“For no one, no one in this world can you trust. Not men. Not women. Not beasts. This you can trust.”
Conan’s father was right, of course. Blades before bros, babes and beasts every time. Sadly, he was just another wise man who was torn apart by dogs. Such is life.
The year of pop culture continues! For my character of the month, painted for Tom’s #paintanadventuringparty over on Instagram, I decided to paint a barbarian. Not just any barbarian: THE barbarian. I present: Conan of Cimmmeria, born on a battlefield, destined to wear the jeweled crown of Aquilonia upon a troubled brow.
This is “The Cimmerian (FTF07)” (also labeled as “barbarian with sword”), a classic Ral Partha sculpt from 1984. I have probably had it since then, but I never got around to painting him until now. Wish I knew who sculpted it. My best guess would be Dennis Mize.
I could have just painted him bare-chested (as is the barbarian’s wont); but I was inspired by the body paint from Conan’s raid on Thulsa Doom’s temple, arguably the coolest part of the Conan the Barbarian film (a movie with a LOT of cool parts).
One of the best things about the movie is the amazing soundtrack; which I absolutely listened to while painting the miniature. It’s so great!
I made sure to add the blood splatter from Conan’s many kills; but I seem to have forgotten to add blood to his sword. Maybe he oiled it just before the slaughter.
Here, Conan explores a temple and discovers a strange inscription. What could it mean?
So, to recap: this miniature ticks a lot of boxes for me: he’s my character of the month, my entry for Tom’s IG challenge, he’s a pop culture miniature AND he’s old-school lead!
(Drops mic)
Excellent rendition of Conan Keith, and looks perfect for that classic scene, and good use of a great sculpt too.
Thanks! I was mostly done with the skin tone when I thought of doing the warpaint. I’m kind of glad I did. When I was a kid, I never would have thought to paint him that way, so I guess there’s a reason he’s sat unpainted all these years!
Lovely painting, Keith, especially the skin tones and the camo stripes! I wouldn’t worry too much about forgetting the blood on the blade, I’m sure Conan wipes it clean on the bodies of his foes LOL!
It’s a great mini and you’ve done it justice.
I didn’t even notice the clean blade until I was taking pictures. Then it occurred to me that if Conan is covered in blood, his sword should be, too, right? I guess I could slap some Blood for the Blood God on there now…
Thanks for the kind words!
Cool miniature from a cool movie! Great rendition of the great man himself!
Multiple challenge miniatures, you’ve got to love em!
Cheers Roger.
I love ticking boxes! (Verb, not adjective…boxes that tick make me nervous.)