Darkrasp, Death Priest

[Glen]

Ok, where to begin. Some (maybe many) of you are probably aware that I generally work on 54mm medieval foot subjects with the occasional foray into ancient Greeks and Romans. Lately, I've begun using some Reaper acrylic paints and, as a consequence of that, I've been looking at some of their gaming miniatures. So... I took the plunge.

This is Darkrasp and he is known as a Death Priest. Since I don't play the games, I have no idea what that is. I decided to have some fun with it. I figure he spends a lot of his time in crypts, mausoleums, and graveyards. Picture a grumpy old guy wearing torn, tattered, dusty, and dirty clothing suddenly bursting into the local Pizza Hovel and ordering pizzas for his minions.

The figure is metal, about 37mm (1.5") tall, and painted with Andrea, Vallejo, and Reaper acrylics. Like many gaming minis, it is cast in 1-2 pieces - in this case, the scythe from the blade tip to his hand is a separate piece. He cost US $5.00. Cheap. I think I'll pick up some scantily clad warrior babes...

Questions/comments are welcome.

Cheers,

Glen

 

[Rob Brown]

nice job, and I like the humor

 

[Sambaman]

Glen, nice work and I laughed out loud! Fun stuff!

Jay H.
OKC

 

[Marcel]

Very nicely done Glenn.

Marcel.

 

[megroot]

Awesome work Glenn.

marc

 

[Glen]

Thanks for the comments everyone. The gaming minis are a great diversion from historical figures. You have to take off your historical accuracy hat and look beyond overscale weapons, thicker edges, and some of the female figures... um, attributes. On the plus side, they are inexpensive, feature marvelous detail, and you're not locked into a limited pallet. After perusing some of the mini sites, I've found that the painters' skills are every bit as good as anything you would see in the historical area. I've come to really like them and I have to resist the temptation to buy a bunch of them!

Cheers,

Glen

 

[phc35]

I like it,reminds me of an old sci-fi book,"A Canticle for St.Liebowitz"

Jay

 

[darkeye]

figure? where? oh!...

paint them for a few years Glen, that 'll put ya off!!! you will be so glad to see a 75mm, cos you can.... see them!
Funny thing is i used to love this size and would paint nothing else, now the sculpts look Clunky to me.
If you want some great figures in this scale, check out one/two of my Favourite Sculptors, Werner Klocke on Freebooter.de. his figures tend to be quite delicate(Succubus) or Tom Meier(awesome talent) at Thunderbolt Mountain whose figs are proportionally accurate at 30mm!
30 mm will certainly improve your aim with a brush! you did well on this one and i love the scroll. you should remind him though.... too much cheese is bad for ya!

all the best ---- tim

 

[Glen]

Jay, I seem to remember that book (but not actually reading it). It's a post nuclear war novel about a clash between religion, superstition, and technology, right? Man, I hate middle age...

Tim, I'm wearing progressive bifocals and I still look over the top of them to paint small details! As for 'clunky', I prefer to think 'robust'. I do take into account these figures are primarily for tabletop gaming. They are meant to be picked up and moved around. Now add the fantasy aspect of the big weapons and shields and thick, often overly ornate armor. Once I was able to remove my historical accuracy goggles, things looked mch better - still small, but much better.

I'm aware of WK, TM, and a host of others. Once I started seeing some new possibilities, I began perusing several gaming oriented miniature sites like CMON, Reaper and a host of others. I seem to prefer the human (or nearly so) warriors and wizards. Many of them seem to have a Frazetta-like (et al) quality to their sculpting, especially the women. If they're not almost naked, then what clothing they have is often borderline erotic. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I try to look at all of them with a sense of humor, some kind of punchline or caption that can be applied to the figure as cast with little or no modification. Darkrasp is actually the second mini I've done. I'll post the first one next week.

This all came about when I talked to Anne Foerster and Jen Haley at the recent Tulsa Show. They brought a full rack of the Reaper paints, sat down, and started painting. I watched, learned a little bit, and bought some paint to try it out. Since then, I've sat in on a couple of painting sessions at the Reaper facility here in N. TX. I've picked up a lot of new hints and tips for acrylic painting - improving my lining, glazing, and wash techniques. So far, they haven't booted me out because I paint historicals and don't play the games. I am considerably older than most of them, so maybe they're just humoring the old guy.

Cheers,

Glen