This Monster is Gonna Sting

The coolest thing about not getting to a DM-prepped encounter quite yet is that we get more time to improve upon it! Today’s DnD blog post is a perfect example. Let’s begin!

During our Tresendar Manor Dungeon Crawl DM Prep series, we shared our gameboard build for Area 8: Charnel Chasm. That D&D Beyond 5e module encounter called for a lot of bug enemies. Since neither of our game groups has reached this point in the story yet, we’ve gotten some more time to 3D-print and paint another insect enemy!

On our first pass, we only had time to 3D-print these free Mutated Fleas by Schlossbauer. We even included a handy paint guide for them. Now, don’t get us wrong, we love our itchy baddie creations. However, we were inspired by one of our favorite YouTube painters, which prompted us to reach for an additional mini to add to our pest mix.

Miniature Hobbyist is a paint tutorial genius on YouTube. The reason is that he uses simple techniques that a below-average painter like DM Ben can utilize. He also calls out every paint he uses rather than saying frustrating generic things like, “just use a lighter brown.” Lastly, he uses mostly Army Painter Speedpaints and Citadel Contrast paints, with an occasional Green Stuff World dipping ink. We never miss one of his weekly video releases.

So, the other week, he released a tutorial on how to paint a three-headed dragon by Loot Studios. In that video, he shares how he does both the wings and the scaly body. As with many of his videos, DM Ben quickly muttered, “Cool! Well, I can do that!” And he had just the 3D-printed monster miniature he wanted to try those paint color combinations out on!

Again, good ol’ Schlossbauer had the perfect model for us to download for free. He calls it a Predator Wasp, and it’s a single STL that printed like a champ on our resin 3D printer. Now that we have our paint scheme figured out, thanks to Miniature Hobbyist’s guidance, we plan on printing a whole squad of them.

DM Ben didn’t mind coloring this one up because it has those big ol’ bug eyes and there aren’t a ton of steps here. The details of the STL are exceptional. This Predator Wasp has dangling antennas, long wings, creepy claws, and a nasty bite. So good!

The paint scheme here is super reasonable. Seriously, if DM Ben can muster the courage and average skills to color this monster, you can most definitely do so as well!

• Prime Flat Black.
• Slapchop Base.
• Body and legs P1: ASP Burnished Red.
• Body and legs P2: FAN Orange Wash.
• Feet & Claws: ASP Grim Black.
• Wings: ASP Holy White.
• Eyes & Stinger: Citadel Contrast Flesh Tearers Red.
• Base: DecoArt Brunt Umber.

Our favorite part of this paint job is Miniature Hobbyists’ excellent tip to first apply the ASP Burnished Red and then go back over it with that Orange Wash. That wicked combo looks so darn good!

Wasps have translucent wings, which is why we opted for ASP Holy White rather than his suggested option of applying an Orange Wash first and then going back over with a drybrush of Fanatic Wasteland Clay. He did this just on the wings, not the scales part (which were ASP Burnished Red with an Orange Wash over them). We’ll try that Wasteland Clay combo on a future model, though.

Still, its mighty fluttering wings were still lacking a little, so we recalled using this Fanatic’s Mithril color on some pirate ship windows so that they looked more translucent. Why not try that on some random spots on this bug’s wings? Now, we could have done that color on the wings entirely, but we really dug just doing it on some random spots. We didn’t want the Mithril to dominate the model.

Now, we have two options: mix these winged bastards in with the Mutated Fleas or add these Wasps as another backup entry to our exclusive Wilderness Trek Wandering Monster Table. We’ve already made 20 entries (for a random d20 roll), but it’s nice to have some replacements on standby as you start using some of the different rows in your DnD game.

DnD doesn’t have a specific monster called a Predator Wasp, but D&D Beyond has a Giant Wasp (AC 12, 13 HP, +4 att/1d6+2, Con DC 11 for 3d6 poison (save for half), or a Berserker Wasp (AC 14, 56 HP, +6 att/4d6 damage, Con DC 14 or be paralyzed or poisoned.

We chose the Berserker Wasps as our party of six adventurers is at level five, so they will be a better challenge. We suggest picking the Giant Wasp above if you need a lower CR.

Until next time!