Monster Mayhem: Calden Keep: Goliath

The thousands of dead in Calden Keep have reanimated in this giant suit of necromantic armour. Glowing with the souls of the slain, the Goliath seeks new victims to increase its power in the real world.

Not to be confused with the Resurrected Goliath, the Goliath is another whopper of a mini from Bestiarum Miniatures and was part of the first set of models released in the Calden Keep range. I got it as part of my Christmas order from Etsy and was one of the models I actually paid for, rather than one of the many freebies the shop owner chucked in back in November. 

The Goliath was spray-primed grey after being stuck to a 60mm base. Once again I cracked out the reds, metallics and washes I'd need to replicate my usual Calden Keep colour scheme of dark red and iron. 

With the primer dry it was just a case of plastering 90% of the figure with Iron Warriors and then going to town with Nuln Oil, Agrax Earthshade, Seraphim Sepia and my homemade orange/rust wash to dirty him up a bit. I left the Resurrected Goliath's armour looking a lot cleaner, but I wanted this one to have an aged, almost ruined look and the washes did a great job.

I gave the Goliath a drybrush with Iron Warriors and then a much lighter one with Leadbelcher to bring out the edges and details on the armour.

Onto the reds, which were a doddle. I kicked off with Black Red and a wash of Nuln Oil before layering on some Burnt Red and then Red. It's not quite as red as the cloth on the Resurrected Goliath, but that's not an issue as I doubt these evil ethereal creatures are worried about looking uniform.

I painted his axe Plate Metal and gave it a thorough wash with Nuln Oil, and that's when I knocked the Goliath over on his back and the axe haft snapped. Shit. Some superglue fixed it, but that didn't stop me from breaking it off three(!) more times.

I added some Blood for the Blood God to the blade just to show that this chap is all business.

I didn't know what to do with the cracks and faces in his armour, so I went for a glowing look with the full knowledge that I might bugger it up and have to paint over it. I filled the helm, cracks and eyes/mouths with White and then went over it a few times with Hexwraith Flame. I also painted over the surrounding areas of the armour to try to build up more of a glow effect but chickened out after a couple of coats.

His base is made the same way as the others: Crayola modelling putty to add some lumps and bumps, a couple of stones from the drive, a coat of Mod Podge to seal it, and then a basecoat of Dryad Bark and a slathering with Stirland Battlemire. After a drybrushing with Balor Brown I stuck on some flock and tufts, and he was done!

The Goliath is another figure that really shows the level of 3D modelling talent out there. It's a terrifying mini with a real air of menace and hate about it, and it makes a great addition to my growing Calden Keep army.

More to come!

So with only one of the three minis I ordered from Etsy for Monster May(hem) actually printed and shipped — and that one's not due till June — I've had to scrabble around for something else to paint. Luckily I found a couple of Reaper monsters that have been gathering dust for a couple of years, so I'm working on those. Stay tuned!