Saints & Sinners

I've been struggling a little with motivation to paint more Chaos Marauders, and so I've decided to take a little bit of a sojourn back through the streets of Venice and use Carnevale as a palette cleanser.

Before getting stuck in to some of the resin TTCombat miniatures, I opted to break myself in with a couple of miniatures I'd picked up with an Amazon voucher I received for completing a survey for the government.

It turns out it's quite hard to spend only £10 on Amazon as a wargamer.

Fortunately, Reaper Bones came to my rescue with a set of three townsfolk who wouldn't look totally out of place in a game of Carnevale.

The Monk would obviously join the forces of the Vatican as a Priest. The Courtesan could have joined the Guild or Patricians, but I've chosen to put her with my ad hoc Strigoi as a Vampire Noble (demoting the current incumbent to Common Vampire).

The third miniature is a member of the Village Mob, and as she's wearing an apron and wielding a rolling pin, I've chosen for her to join the Patricians as a Servant.

Of the three, the Monk is the one I was least sure would fit with the aesthetic of Carnevale, as he's a bit cartoony. I wasn't too worried as my Vatican forces have recently veered quite sharply away from being official.

However, the fact that he's a bit rotund does mean that the pudgy face and fingers are less problematic, and his well fed frame and the golden bracelets do point to the corruption present in the Vatican forces in the Carnevale setting.

In terms of painting, I went with a travelling friar look (using some colour inspiration from the costumes in The Name of the Rose. Contrast paints, washes and dry brushing did the work; nothing clever.

I changed the sleeves to a light colour to give a bit more definition and prevent him being too much of a shapeless lump.

I really like the Courtesan model (apart from he fingers that just meld into her shoulder) and she does scale well with the Carnevale range. The only reason she didn't remain a Courtesan with the Patricians was that I have already drafted my Reaper Cinderella into that role.

Therefore she will be my new Vampire Noble as she is somewhat taller and more commanding than the Doctor Who miniature that I had been using for the purpose.

In terms of painting, again I've mainly used contrast paints, but I put more time into highlighting the folds in the dress and the skin.

I'm really pleased with the hair, although this might make her a little too similar to the Madame if the House of Virtue if I ever pick up that set.

The bit I'm least keen on is the eyes, which are a bit big and staring. However, by adding shade around her eyes she now looks like she's stepped out of a Tim Burton animation, which seems appropriate for the Strigoi.

All in all I'm pleased with these two and the third model is coming along nicely with the Patricians I'm painting. They are a reminder that whilst the Reaper Bones line has its limitations, the sculpts are very good and I should pay more attention to them when looking for cheaper alternatives.

Acquired: -26

Painted: 33

Lead Mountain: 598