Shadows of Brimstone: Dark Stone Hydra (#Monstermarch3 ’19, Gender-Ambiguous March ’19)

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Shadows of Brimstone: Dark Stone Hydra

Another model from big shipper box of random Shadows of Brimstone stuff today. It’s the Dark Stone Hydra!

Shadows of Brimstone: Dark Stone Hydra

Another in the series of simple Brimstone models that I’ve worked on, this one feels very “rattlesnake” in its sculpt.

Shadows of Brimstone: Dark Stone Hydra

The Dark Stone Hydra really is a bad model, and a prime example of why the initial run of Shadow of Brimstone models copped so much shit when they were first received by backers.

This model got started quite a few months ago, but was so uninspiring that it just sat in a tub with half a base-coat and a wash on the lower scales, literally for months until I saw it in there the other day and thought I should try to knock it out for Monster March. I mean, it could just as easily be a Neglected Model Month model, but MM is what prompted me to get it out and finish it, so credit goes to Swordmaster of Hoeth there. – This is also why, despite running my own painting challenges each month, I also try to join in a few of other people’s ones. Because it works to spike motivation. Turns out that it also fits in with the Gender-Ambiguous challenge that I am running here as well, so double-win.

Shadows of Brimstone: Dark Stone Hydra

Because of the whole rattlesnake thing, I decided to paint the model in a similar manner, though having to work around the wonky sculpt added some difficulty. I mean, the easy thing would have been to go with “man paints snake green” and it would have looked fine, but I always think models that look more natural in their colouration (if not anatomy) tend to look a bit better. So I looked up some rattlesnake images on google image search and tried to make them fit the sculpt. With some difficulty because of the XXL-sized scales, initially, until later I just decided to ignore them. I didn’t even think to look up the box art (for what look like airbrushed lines on the body) until I was wondering about the crystals/stones embedded in it’s hide (and for it’s “rattle”.) Purple, huh?

Shadows of Brimstone: Dark Stone Hydra

I often forget scale shots, especially for critters that look like they could be various sizes, so here it is, next to a Space Marine.

42 thoughts on “Shadows of Brimstone: Dark Stone Hydra (#Monstermarch3 ’19, Gender-Ambiguous March ’19)”

  1. Yup, purple. Darkstone is a deep purple crystal. Another layer of purple glaze would not hurt… 😉 Purple will contrast nicely with the yellow/sand color.

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    • Thanks, Tim. The Purple metallic I’ve used is one of Greenstuff World’s colour-shift paints, so it’s got a nice additional sheen to it in person that I’d be wary of messing up with further glazing.

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  3. I would never critisise a sculptor given my complete lack of ability in that area of the hobby but I can see that you had your work cut out painting this one. A very nice job under the circumstances and it ticks a lot of challenge boxes as an added bonus! 😊

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    • I hear what you’re saying, TIM. And while I personally couldn’t do better, I’m still comfortable in holding work – especially professional work to a professional standard. In the same way we can criticise a bad song or a bad film or bad painting without having the ability to “do better” ourselves.

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      • Haha, I remember that painting. Apologies if my comment sounded like a dig at you it certainly wasn’t meant that way. We can all be critical and rightly so but over the years I have had so many people say to me “can you do better?” that I have always tried to be tactful, the only problem is I’m shit at it! 😊

        Liked by 3 people

  5. It’s not the worst mini I’ve seen, but it’s definitely not top of the line either. You’ve done a very nice job on it, though! It immediately says rattlesnake to me.

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    • There’s one carnivorous plant left for me to paint, and I even did some work on it this month. Not sure if it’ll get done this month, but it’s on the table in the “active” area again though!

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  13. I can say from personal experience that the rattler painting is spot on. I think that the purple rattle adds a bit of magic to the piece (it does indeed have 3 heads which is not something I have personal experience with of course!). The scale work here is top-notch, and the white edging is very realistic on the spots. Now where I live, there are no rattlers, though there are a couple of places in Massachusetts where the rare timber rattlesnake has a few islands of habitat. We are pretty cold for most reptilians, but we have eastern copperheads, black racers, garter snakes, as well as huge snapping turtles. Not anything like what you have down under, but interesting for those who like critters: https://www.massaudubon.org/learn/nature-wildlife/reptiles-amphibians I have used the site as a guide for at least one painting project: https://markamorin.com/2016/09/04/fire-breathing-salamanders-ral-partha-13-028-from-1982/

    A quick anecdote about the Western rattler that looks like you modeled this piece after. In 1991, my unit (39th Engineer Battalion (CBT)) deployed from the now-defunct Fort Devens in Massachusetts to the border in Arizona in support of the Border Patrol. Basically we were building roads and firing ranges and the like. We came across a 4 foot western rattler we had accidentally driven over as it was on the dirt desert road. One of my NCO’s, being a rugged big cowboy hat kind of guy who liked Western gear and the like, he thought BELT. The creature was doomed – obviously – but not yet dead. Mercy was needed. He approached the coiled and angry serpent, and nailed it in the head from 5 feet away with a small rock. That was a very small target at any distance. Anyways, sad for the snake, his belt was phenomenal.

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    • Thanks Mark. I initially tried to mimic the patterning from photos to the model in a much more of a 1:1 way, but the sculpted scales are HUUUGE, so I had to modify the painting on the fly, and eventually went with dots for the white edging that looked much more like my source photos.
      When painting nondescript animal models, I do much the same as you do, and find local Aussie animals and crawlies to mimic (when I can, and it fits with the sculpts, anyway). I’ve got a giant snake in the Conan set which I’ve been planning to do as a Tiger Snake (very nasty and very local – can be found at the river about 10mins from my place)
      https://australianmuseum.net.au/learn/animals/reptiles/tiger-snake/
      That’s a cool story about the rattler/belt as well. Look at it this way. The snake would be dead by now either way, but as a belt it lives on and on!

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  14. Great paintjob. Totally love the model, got one just for the sake of it. Well, actually it could find some use as random monster in some AoS narrative scenarios. Probably I can use DE Hydra warscroll, stripped of the Elves’ attacks and abilities.

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  16. Pingback: #Monster March 3 – 2019 Personal Round-Up | Azazel's Bitz Box.

  17. I really love your work on this model! 😀

    Thanks for posting! I’ve looked through all of the comments and what you’ve written and I can’t find the guide to how you did the pattern? White lines around the “squares” of the pattern?

    I’m painting the very same model right now. The tail part got lost though, so I’ve made a “rattle” tail ending of Greenstuff with a lot of help from a friend of min 😀

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    • Sort of – I started by getting a reference pic from GIS, then did the whole thing in the tan. I tried to paint the darker scales individually to mimic the pattern, but the sculpted scales were way too big, so I went with impressions of the “scales” a quarter of the size of the sculpted ones, to give the right impression. Finally, the white outlines are a series of little dots of a pale off-white around/across the edges of where the brown met the tan, and it really wasn’t until then that it really came together.
      Plus of course, the lot was washed and given a powder drybrush (really light drybrush).
      Sorry about the delay in replying – I wasn’t blogging or active at all for a few months earlier this year and just saw your question now…

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