Pig-face Orc Shaman

Another long-WIP figure finished and exposed to the light of day. I started this orc shaman back when I was painting the rest of the orcs but got momentarily hung up on freehand pattern designs I wanted to add to his jewelry and put him aside...for 8+ years. Now that I'm playing D&D again it was as good a time as any to get back to it.

I'm pretty pleased with how he turned out, and it was especially satisfying finishing him off by slapping on some Tamiya Red Clear over the bloody heart and making blood spots, and giving his lapis lazuli diadem a glossy gleam with Future. Also satisfying that I added an orc from the Grenadier Dragon Lords Orcs of the Severed hand box set to the band, as now I've got no fewer than five generations of Grenadier orcs represented!

"Foremost among the orcs is a leering shaman-type garbed in fur and finery, a blue diadem shining from his forehead, a bloody fork in one hand and proffering in the other a bloody, throbbing heart!"

"Roll for Surprise!"

Like the other orcs, this one has a pig snout added, made from green stuff/brown stuff, but is otherwise stock. It's a great sculpt by John Dennett that strikes an imposing figure beside the other orcs. The painting of the blue and gold bands was inspired by photos of real-life shamans and is meant to represent cords made from cloth and gold thread. The cloth of his garment is meant to be something he took from a royal or at least noble personage and conveys his charisma, showmanship and sense of self-worth. Lastly, you've got to love his heart-extraction fork.

Pig-face Orc Shaman from the Grenadier Dragon Lords Orcs of the Severed Hand Box Set

Pig-face Orc Shaman, rear view

Unknown Painter: Malifaux Lilith and Collodi Crews

I did not paint the figures in this post but thought readers might be interested. I don't play with unpainted figures and didn't want to rush my own, so bought some painted figures to play with in the meantime.

Malifaux Mother of Monsters Set (Lilith Crew)

Malifaux Master of Puppets Set (Collodi Crew)

I got the two sets in the same eBay lot and the as I set my bid just for the Lilith lot, the Collodi crew was a free bonus. The Collodi figures are the older, metal figures, which are fine and good, but it was the characteristics of the plastic 2E figures which got me on board with the game.

I all but expected breakage even had the seller been careful, but they were badly packed along with another heavy metal figure, and the damage was considerable. Didn't seem to value their own work. A number of hours went into repairing what should have been ready to play with. The cherub and young nephilim are now a lot more sturdy than before, with metal pins holding them together. The young nephilim in particular are so fragile I would have been more surprised if they had shown up in one piece, and it was the other figures I was unhappy about. Oh well, in the end a nice group of figures and I can loan them out for demos once I have my own painted up.

Malifaux Lilith, Mother of Monsters

Malifaux Barbaros

Malifaux Terror Tots and Cherub

Malifaux Mature Nephilim

Malifaux Young Nephilim

Malifaux WIP on the Workbench

Here are some Malifaux works in progress. More unfinished projects exposed to the light of day!

Malifaux Tooth and Claw Box Set (Marcus Crew)

Malifaux Vengeful Spirits Box Set (Kirai Crew)

Malifaux The Plague Cometh Box Set (Hamelin Crew)

Malifaux Molemen

Malifaux The Drowned

Malifaux Black Blood Shamans

Notes

• I said it before but I love these figures! Yes, the bits are fiddly and skill is required, but I love the experience of putting Malifaux figures together and the finished figures are so satisfying as you see zero-undercut parts transformed into a dynamic figure seeming to have as many undercuts the design requires.
• I prefer Proxie Models bases to those they come with. I glue the figures with plastic cement to bits of .01" plasticard because the base lip leaves a depression and because I fill the depression, I need the figure's feet to be at least as high as the top of the lip. It may also give a bit better purchase for figures with a small amount of feet surface area.(And the Shaman's don't have white plastic bits as they aren't glued yet.)
• It was hard to commit to putting the smaller figures on 30mm bases and these were held up because of it. I prefer figures on the smallest base they look comfortable on, but using a different base size is a sure way to test your opponents patience if you are playing with the rules the game was intended for. In my cases, I wanted them to be ready for my own games but also ready to play with the Malifaux community. You can see I still haven't based the rats and still may go with bases that fit within larger bases for these, though the spindly legs put them at risk of breakage the more you need to fiddle with them before a game.
• I'm going with an "empty lot" theme with the bases. Generally speaking I like my bases minimal and unobtrusive, and depicting one of the most common environments the figures would find themselves in. A quick look at the Malifaux map confirms empty dirt would likely cover the most area of various terrain types in places where encounters would take place. The empty lot theme also gives room to be less minimal when I choose, and you can see I've chosen that way for some figures above
• Bricks were an element I thought was important to sell the empty lot scene. I made a bunch out of Sculpey clay pushed through a clay extruder tool and chopped with a razor blade. I'm using these sparingly and it's actually hard to spot them in the pics above.