Lycanthropy. Its a popular theme in media but its not one that I enjoy all that much. I’m more of a fan of vampires but more on that in a bit. This week I decided to knuckle down and get some Hellboy minis done and thankfully, I worked on some minis that came out fairly well.
Unlike the wolves which are giving me all kinds of trouble and frustration, the sculptor made the werewolves very furry so these were really easy to drybrush. I spent probably twice as much time on the feet, hands, and face which is mostly testament to how quick the fur was to paint. These were much more pleasant than the wolves and it makes me wish the sculptor would have covered those in fur too. And if you were wondering, werewolves do not play a major role in Hellboy. I think there is just one shorter story that features at least one bipedal werewolf that can talk. I tried to use this image as inspiration for the minis nonetheless.
That was all the painting I accomplished this week, though getting five minis done in a week is nothing to sneeze at for me. When I wasn’t painting, I read through an RPG that focuses on pulp settings and Lost Worlds specifically. Its called Hollow Earth Expedition and it was an enjoyable read.
I’ve never played an actual RPG so I wouldn’t dare try and review it but I did think it served as pretty decent inspiration for wargaming. My main takeaways were that you can really have anything you want in a lost world. Do you want pirates or Nazis or Romans or Vikings or Bigfoot or cannibal tribes? It all works in the setting which is appealing to me. I’d love to shoehorn some miniatures that I don’t otherwise have a great reason to paint and this is the perfect excuse. The authors also kindly shared a list of sources of inspiration and there are a lot less books overall than I expected and many of the ones that were listed are from predictable sources: Jules Verne, Conan Doyle, and Edgar Rice Burroughs. I’ve already read Lost World by Doyle so I will try and read the other ones in the near future. I’ve got another source book from the RPG to read yet so we’ll see if that provides even more ideas and inspiration in the future too. I will work on painting something up for this setting soonish. I need the weather to cool down so I can prime it first though.
I also started watching a movie and didn’t get a chance to finish it yet that I suspect some of you have seen before. Bram Stoker’s Dracula is pretty wild. Its so over the top and visually impressive. I can’t say I’ve ever seen a movie that evokes gothic beauty better than this one. I haven’t seen that many movies overall though so maybe I’m totally wrong. It also improves upon the original Dracula novel in many ways which is unfortunately a pretty cheesy book. And as I’m sure you’ll agree, any movie with Gary Oldman is better for it. By no means is the movie the best thing I’ve ever seen, but if you like gothic stuff at all, its worthy viewing and a good source of inspiration. It almost makes me want to paint something vampiric like my original goal of painting this…
or maybe this…
Its something to ponder over as I decide what display project I’m going to do next…
Kuribo's Painting 
Nice work on the werewolves, Jeff! 🙂 The hollow earth stuff looks good – I notice they do a Mars sourcebook as well, which sounds good to me!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thank you, John! There is a book on Mars which I think might inspire some of your gaming projects. I suspect that the sourcebook is heavily inspired by John Carter/Barsoom Series though I might be wrong!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I did have a quick look on-line but I thought the prices for the books in the UK was a bit steep for something that I might not use all that much (and I’m not usually deterred by high prices for military history books that I want/need)!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think that the publisher went out of business so there are no new copies being made which is surely driving up the prices. However, if you’re willing to go digital, its much more reasonably priced. Here is a link to where I bought the Hollow Earth content from: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/150488/revelations-of-mars. It was 40% at the time so if you’re patient, you can almost definitely get it on sale for about ten quid, I reckon.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the link, Jeff, I’ll have a look! 🙂 You’re increasingly a bad influence by the way – since you published the link to the site listing dinosaur minis I’ve been forced to buy a couple that will fit in nicely with my steampunk stuff! 😉 Do not hold your breath while you wait to see them painted though!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome and haha, I’m glad to hear it! I think some dinosaurs are a fantastic addition to your steampunk setting. It will be excited to see them get painted one day too 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great work on the werewolves Jeff, it is the most used form of Lycanthrope in popular culture, but I always preferred Weretigers myself, fitted the solitary persona better.
Sounds like the RPG is giving you lots of ideas, and reminds me of the really old movie ” the land that time forgot” with Doug McClure which had Nazi’s and dinosaurs in it.
Been a long time since I’ve watched that movie, as I first saw it in the cinema, and then later again on video, some great portrayals in it as I recall
LikeLiked by 2 people
That is very true. Werewolves are way more common for whatever reason.
The Land That Time Forgot is on my reading list so the movie might as well be too! A lot of the Lost World movies are either low-budget (like The Lost World TV show in the 1990’s) or really old like 20’s-40’s so something more modern with a decent budget is appealing.
I had a feeling someone would say they’ve seen Dracula when it was new and I’m not shocked it was you either! It is an uneven movie (Keanu Reeves doesn’t have a great British accent) but other people like Winona Ryder and Gary Oldman can do little wrong! It would definitely be recommended viewing for someone wanting to paint their Vampire Counts army as well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The schlocky seventies movies of Doug McClure – The Land That Time Forgot, The People That Time Forgot and At The Earth’s Core. Great for ideas for pulp fiction games, especially the Land.
LikeLiked by 2 people
It looks like the first one is available on Youtube (maybe the others too, I haven’t checked yet) so I’ll definitely give it a watch in the near future!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Those werewolves came out great, just perfect dry brush work.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks, Mark! I’m glad to hear you like ’em!
LikeLike
Hadn’t even got to reading your blog before my mind wandered off on its usual disjointed paths: Why are the werewolves doing Michael Jackson’s Thriller? Is the proper spelling werewolves or werewolfes? An American Werewolf in London – great movie. Werewolves of London – great Warren Zevon song, the discussion on the tv show The Big Bang Theory on if werewolves can swim since they’re part canine but what if the human can’t swim?
Ok, shut off the that part of the brain and read the blog.
It is a interesting pose and as usual you painted it well.
Always been a fan of the Pellucidar setting of Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Looking forward to seeing what display piece you will attempt next.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think the proper spelling is werewolf (singular) and werewolves (plural) though I could be wrong. Its not a word you commonly have to spell! The title is an unoriginal spoof of the Warren Zevon song. Not to speak ill of the dead but I never was a fan of the song and I certainly heard it enough growing up on classic rock radio. Give me some Led Zeppelin or Doors instead!
Pellucidar and Caspak are on my to read list and they’re available for cheap online so I suspect it won’t take me too long to get around to them.
I ordered the next display piece and it is neither of what I showed in this article so we’ll see what you think of it when I get around to painting it in the next couple of weeks.
LikeLike
First off Werewolves > Vampires! Haha!
I’ve never been much of a Vampire fan, but I will say they have them beat in the movie dept. I’ve watched Bram Stokers Dracula over and over. You’re not wrong about the extravagant costumes. There are not a lot of movies that look like that. Oldman does an amazing job in his portrayal. There was a brief behind the scenes moment that I think is lost on vhs. Oldman talked about his process for getting in character during the film. He carried a small book with different memories. When he flipped through the book, you could see him go through such torment. It was like watching a parent look at pictures of their dead child. So heart breaking. But that’s how he saw the film as well, a story of love and loss. Unfortunately Keanu was poorly cast. He would get better as time went on, but at this stage he was still pretty laughable. Not the best movie in the world, but you can tell they put a lot into it.
Anyways, the minis do look good. Though the straight on pics of the werewolves makes them look like they don’t have snouts. The pics from the back show them, but I think I would’ve turned a few to the side in the pic. Nice job getting more minis done for Hellboy though. Hopefully you’re getting much closer to playing!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’d be willing to bet that about half of people like werewolves and half of people like vampires if such a useless poll was ever conducted! I’m glad to hear that you like the movie as well. It is visually very impressive and inspiring. One thing that I really admire is that the story is so focused on love and loss. That is a good angle to make Dracula more “human” and compelling. Gary Oldman’s process really helped him nail the character too! That is impressive how much thought he put into the role but then again, I’m sure that’s one reason why he’s so good.
The problem with the Werewolves pose (besides how strange they look when you put them all next to each other) is that it doesn’t have a “golden angle” for taking photos. It doesn’t look great from the front like it should. I did take a picture from the side of just one but figured two pictures was enough and so I didn’t use it. Go figure! I had to experiment with backgrounds to make sure I took high quality photos too which I have a feeling we’ll both be doing quite a bit in our future! I’m getting closer to having Hellboy in a more playable state. I just need to get some new stuff done to make it interesting again, thankfully!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah, sorry to hear that there wasn’t a great angle on the Werewolf minis.
I’ll be looking forward to taking that Poll in your next post, hahaha!!
I forgot to mention that Oldman went through such a rigorous process partially because he knew how hard it would be to emote through all the prosthetics. He really did an amazing despite that added difficulty. Even though the movie wasn’t the greatest of all time, it was those behind the scenes bits that made me respect Oldman so much as an actor. Actually, there are a number of movies that have some brilliant performances by the actors, but the movie itself isn’t as good overall. If that makes sense.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha, I say that and if I actually put a poll in the next post, one side will win 80% to 20%!
Yes, I know exactly what you mean. Individual performances can be amazing but without the right script, the movie doesn’t come together the way it should and those incredible performances don’t build off of each other. Something like that anyway, I’m certainly not a movie critic 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
werewolf’s look really nice. The colors are sweet. Though they seem to have a confused look on their face.
Dracula is such a TERRIBLE novel. I’m so surprised that it took off the way it did. That movie was alright as I recall. Some good parts and some kinda “what are we doing?”
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you! And yeah, I think they’re supposed to look like they’re howling or something but it doesn’t come across.
One of my favorite details from the novel is that Dracula lives in the castle by himself so he pretends to be a butler at a couple of points. He might have been the carriage driver too. I can’t remember. The movie does have some parts that are unnecessary. Renfield in the insane asylum gets my vote for that!
LikeLike
Nice work on those werewolves – clean and visibly in your painting style! Can’t say I like the sculpt, but they’re entirely fit for purpose and will look great when you’re playing Hellboy – and far better than coloured (or grey) plastic for sure!
Which box/set are these wolves and werewolves from? I have a small pile of similar models I’m currently prepping for paint (over the next few weeks or longer) so I might be able to bundle these in for some canine-painting efficiency…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cheers, mate! The sculpt is far from perfect to be sure but they get the job done (though only just!). These are from the B.P.R.D. Archives set which is an expansion that can be bought at retail. If you have the Hellboy Kickstarter edition, then they should be buried in there somewhere. I hope that helps and I look forward to seeing your take on them!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yep. (I think) I have all of the Hellboy stuff that Mantic have put out.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, those Werewolves really skipped leg day at the gym 😛 Nice painting though!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha, you’re not wrong, mate!
LikeLike