Just over a year since I completed the previous two large models from this boxed set, the Chimera and the Teumessian Fox, I’ve finally force-motivated myself to complete the Basilisk – which in this case has the form of a giant snake as it’s the mythic form and not the D&D form.
I originally hoped to paint in the scale patterns using the sculpted scales on the model, but the original 3d sculpt as shown lost a lot of it’s sharpness and refinement in the transition from render to final product, and so my plans were a little …ambitious. The result was that I ran out of steam and the model sat on the desk for several months before being “filed” away in a storage tub.
With this year’s “Monster”-themed challenge months, arriving (Monster March and Monster MAYhem) I dug this thing out of the tub where it’d been for at least half a year and then it sat on my painting desk until about a week ago, when I just put the “force it through” mentality into practise and just started dotting in individual scales in one pattern, then the next, then the next – doing as much as I could stomach each session (often while doing something else) over the course of about five days until finally completing it a few hours before I sit (sat) here typing this text.
In the end, I gave up on trying to fill in the scales based on the soft ones on the sculpt and just dropped them in as dots where I wanted them. There are messy areas, areas where the dags and jags are too big, or too small, a couple where due to the curvature of the snake’s coil that a jag or two are even missing altogether. The close-ups really emphasise the messiness of the scales, but in hand at actual size with that satin clearcoat, the model works pretty well.
In the end, the dotted-in scales actually seemed to work to give the snake both a shaded and textured effect, and using a satin varnish on the model helped to accentuate the positive and hide the flaws. And yeah. I’m pretty happy to have finally completed this thing and gotten it out of here and out of the way! Thanks to Angry Piper’s Monster MayHem ’23 painting challenge for the motivation!
As is custom for monster models, Chainsaw Girl Berkeley once again provides us with model scale (and yet another trophy for her wall!) In this instance, a bare-knuckled Conan would also have worked…
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The pattern and effect you’ve achieved on the snake turned out really well mate, especially as the detail was lost in the production of the piece.
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Thanks Dave! Glad you feel it came up well – and even more glad to get the model done! 😉
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Oooh, I like this! 🙂 I think the patterns look really good and well worth the time you spent on them!
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Cheers, John – took long enough to get them done, so I’m certainly glad for the feedback!
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The snake came out looking great – both the patterning on its skin and the differently coloured scales on its underside. Nice work!
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Thanks Dave – makes me happy to see that someone spotted the varation on the belly scales! 🙂
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Mate, I think that is flippin’ superb! Well played sir 🤘
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Thank you, Alex – much appreciated! 🙂
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Oh, man, what a dedication! It’s awesome!!!
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Thanks mate! A real example of “fake it until you make it” as far as the enthusiasm goes!
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Good on you for powering through, mate. I’m sure it wasn’t the most fun thing to work on but the effort was well worth it. As you mentioned, the snake looks great at a distance and will look great on the tabletop!
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Thanks mate – on my PC display, the final pic with Berkeley is pretty much 1:1 to the actual size as opposed to the image close-ups. 😀
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One of the best painted giant snakes I’ve ever seen — your patterns make this absolutely shine. Terrific.
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Thanks mate – it was a bit paintful and seemed to take forever, but I’m happy with the final product!
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Well, it looks good in the photos so it must look pretty amazing in person! Nice work getting it done and managing to finish the scale pattern! 😀
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Thanks mate – the secret was just doing a bunch at a time and doing a few rounds of it every day…
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Those dots are truly epic, that has worked so well!
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Thank you! Happy to finally have gotten this one done!
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Epic work on the scales – and nature is not always perfect – but this rendition looks perfectly realistic down to the belly scales.
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Thanks Mark – it’s supposed to be a Greek snake, but no Greek snakes that I could find have any sign of a rattle on them, so it got “snake skin” pattern rather than any specific real-life-based patterning.
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