1/72 Egyptian mythology - update 02/08/2025 giant scorpion

[Philotep]

Hi everybody!

I'm currently working on a new project - a mythological Egyptian army with (mostly) 1/72 plastic figures.

Here you are the army so far:


The 1/72 Fantasy figures are Mummies and Anubites, by Dark Alliance:




I was looking for a god avatar, which is rather easy with the existing 28mm ranges, and I chose a figure of Thoth by Reaper Minis:


I've also painted some scarabs from the same manufacturer:


Of course they're too large compared to 1/72 figures, but hey, they are mythological creatures 

For the human rank and file warriors, I used some very nice figures by Caesar (long OOP nowadays):




You will find some more pictures and comments on my blog: https://philotepsfigures.blogspot.com/2025/07/egyptian-mythology-of-gods-and-beetles.html

The army is far from complete. I need more archers and warriors, some chariots of course (including a chariot for the Pharaoh), and more creatures such as giant scorpions (the plastic figures for the Monolith Conan range will be perfect) and also a sphinx (the Reaper figure is very nice).

Hope you like them

[Rick]

They are very nice but shouldn't this be in the fantasy section? I'm thinking it overlaps with 'Of Gods and Mortals' or 'Broken Legions' more than with historical mini's?

[Cubs]

They are very nice but shouldn't this be in the fantasy section? I'm thinking it overlaps with 'Of Gods and Mortals' or 'Broken Legions' more than with historical mini's?

From the section rules: "For example, a What if-campaign of Alexander the Great in the western Mediterranean is fine – as is refighting the wars of Horus and Seth in Ancient Egypt" ...

The rules state this section does include room for established 'Ancient Mythology', just not more modern fantasy settings with an ancient flavour (like Runequest, which would indeed belong in the Fantasy section).

Love the models by the way, they took me right back to the 80's, playing wargames with my brother using the old Atlantic sets.

[Rick]

Ah, I stand corrected then - I thought that the mythology was only as ancient as the 1999 Hollywood 'Mummy' film with Brendan Fraser not 'ancient' mythology. I will withdraw my comments then and eagerly anticipate more ancient mythology, perhaps drawn from the 2016 Hollywood 'Gods of Egypt' film! 

[Sunjester]

Very nice indeed! I look forward to seeing more.

[Philotep]

Thank you very much for your feedback.

Love the models by the way, they took me right back to the 80's, playing wargames with my brother using the old Atlantic sets.

I've been doing the very same with my brother too, and my scribe avatar is one of the surviving figures from that period, with a rather recent painting. I will probably take pictures of the old fighters with the original painting. Compared to the recent ones, there will be a gap for sure 

[Philotep]

A small update today. I have added a new creature in my mythological army: a giant Scorpion.



This figure is part of the Conan range by Monolith. I will use it both for 28mm skirmishes (Conan, Saga) and larger 1/72 battles (L'Art de la Guerre), so I needed to build a special base for the 1/72 use. If you are interested, you will find a step-by-step for the building of this base here: https://philotepsfigures.blogspot.com/2025/08/step-by-step-basing-giant-scorpio.html

This figure is really big compared to 1/72 figures, as you can see below:


This scorpion looks like those whose live in my mother-in-law's house - in real life, they are absolutely harmless 

[BeneathALeadMountain]

Lovely stuff Philotep! Those models are really nice and your painting just adds to the awesome. I was sat half watching a film, scanning LAF and pinning my old GW metal giant scorpion (so it could get a second life in Thud & Blunder) when I saw this. Sadly yours is much more realistic 

I have a soft spot for the oft maligned scorpion - people just need to remember big claws/small tail not a problem but big tail/small claws keep well clear!

I once received a call from my friends parents in the middle of the night as they had just come back from holidays somewhere warm and they’d picked up a hitchhiker on the way. Rushed over to their house (with kit) to find they’d bought a baby Leiurus quinquestriatus (Deathstalker) home with them. He lived very happily in a large enclosure for the rest of its life but you had to have eyes in the back of your head to keep tabs on him (very aggressive and ridiculously quick). If Spiky Pickle (my wife’s choice of name) had been that size you would have to be desperate to try and face him.

What opponents do you plan for them?

Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain

[Philotep]

Thank you very much for your appreciation!

...to find they’d bought a baby Leiurus quinquestriatus (Deathstalker) home with them. He lived very happily in a large enclosure for the rest of its life but you had to have eyes in the back of your head to keep tabs on him (very aggressive and ridiculously quick)

They kept this animal at home ? Waow... it seems a bit more dangerous than those I have seen in Provence, Euscorpius flavicaudis or Euscorpius italicus, whose sting is not dangerous for humans (according to Wikipedia).

As in Age of Mythology, they will have the following opponents:
- the Mythological Greeks - link here: https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=145887.msg1865221#msg1865221
- the Mythological Vikings - link here: https://philotepsfigures.blogspot.com/2023/07/nordic-mythology.html

[BeneathALeadMountain]

I did use to joke, when young (to anyone I knew going anywhere interesting) to “accidentally” bring me home an insect or two in their luggage.

 They didn’t realise how dangerous it was (they were scared of it just because it was a scorpion) and I didn’t want to tell them how dangerous it was whilst I was chasing it around - it had somehow got into their suitcase during transit and (luckily) had been on the top in plain site when they opened it upon returning home.

I was slightly nervous about keeping him (controlled in the U.K.) but didn’t have the heart (or cruelty) to kill the poor little chap for hitchhiking. Spike lived with me for 6/7 yrs in a planted and landscaped tank set inside another tank (with water moat and very secure lid) to increase security. My entomology lecturer at Uni borrowed him a few times for lectures. Euroscorpius are delightful little beasts in comparison  . Hmm, Maybe we could do a miniatures for scorpions exchange 

Enough derailing - wow! Apologies I hadn’t seen your other posts. They are excellent. The models are great but your painting style just brings them to life. Off to look through the threads you linked more closely. Thanks

Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain

[Philotep]

YOU kept this scorpion at home for several years? I'm very impressed, I don't think I would have been able to catch it, nor even keep it with me. Incredible!

[Hitman]

Philotep,
Great looking figures. I enjoyed the story about Spike. I do have a serious question though. I have 3 giant scorpions sitting in grant of me for the Silver Bayonet and cannot for the life of me figure out how to paint them. When I saw thus thread, and then saw your scorpion, I must ask...could you please tell me how you painted it? Thank you so very much h I advance.
Regards,
Hitman
😎

[Philotep]

Thank you very much Hitman.
Of course I can share the recipe. I didn't take any picture during the process, so I have to explain  with words only, except for step 1.

Step 1: choose your color scheme

When I try to paint an animal, I always use the same basic method: looking for pictures on the net until I find a model that I like. In the case of this scorpion, I didn't want to paint it black, so I searched and found this, an Euscorpius Flavicaudis. In real life, it not even 5cm long, but I like the colors:


Step 2: basic colors
How do I read this image ? The body is dark brown, the legs are yellow ochre and the claws are red brown. Here you are the list of the colors I chose:
- dark brown: GW Dryad Dark
- yellow ochre: GW XV-88
- red brown: GW Mournfang Brown
When dry, a layer of Dark Brown wash (GW Agrax Earthshade)

Step 3: some light
The dark brown parts are lightened with a mix of Dyad Dark and GW Rakarth Flesh - it's a dirty light grey, not white because I wanted a desaturated result. You can choose white if you want something brighter.
The yellow brown is lightened with a mix of XV-88 and GW Zandri Dust.
The red brown is lightened with a mix of Mournfang Brown and Rakarth Flesh. If you want more red, you can replace the Mournfang Brown with GW Doombull Brown.
When dry, a layer of Dark Brown wash on body, Yellow wash on legs and Red wash on claws.

Step 4: some spotlight
With the same mix as above with more Rakarth Flesh (quantity depending on your taste), paint some light spots on the prominant parts, and on the parts of the shell that reflect light - once again, I use the reference picture as a model.

That is all. I don't varnish my figures but I guess I should 

Hope it helps, don't hesitate to ask more questions if needed.

[Phil Portway]

Some great painting, useful painting techniques and "killer" scorpion stories, what's not to love! 

[Hitman]

Philotep,
No wonder your scorpion turned out so well!! That is a lot of detailed work. Thank you for taking the time to send me your notes. It is a wonderful work of art  and so life like. Well done and thanks again.
Regards,
Hitman
😎