Ghost Archipelago #2 – Medusa and victims
January 10, 2021Work on Ghost Archipelago stuff has continued throughout the Christmas holidays (lucky as I am, I’m only starting work tomorrow), and the latest pieces I’ve finished are this medusa and her petrified victims. They’re all 3D printed models, with the medusa produced by Rocket Pig Games and the petrified victims a free download from Thingiverse user Curufin. While fantasy fiction has turned her into a type of creature, originally it was Medusa, with a capital M, one of the three Gorgon sisters.
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As you can see, the petrified victims aren’t the most gorgeous sculpts on the block. Then again, I like the approach of making them actually look like they’ve turned to stone, rather than the common depiction of medusa victims simply becoming 1:1 stone statues. This somehow feels more horrible, especially with the poses. I painted the minis as I usually paint stone, so I went with an eclectic mix of greys, browns, washes and drybrushes until I was more or less satisfied.
Click for a larger version
Click for a larger version
I spent a lot more time on the medusa, as it’s a gorgeous sculpt. I decided to go with a dark skintone, which I think meshes well with the greens and the gold. I wasn’t quite sure about the bow, but in the end decided to go for a horn look which I think is ok. The painting is mostly Contrast paints for the basics, followed by detailing and extra layers using other paints. This has become my current way of painting, and I’m really happy with my current work flow.
I’ll leave you with a scenic shot of some poor hapless pirates trying to charge the medusa. Much like Gloria Gaynor, they’re first afraid, then petrified. Unlike her, they won’t survive, I’m afraid.
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Dawn of the Lead 
Excellent job mate, the petrified victims are really nicely done, and (the?) Medusa is gorgeous. I love the skin tone in particular – well played!!
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Thanks Alex! This was a fun mini (micro?) project for sure, nice to paint a few quick-ish, themed minis.
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I really like the statues, as you say they somehow make petrification seem worse.
Also the Medusa looks great, the gold work is really nice, and great choice os skin colour, works really nice with the green and gold as you have said.
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Thanks Eloth! In a lot of current (and older, I assume) pop culture, the Medusa’s glare turns people into picture perfect statues (e.g. https://i.imgur.com/uVVc7j3.jpg?fb). The thought, however, of living tissue crystallising into a mineral form is much more horrible, not to mention more irreversible!
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Definitely, these remind me of images from Pompeii, as you say more horrific than “Disney” style
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Excellent work on both the victims and the Medusa aqs Pl . Green, dark skin and ivory bow work beautifully together. I also like the design of the victims. Much better than the usual “paint as statue”.
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Thanks D&B! Glad you like the combination of colours, I’m pretty happy with them myself. I wanted the hair and gold to pop, but not too much. I was a little worried of the bow being too much of a distraction, but it turned out nice in the end.
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The vibrant green combined with the dark shadows does provide enough contrast to pop. I think the ivory bow is a nice touch and introduces a warm element amongst the cool palette. So it does draw attention, but for me the focus is the snake hair.
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This is high praise and really valuable feedback coming from you, thanks so much!
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Well done – and love the Gaynor reference.
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Haha, thanks Mark! Can’t go wrong with Gloria 😀
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Those are great, especially Medusa. I remember when I first read about her as a kid she terrified me, as soon as you see her you’ve been turned to stone! Actually even as an adult I don’t think I’d go anywhere near her island…
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Thanks Wudugast! Yeah the story really is terrifying, no wonder she’s made it into a lot of pop culture. Amazing how long these legends can live and be passed on time and time again in different formats.
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I know, I sometimes wonder if there was a real Medusa that the story is based on, and if so what exactly she was like (I’m assuming she didn’t really have snakes for hair and couldn’t turn people into stone, but maybe some kind of witch or snake charmer living on a remote island somewhere in the Mediterranean).
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You have nailed the rapidly turnaround approach on these guest stars, you rattle them off very quickly.
Everybody should have a painted gorgon in their collection.
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Thanks Paul! It’s been really fun getting into a pretty speedy painting groove, this really is very much a first for me, possibly with the exception of painting some night goblins in the late 90s 😀
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Nice 👌🏼 and the dark skin tone does work well
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Thanks Luke!
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That’s a darned fine group of miniatures. I like what you did with the vegetation on the Medusa base. Seeing these miniaures reminds me of that old stop action Sinbad movie, which was great fun to watch. 🙂
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Thanks Ann! That’s on my inspiration watch list, so really glad to hear of the association 🙂
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Excellent work! Your Medusa looks amazing! ❤
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Thanks moth! It’s a lovely little mini so I’m happy I could do it justice 🙂
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That’s a great Medusa! Probably the first I’ve seen with dark skin, and you pulled it off nicely.
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