Category Archives: Dungeons & Dragons Monsters

Ral Partha Dungeons and Dragons: Giant Spider (1995) (Jewel of July ’18)

by

59

Ral Partha Dungeons and Dragons Giant Spider (1995)

Time for a Spider! Today’s model is a Ral Partha Giant Spider from their licenced Dungeons and Dragons range in 1995. Which is why it has a “TSR 1995” on it’s underside. While some of you might wonder why RP felt the need to licence something as incredibly generic as a Giant Spider, where no copyrights or trademarks could possibly exist, the answer lies in it being part of a branded D&D range that stores would carry and purchase from.

Ral Partha Dungeons and Dragons Giant Spider (1995)

Friend of the Bitz Box, Mark Morin actually painted the same model a couple of years ago, along with some other old-school Grenadier Spiders.

I painted the thing in woody browns, inspired by our local Aussie heroes, the Huntsman Spider. Even though the Huntsman isn’t furry like our D&D model, I still wanted her to have the “feel” and “appearance” of a “real” spider. In order to do that, I followed the really simple, muted tones of real spiders rather than going all that crazy with bright colours, as it’s clearly not a tropical specimen. I also went with browns rather than blacks, since I wanted it to stand out a bit more, and perhaps be a little less creepy(?) The tiny, beady eyes were painted black, with a single dot of white for the highlight, and gloss varnished. Not that you can see them, they’re so bloody small!

Ral Partha Dungeons and Dragons Giant Spider (1995)

After trying to make the thing look kinda-realistic with the paint, I wanted to then draw it away from looking like a large spider had invaded my games room by using the basing to tie it in with the rest of my minis collection, and with that black rim separate it from the tabletop slightly. I also used some bits of slate to raise the front f the spider, since it’s rearing up (for some reason) and make it look that little bit more impressive when sat next to other models.

Ral Partha Dungeons and Dragons Giant Spider (1995)

Ral Partha Dungeons and Dragons Giant Spider (1995)

It really is a nice sculpt, and probably one that’s now lost to time. It wouldn’t take much for someone who owned the mould to scrape off the TSR from it (or probably most of that range) and sell it, and I’m sure that’s the case with at least a good chunk of the rest of the mid-90’s range. After all, no-one “owns” Orcs, or Kobolds or Elves – which is why we now have GW selling us “Orruks” and “Aelves”, but without knowing the intricacies of that particular licence agreement, who can tell? RPE don’t have it. Maybe Mirilton or someone else like that owns the sculpts now? (Well, not Mirilton – I just checked!)

Reaper Bones 77504: Death Star Lillies (Neglected Model May ’18)

by

26

Reaper Bones 77504: Death Star Lillies

Another pair of simple Bones models here – and yes, that’s really what they’re called. These ones work as both Neglected Models for this month as well as some potential Nurglesque Scenic items for 40k/AoS/Warhams. Beyond that, they also work as Deathworld plants in a more general 40k sense, or any kind of Pulp and/or D&D setting as giant carnivorous plants. One problem that …drew out their painting time was the fact that they got tacky when I painted them with normal paint, despite the layer of Liquid Greenstuff that I had applied. I’ve overpainted them this time using Reaper’s own HD paints, though there’s some Vallejo mixed into the highlights and some AP washes with Lahmian Medium for the purple shading. Sealed with Reaper’s own brush-on, so we’ll see if this shit can stop the figures from becoming tacky. edit – seems to work, but it’s very satin as most brush-on Matt varnish turns out to be.

Reaper Bones 77504: Death Star Lillies

A Plaguebearer provides a sense of scale. As you can see, these are neither tiny, nor huge.