First Look: Back in the days of AD&D 2nd Ed., I briefly played in a Dark Sun campaign with a thri-kreen (or "mantis man") character. When I came across this figure in the Reaper catalog, I knew I had to get it simply as a tribute to my character from times past (also, it was the best representative of a thri-kreen I've seen). The figure takes advantage of the fact that "mantis men" have four arms; it is wielding a bow and two one-hand weapons. It's a two-part figure, which lets it avoid the somewhat "one-dimensional" pose that metal molds often tend toward.
Painting: I wanted to stick with desert-appropriate colors, as well as "natural" colors befitting the somewhat rough equipment the figure was carrying. The figure's carapace was painted a light tan with yellow-green undersides (VGC Khaki, Desert Yellow, AP Soft Tone Ink). I decided to avoid metal, so the armor, straps, quiver, and pouches were all painted as reddish-brown leather (VGC Tan, Terracota, AP Strong Tone Ink). The bow was painted a medium brown (VGC Leather Brown, AP Soft Tone Ink), and the arrow fletching and bedroll were painted a yellow-brown (VGC Plague Brown, AP Soft Tone Ink). The hand weapons and various bone bits were painted off-white (VGC Bonewhite, AP Soft Tone Ink). Finally, the base was painted medium brown (VGC Earth) and covered with sand.
Conclusion: The figure turned out nicely, and was fairly quick to paint. I thought about painting the eyes black (to make them stand out), but actual praying mantis eyes tend to be the same color as their body. I like the way the figure turned out; it makes me wish I had him way back when I played a matching character!
- M:M
No comments:
Post a Comment