Holiday in the Caribbean
September 24, 2016
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Here’s a scenic piece that I put together recently, showing a pirate relaxing with his dog. I actually like this one immensely! The story behind this is a good explanation why.
It started out as a scene of a wounded pirate leaning on a tree, bleeding to death. Maybe I was having a bit of a downer day, but that felt a little too grim. Thus it changed into a drunk pirate sitting by a tree…but I already had a drunk pirate passed out in a pig pen. Around this time I remembered the miniature dog (an otterhound to be exact) I bought at Salute from fellow hobbyist and Frother, the wonderfully talented painter Jon “Dags” Atter. So the piece turned into a relaxing pirate, leaning on a tree with his eyes closed and a dog by his side.
Now, this piece made me especially happy. Normally most of the stuff I (and most other hobbyists as well, it’s wargaming after all) is framed by a context of violence, with the occasional dash of humour thrown in. Even in a fairly light-hearted setting like my Hollywood Caribbean, the majority of miniatures are armed and in fighting poses. Not this one! I think the piece manages to capture something of the lazy, hot summer day feeling that is closely linked to mental images of pirates and Caribbean islands. I think this piece pretty much captures the essence of my project.
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What also makes me happy is that it was super easy to build. It’s a model railroad palm tree combined with a Foundry pirate casualty, the aforementioned dog miniature and a pebble I picked up outside. I dressed it up with some static grass and a few Army Painter tufts.
I’m currently painting up a lot more stuff for my project, including a few special things for an upcoming Halloween game. Stay tuned!
Dawn of the Lead 
Very nice! I prefer my pirates in a light-hearted Hollywood style, so I can relate to your joy…
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Indeed! I’ve read enough about historical pirates to not want to recreate that world. I like mine with a happy Pirates of the Caribbean vibe. Thanks for the comment!
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Have you ever read Tim Powers’ On Stranger Tides? It’s a fun novel, historical pirates mixed with some magic, and I found it very inspiring for my project (one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies was loosely based on it).
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Hadn’t heard of that one, thanks for the tip! I’ll look into it.
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Very cool – kinda makes me want to take a vacation myself!
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Oooh, the Caribbean would definitely be nice, especially with Finland quickly slipping towards five months of winter.
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Makes you the hardy folk you are – plus those long winters contribute to all the fantastic mythology you have!
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Very nice. And a good show of “sun and fun”.
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Thanks hosercanadian! Even pirates need r&r.
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Absolutly love it! Such small vignettes that tell a story are some of my favourite projects. I think the paintjob is excellent, the only thing that you could do is to apply a matte avrnish to the palm trunk or maybe drybrush it with a bit of brown to take the gloss away.
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Thanks for the comment! The shine of the palm trunk isn’t quite as bad, I had to place a desk lamp fairly near so that accentuates the glare. I did give it another round of drybrushin to dull it down though!
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