Monster May(hem): Dimensional Shambler

Something something Etsy, something something I bought it.

The Dimensional Shambler first appeared in a couple of short stories back in the 1930s: "The Hunters from Beyond" by Clark Ashton Smith and "The Horror In The Museum" by HP Lovecraft. This model, however, is based on the creature from the utterly classic videogame Quake, released in 1996 and still played by old farts like me today. iD software, the makers of Quake, nicked a lot of the themes and names from Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, and the Shamblers are one of the best monsters in the game.

The Shambler, who I'm calling Wayne from now on, was an absolute doddle to paint and I knocked him out in about 45 minutes. First off, Wayne was primed with a couple of coats of Corax Grey, and that's about 80% of the painting done.

I shaded Wayne with Grey Wash to give his fur some depth and just highlighted him with more Corax Grey, then Off-White and pure White. Easy!

Next I did Wayne's teeth and toenails, which was just a case of drybrushing more White over the Corax Grey and then slapping on a coat of Nazdreg Yellow to give them a nice rotten look, and some Dorn Yellow for highlights. 

Finally it's time for the blood, and just like with the Corpse Collector I slapped it on with a makeup brush using Blood For The Blood God. In Quake Wayne has blood up to his ankles but I left that off as I thought it looked odd.

Quake takes place over several levels, some of them futuristic and some medieval. I went for the latter, flattening some DAS clay on a 50mm base and using the tip of a steel ruler to make it look like flagstones. After painting it Chocolate Brown I drybrushed on Mahogany Brown and Flat Earth and finished it with a coat of Agrax Earthshade.  

Wayne was incredibly easy to paint, which is how I banged him out in no time in between painting the Corpse Collector. I think I spent more time waiting for the clay base to dry than I did applying paint, but at the same time I'm happy with how he turned out.

So Monster May(hem) is over for this year, but as in previous years I've thoroughly enjoyed it. And I'm going to keep the blog going as I'd honestly forgotten how much I like writing these posts. As always, stay tuned!