Monster Manual project

[mdauben]

Still enjoying your trip through the Monster Manual!  Some great, fun figures in this thread.

The owlbear is a Reaper Bones model, and frankly I think it's kind of an awkward pose, but I bashed it out over the weekend and overall I'm pretty happy with it.

I like the paint job, but I agree that's not a great sculpt.  The owl bear has always been something of a favorite of mine, so I just picked up the other two Reaper miniatures of this monster.  Metal, but both much nicer poses. 

[James Holloway]

Still enjoying your trip through the Monster Manual!  Some great, fun figures in this thread.

I like the paint job, but I agree that's not a great sculpt.  The owl bear has always been something of a favorite of mine, so I just picked up the other two Reaper miniatures of this monster.  Metal, but both much nicer poses.  

I'm trying not to be a perfectionist for this project -- well, I try not to be a perfectionist about anything -- because one of my principles for D&D monsters is that they're only going to come out on the table every so often and therefore you need to get a wide range of them done and not worry too much about any individual one. But sometimes these little things bug me.

Anyway, I failed to paint my mule in time for today's episode, so I dug this old HeroQuest mummy out of the case. I should do his base but I can never decide how I want to paint it.

You know we're getting our old-school gaming on because this episode of Monster Man talks about mules! Oh, and some kind of lumbering undead horror, but let's not bury the lede here.

http://monsterman.libsyn.com/episode-42-mule-and-mummy

[James Holloway]

Today's episode focuses on the Naga and the Night Hag. I skip the Neo-Otyugh because I'll talk about it when we get to the Otyugh.



The naga is a Reaper Bones model, and has the usual trouble with mould lines, but I speed-painted it up and I think it looks pretty OK.

http://monsterman.libsyn.com/episode-43-naga-to-night-hag

[James Holloway]

I just realised the images on these posts weren't working. Are they OK now?

[Treebeard]

They are.
That snake skin is a achievement.

[James Holloway]

They are.
That snake skin is a achievement.

Thanks!

There's nothing to it, actually  -- the model is primed grey, then given a directional drybrush in light grey and then white to bring out the scales. The colours are just done with washes. It's a fast method, but it works really well on models with a lot of textured surfaces like this one.

[horridperson]

The Naga's scale came out wonderful.  Thanks for sharing how you went about it.  I have a Naga to paint and you have given me another method to consider.

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

Thanks!

There's nothing to it, actually  -- the model is primed grey, then given a directional drybrush in light grey and then white to bring out the scales. The colours are just done with washes. It's a fast method, but it works really well on models with a lot of textured surfaces like this one.

This sounds similar to what Hobgoblin is also doing.  I have tried it with some ents and got a reasonable outcome, not as good as the two of you, however.
Do you use standard washes or make your own?

This is a great project, by the way.  It looks like the quality of the figures and painting keeps increasing. You should be very proud of what you have achieved.

[James Holloway]

This sounds similar to what Hobgoblin is also doing.  I have tried it with some ents and got a reasonable outcome, not as good as the two of you, however.
Do you use standard washes or make your own?

This is a great project, by the way.  It looks like the quality of the figures and painting keeps increasing. You should be very proud of what you have achieved.

Thanks! As far as washes go, it varies. Sometimes I just use GW or Army Painter washes, often in multiple layers. I do my basic shading with a mixture of brown and black washes, a trick I swiped from Ramshackle Curtis; it helps make the shadows look a little warmer. For areas of richer colour, I often take a paint of the appropriate colour and thin it with a matching wash so that I can get something that's very thin but still has a lot of colour to it. And then for some areas I just paint it in the usual way, especially areas of fiddly detail or where I want very bright colours.

[James Holloway]

He didn't get included in time for episode 42, but here he is, belatedly: the mule!

[James Holloway]

Latest episode came out while the site was down, so here it is:

http://monsterman.libsyn.com/episode-44-nightmare-to-nymph

The mysterious aquatic figure is another Reaper Bones model.

[James Holloway]

A new episode drops, and I have not one but two photos of ogres! Although arguably that second guy might be a giant.

http://monsterman.libsyn.com/episode-45-ochre-jelly-to-ogre-mage

[Argonor]

Very entertaining thread! 

[James Holloway]

Very entertaining thread! 

I'm glad you're enjoying it! Knowing there are people paying attention has really helped keep me honest.

Speaking of which, here's today's episode: orcs! and also the otter, giant.



http://monsterman.libsyn.com/episode-46-orc-and-otter-giant

[James Holloway]

Friday means a new episode of Monster Man! This time we cover the otyugh and its smarter, more successful cousin the neo-otyugh, but the only monster in this episode I had a model for was the owl, comma, giant. Zoo gift shop to the rescue yet again.



http://monsterman.libsyn.com/episode-47-otyugh-to-owlbear