The Call of the Wild

As June is creeping ever closer, I thought I really ought to sit down and get my Wendigo finished before the end of May – especially as I failed to complete my monsters for last year’s Monster May(hem).

And as Forgotten Heroes 2021 is due to start on the 1st June, I need to clear the decks for that project.

Work stuff got in the way, as it does, along with this side project:

That’s right, baby, more beer! 5 gallons of Irish Stout to be precise. I may have strayed a little from the recipe – by adding a tin of dark treacle to the mix – but I am confident this won’t fuck it up.

Well, as confident as I can be, bearing in mind this is only my second brew.

Anyway, enough beer talk, on to the monster…

When we last saw it, it looked like this;

I decided that a Burnt Umber wash was called for on the entire model, as this should give a good base for the next step.

This does work a treat combined with the Linen I used for the bones and antlers, as it does give an aged bone look.

It also tones down the Chocolate Brown I’d used for the base and gave some shading to the model.

Once this had dried, I broke of the White paint and a small sponge. This was used to gently dab all exposed parts of the monster, which gave a bit of a mottled appearance to the plain bits and acts as dry-brushing on the raised parts.

I then moved on to the base, dry-brushing with Jungle Green, Goblin Green and Orc Brown to give the impression of vegetation.

The teeth and exposed rib cage were given a wash of hand mixed pink, and the ‘mane’ given a wash of Marine Dark Blue. The latter was not watered down quite far enough, so out came the sponge again to mottle the fur.

The final touches were to add some Cherry Red to the lower jaw and the tips of each clawed hand, to suggest that the spirit of cannibalism had been rooting around in someone’s chest cavity and paint the eyes with Classic Gold, as when you’re driving at night and your headlights pick out a deer or fox by the roadside, it does look like their eyes are glowing gold.

I think the sponging has worked quite well, as it has added some texturing to what was a flat surface and also makes it looks like it has been dusted with snow, which is appropriate given that it is a creature of the Great White North.

Pretty pleased with how it turned out, as it does look suitably horrific.

My next post will be the first for Forgotten Heroes 2021, which with be the 6th year we’ve indulged in this madness, where I shall be introducing my chosen subject and explaining how I intend to create him.

Joining me this year (so far) are Dave from Wargamessculptors Blog, Simon from Fantorical, Roger from Rantings from Under the Wargaming Table, Keith from Dead Dick’s Tavern & Temporary Lodging, Alan from Golden Age Heroes and Harry from War Across the Ages. They will ge joined by Matt from PM Painting and Tom from The Good Ground.

So, to paraphrase Cap “Assemblers… Assemble!”

And if anyone else wants to get involved, just comment on this post and I’ll add you to the list.

“A Kind of Desolate and Terrible Odour…”

Whilst players of the tabletop RPG Call of Cthulhu may be aware of the Great Old One named Ithaqua the Wind-Walker, it is less likely that they may have read the original tale by Algernon Blackwood that this entity is based upon, The Wendigo, from which the above quote comes.

And as my entry for The Angry Piper’s Monster May(hem) challenge is ParagonStar’s version of this creature, I thought it appropriate.

However, whilst we are two weeks into this challenge, I have been somewhat lax in getting anything done…

So, first order of the day was to water down some PVA glue, then paint this all over the base. This was then sprinkled with sand, then left to dry.

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Once dry, the entire model was given a coat of GW Corax White, which is a pale grey.

I then tried painting the antlers and exposed bones with Docrafts Linen, but discovered that it had partially dried up, so the first coat was too thin, so repainted them with Docrafts Blanc (i.e. white).

The base was then painted Docrafts Chocolate Brown.

Deciding that the antlers and exposed bones looked too white, I added some water to my Docrafts Linen to rejuvenate it – successfully – and repainted them, then painted the rest of the body in Docrafts Light Grey, which is actually darker than the Corax White.

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So, due to the issues with repainting, whilst I spent a long time on this model, it doesn’t look like I’ve actually done very much.

However, unlike last year, I will finish the challenge this time – and then it’s on to Forgotten Heroes 2021 in June! For further details on that, take a look at my previous post.

Forgotten Heroes 2021

As wargamers, we are fortunate to live in an age where if you want a particular character in 28mm, then you can pretty much find a manufacturer who makes it.

Want the original Ghostbusters from the 1984 film of the same name, the Visitors from the original 1983 V series or Cylons from the original Battlestar Galactica? Off to Crooked Dice you go.

Din Djarin, Bo-Katan Kryze or Paz Vizsla from The Mandalorian? Diehard Miniatures is where you need to go.

And if you want the cast of the 1981 BBC adaptation of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the Colonial crew, Imperious Leader and Lucifer from Battlestar Galactica or the cast of The Last Starfighter – Tangent Miniatures has got your back.

However, you may crave a more obscure character, such as Marshal Law,

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The Crimson Bolt from the 2010 James Gunn movie Super,

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Or Thermoman from the BBC tv series My Hero,

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Well, that’s what Forgotten Heroes is all about – an opportunity for you to unleash your creative side and make the figure you have always wanted.

So, the rules of this community art project are as follows;

During the month of June, you must create a figure of a recognisable hero or villain in whatever scale you desire. However, you cannot use a base figure that is an official or unofficial version of that figure.

This can be as simple as repainting a Heroclix Blue Beetle as the obscure Marvel villain Goldbug, converting an existing figure, like I did with my version of the Eighth Doctor last year, or sculpting a figure from scratch, if your talents lie in this area.

To take part, all you need to do is comment on this or subsequent posts, stating you wish to be involved and I’ll add you to the list.

I’m posting this now to give those who DO wish to take part a chance to gather the necessary components for their chosen figure.

I already know exactly who I’m going to do… and it’s not Big Wheel (sorry Keith).

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However, it IS someone suitably ridiculous – because that’s how I roll.

Next up, the Wendigo gets some paint…

A Monstrous Wait

It has been a while since I’ve posted on the Buffet, due to issues with work, but Keith over at Dead Dick’s Tavern & Temporary Lodgings has tempted me back to my hobby bench with Monster May(hem).

Having looked through my box of unpainted miniatures, I decided that the figure that best suited the description of a monster was this one;

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This the Wendigo from ParagonStar, which I bought a while ago to see if resin 3D printed figures were actually any good – plus it’s a cool looking version of this creature.

As this particular resin-printed figure is relatively smooth, the challenge will be to try and give it some texture. I shall be doing this by adding some fine sand to the base and using sponging on the figure itself. We shall see how successful I am.

Now, as people who regularly follow this blog will know, I don’t usually back Kickstarters – however, I have actually backed my first one today.

This is because I have been following the development of these figures on this guy’s blog and felt that they fit the aesthetic I wanted for my Distant Stars project, as they remind me of the Bespin cloud car pilots.

So, the 1000ft General has released his first Kickstarter for his Astro Guards, which can be found here. The lowest pledge level is $40, which gets you 9 metal miniatures, all different, as shown below.

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He has already met and exceeded the amount he needed – not bad seeing it only went up today. I think they’re pretty damn cool and as they will be delivered around my birthday, I consider this as an early present.

Now, as the rules of Monster May(hem) mean that I have to complete my monster before the end of May, it won’t be as long between this post and my next.