Those Who Trade: Animals

 Here, at the end of all things the Colony 87 miniatures.

Julius Samarkan and his living goods behind some electro-barriers

This is it, folks! The last Colony 87 miniatures! Crooked Dice have also grouped some cyberpunk miniatures and added to the range since the Third Wave Kickstarter, but these are moving into a different aesthetic, so I didn't pick them up. I'm happy to say that this is more-or-less the whole range and move into new directions. For one thing, all my new civilians need somewhere to live...

For the final post, we have alien pet merchant Julius Samarkan and most of the Colony 87/Crooked Dice animals (except for the space cat from yesterday). These were a lot of fun to paint, although obviously a little fiddly in some cases. I don't think I'll keep them all as Samarkan's, but use them to liven up tables.

Anyway, below the cut!

Electro-barriers

These are a fun way to bar off parts of a board without necessarily having fiddly fencing that you can knock over (although I'll build some of that too). I like to think they make a horrible buzzing noise that gives you a migraine after twenty minutes.

Julius Samarkan, alien pet merchant (unlicensed)

I really like this sculpt. Like so much of the Colony 87 range, he has character without drowning in it, details without being a pain in the arse. As he was described by Crooked Dice as 'unlikable', I wanted to get a vibe like the skeezy, too-old dude at a party. Maybe he sells weed? He definitely has a snake. Nobody likes that guy. That guy sucks.

So Julius's shitty goatee got a bad dye-job. He wears the kind of bright blue pants that those skeevy fuckers sometimes wear, along with a coat that definitely hasn't been washed lately. Oh, I hate this dude so much.

Poor lil' tentacled beasty, kept in an iron cage too small for it.

Space parrot! Also a mechanical hand, implying that ol' Julius is actually terrible at his job.

Owl-shrew nest

The owl-shrews have mild telekinetic capabilities and zoom through the streets avoiding children and cranky piemakers alike. Not terribly threatening, their fragile bones and small size keep them from being a hazard.

Painted mostly with contrasts, although I think I did their little cream faces with traditional paints. Took me about five minutes, most of which was opening the bottles.

Tree-dwelling feathered chameleiod

I got too ambitious for my own good and layered colours up this guy's scales from greens through turquoise and blue before his orange-then-red streak down his back. It looks okay but didn't photograph well and took way longer than was necessary. Such is life, and other cliches.

Tetsudo bird

Dumb as a rock, but make great kebabs.

I loved painting this guy. I think he's meant to be a reference to some kind of pokeyman, but I just went with a turquoise shell and orange, delicious flesh. No contrast here; the sculpt takes washes very well though.

Vermilepus

Characterised as 'bizarre' and 'insect-eating', which I think is quite rude.

His weird feathered chest is a contrast, but the skin is Vallejo's Heavy Khaki, as on Lady Greiss's pet baby. I think I washed it with sepia, but Heavy Khaki is such a weird colour that it works for any kind of "I need this to look Strange" you're going for. No idea how you'd use it in a realistic way.

Cthellean Cudbear (cub, muzzled)

Oh, it might be locally called a 'horned urz', but I know a Cthellean Cudbear when I see one.

Squippet

Mildly telepathic critters imported from a system even further out from imperial space, squippets give off emphatic waves. A much more reliable and nervous-system friendly downer than Kalma or Opiatix or whatever hive worlder fungus the pharm corps serve up these days.

Feathered hopper

Delightful little creatures. Feathers worth a fortune off-world (whichever world).

Ambulatory fungoid

Personally, I suspect that this thing is sapient. Look into its knowing, blood-red eyes and tell me otherwise.

I based the colour scheme on bleeding tooth fungus, the obvious and only choice for 'possibly sapient, weird pet walking fungus thingy'. I used combinations of contrast paint, drybrushing and various creams (Pallid Wych Flesh is the best), while his eyes are Blood for the Blood God.

I would like to paint twelve more, please and thank you.

And that's it, folks!

While the last of Colony 87, this isn't the last civilian on this desert world - nor the desert setting more broadly. I like it here, and I think I'll build terrain and some other factions to fight over it. Maybe in a Necromunda sense (GorkaMorka!), or maybe just some people to fight the Mantis Warriors. We'll see how we get on.

Anyway, I really need to get back to unpacking. That's why you haven't heard from me for weeks - I finished all these animals immediately before having to pack up the whole apartment and move to our new house. I need to go find my brushes...