Onceagain it’s time for a reflection on a year of hobby.
Overview
I started the year with a deadline looming. A Team Yankee campaign was getting started. I had just acquired enough models to fill out an army and only had about five weeks to get it table ready. I also had Dropzone Commander and Arena Rex backburnered.
I’ve long been dissatisfied with my Nekima model. That sculpt doesn’t have much of a menacing presence. I’m amused by the basing I did to try to address that issue, but the rest of the paint job is mundane. That just won’t do for a model that makes it into nearly every Neverborn crew I play, so I knew I’d need to get the alternate.
This one is delightfully bulky. The sword is a bit hokey, so I tried to jazz up the sword with energetic blue on the detailing. It didn’t come out quite like I had hoped.
I decided to go with natural colors for her main body: human flesh tones, brown hair/fur, brown-grays for the hooves and horns. I did blues and purples for her jacket and leggings to bring in my go-to Neverborn colors.
Original plastic Nekima was the first model I posted the Spin-o-matic for, although I’ve since reshot it. It seems fitting that Alt Nekima is the last model of this hobby year.
Following up from the Young, it’s time to meet the big brother.
I went back to the lighter purple for this guy. I did the plastic Young in red and purple. The proxy I already have is red, so that means somebody needs to be purple. I used blue and gray in the accents to tie it to the metal Youngs a bit.
When I applied the wash (Secret Weapon Purple), it was so much darker than the skin that any sloppy wash placement caused real problems. One of these days I’ll remember this and mix an appropriate tone when washing over a lightly colored base.
In news that’s only exciting to me, this model completes my Wave One plastic Neverborn collection. I’ve still got quite a few to go before finishing any other wave, for this or any other faction.
I’ve wanted to do a growth list since the beginning of time. I know it’s not regarded as especially great. But hey, killing models while buffing your own sounds pretty nice. I’ve been missing Young Nephilims, so haven’t been able to give it a shot.
Once upon a time I had a scheme for Nephilim, going from darker purple for the Terror Tots and getting lighter as they got bigger. I’ve since come to realize that easily identifying individual models on the table is hugely important. And I’ve got more widely varying color in assorted named Nephilim. When I eventually add more Tots into the mix, I’ll give them more color, too.
If I’m doing a growth list, there might be times where two Young isn’t enough. I’ve already got a Mature proxy. I found that the FLGS had old metal Young Nephilim on clearance. I don’t particularly care for most of the metal era Malifaux models, but cheap models for second tier summons are hard to say no to. Plus, the regular Nephilim box feels like maybe one of the worst value in the Malifaux line.