Deadcember

 ... or a belated Spooktober.

I've finally gotten around to both making another post and finishing some minis. I intended to finish these skellies for October but that turned into November and then a post never materialised. The miniatures themselves were finished in late 2020 with my previous skellies but awaited suitable shields.

Skeleton Elite Guard afaik

These were purchased from Black Tree Designs a few years back and are now sadly OOP. I was under the impression that they're ex-Harlequin and sculpted by Kev Adams but I'm now not so sure. They're nowhere to be found on the Lost Minis Wiki and I don't fancy prising my two unpainted ones off their bases to confirm some particulars.

With regards to painting; same scheme as the previous lot with a mix of metallics and contrast. The right most one in the above picture has his scale mail painted as tarnished bronze, which happens to be close in colour to the green I've used. Oh well 🤷

The left individual in the above picture has red hair; I was inspired by the Osterby Man to do so. The shields themselves are 3D prints from ebay. Unfortunately they were covered in artefacts but seeing as they are modelled damaged anyway, I wasn't overly fussed. On another unfortunate note, the Wyldwood brown contrast I used has come had almost black and I will perhaps give them a re-touch in the future.

Dead but not Forgotten ...

Two whole weeks since my last post! In fairness, last week was somewhat hectic but I can't make the same excuse for this week, alas! Anyway, on to the task at hand:

Northstar Shadow Knight, Diehard Wolf Familiar & Heartbreaker Skeleton Champion

An eclectic selection of undeads this time, hopefully unified somewhat by the basing. The flowers and tufts are from Warpainter Scenics; the individual 'blobs', for want of a better term, are slightly too big for 25mm bases so I've ended up halving them and gluing 'em down as semi-circles. Not sure if it makes the base too busy but its a faff portioning them further. 

ROSD07 - Shadow Knight

Rather chuffed with this one as I followed an excellent tutorial from Gardens of Hecate on painting GW's spooky ghosts (n.b. I used all Citadel paints). This is my first real attempt at highlighting and whilst it's unrefined in many places, it's Good Enough™. I have a copy of Rangers of Shadowdeep, the range he's from, and should really get round to playing it. 

 

ROSD07 - Shadow Knight

I painted it sometime last year but have only just based it on mdf, during which I'd forgotten whether or not I wash Agrellan Badland with Agrax Earthshade. Evidently I do not as it's come out darker than usual. At least I don't use impenetrable jargon to name things, ehh 😉

Diehard Miniatures Wolf Familiar

A kickstarter miniature this one. Not much to say about this undead doggo. I slapped the Skeleton Horde on perhaps but I like my skeletons to look freshly exhumed. I've kept the integral base as it's nice and round but it has made basing interesting. He's basically sitting in the shrub I've artfully obscured in the above pic; I like to think he still has the oblivious attitude some dogs exhibit even in the next life.

Heartbreaker Skeleton Champion

A nice, classic miniature here from Phil Lewis. Look at the size of that there Claymore! I enjoyed painting up the armour (metallics have always been a favourite) and the many dinks it's taken before the occupants demise. 

Citadel Skeletons and Dodgy Light Boxes

I'd wanted to finish off more skellingtons today but was distracted from the task by watching The Last Samurai. Luckily, I have two fit (mostly) to show off:

ME 72 Dead Man of Dunharrow & C17 Armoured Swordsman

Both of these date to the mid 80's and are both therefore older than I. When I was at Uni, I went through a phase of buying old lead that took my fancy. I'd always been a little smitten with the Dead Man; one of my favourite sculpts from the original LOTR range. The C17 lad less so.

Usually when I go figure hunting on ebay, I will look at what other items the seller has to offer, to make the most out of the usually pricey P&P. I think in this case, I had my heart set on another skeleton, possible a scythe wielder if memory serves. Inevitably I lost that bid but won this fellow. Having painted him, he has grown on me.

ME 72 Dead Man of Dunharrow & C17 Armoured Swordsman

I painted both of these towards the end of 2020; sadly part of a miniscule effort on my part in what was a "perfect" year for painting, horrible though it was. I was rather chuffed with them at the time, being my biggest output in more than a decade of inactivity, but with hindsight, they're a tad messy. I applied a lot of GW technical paints: Ryza Rust, Nihilakh Oxide and Typhus Corrosion to give them an appropriate sense of decay.

C17 Armoured Swordsman

The bone is Skeleton Horde Contrast with a liberal helping of Agrax Earthshade (which is better than the overrated Nuln Oil if any one was to ask). The shields are painted Army Painter Scaly Hide. Choosing a green similar to the verdigris effect you're using was perhaps not the best move but I really like that particular shade. Back in the day it was Snot Green. Is this indicative of my maturity I wonder? 😜

The models could really do with some highlights, a technique that has filled me with dread for 20 years (well, for as long as I even knew there was more to painting than gleefully slapping it on anyway). The bases could do with more colour; I like the idea of contrasting the shambling dead with vibrant spring/summer flowers rather than the more common autumnal and winter themes. Luckily I have a bunch, which will soon decorate the bases of their compatriots when I next post.

On another note, I used a shoddy £7.99 Light Box off of eBay; I think the results speak for themselves. I like the backdrop dioramas some hobbyists use so I'll try and rustle something up, probably some nice ruins, as well as a better light.