Wizkids WK73193 Miniatures D&D Nolzurs Marvelous Minis Umber Hulk (D&D Monster Manual 63) (Monster MAYhem ’21)

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Wizkids WK73193 Miniatures D&D Nolzurs Marvelous Minis Umber Hulk

Well, I sure fucked that one up the other day – accidently hitting “publish” instead of save while working through my edits in advance. Here it is now “officially”, I guess!

My second submission for Monster MAYhem, over at Dead Dick’s Tavern and Temporary Lodging, is this Nolzur’s model I picked up recently. An Umber Hulk. I did pick this one up due to it’s very direct lineage to the venerable 40k monster, the Ambull – the original model of being one that I still sadly lack. I’ve seen some modern resculpts of it. I wonder if there’s an old-school STL design of it out there that I could get hold of to have printed?

Wizkids WK73193 Miniatures D&D Nolzurs Marvelous Minis Umber Hulk

Wizkids WK73193 Miniatures D&D Nolzurs Marvelous Minis Umber Hulk

This was a very simple paintjob. After basing, Reaper’s HD Golden Brown was the base coat, which I then drybrushed in a few different directions with browns into both greens and tans before picking out the claws and then going over the lot with Army Painter’s Strong Tone on the outer and Soft Tone on the inner. Eyes black, spray varnish, and then some GSW Colour Shift paints on the smaller, insect eyes and done!

Wizkids WK73193 Miniatures D&D Nolzurs Marvelous Minis Umber Hulk

Wizkids WK73193 Miniatures D&D Nolzurs Marvelous Minis Umber Hulk

An unlikely duo fight off The Dreaded Ambull… Umber Hulk

Honestly, the basing (glue down, acrylic paste, slate, dry time, PVA & sand, drying, paint black, drying, then drybruhsing) took a hell of a lot longer than the actual model painting, which took maybe an hour (with breaks). I did notice while looking at this model how much Umber Hulks (and Ambulls) for that matter have changed in their design over the years, but then when you think about it for even a moment it all does make sense. I mean, what does “a beetle” look like exactly? Or “a dog”? Or even “a human?” So yeah, variation in size, colour, shape, length & proportion of various bits… it all makes sense if you look at these (or many fantasy creatures) as though they were natural beings with all of those elements being variable.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this one, and hopefully I’ll have more monsters done and able to be shared shortly….

 

43 thoughts on “Wizkids WK73193 Miniatures D&D Nolzurs Marvelous Minis Umber Hulk (D&D Monster Manual 63) (Monster MAYhem ’21)”

  1. Wonderful work mate, great tones and colours you’ve got in there.
    What is it about the original Ambull that you like compared to the new one ?

    Liked by 3 people

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      • Yeah, the original UH is a bit silly looking as well, but 80’s gaming design Nostalgia goes a long way!
        And Oldhammer prices are insane now. Wasn’t that many years ago when you could pick stuff up for a very reasonable price… before it got trendy/popular.

        Liked by 3 people

    • Thanks Pete. They have a fair few things that look good – just getting enough spare $ to make the postage worthwhile by crossing into the free shipping range is the hard part!

      Liked by 4 people

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  5. Love the tones you’ve done on this one. The photos are really crisp too! I’m starting to see why you do the basing the way you do vs straight GW basing. Looks like you get more natural texture to dry brush overall.

    I’m unclear on the Reaper HD paint. Is it like the VGC Extra Opaque stuff, or just an older line of the Reaper MSP paints?

    Liked by 5 people

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    • Oops, I got sidetracked again, looking up Nightmare minis. Looking through pics online of the Ambull, it seems like each iteration of them has been an improvement over the D&D monster. I might just end up buying a knock-off Ambull down the road (the originals are quite expensive off Ebay!).

      Liked by 5 people

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    • Thanks, I’m finally getting the hang of this new phone. I need to go back and retake the Rocket and Groot pictures, I think – those ones stand out to me as ones I was particularly less than happy with recently. I like the mixture of fine and more coarse sand along with the bits of slate to add a bit more interest – and they provide a natural feeling place to drop tufts as well.
      Reaper’s HD paints are actually pretty nice to work with. They’re their own versions of GW’s old Foundation Line, which is what VGC Heavy Opaque/Extra Opaque copied. Though Reaper didn’t copy the GW colours like Vallejo did, and have a nice, wide range rather than a few dull ones (though I did buy all three ranges).

      Liked by 4 people

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  8. I didn’t know the old one… So the new Ambull looks better to me… But this one I like even better! Games Workshop’s is a bit overthetop borderline cartoony compared to this one! Like, almost… trying too hard to seem menacing. Plus 100% less drooling larvae seems like a win.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    • Thanks mate! Yeah, I do like the new one in terms of quality sculpt, but I agree with you on not particularly liking the flies or larvae crawling/buzzing around it. I’ve got plans to get hold of a few more Umber Hulks to take care of most of my Ambull needs! 😉

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

  9. Really nice job on this one! The colours on the shell look great and I agree with you on the old-school ambull, I wish I’d got one back when they cost about 50p lol

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    • Thanks Matt – and yeah same here – I can’t remember if they were ten or fifteen bucks here. I think ten if they were the same price as other blisters.

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    • Thanks Kuribo! I’ve got a couple of boxes of the actual Ambot models from Necro waiting for the right time someday… and yeah, if D&D ever happens again it’ll go right in with the rest fo the menagerie!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  14. I was just about to comment how you obviously gave the model an extra amount of attention as the paintjob looks amazing…and then I read your recipe. Great job man, great job!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Thanks Mikko – it’s a relatively simple, but nice sculpt that lends itself perfectly to drybrishing and washing for good results. Credit to the sculptor in this case for making it such a doddle!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • That’s a lovely story, Pat – thanks so much for sharing! 😉
      If you like Ticks, I’ve got a few more models you’ll surely like lined up as well….

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  17. Great work on this, Azazel. This is one of my favorite Nolzur’s sculpts and I love the colors you’ve used on the carapace.
    Beware, though! My Umber Hulk was bent so far forward he couldn’t stand up, because his mandible hung below his base. I used the hot water/bend/cold water method to reposition him and it worked. For a while. Now that he’s all painted, he’s bent over again, though not as much as he was when I bought him.
    Keep an eye on yours lest your lovely work be obscured!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks mate – and yeah, I already hot-watered this one to get it’s chin out of the floor, so I won’t be too surprised if it slowly hunches down again over time (unfortunately). It’s PVC though – so maybe a careful application of a hairdryer could reset it once again without warping the base? Hopefully…

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