26 April 2023

Moon Idol


You can't have night goblins without a moon idol, right?

This was another "omg-I-need-that-right-now" buy off Etsy. The seller does two versions, the one I bought and one that looked much rougher. I went with the smoother one just because I thought it looked better.

Here's the shrine in its bare resin glory, sitting on its original base. The two pieces went together really well but I just didn't like the base, and as I'd already started making some basic cavern scatter terrain using cork I decided to chuck the resin base in a box and do my own. 

The moon was taken to the garage and sprayed with grey primer, which led to all kinds of fun and games when trying to make it stand upright. In the end I gave up, laid it flat on a piece of cardboard and sprayed one side at a time.

I kicked off the actual painting with three thin coats of Averland Sunset, a Citadel basecoat that has allowed me to use yellow again as it's such a good basecoat. I left the eyes and teeth alone for the time being and just concentrated on getting a decent base of yellow onto the model.

With the basecoat on and lookin' fine I started on the highlights, using Lemon Yellow for the first stage. I used a makeup brush to swirl the paint on all over, making sure to use a bit more pressure on the ridges and any other harder edges to make them stand out.

The second stage highlights were done with small amounts of Dorn Yellow, again using a makeup brush, which are by far the best kind of brush to use on larger pieces and terrain. I've always thought Dorn Yellow to be a pretty crap colour but it really does work when highlighting yellows.

Once I was happy with the overall look, I loaded a regular brush with thinned Dorn Yellow and used it to edge highlight the mouth, nose, around the eyes and the edges of the bigger cracks.

You might have noticed that I didn't use any washes to shade it. I didn't think they'd work too well as Casandora Yellow always looks a bit orange to me. Instead I cracked out the pot of Filthy Brown, thinned it, and painted it where needed; the inside of the cracks, the eye sockets and the mouth.

All the yellow is done, so now it's time for the details. I first painted the teeth Mechanicus Standard Grey and then highlighted them with Neutral and Ghost greys, with a small amount of white for the uppermost points.

The eyes were given a basecoat of Mutation Green and then several layers of Scorpy Green and Moot Green. I added some white to the Moot Green for the edges. I'm really happy with the way the eyes turned out.

After a coat of matte varnish, the idol was done and put to one side while I did the base. I'll describe the process of making the cork rock in a later post when I put all of the scenery on display. Once I'd built and painted the cork, I dug out a ton of mushrooms I ordered from different sellers on Etsy (including two in Poland, which I didn't notice until I wondered where they were and tracked the packages). All were tacked to coffee stirrer sticks with some PVA and then sprayed with white primer before being painted with different, bright colours including Moot Green, Yriel Yellow, Pink, Electric Blue, Violet/Purple, Troll Slayer Orange and Mephiston Red. I stuck them randomly over the base and then glued the orange ones into the cracks on the idol's chin and forehead.

With that all done, it was just a case of fitting the back of the idol to the 3D-printed stalagmites and gluing it in place. I'm well happy with it and it makes a great terrain piece.

Next up: A break from gobbos for something more veggie!

Work, work, work

Well it's getting better; we've had two new staff members start this week, so I've actually got three days off! Not in a row, unfortunately, but after the shitshow that was March and most of this month, I'll take them. Only time will tell if the noobs last more than a fortnight but for now I'm enjoying the strange feeling of not having to lug boxes around today.

18 comments:

  1. Lovely idol! Those Gobbo's put a lot of love into painting that thing up so brightly.

    Happy to hear the work front has eased some mate - long may that last.

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    1. Cheers, Dai! The goblins did a good job, didn't they? LOL! Work is a lot better and I'm really hoping I can get some more hobby time in, especially with Monster May(hem) kicking off soon.

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  2. Wonderful work on your shrine Matt, I didn't mind the original base, but yours looks great as well, and adding all the shrooms adds to the effect.
    Good to hear you've got some time off and hopefully this will continue for you.

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    1. Thanks, Dave, the original base just didn't do it for me. There's nothing wrong with it, I guess it's just personal taste, and I can probably think of a use for it in the future.

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  3. I love the idol! Good call on removing that base, yours looks so much better. The yellow is so nice and smooth. I usually opt for Contrast paints when I'm doing yellow, as I just can't get as smooth a coat. Glad to also hear that work is easing up for you!

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    1. Cheers, Brian! I used a makeup brush to do the first few thin coats of yellow over the primer as you can cover more area and there's less chance of ending up with brushstrokes in the paint. The final coat was done with a regular brush, and then it was back to the makeup ones for the highlighting.

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    2. Ok, I'm going to dig through my Wife's makeup drawer and see what brushes I can find...

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    3. Haha! If you have a dollar store near you, see what you can find there. I get mine from the local Dollar General.

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  4. Lovely piece of Cheddar Cheese, Matt. It almost looks edible. LOL!!! Wonderful scenic piece, probably my fave of all your stuff I've seen. Love the cork base & the 'shrums too!!!

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    1. It would make a great centerpiece at a wine and cheese party, Simon! Thanks for the kind words, I'm well happy with how it came out.

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  5. Ohh, what a piece! Lovely, impressive work, I think you really nailed it all, the mushrooms are simply genius. Great job!!

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    1. Thanks, Suber! The mushrooms were a bit tedious to paint but they really add colour and interest to the base.

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  6. The idol came out really well and I like that you left what I think are resin holes intact. They fit the goblin aesthetic nicely. The mushrooms are a great touch as well. This captures the essence of the GW sculpts perfectly while costing a good bit less I would imagine. I'm glad to hear that work is easing up as well. I hope it stays that way for a while!

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    1. Cheers, Jeff! The holes in its back are to attach it to the original base, but they do help with the whole "gobbos chiseled this out of rock" look :-) And it did cost a lot less than the GW Loonshrine, so it was a win!

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  7. That model is hte stuff of nightmares, I'll nowbe thinking of this every timeI see a crescent moon - so a job well done then !

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    1. Thanks, Joe, glad I can give you nightmares!

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  8. John@justneedsvarnishWednesday, May 10, 2023

    Oh, I like this! :-) The yellow and mushrooms have come out really well!

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    1. Cheers, John, I'm well happy with the yellow in particular. GW's Averland Sunset is such a good base for yellow that I'm now much less scared of painting yellow LOL!

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