Gudvanger's Monster #10 - The Moleman - WIP

Continuing with the unit from last week, I'm still in the build mode.

Lots of sculpting on this one! I wanted to create a mole-man of sorts, with giant, thick arms and hands, tiny head and using the Vargheist hairy back. Here you can also see my new approach to stitches - while in the olden days I just rolled a greenstuff 'thread' and cut it into small segments to be used as stitches, this time I'm using a brass/copper rod that's bent and cut. There is lot less of those stiches that way, but they are way more substantial and 3d. Hopefully a mix of two approaches will look ok in the finished unit.

Gudvanger's Monster #9 - The Skullman - WIP

Converting an Ogre Bull last week reminded me of a project that I wanted to start years ago - to expand on my 8 Crypt Horrors, which were all converted from ogres back in 2014. Since then the concept for my undead army evolved and I also could afford bigger units. Since I'm in the mood for converting, I'll try moving this project in the right direction, we'll see how many I'll be able to do! My skills also got better since then, so it will be a lot of fun to revisit the unit that taught me how to convert.

First guy here is based on an idea I had in 2014, lots of bones and that wicked Irongut sickle. Adding a skull instead of a normal head was a spontaneous decision and a one that I really like, one can clearly see it's an undead monstrosity and not just a Nurgle one.

Men-at-arms filler - Tarrare - WIP

Second filler for my ramshackle Bretonnian Men-at-arms unit. This time, it's an ogre!

I love ogre bulls as basis for conversions, they are like a blank canvas to try all sorts of stuff. An extra one was laying around, so it was a no brainer to incorporate him in the unit. I think of him as an ogre baby that was left in the countryside to be adopted by peasants and raised as an abnormally large and hungry child. That's why he has no gutplate and uses only Bretonnian equipment. This was also a perfect excuse to use that hanging cow from the giant set - brings out the agrarian theme of the unit even more!

Men-at-arms filler - Crashed Wagon - WIP

After the last long stretch of knights I wanted to try something different, so I switched to build-mode and started setting up my Men-at-arms. I have been buying those dudes for a long time now and gathered a sizeable collection. I plan to have 3 units of them, to avoid painting all of them in the same color! One of them is going to a random bunch of misfits, so not only they carry improvised weapons and shields, they'll have some fillers, just like my old Zombie Legion.

This is the first one, I reused an old orc chariot to serve as a crashed wagon for the dudes. Finally a good excuse to use all those barrel bits I had laying around! One extra man-at-arms is included, as with that wheel he really fits in well.

Knight of the Realm #12

Surprise, surprise, even more Knights of the Realm! This one is actually a renovation, as the model was painted originally in 2008 - but very flat, of course. Now, armed with newfound skills in painting yellow and red, I could redo this brave guy and make him feel less embarrassed among his peers. The main colors are readjusted and a lot of highlights were added.

Besides that, nothing too special - just some Spanish-adjacent yellow and red color scheme.

Knight of the Realm #11

Continuing two things from the previous post: heraldry from A Song of Ice and Fire and a wavy pattern.

I needed a yellow and black color scheme and I always liked the Greyjoy's coat of arms, so I decided to incorporate it. Wavy pattern on the barding was supposed to be a contrast to the smooth one on the Tully one and serve as a thematic fit for the Kraken on this knight. Sadly, when I designed this, I didn't know how much I would dislike painting the pattern... The Emblem itself may not be very kraken-y, but this is how my books were depicting it.

You may also notice, that despite him being a musician, he has a lance strapped to the saddle. When I was making photos of the Errant Knights, I noticed that I really like the "forest of lances" effect that was made in the last rank - and those musicians in the middle really messed it up! I added those light lances to all the already painted musicians and even something similar to the damsel - just to bring some much needed verticality to the whole unit.

Knight of the Realm #10

Yet another Knight of the Realm - and after a particular pegasus knight, yet another that was inspired by A Song of Ice and Fire back in the day. This time, the emblem of the Tully family from that story.

It had the typical Bretonnian red and blue, so it was an easy idea. Besides, I also wanted to try that wavy field - unfortunately I don't enjoy painting it, it's harder than it looks.