Today we have the first model I finished this month, one that I started for Monster March/Monster MAYhem but didn’t manage to finish for either challenge – a literal shit monster (apparently), the Nolzurs’ take on an Otyugh.
As you can see, it’s a pretty simple model, and there’s really no especially good reason for it to have taken so long, but when it comes down to it – it’s just a pretty uninspiring model since I don’t have a strong connection to D&D and this model was a lot smaller than I expected.
I mean, it’s not a terrible model or anything. I was pretty surprised at how small it is compared to the other Otyugh that I have, via the Wrath of Ashardalon boardgame model. This one is a much nicer, more detailed and dynamic sculpt, it’s just so much smaller. I’d have done a direct size comparison, but there’s a bunch of crap in the way of the case that the WoA model is in, and I didn’t want to delay getting my October posts up.
I did also want to give this model at least my own minimum amount of effort rather than just slapping some wash or contrast on it and calling it done, so I still tried to make it look a bit naturalistic in its colouration, and I had a little bit of enjoyment painting in some exture on the tongue.
Anyway, this one is done now, so that’s never a bad thing. I do notice that this is the 99th D&D Monster Manual post, so I should probably try to come up with something cool for the 100th post… 😬
Azazel's Bitz Box. 
What a beast
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Cheers mate! 🙂
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Interesting creature – he’s got a kinda cool high-fiving croc vibe going on!
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I can see that in the mouthparts – good spot!
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Nice work on that beasty. Could work as a mutated lizard/ croc too I reckon.
Cheers,
Pete.
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Yeah, I guess it could work as a Chaos Spawn if I get around to playing whichever version of Warhammer again. 🙂
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Well, it’s an unsettling model, but I like your take on it. As the others said, the crocodile approach works really well, and I like the colour blending and how you solved the issues. Nice job
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Thanks mate – giving some of these weird D&D critters more “naturalistic” paint schemes seems to work well in grounding them a bit (or a lot) more than painting them in bright, fantastic colours.
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for such an uninspiring sculpt, you’ done a great job with the colour choices and given it a life of it’s own.
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Thanks Dave. For models like this I just try to keep them vaguely naturalistic looking so that these rather fantastical sculpts end up having something to ground them a little.
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Now that is weird! I think it looks really good, although my eyesight is having trouble adjusting to it! 🙂
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This thing does have a bit of a surrealist element to the design, doesn’t it?
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Its definitely an interesting design and I like how you painted it up. The paint scheme looks real enough to be believable which I think is always good for a monster mini in my book!
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Thanks mate – whoever sculpted this did make an obvious effort to make a very fantastical creature look a little more like an actual animal with things like the uneven and overlapping teeth. Sometimes giving a muted and “realistic” paintjob feels like the only way to go with models like this that could overwise just look silly.
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Nice work on this one. I’ve been looking for an Otyugh/Neo-Otyugh that matches the old Monster Manual illustration, but nothing is very close. It’s also not easy to tell much from the illustration, so later artists expanded on that. Which is why this one’s jaw is more like a crocodile than just a big gaping hole.
Luckily I don’t foresee the players running into one anytime soon, so Im in no rush to find the model that matches what I want.
If memory serves, they are roughly human sized with larger variants out there. So this one would be quite large for my scale, but looks pretty good with the mini you have there.
The tentacle on the top is also where its eyes are. The beast likes to hide below the surface of a dung pile, with its top tentacle sticking out to watch for prey. So I think the three orbs on the top of that tentacle are supposed to be eyes. I thought they were the underside of the tentacle, but I guess I’m wrong.
Color wise, I think you nailed it and has a very naturalistic look. Just like you do with a lot of your monsters and animals! 😃
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Wow, that’s interesting (in a way at least). I felt like this one was small buty my only frame of reference is the one that came int he Ashardalon box that absolutely dwarfs this one. Perhaps one that fits your preference would be easier to convert using some regular models and a bunch of putty than to actually find as a commercial model.
I wouldn’t really worry about eyes on top or eyes below – as you said, the artists’ interpretations have taken these early monster designs all over the map, and we know that real animals have a lot of variation within a genus and species.
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Now THAT is a creepy monster! love the work on the mouths and tentacles.
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Thanks Mark. Youd be horrified I’m sure to find out what they apparently get up to in the sewage!
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Great paintwork on the model Az. Even large monsters started small at some stage.
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Thanks mate! Much like the story of any GW figure range over the years as well 😉
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Was on a search tangent yesterday that ended up with me returning to your two Otyugh posts. On rereading this, I discovered you were upset or disappointed by the difference in the size of the two miniatures. I think I now know why. There are two versions, “Neo-Otyugh”, which is what I think this mini is. They look the same, but are around 8′ tall. The other mini is probably the “Otyugh”, which is supposed to be around human height, but could be a bit taller. I also just read that their bite has a 90% chance of causing disease (Typhus), which definitely sucks!
You could also just play one as the “boss monster’ I guess.
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