Reaper Bones 77114 Faceless Horror

Autumn is here, October is around the corner, and Halloween is on the way. Being in the mood for cosmic horror, I decided to put paint on this charming critter. It came into my collection by way of the first Reaper Bones Kickstarter as part of the Mythos Monsters add on.

I'd hate to see the Faceless Horror's dental bill.

The Faceless Horror is a gooey mess of eyes, mouths, and flesh. It might be based on the Gibbering Mouther - a monster introduced in the AD&D module C1 The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan (1980) by Harold Johnson and Jeff R. Leason. Which, in turn, may have been influenced by H.P. Lovecraft's Shoggoth, which featured most prominently in "At the Mountains of Madness" (1931).

The details on this model were difficult for me to see before painting. The stark white of Bones plastic doesn't provide much contrast. My solution was to use washes early in the process to bring out those details. The scheme is similar to the one I used for the Khurasan Miniatures Parasachnid Warriors, but modified for use on Bones plastic.

The remains of a human victim are sculpted into the largest maw. I didn't notice until the first coat of wash.

Preparation
A post on my usual approach to working with a Reaper Bones miniature is on the other end of this link. In this case, I mixed Formula P3 Menoth White Base with the FolkArt Glass & Tile Medium to provide a good first coat.

Base
The Faceless Horror is an odd size. Nothing smaller than a three inch round plastic base (Reaper 74037) would work. Unless there's a company that offers two-and-a-half inch round bases that I'm not aware of.

Highlight and Teeth
I brushed on a little Formula P3 Morrow White on the figure's raised areas to provide more contrast. The same color was used for the teeth, which was a bit of a chore.

"Never tangle with anything that's got more teeth than the entire Osmond family." - Arnold Rimmer, Red Dwarf

Inner Surface Wash
The interior surfaces got a generous coat of Citadel Baal Red wash. It produces a good color for the inside of a mouth when used over Formula P3 Menoth White Base. I also brushed some on the roots of the teeth to give them a bloody appearance.

Outer Surface Wash
The exterior surfaces received a coat of Citadel Ogryn Flesh wash. It combines well with Formula P3 Menoth White Base to create a fleshy tone.

Eyes
I initially used Reaper 09294 Alien Goo with Citadel Thraka Green wash brushed over it for the eyes. Unfortunately, they ended up looking like pustules from some extraterrestrial skin condition. Highlighting the eyes with Reaper 09287 Neon Yellow didn't help. The fix was Secret Weapon W015 Blue Wash. It shifted the color away from yellow and darkened down the tone to something more resembling the eyes of some preternatural creature.

Rear (?!) view.

The Faceless Horror turned out to be more of a challenge than I expected. The level of detail is surprisingly high. Painting the eyes and teeth took awhile. Overall, I had a good time with it and am pleased with how it turned out.

Khurasan Miniatures PLA-11 Dethroids Repaint

Repainting these figures was a quick project after a weeks-long spell of getting very little done hobby-wise. The one thing I did accomplish during that time was a long delayed reorganization of my home office/hobby space. I came across these figures during that process. Unfortunately, the metallic paint job I originally used didn't age well. The shine seemed dull and there were some marks marring the surfaces. I considered retouching the paint, but decided that a fresh start would be a better approach.

I commented on the appearance of these models in my previous post from back in 2014. Briefly, they seem to be inspired by two sources. One is a certain group of aliens who dress in pepperpot shaped murder machines and enunciate every syllable of their lines. The other are the autonomous reconnaissance drones deployed by a particular galactic autocracy for searching out insurgent bases.

Paint Removal
An overnight soak in a 50/50 mix of water and Simple Green has been by go-to for stripping paint from miniatures for awhile now. It also removed the sand and glue mix I used for basing. There were a couple of stubborn spots, but a stiff brush and a little elbow grease took care of them.

Primer
A couple thin coats of Krylon ColorMaxx Paint + Primer in Matte Deep Gray provided good coverage.

Paints
I started with Formula P3 Menoth White Base on the upper bodies. The dangling appendages received a coat of Citadel Colour Codex Grey. Everything got dry brushed with Formula P3 Morrow White to increase the contrast between the raised areas and the rest of the figures. The bases were painted with Citadel Colour Chaos Black. This is a departure from my usual approach of applying a sand/glue/paint mix for basing. It looks good, but I'm not sure how it will hold up - the edges are already starting to show wear.

Washes
I brushed on two layers of Army Painter Warpaints wash over each model. Dark Tone to bring out the recessed details. Strong Tone to blend the colors together and weather the models.

I like the dirty, worn appearance better than the paint job I originally used. It makes them look like machines that have been in the field for awhile.