Seraphon: Koatl's Claw of Saurus and Big LIZARDS

[kaaras]

In the inner realms of Hysh, where the light is warm, the magic strong and the forests' dense, dwells the remnants of a forgotten host. Abandoned during the early part of the Realmgate Wars, these warriors and their servants have survived for many years, ferociously defending what is theirs whilst still prosecuting the mission set for them by their lost lords: exterminate the Chaos filth wherever it may be found. The weak have perished, the strong survive and it is the the spawnings from these great warriors that swell the ranks. These are the remnants of the Eztli Itotia, The Blood Dancers. A savage, almost feral tribe of Saurus warriors, faithful to Koatl, coalesced and whole in the Mortal Realms. They are ferocious but cold and calculating, adept and direct as only a race with a single purpose of mind can be. From the forests they march, rending Chaos from their realm with a dread savagery that would impress even the most blood-thirsty of mortals. To be continued...

So, its a start and a brief introduction to my next painting project. I did a 3 year ordeal to finish about 3k of Orruks on another thread (Balogogs Warhost if you are interested) which was dirty, grimy and gritty and I guess about as realistic as 8 foot tall, 300 pound orruks with weapons as tall as a man gets. This will be different. These will be bright and colourful and influenced by real world reptiles. The army is assembled bar a few missing pieces, a Stegadon the most obvious (man are they hard to get...) and probably more Terradons that I like to hybridise with the Ripperdactyls coz the rippers tail is way cooler. Anyway, the intent is to have this ready by Armies on Parade 21, so this is a way to keep me on track and motivated. Lets have a look:

 

This is the core of the Blood Dancers army (by the way, the name is actual Maya names that translate to Blood and Dance, well... according to the internet...). There are:

20 Saurus Warriors, shields and clubs

3 Terradons, want to get to 9

1 Bastilodon

Saurus Old Blood on Foot

Skink Starpriest (coz they are handy)

Skink something - might be a normal priest or something else, not sure but I used the spare oracle to make him, and I like the look of it)

20 Saurus Knights (Firelance Host) - lance and shields

Saurus Scar Veteran on Carnosaur (man I love these things)

Skink Oracle on Troglodon (wish this could just be a Troglodon but that option doesn't exist anymore)

Realmshaper Engine (coz why not)

Missing:

6 Terradons

1 Stegadon.

I will put up the colour scheme in the next couple of days but the process of underpainting all of this begins todays... might take a while but will be worth it.

Thanks for stomping by...

Edited November 25, 2020 by kaaras

[Tommy]

I do love me some vibrant dinosaurs. 🙂 Best of luck and keep us posted!

[Fulcanelli]

Beautiful scaly army! Curious to know what colour scheme you'll choose.

[kaaras]

So, for the colour scheme for these plastic piles of scaly goodness, I have turned to nature for inspiration. I did the same thing with my Maw Krusha, based on an Australian snake, and this time, something more far flung and vibrant. I present the California Garter Snake:

The plan would be to maintain the reddy/orange heads as a focal point. The bright blue stripe down the centre of the spine of all Saurus. The dark blue wraps to the edge of the skin, with those red accents in there somehow. Once I figure that out I think it will look great. the underbelly with have that yellow/green underneath them all. Not sure if I can fit that light blue fade to the dark, but I will give it a crack. And of course, any tongues will be that hot pink with a dark tip, coz it looks cool.

For the bigger lizards, including the cold ones, something like this to really brighten the battlefield:

The bit I am most interested in replicating is that yellow body stripe as a common colour on the Saurus and their larger kin. The orange/red and blue bands would also link them well. Or I may end up going something with more contrast:

I think the fiery yellow/red would be a nice balance with the more cold blues of all the Saurus. 

So there you have it, proof that nature has way more imagination than I do, but I will borrow it all as its awesome.

Test models in a couple of week hopefully.

Thanks for stopping by.

[LuminethMage]

That sounds exciting, looking forward to the first Hyshian Coalesced. 

[kaaras]

Ok, so I am failing here. I have undercoated everything and given them all a bit of gradient. A test model is just about complete but, as usual, I have made this way harder than necessary. I will have the test model done soon so hopefully that will get me motivated. One done is one less right?!

[Ggom]

Every step counts man! Enjoy the process; don’t worry about getting there too much!

[kaaras]

@Ggom thanks man. its just a bit on the frustrating side of life when you lose the enthusiasm for a project you were very excited about. Life gets in the way and all that but still sucks a bit.