Another of the models from the Conan Kickstarter today. This time, it’s the “Dragon”. I have to say, that when I first opened up this model, I was pretty disappointed. Obviously, I’d seen the overall design of the model from the KS advertising, but I wasn’t really expecting it to be so (relatively) small (for a “dragon”) once in hand.
I was, in fact, so un-enamoured of this model that once I opened it, it took me several months to halfheartedly spray it with a dark green I had, and then let it sit for ….I dunno. More than six months, easily. Any number of Neglected Model months also passed by without tempting me to get this thing out and paint it, even though it was stored in a tub of “neglected monster” models for ease of access for a painting challenge.
Once again, then – Swordmaster of Hoeth’s Monster March was the impetus for me to see the model in that tub and decide to smash it out to get rid of it and get it done and out of the way. I’m grateful for him running this challenge, as without it, this model would still be sitting in the tub, annoying me whenever I laid eyes on it.
I used their official/box art for my guide, basically, because I didn’t care enough about this model to try and do anything special with it. There’s a turquoise wash involved, as well as various layers of drybrushing. The concept artwork, like much of the stuff from this Kickstarter is taken from the Age of Conan MMORPG.
The (tiny) eyes were picked out in yellow, and then I decided to give them little slit pupils. This close-up shows how much the thing looks like a cheap PVC dinosaur toy. Actually, the stuff from Papo and Schleich are much better.
As with yesterday’s monster, here’s a scale shot alongside a Space Marine. You can see how small the thing is for a “Dragon”, and how disappointing this model is for US$30 (or $40 at RRP!) Ah well, can’t do anything about money badly spent. Model is painted, finished, available for gaming. It’s still not a great model, but it’s finished and I no longer need to waste energy disliking it. That’s as good as this one is going to get!
I’ve got a couple more Monsters I’m trying to get done before March ends (including the ones I originally intended to complete!), so hopefully Swordmaster can hold off for a couple of days before he does his round-up!
Azazel's Bitz Box. 
Ah well, you did it justice at least, poor little dragon. 😦 In the spirit of Dungeons & Dragons, maybe it is a young dragon that hasn’t had time to wax horrible yet.
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Perhaps. Perhaps a young dragon that got it’s head stuck in that Chaos Toilet when it was even younger – hence the odd noggin!
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Yes, it could be that, it seems a plausible and good a reason as any!
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As with the Hydra, it’s unfortunate that the execution was so poor, because the concept there is pretty awesome. Nice job working with what you had there, tho. The slit pupils are a particularly nice touch. They reinforce some of the weirder elements (like the way that ridge of horns or whatever divides the face) in a way that makes it look even more disturbing, which I’m sure Howard would approve of.
I do have to say, even tho the size may be disappointing for the price point and the way it looked in the KS, that does look like a pretty good size for a Conan dragon. That was relatively early in the history of fantasy literature, and the escalating size of monsters really hadn’t become a thing yet.
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The biggest disappointment about it is that the Conan models seem to (on the whole) to be quite good in terms of details. Things like Baal-Ptor’s pinhead aside, at least. But even on that figure, the details are nice and fine, as opposed to the toy-like, knobbly ones on this model.
I’ll bow to your knowledge on Howard, however – I haven’t read any of his work, and don’t have any touchstones on how large the beasts were supposed to be in the time of his writings.
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Most of Howard’s monsters were basically just bigger versions of existing creatures. Often based in history (there was a Sabre-tooth Tiger in one story). The closest he came to a dragon was something that sounded much more like a dinosaur.
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Makes sense. Much more grounded “fantasy” than what we think of as Fantasy these days, after decades of Tolkien, D&D and Warhammer (and everything else!)
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Yeah, he basically started writing fantasy because he was tired of the research necessary to write good historical fiction, so it didn’t stray nearly as far from historical as later writers who expanded the genre.
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Sorry to hear about your disappointment with the model. You did a great job in mustering the will power to paint it and I do think it looks very nice indeed! It is a small dragon, not intimidating as its larger cousins. But it does look great and I am sure can be used for variety of purposes.
I am very happy to know that MonsterMarch helped you to paint this model! It is an achievement no matter what and I would like to thank you for your contribution. I will definitely feature this Dragon in the final post about Monster March!
Well done!
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Thanks, Swordmaster! I think using Tolkien’s parlance, it’d be a “Wurm”, as it lacks wings – though there are as many sub-definitions of dragons as there are fantasy writers, I suspect. (Probably more, actually!)
Monster March was definitely the impetus to pretty much do all of the work on this thing, as it was for yesterday’s Darkstone Snake Hydra. I do have to thank you for that. Tomorrow’s figure is also a Monster March submission, though it was started for different reasons to the challenge – but luckily fit in reasonably nicely. I’ll be trying to get that Dracoliche finished this weekend of I get time to breathe. Wish me luck!
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You’ve done a great paint job on a seriously underwhelming model, I commend you for gutting through it to get it finished
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Thanks Dave. Credit there has to go to Swordmaster at least as much as to me for giving me the drive to git’er’done!
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Terrible model, but you have made the best of it!
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Hahaha thanks mate! I’ve got a box of cardboard ready for you – I’ll try and email you this weekend on the address attached to your comments.
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Cheers matey.
jackson dot kym at gmail dot com
😉
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Thanks mate. I’ll get an email off you you this weekend and get a post office quote early next week.
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Another silk purse mate – well done!
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I think it’s still closer to the sow’s ear to be honest, but glad it’s done and out of the way!
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Naff model for sure but paint job makes sure it is as good as can be….
Cheers,
Pete.
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I don’t think it’s nearly as good as it could be, but it’s good enough for me! 😉
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I quite like it and that’s aside from the nice paint job! Can’t work out what its head looks like though!
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I think they were going for something a bit unearthly and unnatural. I think a more realistic lizard/dino head would have worked a bit better on that body personally.
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Nice job on the ‘Dragon’. You have certainly done it justice. As per earlier comments the ‘dragon’ in Howard story ‘Red Nails’ I always thought of being an over large reptile certainly not a dragon in fire breathing winged creature type. So I think you have captured exactly what it is. : )
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Thanks Mark – I’ve never actually read any Howard, so I’ll take you guys’ word on it. I think for my own taste I’d still have liked it with a more “normal” reptilian head in that case, rather than the silly-ish “monster” head. 🙂
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Admire you for getting it done and making a very decent job of it too.
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The main thing was just knuckling down and getting it done. Better done and out of the way so I can concentrate on more enjoyable models without it metaphorically hanging over my head.
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I know that feeling of slogging away, painting a model that you just don’t like that much. You’ve done a fine job on him though, and although I can follow and agree with all your arguments for not liking him as this is my first introduction to the model, and as you’ve done such a good job of painting him, I think he looks pretty damn good 🙂
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You’re too kind, mate. The Skaven weren’t much more fun (less fun, actually) but they came out in a way I’m much happier with.
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I love the dry brushing on this model
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Thanks Mark – the only saving grace was that it’s such a drybrushable model!
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