Woof! March is done already!
Month three went all according to plan - ish. I'd planned to get these guys done a bit sooner to focus on some prep for next month (the chariots don't actually exist yet!) and maybe get those pestigors finished. It all took a little longer - but we got there in the end!
Still no comic - yet - but there is a bit of story dribbling through. At this point in the narrative Korag makes some unexpected allies - some centaurs!
Chaos Centaurs
I really wanted centaurs within the army to diversify the force a bit, and wouldn't you just know it, Bob Olley sculpted some (twice!). I bulk-bought a number of his Hobby Products centaurs from Monday Knight, and there's also a few from Ral Partha in there too. They did get quite repetitive quite fast - so a further haul from Ral Partha mostly addressed that with various torso and head swaps. This is probably a point where a Bob Olley-specific bits box has been particularly handy.
I've always had a soft spot for the Perry Chaos Centaurs, which really are some of the most oldhammer figures out there with their daft unique names and intense personalities. I really tried to carry this forward with some wildly varied models, and by adding their little he-man style loin cloths later on. The wizard was a hack job from a Ral Partha miniature. He got a bit more sculpting to try and make sense of his robes in a centaur form.
The goal was to make them fit in well with the beastmen completed so far - overall they've used the same colours. The monthly painting amnesia however made remembering which paints were used a bit of a trick. Not sure if anyone else has that problem - or do you make notes?
Well here they are anyway -
Garthor
In addition to the centaurs I really REALLY wanted to do a Dragon Ogre as well. The catch with this one is Bob never did a Dragon Ogre - so there was much more fun problem-solving involved. After much consideration - this solution presented itself. An Olley Titan Orc from an old eBay win, and an Essex Dragon.
The incidental inclusion of the dwarfs is actually what inspired the story for the comic. I really like the touch of narrative it brought to it. If you happen to have a few pounds in the sofa cushions, you could do a lot worse than to try out Essex's Q range. Probably one of the most underrated collections of very cheap figures still out there, and all very early Olley sculpts.
The painting was very straightforward. I wanted to try and make his dragon and ogre skin seem a bit more cohesive, as opposed to a green lower half and pink top half. The rest of the painting follows the recipe used on pretty much everything else.
And here everyone is together.
A small word on tufts...
I bought a few sheets of really nice tufts from Serious Play a few years ago - and ran out this month. I'd placed a replacement order last December - and still to this day am yet to see them. I've emailed, messaged, ebay messaged - everything short of just showing up at their office. Bloody nightmare. Where can I get that EXACT colour green from to match everything else?
Thankfully the good people of Antics Plymouth listened to my dilemma and sorted me out with something approximately the same. Then politely asked me never to come back.
Points...
As always my points are bloated with character options - but to be fair 24 centaurs in light armour don't come cheap either. FYI - If you do want to ever field a Centaur Wizard - check out White Dwarf 98.
I love your whole project, you can just feel the love in every step. Keep it up!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Iannick! Love, and a tireless, ceaseless, unhealthy obsession.
DeleteHoly bleep! That is great stuff! And awesome conversions! Wow!
ReplyDeleteThanks Lissanne! It's nice to finally get it all done!
DeleteStunning! Gorgeous! Just WOW. Well done good sir, well done.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rob!😎
DeleteWhat a magnificent dragon ogre! Way better than the shaggoth, excellent work sir.
ReplyDeleteThanks Fimm! Really happy to share him finally!
DeleteJust amazing! The first thing to say is the paining is great, you really have an affinity for Olley sculpts which I know can be intimidating and confusing.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of a Bob Olley-specific bits box is oldhammer high art in itself.
I love how much extra effort you are putting into every aspect of your project.
That Dragon Ogre is superb. Message ends.
Absolute madness... I love the conversions, the painting and the cartoons! everything!
ReplyDeleteMost impressive! Love the conversions and the muted colour scheme. The tail-contricting dragon ogre is ace. Not sure how you managed to paint 24 mounted models in a month, but really well done!
ReplyDeleteImpressive conversion work, Garthor looks amazing and it must have been a pain to cut that ogre. As always, your illustrations are a lovely detail!
ReplyDeleteThat is an incredible unit of centaures, the scale of the miniatures you used matches perfectly, to the point I first did not think they were all kitbashed... and the dragon ogre blends in so well! Overall, I want to see more! Very well done.
ReplyDeleteHow the hell did you find enough time in one month to make all that stuff at that level of painting and conversions and also time to write theses awesome posts?
ReplyDeleteImpressive!
Holy moley flip! What a crazy month - and such a result. That is some unreal care and attention, which shines through - great work
ReplyDelete