Something Hissing This Way Comes

I feel like I'm between projects at the moment, with nothing I urgently need to get painted. Which means a dip in productivity. But my lead pile has been well bolstered this year, so I'm taking the chance to finish off some oddments.

This pair of giant snakes join my Minoans for Aegeus. The game has a number of summon-able creatures and what better than a couple of massive snakes. I was stuck for ages for how to paint them, I'm a bit of a stickler for colour themes across a force, but the Minoans had come out in bright of turquoise and blue. These are mythological creatures, which gives some room for imagination, but I didn't think either the blue or turquoise would work. Then it struck me that I could have two themes - colourful humans but the mythological creatures with a more subdued palette.

Manufacturer is Otherworld miniatures - very fine sculpts but a tad pricey at £11 for both if I recall.

Uh-oh, of all the places for an Ophidiophobe to end up

What happened to Aegeus, you ask? Well, not a huge amount over the summer unfortunately. A bit much real life in the way. But I'm sure Gharak and I will get a bit more play testing this autumn. (he's been prodding me to paint something for it, anyway).

Plenty of other stuff on the painting table, a few bits for BKC, more for Aegeus, SciFi vehicles etc. I even put some paint on some Napoleonic cavalry, shock horror.

Roar!

Or should that be 'Mooooo!'

As trailed recently, I've been finishing off my Minoan Minotaur for Aegeus this week. A lovely miniature from Otherworld miniatures, he stands at an impressive 45mm tall, I liked how he was tall but more like a gangly human, rather than GW-style muscled beast. I did slightly convert him have a cloth tunic rather than chain mail, with Mythological Greece not being well known for their chain mail.

He looks upset. Thorn in his toe perhaps?

Priced at £9 he wasn't cheap, but not too expensive either for such a fine miniature. With two new projects I seem to be in a buying phase at the moment: a small Otherworld order arrived today, two harpies and two giant snakes, more mythological assistance for my Minoan raiders. Each pack being the same price as the Minotaur they seemed a bit more of a luxury purchase, but the miniatures are very fine.

The skin didn't quite come out right here, the shade is a tad too grey - I wanted him to look quite human but with a very pallid flesh tone. As am afterthought I carefully lined the ubiquitous devlan mud over the grey, which improved matters somewhat. I am a lot happier with his face and snout, transitioning from black to pink flesh.

With a kneeling Redoubt miniature for scale.

I did get distracted by the Trooping of the Colour on TV yesterday, which inspired (well, distracted) me to finally fix up the rest of the Colours I picked up at Salute. It took a while longer than expected as I'm repainting the finials to suit my style. Here is a work in progress, I've still some touching-up to do from my cack-handed removal of the previous poles. The Guerilla standard bearer came out nicely, a custom design from Flag Dude

Image of the Virgin Mary on one side. The other reads 'Dios, Patria, Rey'.

After the Trooping of the Colour there was a flypast for the Queen's birthday, I managed to snap this view of the Red Arrows.

Not sure what'll have finished next, either my Minoan raider infantry or a small batch of Khurasan Command infantry for 15mm SciFi.