Summertime and the Livin's not Easy

The end of June can only mean two things... Summer has arrived in these parts and it's time for the first entry in the Helping Hand Challenge. (Be sure to check out the other participants at Duke of the Blood Keep and Deviant Designs Deeds.)

With his bronzed complexion, beach-blonde hair, and sun-worshiper tattoo, Otherworld's porter appears ready for a day down the shore. One can only speculate the chest he carries contains either beer or self-tanning products.

Appearances can be deceiving. This guy's more likely to spend his day hauling others' loot from the depths of the earth. Such is the lot of a hireling.

Leather, wood, & brass painted first

 
Typically I paint skin, then clothing, then everything else. Here the presence of the chest and bracer right up against the face called for a different approach. I poked into the least accessible areas with black, painted the chest and bracer fully, and only then moved on to the skin. Had I followed my usual progression I'd likely still be doing touch-ups and cursing profusely.

The colors used for the principle skintone are pictured above. Reaper's Bloodless Skin was worked into the highlights. Previous attempts to paint undead with a mix of "zombie" and "normal" skintones taught me that sometimes a little green can actually make a mini look more alive.

Some additional glazing provided the five o'clock shadow and the reddish tones on the cheeks and nose.

The tattoo was painted with a mix of purple and Reaper's Bronzed Skin. I kept it simple... in general, my freehand technique needs some work and I didn't want to push my luck.

Colors used on the padded armor

As the HH Challenge moves forward I hope to experiment with techniques that I have previously shied away from (freehand, object source lighting, and NMM to name three). On this mini I tried my hand a some NMM in particular. Hopefully the hardware on the chest looks like brass, the buckles on the armor and belt look like copper, and the axehead looks like steel.

Enough chatter. It's time for some pictures.

PTS IV: Very Hush Hush

The Helping Hand Challenge has commenced with the first of twelve minis under the brush. Regrettably, I was unable to sneak a WIP image past the censors. Confounded censors... some rubbish about national security and saving pictures for the big reveal at the end of the month. 

Who am I to argue? 

Sticky Pseudo-Mummy

The Fiend Folio Project has gained another member. This time out it's an adherer... the oft disparaged sticky mummy.

Your mother was a lint roller and your father resembled Boris Karloff.

Basically this guy's gig consists of hanging out looking just like a mummy until encountered, after which it becomes evident that A) he's not a mummy, B) he's not even undead, and C) everything (and I do mean everything) sticks to him as if he were covered in super-strength flypaper. (For more on the adherer's checkered past and uncertain present, check out Bogleech* and the recent offering from Patch at The Daily Bestiary.)
 * The source of this post's title, in fact.

I've come close to doing this conversion before. What could be easier than slapping a sword onto a mummy's chest, after all. The deal-breaker was my fear that the result would look like a mummy with a sword slapped on its chest.

That changed with the recent release of FGCW16 - Undead by Fenris Games. Clearly this is a mummy of sorts, but with numerous atypical features (elongated tongue, tentacles, grotesquely enlarged left arm). Just the thing for a monster that looks like a mummy but isn't.

The actual conversion was easy enough. I filed a groove into the left shoulder, nestled a sword from my spare parts box among the various sores and writhing tendrils, and used green stuff to extend one of the wrappings over the blade. Hopefully that last part conveys the sense that the wrappings are themselves animate and actively involved in the adhesion process. If nothing else, it makes the sword look like a proper part of the mini as opposed to a clumsy "bolt-on" by yours truly.

The FF entry mentions the adherer's affinity for spiders so the base topper by Otherworld seemed fitting.

Painting followed the mode of some of my recent greyed-out undead, only this time with a green fleshtone as opposed to blue or purple. The tips of the tentacles wound up bright pink as I really wanted them to stand out. The sword is my attempt at NMM bronze following the advice found at Sprocket's Small World.

I've Googled "Adherer Miniature" to no avail so this may well be an internet first. You're welcome, internet. While I sit here feeling extremely pleased with myself, do enjoy the following: