Tag Archives: Dungeons and Dragons

77256: Brass Bull (Reaper Bones)

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The moment I saw this model in the Bones II list, I knew I wanted to buy it. Marouda likes Bulls, as she’s a Taurus (not into astrology, but likes the animal and imagery). As I’ve written before, the Brass/Bronze Bull is a thing with a strong Ancient Greek heritage. As much as I like the Foundry Model, this one is a good bit bigger, and as such, more impressive. Incidentally, this model is a Bob Olley sculpt, and a nice one at that. I started this a little over a month ago, after starting a brief survey on how to base it.

Reaper Bones 77256: Brass Bull

Reaper’s Brass Bull. You can sort of see the glowing eyes I gave this one.

Reaper Bones 77256: Brass Bull

Now, I know that most Reaper Miniatures are essentially “counts-as” models for various Dungeons and Dragons beasties. What was interesting to me was when one of my friends was over for Friday Night Zombicide, and saw the part-painted model on my paint desk, and remarked that he recognised it as a “Gorgon” and talked about it turning enemies to stone (ok) via a breath attack (huh?) Now, as I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a huge D&D guy, and to me “Gorgon” always meant a snake-woman of Medusa’s Ilk. Medusa being the name of a specific Gorgon, rather than the name of the snake-haired woman’s race. Because, you know, that’s what they are.

Reaper Bones 77256: Brass Bull

This shot shows off the freehand Hoplon shield. I’m quite proud of it.

So I did a bit of Googling the next day. I found that, yes indeedy, a Brass (or Bronze) Bull is a proper D&D Monster that petrifies its foes via a breath attack. Huh. Still, it required a bit more reading to figure out. Eventually, I found this blog post by F.Wesley Schneider (of D&D and Pathfinder fame) who explains it all in a way that makes it all make sense. It’ll still never make it a Gorgon to me, but I can absolutely understand and respect the reasoning behind it, as well as the many years of legacy to those who play and are familiar with D&D. It’s much the same kind of acceptance as my own to bright green Orcs, which was not something I’d ever considered or pictured before my introduction to and immersion into Warhammer in my early teens.

Reaper Bones 77256: Brass Bull

Reaper Bones 77256: Brass Bull

Showing the discarded Kopis sword.

A couple of flank shots. When I saw the photographs of these I noticed a small amount of wear (already!) on some of the scales. I’ve gone back to retouch those bits and will be giving them a bloody decent shot of varnish tonight and tomorrow.

Wargames Foundry Bronze Bull, Reaper Bones 77256: Brass Bull

Sizing comparison.

Finally, a size comparison shot. We have Stabby McStab, the Chronopia model, the Reaper Bull and finally, the Wargames Foundry Bronze Bull. While the basing does make a difference, the Wargames Foundry bull is significantly smaller. I’ll still manage to work out a use for both in the eventual Mythical Greek Army. I’ve got some ideas, and both bulls would remain very nasty opponents. I might add some flower tufts to the base of the Reaper model, though. I like the contrasting effect that flowers have with such a terrifying monster of Brass and Steel!

D&D Monster Manual 1: Purple Worms – aka Reaper Bones 77006: Great Worm

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Purple Worms, Reaper Bones 77006: Great Worm

There’s a bit of discussion about at the moment, regarding how Bones is not a great material for certain figures, and can be a bit of an unpleasant material to work with for some people. While I’d agree that it’s far from perfect, it works out really well for certain figures. I bought this pair of Pre-KS Bones over a year ago, but they got put to one side for most of that time when I had to pack up to move, then move, and unpack and so forth. Recently I finished them, and finally we had some decent light, so today they got photographed. There’s a bit of mould line that I missed on one of them. Noticed it when it was too late, and I didn’t want to butcher my paint in order to fix it. You barely notice in person, anyway.

Purple Worms, Reaper Bones 77006: Great Worm

Purple Worms, Reaper Bones 77006: Great Worm

Drippy: I used some Woodland Scenics Water Effects to create the beginning of the “drool”, some WC Realistic Water over the top to smooth it out, and some Vallejo Model Colour Clear Yellow to add a touch of colour to the discharge.

Purple Worm, Reaper Bones 77006: Great Worm

Purple Worm, Reaper Bones 77006: Great Worm

Purple Worm, Reaper Bones 77006: Great Worm

Purple Worm, Reaper Bones 77006: Great Worm

Bitey: One with mucus/drool/mouthy discharge was enough.

Purple Worm, Reaper Bones 77006: Great Worm

Purple Worm, Reaper Bones 77006: Great Worm

Purple Worm, Reaper Bones 77006: Great Worm

Finally a scale shot. A couple of fantasy figures, and a ubiquitous Space Marine for scale. These are some decent sized models!

Purple Worms, Reaper Bones 77006: Great Worm

These suckers took awhile to get going, but once I actually sat down to make myself paint them they were quite an enjoyable experience. Originally they were all-purple, then I looked up the D&D colouration, which said they had yellow bellies/undersides, which I thought would look far too cartoony, but it kept bothering me. A day or two later I came back to them and used some sand and ochre shared for the “yellow” to make them look much more like natural colouration, and it worked for me. I used some pinky-purple for the transition ridge between the ochre and the main dark bluish-purple for the main body. One of the things I enjoyed most was the fact that since these are cheap Bones models, I allowed myself to play with them a lot more. I used drybrushing, blending, a purple oil paint wash at one stage, the aforementioned realistic water products, and a few weathering powders in the end. Basically a lot of experimentation and “play”, and I think they turned out pretty successful in the end!