Showcase: Knights of Raman and Grular Lifetakers

This week I'm back and the Haradel and Grular conversions I showed off last time are done!

This questing knight of Tahnar was a model I spent considerable attention to during the conversion process, adding a cape, helmet crest and shield crest.

His tabard is painted in the county colors of Raman, red and gold combatant.  For the sigil on his chest I deviated away from the classic three tower silhouette and instead opted to depict a raven entering flight.  It seemed right that someone so emblazoned with aspect iconography would give a shout out to his homeland with his colors, but epitomize the aspect he represents as much as he could.

I'm pretty happy with the cloak.  It has a good flow and dynamism that gives a lot of motion to the figure.  Coupled with his sword which says, "onward men!"  The whole thing appears very cinematic.

The second piece for the Haradelan freeband is this apprentice knight of Tahnar.  Like the questing knight above, she is a disciple of the raven aspect and hails from Raman County.  She's not yet a full initiate into the mysteries of Tahnarian warfare, so instead of doing the questing knight's jet-black plate I added in a touch of black to the Leadbelcher I was using to give her armor a darker shade than regular steel.

Her shield proudly sports the sigil of Raman County, the three towers on red and gold combatant.

When I picked up this latest batch of models from Jon C. I asked him for the personality and any distinguishing characteristics of the aspects/counties they hailed from.  "Definitely long hair for the apprentice knight," he said, "that's very much in line with the raven aspect."  So, when I got home I gave the current mini a haircut and sculpted on some new locks.  I think the end result is pretty good.

Since I'm painting models for the personal collection of a client, I want to give them something that they're both proud to field on the tabletop and then, maybe even something they might not necessarily have thought to do themselves.  I've painted apprentice knights of Tahnar for Jon before.  The opportunity to do something new is what really makes the difference for both his collection and my monotony!

On my desk for conversion were also three Grular Lifetakers.  To spice these wicked ladies up I didn't mess with the structure of the model, but merely tweaked the arm positioning of some and added arrows to others.

Each model's bow got a bowstring made of real human hair!

Two of the Lifetakers got face tattoos, this one has a single tear drop.  I call her "the Weeper."

Here is one of the Lifetakers that got an arrow.  Here bow is pointed down like she is stalking her prey and her eyes are peeking off to her side.  I imagine her as readying her bow before spinning and launching a kill shot.

The third and final Lifetaker has her bow arm bent to put her weapon into a readying position.

Note the arrow is actually knocked on the bowstring!  This model also has a face tattoo, a serrated sun under her right eye.

I did finish two other models this week (I had the honor of being the first to put paint to pewter on them too!), but since they are still yet to be released, their debuts on the Monster Lab will have to wait.  

Stay tuned for more commission and personal work and to see what's on my desk next time!