The HeroQuest Hero Quest: The first Orc

Hi everyone! Suber here reporting for duty! I'm coming on board of this sweet, crazy HeroQuest Hero Quest project. So let me take my hat off to all of you and get down to work.

When I was approached for this, I thought 'fuck, I've already painted all my HeroQuest minis!'. No sweat. I'm ready to strip and repaint whatever you throw at my face. Ha!

Yes, I know. The most obvious answer would have been buying more stuff. Under general circumstances I would have done so. But I was so excited I couldn't wait!

I'm in charge of an Orc. The reliable backbone of any self respected Evil Army. The quintessence of dungeoneering. The... well, you get the idea. I chose this mini as starting point:

Huh? What's wrong with me?

The HeroQuest Hero Quest: The Chaos Sorcerer

Best thing about Heroquest is the CHAOS SORCERER. 

First of all, he's a cracking figure to begin with, the details are sublime and just sharp enough to be visible without being too obvious to let the painter some freedom of judgement about what is what.

Best thing about the sorcerer is clearly his evocative Y shaped pose making anyone think about whether he's doing aerobics, preparing a genkidama, giving a hand for airport traffic or simply showing his dad how big a fish he's caught.

Best thing about this guy is that he has big muscles for a sorcerer, that's just how badass he is really. Instead of spending all his time in the library reading, whining about how heavy the books are, this one is doing one-armed pushups and squats while reading unholy tomes.

The HeroQuest Quest : The First Goblin

'Allo Creepers -  Littleleadperson here!

In the latest instalment of the HeroQuest Hero Quest we have the most fearsome creature of all! Behold and despair for he will tear down your towns and eat your daughters - it is the horrific, the earth-shaking.....

Goblin

Let's be honest this little grunt would be lucky if he got to scrape the Barbarian before having his green arse flattened like a pancake.

To paint this little punk I followed some techniques I unearthed from the White Dwarf number 97. 

I've been poring over the 'Eavy Metal and Blanchitsu articles from those early days and the work of Richard Wright struck me with his very clean but subtle work. 

Following his methods as described by John Blanche in this edition of Blanchitsu I undercoated him white and mixed Goblin Green with Citadel Yellow Ink to give him his skin colour.

Then with a very thin brush tip I built up the colour and highlights by mixing in white layer by layer. I added blue ink to the mix to shade down in the crevices. Adding some black Nuln Oil to the mix i then shaded between the goblin flesh and other surfaces.

For his belt, boots and tunic I did much of the same with paint mixed with inks to create the light and shade. For the sword I also followed Wright's M.O. and this time covered it in a diluted layer of blue ink and adding more and more grey to the mix I applied a progressively lighter drybrushes.

I really enjoyed this technique - it brings out the detail early on and so the character of the figure is easily and quickly apparent.

Now on to the entry of everyone's favourite Frenchman JB !

The HeroQuest Hero Quest: The Third Fimir

Unlike the lovely chaps who are running and participating in this HeroQuest painting challenge, I have never actually played HeroQuest. Or any of the quest-y type games. I'll just let that sink in for a moment while you pick yourselves up from the floor...

Nor have I ever painted any of the plastic figures that came with the quest-y games, having previously viewed them with an abhorrence that is usually reserved for the dubious brown mush you find under your shoes after a stroll through a park popular with dog walkers.

But I was wrong. Well, at least in this case. I chose to paint one of the Fimir because I had picked up a bunch of them in bare plastic a little while ago because I saw them for sale on the cheap. The first figure I pulled out of the group had appalling mould slippage on the plastic, and I nearly decided to call it a day at that point. But on the off-chance I thought I'd check out another figure in the group, and it was fine. I had no idea that mould slippage variation like this was a feature of the plastic figures. Live and learn....

So, after small amount of mould line cleaning and a bit of green stuff filling of a hole in the small of the Fimir's back (some sort of plastic injection side effect?) it was time to think of a colour scheme. Well, actually, I'd already had one in mind. I was going to go full 1980s on this one:

I went with Foundry's Bright Green triad mixed with a little of their yellow for the main body colour, with a bit of a yellow glaze at the end. I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked this sculpt, and it was a complete joy to paint.

I decided to keep the base very simple because I didn't want it to detract from the rather fetching layout I've put him on. I don't think it's a piece of HeroQuest board, but I found it in my stash of scenery boards and I rather liked it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Next in line : Ashley