From the painting desk #62 – Dastardly pirates
December 15, 2018Plenty (for me) of painting done recently! I haven’t added all that many pirates to my pirate crew recently – that changes now. I realized I have a ton of wonderful pirate miniatures, and what do you know, they could be painted! With that intro, here we go:
Click for a larger version
On the left is a female pirate from Bad Squiddo that I bought on our visit to CRISIS in Antwerp in early November. While she’s pretty much on the borderline of almost being too fantasy, she’s just suitable enough. A lovely sculpt in general, her hair looks weirdly unfinished which gave me a bit of a headache. Are those ribbons? Dreadlocks? In the end I just painted everything as hair. That gripe aside, she looks very menacing and has a sweet Jack Sparrow/Black Sails Anne Bonny mash-up vibe. The axe is brutal, too. The miniature is also a great example of a non-sexualized female pirate miniature, we definitely need more of those.
Next up is a carpenter from Black Cat Bases. While he’s not explicitly pirate-y – he could well be used as a carpenter on a merchant ship – I added him to my pirate crew. A lovely, characterful sculpt that was fun and easy to paint. What more could you ask for?
My third pirate in this lot is one of my favourite pirate minis of all time, a knife thrower by Foundry. He’s one of the most characterful pirate minis in existence, and looks like a really rough customer. I used a darker skintone (as with the female pirate) for some variety, I think a pirate crew should be a motley one. There’s a narrative element as well, as in my imagination he’s not a European – I’m sort of thinking Queequeg in Moby Dick, so some South Pacific blood in him. Absolutely loved painting this one!
These three are a welcome addition to my crew. They bring my pirates up to a total of 18 or so – might be time for an end of the year group shot?
They also serve as a great reminder, that when basing and painting style are consistent, you can easily mix miniatures from different manufacturers despite the somewhat different sculpting styles.
Dawn of the Lead 
Great to see these mate – I’ve missed your piratical posts!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Glad to hear that Alex! I’ll try and churn out some more, pirates are fun to paint.
LikeLiked by 2 people
These are great and inspirational. I have a ton of pirate miniatures now and really need to make a start. I love the details you’ve picked out and the knife thrower is easily my favourite. His eyes, skin and stubble are great. Well done and, like Alex, I’ve missed your pirate posts. Keep me coming mate
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks IRO, will do! Hop to it, looking forward to seeing your pirates 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
It’s such a big daunting project that I’m a little unsure where to start hehe
LikeLiked by 2 people
Just pick up one you like and paint it – that usually helps for me. Any journey starts with a blah blah.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Ahaha. I want to start with Long John Silver because he’s so iconic. Maybe over the Christmas break
LikeLiked by 2 people
Do it mate! Watch the old Treasure Island flick for inspiration!
LikeLiked by 2 people
That’s a good idea
LikeLike
Excellent stuff! I love the knife-thrower’s stubbly chin! Very in-character!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks! I do like painting the occasional stubble to make someone seem even more of a lowlife.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lovely paint jobs. I really need to get started on my pirates. *sigh* I suppose there is always 2019…..
LikeLiked by 2 people
Let 2019 be your year of the pirate! Watch a couple of films, read a couple of books, that’ll get you painting. Thanks for the comment!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lovely work there.
Cheers,
Pete.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you muchly, Pete!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Finnish pirates are back! And what a nice job on these Mikko. I like to look at the little details and you really did great highlighting on the trousers here, among other details like the stubble. These came together nicely, kiitos for sharing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the kind words Mark, arvostan!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Mikko, you just expanded my Finnish vocabulary!
LikeLike