Rangers of Shadow Deep - Malebolgia, Hunter of beasts [Update: Dec. 24]

[Malebolgia]

Me and my mate bought Rangers of Shadow Deep (RoSD) as soon as it was available and I have been slowly building and painting my Ranger. I knew right away my Ranger had to be based of the PS4 game Bloodborne. I have been enthralled by this digital gem for 3 months now and it feels like a digital version of RoSD (link to the trailer for the uninitiated: ). So that makes an excellent match.

So my Ranger has to be a 'Hunter', a group of fighters who are sent to hunt people and monsters overcome with the beast plague. Hunters are armed with a melee weapon and a ranged weapon. In the video game my character wields the Hunter Axe, so my Ranger needed that weapon. I had to decide whether to use the regular version or the transformed version. Basically, most Bloodborne weapons are 'trick weapons' which you can transform to a bigger, slower and more powerful version with one button. I decided to go for the transformed Hunter Axe, which looks more like a halberd.
For the left weapon I went with the Hunter Pistol. In Bloodborne ranged weapons are not used to cause damage, but to stagger an opponent during their attacks. This interrupts their move and allows you to do a visceral attack (basically, you rip out their guts with your right hand). RoSD doesn't use gunpowder weapons, so I decided I would count it as 3 throwing daggers: short range and low damage.
To realise this in 30mm, I used the metal Desperate Mercenary from Malifaux as the main model. Malifaux' Victorian style fits Bloodborne very well, so that gave a good start. Next, I made the Hunter Axe from two Kindom Death weapons and hand. I had to add the bindings with putty...not that great, but I'm just not very good with putty . For the left hand I added a hand with pistol from Confrontation. Simple and effective. And finally I made a tricorn hat (with the typical flayed edges you seen in the game) with putty.
For paint I kept true to the video game and kept it quite muted and dark (this was my inspiration: http://img1.ak.crunchyroll.com/i/spire1/a04ecde0c9139ce7ed5862361218e48c1438437305_full.jpg). He was a lot of fun to paint! And he's done...so time to get down to paint some companions (in Bloodborne style of course!).

[number1section1]

Amazing painting and modelling! Can't wait to see the rest of the band!

[Malebolgia]

Thanks! The first Companion and creatures are also finished now.

Companion - Swordmaster



Like the Ranger he was inspired by the game Bloodborne. I also built and painted him like a Hunter from the game, but now with a Reiterpallasch (sabre/rapier with inbuilt pistol) and Hunter Pistol. The model is a combination of 3 Confrontation models with a hat from Black Cat Bases. For painting I started with a zenithal highlight with light grey over black. By using thin layers I could get the first basecoat and shading done super fast. In the end the model cost me about 2 hours to paint. So yes, I am doing more zenithal lighting and paint washes for my next models

Here he is with the boss:



I also did some creatures for the first scenarios:

Giant Spiders



The old lovely Warhammer Quest spiders! Not done in Bloodborne style (these are too dark and dull for me), but like Fantasy tarantulas. A matter of airbrushing the first red layers, highlighting with orange and then using pure black to shade the legs down again. Finish the eyes, gloss the teeth and in about 20 minutes a spider was done! So nice, fast method.

Zombie



A cool Walking Dead zombie. Since he's missing his legs and wears no clothes he's perfect as a Fantasy zombie. Think this guy was painted in about 10 minutes. Citadel Rakarth Flesh > Flesh Wash > Dark Tone Wash > Highlight with Rakarth Flesh > Highlight with Rakarth Flesh + ivory. Paint eyes, teeth, hair, blood, base, done.

Next up are more Companions. Love doing the Bloodborne conversions!

[Duncan McDane]

Looking good. Thanks for the recipe on the Zombie  .

[Malebolgia]

Thanks man! Yeah, Rakarth Flesh is a great base colour for zombies. It's a greyish brown and covers very well over grey or white.

[Comsquare]

Great conversions and painting so far 
Love to see the rest of the gang.

[Kitsune]

Looking great. Especially that first mini!

Having heard about this game, I’m intrigued - solo gaming might be an option for me, what with dad duties and such making gaming more rare. Think I’d switch the setting to ECW witch hunting though

[FionaWhite]

You've certainly captured the Bloodborne look beautifully. 

I ended up getting a PDF of Rangers some weeks ago (then promptly broke the tablet I used to read it...) and likewise got a very Bloodborne/Dark Souls-vibe from it so count on me keeping an eye on this thread.


One thing though - is the first companion supposed to be a Swordsman or indeed a Swordmaster? I can't recall the latter from the companion list off the top of my head but then I can't check now either and a Swordmaster sounds cool.

[Dentatus]

Don't know much about Dark Souls/Bloodborne but those are excellent character figs.

I'm tempted by RoSD but am afraid it'd just sit on top of the 'games I'll play some day' stack.