Exterminate Instead of Negotiate

Normally, we would be publishing our latest Train Tuesday article, but a certain someone left the featured 3D print at home. Hint: It rhymes with “hen,” and he’s our resident DM. Anywho, mistakes happen, so we’ll swap articles and publish our latest Hovertrain entry tomorrow.

So, with that said, let’s follow up on last week’s bug post and give our queen some soldiers for our adventurers to deal with inside the upcoming Tresendar Manor dungeon delve!

We actually had some Schlossbauer Hell Wasp Grub 3D prints, but they weren’t spooky enough for us. Too crawly and slow for this expected combat. We also had planned to print and paint his Mosquito Larvae monster, but we fumbled our 3D Printer management time. Honestly, the universe made the right call, though, because our final miniature picks turned out to be the very best choice anyway, and we hope you’ll agree.

We settled on these oversized fleas and think there will be plenty of “what on earth” reactions when DM Ben puts them mighty flea soldiers down on the gameboard. Memorable encounters are always the goal, and what’s more unforgettable than a bunch of big, bulky fleas rumbling towards the party!

First, we 3D-printed and painted Schlossbauer’s Mutated Flea. Typically, we print off four starting models, as that is a typical monster-starting squad. Once we get our paint scheme down, spinning up additional minis is a breeze — a little time-consuming, but still a breeze.

Then we rinsed and repeated with Schlossbauer’s Monster Flea. These are more traditional in terms of a creepy-crawly bug sculpt. We’re using these monsters in Tresendar Manor’s Charnel Chasm encounter. These buggers will be down in the rift and snacking on previous victims. Our other fleas are going to have the fly ability and will rise from that trench to protect the Queen Wasp boss.

DM Ben “volunteered” to try to color all these oversized insects. He always starts with some inspiration from Google Images. The first thing he keyed in on was the darker browns and intermittent orange-ish shading. Blech, right?!

For the paint scheme specifics, we used a combination of Army Painter Speedpaints, Fanatic paints, a Citadel Contrast paint, and a homemade brown wash.

• Prime Flat Black.
• Apply a Slapchop base.
• Start with a layer of Fanatic Banshee Brown.
• Add a layer of ASP Crusader Crusader Skin.
• Light spot drybrush of Mocca Skin.
• Apply ASP Princess Pink to its back.
• Do edging with Fanatic Lava Orange randomly throughout.
• Brush on Contrast Basilicanum Grey for its feet.
• Very light spot drybrush of Fanatic Oak Brown throughout.
• Finish with a Brown Wash.

DM Ben will probably circle back and add a little more of that Lava Orange edging to its feet because the darker claws get a little lost with the miniature’s base. We also might do a little outdoor flocking to the base, but a solid black color seems more than fine.

Both STLs were scaled to fill a full d20 square and a typical mini size. And just like that, you’ve created your own bug army, ready to wreak havoc on your unsuspecting Adventures.

Until next time!