From SylvainR: 28mm Big and Huge Monsters for D&D (200 points)

 

Our little reference heroine in a horde of big monsters, hard to spot like Waldo, can be found in the red circle. 

Because I was so close to complete a big project, I put the pedal to the medal last week and was able to finish the last of my D&D miniatures. There are lots of pictures in this post and I would forgive you if you want to skip to the end to see the photo of the whole D&D project finished. But let's get the ball rolling...

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Batch 1: an owlbear, a winged gorilla, a unicorn and a cockatrice. Since the unicorn doesn't have a rider, let's count it for 5 points. Let's count all the monsters here for 5 points each for the sake of simplicity. You will note that the owlbear is drooping, touching the ground with its arm, but the miniature was supposed to be standing on one leg. That's what happens with vinyl; the effect of gravity makes the models, especially big ones, droop over time. I used gloss varnish on the big eyes of the owlbear, increasing its "cuteness" by a factor of 10!

 

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Batch 2: a bulette (or "land shark"), a slaad, a war troll and a gorgon (or "brass bull"). Let's count the tall guys as 54mm figurines (10 points) and the 4 legged ones as 28mm cavalry without riders (5 points). I decided to paint the land shark as if it were construction equipment, kind of yellowish. For the gorgon, I used "patina" wash to enhance the brass look. I used the same recipe for the brass dragon that you will see later on.

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Batch 3: two ugly ogres (one is two-headed), a stone golem (or "earth elemental") and a treant (or "ent" or "wood spirit"). Let's count them all as 54mm figurines (10 points). I glued some flock on the stone golem and the treant to simulate moss. 

 

  

 

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Batch 4: a griffon, a wyvern (or "jabberwocky"), a black dragon and a chimera. Let's count them as 54mm models for 10 points each. I decided to use blue hues for the "feathery" parts of the griffon and I think it turned out OK. Again, the weak vinyl is causing the model to droop heavily. Eventually, I might have to add a little nail for support, as I did for my river troll. For the jabberwocky, I wanted to achieve a "weird" look with raspberry and pink colors while highlighting the teeth and claws with coral white.

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Batch 5: the heavies, a silver dragon, a gold dragon and a brass dragon. I would like to count them as 28mm vehicles for 20 points each. Note that, because dragons are known to cause devastation, I created bases with scorched earth and burned tree trunks.  It also helps emphasize the dragons themselves since there is nothing else to look at. No, I haven't become lazy with my bases (sweating heavily). For the brass dragon, I used the "patina" recipe trialed on the gorgon. It creates the effect that the dragon seems quite ancient.

 

 

 

 

 

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The completion of the 3 dragons also means that I have finished my D&D project. I want to thank again JeremyM for the great exchange of models, a few years ago. Above, you can see the whole collection of heroes, NPCs and monsters, most of them were featured on the painting challenge over the last few years.

 

Before I sign off, I just want to showcase a model from the collection that is special to me because it was a retirement gift from the bargaining team of which I was part. We were negotiating a new contract for our colleagues but my retirement day came before we could reach a final agreement with the administration of the university. My team knew that painting miniatures was my hobby and that I was a D&D player, so they bought me a "Nightwalker" from Wizkids. On the box, over the name of the miniature, they put a sticker stating: "Human Resources" (because we were negotiating with HR for the new contract). Ha ha! Very funny! Anyway, I wanted to paint this huge demon in a unique way, as if it was from a "negative" universe. The painting scheme looks weird and if you look at the base, it seems dirty, but a "negative" image reveals the expected normal colors and shading for the demon and the base. Just another fun way for me to spend my retirement... 

 

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Points claimed: 

Batch 1:  4x 28mm foot @ 5 points = 20 points

Batch 2:  2x 28mm foot @ 5 points + 2x 54mm foot @ 10 points = 30 points

Batch 3:  4x 54mm foot @ 10 points = 40 points

Batch 4:  4x 54mm foot @ 10 points = 40 points

Batch 5:  3x 28mm vehicle @ 20 points = 60 points

TOTAL: 190 points

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 Wow Sylvain, you must have most of the whole Monsters Manual by now.  What a fantastic collection of DnD foes.  Love those dragons, excellent work on the metallic tones.  I also love hoe batch one appears to be taking some demented aerobics class "give me 300 reps".  I also love the HR figures, although I've found that HR can sometimes be tamed and become an ally if you approach them properly.  I in a generous mood so I've round you up to an even 200.