Reaper Dark Heaven: Montrig the Bloody

Going back to my Reaper Dark Heaven figure "archive" again for a change of pace, this time I completed an intriguing old figure called 02168 Montrig the Bloody.  I should note that my version of the figure seems to be an earlier version than the one currently shown in the Reaper Online Store, as Montrig originally came with the pick shown in the pictures below rather than a mace (and this is backed up in the fluff from Dark Heaven: Apocalypse).

At first glance, you're probably wondering what happened to him.  Well, according to the lore Montrig gained the name of "the Bloody" for his practice of covering himself with the blood of his foes.  His pick, in particular, is described as being covered with the dried blood and gore of past foes.  I suppose hygiene really isn't an issue when you're undead.  To achieve this effect, I decided it was probably best to paint the figure "clean", and then blood as the last step (and hopefully not screw everything up in doing so).

I decided to go with a gold tone for the majority of the armor to retain the figure's warm tones.  I did use silver for the mail and scale armor, as well as the weapon details.  The gold was covered with a brown wash (as did most of the rest of the figure and base), while the silver parts received a black wash.  The blood was applied in thin layers, first using Reaper MSP Clear Red to sort of "block out" the areas, then followed up with a mix of Clear Red with red and a tiny amount of black.  The second mix was more opaque and darkened the effects considerably.  The tips of the pick were painted a mix of Clear Red and red, as it would have the freshest blood.  Since Montrig is described as covering himself in blood, I kept the blood effects on his front since that's where he would most likely place it for effect.

Montrig's wings were a gift from the Demon Lord Abyst for slaying the lesser demon Margo.  Originally, I was going to paint them a brighter red, but I realized that it would be competing with the blood effects, and probably make the figure too red.  I toned the color way down with a mix of red, medium brown, and black, which resulted in a very dark crimson color.  I lightened the mix with more red and used several thin coats for the highlight layers, and I really like how it turned out.

Conclusion:  I'm extremely pleased with how this figure turned out!  The figure is pretty clearly an older sculpt (compare the relatively static position with newer figures, for example), but it's pretty unique.  The blood effects turned out better than I had hoped, and I feel like my color choices worked very well for the figure.  It's very satisfying to have another figure painted after all these years!

I'm likely back to Bones figures next, but I have several more old Dark Heaven figures left to paint as well.

Until next time!

- M:M