Monster month was a bit underwhelming this year. The first half of the month was taken up with work problems that, to put it bluntly, fucked up my hobby focus. After that, I took a much-needed week off, during which you would think I would double down on my painting. However, when I paint, my mind wanders, tending to fixate upon things that vex me (like work). So instead, I played Spider-Man on PS4, which allowed me to “check out”, and not think of anything not related to being Spider-Man for a few hours every day.
Nevertheless, I managed to paint a few more monsters to finish out the month. I’m considering making this an annual event over here at Dead Dick’s Tavern, and perhaps soliciting participation from other hobbyists, much like the imminent Forgotten Heroes challenge hosted by Carrion Crow, starting in just a few days!
First: a Reaper Bones Hell Hound. In AD&D, Hell Hounds are the dogs from the plane of the Nine Hells. They’re emaciated, rust-brown dogs that breathe fire, and they’re often summoned by sorcerers with less-than-good intentions. (This miniature was an impulse buy; I saw him and realized I didn’t own any Hell Hound miniatures.) My first cursory look at the unpainted miniature made me think his back was on fire, but upon closer inspection it’s fur and spines, not flames. I painted him mostly in Vallejo Red Black and Reaper Rusty Red. Not much else to say about him except I’m not thrilled with his base. Oh, well…
Next, this big fellow is a Shambling Mound, from Nolzur’s Marvelous Miniatures. You get a pretty hefty chunk of plastic for his $4.99 price tag; a real bargain! You can get a sense of his scale compared to the human-sized skeleton in the foreground.
From the AD&D 3.5 SRD: Shambling mounds, also called shamblers, appear to be heaps of rotting vegetation. They are actually intelligent, carnivorous plants. A shambler’s body has an 8-foot girth and is about 6 feet tall when the creature stands erect. It weighs about 3,800 pounds. This miniature is scaled much bigger than it’s description would indicate. Despite its AD&D origins, I will most likely get more use out of the Shambling Mound as a minion for either Plant Man or Poison Ivy. I’m pretty happy with how he turned out. I basically used a ton of green and brown paints and washes before finally highlighting with some yellow wash.
And finally, another classic AD&D monster: the Carrion Crawler. From the Forgotten Realms Wiki: A carrion crawler was a burrowing aberration that scavenged the dead and occasionally preyed on living creatures. Carrion crawlers were large, pale yellow, and greenish aberrations whose appearance was akin to a three- to four-foot-long centipede. Crawlers possessed eight long tentacles protruding from the sides of their heads, allowing them to stun prey.
This is another Nolzur’s miniature that I bought specifically for Monster Month. I based the carapace in Coat D’Arms Goblin Green, then highlighted up to Vallejo Green Sky, washing him with Citadel’s Agrax Earthshade. His underbelly was based in Army Painter Necrotic Flesh, washed with Citadel Seraphim Sepia, then highlighted with Reaper’s Moldy Skin. The base was given a layer of Citadel’s Stirland Mud for texture.
Here’s a picture of him with a 28mm Privateer Press Cygnar guardsman for scale. Once again, Nolzur’s doesn’t seem too bound by the descriptions of these monsters, as, much like the Shambling Mound, this particular Carrion Crawler is a lot bigger than the standard size given in the description.
That about does it for Monster Month this year, although I may have a few stragglers still to come. Next month is Forgotten Heroes, over at Carrion Crow’s Buffet. This will be my third year participating and I’m very happy to take part!
Insanity Pile Progress:
Miniatures Purchased: 58
Miniatures Painted: 120
Total: +62
Some very cool figures there, Keith – I may have to take a look at Nolzur’s Marvelous Miniatures, as I could immedistely think of uses for both these critters. Lovely painting on all of them too. And chhers for the plug. I have rummaged about and found my base figure, which wasn’t where I thought I’d left him, so good thing I looked early. Roll on June!
I’m not a huge fan of digital sculpting, but the Nolzur’s miniatures look great, take paint well, and are, as we say here in Massachusetts, “wicked cheap.” Pretty much the trifecta of attributes you want in miniatures. Many of them, however, are just unpainted reissues of WizKids Pathfinder, AD&D and in some cases, Clix models. The Carrion Crawler (any relation?) is a reissued AD&D model, for example. Looking forward to Forgotten Heroes!
Really nice work. Nolzur’s Marvellous Miniatures are great, especially for big, reasonably priced monsters. I have a T-Rex in the works.
Funny thing, the T-Rex was in my queue for the month. Being a really big monster, I didn’t have the time to devote to it, so it will have to wait. Hey Kieron, why not take a run at Forgotten Heroes this year? It’s a blast. All you have to do drop by Carrion Crow’s blog and tell him you’re interested. Well, that and convert a hero miniature in June…