Friday, January 31, 2014

They Might Be Giants, 2014

Over at the Reaper message boards, there's an informal competition started for 2014.  Normally I'm not much concerned with competing, but a year long contest to paint a 'large' mini was too tempting.  It's also an informal event, so I'm using it as a chance to paint something I don't do very often.

Cue the Reaper Bones material.  I picked up a few giants to give me some choices (and free shipping, never say no to free shipping).  The cloud giant, frost giant and remorhaz are all interesting, as is the Belladonna figure I grabbed a while ago (L to R in the photo).  Far right is a lovely dram of Jura Superstition single malt scotch whisky, but that's for another post.



However, the one I picked is a fire giant (you can sort of see her in the upper left, above).  I like her stance, the facial expression, and that cloak. Wow. Intimidates me as much as makes me drool to paint it.  She'll need some straightening and other prep, plus some sort of scenic base.  I'm thinking lava flows but we'll see. 




Looking in the Pathfinder Bestiary, I see fire giants are lawful evil and highly regimented and militaristic.  Their hair also looks like flame.  Needless to say, this has my artistic gears churning.  A lava flow base, dark skin and flaming hair.  Something with colour but not too overwhelming for her cloak and some cool armour.  Hmmm, I could enjoy this.  

I check the Pathfinder books not to limit creativity (as I'll ignore what I don't like), but for both inspiration and the basic fact that I use these minis for gaming.  As much as they 're display pieces, I like having some pretty models for the game.  As a GM pre-painted plastics are fine for hordes, but when you've got a special villain, recurring character or something like that, being able to plonk down the exact mini is awesome.  (And if any of my players are reading this, beware! Unless I'm faking you out.  Or not.)

First, however, I have some Eldar models to finish up, but then this will be both a fun project and a palate (palette?) cleanser.  Something in between wargaming models.  

2 comments:

Hivemind aka Starminer said...

Hey Rowan,

I may be participating in this myself. What's your Reaper forum screen name? Mine is Starminer! You might remember that handle from the old days of Star Wars d6!

Cheers,
Nick

Rowan said...

Just my name. Makes it easier.