Saturday, 8 February 2025

From Curt: A Trio of Villains for 'Hametsu' (27 Points)

Hey There!

It's been a bit of a stretch since my last post. I blame the Challenge's 'The Squirrel Effect'. My hobby space is currently littered with all manner of stuff, spanning genres and periods. Like Bilbo, I feel like too little butter scraped over too much bread! Fun, silly and always part of the Challenge it seems. 

Nonetheless, I did manage to maintain enough focus to get these three figures across the line.

This trio of villains is for our Hametsu adventures. Two bosses: a Shikigami a Nogitsune, and a Oni Captain. In Hametsu the Bosses enter play when the heroes find enough clues to their whereabouts, and/or when they've dispatched the lower-level minions. As you'd expect, the Bosses are VERY tooled-up and are designed to provide a unique and tough end-game for the players. 

First up is the mysterious, willowy and floaty Shikigami. This is a 3d print from the very talented Cobra Mode. I really like how elegant and otherworldly this model is. Its been sitting on my paint desk for months while I pondered how to approach it. In the end I decided to keep it simple, with just a few bold colours, trying to mimic with its robes opening like flower similar to a tulip. 

For its war fan I used the airbrush to put in an unstructured rising sun motif along with kanji script on each side symbolizing Earth, Wind, Fire and Water. 


The Nogitsune (Spectral Wolf) is from DM Stash on MyMini. Again, another beautiful sculpt. Fairly straightforward paintjob on this guy. Fun to work on with all the deep-set textures, a veritable playground for Contrast paints. 


This fella has already seen action on the tabletop with today's Minion having been its unwilling chew toy. :) 


Finally we have the Oni Captain. Another 3d print from Cobra Mode. He has a sort of a Hell Boy vibe going on which I just ran with. 



Yeeash, that Kanabo he's toting is something else! You're not going to walk it off if he taps you with that thing.


A final shot of the three villains set against some heroes that I painted last year.




As to points, the Oni Captain is around 40mm and the other two are over 54mm so let's call it 27 for the trio?

Aaand another Squirrel point for me...

Thanks for dropping in for a peek!

- Curt

Sylvain: Subarashii! I suspect you got your inspiration for coloring this group from ukiyo-e, (japanese woodblock prints from the Edo period) especially on the Kanabo. It gives the figurines some kind of eerie look, in addition to their sculpt and poses. A great demonstration of your mastery in painting. Keep feeding that squirrel!



30 comments:

  1. Thanks Sylvain. Yeah, I really enjoy getting inspiration from the artwork from this period. It's very evocative and just shouts 'This is Samurai Japan!' :)

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  2. Wow, these are just stunning.

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  3. Amazing figures. Very unique and interesting.

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    1. Thanks Tom. Yeah, if you have a 3d printer you're spoiled for choice these days.

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  4. Absolutely spectacular and very cinematic. Especially the last group shot of the heroes vs villains.

    I’m sorely tempted to move a few samurai or ashigaru into my paint queue.

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    1. Thank you Rob! You should give your samurai some attention and show us!

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  5. Those are of course awesome Curt. I quite enjoyed watching the Wolf fling Sylvain’s archer over the abyss like a chew toy.

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    1. Thanks Pete. Yeah, I loved Sylvain's expression when the Spectral Wolf dashed to where he was 'providing overwatch' and gave him a bit of puppy luv. ;)

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  6. Very fun ‘bosses’ and chew toy reference from a game, excellent. Super brush work as usual.

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  7. Another brilliant submission curt I love these figures and the way you have painted them jus brings them to life.

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  8. I love how you take all these wild and different colours that I would almost never use and turn them into something cohesive and magical. Awesome work dude!! Can't wait to play with them in person

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    1. Thanks Byron. I find these fantasy settings are fun to experiment with colours that I'd normally not bring out with historical subjects. I look forward to future games as well!

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  9. Gosh boss, these are brilliant, can't choose which one I like best. If pressed I guess I like the Oni Captain most, but they are all equally beautifully painted!

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    1. Thank you Sander. Yeah, the Oni Captain and his great big 'F*ck Off Stick' has a certain appeal, doesn't he. :)

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  10. Splendid looking Samurai fantasy villains! Lovely colour and finish!
    Best Iain

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  11. That shikigami is very impressive!

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    1. It's a lovely sculpt - very unique and evocative.

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    2. Lovely! Wonderfuk work on all of them but that Shikigami fella is my absolute favourite. Great choice of colours

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    3. Thanks Nick! I have a sneaking suspicion that your team of Hunters will be encountering one sooner rather than later...

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  12. Just catching up and so glad I did - man you have talent with the brush - both bristle and air!

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    1. Why thank you very much Kerry. That is high praise coming from you.

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  13. Brilliant and crazy looking figures!

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    1. Thanks Ray. Yeah, they are a little 'out there' from 1812 Napoleonic French. ;)

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  14. Glorious work mate. That pink is amazing!

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