Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Fantasy Adventures => Frostgrave => Topic started by: srba on June 06, 2016, 08:57:21 PM
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Hi guys! My first post so go easy please.
So back when I was a kid (nearly 20 years ago :'(), I used to buy and paint the occasional warhammer miniature but never had any opportunity or real inclination to play the game, but I've always had a bit of a soft spot and a yearning for miniature modelling since. A few months ago I got back into the hobby via X-Wing miniatures and, when I heard about Frostgrave, my interest was instantly piqued.
Initially, I started work on a Final Fantasy-themed warband and got as far as doing some Black Mage wizards and bought my first green stuff and taught myself some basic sculpting in order to make pointy hats. I ran out of steam a bit though as I realised all of the soldiers were going to require substantial conversion too, but it was the 'Mind Control' Soothsayer spell that had me constantly thinking about Illithids.
So I did some googling and found this conversion (http://www.cultofkhaine.com/2014/07/a-couple-of-quick-updates-on-my-drow.html) that was a big inspiration to me and set to work. I decided it would be more thematic (and easier) to just have the casters as Mind Flayers and to have Underdark humanoids as soldier thralls.
I'm really pleased with the results. This is the biggest painting project I've completed and very satisfied to have actually carried it through to its conclusion:
(http://i.imgur.com/lIXPqH9.jpg) (http://imgur.com/lIXPqH9)
The whole team
(http://i.imgur.com/vMFJXhU.jpg) (http://imgur.com/vMFJXhU)
Soothsayer and Apprentice
(http://i.imgur.com/kfqX9BP.jpg) (http://imgur.com/kfqX9BP)
To begin with, three thieves, but to be eventually upgraded
(http://i.imgur.com/RLcPLbD.jpg) (http://imgur.com/RLcPLbD)
Crossbowmen
(http://i.imgur.com/HE8eG6y.jpg) (http://imgur.com/HE8eG6y)
Thug, Infantryman, Thug
I'm hoping to do a Svirfneblin apothecary at some stage and find some kind of suitable underdark-style warhound.
Thanks for viewing. Any comments or suggestions very welcome.
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Very cool war band, I actually was considering making an Illithid for a soothsayer, but I didn't have much interest in soothsayers in general, so I never did it.
I have to ask though, I see your Mind Flayers are custom, would you be so kind as to tell me what you used as a base for your Wizard Illithid? It looks incredibly cool, but I am curious as to what the original looks like as well.
Thank you,
Like Clockwork
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Love your warband and a great work on those blacks, it's not easy to get that suble lights on it :)
Andres
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Very cool war band, I actually was considering making an Illithid for a soothsayer, but I didn't have much interest in soothsayers in general, so I never did it.
I have to ask though, I see your Mind Flayers are custom, would you be so kind as to tell me what you used as a base for your Wizard Illithid? It looks incredibly cool, but I am curious as to what the original looks like as well.
Thank you,
Like Clockwork
Thanks a lot. The base mini is this Chaos Sorcerer Lord (https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Chaos-Sorcerer-Lord-2016) by GW. It's a really nice, crisp, striking, uncomplicated mini.
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Lovely work. Very effective conversions and a good choice of colors.
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Love the colour scheme and the highlighting work. Very well done.
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I was thinking of an Illithid warband two days ago, how funny is that? I even dug out my very old D1 Descent Into The Depths to take a look at what the ol' mind flayers were originally up to.
I am very happy that you have done this before I go around to ordering anything, you have saved me some cash!
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That's a very menacing warband, dark yet very nicely painted - bravo!
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Very dark - some nice crisp painting really makes them evil.
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I have to ask though, I see your Mind Flayers are custom, would you be so kind as to tell me what you used as a base for your Wizard Illithid? It looks incredibly cool, but I am curious as to what the original looks like as well.
Funny enough, I bought these last saturday, Reaper DHL nr 03438:
(http://www.reapermini.com/graphics/gallery/4/03438_w_1.jpg)
Would go nicely with the metal Cultist models form Nick Northstar ( if I ever can find the motivation to carve up those horrible double mouldlines on most of them >:( ).
Ot: Nice, suitable dark colours on those henchmen. Love ém... :)
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Thanks very much everyone.
About the black - I didn't actually realise black was a known 'difficult colour' before I started. I found out, of course...
That's a very menacing warband, dark yet very nicely painted - bravo!
Thank you! Herefordshire 1938 huh? I grew up there.
Not in 1938 ofc.
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Yep.
That's pretty awesome...
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Very nice! Great look, great atmosphere, it just radiates "evil" in a good way! lol
I'd say you need a displacer beast or two if you want some warhounds, either homebrew (since those budding greenstuff skills seem to be on par) or some fresh new ones from somewhere else (Ral Partha/Reaper/GW warpbeast?)
Can't wait to see the Svirneblin!
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Thanks again folks for the feedback.
I'd say you need a displacer beast or two if you want some warhounds, either homebrew (since those budding greenstuff skills seem to be on par) or some fresh new ones from somewhere else (Ral Partha/Reaper/GW warpbeast?)
Can't wait to see the Svirneblin!
Oh yeah that's a great idea. I'd been thinking of intellect devourers but couldn't find anything I liked. Just need to find the right mini!
For the Svirfneblin, even though I know they're not supposed to have facial hair, I really want to use this head from the GW Battlemage:
(http://www.bitzbox.co.uk/images/empire_wizard_head_5_large.jpg)
I'll probably go for a reaper bones gnome or halfling mini for the body.
EDIT: I like this displacer beast the best, but there doesn't seem anywhere to buy them outside of the USA :(
(http://940ee6dce6677fa01d25-0f55c9129972ac85d6b1f4e703468e6b.r99.cf2.rackcdn.com/products/pictures/1093208.jpg)
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Herefordshire 1938 huh? I grew up there.
Not in 1938 ofc.
Ooh... Are you still local?
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Afraid not. Been in London a few years via Manchester.
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Tsk tsk, leaving the fold...
Looking forward to seeing more of your work anyway :D
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Where the heads of your wizard come from ?
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They are GW genestealer heads with green stuff tentacles.
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Hmph, what, no giant spider as your warhound? :D
Are you sticking in some Underdark terrain, or using regular stuff?
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Hmph, what, no giant spider as your warhound? :D
Are you sticking in some Underdark terrain, or using regular stuff?
Spiders would look cool, and they're an option, but what I didn't want to do was make it too much of a drow party. They already make up half the warband in number.
As for scenery, I haven't even considered it. I haven't really the space to store any let alone make it.
On a different note, I assume it's ok to go off topic on my own thread right? Just thought I'd do a bit of an image dump of some of the other minis I've been working on with Frostgrave in mind, including my ill-fated Final Fantasy warband:
(http://i.imgur.com/4RIHlK8.jpg) (http://imgur.com/4RIHlK8)
Gandalf-esque grey wizard
(http://i.imgur.com/1VKrCyC.jpg) (http://imgur.com/1VKrCyC)
Black Mage Elementalist and White Mage Apothecary
(http://i.imgur.com/8PdL6ml.jpg) (http://imgur.com/8PdL6ml)
Another elementalist WIP - biggest green stuff effort of mine thus far, I think.
(http://i.imgur.com/B4LQ6X1.jpg) (http://imgur.com/B4LQ6X1)
A couple more Black Mages. I couldn't settle on one.
(http://i.imgur.com/fB6rtKH.jpg) (http://imgur.com/fB6rtKH)
WIP on one of the mages above. This was the second thing I'd ever made with green stuff. I'm really pleased with how it turned out but it gave me unrealistic expectations of what I'd be able to achieve in the future I think.
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Oh, yess, really love the soaring/flaming skull effort on your elementalist :-*.
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Very nice work on the sculpting there.
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you mind flayer war band is superb for a number of reasons.
1) the strong themed colour and muted shades makes a dramatic impact
2) you conversions are very nicely executed
3) there is a lovely strong character and narrative through out the war band
4) you have managed the drow skin very skillfully
5) you black is beautifully highlighted, which is never easy.
I look forward to seeing more of your work
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I've sent you a PM regarding thd displacer beast. Just so you don't miss it.
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I LOVE those Black Mages! :-*
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Thanks for your feedback everyone. I've ordered a Reaper Bones Ice Devil to convert into an Umber Hulk so should have some additions to display soon. I'll also post up my painting progress on my elementalist when I make some.
It occurred to me that a goblin of some kind might be a better source of a body for my svirfneblin than a gnome or halfling so I'm hopeful of tracking down something I like for that soon too.
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Great stuff again.
What do you use for snow effects?
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Hmph, what, no giant spider as your warhound? :D
Mind flayer warhounds? I prefer something more intellect-devouer-ish, eg:
(http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/RYEAAOSwtPZXHQR8/s-l1600.jpg)
(http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/X68AAOSwubRXHQSB/s-l1600.jpg)
(http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/NoEAAOSwubRXL0hw/s-l1600.jpg)
(http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/WUoAAOSwInxXL0h3/s-l1600.jpg)
(http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/cKQAAOSw8vZXL0ha/s-l1600.jpg)
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Yeah, I do like the idea of intellect devourers, and yours look great with those added tentacle things, but to my mind those reaper ones are just a bit too big. I like the one that comes with the Galeforce 9 Illithid Raiding Party, but can't find anything like that as a one- (or two-) off.
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Reaper has a number of human-sized illithids with two arms and two legs in addition to the hulking snake-bodied ones.
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Reaper has a number of human-sized illithids with two arms and two legs in addition to the hulking snake-bodied ones.
Oh, yeah, I'm aware of those, they're pretty good. I Especially like the pirate one. But I don't need any more illithids. I was talking about the four-legged brain creatures. In D&D they look like this:
(http://www.enworld.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=63972&d=1410302029&stc=1)
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Great stuff again.
What do you use for snow effects?
Sorry, missed this - I just used some green stuff. I probably wouldn't try using it if I weren't going for that sort of cartoon look of the FF minis.
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Oh, yeah, I'm aware of those, they're pretty good. I Especially like the pirate one. But I don't need any more illithids. I was talking about the four-legged brain creatures.
Ah! My bad, no worries :D
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Otherworld Miniatures makes an Intellect Devourer, but it's a big beastie (25mm to the top of it's head, on a 40mm base):
http://otherworldminiatures.co.uk/shop/dungeon-monsters/add34-intellect-devourer-brain-mole/ (http://otherworldminiatures.co.uk/shop/dungeon-monsters/add34-intellect-devourer-brain-mole/)
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There are a couple in the D&D and Pathfinder pre-paints too.
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There are a couple in the D&D and Pathfinder pre-paints too.
Thanks, I had a look at those. The brain part is cool but what's up with those legs? I suppose it might be possibly to sculpt legs that would suit.
Update on the elementalist I posted above, about 90% completed. Just need to work on a few details, highlights, in particular the base. Taking a lot longer than I expected and feeling a bit out of my depth on this one. Suggestions much appreciated:
(http://i.imgur.com/c67gBSb.jpg?1)
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Lovely figure and a cracking paint job :-*
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I like that a lot. Great hair.
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Everything looks awesome!! Lovely theme, well executed!
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Thanks folks. I was feeling a little defeated about it for a while as it just seemed to look worse and worse the more I worked on it, but I think it's coming together now. I still find it difficult to see past the flaws when I look at it, but I'm starting to enjoy it now. The one thing I do feel happy about is the composition, if that's the right word - it has more kind of drama and impact than anything else I've made/painted.
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It's looking fantastic!
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One word: awesome!
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Perhaps the best paintscheme on a firewizzard i've seen ! Well done !