A bit of a personal triumph(?) of sorts with this post – I’ve finally completed the Dracoliche model from the D&D Castle Ravenloft boardgame, which I purchased in the middle of 2012 and we finished playing in 2013 or perhaps early 2014.
I think this may actually be the last of the monster models from that game, as I know I completely ignored the player character models in favour of already-painted better models by GW, Reaper, etc.. It certainly took me long enough to force myself to finish this one. I think the major mental blockage on this one was due to the soft-ish PVC details and the rather plain “all-bone” look.
The model is actually pretty decent for a boardgame model, especially one from the early 2010’s, though obviously it doesn’t stand up too well to many HIPS plastics and whatnot. Being mostly bone, it should have been a complete doddle for me to paint, but instead, it’s been a model that’s taken me quite a few years to complete. It took Monster March (yes, again) to get this model finally done now, even though I didn’t manage to complete it last year or the year before…
I also built up a gaming base for it, specifically for Kings of War, so I can have it on the round base for various boardgames, or Pathfinder, or AoS, or whatever – or then blu-tac it onto the “army” base for Kings of War. I think I need to add a tuft or some flowers or two to that base, though. The trick was to try and have the simply sculpted flagstones for the Ravenloft boardgame and to fit in with those models, while also giving a nice “tabletop friendly” effect, such as I did on the Ravenloft Golem that I completed relatively recently.
Something that does amuse me in a rather wry way is how well this undead lizard, released in 2010 scrubs up compared to the Conan “dragon” from 2016 (remember, I had to add the Conan dragon’s base myself!)
Two More Monster March Model Posts to come!
Azazel's Bitz Box. 
Great painting, as a board game model it’s pretty damn good, great that you’ve got a way to utilise it in multiple ways with your base modification
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Cheers, Dave. I theoretically could have done another pass with dark brown to define each piece of bone, but I was happy to simply be done with it, so it’s a case of “good enough!”
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Nicely done dude – not too bony, just look at all that meaty goodness!! Yum 🙂
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Cheers, Alex. Another one I’m happy to have gotten off the desk!
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I reckon the red bits could use some more contrast, they seem a bit flat compared to the bone. Though I do understand that you don’t want to take too long with a model that you don’t care about that much.. Anyway, nice board game mini for sure!
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There’s a little bit there, underneath the coat of Bloof for the Blood God. The main issue with it is that there’s actually no detail to bring out besides a bit of blobbiness because PVC boardgame mini!
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The wings also have a small highlight int he middle, but again, they’re flat, un-detailed, and underneath a coat of Spiritstone Red!
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Looking good, you have managed to make a board game piece look good 👏👏👏
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Thanks mate – not too hard these days with the increasing quality of boardgame models. A fair few of the others from this game are also quite good.
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Very nice mate but I can’t help but wonder if it took you longer to get the dust off it than it did to paint! 😉
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Paint, definitely. I’ve got a special brush for dusting that makes it a doddle! 😉
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Alex has got it spot on with his comment I think! Brilliant!
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BBQ Lizard leftovers?
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Looks good- like the sabot base.
Cheers,
Pete.
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Thanks Pete. I’ve probably got to make up a few more of those for various models sometime….
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I kind of feel like if they couldn’t do better detail on the flesh, they should have just left it as all bones. Nice job with what you had to work with, tho!
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Well, I’m willing to cut them some slack on it based on the context of it being a boardgame model from WotC circa 2010-ish. If it were a GW kit from the same time frame, I’d think a lot harsher towards the model’s drawbacks.
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It’s a Dracolich, not a Zombie Dragon or something. There’s no particular reason for it to have any fleshy bits at all.
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More than happy to take your word for it, as my D&D knowledge is surface-level at best. I think the meaty bits probably provided the sculptor with an easy way to “cheat” through some of the more structurally challenging bony bits.
I do have the Zombie Dragon from the same set done, though.
https://azazelx.com/2015/05/08/dd-monster-manual-9-castle-ravenloft-zombie-dragon-werewolf/
Need to do a compilation post of these critters sometime soon(ish).
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Liches, Draconic or otherwise, are usually just bone, and often even a significant amount of that has fallen to dust and they’re basically just held together by their magic. Eventually, enough of them dusts away that they border on being incorporeal.
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Great stuff! Love these monster sculpts.
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Thanks mate. Just one more to go for Monster March, but plenty more beyond that!
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Well done mate ,though Elm still chuckling over the C-bomb comment ! bloody beauty .
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Haha. I’m sure I haven’t offended your delicate sensibilities at least. 👍
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Nice, I just snatched up this game when there was a sudden price drop. If I ever get around to painting the minis in any of those boxed games, I’ll definitely be referencing what you’ve done here.
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At some stage I’ll have to have a look for all of the other Ravenloft models and do a group shot post!
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That would be pretty sweet. Do you have all of the boxed sets to date?
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I think so? There’s Ravenloft, Ashardalon, DRIZZZZZZZZZZZZT, and Temple of Doo.. Elemental Evil?
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Tomb of Annihilation. That’s the latest one, that I still need to pick up.
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