Will-O'-Wisp /Will-O'-The-Wisp (3)

This "string" of will-o'-wisps is a fun first October post. They are very atmospheric and mysterious creatures and really ratchet up the tension, even if only as a set piece. Their real world story and history is no less intriguing; well worth a read. 

 October is a time-of-plenty in the miniatures world and I am happy to get caught up in the moment and work on spooky projects. I'll make a point of sharing sinister models from years gone by while I paint up some new horrors & delights.

 The 'wisps were printed slightly smaller than normal - they sit on 15mm bases. I got a little creative with the bases and played around with painting over flock to give it a mossy bog-like environment that they needed. It is a sloppy approach, but gives the flock some extra variation and depth that enhances the look significantly. The sculpts were made by Crippled God Foundry, an STL company that I follow. Their catalog has great depth and, despite being finely detailed, print very well. 

I kept the paint theme classic for these tiny spirits - dancing lights in the mist of a swamp. Cloud and smoke effects can be challenging to pull off well, but the added benefit of acting as a flight stand is very convenient and worth the abstraction. I used some neon paints, and even a touch of glow-in-the-dark paint, to really give the orbs some pop when viewed with the naked eye. The green is my go-to "undead energy" color, so it made sense to start there with 'wisps, but Id like to expand into other common colors for them. There are some great wisp models that match up with these well, and I have a handful of neon/black-light/glow color pairings id like to experiment with, so they might be on the short list for speed-paint projects this month.

  

Kumo Nest (2 kumo)

 I adore the L5R setting, and I have an extensive collection of the Clan War line. At this point I would consider these fellows a rather rare find. They are part of the Shadowlands army for that old game, which I always thought was odd. While they are definitely predators, they are more like spirit-animal-people rather than forces of evil. Some are definitely evil, though, and these sculpts are definitely on the creepy side with humanoid faces in their abdomens. The sculptor did a good job - I'll have to look 'em up and credit the work here.

These paint-jobs are on the older side now, but I think the effect really works. I wanted to emphasize their unnatural / spirit nature with the bright green (which I tend to use to convey "soul energy" in my paintings) and very sharply highlighted blue-black carapace. While the paint is old, the base is much younger; they have been re-based. Re-basing miniatures is a hassle, but I felt like the original base was way off theme. A few years back I ended up completely reworking the base and I am now pretty happy with how it turned out. I even like the little toppled shrine I sculpted to tie it in with my other L5R minis. So, while I have shared these elsewhere, they have never been photographed in their current form. 

From a presentation perspective spider shaped critters can be tough, so I went with multiple angles. It is a little busy, but provides a better sense of the actual miniatures.