"While The Darkmantle Remains Motionless..."

"...It is indistinguishable from a cave formation such as a stalactite or stalagmite."

This 28mm plastic “Wizkids” model of a Darkmantle is miniature number 015 from the Night Below "Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures Game" range and is based upon the "strange magical beast which lives in caves." Resembling "something akin to a dark brown coloured squid, roughly four feet long, with webs of membrane between the tentacles", the creature "first appeared in the third edition Monster Manual (2000)" and "attacks by attaching itself to the ceiling of a cave and disguising itself as a stalactite."

Smothering its victims by wrapping its tentacles around their heads, the monster was initially primed with two coats of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and washed with "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. The neutrally-aligned cephalopod was then first dry-brushed with pure "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, and then delicately highlighted with some a mix of Heavy Sienna and Dead White.

Sue Storm & Dragon Man WIPs - Invisible Girls has been re-shaded, and Dragon Man primed

Interestingly, despite having numerous eyes, a Darkmantle actually 'sees' by using "echolocation, much the way a bat does", and momentarily I was therefore tempted to simply stick to the "Wizkids" colour scheme and leave his eyeballs brown. However, having done a little research it seemed clear that the creature is predominantly depicted with red eyes, so accordingly I 'picked out' each one with a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Red and "Citadel" Carroburg Crimson.

With my latest "Dungeons & Dragons" model finished, I have managed to find a brief period of precious hobby-time with which to return to one of my previously completed "Heroclix" figures. Ordinarily, I tend to wait for a while before 'touching up' anything I've varnished, but with my mind firmly fixed upon playing some games using Stan Lee's "Fantastic Four", I found myself continually frustrated by the darkness of her blue uniform and have thus attempted to rectify the situation somewhat.

Draconian WIPs - The aliens have had their scaly legs base-coated with "Vallejo" Heavy Brown

Disconcertingly, I was faced with something of a dilemma however, in that Invisible Girl had already been fully-based and resultantly had grass flock all about her feet. Luckily, I spotted a moment of inspiration from the original "Wizkids" palette, which depicted Reed Richards' wife sporting black boots and gloves. Obviously I didn't want to completely travel down that path, but thought I could leave those areas dark blue, and simply re-paint the rest of her costume with "Vallejo" Heavy Blue. Incredibly, I've even managed to find an old pot of "Citadel" Asurmen Blue with which to shade the super-heroine with, and whilst I was waiting for it to dry, primed the old "FF" foe Dragon Man too.  

Finally, I have turned my attention to several "Warlord Games" Draconians I want to paint for "Doctor Who: Exterminate" collection. I currently have eight of the "tall, reptilian species" in my painting queue and have started working on the scaly legs of the first three miniatures...