Penanggalan

The penanggalan is a vampire from Malaysian mythology — a vampire with a bit of a twist.

By day she's a normal looking woman who can go out and about in sunshine. But at night, when the Penanggalan feels a bit peckish, she detaches her head from her body and floats through the air, dragging her organs and intestines behind her. Penanggalans are said to feed on pregnant women and newborn babies. Once sated, she will head (no pun intended) home and soak her organs in a vat of vinegar to shrink them so they'll fit back into the empty shell of her body. Ugh. You can read more here.

Following tradition, I wanted to give my penanggalan a name and after googling Malaysian monikers I decided on Putri as it's just one letter away from putrid.

Putri is a pretty small figure and was very straightforward to paint. After priming her white, I painted her hair Vallejo Black to get it out of the way. All her insides were given a coat of Brown Rose as a basecoat and a wash of Flesh Tone to shade them.

After checking with Alicia as to the colours of internal organs (she's just passed her nursing degree) I left Putri's lungs Brown Rose and hit her intestines with Black Red and her kidneys with Light Brown. Her heart is Flat Red. Once that lot had dried, the intestines were given a once-over with Purple Tone and her hair got a highlight of Violet.

Some Black Red shading and a light layering of Red on her intestines and she was 99% done. Her face is Ghost Grey, shaded with Grey Wash and highlighted with Off-White. Putri's face is the only part I think didn't work too well.

I did wonder why Reaper made this figure as it's a bit obscure in the West, but apparently penanggalans appeared in Dungeons & Dragons back in 1981. Once again google saves the day while stealing my personal information. It's a great little sculpt by Kevin Williams.

Her base is just modelling paste painted Park Green Flat and decorated with some tufts.

This may come as a stunning surprise to all three of my readers, but I for once I didn't buy this mini to hit a free shipping target. I saw Putri on Reaper's site last year, and I finally picked her up at Brookhurst Hobbies a few months ago, proving that it is possible to pick up chicks at a games store.