Ghost Archipelago #3 – Murder parrots
January 23, 2021I haven’t played any Games Workshop games in a good long while, but many of the miniatures they have been putting out in recent years really appeal to me. When the Corvus Cabal miniatures for Warcry were released, they definitely caught my eye with their cool fantasy post-apocalyptic vibe and bird skull helmets. However, I had zero use for them, so I refrained from adding them to my long, long backlog of unpainted miniatures. Our Ghost Archipelago project thankfully rectified this!
I’m currently painting up the Cabal to use as “Tribals” in the game – a catch-all that includes all sorts of tribal cultures living on the mysterious islands of the archipelago. This not only gives me a nice reason to paint them, but also allows me to construct a tribal faction that isn’t simply a fantasy repaint of an actual current or historical ethnic group such as the Zulu people or one of the many American indigenous peoples.
For these minis, I wanted a bold colour scheme echoing early Mesoamerican cultures, especially the Aztecs, although definitely through a pop culture filter. What this meant was bright colours and metallics. Instead of painting the bird skulls as actual bone, I painted them as golden metal masks, which I think is a nice effect. The Corvus Cabal’s feathered cloaks were painted in all the colours of the rainbow to suggest tropical birds. The words “murder parrot” came up, and this became my design guideline.
Click for a larger version
Click for a larger version
Painting was mostly Citadel Contrast paints, and I like how the models turned out. I went for a jungle look with the bases, as I imagine these fine people just erupting out of the jungle like a murderous flock pandemonium (I kid you not) of parrots. Here’s a couple more shots with some scenery for added measure.
Click for a larger version
Click for a larger version
Click for a larger version
As the crouching mini is apparently a woman, as surprisingly a fair few of the minis in the set are, she is my entry to the Fembruary 2021 painting challenge.
Click for a larger version
Dawn of the Lead 
Great figures and a well executed, unfamiliar colour scheme makes these all win, even before you factor in cross platform gaming utility.
Top marks!
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Thanks Paul! I’ve been really happy with them in many ways: finding a use for them, coming up with a fun scheme, and knowing they’ll likely see gaming use too.
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Very nice! 🙂 I think the gold helmets work well!
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Thanks John! They certainly provide a focal point to the minis.
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Very nice, the brighter colours work surprisingly well on them.
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Thanks Eloth! I’ve been a little surprised by that myself, positively of course. I like the studio paint scheme, but I feel like the more colourful look gives them a wholly different feel.
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It certainly does, at first glance I actually though you had just used the heads to convert onto different tribal style minatures. Was not until I looked much closer I realized the models where “standard”
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The minis certainly lack a lot of typical GW tropes (read: skulls). I like how GW have gone more towards a style that makes their minis useful outside of GW games as well.
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Excellent work on these guys and gals. I really like the colour scheme, especially the golden masks. The skintone complements them, too, and the feathers add interest. I think you need to paint up a pandemonium of parrots.
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Thanks DnB! I’ve still got seven more to go, I think they’ll make for a great pandemonium once finished.
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Very, VERY cool Mikko. I like the Corvus Cabal kit and ended up buying three kits haha. I’ve built/converted a lot but have yet to paint them (of course). I love that you’ve gone for brighter colours and the golden masks are a stroke of genius my friend. I for one wouldn’t be scared of them because I’m a big gala haha but I can imagine all my smaller bird-like friends would be petrified hehe. Well done mate.
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Thanks Luke! I figured the kit would be to your liking, with all its macabre weirdness. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing your take on them!
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Those looks great mate, the brighter, more colourful scheme really suits them.
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Thanks Wudu! Glad this wasn’t a miss.
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Great painting.
Cheers,
Pete.
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Thanks Pete!
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Really like these from a number of perspectives. The Aztec-inspired colors and golden masks are quite striking and eery macabre at the same time. Well done Mikko!
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Thanks Mark! Your stuff has been an inspiration 🙂
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[…] fantastic Corvus Cabal member, beautifully painted up for Ghost Archipelago by […]
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[…] our upcoming Ghost Archipelago game. Dinosaurs, giant gorillas, ruined temples, jungle beasts, mysterious tribes – the works. This theme has a jungle vibe to it, and is kind of a catch-all project, what […]
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