Monday 15 December 2014

Snow Beast!

"For a moment we thought it was the howl of the biting wind, heavy with snow.  Barely able to discern our frozen and mittened hands in front of our faces; where had this storm come from?  

We discovered, too late, that there was more than just the elements to contend with today…

Well it has been a long time coming, but my first entry to this year's challenge is this rather splendid lump of lead as part of the bonus theme round - 'Cold'. It is a 'Heresy Miniatures' Snow Troll that I picked up a while back for no other reason than it looked cool and was half price - it was surely meant to be.  Suffice to say that it has languished, in its many pieces*, at the bottom of the pile until the fortuitous revealing of this year's themed rounds.

*Ten to be exact and took a fair bit of putting together!


 Scaled for 28mm miniatures, this monster stands an impressive 50mm tall, with an even more impressive span of his mighty arms.  It was also to prove to be my first experience with the new airbrush, which certainly helped speed up the process and made the application of paint to all those difficult to reach areas a breeze.


Given that this creature lives in the frozen peaks of some formidable mountain range, it seemed appropriate to make the base snow themed and once again my tub of 'Army Painter' snow flock mixed with PVA glue came to the reduce all based on a 'Warbases' 60mm MDF disc.  


As a final touch, I couldn't resist, but to add some gore to his gaping maw, gigantic hands and of coarse a trail in the snow on the base.


This is, of course, a shameless re-posting of my first entry to the 'Vth The Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge' and forms part of the bonus theme round, 'Cold'.  I was greatly impressed by the other entries in this the first of seven bonus rounds and would employe you to take a look for yourselves and cast a vote or two for your favourites.   Click HERE to see for yourself.


A quick 'before' shot, showing all ten separate parts, well worth the effort though.


90 comments:

  1. Great work and I'm always impressed with your mastery of splattered gore. Also love those polaroid shots up top!

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    1. Thank you Brian, it always seems strange splattering the gore onto something you have previously spent ages working on.

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  2. That's one huge, gory beastie! Splendid job Michael!

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    1. Thank you so much Anne, but I now need to get on and get a few more entries in.

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  3. Creative, very creative! Love this idea of polaroids, and the beautiful paint job...another gem Michael!

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    1. Thank you so much Phil, the Polaroids were great fun to do, I imagined that they were the last photographs of a lost party of explorers.

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  4. Beautiful work as always Michael - I've had my eye on this extra-abominable snowman (and probably half of Heresy's other kits) for some time now. Maybe it's time to set the funds aside!

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    1. Thank you Bill, I do like the Heresy models, they are not always the easiest to put together, but certainly worth persevering with.

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  5. Cracking model and fantastic paintjob. Great Cold submission Michael :-)

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  6. Excellent work sir. Reminds me of that creature from Star Wars Ep. V which tries to eat Luke Skywalker, in the ice cave.

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    1. Thank you Roy, you mean the Wampa on Hoth; that was certainly on my mind when painting this up, but there was also a dire TV movie in the late seventies that was an inspiration.

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    2. I actually have that dire TV movie - it's called Snowbeast, from 1977 - on DVD. For a made-for-TV ripoff of Jaws with the shark replaced by a Bigfoot, it's actually pretty watchable!

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    3. That's the one! Although very young, I can remember been terrified at this, until the monster finally appeared.

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  7. That is a splendid beast! And the gore...truly terrifying!

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    1. Thank you Gordon, the Tamiya clear red is always a winner.

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  8. Quite terrifying and quite excellent Michael. Your work is always improving.

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    1. Thank you Phil, slow progress this year though.

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  9. What a fantastic model Michael...I think your painting has also named him - 'Bloody Hell!'

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    1. Thank you Terry, the red gore certainly brought the white and greys to life.

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  10. Couldn't resist the gore could you?

    A really fantastic entry for the bonus round Michael. Can't wait to see what you come up with when term ends and you've time for some *serious* painting!

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    1. Thank you Edwin, I did pause after finishing the basic painting and questioned the application of gore, but then just went for it - glad I did though.

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    1. He did seem to fit the theme round nicely and thank you Millsy.

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  12. Fantastic mate - those blood effects are bang on!
    Reminds me of the Wampa beast at the start of The Empire Strikes Back

    And if you ever start a Norse Blood Bowl team (which is a really fun team to play), you can use him as your Yeti!

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    1. I was certainly channeling Wampa when painting him and a Norse team you say, sounds interesting. ;)

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  13. Great job Michael! Love the snow and the gore.

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  14. Nice and gory - just the way I like it. Excellent work Michael :)

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    1. Me too, but not sure what that says about us Tamsin? ;)

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  15. A great piece, made even more sinister by the polaroids. the atmospheric quotes seem very Lovecraftian though I don't believe the beast is .

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    1. Thank you Joe, I loved doing the Polaroids and the writing and really need to read some Lovecraft, sounds just my sort of thing.

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  16. Today's forecast calls for blizzard conditions with an 80% chance of violent death.

    Looks fantastic, Michael. That snow flock seems very convincing.

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    1. I hear the forecast that might be revised soon! Thank you so much Mr. Finch, snow is always a worry but on the whole this did what I hoped it would.

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  17. There is nothing shameless about reposting this Michael as it is wonderfully painted and the touches of blood really set it off

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    1. Thank you Pete, certainly the blood on the snow really lifted the base.

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  18. Great work again Michael, love the gore...

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  19. Well he is a messy eater! Nice figure well executed.

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    1. Thank you Clint, not sure I'll be the one to try and teach him table manners though.

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  20. Wow, this guy eats all of his food! The detail with the bloody trail is really something..
    kudos Michael!

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  21. What an ugly brute! Another top notch painting job and just the right amount of gore and splatter.

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    1. Thank you Matt, I'm also wary with the gore, it can sometimes look too much.

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  22. great job and great story!
    well done.
    bye

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  23. This is a really nice vignette, Michael. Mr. Fong is waving his finger too late at the agitators who got his pet mutant Pekingese all riled-up.

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    1. Thank you Jay, but that's the problem mutant Pekingese - they are so quick to temper.

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  24. Very nice indeed. Is the little Chinese fella' telling it off or about to launch it on another attack?

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    1. Thank you Mark, I like to think of him as telling him off for his shocking table manners!

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  25. Michael

    What a wonderfully disgusting looking beast! I hope I don't meet it's kin walking home in the snow this week!

    Cheers
    PD

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    1. Thank you Michael and you take care out there, perhaps take a snow shovel just in case. ;)

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  26. Excellent painting on that monster! Really like the gore effects, especially the drops on the snow. The Polaroids look awesome. The one with the blood stains really sets the tune for what is to come.

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    1. Thank you, I was pleased with the blood on the snow - it just absorbed the drops like a sponge and then I just added a brighter colour.

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  27. I never know what I'll find when I click over but I do know it will be spectacular. And it is! Looks like you had some fun with this one too.

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  28. Loved the pictures and I thought that the use of gore really added interest. I'm still trying to puzzle out how the figure could have been 10 pieces. The last shot with the "guide" is my favorite.

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    1. Thank you Sean, I've added a photograph showing all the pieces before they were pinned together.

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  29. Very nice touch with the polaroids ... extremely creative!

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  30. What a great looking, versatile figure!

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  31. Really nice job on this, and yes it did remind of the movie by the same name!

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    1. Thank you Scott, I may need to reinvestigate said movie - there seems to have been some love for it out there.

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  32. Perhaps you could use him in Zombiecide as the big creature. He definitely looks threatening enough. Great job sir!

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  33. Great job there Michael. That looks amazing.

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  34. Absolutely gorgeous; the gore works brilliantly with the white. Nice found-footage horror photography as well :)

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    1. Thank you Herbert, I was somewhat inspired by your own great work Sir.

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  35. Sob, sob, sniffle, sob. He didn't kill Santa did he?

    Timmy Wilson

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  36. Wow, you've turned nine lumps of lead into something terrifying. The snow base is absolutely amazing too.

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    1. Thank you so much, but it was actually ten lumps! Although not clear in my picture, there are two pieces at the top that go together to form the head.

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  37. Wow what an awesome beast. Great paintwork Michael its a fantastic looking monster and your brushwork has brought it to life brilliantly!

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  38. Fantastic creature, Michael. Love the presentation to - from the grainy "stills" to the addition of the local.

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    1. Thank you Dean, I must admit I do enjoy all the 'fluff' that goes with the miniature.

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  39. Very scary impressive work and great paint .
    Cheers .

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  40. One more time me :)
    What do you use for blood color ?
    Chees .

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    1. Hello again Vincent, the blood is done by using something called Tamiya Clear Red. I think that it is alcohol based and so dries quickly leaving a shine. I mix a little black acrylic with it first to made less bright.

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  41. Fantastic Bloody beast! It scares me of!

    Greetings
    Peter

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    1. I am sorry about that Peter, I do hope you come back! ;)

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  42. Nice way to present a well-painted miniature!
    I still have it in my head to one day buy one of these and convert it into an "Angus" Minotaur... Seeing it presented like this nudges me that much closer to that day. :D

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    1. A minotaur conversion, that would be great. It is such a great model, bit a real pain to put together.

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