, weird and wrong-ish. But very few of the original, "weird" creatures of D&D sparked as much fear in the hearts of a majority of players, as did that one.

 

I can vouch, without irony, that many a conversation was had, between gamers back in the day, about what creatures you did NOT want to run into, and the owlbear was always on that list.

 

Mainly because back then the fluff meant EVERYTHING to us. The book said it was a terrible, violent, vicious, out of control thing, and we believed it. When one showed up, everybody held their breath. Because the DM was going to play it like a violent, vicious, out of control thing, as opposed to just a random collection of stats.

Agree, a creature like a bear, would be as brave as any animal, if a hungry maneater, it might kill a low level PC or hireling for food, but could be driven off as a normal critter could. An owlbear is going to start killing and keep killing until it was dead, mowing through the PC or their entourage.

Edited December 18, 2014 by scorpio616

[Farnaby]

Any chance of a close up of the eyes?

They look fantastic!

[odinsgrandson]

Have you hugged an owlbear today?

[Baphomet69]

Really like the model, love, love, love the brushwork.

 

Don't know if you wrote the text or copied it from somewhere, but would have been better without it. We all have different memories and opinions of these things...

[MojoBob]

Any chance of a close up of the eyes?

They look fantastic!

 

 

Make it so.

 

There's not much to them: just the golden yellow eyes that some owls have, with a bit of bloodshotting with a translucent dark red glaze to make them crazier. Then I gave them a couple of coats of high-gloss varnish to make them shine.

[Jessie]

I just love this mini (though mine is still unpainted) and you've done a fantastic job. His gait always reminds me of the Leonardo DiCaprio walking meme, just bounding along without a care in the world. Your fur coloring is fantastic. And those eyes! Definitely makes him look even more bonkers than the mini already portrays, I love it!

[Pingo]

 

Any chance of a close up of the eyes?

They look fantastic!

 

 

 

Make it so.

 

There's not much to them: just the golden yellow eyes that some owls have, with a bit of bloodshotting with a translucent dark red glaze to make them crazier. Then I gave them a couple of coats of high-gloss varnish to make them shine.

Gah!