Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Hot off the Desk: Shadows of Brimstone Darkstone Scorpions

Angry scorpions!


In my first post-GenCon update, I think I'll do a picture dump of my Dark Stone Scorpions for Shadows of Brimstone.

This project started as a quick and dirty test of Greenstuff World's Color Shift Paint.  I originally intended just to hit the models with a basecoat, maybe highlight the eyes, and get them on the table quickly.



But, as these things go, one thing led to another and I started adding details, then did a custom base, and by then it was too late to call it a "quick" project.

I've had these done for awhile, but was happy enough with them that I decided to take them to GenCon and enter in the Flying Frog painting competition.

I'm happy to say that I won (!!!) first place in the Best Enemy category - meaning I took back-to-back wins from Flying Frog, since I also won a category in 2018.

It's super cool to win something, but this left a bigger impression on me:  middle of the convention, I was at the Frogs booth buying stuff, and noticed a guy with the scorpion kit box in his hand. He brought his wife to the contest case, pointed at the box, then my figure, and back again and gestured excitedly. She smiled and nodded, he pulled out a phone and took several pictures of my scorpion. I lurked quietly and watched this happen.  I can't describe the feelings I had; my work was impacting someone else and making him excited about the product.

But enough of that.... As a test, I found the color shift paint to work pretty well.  It was easy to work with (Primer, gloss coat, and then airbrushed the paint unthinned on the model).

Primer black.

Initial basecoat of the color shift paint. The color shift paint is deceptively easy to work with.  It goes down very easily with the airbrush, but needs to go over a glosscoat.

Starting to detail the crystals around the collar.  Compare this picture to the one above - light intensity and angle makes a huge difference in how the colors appear.

The kit comes with this "terrain" piece to set the figure at an aggressive angle. I love the scorpion's sculpt but this terrain piece wasn't floating my boat.

I sourced aftermarket bases from Tabletop Art (available in the US via Noble Knight) and then found these metal skulls to stand in place of the stock terrain piece.  They were the perfect height for the back leg.

Skulls in place; kitty litter "rocks" to fill in the gap on the second leg.

Initially, I painted the heads black/purple. I really liked them this way but decided they needed to be brighter.

Bases painted separately, here's the final mock up. Spraying the heads orange helped provide focus that the minis needed.  These faces are some of the tightest airbrush work I've done to date.

Final product, front view.

Final product, rear view.

Final product, side.
In the case at GenCon.  Category required a single figure; I picked the one I liked better for entry.

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