Dark Tower Encounters: Demons, Constructs,

All heroes need plenty of monsters to vanquish, and my Dark Tower is no exception! Since, in my last Dark Tower post I focused on my noble Church Militant, it's time the creatures got a post or two. I'll start out with some demons, and a couple of others.

First: a couple of Reaper Bathalians. These were mis-ordered while I tried to obtain a Mind Flayer, but I liked them, almost like Lovecraft's Mi-Go, so I kept them, knowing I'd figure out some use for them. They were pretty difficult to paint. Especially all of the crevices under the exoskeleton/shell, and the tentacles. That really made me wish for a spray primer!

These are Sarmen, evil, scheming outsiders, who polymorph themselves into the shape of a Mind Flayer to wreak havoc in this dimension. This one, their leader, Khranov, controls the cult of the Flail Brethren, mortal enemy of the Church Militant. It's hard to get a good shot of the back, the angle is really difficult, but you can see the exposed brain under the tall, miter-like face.

Another, lesser Sarmen, Reaper's exarch. The more red in its coloration, the higher its rank. Most of the body, once a base coat was applied, was dry-brushed, which turned out well, giving about the same effect as standard brushwork (better looking, in this case) and taking a fraction of the time.

Here's a good shot of the back showing the brain and red lacing on the head well. I'm pleased with how these turned out, they stand out well, easy to see but not too bright in the primarily grey city.

Next up is a Caryatid Column set, perfect for medium constructs, or statues to add some accent to a building, until they spring to life... To get the effect of stone, I dry-brushed the darker grey, than painted the statue itself with a tinned lighter grey. I wanted a dryer look to them, so I didn't put any washes on.

The back has a system of hairline cracks, which really stand out well. These make good guardians of treasure and doorways, making anyone think twice before attempting to win past them. The other was done the same way, although the pedestal and final were painted the same as the statue.

Last is another complete homebrew, the Serith. An amphibious beast, the Serith lurks in the sewers during the day, emerging at night to hunt. It's fast moving, and extremely agile, able to climb vertical surfaces with no penalty. The belly was painted with my base three flesh tones, with a dark red beneath to give some depth.

 The head, like the Sarmens' backs, is difficult to photograph, the eyes are a really light white-green, raised one tone from the scales. The molded on bases of this model, in addition to the Sarmen, were just base-coated when I took these pictures, they are now a medium grey to fit in with the cobbled streets of the Dark Tower.


Want your own Sarmen? Check out my Etsy shop for custom commissions, and a growing range of prepainted miniatures.

Check out my other Dark Tower posts Here and Here