Big April '17 GIant Roundup

A quick roundup of this year's Big April, plus some group shots of the painted portion of the collection so far. Too many big minis -- had trouble photographing them, even in batches!

Painted April 2017:

Painted Meat-giants as of April 2017: 

(Note: I didn't paint the big guy on the left)

Painted Skeletal Giants:

And just for completeness, my ratgiant...

Goblins (and an Upcoming Skirmish?)

I placed a small order with Noble Knight Games for a few more of the Reaper Bones orcs, so I can convert some more Fomorians. After browsing the catalog I splurged on a few small items. Some more goblins for Zogmar's small but growing warband.

The little guys in the top photo are "Chaos Goblins" from RAFM. Quirky figures, but I like them & wish there were more than this single pack. I like the idea of goblins being a heterogeneous species, so I see no problems mixing styles.

I'm not 100% certain of the pedigree of the armoured guy with a helm to rival his massive sword (how he swings that without snapping his own neck, I don't know...) He's available from Ral Partha Europe, but I got a casting from ZN Games via Noble Knight. Unfortunately this one is resin. I'm trying to Learn to Stop Worrying and Love the Resin, but this wasn't the best example. He has a few bubbles, and it took three vigorous scrubs to get primer to adhere to the entire figure -- and even then I'm still hoping that it doesn't rub off. (I'm going to encase him in layers of varnish...)

Quick & dirty paint jobs. Literally. I used multiple black washes, hoping to get a dark & sinister look, and a somewhat oily appearance to the steel.

I also wanted to get them done quickly because I'm going to try putting together a simple solo skirmish, and wanted to have them available as possible villains/raiders. The heroes, travelling mercenaries defending a small village, will be all of the various figures I've received from other people via the Warhammer-Empire.com "Pleasant Surprises" figure exchange. (Except one, King, who will be on the opposing side for obvious reasons.) I have named them after their source/painters. 

Skeletons and Much Bigger Skeletons

Another unit of old Citadel skeletons, and three giant skeletons. The latter are (from Left to Right) a skeletal troll from RAFM, skeletal giant from Reaper, and a skeletal cyclops from Grenadier/Mirliton. All three are very nice figures, and are about the same size & scale (if the troll was upright.)

I am still on the hunt for more skeletal ogres that will fit with the two from Ral Partha Europe. I keep thinking about trying to sculpt my own -- and have two ogre skulls started -- but that takes more time than I usually have available. The only reason I can paint most of these skeletons & undeadish at a fast rate is the simplicity of the colors & painting style.