Enter the Otherworld
I’ve written about my love for Otherworld Miniatures a few times before. They produce “28mm fantasy gaming miniatures for ‘old school’ roleplayers, wargamers and collectors”, inspired by artwork in early D&D publications by some of my favourite illustrators. Some of their recent releases are fantastic, and one of my objectives for 2021 has been to paint enough of my collection to justify buying a few.
A serving wench. I sculpted the cobbled floor roughly using Green Stuff and did my best to imitate the colour scheme from Otherworld’s own website. I think she looks particularly good with the pastoral backdrop and little fantasy cottage that I built last year. Most of the other miniatures in this post are slightly less suited to the rural idyll…
… This stone golem, for example. I’ve been looking forward to painting this since I first saw it. It’s a tall miniature, and heavy, stood on a fairly large base, and representing stone it should be quite forgiving of mistakes. Unfortunately something went wrong with the spray undercoat (as in my last post – possibly sprayed in too-cold conditions), so the paint didn’t adhere very well, chipping and rubbing off easily.
Unlike the version in the web store (which seems to take it’s cues from Diterlizzi’s illustration in the Second Edition Monstrous Manual) I went for a slate-blue palette, contrasted with gold armbands and a red glow from the gem in its chest. This was partly a deliberate choice and partly expediency – I layered up a couple of coats of different varnishes to protect the paint.
More classic dungeon monsters here – and some more sculpted cobblestones – a black pudding and brain mole (and a group photo, showing the golem reaching for some pies). Black puddings and moles have a special place in my heart, the former having menaced us throughout my friend Mike’s first D&D campaign as DM) and the latter reminding me of my wife. But this black pudding is not a beautiful or dynamic sculpt; it almost looks more like a base topper than a stand-alone miniature. I sloshed Vallejo Water Effects over the surface, as I’ve done before for wet and slimy creatures. It hasn’t worked very well this time though – I’m not sure if it’s past it’s use-by date, but the effect is almost frosted.
Both of these were very quick to paint, using more-or-less the same colours as the golem, with details picked out in pink and bone for the mole. So, the last Otherworld Miniature I’ve painted this year rather stands out:
Is there anything more old-school than a giant scorpion? I definitely didn’t want to paint this monster black after the last few miniatures, so took inspiration from the Indian red scorpion.
The coloration ranges from dark orange or brightly red-brown through dull brown with darker grey carinae (ridges) and granulation. Grey spots might be distributed irregularly across the cephalothorax and the mesosoma. The walking legs and the tip of the pedipalp pincers are brighter colored (orange-yellow to light reddish-brown).
Wikipedia
I also wanted to do something different on the base, going for a cracked desert effect with a bright green cactus to contrast the scorpion’s carapace. Thanks to my friend John for sending a box of miscellaneous terrain bits at the end of last year! Overall I’m very happy with the result – but my favourite part of the scorpion is actually hidden – I got the exact effect I was looking for on the underside of the body, with similar yellow-orange-fleshy tones as on the legs.
To close, here’s a photo of all my painted Otherworld Miniatures. I’ve got a few more to assemble and paint, including the enormous – 182mm – John Pickford giant (no-longer sold by Otherworld, but available again from Crooked Dice Game Design Studio).
Shin High Terror! 
Wow, great work on those minis. Especially that giant scorpion. Beautiful! Just caught site of your blog after seeing a pic of the Otherworld minis. They are some amazing minis, and the closest thing I’ve seen to the original Monster Manuals. I’ve gotten a few, but haven’t painted too many of them yet.
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