In the middle of a dark, forbidding forest, a stone obelisk has stood for as long as locals can remember. They speak of it in hushed tones and outsiders are advised to keep away from it. But some adventurous types believe there is a copy of the Necronomicon on its base, and have gone in search of the obelisk to secure the tome and its powers. The forest has quietly absorbed them.
I started painting this Reaper Bones obelisk in 2019 and gave up on it. I'd done it in Black Green for some reason, I think because I wanted it to look like stone that had been stained by the weather and foliage over the course of time. Whatever the reason, I obviously got bored and chucked it into the Magical Box of Unloved Lead.
After digging it out while searching for a suitable Mo'Vember figure, I thought I'd may as well get it finished. Stripping the paint wasn't really an option as it would have taken a ton of Simple Green, so after gluing it to a 50mm base I just gave it a coat of Dark Grey to cover the Black Green.
All that was left was the base. I glued sand to it and painted it Stone Grey before giving it a thorough once-over with my homemade black wash. To match the current scenery here in Vermont, I used some Autumn Flock to decorate the base and added some Swamp Tufts to represent dead grass.
The Necronomicon is a small book that came with a WizKids set I bought ages ago; I think the set was called Wizard's Study, or something similar. I haven't used a bit from it since painting my Attic Whisperers back in 2018! To give it a more eldtrich look I sliced the face off a Citadel skull (like I did for my Terminator Captain) and glued it to the front. After painting the book with Brown Rose and Burnt Umber, it was given a few washes with Sepia Tone.
Overall I'm happy with the obelisk and it makes a good companion to my Cthulhu Shrine that I painted last year.
In case anyone hasn't seen Vermont in its fall glory, here's a photo off our front deck:
Give it another week or two and it'll be stick season again, but for now I'm enjoying the wall of fire.
That looks superb, Matt, and I really like all the extra touches you've done to it - such as the Necronomicon. What a great piece that looks to fight over on the tabletop. Awesome stuff :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Simon, I'm happy with it although it was a really basic paintjob. The Necronomicon was a last-minute addition when I remembered about the little books that came with the scenery set, and the skull was a last-second decision that ended up working pretty well. I think I've used that autumn flock once before and it looks so good.
DeletePerhaps that obelisk, so hidden away in those dark foreboding woods is the reason for the dead to have risen in your zombie setting!?
ReplyDeleteEither way, it looks so good, glad you got it finished.
O and that view… O_o
It could be that the obelisk is the reason the dead are up and about :-)
DeleteThe view is lovely, but on the other hand it's freezing here (around 45 degrees today) and those leaves are not going to be around much longer. It snowed yesterday!
Nice work on the obelisk, great creepy look to it. Lovely view too, when I look out my front window at the moment I can see the gas men digging up the road!! (want to swap?). 😁
ReplyDeleteCheers Roger.
Our old view in California was the apartment building across the road, so this is definitely an improvement! Glad you think the obelisk is creepy, it's certainly got an air of gloom about it.
DeleteA superb objective for any intrepid adventuring party.
ReplyDeleteWell done getting it finished and the final paintjob gives a good foreboding feel to it and the various detailing on the base really make it 'pop'.
Cheers, Joe! The base was the most fun bit to do and it came out pretty good. The autumn flock really does work to give it a look of being abandoned/lost.
DeleteGreat work on the obelisk Matt, if you ever want to add green staining for moss and algae drowth, use a glaze once you've got to this stage, you can then stipple some light green paint in the areas if you want.
ReplyDeleteThe view looks amazing, still got some green on the trees at the moment in the UK
Thanks, Dave! We still have one or two trees that are hanging on to some green leaves but they won't last much longer. As for the obelisk, I sort of wanted the green look but in the end decided to just go with a more basic stone look just to get it done. It still looks OK.
DeleteThat is a cool piece of terrain and I really like the way you based it. I could certainly see it being on the East Coast somewhere. Its hard to beat the area you live in during the fall for sure. I guess that's why people vacation in places like upstate New York in the autumn :D
ReplyDeleteIt is beautiful here in autumn, but then again the temperature's not getting much above 45 during the day and it actually snowed for about five minutes last Thursday!
DeleteThe obelisk is a pretty good (and pretty cheap!) terrain/scenery piece and does make for a good objective in a game, or just as a mini diorama.
Wow Matt, I like that, I mean, I 'Really' like that!
ReplyDeleteIt's the kind of thing my daughter would love to have on her bookshelf, strange person she is (Wonder who she takes after🤔)!
Thanks very much! It's a cheap mini, and Christmas is coming up LOL!
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