Ciriths Paint Place - Stygian - Sisters of Tiamat

[Cirith]

Okay, here is my Priestess, she is mostly complete, just have to finish off the staff and the sacrificial dagger.

I tried to make the base interesting, this almost worked, just not how I hoped.All practise is good though.

I orginally had the model on a round base as you would expect, but just recently I had the idea that I would put all my Stygian on sqaure bases, so far it seems okay, all ranked up they look a bit odd though.

The paint scheme is mostly the same as Von Koss`s, I am still mostly undecided on how I will finish the staff head though, so far I am thinking gold snakes, gold sun disk and red centre circle.

I am very proud of the stone tablet on the priestess back, I wanted this to look like it was carved from sandstone, and I think this worked. I dont think this came out too well in the pictures though.

Hopefully in future I will be able to get a second priestess as I would like to convert it to be holding the staff with both hands.

When I finish this I will work on some Reapers and Warriors.

top to bottom.



top only.

[Von Koss]

Very, very nice!  I can't get over how awesome the purple looks.

As far as the top of the staff goes, I think a snake eye painted on the circle dot on the staff head would look neat.  Also, you could do something with the bands on the snakes that are on the staff to kinda make it stand out.  Black and red maybe? 

You are on your way to a beautiful painted army though whatever you decide.  Good job and keep it coming!

[Manic _Miner]

 Curse you Cirith.You are putting us to shame.I must get on with my Dwarves.Nice to seee how well the purple looks.

[luckyone]

Great work. Thanks for the pictures and update!

[Daargrim]

Inspiring job on the priestess.  The purple skin is perfect!  Man, between you and Von Koss I REALLY want to start painting my stygian, but I have to get through my dwarves first.  Curse my slow brush!

[Cirith]

Thanks for all the comments.

I am still enjoying working on the Stygian, and I really like Von Kossīs idea of a serpents eye in the middle of the prestess staff, it will just take some figuring on my part on how to do this.

Daargrim it would be great to see more Stygian ideas, maybe inbetwen dwarfs you could paint 1 or 2?

[Cirith]

Today I got my deliverly from Prince August.

My total Stygian force consists of.

1 Priestess
1 Enbalmed
2 Guardians
1 Hammerhead
1 Tree Devil
1 Sisters of Tiamat
1 Great Warrior

08 Sword Stygian
16 Axe Stygian
04 Reapers
12 Starved

I ripped into the new stuff and already I have delemas. The first was that with the Great Warrior.

I have been putting my Stygian on square bases, and I have been decided on the standard size 2 equals a 25mm square. Size 3 equals a 40mm square. Well, I sat the Great Warrior on a 40mm square and put in the warriors around him and it looked good. It looked like they were giving the big Snake some space.

The only problem is that they did not fit together as a unit so well, and the 40mm makes it impossible to line Warriors up in behind. So, I had to compromise with a 25mmx50mm oblong, the look is growing on me.

My second delema is the Tree Devil, the model is as big as an Enbalmed, (taller even) but the Tree Devil is only size 2. So, I have just decided that if the Enbalmed is big enough to be on a 40mm square then so is the Tree Devil.

I put the 4 starved on 20mm bases, even though they are size 2, but I like the look of them on smaller bases next to the Warriors.

Might post some unpainted pics tomorrow, and will post the Sisters in steps like I did the Blood Totem. I will probably not start the SIsters for another month r 2 though.

[Von Koss]

I think I would cut out a few size 2,3,4,5 bases (I personally wouldn't bother with size 1, just put those models on size 2 bases) while you have your cutting equipment out.  You could always determine the base size...a little bigger or a little smaller.  (A little bigger in my opinion, because you could add a piece of debris/armor painted in your army's color scheme.  It's what I did for my Ophidian model ( a Stygian shield on the base  to show that it belongs to the army).  Might be a useful idea for your Sisters of Tiamat model.

Another idea for your models to rank up is to put some of them higher up on the base in relation to other models in the unit.  You could put a few Axemen/Starved on a piece of cork/rock/pyramid block painted like your current bases so they will fit in the unit better.  I don't think it would be too bad even if the model is sitting on something a bit bigger than the base...even with some of it hanging over the base.  That way you might could have a little more room for the actual mini itself.  The best of both worlds.

By the way, I loved painting the Starved as they can be quick to paint up with out all that armor on.  Great figures for motoring through the unpainted fig pile.

Hang in there...your doing great!

[Cirith]

Thanks for the ideas Von Koss, I started building the Sisters of Tiamat, even though I was thinking I should wait untill I finish painting all my Warriors.

I cut a 60mm X 100mm and there is just enough space on the sides and a nice amount front/back.

To get the Warriors and the Starved to line up I have been bending their tails and heads and arms, but I think next time I will try different base heights as well.


I have some early progress photos now. I have been taking a long time with this painting session largely due to my efforts to paint more than usual at once.

Here are some Starved, the back ones are to be mounted on some cork, I will post a proper picture of the unit when it is complete.



The next is my second Warband mounted on square bases, I am not sure what I will do about my other round based Stygian, perhaps just glue cardboard on the bottom and putty the base square.



I am really likeing the Great Warrior, the model is really big. I green stuffed the tip of the Lance as it was a little blunt, and added putty to the base to try and make it look like the Great Warrior is steeping over rocks, I dont think it turned out great, but I am happy enough with it.



I have almost finished a Guardian, and I am really happy with how it is turning out. I am also working on a Tree Devil which is looking okay, I am liking my small alterations to the model as well.

[Cirith]

small update.

[joshuaslater]

Can't wait to see the finished horde.  How scary would that be with the Shadow of Tiamat in effect???

[Von Koss]

Nice...

Cirith, when you get these Stygian painted...I'm afraid I'm gonna have to see an Army shot...

You have got too much goodness going on there to just leave us without one.

[Cirith]

Okay, I have not managed to get much painting done in the last week, I have just recently aquired 'Flight of the Choncords' so I have been watching that in much of my painting time. I did finish a Guardian and almost finished a Great Warrior, finishing the Tree Devil is a bit more difficult as I can not make up my mind about it stomach.

So after finishing season 1 I decided to take a break before season 2 and finished making up my Sisters of Tiamat as well as putting a left eyebrow on 2 Starved.

Here is the Guardian, its funny in the pic I think it looks like I went overboard with the Turquoise, but when I look at the model I dont get the same feeling.



Here is 3 shots of the Sisters, I am liking it overall but I just feel like the base does not seem high enough, I am just not willing to change it now though. I am really looking forward to painting this.

Front



Left



Right

[Daargrim]

Cirith this is great!  Your paint jobs look very good!  I am really interested to see how the Sisters turn out!  That is a great model.  My next army I am going to tackle is the Stygian so I really like seeing addition work on these guys.

[luckyone]

Really awesome job! Those look great!