The Ghost Archipelago Project

[Rat13]

Awhile ago I made a list of all my current projects that I'd like to finish and I've slowly been working my way through them. After "finishing" my Big Terrain Project I figured it'd be a nice change of pace to return to actual miniatures. Picking the right project proved very easy this time however, it was time to start my Ghost Archipelago project.

 

When I first planned this project my wife and I had just started a Ghost Archipelago campaign. That campaign never made it past the first game but as I recently started a Rangers of Shadow Deep campaign this seemed like the perfect project. You didn't misread the title, but the two games have an overlap in their respective bestiaries (not surprising as they're written by the same person) so this project could really help me eliminate some of the proxies I've been using. 

 

Right off the bat I went through everything I had and pulled anything that could be of use in RoSD. This consisted of giant spiders, bats, ghouls, a "wolf", a vulture, and some bats. Then it was just the simple matter of prioritizing the creatures that are coming up in the campaign. So first up were the bats with the ghouls in a close second.

 

One session of painting actually got them pretty far. 

Since I still had paint I hit the vulture and ghoul's tombstones too.

 

My second session would have finished the bats had I not spent some time prepping for the next game instead.

Again since I had leftover paint on my palette the ghoul's bases got some more attention too.

 

[Rat13]

Tonight I finished the bats as far as painting goes. There's still flocking and sealing of course but that's for another night.

 

The ghouls also got some attention and are almost done. All that's really left are a few details and drybrushing. 

[Glitterwolf]

Love it!

[Chaoswolf]

Looking good!

[Rat13]

Had a few home repair/maintenance projects that I wanted to get done today and once I was finished the kid was only just going down for her nap. So to my surprise I got some bonus hobby time and I put it to good use. I finished the details, all the drybrushing, and even painted the base rims on the ghouls. Like the bats aside from sealing and flock they're done.

 

After all that naptime still wasn't over so I started the next few monsters too. The vulture and giant spiders received their black basecoats.

 

[Rat13]

Got just a little more work in before calling it a night and nearly finished the vulture. All that's left are a few details and some drybrushing.  

 

One of the spiders got some attention too.

[Samedi]

Like what you did with the spiders!

[Rat13]

The bats, ghouls, and vulture were sealed today and their bases even got flock. So tomorrow they'll get their final pictures.

 

As that didn't take very long I still had plenty of time left to devote to my spiders. With just a little work both spiders were ready for a wash, which effectively finishes them for the night.

Hopefully tomorrow I can finish their dry brushing and final details. 

 

 

As both of the dollar store spiders are nearly finished I also went ahead and basecoated the Reaper spider I have. 

[Great Khan Artist]

I like the markings on the spiders, very creative. Those spiders are also massive! Do you find that base size affects -Grave and RoSD games? I've taken to 1" for regular, 2x2 for most large and those slightly smaller than 1" metric bases that come with my orders from certain manufacturers for small and most treasures. I use round bases for non-character items, to differentiate between treasures and clues and scenics. There are some minis that are odd sizes, like the lions. I know everyone is on a round base trend, but I want to be able to play Oathmark with my Egyptians, who come in perfectly designed sets of 10. 

[Rat13]

5 minutes ago, Great Khan Artist said:

Those spiders are also massive! Do you find that base size affects -Grave and RoSD games?

It can, and in this case you could argue its basing for advantage as more of your party can surround a larger base. This wasn't my actual intention however, when these were first made I was basing more for D&D than wargaming. Don't quote me but I believe they are on the proper sized bases for large creatures in D&D. 

 

My real goal with these was actually laziness. I wanted to see how good these dollar store toy spiders looked without any "extra" work other than painting. Though they're not done I think they look pretty good for not wanting to add any texture or do any greenstuff work on them. 

[Rat13]

As promised the final pictures of the bats, ghouls, and vulture.

 

 

 

 

As for the dollar store spiders I just drybrushed their dirt bases.

 

The Reaper spider however recieved quite a bit of attention tonight.

 

As @Great Khan Artist pointed out my giant spiders are truly giant, apparently that discussion was enough to spark my memory though. Turns out awhile ago I made some smaller giant spiders using Halloween novelty rings. I even made them for this exact project. For whatever reason they weren't with the rest of this project however. So one fruitless search later I decided to just make some more.

Like the other dollar store spiders they're not exactly showstoppers but with a bit of paint they look alright.

 

[The Steve]

I love how it is coming! keep going!

reaper's spiders will fit on bases better. I got some of their scorpions and giant ticks for more bug variety. just because it is a spider, doesn't mean it has to be. Joe is big on letting your imagination drive the narrative of your models.

Edited April 23, 2021 by The Steve

[Chaoswolf]

You're getting a lot done, and it all looks good;  congratulations!

 

I really like the markings you did on those dollar store spiders.

[Rat13]

On 4/23/2021 at 8:28 PM, Chaoswolf said:

I really like the markings you did on those dollar store spiders.

Thanks, while looking through reference photos I came across a spider with those markings and just knew it was the perfect pattern. Not wanting to add texture to the spiders I had to do something to bring some visual interest to them. Like I said, a simple paintjob would make them look alright, especially at tabletop distance.

 

The novelty ring spiders were primed a few days ago and with just a simple paintjob I finished them in one session. The Reaper spider's base only needed a wash and dry brush so I finished it too.

 

After sealing all of the spiders they just need flock and final pictures tomorrow. 

On a side note I also did a bit of math and not to sound like the Dungeon Miser but the ring spiders are a great value. Even using good bases each spider only cost $.17.

 

Not content with nearly finishing the spiders I also started work on a Reaper bloodwolf. 

 

And while waiting for things to dry my large frogs also recieved their green basecoat as well. 

[Rat13]

First up tonight are the final pictures of the spiders.

 

 

 

I thought I'd finish the bloodwolf tonight and put a real dent in the frogs but I decided on an early night instead. That being said the bloodwolf did get pretty close to finished.

 

As for the frogs I basecoated all of them but only tried the full scheme on one.

This isn't exactly what I was going for but that being said it's not terrible either. I was actually attempting to replicate a frog that has been hanging around the property for awhile.