From LeeH - The Hatchery - Werecroc and Brood Nest

Many years ago I started attending a convention in London called Dragonmeet. Its aimed more at Roleplayers than Wargamers but it is a great place to see a wide range of products and new games across a range of genres. I hadn't been in a few years, during which the show changed venue and had grown and diversified a little. So when my daughter and her partner asked if I wanted to join them and their friends (all newbie Roleplayers) a couple of years ago, I jumped at the chance. The show had indeed grown and as well as all the usual rooms filled with gamers playing all manner of RPG's and Boardgames the Trade Hall was double what I had experienced a few years earlier. In amongst the stalls, there were several model companies selling miniatures for Frostgrave and D&D and it goes without saying I was in my element. This figure virtually leapt off the rack into my hands and I had to buy it (by the end of the day I had spent more than the rest of the group combined!). 

This is a Reaper WereCroc cast in their original 'Bones' polymer plastic. I haven't painted much in this material before but according to their site, this stuff doesn't need to be primed. Call me old fashioned but I had to prime the figure, so after giving it a clean I gave it a light coat of brown spray primer. Material aside, this figure demanded to be painted because the sculpt is just so good. I know it is a fantasy creature, but anatomically it just looked so real and menacing I couldn't not paint it. Then when I saw the first room of Level Two in the Chambers of Challenge "The Hatchery" I knew what I was going to do immediately. 

The figure is meant to be 28mm scale but actually stands just short of 40mm tall and comes on a plain cast base. I wanted to add more detail to the groundwork so I added it to a bigger circular MDF base which I then built up with putty. The nest pit was then gouged out while the putty was drying and then I added in some hand made 'eggs' made from Milliput. The eggs are a touch larger than I had originally envisaged, but it has to be said making eggs in Milliput is harder than I'd imagined! Half of what I made were discarded because they were the wrong shape and eventually I was left with four decent eggs for the nest. In case anyone is confused, yes Crocodile eggs are normally small circular and soft, but I had this image in my head of the eggs from the dinosaur nest in Jurrasic Park and besides, its a fantasy creature...its eggs can look however I like!!

(Scroring: 1x28mm + CoC Bonus = 25points)