Last of the Woodland Animals & Creatures for Devilry Afoot

    Three 28mm wolves and a coyote skinwalker to bedevil my players in our new 'Devilry Afoot' games

I was in a bit of a hurry to get as many of the 28mm woodland animals done as I could before this past Sunday's game. In the end, I squeezed in only three wolves and a special monster that would appear in the scenario. The other ones (raccoons, badgers, foxes) are sitting on my desk with their base coat applied. No hurry to finish them, now. As it turned out, the shamans did not summon a single woodland animal! I ended up using only my previously painted deer figure as a spirit animal when one of the shamans rolled "Flee" on their action table. So, essentially, most of two week's worth of work for naught!

    I used Google Images to do my best to get the wolves coloring right, like this timberwolf

The wolves are -- I believe -- Ral Partha/Iron Wind Metals. If someone knows differently, please comment on my blog so that I can change the information here. I actually have more wolves in my unpainted drawers. Some are closer to 15mm scale while others are meant to be huge dire wolf types. These were the middle ones -- big enough to look scary next to 28mm miniatures!

    Pictures don't really bring out the contrast between the white, black & gray areas on this wolf

I chose three different colors -- a classic black and white wolf (almost Siberian Husky looking), a brown timber wolf style one, and a dark "black" wolf. The black and white wolf got a light gray base coat followed by very light gray highlighting. I then did white highlighting in the areas that looked white on the photograph of an appropriately colored wolf I was looking at. Last, I added in black patches where the photo showed. His claws and mouth was painted black with pale yellow teeth, while his eyes were done with a black oval filled in with light yellow. A dark brown eye filled the pupil, and he was done. 

The timber wolf had a light brown base coat with khaki dry brush. I then added white similarly to I had done above, and darker brown in the appropriate places. I think it is very useful to have a page of Google Images pulled up of the animal you're trying to paint. It helps you get the coloring done correctly and makes it look right in people's minds. 

    You've got to have at least 1 black wolf -- too iconic of an image to ignore...these pics came out nice

The black wolf was done with a very dark gray base coat and slightly lighter gray dry brush. I added in just a few patches of a medium or lighter gray in places that the photograph showed, mainly to give it contrast. This wolf probably went the fastest as he was mostly the dark gray color. As with the other two, he was given yellow eyes and a dark brown eyeball. All in all, I'm happy with how these three wolves came out, and I am sure I will be able to use them in a number of other games. Note to self: Don't sell these woodland animals! I don't want to have to do them again...haha!

    Painted this Brigade Games werewolf as a coyote skinwalker - really like how the coloring came out

The final figure mentioned above, but was a werewolf from the pack of two I bought from Brigade Games. (part of the Dracula's America line). Wolves look like coyotes, for the most part. The monster I imagined for this past Sunday's scenario would be a Coyote Skinwalker. I chose the leaner looking of the two from the pack and once again pulled up Google Images. He would look similar to the timber wolf, but more lightly colored. I began with a light tan base coat, dry brushed white, then started applying darker patches for the fur. It was a mix of a few different colors of dry brushing or direct brush strokes -- medium and dark brown.

At first, I wasn't sure if I liked how it was coming out. The further I got along with it, though, the more pleased I was. There was a lot of dry brushing and painting tiny strokes of darker fur on this model. Unlike the other animals, I did a dark brown vehicle wash over him and feel it really pulled the various colors together. Sometimes a darker wash can hide your dry brushing. Other times it does a good job of pulling various colors together into a smoother transition from one tone to the other. I painted his eyes and mouth similarly to the wolves. His claws were done first in black with a bone colored top coat. I really liked the way her turned out. Now, I just need to find figures for skinwalkers equivalent to other animal types! 

    One final look at danger running through the forests around Franklinton in frontier America

Other than the aforementioned abandoned animals like the raccoons, my painting desk was fairly clear once I finished off these four. Since then, I have pulled out another batch of goblin archers for my Dragon Rampant army. In addition, I am going into full assembly line mode on my bamboo patches for my Vietnam games. My first method was an abject failure and looked terrible. I finally came up with a new idea, and I like how it turns out. The prototype is mostly done, and is on a 1.5" wooden base. I'm satisfied it will look good, so just this morning started up another five bases of bamboo. I have a feeling this will take awhile, so don't expect a quick post of my bamboo anytime soon! The good news is that my recent progress means I am only 32 figures "in the hole" on Acquired vs. Painted for Miniatures. As long as I don't go crazy and buy a bunch of stuff, I think I will make it into the green this year, after all....

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 290
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 258

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 53
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 61

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 136
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 201