Catoblepas, Hydra, Bugbears- oh my!

Welcome to a new episode of Kingsminis- a heart warming coming of age story, where a nameless protagonist (academy award un-nominee, Dave King) sets about curing the world of unpainted lead. Guest starring Rose Byrne (as girl accidentally ran into in bar) and Anthony Head (as actor accidentally walked into in London).

Hey folks. It is true, I have a strange habit of colliding with famous people. I missed Keanu Reeves by a few inches but nearly flattened poor Giles from Buffy one evening in Leister Square. Ms Byrne is, believe it or not, more gorgeous in real life. Probably the pout she gave me after nearly loosing her tray of beers on my manly chest.

Where was I? Oh yes, miniatures.

So what do you get when you cross a warthog with a brontosaur and give it a petrifying gaze?

A Catoblepas of course.








I saw this Ral Partha figure in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Battlesystem Skirmishes book and instantly fell in love. What a gloriously dated and damned ugly figure, said I. I must get one!

I livened mine up by reposing the neck and tail, the original is straight and flat, adding to its dullness.
I decided to kick this one up a notch by painting it based on the AD&D 2nd ed monster manual cover paintings. They had such a dream like quality, blending purples, blues and reds that jumped out from the white backdrop. Awesome stuff.





Next up is a work in progress of the 1980's classic Hydra from Citadel. I decided to go natural snake colors instead of the bright green everyone normally reaches for, including my younger self back in the 1980s.
Not entirely happy with the color choice, but hey gotta try these things.
Needs a little more edging, glazes here and there and some base decorations, plus I have to fix up some of the damaged teeth.

I have a spare of this figure, thinking of using it for some crazy Pete Townsend type Chaos Conversions!

Now what else have I got in my magic bag....





Its a Reaper demon from my massive Reaper Haul. I have a diabolic warband planned in these colors, sort of scorched looking with blue glows. This one is based on a plasticard disc cut using a hole cutting drill attachment.




I used this bad boy to make a dock-able display tray for my wifes amazons, and recently had a spate of making super slim bases using it. I am back to modern lipped based now, as they are cheaper and take less time and effort. I will swap this one over at some point.




And finally a work in progress Bugbear and an Amazon from Reaper. I love the two bugbear minis- so much character, and great fun to paint- I highly recommend them. I will also be rebasing these when I get a chance.