Thursday 11 December 2014

HOTT: The Dragon

It's been quite a while since I added any new elements to my existing armies for Hordes of the Things (as opposed to creating new armies - though even that's not happened for a long time).  With that in mind, I bought a Skeletal Dragon from Reaper, intending to add him (her?) to my 28mm undead army - "The Cabal of the Black Hand".

For a long time, the poor guy languished on my workbench, having been built and undercoated but not based or painted.  However, it's fast approaching the time of year when I bring out my HOTT Santa Army for a battle and I figured that this year he could take on the undead hordes.  This spurred me on to complete the model, so here we have ... the undead dragon!

This isn't the largest dragon model available; he/she/it fits on a 60mm x 80mm base very comfortably.  Although he's quite low to the ground, I've calculated his scale length from nose to tail at over 20 feet, which ought to be quite enough to scare most people!

I didn't want other models (especially cavalry!) to tower over him too much, so I've placed the dragon on a rocky outcrop.  This was made from a slice of cork bark, with some small chunks of cork and some filler to blend in the edges.

If you examine the original model from Reaper then you'll notice that I have given my dragon wings - or at least, I've filled in the gaps between the wing bones.  I used green stuff, rolled out into very thin sheets and then cut to the right shape.  This was a very difficult material to work with, so the wings ended up torn and sagging in places.  I've made no attempt to correct this; if anything I think it adds to the necrotic effect.

Painting was very simple: a base colour and a wash for all the main areas (rocks: grey, skeleton: pale tan, wings: pale grey/green), followed by a darker wash.  Once the few details (eyes, horns & claws) were added, that's about it!

I've got to go to the local pantomime (Cinderella) this evening, so that's all for now.  Until next time, then!

24 comments:

  1. Cracking stuff C6. I actually thought the wings were really well done by the original sculptor and was actually admiring how good they looked, being saggy and torn etc. Then read you added them!! Wow!! Fantastic work and I bet it dominates the table. Certainly I wouldn't like to be Santa facing it :-)

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    1. Thanks! I did consider just using tinfoil for the wings, but I decided that it would probably look too artificial. I'm pleased now that I did it using green stuff, though it was very messy at the time.

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  2. Hope you enjoyed the Panto.
    Nothing SCREAMS fantasy like a Dragon does. Dead undead or alive at 20 foot long it would scare the holy saints out of me! A very nice addition to the forces of evil.

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    1. Thanks, Clint - the panto was pretty good (and I'm very hoarse today, partly from cold and partly from all the shouting and singing :-) ).

      Although 20 feet may sound large, half of that is the beast's tail. If you take away the wings and tail then it's probably the size of a large crocodile - big enough to be scary to a man but scarcely a devourer of cities!

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  3. That is quite a model! Wonderful work Sir.

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  4. Great work C6. Let's hope Santa doesn't give him indigestion!

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    1. Well, the thing about being swallowed whole by a skeletal beast is that you'll just pop out the other end in the same state as when you went in. Probably.

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  5. Everything about your dragon is impressive - from its size, its wings, its base and its paintwork. That's a model to be proud of, Hugh!

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    1. Thanks, Bryan. I am pleased with the way the dragon turned out, though I don't think he's as big as you think he is!

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  6. Fantastic piece. I ordered one last week. I like what you did with the wings.

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    1. Thanks, Robert. This is a slightly fiddly model to glue together - like many skeletons there isn't much bulk to the joints between the various pieces.

      I'd be interested in hearing about your experiences when you get your own version built and painted :-) .

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  7. He may have been unloved once nut now should be taking pride of place in the cabal, - what a superb paintjob !

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    1. Thanks, Joe. The painting on this model is all very simple, really - it's got large uniform blocks and relatively little detail in other colours. I sometimes suspect that it's more about the choice of palette than anything else.

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  8. He looks great! I like the basing as well, it makes all the sense to have him really stand out, it is a centerpiece to any army, after all!

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    1. Thanks, Mathyoo! I'm looking forward to using this dragon in a game and seeing if he works as well as I hope. Of course, there's that old gaming maxim that anything nicely painted and new will perform miserably...

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  9. That looks super! Basing is nice as well.

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    1. Thanks, Simon. Nothing in this model was technically very difficult (apart from the wings, perhaps), but it just seems to have worked well. Now if I could just bottle that and sell it :-) ...

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  10. Undead dragons must be the ultimate good guy's nightmare. You've had your hero St Giorgios/Beowulf/Bard the Bowman dispose of the boss monster. Hero departs, and the monster is back (with all the vulnerable pressure points missing).

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    1. Well, the vulnerable pressure point is now the wizened little necromancer or other guy who is controlling the beast. So, still vulnerable to swords, lances or whatever your knight has as a favourite implement :-) .

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  11. If you're interested in seeing someone else's technique for making wings you could check out this post on the Oldhammer forum,

    http://forum.oldhammer.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=4310&hilit=spined

    Cheers.

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    1. That works very well, doesn't it? I hadn't thought of building the wings up with layers of glue like that.

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  12. Very cool looking model and nice work as usual. :)

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