Blog Gauntlet's Lizards

Hey there everyone!

Been well over a decade since I was last engaged in any online discussion about the good old Lizards... and I haven't played Warhammer or AOS in just as long or longer.

But Lizards are what got me into this wonderful hobby, and with the revolution that is 3d Printing and so many alternative sculpts cropping up... combined with the fun re-imagining done in the Total War, Warhammer II, PC Game... I finally felt the time was right to return to the Temple Cities of Lustria Online.

So I'll be posting pictures of my army here, and feedback is always welcome!

 

Alrighty... to start with, I once had a project where I took some of my original ancient Skinks (from the old Bretonnians vs Lizards box set) and attached them to these husks I found at a Yankee Candle store to make canoes. It was a good idea, but my execution was faulty, and over the decade the poor things were broken down.

I decided I would revitalize them and replace the Skinks. I ended up choosing Raventwin Miniatures' Skinks as they are much more... froggy... than others. I'm not certain if they will be my standard Skink or not, but for the canoe project, frog Skinks made a lot of sense.

I did end up playing with scale a bit to try and lengthen the snouts on some of these guys, which largely failed to be noticeable. I should also note, that I was not very happy with the orange crests of the Skinks... I originally tried a flesh wash and even a red wash on them and I didn't like the effect... I did a lot of work to try and salvage them from there. I now own a few orange washes, include some "intensity inks" from Greenstuff World and I'll use that next time. The water effect here was originally just some gloss, but I also added some UV clear resin over it here and there... it's okay... but not great.

Though the canoes are barely decorated, and I want to add more things to them in time, I needed to get the Skinks on board before I went too crazy, and I'll be returning to these again some day. For now I'm quite happy with them.

 

Welcome back into the hobby! Always good to see a return of one of the Old Ones!

Do you play the gentleman's game of 8th Edition?

These models look great! I love the glowing effect you've gotten with their eyes.

 

Welcome back! It's definitely a good time to come back (really anytime is) especially with the new Direchasm set out!

These are awesome, I really enjoy raventwins lizardmen stuff! The canoe idea is just perfect, could see those skinks sneaking up to Empire boats or something to plant like.. Salamander orb bombs or something!

Awesome work, looking forward to more!

 

Sadly I don't play much of anything right now... and I doubt I'll get to play anything fantasy related with any ruleset until I build and paint at least 2 armies lol.

Pre-Pandemic I regularly got in games of Dropfleet & Dropzone Commander as well as Fallout Wasteland Warfare. I'm getting lizards done at a decent clip though, and I do have a partial Beastman army painted to a good standard, so it might not be toooo much longer. I'll probably end up trying a bunch of rule-sets and then just make my own lol.

 

Continuing after the Canoes, I decided to extend the aquatic theme and print up giant turtle warriors from Lost Kingdom Miniatures... at this point I had to decide on basing conventions. Round or Square the eternal question. A big part of me wanted to go square... but a few things pushed me to go round. Firstly, round looks better for models that are not in strict ranks... secondly, there are generally more thematic bases made in round... thirdly, it's theoretically possible I'll play AOS, and round bases can still be ranked with the right trays.

I kind of regret going round and I kind of don't I'm very much on the fence about it all lol.

Sooo Turtle people... after researching the base size for AOS for Kroxigors, I found the original scale of these guys to be far too modest, and also, most things in 3d printing look best when slightly larger than the traditional WH models... so with my Skinks already about 10% larger, that means traditionally scaled Kroxigors would end up looking smaller.

So these guys are printed at 130% their intended scale.

For painting/construction, one of them has a weapon from another set (temple guard from Lost Kingdom Miniatures), and then they all have some printed forest bases, which I added magnetic sheet to. I eventually wrapped the edges of the bases with 4mm wide tape, and then poured in UV resin to create a water effect. I'm very new to water effects, and these did what I wanted, but I need to learn how to create things like bubbles/waves/etc. Using tape as scaffolding had some negative side effects... the edges were textured and more UV resin had to be applied free-style to correct it, and if you like perfect shapes... HA you ain't gonna get it with this method.

Finally, I'll just say, that I'm glad I've learned that a key color to making great greens is yellow, and my airbrush helped a lot with said color. Also, in my opinion, these are the best turtle shells I'll ever paint and I doubt I'll ever top them.

Very fun models, and I think I'll create a escort of Frog Skinks for them someday. Also, I'll note that each of these guys has a little set of orbs hanging on strips/ropes... If I do custom rules, these will be custom "stink" bombs that these guys craft in their native swamps, and use to distract an enemy to escape a charge or conversely use to diffuse an enemy charge/etc.


PS: Could use tips on painting black claws. Currently I'm just painting some black and applying a matte coat... I did try to do some dark grey work on the severed leg's toenails, but it really doesn't come through in my opinion.

 

Welcome back to the hobby, and a great start.

I really like the idea of the canoes, they look stunning!!

Grrr, Imrahil

 

Thanks!

I've been painting minis for just about 20 years (since I was 16), and I only have one regret really... which is waiting so long to get into airbrushing. Only had one the past 3-4 years and I should have gotten one 15 years ago lol.

I say that, because these Razordon models I've done would have been a real pain to base coat/etc. without it... what with the number of spikes.

I'm slowly working on my own little alternate universe for these models and others (it's basically just warhammer transposed onto ancient greece/rome/etc., so it's psuedo Romans centurions instead of psuedo Germans and knights, etc.)...

In which, I don't think I'll actually have Salamanders VS Razordons, and instead, I'll use this one model, and it will have attributes of both... essentially these guys will breathe fire instead of shoot spikes, but will be fairly nasty defenders/roadblocks due to their spiky exterior when in melee.

I did better on the orange frill by being very careful and using a very watered down flesh wash (I hadn't gotten orange wash yet). These are from Raventwin Miniatures, who I have to say, are doing very good work (I don't like their Saurus, but otherwise I think they really nail it for capturing a "classic" or "old school" Lizardman style).

Oh! Also, these are 3d printed and the pre-supported versions worked really well, but a lot of spikes are fragile just because of their size... you can strengthen the whole design by increasing it's width by about 10%, which one of these four did. In my opinion it's the best looking one too.

 

Alrighty... next up, I actually painted this guy long before any of these others I've posted, and it was one of my first 3d prints. Obviously this is the possible trog/carn from Lost Kingdom Miniatures, though notably the rider (attached magnetically) is a standard cav rider and not the hero.

I'll go into why at a later date, but the rider will be replaced (and probably unpainted/head chopped off/etc.) soon.

Anywho, I really like this model, and I'm pretty happy with the frill, though the blue parts of it are too dull. I'm most happy with the emerald green skin tone I achieved here.

 

Wow, absolutely brilliant job on this, have wanted this sculpt for awhile, but to use as a Dread

 

Thank you! I could see a Dread for this, but you'd have to scale the model up quite a bit!

 

Oh 100%, and it would be glorious

 

So, with this post, my "backlog" of completed items will have been posted, and I then i cans tart talking about WIP stuff.

This is my custom Stegadon, my original Stegadon is a engine of the gods with two heads, and he sits in honor as a reminder of how far I've come in painting terms.

But this guy, was an experiment I wanted to try. He uses a mix of free thingiverse howdah pieces 3d printed (some were partial failures), cobbled with left over bits from the original Stegadon kit.

This was then all constructed on top of a Lost Kingdom Miniatures Colohti figure. Now the Colohti, and it's predatory cousins the Ahuatli, are strange models... both are clearly inspired by Ankylosaurs/etc. but they also take some notes from Ceratopsians, while also then riffing and going with a really unique horn design when compared to either of those groups.

Furthermore, un-modified... they are difficult to work into a classic lizardman army. Neither are big enough for a Bastiladon or Stegadon... and the smaller/predatory model doesn't really look the part for a Razordon.

But this is the Colohti printed at 130% scale... and then, the head specifically scaled to 145%... and with those proportions, you can make him a Stegadon. Though in retrospect, he fits more as a Bastiladon, and this is his best use, because there are many great alternatives to a Stegadon (and the Stegadon model itself is also lovely), while much less so for the Bastiladon, which also arguably needs it more (I don't like the sculpt).

Whatever, I'll come up with something one day for those turtle like monsters... this guy is awesome.


My only regret is the standard in the back, I don't like the gold it came out as, and wish I had done it as a pale wood, more like the bow. I might hit it with more ink to darken it though. Currently there are no riders/crew, because I haven't decided how I'm going to model my standard Skinks yet, and the Frog Skinks are not going to be super-easy to pose inside it. We'll see.

I hope you like the jade, it's Greenstuff world's Jade Candy Ink over a nice and bright silver, with a matte varnish.

I'm also open to suggestions about eye colors... I wasn't quite sure what to go with, so I left them just white as is for the moment. The majority of my lizards have green-yellow eyes, and I wasn't certain that would contrast enough here. I was thinking possible blue (but my Saurus will all be blue) or maybe a touch of intense magenta?

Dunno... thoughts are welcome!

 

This looks fantastic. Great work on the details.

 

Alrighty... time to talk Saurus.

I think it's pretty safe to say, that the old MkII Saurus Warrior leans heavily into the Aquatic realm, and, for it's time, was a great model. But sadly, I think that time has long since passed.


1) Greater detail is definitely possible, though not always better.

2) The Saurus' competitors have generally always been, or gotten bigger. A standard Saurus looks rather lanky and underfed compared to Chaos Warriors and other supposedly on-par armored opponents.

3) With the advent of the Total Warhammer II game, we've seen what I would call a respectful "reimagining" of the Saurus design, and what can be done with it (fiercer, more angular jaws, throaty under-necks, whisping wavering tails, etc.)

4) GW's newer kits also deviate from the original Saurus while trying to maintain enough similarities. To the point where it's almost a distraction in my opinion. (The newer bloodbowl Lizards are "claws and tails" better than all other Saurus models in my opinion).

5) There are now multiple alternatives available to Saurus. There always have been, but now 3d printable ones are... this is key, because most Proxies were always more limited in availability/poses/weapon options/etc. to easily replace our standard Saurus.
---


With these factors in mind, I began my quest to create the perfect Saurus, armed with a 3d Printer, the will, and the lack of self-control to spend my money... I began investigating my options.



Firstly, we have what I believe was the first widely available 3d print alternatives... Lost Kingdom Miniatures.



Mostly first on the scene, these models have truly fantastic details, and a distinctly different style than we are used to, blending elements from Southeast Asia and beyond with our beloved Mesoamerican ones.

Pros: Great poses, multiple poses/bodies with different details, high degree of weapon and shield variety.

Cons: No distinct scales, more of a leathery skin (which is the effect smaller scales would be, and isn't a bad look, just different), being early to the scene pre-supports are not always present on all LKM models of the Lizard range, and their pre-supports are not the best I've experienced. Tails are stubby, straight, and rather short with a decorative metal/gold pyramid cap. The heads are much more lizard or snake like than one would expect of "dinosaur people".

As a result, I would class these as great Lizardmen, not-so-great Dinosaurs. I'm Pro-Dino. Still these models got me into 3d printing in the first place. I own them, and use much of them. More on that later.
---


Secondly we have Last Sword Miniatures.



Some good stuff here, the weapons and shields are great looking, the tails are not stubby or two short, many poses are dynamic, but still rankable. However, the heads of the Saurus are all taking the newer "Kroq-Gar"/Carnosaur rider as their basis, going with a very sharp and extremely angular crest. I personally don't love it, but boy if you wanted desert lizards, these guys are pretty perfect due to their dragon-lizard look.

Pros: Well sculpted, great posing, great tails. Cool weapons and other accessories. Good for Kroq-Gar enthusiasts!

Cons: Availability has been spotty, mostly you had to kickstart, and as far as I can tell you can't get 3d Files for them (this is a deal breaker for me).

Note, the rest of the range has some good stuff, and I think they produce the overall best Skink design. I'll be watching them closely for the day I can buy large numbers or files of these guys. Please correct me if you know more and I'm mistaken on these points.
---

 

Third up!

If you are looking for that "old skool Dino look" in your lizardmen, and looking for models that could work equally well with newer models or mixed with original Lizardmen models, I suspect that Raventwin Miniatures has you covered best.

https://www.myminifactory.com/users/Raven Twin Miniatures

You need Patreon to see their whole range, but eventually they dump things at Myminifactory. Their Pterradons are especially nostalgic. I think they also produce the best Razordons (see my Razordons for examples) and Salamanders (again Patreon only right now). But I digress... this is about Saurus.




So close... so far.

Pros: When presupported, they are the best I've found and it was super smooth to print their froggy Skinks. Designs are modular, good weapons, good shields, but not much variety. REALLY COOL TEMPLE GUARD HELMETS.

Cons: Models not sold with presupports on myminifactory, no method to buy past models on their Patreon with those supports. Scales are larger plates and the regular skin isn't very detailed, heads are relatively small, crests are basic, posing is not dynamic.
---


Finally, this brings me to the last great purveyor of 3d print proxies I'm aware of, One Page Miniatures.





By far these models seem to have taken their design ques from Total Warhammer II more than any other source. This explains the head, the softened arch of their crest, the hunched over physique and their whispy claw-tipped tails. They are, all in all, my favorites. But there are some cons here.

Pros: Great pre-supports, good value, good weapon and shield variety. Excellent heads, with eyes easily standing out for painting. Scale design is rugged and cool. Classic awesome temple guard heads.

Cons: The hunched over look is interesting, but the poses are very "Wide" making these very hard to rank. Temple Guard weapons are poorly designed, with staffs that the model cannot hold straight up (the pictures here are depicting club options, they have one handed staffs that are similar). Head to body ratio is surprisingly small. Lack of detail on the underbelly of tail. The art style is distinctly different and less realistic looking in someways to me.
---


With these little reviews in, I'll soon describe my personal solution. Obviously this has all been about my person taste lol, and I've really been loving each of these companies takes on different subject matters.




PS: I forgot Clay Beast Creations... they do a range of more-sci-fi-esque lizardmen that I think are great, but not meso-american or fantasy enough for me to seriously consider much of their range. I have printed some of their models, and the pre-supports were terrible (you don't put supports on faces unless you absolutely have to), if your comfortable doing your own supports all the time (I'm not) they are probably wonderful.

https://www.myminifactory.com/users/Clay Beast Creation

 

Nice. Keep the data coming! It will be useful if I ever decide to get more Saurus.

 

So. With all that review and context out of the way... what I decided on doing was this:

1) Use the Lost Kingdom Miniatures body and arms/shields. This body has my preferred poses, and, they have various riders/etc. I can use.

2) The stubby tails had to go. In a few instances I tried using the long tails of the One Page Rules minis, but they don't quite match. (I do use these on some of my Horned-One Riders later, but it's not standard. I ended up splicing the tails from Raventwin Minis Skinks. The textured skin matched pretty well with the leathery texture of the body.

3) Finally, I used the heads from One Page Rules minis, as well as the occasional weapon/shield arm.

A lot of experimentation went into scales for all components, in some cases I even carefully sliced off the head crests, enlarged them to make wider, and then carefully grafted them back onto the head. All of this was done through Anycubic Photon's 3d print software. I've since created about 40 Saurus, and while some individuals are pretty dodgy in terms of scale and morphology, the last 20 really honed it in, and as a big group, they look great.

Also, for special characters/champions and possibly Temple Guard, I managed to clip in the One Page Rules heads, INSIDE the armored feather-crest heads of Raventwin Miniatures Temple Guard. Which are kind of amazing.

So my initial test paint figure:










---

Now I ultimately chose to change up the scheme, I really wanted them to look more like this image here:









And I think I came pretty close, here are a squad of five while I figured it out.




---


There you have it... my highly customized Saurus, I hope you like them, they are a little less lizardy hunchbacks than the TotalWar game, but I was personally going for something between that and more traditional depictions. In retrospect, what would I do differently? First and foremost, I'd learn better supports so I can merge the head with body and print together (I couldn't get that right, so all heads have to be attached, a little greenstuff/etc. I would also spend the not insignificant effort of replacing the bony ridges on their backs with true curved spikes.

I look forward to finishing up 15 more and posting a squad! And I've already constructed Horned One riders using these same Saurus, and mixing parts from LKM and OPM.

I'll leave you with a prototype of a Temple Guard standard bearer, mixing Raventwin arms, headdress, One Page Rules head, and LKM body...

 

Blue for the eyes would contrast nicely with the orange and yellows in the skin and gold and tie it in with the skin of your saurus. If you want you could also tuck some magenta into the recesses of the face which would contrast with the green and add a lot of life and richness to the shadows. Just a thought. It looks awesome as is though!

 

Great conversion and paint job.

Shame about the round bases