Friday 5 April 2013

Hopping Vampires




These wonderfully bizarre denizens of the night from 'Black Hat Miniatures' were supposed to have been a Halloween post last year, but with one thing and another they just didn't get done.  Although not technically historical miniatures, I did manage to shoehorn them into the closing rounds of 'The 3rd Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge' under the disguise of sleepwalking Chinese priests, but was never really happy with the initial results.  So after a period of inactivity I have decided to ease myself back into the painting chair by reworking them a little.


Original challenge entry


So what on earth is a Chinese "hopping" vampire or zombie?  Simply put it is a type of reanimated corpse prolific in Chinese legends and folklore.  The 'Jiangshi' rest during the day in a coffin or other suitably dark and dank lair - I understand caves are popular!    At night, however, they move around by hopping, with their arms outstretched.  Now I appreciate that this doesn't sound very scary but be warned as they kill living creatures to absorb their 'qi' or life force.




Just to put your minds at rest I have found various deterrents used in the banishing of these beastly bloodsuckers and list them here for your convenience:

  • Mirrors,  Hopping Vampires are said to be terrified of their own reflections; well do you blame them?
  • A rooster's call, "Ghosts withdraw when they hear a rooster's call", how very poetic!
  • Jujube seeds, "Nail seven jujube seeds into the acupoints on a corpse's back"; not sure about this one, sounds decidedly problematic to me.
  • Fire; always a favourite.
  • Hooves of a black donkey; I ask you!
  • Thread stained with black ink; not what I would be looking for if I came across a Hopping Vampire, but each to their own and finally,
  • Blood of a black dog (see author's previous note!)




65 comments:

  1. What a fun post Michael. Well done! Now I'm off to find some Jujubes.

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  2. Presumably with the jujube seeds this is to prevent re-animation of a corpse rather than as a method of tackling an already re-animated one?

    Great painting! :)

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    Replies
    1. Now you see that was my concern, trying to attach ones seeds to a hopping, reanimated corpse just screamed disaster!

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  3. Personally I will be using "sticky rice" although I might be getting my Chinese hoping vampire stories muddled up.

    Really nice to see them. I wonder if they are for the "Secret project!"? I'm gonna assume so.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Clint, I have absolutely no idea where these are going to end up, yet another impulse buy!

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  4. Cool figures and brushwork! Well done Michael!

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  5. Great work Michael..you must have quite a collection

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    Replies
    1. That is very kind of you Captain, the collection is certainly taking a more esoteric feel of late.

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  6. Nice paint work Michael, and I learn't something!

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  7. They are great Michael and look so much better after the repaint. But where does one get Jujube seeds from let alone a corpse

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Pete, really pleased that I reworked them, as for the seeds your guess is as good as mine old boy.

      Delete
  8. Unusual and impressive, inspired work!
    Phil.

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  9. I'll add another banishing element...the breath of Ray! Excellent work Michael.

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  10. Nice work Michael!! They do look a lot different!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Ray, not sure what I'm going to do with them though!

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  11. I'm fan of this figures , great , good work and good paint Michael
    Cheers

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  12. Ah, so that's why they had hopped back onto the painting table last week? Much improved Sir (if that's at all possible).

    Pip pip

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    Replies
    1. That is incredibly kind of you my good man.

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  13. Nice figures - they remind me of the James Hong character in 'Big Trouble in Little China'. He had blue power arcs running from hand to hand, but I don't know how you'd do that!

    Edwin

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  14. Love these figures and you have done a fine job with them.

    When I was working on expansions for Warrior Heroes I was going to include stats for them but it didn't work out.

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  15. Why bother with all the traditional tricks when there´s Remington 870MCS about? :-D
    Great paintjob.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Paul and a always a good choice of companion come the apocalypse!

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  16. Wonderful figures and great paintwork Michael!

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  17. Hilarious! A fine painter who turned them into great looking models. Well done Michael. :)

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  18. What a bizarre set of figures. Nice job with them.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Scott, certainly a little diverse even for me.

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  19. Great painting skills for us to view here. Plus, I got a good couple of smiles and chuckles just looking at them...they are funny looking to me.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Jay, always delighted to bring a smile to the world.

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  20. I have Hopping Vampires as the Cheerleaders for my Terracotta Warriors Blood Bowl team - very fun figures!

    http://tasmancave.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/terracotta-tearers.html

    I also read that they were buried vertically with their legs tied together to make it more difficult to escape the grave, and even if they did they would then have to 'hop' after their vcitims - giving time for escape.

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  21. I loved your Terracotta Warriors and used them as a guide when painting my own, would have loved to have had some of the JJD Hopping Vampires but sadly they have stopped producing them!

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  22. Wonderful painting Michael.
    Fangs for sharing.
    Pat.

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  23. These guys look scary...Well done.

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  24. The repaint really makes them stand out. Well done sir. Thanks so much for the lore lesson as well.

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  25. CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR STELLAR WINS IN THE CHALLENGE! Now, I've got to go as I'm not commenting anywhere else for another week :)

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