Beware the Jabberwock

The wee beastie I mentioned in my last post is the C29 Jabberwock from, I think, 1985. I got him (or her) on eBay a few months ago and have been planning on using it as a test piece prior to having a crack at my growing collection of DS series Nick Bibby dragons (in fact, the collection is almost fully grown - I just need to hunt down the lava dragon. But that's a story for another post).

The Jabberwock in its natural state

Of course, the Jabberwock is also a Nick Bibby model so it's sort of fitting that it is first cab off the rank. So in keeping with my keep it simple philosophy I've based my approach on the article on painting - wait for it - Nick's dragons in WD96. After priming with white and washing with Nuln Oil for a bit of undershading, I added the base colours then drybrushed progressively lighter shades alternating with ink washes. Which gives this sort of result:

Beware the Jabberwock, my son...

I was aiming for 'swamp beast' - dirty, slimy, oozy - and I'm fairly happy that I hit the mark. The skin is perhaps a little dirtier than I would have hoped for, a result I think of using too much Agrax Earthshade over P3 Mouldy Ochre. I had to use a yellow ink glaze to restore the yellow as it ended up too brown.

I was quite happy with the purple wattles on the face - a base of P3 Underbelly Blue washed with VGC violet ink. That's the big lesson I've learned from this model - the base coast can be a much lighter shade than I think it should be, and that'll give it a decent contrast when the ink wash is applied.

So I think I feel confident enough now to tackle one of the smaller dragons from the DS range, though I want to do a few more skaven/elves/chaos dwarves/halflings first...

A rag tag bunch

A few months ago I picked up a job lot of 20 miniatures described as 'Citadel historical' from Gumtree. I don't have many humans, and figured a bit of diversity would be useful. Plus I have an Empire Volley Gun from back in the day that I plan to paint up one day, and a small detachment of troops to accompany it would be good.

Turns out they weren't Citadel, but a mixed bag of Marauder, Harlequin and a few unknowns.Most of them are quite nice, though, especially the handful of MM62 citizens from Marauder, which I think have loads of character. In keeping with my recent philosophy of keeping it simple, I've painted up a few...

Keep it simple...

The halberdiers are from Harlequin, and being largely armour were quite quick to do - two sessions which is good going for me! I used the black-undercoat-white-drybrush technique, but with a heavier drybrush. Base coast, then wash with a deeper shade (not Nuln Oil, as I did for the Heroquest project). I highlighted the faces for a bit of practice, drubrushed the metal bits and voila.

The other two models have a very grizzled old veteran feel to them, so I tried to get an appropriate look - a bit shabby; the sort of characters who have been on many a campaign but are seeing out their days as watchmen in a provincial town.

I'm keeping my eye out for any more MM62s, as I like the idea of having some non-combatants for any games I might play in the future, plus they're a fun range!

Next up on the painting table is a couple of elves, and then I think I may tackle a wee beastie...