THE SUGAR PLUM FAMILIAR and SANITY CLAWS

Lately I'm on a Familiar kick. The release of the Silver Tower boxed set has somewhat revitalized an interest in these horrible yet cute little things. Their diminutive size belies their sinister nature, as so much of the mythology surrounding the familiar in fantasy is also attached to the concept of homonculi. This coincided with the upcoming and previous holidays, and how each year (so far as of recent) I have tried to paint something new in the Christmas...spirit. A few years ago it started with THE GREAT PUDDING, a long-forgotten chaos god relegated to a single entry way back in the ROGUE TRADER days.

Anyway, I acquired a mini about two years ago I really wanted to paint, but was a afraid to do. Eventually I gathered the courage and painted SANITY CLAWS.

So now, I decided he needed a companion. Why not make a familiar to help him out with his Christmas Curses? And why not make it a herald or lesser daemon, as it were, of THE GREAT PUDDING??!

I went forth and converted a Famous Familiar* jack-o-lantern sculpt into a Sugar Plum Familiar, a...Sanity's Little Helper of sorts...

 

And, So, here they are together...

 

*Now (only?) available in resin, and the cast of characters has been reduced to less than half!

Aekold Helbrass, Oldhammer Champion of Tzeentch

 From The Lexicanum:

"Aekold Helbrass is a champion of Tzeentch who bears a very unusual gift: the Breath of Life. This gift causes anything around him to spring into life. Even things long dead, such as the wood of a stave, renew. He is followed by a trail of green grass and other plants. It is very easy to tell where he has gone in the otherwise-desolate Chaos Wastes. However, this does not stop Aekold from slaying his opponents mercilessly."

Aekold is a miniature that I have wanted to paint ever since I saw this example on Cool Mini or Not:

Aekold Helbrass (2002) by Qiao Zhong

I was thoroughly inspired by the spectral nature of the tunic in particular, but wanted to emulate the effect rather than duplicate it, thereby making it my own interpretation.

I was always interested in Aekold's fluff; in particular, his curse that is known as the Breath of Life. It is a blessing and a curse, in keeping with Tzeentch, as his targets heal as well as he does. However, Aekold's sword, Windblade, also allows him to float, despite the fact he was cast as a miniature on foot.

As a result, I opted to chop off the earthbound feet and find some suitable replacement, which happened to be goblin feet with lovely bandages (hinting at the Breath of Life) and toenails that could be painted a lovely brass!

Other tchotchkes include the brand-new familiar from the Silver Tower set, Slop, and of course the-always cool mushrooms from the older plastic Night Goblin set, which makes a great hint at advancing the narrative of the Breath of Life. I intend to include more elements and nick away at super-fiddly details that no one else would notice! :-)

Slambo, Oldhammer Chaos Champion of Malal

I finally managed to find the long-OOP chaos champion infamously known as Slambo. In a fit of inspired mania, I managed to paint him in one ten-hour session. In keeping with the Oldhammer spirit, I decided upon the especially fluffy obsolescence of the now-trending forgotten anti-chaos Chaos God, Malal, as Slambo's new patron of choice.

Colour recipes (Using mostly the Citadel range):

"Black:" /Nuln oil/, /Drakenhof Nighshade/, Shadow Grey, Fenrisian Grey, /Drakenhof Nightshade/

"White:" Rakarth Flesh, /Seraphim Sepia/, Bleached Bone, Pallid Wych Flesh, Ceramite White

/denotes wash

I found him on eBay (PROTIP: look under,"chaos champion OOP," rather than Slambo to save about 20-30 bucks).

You can get him HERE, albeit not in oldschool 'Eavy Metal (pewter), but rather fiddly resin.

Sanity Claws

Merry Christmas!

 חַג שָׂמֵחַ

Happy Festivus.
Merry Crimbus!

Happy Mercenary Day!

Great Pudding's Feast!

As some (especially Oldhammers) will know, Sanity Claws is a Limted Release mini from approximately 1986. More info on his origins can be found at the exquisite Realm of Chaos 80's.

I'd like to think that he's a dimensional being from the Warp, bringing Change once a year to all who wish for it...his bag seems full of all sorts of unspeakable wonders.

I couldn't work up the courage to affix this guy to his base. I wanted the snow to look just right and was having trouble. This will definitely be a reminder to myself next time to "just do it."

When it comes to the painting itself, I was inspired by Ivan Albright and his most famous work for the movie, The Picture of Dorian Grey.

Image Source: Wikipedia

 Wunderkammer Miniaturum I.

 

My recent favorites, painted between the years 2011-2014.
I will ocassionally curate a miniature miniature exhibit from time to time. This was originally going to be an entry for the exhibit entitled "These are Some of My Favorite Things" at the ASU Ceramics Research Center.

More animated miniatures.

Horror-faced Apsiring Champion of Tzeentch.
Games Workshop Citadel parts:
*Ork body, arm.
*Chaos Warrior Axe arm.
*Horror of Tzeentch head, reveresed.
*Mouth-Inset Eyeball from Chaos Spawn sprue.
*Tentatcles from Green Stuff (Knead-Tite Epoxy Putty)

Testing out an animated GIF

Miniature:

Satyr Female (Satyar Tiebandigerin)
Das Schwarze Auge, Ral Partha Europe