Aquitic Miniature Creatures

These miniatures are from Whizkids Pathfinder series. I haven't added any aquatic characters to my collection in a long while and although the price was right I just liked the sculps.

LA Alghollthu, 29 of 44 and molded in 2018. This miniatures is on the larger sized, that is approximately 70mm long 44mm high. I am not sure whether it is molded in PVC so I will not say it is. It has nice texture and is painted in several colors.

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Grodair, measures approximately 30 by 25mm is quite small compared to the alghollthu. Grodair is finely constructed and painted in a dark yellow, has a red toungue and two sets of dark eyes.

On Again Off Again

I originally purchased this piece to go with my other sea battles gear and I started painting this piece years ago. This was before I had a decent pair of glasses. It was all touch and go back then, but I am back and giving it another try...

I do a little painitng in-between the wait for the glue to dry on the other projects I am working on. Who knows how this monster sea turtle ended up on this set of sea boulders and who knows how long its carcass has been here. It might have been for centuries.

Sea Serpents

More from the Lost World of Dragons Exhibit. Sea serpents were reportingly prevalent at one time in the earths oceans or perhaps they are still prevalent.

Ghoulish PVC Miniatures

I really dpn't know what to make of the creatures. I thought of tagging them "Petri Dish Creatures" or creatures from the deep or perhaps they are the ghoulish creatures H.P. Lovecraft wrote about in his "The Shadow Over Innsmouth".

"And yet I saw them in a limitless stream—flopping, hopping, croaking, bleating—surging inhumanly through the spectral moonlight in a grotesque, malignant saraband of fantastic nightmare. And some of them had tall tiaras of that nameless whitish-gold metal . . . and some were strangely robed . . . and one, who led the way, was clad in a ghoulishly humped black coat and striped trousers, and had a man’s felt hat perched on the shapeless thing that answered for a head. . . .

I think their predominant colour was a greyish-green, though they had white bellies. They were mostly shiny and slippery, but the ridges of their backs were scaly. Their forms vaguely suggested the anthropoid, while their heads were the heads of fish, with prodigious bulging eyes that never closed. At the sides of their necks were palpitating gills, and their long paws were webbed. They hopped irregularly, sometimes on two legs and sometimes on four. I was somehow glad that they had no more than four limbs. Their croaking, baying voices, clearly used for articulate speech, held all the dark shades of expression which their staring faces lacked."

The Shadow Over Innsmouth, H. P. Lovecraft

More Signs From Above

Source: 007 James Bond-"You Only Live Twice". Signs in Tokyo.

Source: "Belfast"

Aquatic Creatures Capsule Toys

I found the slime creatures had been replaced with these cute aquatic creatures. I fed three sets of quarters into the machine and received two aquatics and one slime creature. Not sure how it found its way into the mix but here he is.

The aquatic creatures measure approximately on inch long and stand roughly a half-inch high and are made of some “rubber-like” material. They are a bit squishy to touch.

Beware of the Light that Shows the Way

“Mariel stood over the stunned toad. It was an indescribably ugly specimen, completely covered in large wart like growths. Next to the toad lay a lantern. The lantern was on a small carrying frame and wonderfully made from thin-cut rock crystal. Inside the lantern half a dozen fat fireflies buzzed, giving off a pale golden light.”

Marial of Redwall, Brian Jaques

Frogs and Fishes

Merill of Redwall, Brian Jacques

Ugly Pets-The Gross Goldfish

I ran across a huge after Christmas sale at a local discount store and couldn’t pass up the savings on the toys that I decided to purchase. See my Weird-Oh’s-Sling Rave Curvette post for instance.

The Ugly Pet Store features 101 collectible ugly pets of all persuasions. The “Gross Goldfish” is cast from a polymer material and stands approximately 35mm tall. The tank: 2.25w x 3h x 13/8 “d. When pressed down, the fish tank omits strange gross sounds.

Collectors Guide

Finding Nemo Character Squirt the Sea Turtle Figure

Squirt is a brave and spirited sea turtle, one the many characters in this Disney’s Finding Nemo animation. This figure is approximately two and half inches long and is cast from PVC.

A Host of Characters- The Harbor Master

“It was then that I, ducking to escape the boom, caught a glimpse of something ahead-something that a sudden wave seemed to toss on the deck and leave there, wet and flapping- a man with round fixed, fishy eyes, and soft, slate colored skin. But the horror of the thing were the two gills that swelled and relaxed spasmodically, emitting a rasping, purring sound-two gasping, blood-red gills, all fluted and scalloped and distended. The “harbor master” had gathered himself into a wet lump, squalling, motionless in the bows under the mast; his lidless eyes were phosphorescent, like the eyes of a living codfish.”

In Search of the Unknown, Robert W. Chambers

A Kraken Attacks the Nautilus

Disney’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

Having to travel through the area of the ocean where the mighty kraken existed the Nautilus was inadvertently attacked by a kraken. The kraken presumably mistook the Nautilus to be a whale of the species that it would typically assail.

Disney’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

Discharging an electrical current to the outside of the submarine only temporally deterred the kraken’s attack on the Nautilus and it was back on the Nautilus with multiple tentacles. Having burned out the electrical discharge circuit the Nautilus comes to the surface of the ocean during a tempest, to battle the monster with axes and grappling hooks.

Disney’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

Several men were either injured or lost during the battle that ensued. It wasn’t until Ned Land the renowned harpooner hit the kraken in one of its eyes did the kraken withdraw.

Attributes for my Reaper Walking Fish

Walking Fish

The walking fish is a Reaper 25mm miniature.  When the extraterrestrials encountered the squids they also encountered a certain species of fish that schooled very closely with the squid, so they seized a few of these fish along with the squid. They believed that since the fish and squid co-existed that they must be allies, but this is far from the truth. In nature this species of fish actually feeds on the squid. However the extraterrestrials didn’t know that at the time of the abductions nor are they aware of the situation even now.

The fish, like the squid were genetically and physically modified to withstand short periods out the water and always accompany the squid on their missions. The fish are thought to be less intelligent than the squid and put in supportive roles. The extraterrestrials still do not understand why so many of the squid never return from their missions and the fish sent along with them are no longer heard of again. They don’t realize, the first chance the walking fish get to chomp down one of their favorite foods the fish gobble up the squid. While digesting the squid the fish’s metabolisms change and they go wild and head back to their own kind and become leaders among their peers.

The walking fish, like the squid men get a 2 for movement and for 1.5 for intelligence. 

Projects for April

I am back logged and have not been as productive these past couple of months. I have projects from last month and beyond on my workbench. I have pictures for some of my projects and some of my ongoing projects well as, still on my camera that need to be posted. I will keep this month’s list short: New Projects Reaper’s walking fish thingy; Reaper #P03612A

Old Projects These projects are all at different stages of completion. Reaper Miniatures, dragon fish; this 25mm miniature came in the same package as the moray eel. This is Reapers #P02948B set. This is one of those miniatures that have been languishing on my workbench. Warhammer Orc Arachnarok Spider – Trees Ratio HO-Gauge Trackside Buildings 507 Grounded Van Body 524 Weighbridge and Hut

Completed Projects Reaper Miniatures #03608: Aquatic Familiars II Sea Monster (Aberration) Mermaid Octopus (Aberration) Warhammer Dreadfleet Graveyard - Leech Wyrm Bombshell Miniatures Pumpkin Buddy Other Ristuls Market Halloween Basing Kit (10 resin miniatures)

Reaper Miniatures 25mm Mermaid

This mermaid is a 25mm miniature from Reaper Miniatures#03608: Aquatic Familiars II. I have had this miniature for some time. This photo is from the third photo shoot of this miniature. I haven’t been satisfied with the results up to this point.

I first heard her call on a misty early dawn of morning in June. I didn’t know what to make of the sounds that I heard on this June morning. At first I thought I was hearing things. The sound had a dreamy and hypnotizing quality to it and it drew me too its source. Like I said, I didn’t what to make of it, but all the same I was enticed to pull my rowboat toward these memorizing sounds.

I rowed toward these sounds, which seemed to be coming from somewhere around Crook Island. The Island stood off about two miles from the channel leeward of the sea. Not having a water source the island was not inhabited. The island was one of the many Channel Islands that stood off from the mainland. Crook Island was once the haunt of criminals. The island was roughly 1.5 miles wide, at its widest, and 7 miles long. Some say that there is treasure buried on the Island, but no one as yet has found even a clue of its where-a- bout’s.

The closer I pulled toward the island the more these sounds sounded like someone singing. Singing in a most delightful language, one all its own. I rowed to a little cove, to where I thought I had heard this very particular singing, and pulled my boat up to the beach. I landed the boat and commenced to investigate the beach. Not finding anything there, I walked the full length and width of the island. Still not seeing anything that would explain these strange sounds I walked back to my boat and sat on its gunwhale and I pondered as what to do next. I reached down for my sea bag that sat on the floor boards of the boat and pulled out a beaker of water and some sea biscuits.

While I sat there I pondered on what I had heard and wondered where the song could have come from. After finishing my meager meal I pushed my boat out beyond the surf and started to row back to the main land. It was then I heard a splash off to my right. I rowed toward were the sound had come from and then off in the distance I heard a louder splash.  I rowed to the point of the splash, and not seeing anything unusual I stopped and rested on my oars. It was then I saw a very large tail come-up out of the water. Coming down it created another splash. This time I was close enough to get a good soaking. The creature, whatever it was, took off toward the open water. I heard another splash. I looked intently toward the spot of the last splash and saw a shock of red hair and then the face of what I reconvened to be a mermaid. It was a most beautiful face; one with the most alluring aspects. Was she was trying to lure me out to the open sea?

I had heard tell of stories, where the mermaids had lured the un-expecting out to the open sea with their womanly charms only to have that person never to be heard of again. I started to row back to the main land. I swear I heard a moan-full cry as I rowed back. I didn't look back until I had safely reached the mainland.

25mm Reaper Miniatures Sea Aberration

This aberration is part man and part fish. Is it a freak of nature or a genetics experiment gone badly? Whatever the case, I would not want to meet up with this creature while out scuba diving. This 25mm miniature is from Reaper Miniatures Aquatic Familiars II pack. This was one of the miniatures on my January Projects list.

There is one more from this collection that I need to complete, but I cannot find a paint scheme that I am happy with.

Attributes for the Leech Wyrm Sea Monster

I found this miniature at Hoards O’ Bits; it is from their Games Workshop Dreadfleet collection. This miniature will eventually be coupled with the set of Cogs and other ships, also from Hoards O’ Bits Dreadfleet collection. It might also be pressed into service with my Pirates of the Curse of Davy Jones game.

The Leech Wyrm has the following attributes:

The Leech Wyrm can move 3 if under water and 2 if on top. When resolving a Move action the controller of this piece must roll a die. On the die roll of a 1 or 3 the sea monster is assumed to be moving under water, while on a roll of anything else it is assumed to be moving on top of the sea.

Sea monsters cannot attack while under water except when they are ramming a ship from underneath the water. If the controlling player is going to attempt a ram the creature must be moving under the water and be in the same space as the ship. The player will announce his intention and then roll a dice. If they roll a 6 the ship is sunk.

While on top the water and in the same spot as the ship the Leech Wyrm may attempt one of the following attack methods:

• It may snatch a crew member from the ship
• It may attempt to destroy the spars, rigging, or superstructure of the ship

These actions will be resolved using the following die rolls:

• Snatch a crew member from the ship- 1.
• Destroy the spars, rigging, or superstructure of the ship (one per turn) 3 or a 6. Any damage to the ship will hinder the ship from moving her basic movement action.

Whenever Leech Wyrm is attacking on the surface the defender gets to fire its cannon and any other ordnance it may have before the creature retires.

The defender will use their normal cannon die rolls, however they will have to have at least two successful shots to kill the Leech Wyrm.

Another Mention of Monsters in H.P. Lovecraft's, The Shadow Over Innsmouth

"There, (the creatures of Insmouth), predominant color was a grayish-green, though they had white bellies. They were mostly shiny and slippery, but the ridges of their back were scaly. Their forms vaguely suggested the anthropoid, while their heads were the heads of fish, with prodigious bulging eyes that never closed. At the sides of their necks were palpitating gills, and their long paws were webbed. They hopped irregularly, sometimes on two legs and sometimes on four." If you had to quickly describe their appearance, I would say they seemed to be a cross between a frog and a fish-A fish's head on a frog's body."

Another distinctive and horrid characteristic of these creatures was their sickening and repulsive smell, they smelled of rotting fish. These odors surrounded them and permeated the surrounding spaces in which they frequent.

Monsters Mentioned in The Shadow Over Innsmouth, by H.P. Lovecraft

"The patterns all hinted of remote secrets and unimaginable abysses in time and space, and the monotonously aquatic nature of the reliefs became almost sinister. Among these reliefs were fabulous monsters of abhorrent grotesqueness and malignity-half ichthyic and half bacchanalian in suggestion."

Reaper Octopus Aberration

This is the first miniature that I have completed from Reapers Aquatic Familiars II. I had previously completed a Morey Eel from their #P02948B which included the Dragon Fish and Morey Eel. Other miniatures in this familiar pack are a crab, mermaid, and an aberration which looks a large fish with a diver’s helmet on its head.