Showcase: The Beast in the Lagoon

Introduction

For a while, I've had a feeling that a giant sea monster would be a useful addition to my collection of models.  Obviously it wouldn't fit with many of the games I play, but it should work well in the Pulp/Lost World genre, or fighting against Jason and the Argonauts.  Alternatively (and I admit that this is a bit of a stretch), it could serve as an alien opponent for a starship's away team on an uncharted, watery planet.  Or perhaps it's the "pet" for some megalomaniac evil overlord in a spy story?

Heck, I don't need to rationalise this; I just want one!

The Swamp Creature

I even knew which model I wanted for my nightmare maritime encounter: Scotia Grendel's F0070 - Swamp Creature.  Well, I finally ordered one at Carronade 2018, although I did have to wait a few days for it to be delivered.  It's now finished and I present it here for your entertainment.

The swamp monster comes in 4 parts: a thick, resin base with the head and smaller tentacles, plus 3 separate, larger tentacles that fit into recesses on the base.  These weren't a perfect fit, but a little carving and filing soon fixed that; no filler was needed.

The model was very simple to paint:

• One colour ("pigskin") for the body and tentacles.
• One colour (pale violet) for the suckers/undersides of the tentacles.
• Wash the monster all over (including the suckers) with a very dark brown.
• The eyes were painted black, then wet-brushed with silver to make them slightly sparkly/shiny.  A small, white spot was added to each eye.
• The water was base-coated with Paynes' Grey (a dark blue-grey, almost black), then highlighted with viridian green (a blue-green) and re-highlighted with a paler version of the same.
• For once, I've actually used a gloss varnish for a model!  This helps both the sea and the creature to look wet; not something I would usually do for land-based models.

So, this guy is big.  I've added a regular 28mm figure ("Crazy Joe", the lighthouse keeper) to the picture above in order to give a sense of size.  The beast isn't maybe capable of dragging ocean liners to the bottom of the ocean, but should be able to manage a steam launch, log raft, dugout canoe or sampan without too much difficulty.  And of course, those tentacles can probably reach quite a long way, even onto dry land or into a larger ship!

Sleep well, don't have nightmares 🙂!