Lolth and a Decapus

After a couple of months of inactivity on the hobby front, I was able to spend the Thanksgiving holiday finishing up a couple of miniatures. The first job was elevating the Pathfinder Paeta to being Queen of the Demonweb Pits.

I wasn't able to find out much about what or who Paeta is, but she seems to be somehow related to phase spiders. The legs on my Paeta figure were all bent and distorted, so I had to clip them off and pin them so that she could stand up properly.

Unfortunately the plastic that the figure is made out of is not very strong, so the legs will sag if she is kept free standing for long periods of time (or if the temperature is too high).

I thought that she would make a good representation of Lolth, since I am of the same opinion as Shandar the Ashen One regarding Lolth's current depiction as a drider.

I repainted her face using Jim Roslof's illustration from the cover of AD&D Module Q1 as inspiration.

Now I'll need to find some solifugids and pedipalps to back her up.

The second figure I completed is a decapus, modeled after the Erol Otus art for the cover of D&D Module B3.

Because of this picture, I've always thought of the decapus as a kind of plant creature. The tentacles that split and rejoin reminded me a lot of the banyan tree, while the spines on its body reminded me a lot of the spines on the rambutan fruit.

I cobbled the figure together using a grell and an abyssal maw from the D&D Miniatures line.

I chopped off the legs and extra eyes from the abyssal maw, and used the body as the basis of the decapus. The tentacles were removed from the grell, reshaped a bit with a hair dryer, and then pinned to the body.

The spines on its body were made out of stretched sprue that I bent and glued into holes drilled into the body. The attachment points were then sealed with J-B Weld.

I added splitting and rejoining tendrils using round cross sectioned plastic twist ties. I shaved off some of the plastic at each end of a section to expose the wire, and then glued them into holes drilled into the tentacles. The ties were then slathered with J-B Weld.

I built up some more ropiness to the tentacles with J-B Weld, and after the epoxy dried, I painted the miniature.

The eyes bulge out unlike the decapus of the Otus picture, but I think it makes the creature look more plant-like this way.

In conclusion, a size comparison of the miniatures with George:

Fahrvergnügen

"...suppose this war just goes on and on and on and destroys everything in the world. Well, since the Volkswagen can get along without water, she’s bound to survive when other creatures die off! Someday the world is going to be populated with nothing but Volkswagens!"

– Castle Keep (1969)

The design of the iconic VW Beetle (aka Volkswagen Type 1) is often claimed to have been significantly influenced by Adolf Hitler (for whatever reason), but Ferdinand Porche was more likely inspired by other sources (particularly Tatra, and allegedly by Joseph Ganz).

Eventually, the car that personified Kraft durch Freude became inextricably associated with the hippy movement.

In the 1/72 world, VWs are primarily diecast models. The most commonly encountered models are produced by Hongwell (also repackaged by Schuco).

Version 1

Two different models were produced by Hongwell. From real life experience with a red VW like the first version of the Hongwell model, I could tell that it was too big. In fact, it measures out to about 1/67 scale.

1/67 version 1 (left) vs 1/72 version 2 (right)

Their second version scales out exactly to 1/72 scale. If you see these models on eBay, the best way to tell the difference between them is to look at the side windows.

1/72 version 2 (left) vs 1/67 version 1 (right)

For the cabriolet version, the shape of the canvas top is also different.

1/72 version 2 (left) vs 1/67 version 1 (right)

On the other end of the spectrum is the plastic VW Maggiolino 1200 manufactured for PEZ by the now defunct CGGC Grisoni.

Wilt is 7' 1" (216 cm)

The model is marked as being 1/72, but despite what it says, the car is more like 1/87 scale.

Scala 1:72

Other cars in the series which may-or-may-not-be 1/72 include the Fiat 500 and Mini Cooper.

Real-X/Epoch also makes a good 1/72 scale VW, and Oxford makes a 1/76 version of the 1958-1964 VW.

Top row: Hongwell (red and green), Epoch, Oxford, PEZ
Bottom row: Hongwell

From left to right: Hongwell (red and green), Epoch, Oxford, PEZ

The Epoch and Hongwell cars are made from different molds, and may represent different models of the Beetle. Hongwell also makes a version of the Beetle with Herbie markings, but it is a repaint, so represents the wrong model year of the car.

1/72 VW Beetles

Following up on the success of the Beetle, Volkswagen introduced their van (Volkswagen Type 2) in 1950.

A 1/72 version is made by Hongwell. The wheelbase is identical to the Beetle, which is as it should be. I think that the body may be a bit too short, but it looks good overall.

I saw the yellow-and-green marking in the picture below on a car driving on the road. Does anyone recognize what it is?

Wahaha!

Centipede

Back in the day, videogames were harsh and unforgiving like killer DMs. Centipede was typical of the shooter-type games of this period. You had a limited range of movement, and enemies advanced on you at an ever increasing pace until you could no longer keep up and were killed. This particular gaming paradigm has re-emerged with the advent of simple app based games, and seems to be as popular as it ever was.

1980 vs. 2012

For the videogame, we can see that the passage of 30 years has resulted in a marked improvement in the visual appeal of the game.

The giant centipede has also undergone a change over time. In the Monster Manual, giant centipedes are said to be about 1' long. Under the newer D&D classification, giant centipedes are now monstrous centipedes, and 1' specimens would be considered tiny or small. The modern giant centipedes are now really giant giant centipedes.

The miniatures closest in appearance to the monster described in AD&D are the giant centipedes from Citadel (Fantasy Specials FS39), Reaper (Dark Heaven Legends 03256), and Heritage (Dungeon Dwellers 1267).

The Reaper and Heritage centipedes scale out to 3' long, while the Citadel centipede is probably about 5' long. Not perfect, but the size is in line with that of prehistoric members of the Myriapoda subphylum that could be anywhere from to 3' to 8' long.

Larger centipedes are the D&D CMG Giant Centipede (Dungeons of Dread #56) on the left, and the HorrorClix Centipede (Nightmares #020) on the right. They are probably what is typically considered a giant centipede nowadays.

The DDM centipede has a decent pose, but the color selection leaves a bit to be desired. The mauve underbelly of the HorrorClix centipede is also a bit questionable, but I like this centipede a lot because of the legs and antennae.

And speaking of antennae, I don't think centipedes look right without them. These centipedes have been modified by adding antennae made from bent staples.

While I prefer the smaller giant centipedes, I'm not against having centipedes that tower over humans. I just think of them more as being supernatural creatures like Japanese centipede yokai.

The largest example is the Ral Partha Mukade Centipede (Bushido 53-918).

The legs and mandibles on the mukade have an angular appearance that is not very natural looking. I rounded the mandibles out with a file, but I just left the legs because there were too many to fix. I also added some whisker-like antennae which are typical of the omukade portrayed in Japanese prints.

I would have liked to add a mane as well, but I decided to preserve most of the miniature's original appearance because of its relative scarcity.

Finally, there is the Cryx Cankerworm from Privateer Press (34057). It's not really a centipede, but it's close enough. I bought the miniature because I liked the Cryx faction design aesthetic. It reminded me a lot of Clive Barker's cenobites from Hellraiser, and Tsutomu Nihei's silicon creatures (珪素生物; keiso seibutsu) from Blame!

I painted the carapace off-white just to be different, but now I wonder if it wouldn't have been better to paint it dark colored like everyone else.

I also modified the face because I wanted the model to look more like the concept art by Andrea Uderzo, with a visor instead of goggles, but I couldn't quite achieve the right appearance.