Monster March 7 - part 1; The Introduction.

 

The earth is breaking. Tectonic upheaval forces superheated gas through fissures to the surface around the base of the mountain.

Trees and dry grass flash burn as magma begins to spit through cracks and forms pools as chunks of earth melt away leaving only the hardest stones left. Burnt trees fall, crumbling into chunks of charcoal as they land and ash blows away on the dry gusts of wind.

With a grinding, tearing sound large chunks of rock tear free and float upwards, becoming suspended and pouring lava back to the ground as a huge lightning filled smoke cloud, black as pitch rises from the mountain in the distance.

Then with an earthshaking explosion, the volcano erupts. After the sound there is a dry roar as the shockwave passes and strips any tree from the ground for miles around.

Lava flows in thick rivers down the flanks of the mountain, dragging granite boulders with it.

Everything melts or burns, the sounds of explosions and crashes accompany what must be the end of the world.

The magically suspended islands still leak lava which adds to the hellish landscape as the Plane of Fire bleeds over heralding the arrival of something monstrous...

*****

With March upon us, it's time for one of the community events I mentioned I was going to take part in, this time 'Monster March #7'.

Organised by Swordmaster of Path of an Outcast, the event follows much the same procedure as Dreadtober.

1. Introduction.
2. Build.
3. Paint - part 1.
4. Paint - part 2.
5. Final reveals.

So with that said, I plan on painting this beastie, which I've had in the cupboard for a few years now:

And my own version:

I'd started on the base and gotten most of the glittering horde done when work stopped last time. You can see the unpainted wall and bits of rubble in amongst the treasure which I have to work on:

The beast itself is really well detailed and captures that Dungeons and Dragons artwork well. The wings were a pain in the arse to put together as we had to pin them, greenstuff the joints and use a hairdryer to soften the resin, then quickly dunk it in cold water once we'd got the shape correct:

Lastly, just to remind you how big this Dragon is, here it is next to a 3d printed adventurer miniature:

Next, as with my previous 3D print challenge, I went on the internet and found some suitable inspiration images*:

Artwork by Jesper Ejsing.

Artwork by Timi Honkanen.

Artwork by Siswanto.

Artwork by Sandra.

Artwork by Bryan Syme.

The classic Pathfinder cover art by Wayne Reynolds.

Personally I am partial to the Wayne Reynolds artwork and the Bryan Syme piece which has the purple membranes in the wings. I have seen a few which have markings running up the wings, but I'll work on that when I get to that point. 

First things first is to throw some base colours at the Dragon itself and to finish off the rubble on the base.

Until next time, have nice day...

*This time fortunately, I didn't come across pages and pages of "Waifu" material, which was surprising as this IS the internet we are talking about.