Stately Strumpets

Brinewind Doxies

28 mm

Brinewind... a bustling port city where traders, mariners, and adventurers arrive, weary of the road and with gold in their pockets. Many professions, including the oldest, flourish by catering to their needs, and lightening those purses.

Colorful umbrellas, a traditional gift from favored regulars, are the trade symbol of the Strumpets' Guild.

I had a lot of fun painting these figures, "Brinewind Doxies" from Reaper. Between the skin tones, the hair, and the sumptuous, folded dress fabric, there's a lot to work on, and the sculpts imply some interesting personalities.

The building is "The Widow's House" from Dave Graffam models.  I added the balcony for the strumpets to lure patrons.

The dead rise again!

The Headless Horseman!

28mm scale

In the dark shadow of the grove, on the margin of the brook, he beheld something huge, misshapen, black, and towering. It stirred not, but seemed gathered up in the gloom, like some gigantic monster ready to spring upon the traveller.

The ghostly Hessian rides through Sleepy Hollow again, seeking a replacement for his head, shot off in battle!

This was painted as a gift for a horror- and Halloween-loving friend.  I don't do mounted figures very often, but this was a pleasure.  The dark, glossy black coat of the horse came together surprisingly easily, and it's just such a dramatic figure overall.  Dark undercoating did a lot of work towards the mood here too.  

I have no idea where the figure itself is from, I received it in an exchange many years ago.

Skeleton Warband

28mm

 Do this rattling squad of undead freebooters obey the foul will of some evil overlord?  Or do they roam of their own accord, seeking to pillage and kill?  They may be "lowly skeletons" but don't ever underestimate their menace...

A fun assortment of Reaper figures, led by Rictus the Undying.  The three mooks were modified for character with the addition of various items, and a weapon swap.  I especially like the axeman with the afro, he's inspired by "Brook" from the anime One Piece 😁

Happy little trees

Bob Ross

28mm

"There's nothing wrong with having a tree as a friend."

"Everyone sees nature through different eyes."

The almighty Bob Ross; TV painter heir to Bill Alexander and the man who taught millions of viewers that art should be enjoyable, and that there are no mistakes, only happy accidents.

I put Bob Ross videos on very often when I'm painting. His calm, soothing, encouraging presence helps me overcome anxieties I have of my own creations, and keeps reminding me that I should be having fun, not stressing about details.

Bob was one of those people who epitomized kindness and compassion. His interest in helping foster animals was one of those things that epitomized this. "Peapod the pocket squirrel" showed up in season 22, but he introduced us to so many little birds and creatures on his show.

This figure is a resin 3D print made from a HeroForge STL I put together.

Rural horrors

Karl Greever was in town a while back, talking about some meteor that fell out on his property. Said he bet it was full of gold an' diamonds and he was going to get rich.  We laughed, 'cause he was always full of big ideas that went nowhere.  Nobody saw him around for a while then, so Pastor sent his boy up there with some food.  He ran back saying old Greever looked green an' half-rotten, an' attacked him with a shovel!  Even left his bicycle, but nobody wanted to go fetch it...

Heaven only knows what Cindy Jane got herself into.  Maybe she touched somethin' unsavory out in the back woods, and got 'fected.  Or maybe she got to readin' one of her great-grandpa's queer old books up in the attic.  Whatever it was, she just ain't herself lately. Used to be such a chatterbox, an' now all she seems to do is gurgle.  An' that arm of hers - never seen anything like it.  Hope I never do again.

Both of these ghastly individuals are 28 mm "Mansions of Madness" figures.

Lovecraftian Creepers and Crawlers

Chthonian and Mi-Go

28mm scale

Drain you of your sanity
Face the thing that should not be

These two Mansions of Madness game figures depict a few of the sanity-draining horrors of the Lovecraftian mythos.  

Chthonians are huge creatures that live deep in the Earth's crust, burrowing through rock and communicating telepathically.  When they (rarely) emerge above ground, they resemble thick segmented worms with squid-like tentacled heads.  They can control humans and other beings telepathically.

Mi-Go are fungal-insectoid alien beings, interstellar travelers that have established a base on the planet Pluto (which they call Yuggoth) to explore our solar system.  They are scientifically advanced and are expert bioengineers and surgeons.  The Mi-Go abduct and transport humans through space by removing their brain and placing it into a "brain cylinder", a device that maintains its life and consciousness and can be attached to sensors to allow sight, hearing and speech.

Cthulhu Swamp Cult Party Shack

15mm scale

I got me a car, it's as big as a Shoggoth
And we're headin' on down to the Cthulhu shack!
I got me a Chrysler, it can carry a ton
So hurry up and bring your Great Old One!

What are those tentacled weirdos up to in their sinister wetlands hideout? A dimensional portal? A colour out of space? They're chanting up a storm!

Time to crash this party!

The Party Shack is made of coffee stir sticks and corrugated cardboard (and a spare LED)... great results!  All miniatures are from Khurasan.

Life and Death on the Nekroplanet

"Nekroplanet Grob" is an incredible, spooky, and grimly whimsical sci-fi setting created by Ana Polanšćak, also known as Gardens of Hecate.  It's a tomb world of red sand and mysterious ruins, protected by terrifying skeletal automatons and bizarre phenomena.  Nevertheless, raiders travel from off-planet to risk everything in search of the treasures of the long-ago tomb-builders...

Tomb Raider 

28mm

Raiders arrive on the necroplanet with heavy weaponry, power armor, and advanced scanners, in the hopes of uncovering mysterious and valuable artifacts, and detecting the planet's defenders before they arrive.  It's always a deadly game of chance, as weapons and sensor technologies you don't always work the way you expect, and the planet has defenses that even the most skilled adventurers have never encountered before...

An EM4 miniature.

Traveling Hexahedron and Hedral Pillars  

Traveling Hexahedrons are black cubes of unknown composition and apparent indestructible nature, which slide across the planet's surface seemingly at random.  As they move, they will indiscriminately crush any creatures in their path.

Hedral Pillars exist in sporadic clusters on the planet's surface. They seem to attract traveling hexahedrons, but a space in between at least three pillars is the only place on the surface a creature cannot be crushed by the Hexahedrons' movements.

(The Traveling Hexahedron concept is created by Ana Polanšćak.  The Pillars are my idea.  Both are created from cheap puzzle toys.)

Nekroplanet Blitzer

The Nekroplanet's Grobnik infantry are lethal and resilient in their own regard, but their heavier support can be truly terrifying.  Although Annihilators are more heavily armed, Blitzers move across the treacherous nekrolith at high speed, seeking intruders on their own or rapidly arriving to reinforce Grobniks in battle.

The Blitzer is made from a dollar store Halloween decoration and the wheels for a toy car.  And it's definitely inspired by the band Megadeth's mascot "Vic Rattlehead"...

Hunting Party

Bounty Hunter and Enhanced Raptor

28mm

Artemisia Kian doesn't use unnecessary violence. But she did choose a career where a lot of violence is usually necessary. Hunting down the scum of the solar system on the run from the law, or their creditors, is just violent work. Fortunately, she doesn't have to do it alone. Her cybernetically-augmented neoraptor partner Belinda is fully equipped both naturally and technologically to track down the most evasive prey.

Artemisia is a Starfinder figure, Belinda is a converted D&D figure.

Two Murder Hobos

D&D Bard and Fighter

28mm

So a friend of mine is running a D&D game, or will be as soon as we can fit five adult schedules together 😄.  We had a session zero to start our character creation and background, and I decided to play a bard.  I've offered to source and even paint figures for anyone who wants, and I've had one taker so far.

Gedly of Lamneth is a bard of the College of Lore, who plays the bass lute.  He has secret demonic heritage which allows him to cast the Fireball cantrip as well as his regular complement of bardic magic.

Thorin is a human fighter, and acolyte of Tyr the god of valor and war.  Tall, fair haired, and lean, he wields a silvered sword.

Both of these figures were lightly converted, which is so much easier with the D&D plastic minis!  For Gedly I removed a hat and added long hair and glasses, and modified his sword blade and lute. For Thorin, I covered up elf ears with more hair, and removed a falcon from his outstretched hand.

World of Cats

Nine Lives

28mm scale

Even the smallest feline is a masterpiece of nature.

In the overgrown ruins of a long-abandoned human city, a colony of cats are living their best lives...

Most of the cat miniatures are from Bad Squiddo Games.  The diorama base is made from thin plywood and foamcore board, coated with polyfilla.  This piece was inspired by playing the video game "Stray", as well as a couple of stunning dioramas by Roman Lappat:

Life in the Mythos

Priest of the Yellow King

28 mm

“This is the thing that troubles me, for I cannot forget Carcosa where black stars hang in the heavens; where the shadows of men's thoughts lengthen in the afternoon, when the twin suns sink into the lake of Hali; and my mind will bear for ever the memory of the Pallid Mask. I pray God will curse the writer, as the writer has cursed the world with its beautiful stupendous creation, terrible in its simplicity, irresistible in its truth--a world which now trembles before the King In Yellow.”
― Robert W Chambers, The King in Yellow and Other Horror Stories

This cultist of the King in Yellow is a piece from the board game "Mansions of Madness".  I made the crude idol he worships before in the style of a similar one that appeared in "True Detective".

Crawling One

28mm scale

“Great holes secretly are digged where earth’s pores ought to suffice, and things have learnt to walk that ought to crawl.” - HP Lovecraft, "The Festival"

Crawling Ones are created when dead wizards or evil mystics die and their remains consumed by masses of worms and invertebrates.  Their evil life essence possesses the mass of creatures, forming a humanoid mass of squirming horror.  This is another "Mansions of Madness" figure.

The Innsmouth Look

Innsmouth villagers

28 mm

The secluded village of Innsmouth.  Odd rumors about its peculiar folk abound in the area around, but the village is isolated by a great marsh surrounding it, and the most... unwelcoming attitude of its residents.  

And a peculiar folk they are. The village is run-down and shabby, one might almost mistake it for abandoned except for the odd figures shambling through the streets.  Figures with a very distinctive faces: bulging eyes, large batrachian lips, receding foreheads.  Certainly rather inbred, but with a suggestion of something else too...

These characterful Lovecraftian figures are from the Mansions of Madness board game (sweater guy) and EM4 miniatures (thin man).  Lots of fun to bring them to life, even though they're not "flashy".

You take my life...

 ... but I'll take yours too

You fire your musket but I'll run you through...

The Trooper

28mm

Staggering forwards, he clenches his bloodied sabre and raises the battle standard in the enemy's face, as shots ring out all around... What can victory even mean, in this slaughterhouse of flesh and metal?

The Trooper is easily both one of Iron Maiden's best and most memorable songs, and one of their most iconic images:

The song is inspired by the Crimean War, specifically the 1854 "Charge of the Light Brigade" in which British soldiers attacked in the face of Russian field guns with severe losses.  So, there's a definite theme of mutual pointless death and the futility of war.

The Trooper is another figure from the excellent Iron Maiden Zombicide box set.

Student Sorcerer

Zimone, Magic Researcher

28mm

Some magic users bumble about in dusty sanctums with dried frogs and herbs. Some pore through ancient books seeking to uncover the old knowledge of others. And some, like Zimone, seek to determine an underlying structure of it all: the reproducible mathematical patterns that bind together every spell from simple fireworks right up to demon summoning... the science of magic.

Zimone is a "Magic: the Gathering" miniature, and the chalkboard is scratch built.  I had a lot of fun with this one 😁