Something I’m (somewhat) trying to do this month is to use the Monster March painting challenge for is as a motivational tool to get “monster” models painted, but to do so in a more focused manner than some of the previous years – so keeping in mind my own painting goals from the start of the year. So rather than starting a whole bunch of random Reaper Bones models for example, I’m looking towards painting models that fit in with those painting goals. The exception to this “focus” will be completing models that have been started and have been sitting around.
So with that in mind, here’s a Reaper Bones “Eye Beast” – aka their Not-Beholder. This one was glued to a base, had texture applied around the integrap base, and I’d “primed” it with (probably) Liquid Greenstuff and then (definitely) Reaper’s Brown Liner – both of which work to create a surface in between the awful “bonesium” PVC and, you know, paint in order to prevent it becoming tacky and disgusting.
Anyway, a bit of faffing about and we had a light yellow beholder, drybrushed with a lighter shade, and then hit with a diluted-towards-the-top Contrast Iyanden Yellow. Picked out all of the bits and it was done pretty quickly. So it’s done. I know that these things are a nasty opponent in actual D&D, but they’ve always looked goofy as all hell to me. As with a lot of other D&D models, it’ll go into a case until I need it for a D&D game (so possibly forever). Finally, here’s the scale shot with everyone’s favourite scale model – Berkeley aka “Chainsaw Girl”.
Azazel's Bitz Box. 
Looks awesome mate, and good call on sealing the bones material before the paint from what you and others have said in the past. Really like the detail work you’ve done on the eyes, especially the large one.
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Thanks Dave. I’m honestly still; expecting the thing to turn tacky at some stage. I’ve skipped varnishing this one even, so if it actually gets used for anything, maybe it can lose paint instead of becoming sticky… (!)
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That has come out really well, love the yellow you’ve used here, unusual but very well suited.
Oh and you really have it in for Berkley don’t you!
Cheers Roger.
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Thanks Roger. The yellow is based on a custom mixture of a dollop of yellow and then deciding that I should add white into it so it becomes more opaque and would work better with a wash… 😀
And Berkley is pretty bulletproof at this stage – I think she can face off against anything! 😉
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That looks really good (nice is not the word really)! 🙂 The eyes are spot on!
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Thanks John! Turned out that it was a quick and easy model to get done once I actually knuckled down to finish it..
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Congrats on overcoming the Reaper tackiness. Looks great – love the color choices.
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Thanks Mark – we’ll see how long it actually lasts! 😀
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A blue-eyed (not-)Beholder: an original but very effective choice of palette. You managed to make the look of the eyes very realistic, including the shine and veins. We’ve always been intrigued by these D&D monsters, and often wondered what inspired them (Argus from Greek mythology?). Thanks also for warning us about the treacherous character of Bones plastic: one more reason to choose metal, when available!
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Thank you! I was originally going to give it red eyes, but then I decided that blue would “pop” more nicely.
I’m sure it goes against some strict D&D canon in some form, where there’s a different sub=species of beholder for each skin colour in the rainbow, but whatever!
As for the origins, this is what I could find –
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beholder_(Dungeons_%26_Dragons)
Though given the quality of the example illustration, I could see it simply being a doodle on paper that got turned into a D&D monster in those formative days…
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Yea, my guess would be either an amateurish doodle or probably someone came up with the idea of a ‘killer monster that has multiple eyes that each shoot a different ray effect!’ The same sort of stuff we used to dream up as kids. 😉
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Yeah, that very much fits the story from Wikipedia…
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Very nice mate, beautiful eyes… I guess that beauty is in the eye of the not-beholder too! 😁
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Thanks Alex – the eyes were easy enough to do thankfully!
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Being fond of old D&D monsters, I really like this one. I’ve seen the mini before, but your rendition is really nice. I didn’t recall it having eyes on the cheeks and back, but that’s pretty cool. The blue eyes really pop on your model! 🙂
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Thanks Faust. I didn’t realise myself until I’d done the wash and there they were! In the context of the overall Beholder design it may not be “canon”, but it works for me…
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I’d agree that these guys are a bit silly looking but at the same time, you always do a great job painting them. I’ll be curious to see what other monsters you got kicking around there too 🙂
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Thanks mate! Most of the others will likely be a bit more focused on my goals for the year, though some are certainly a bit wacky in their own right. Maybe just not as much as the Beholder…
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Awesome work on this one!
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Thanks mate, cheers! 👍
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That’s a great Beh… Eye-Beast mate!
Love the way you’ve done the eyes – the big one’s creepy and I’m sure it follows me around the room!
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Haha thank you. It can be defeated with a good old fashioned Three Stooges-style manoeuvre!
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Lol! I find a sharp stick to the eye-ball often works, not that I’ve met many Beh… damn, Eye-Beasts in my time!
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