In any list of the most-quintessential D&D monsters of all-time, surely the Displacer Beast would rank fairly high.
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| Displacer Beast, WOTC. Image appears courtesy of the OGL. |
Hands-down one of the absolute worst sculpts from a hobby-friendly standpoint I've ever come across, this guy comes cast in soft white metal in two parts. I don't mean body/tentacles, nor torso/head, no, no, no- those things would make perfect sense. This guy was cast with . . . left body/right body,
split down the middle. Making matters worse, the mould was very clearly distorted by the time this particular one was cast, as the "pegs" the designer put in to aid with assembly in no way lined up with their corresponding holes, requiring me to do some massive filing/filling to get the two halves of the body to line up right. Those "tufts" of hair you see poking up on his back are actually liquid green stuff peaks that I sculpted on to hide the worst of the gaps.
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| Adult Assembly Required |
He's a bit on the smallish side for a 6HD beasty, if you ask me, but then Wizards have never paid much attention to such details. The
older Ral Partha sculpt of the Displacer Beast seems more in scale to my eyes, but it also comes with a hella higher price tag on eBay. It did give me another blending practice opportunity, as I got to go from black body to purple tentacles to pinkish suction cups at the end of the tentacles. And as I am fresh out of jungle terrain bits for basing, I decided that the tall static grass here would have to suffice.
I sure am enjoying painting random D&D monsters these days, with no concern over gaming use or army needs- just grab what looks cool in my lead pile. Something about the one-off-ness is definitely feeding the hobby mojo right now (shut up, dwarfs!). Mind Flayer to follow soon. . . get your psionic defense stats up.
Take care.
Despite your difficulties with the model you've still done an excellent job. Surprised Otherworld haven't got around to producing one of these yet...
ReplyDeleteAgree, agree, agree. Displacer Beast and Githyanki, please Otherworld.
DeleteThanks for the kind words, Gaz. Lookin' forward to seeing some Rogue Planet minis on your blog soon. :)
Hard to tell you struggled on that one, it's really nice. The sculpt is quite elegant and really has the nice fleine feeling it requires.
ReplyDeleteOh and now I want a blink dog ;)
Yes! And, speaking of which, have you ever seen this piece of Trampier art? I hadn't until I was researching colors/habitats for the Displacer Beast.
Deletehttp://apaladinincitadel.blogspot.com/2011/02/old-school-monsters-displacer-beast.html
Blink Dogs chowing down on a dead Displacer. Awesome, inspired stuff.
What a superb miniature and nice paint job too! Love these old monstern.
ReplyDeleteWhat make is it?
/Hans
Thanks much, Hans. The model is from Wizards of the Coast. It is an early 2000's release, so not very old.
DeleteCool - thx! /Hans
DeleteNicely done. Definitely an oddball miniature. I have one sitting in my own lead pile and you're right about the parts-breakdown. It's as if the manufacturer wanted to frustrate their customers to the highest degree possible.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I was really confused when I opened the package. I just can't imagine any instance where someone would honestly think "You know how we ought'a cast this guy- split right down the middle. That'll work the best." But hey- I'm no sculptor, for sure. Thanks for the visit.
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