Last of the 28mm Fishmen

    My 2nd batch of 28mm Fishmen -- the center three are from Beldolor Studios I picked up at Origins

Right after I finished the last of my 28mm Vietnam figures, I was kind of at a loss what to paint up next. I got several batches of things ready to go, though. One of which were these five 28mm Fishmen to go with the others I painted up for the heck of it, awhile back. Three of them are excellent, 3-D resin printed figures from Beldolor Studios that I've seen the last two years at Origins Game Fair. The other two looked vaguely fishman-like from the D&D Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures line, Kuo-Toa & Kua-Toa Whip. As I mentioned when posting the last batch, I'm really not sure what I'll use these for. The most likely possibility is to work them into my Tales of the Splintered Band using Sellswords & Spellslingers.

    Definitely my favorites of this batch, the two 28mm Pikes -- I love how their skin came out!

Of the Beldolor Studies fishmen, two of them are Pikes and one a Bass. My favorites of the batch are the two pikes. I decided to paint their coloring up similarly, as they had different weapons to tell them apart. I really like how they came out. I used a dark olive green as a base coat (after priming them with Liquitex White Gesso). I dry brushed them with a light olive. I made the underbelly of the fish lighter, highlighting that area more heavily. Next, I replicated some fish patterns I'd seen on Google Image searches by doing rows of dark green splotches going from head to tail. The rows stopped at the lighter underbelly, and I think it gives a nice effect. 

    The Bass is a cool figure, too -- I like his two swords and gaping fishy mouth (I added the teeth)

I did the weapons in normal wood and metal, though in my mind I debated the physics of an aquatic species armed with a buoyant piece of wood...! I decided they would know how to balance the wood's buoyancy with the metal head to give a more neutral weight, like scuba divers! I know, I know...it's fantasy. It doesn't have to make scientific sense! Still, if you know my group of friends that I game with, I wouldn't put it past one of them bringing up that point. It is good to have a ready answer when confronted with a gamer know-it-all (anyone want to guess who I'm referring to...? Ha, ha)! I even Google Image searched "fish eyes" so that I could give them the right effect. I really like how those eyes turned out -- especially on the Pikes. The tiny black pupil was done with a micron pen, by the way!

I wanted the Bass fishman to look different than the two pikes, so I gave him a much darker green base coat. He received a medium green highlight that doesn't show up very well, unfortunately. For his fish pattern, I chose to do lines of yellow dots. I was happy with how his pattern, too. I went back and forth on how to do the fish lips -- yes, these are the things miniature painters debate with themselves! I ended up repainting them to make them darker than the skin pattern for the pikes, and lighter for the bass. The important thing was I wanted them to show up clearly. I mean, after all, "fish lips" is a kind of description isn't it? For the Bass, I even added some tiny teeth that weren't sculpted on the figure.

    I also like how the Kuo Toa came out -- the plastic they're made with is a little too bendy for me

I had Googled various fish images, so used some that I liked for the coloring of the two Kuo Toa. One was done in a gray green and the other in a brighter "leaf green." They also got lighter colored highlights, a bright but light green for the leaf green one and very light gray for the other. Since patterns were looking good on these fishmen, I had do ones on these figs, too! All in all, I was happy with all five of the patterns. After all this effort, I certainly hope they do see the tabletop sometime!

The equipment for the Kuo Toa were done in leathers and browns. I used bone for their cutting edges on the one Kua Toa's weapons, because that's how they appeared to be sculpted. These guys had clothes, so I had to decide what color to do those, as well. I simply went with a nice contrast to the skin tones. I really like the dull purple color that I did the net fishman in. It is a color I try to work in from time to time on my miniatures. I also like the little details on these miniatures, such as the bone necklaces. I really don't like the plastic material they are made from, though. It is too flexible and bendy. I honestly prefer metal figures and you can't get much more opposite than these!

    Over the sound of the surf, you hear an ominous, wet-sounding tramp moving up the beach...

I debated with myself whether to give these guys a dark wash, eventually deciding to do so. I liked how the sand flocking worked out on the first batch, so I replicated that here with these five. Sand is a nice neutral basing look -- they could have just staggered out of the sea and onto the beach, right? At this point, the poor fishy dudes sat on my painting desk for at least a week. I wanted to do a spray matte coat, and it has been the typical Columbus, OH, Southeast Asia type weather this summer. Once I finally got a day that was BOTH cooler and less humid, they finally got their spray. The last step was to give their skin a brush on gloss coat. I mean, they are dripping went having just come out of the waves and onto land, right??

So, what else is on my painting desk? Seeing as how a week or more has gone by since these were finished...quite a bit! My first batch of 28mm Orcs is nearly complete. Plus, I've begun another six large jungle scatter pieces. They're just underway, really. Only the central palm tree is done. I haven't even cut up the pieces of plastic plants yet to put on the rest of the base. I've been pretty busy otherwise with my 28mm Vietnam project. I did my second playtest and put the first draft of the rules together to send out to other playtesters. So, that's been keeping me busy. I have a few other odds and ends that I'll be working in, so stay tuned!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 288
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 172

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 36
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 61

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 115
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 150