"During The Spellplague Of 1385 DR, The Walking Statue Appeared..."

 "...And rampaged through the city."

This 300mm tall "quality pre-painted plastic" model of the Walking Statue of Waterdeep: The Honorable Knight is produced by “Wizkids” and is available as part of their "Dungeons & Dragons" Icons of the Realms Miniatures range. Resembling a warrior in plate armour with a sword and shield, this stone construct towered over the city of Waterdeep at 57′ 3″ in height, and eventually settled in the Crown of the North's Trades Ward.

A "premium" product comprising of a separate sword and shield, I had initially hoped the model might fit on a "Citadel" 170mm x 105mm oval stand, and ordered one from "Games Workshop" post-haste. However, upon arrival it was clear that the miniature was so tall that it needed a substantially larger base if it wasn't going to topple over all the time. As a result I reattached it to the 175mm clear plastic circular base it came with, and simply primed that with some "Citadel" Abaddon Black, having first gritted it with modeller's sand.

"When stopped, the statue bowed to those who had battled it."

Managing to resist the temptation to assemble the enormous figure prior to painting, all three of its components were given a double coat of “Vallejo” Heavy Bluegrey, and washed with “Citadel” Nuln Oil. Whilst this shading phase was reasonably straightforward for both the Walking Statue's 255mm long sword and 160mm long shield, the actual Honorable Knight himself proved a bit more difficult to evenly cover on account of all his joints and crannies.

Once completed though, each piece was heavily dry-brushded with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey, and then slowly treated to multiple applications of "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green and Agrax Earthshade to suggest some extreme weathering. This was a patient process, as I not only applied the washes with a brush, but also a sponge, tissue and my fingers so as to try and make the grunge look as organic as possible. In addition, a mixture of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, Nuln Oil and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade was occasionally added to the concoction for some of the deeper crevices.

My output for the Tenth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge - 508 Points

I then applied a second (significantly lighter) dry-brush of “Vallejo” Heavy Bluegrey over the entire ensemble, before using some heavily watered-down "Vallejo" Heavy Green on some patches of moss and weeds, which clearly over time had grown on the statue. These areas were later shaded using some "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade. Finally, the Knight's bird nest was 'picked out' using a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. This excellent little detail was later dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna.

With my Walking Statue completed, and 60 more points bagged, I've now passed my 500 point target tally for the Tenth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, and can finally put my paint-brushes down for a day or two. Despite the fact that I get an awful lot painted during this event, this'll probably be my last, as I find the constant need to be posting fully-pigmented miniatures quite tiring after a while. Plus, I've barely rolled a dice in anger for the majority of 2020 so far, and the year is already almost a quarter spent...