HeroQuest (2021) Core Box from Avalon Hill (COMPLETED 2023-05-26)

[strawhat]

Hold on to your butts...

 

This thread is going to be sizable because I'm starting my HeroQuest core box (Mythic Tier).  The expansions will get their own threads, which should be much shorter (as there are far fewer minis).

 

I've already started painting and have (nearly) completed many doors, and made significant progress on the bookshelves and cabinet.  In an effort to get me to finish Tyrants of Lothal (an ongoing issue), I am forcing myself to complete the boring scenery elements first.  Which means doors.  Lots of doors.  And, when you've finished with the doors, you realize that you need to do some more doors.

 

Where's Jim Morrison when you need him?

 

Except as noted, the paints on the scenery are Delta Ceramcoat.  No exceptions yet, but maybe on the bookshelves...

 

 

 

I would like to take this opportunity to not thank the individual that decided we needed vines on the doors.  It doesn't really show in the pictures, but I've used a medium green (Medium Foliage Green, to be specific) on some of the vines.  Khaki has been used on the others.  I have another door or two that were trimmed from the pictures, but you get the idea.  The stone has been set up with Black, Charcoal, Deep Taupe, Rain Grey, and White.  Start iwith Black, Charcoal or Deep Taupe and then work up through the next two colors with a solid drybrushing.  So much drybrushing.

 

And still eight doors to be done.

 

I felt that I needed something a little more interesting than simple stone for the keystones, and since this is a magical realm I figured that maybe a mad wizard might have spells worked into the doors to keep him informed of what has happening and give him a chance to taunt the heroes at inappropriate times--just like Zargon's twitter feed.  So I decided to use Gold instead of more black/grey stone.   I am looking for a good metallic on the iron bands and rings.  Silver is just too bright.  The wood was done with yet more drybrushing.  Starting with a base of either Black, Chocolate Cherry, or Burnt Sienna and then working up eventually to Golden Brown or Khaki.  It seems to work pretty well.

 

 

The same theory from the doors works with the bookshelves and cupboard.  I'm thinking about using some color on the scroll work--some sort of gilding, maybe.  The hinges and handles on the cupboard will get a similar treatment to the hinges and handle on the doors--once I figure out exactly what that is.

 

I'm about nine hours into the doors, and three into the bookshelves and cupboard.

 

Now to finish some of these doors so I can work on some of those other doors.

Edited May 27 by strawhat
Playing with tags and title formatting.

[Darcstaar]

I love me some Heroquest.  I missed out on the Kickstarter.  Great start.

[Chaoswolf]

You're off to a good start!

[Glitterwolf]

Nice!

[strawhat]

Thanks, guys!

 

@Darcstaar, it is going retail and should start hitting the shops soon (if it's not already out).  And they've got plans for more (Frozen Horror, for example), too!

 

 

I pretty much broke into every craft paint I had to get the books done.  Then mixed up a 1:1 of White and Khaki to paint the pages and scrolls.  After those were done, I added another drop of White for the skulls. Then everything got a wash of Burnt Sienna to give some aging/shadows.  I decided against gilding the scroll work on the cases.  After doing all the books, it just felt like it would be overkill.

 

The hardware on the cupboard (and closed doors) was a 1:1:1 of  Black, 14K Gold, and Silver.  It reminds me of an old Ral Partha color I had once upon a time.

 

The book in the top-left corner has that saber-toothed skull sculpted onto the book spine.  The book in the lower-right corner has what looks like a standard skull.  My hands weren't really steady enough to do that justice.

 

I've got to admit that I'm rather impressed by the fine texture of the metallics for simple craft paint.

 

 

A black spell book with a silver hourglass...I wonder how Zargon got that!  And that method of library maintenance would drive me bonkers.  Even as an adventurer, I'd have to organize those shelves properly.  I would like to take this time to not thank the sculptor for turning all those books on edge.  And who stores their tankards on the bookshelf?!  Aargh...the spilling during melee!

 

 

 

 

I made up a lot of that Burnt Sienna wash, so I used it to dull the keystones a bit and provide some shading to the vines.  

 

That's 14 doors down and seven to go.

 

Next up:

• Doors (x7)
• Treasure Chests (x3)
• Tables (x2)
• Sarcophagus (x1)
• Fireplace (x1)

[strawhat]

There's been a lot of personal stuff going on lately, and that's slowed down the painting quite a bit.  But it hasn't quite stopped me.

 

So, ladies and gentlemen, the doors!

 

 

 

No changes of note.

 

 

The chests were done in the same basic way that the closed doors were.  The change I did make was on the iron bands.  I didn't mess around with the mix of colors, and simply did a base of Black, then hit it with Deep Silver, and touched up with Silver.  I briefly thought about going absolutely nuts and putting multiple colors on the locks, etc.  Thankfully, that mood passed.  It kind of puzzled me to note that the bottoms of the chests were detailed.  I did not paint the bottom.

 

 

 

Tables.  Rather unimaginatively, I have continued with the same generic "wood" recipes.  The iron bands on the table ends were done the same as on the treasure chests.  I did paint the undersides of the tables, but not the bottom of the legs.

 

 

Ugh.  The sarcophagus.  I am less than pleased with the end result.  I had originally intended to have it look like marble, but nothing I did worked.  So it's really just an ultra-heavy White drybrush over Rain Grey.  If I had it to do over, I would probably use one of the lighter browns (Bambi Brown, Trail Tan, etc.)  and then go with the white for a more alabaster look.  I did a couple bits of 14K Gold embellishment: the guard on the sword, the knight's necklace, and the tip of the sword scabbard as well as the middle ridge on the bottom of the sarcophagus.

 

 

Nothing really new on the fireplace.  I tried to pick out a few bricks to liven up the look a bit.  The mantle was done the same way the sarcophagus was, with slightly better results.

 

Last batch of scenery coming up:

• Rack
• Weapon Rack
• Wizard's Table
• Alchemist's Table
• Throne/Chair 

[strawhat]

Four out of five remaining scenery elements completed!

 

 

 

Check out that rack!  Pretty much the same song and dance as prior posts.  I'm not going crazy trying to do new and unique things with these pieces.  I have to keep reminding myself of that.  

 

There's a partially dismembered arm on the [torture] rack.  I thought about trying to make it skeletal, but I chose to go with something a little more mummified: Black, Chocolate Cherry, and Burnt Sienna.  The torn cloth started off with whatever absurdly bright yellow I have, but then I washed it with some Khaki, Black, etc.

 

But let's table that discussion...so we can see some tables.  The wizard's table and the alchemists' table, to be specific.

 

 

 

No picture of the throne, but it has been started.  Just a nice covering of gold for now.  I'll hit that with a brighter shade of gold next time up, then paint the cushions on it purple.  I might use my Reaper paints for that.

[Darcstaar]

I like that the shields on the weapon rack have the same designs as the shields on the dice.

[Glitterwolf]

Lovely set!

[strawhat]

On 2/2/2022 at 8:30 AM, Darcstaar said:

I like that the shields on the weapon rack have the same designs as the shields on the dice.

 

I wish I could take credit for it, but it's sculpted on.  All I had to do was not slop the paint....Or, rather, not slop it so heavily that I couldn't neaten it up a bit afterward.

[strawhat]

I haven't been doing much painting lately, but did get around to it tonight.  Painting has been one of the ways I (partially) manage my stress.  Given where my blood pressure is, and the raw accumulation of stress, I really should be painting more.

 

I did manage to finish the throne, but haven't managed to take any pictures of it.

 

Since the scenery is done, I've moved on to the core set goblins and mummies.

 

They've all been hit with some thinned up Blue Liner.  I didn't bother looking for mold lines (although I should have).  I've got to admit that I'm a little impressed by the amount of detail on them.  It's almost ridiculously fine.  But the other side to that is that sometimes things get lost because the detail isn't quite deep enough.  I've decided that although the goblins seem to wear nothing but sandals (seriously, get some boots), they do wear gloves from time to time.

 

Also, since HQ is now being put out by Hasbro and Hasbro owns D&D, I've decided to draw some inspiration from there.  I'm thinking about painting the elves as Drow, and my goblins are not green!  I'm going with oranges and reds.  Specifically, I'm working through Fire Red, Phoenix Red, Fire Orange, Marigold Yellow, and Sun Yellow.  When I get to the extra goblins in the expansion and in the Mythic Tier section I will probably push the colors down a bit to Blood Red on one, and take the other one up all the way to Lemon Yellow.  I'll have to pick that red triad (Brick Red, Deep Red, Blood Red) up when the weather breaks.

 

I kind of regret not starting the Mythic Tier goblins with the Core goblins, as I would be better able to spread out their coloration.  

 

 

The first two goblins have had their flesh tones finished.  The second two have shadow and mid-tone.  The last two just have their shadow layer.  Reds and oranges...Why?  I'm supposed to be reducing my stress levels.  

 

 

I haven't done much for the mummies.  I've hit the flesh with Pure Black (because of the Egyptian method of mummification--the natrium turns the flesh black, IIRC).  I think that the natrium will also blacken the wrappings, but I prefer the look of the dirty white.  One mummy has the first layer of the Terran Khaki triad.  Again the level of detail on these guys is a bit much.  Enough so that I have trouble deciding if something is bare flesh or wrapped in a few places.  It could go either way, really.  I think I'm going to take the wrappings a little lighter on the other mummy.

[deathly halliwell]

That goblin skin tone is great! Worth the effort for sure 🙂

[Krassling]

I am loving it.

[Glitterwolf]

Great work !

[strawhat]

Boy, did I get burned out on HQ/mass painting or what?  It's tough to believe that it's been nearly a year since I made any progress on this.

 

However, progress has been made:  I've recently finished up the six goblins from the core and the mummies!  The Mythic Tier goodies will come at a later date.

 

The sculptor definitely turned the dial up to 11 on the goblins...it should have stopped about seven.  There so many layers of clothing, stitches, belts, embellishments on daggers, fingers and toes (but only the expected 20 per figure), tiny-tiny teeth, stuffing/padding for armor pieces, straps, earrings, and tiny-tiny links in manacles.  It's just too much for a "goon" model.

 

 

 

 

 

I figure that the cruelest goblin is the leader, and I figure that's the one in the green dress.  It's a real green dress, after all.

 

 

 

The base was ringed with Medium Foliage Green and topped with Trail Tan [edit: Sandstone].  Trail Tan [edit: Sandstone] looked to be the closest match I have to the HQ board's corridor color.  All the different rooms and tile styles mean that painting your base tops will automatically look out of place on most of the rest of the board.

 

 

 

 

Mummy bases ringed with White and topped with more Trail Tan [edit: Sandstone].

 

The gargoyle, dread warriors (x4), and abominations (x3) are up next whenever I get 'round to them.  They're all washed and blue-tacked to bottlecaps.  We'll see if I get to them right away or if I plug away at the Genestealers first.

 

Thanks for dropping by!

Edited January 26 by strawhat
It's not Trail Tan, it's Sandstone.