Snakeman Standards, and a Bob Olley Harpy (NSFW?).

I was on holiday last week, and so, bizarrely, I actually never got around to doing any painting, despite the extra free time!

However, in the last week I have painted six more Snakemen, and a Bob Olley Iron Claw range Harpy. I have put the NSFW up because she is naked. As for the Snakemen, who are also, in theory, scantily clad, I have finally painted three of the standards for the units I have already painted. In addition I painted three more warriors. I ended up painting five Saranth Elf Mangler's, and one Higgat Dwarf Slicer.

In addition, I have been sorting out a lot other parts of my collections. Once the Snakemen are finished, I want to return to sorting out an army for each of the entries in the Warhammer Armies book. Although I did orignally have a painted army for most of the entires, I have removed some of the miniatures from them, mainly solid based ones and 1980's Lord of the Rings range, as I wanted them to be in seperate collections. So I still have some painting to do on some of the older armies.

Also, I have been on and off collecting 1980's Lord of the Rings miniatures (since the 1980's in fact!), with an eye to having a couple of little skirmish forces. I did a blog update a few years ago on this, and also would like to re-visit the idea. In the last few months I have picked up some more of the old 1980's Uruk-Hai models designed by Jes Goodwin, and would like to paint these up as Uruk-Hai of Saruman.

Enjoy :)

 Snakemen!

 Bob Olley Harpy. 

I wanted a magically bound Harpy in the army to fly around and annoy people. I have had her in a box for years, and painted her up on a whim. I thought purples might make a change and make her look more magical (not in a Disney way of course!), although the brightness of the colours does'nt seem to have come out in the photograph.

A conversion of  Higgat Dwarf Slicer. 

The conversion was very simple. The blade of his sword had snapped off, so I clipped the rest of the sword off, drilled a hole through the hand, added brass rod, a skull, an old Maruader Miniatures shield. I then green stuffed a little banner under the shield to make it look less like a lollipop. 

The magical symbols are are copied from 1st Edition Warhammer's forces of Fantasy supplement.

I painted him light purple after I found out there is a purple snake in real life; the Lavander Corn Snake. It looks suitably Chaotic as well.

 Rear view. 

I green stuffed the back of the shield on the standard to make it look more substantial.

 The first of five Saranth Elf Mangler's.

This one has been converted into a standard bearer but cutting off the remains of his broken halberd, and drilling down into the shaft. I then added a straightened Elf horn from Jes Goodwin's Citadel Elven Heroes range. I thought the poking out tongue seemed appropiate for the Snakemen, as if magically tasting the air.

Left side view.

 The second Saranth Elf Mangler converted standard bearer, again from a broken Snakeman from e-bay. 

I added a long piece of brass rod, and then on the top I added the standard top from Citadels Tomb Kings Necropolis Knights set. To give it all more substance, I green stuffed the shaft to add thickness.

 Close up of the standard head. 

It reminds me of the standand of Thulsa Doom in the film 'Conan the Barbarian' (the 1982 version, of course!).

 Right hand view. 

I am quite pleased with how the grey skin came out. I also matched the colours of the shield to the standard as well.

 Three more Saranth Elf Mangler's, this time warriors.

 A green skinned Saranth Elf Mangler.

 A mottled green Saranth Elf Mangler.

 Another grey Saranth Elf Mangler.

 I painted this one Warpfiend grey to give a slight Slaaneshi look.

I found a box of Orcs whilst sorting out stuff. There's about 100 or so solid based Orcs in there. I will sort them out properly and photograph them at some point.

Next update will be more Snakemen. Whilst I had almost got to the end of painting them all, I ended up buying some more. So, more to paint!!!

Slaaneshi Champion, Serpentmen, and more C27 Snakemen.

Mid-Febuary and the painting of snakemen is progressing nicely.

Apart from five C27 Snakemen, I have painted three Grenadier Miniatures Cthulu range Serpentmen, and a 'Realm of Chaos' era Chaos Champion from 1988.

Enjoy :)

 Five C27 Snakemen, and Chaos Champion.

The first of the S'lararet Splintered Fang's. 

I have converted and painted this Snakeman up to be either a unit hero or independent hero, and framed him to be an aspect of Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion. I liked the idea that the Eternal Champion can be an aspect that can be throughout space, time, and alternative universes, and so thought I would have a Snakeman 'Eternal Champion'. I swapped his sword for an old plastic Chaos Marine one, to look like a sibling of Stormbringer, and painted him albino and in black armour.

 Another S'lararet Splintered Fang, painted up as a grey Snake.

 Third and final S'lararet Splintered Fang. 

I painted a S'Sirron Fangthrane a while ago with predominantly red armour, and so thuoght I would paint one with predominantly green armour as well.

 A converted S'Sirron Fangthrane, converted into a standard bearer.

I snipped off the axe and axe sharft, and the drilled through the hands, adding a brass rod. I then added a plastic standard from GW's current Grave Guard set. 

With GW's current Tzeentch releases, I have borrowed the look and painted this Snakeman in a flow of colours, blending pink, to red/purple, to blue/s, to grey, to give a Tzeentchian magic feel. 

 Rear view.

 Close up of the standard.

As the Snakeman is quite colourful, I went for a darker, more muted standard. The runes are from the 1st Edition Warhammer supplement 'Forces of Fantasy'. It reads S'nethen, the name Chaz Elliot gave the Snakemen in the background he gave them.

 The runes from the Forces of Fantasy supplement. They are in the Dark Elf section.

 Higgat Dwarf Slicer, painted with dark green armour, and bright red skin.

 Rear view.

 Slaaneshi Champion.

Now the Snakeman army is'nt Slaaneshi, however being serpentine I thought that this Chaos Champion might fit in nicely. I think of him (or her, or Hermophrotite?) as a Snakeman who has mutated into this form, rather than a humaniod who has mutated with serpentine features.

 Close up. 

I went for a green skin to suggest a Snakemen origin, and painted snake-like eyes. Streotypically, I painted the male rune on the sword blue, the femal one pink. I kept with the gold armour colour to tie in with the rest of the Snakemen.

 Rear view.

 Grenadier Miniatures Cthulu range Serpentmen.

These critters are a lot smaller than the Citadel C27 Snakeman range. However to overcome this I have built up the bases with Milliput and added stuff to the bases to make them look less small. 

I will use these as Chaos Sorcerers as they are smaller than the warriors, unarmoured, and less armed. 

There are three sculpts: an unarmed; armed with a dagger; armed with a stone axe.

 Unarmed with part of the skeleton of a plastic horde horse on the base.

 Right hand side.

I painted a few random magical runes from the Force of Fantasy artwork of a Goblin Mage.

 Serpentman with dagger.

I painted him up with Rattle Snake skin.

I have noticed that the superglue I use on the base has turned a little white, and so will fix this later. I thought that the long grasses make the Serpent Man appear to be emerging from long grass with a dagger, ready in ambush.

 Right hand side.

 Axe armed Serpent man. He is armed with a stone axe, and I went for a dark brown robe to contrast with the bright red skin.

 Right hand side.

More Snakemen from e-bay!!

Next update will be more Snakemen and other add-ons of the army.

Yet more C27 Snakemen!!!

Yes, it's already February (Happy Imbolc), and I have painted, yes, more Snakemen!

Only five painted this week, but I am steadily working my way through them. I have sixteen left to paint, and so am well over halfway through, and I am halfway through another batch (or hatch?) on my painting table. I also have a few other odds and ends that are to go with the army, such as Wizards, a couple of Trolls, a Harpy, and a Chaos Warrior. I reckon that they will be finish in about three or four weeks.

After the Snakemen, I have a mind to return to paint a few of the Fantasy Tribes Goblins, as I miss painting Goblins. I also might paint up a few more Slann as they need to be finished, and am wondering if I should re-base them on 30mm round bases as I have seen some based up in that manner and the look rather nice.

Yesterday I finally got around to sending off my order for the 'Diehard Miniatures' Kickstarter. For the record I have ordered five of Tom Prow's wonderful Skeletal Snakemen to add to the Snakeman army. I have also ordered enough Eru-Kin to build the Slann army in the 'Magnificent Sven' scenario, with enough spare to convert that force into a proper 3rd Edition Edition Warhammer Armies Slann army.

Enjoy :)

 Five Snakemen; two S'lon Life Smasher's, and three S'Sirron Fangthrane's.

 The first of the S'Sirron Fangthrane's, painted in a standard Snakey green, with yellow underbelly. I did paint the axe shaft brighter to offset that, and in keeping with the North American vibe, the fur pelt as raccoon.

 The second S'Sirron Fangthrane.

I went for a much brighter, tropical look for this one, with a dash of red armour. He reminds me of the 1990's Lizardmen. 

 A plain, drab, desert looking Snakeman, great for hiding and ambushing unwary travellers!

 The first of the two S'lon Life Smasher's.

Again, as I have in this batch, gone for a few basic green and drab Snakemen. I did'nt want too many of the Snakemen to be too bright, to avoid the 'explosion in a paint factory' look.

 A dark brown and converted S'lon Life Smasher.
I have twisted his neck to make it look like he is looking at something or tasting the air. I also twisted his body 90 degress to emphise this, and to give him a slightly different look.

 Close up of the armour. I went for mostly green armour to make it look like a Goblin, as well as offset the dark brown of the skin.

Rear view of two of the  S'Sirron Fangthrane's, just to show PETA that some Snakemen prefer fake fur! ;)

 WIP S'Sirron Fangthrane. 

Given GW's recent release of their lovely looking Tzeentch miniatures, I thought I would borrow one of their paint schemes for the standard bearer.

 WIP of one of four of the Grenadier Serpentmen (from their Cthulu range I think) I have. 

I was'nt going to use them, as they are a lot smaller than the C27 Snakemen, unarmoured, and not very well armed. However I have decided to use them as Chaos Sorcerers. Also, I want to keep the Snakemen Warriors all C27 range, to keep a consistent look, only having the Grenadier Snakemen as Sorcerers, and the Diehard Miniatures as an ally contingent. 

Because they are smaller, I have built up the (40mm lipped) bases a little with Milliput, and added items to the bases (in this case part of a Skeleton Horde box set horse).

A possible army General?

With what I have stated above, having only C27 Snakemen as Warriors, having a serpentine Chaos Hero as an independent Hero or Army General, seperate from the rank and file, might work. 

Looking at him/her/hermaphrodite, it could easily be a Snakemen with the Rewards and Personal Attributes of 'Face of a Demonette', 'Hermaphrodite', 'Multiple Arms', and maybe more! 

It saves me buying another Snakeman, and adds a bit more Chaos fun! :) 

Next update will be more Snakemen!!!