Nocturna Models Crusader XIII C. [Completed as Ser Gregor of House Clegane]

Working on miniatures of a larger scale than your average gaming variety - the Nocturna Models Crusader XIII C figure stands at roughly 70-mm from head to toe (base excluded) - has been a real help in my quest to be a better miniature painter. It lets me concentrate on improving basic painting techniques without the added worry of working within the confines of a small surface area. You are also less likely to get away with painting errors that are harder to notice in a smaller miniature, so you inevitably have to 'up your game' as it were. An added bonus is larger models have fantastic details. 

Nocturna Models Crusader XIII C. painted as Ser Gregor Clegane aka The Mountain

Closeup of some blood splatter on Ser Gregor's chest area

With regard to the blood effects, there were two things I could have been done differently. I shoulda coulda woulda painted slightly less blood on the front of the sword and added more blood splatter to the chest area of Ser Gregor's tunic. But blood effects, in my opinion, is one area where two painters looking at the same miniature will have largely differing opinions. It's more of a personal preference and as such there is no real right answer as to how much blood effects a miniature should have. 

Washes played a prominent role in giving the metals more depth

Ser Gregor's back is largely devoid of any blood effects save for the blood dripping from the sword onto the top of his cloak. After all, one shouldn't expect to be able to land any cheap blows to the back of The Mountain now would they? Though that didn't stop a low slash to his calf (see below). 

Bleeding wound on left calf is one of many small cuts endured by Ser Gregor

One of my weaknesses is painting metal. But at least this time around I didn't completely mess up the metals on the Nocturna Models Crusader XIII C. miniature. For Ser Gregor, I relied quite heavily on paint washes to give the metal a more realistic look. It can be improved upon but I am happy with the results nonetheless. It helped that the priming process came out better than usual for this miniature.

House Clegane heraldry on the shield was painted freehand

After gaining valuable experience in the freehand painting of heraldry designs on some Bretonnian Knights paint job conversions (for House Lannister, House Clegane and House Baratheon), I found it so much easier to paint the heraldry designs on a larger scale. This was one case where working on smaller miniatures helped me on my larger scale projects. There are no blood splatter on the shield as I envisioned Ser Gregor would have had his shield to the side when he cut at his enemy instead of hiding behind the shield while he swung the death blow. So blood splatter on tunic = none on shield.

Greyish-blue and yellow is one of my favourite colour combinations

Ser Gregor's official colour scheme is yellow tunic atop greyish metal but for this miniature, I used a greyish-blue colour to complement the traditional House Clegane yellow. This is one of my favourite combinations because I find the colours play off each other extremely well and is pleasing to the eye.

A wonderfully sculpted cloak that made painting it a pleasure

Paint work for the base was fairly straightforward. Comprising primarily of dry brushing with various shades of grey and some black and brown washes, the only 'special effect' I attempted was some patches of green mold on the stone work. Meanwhile, there was a broken spear tip lying on the ground that had the usual aged metal look with both grime and some rust painted onto it.

Painting the cloak and tunic allowed me to practice wet blending and layering

360 view of Nocturna Models Crusader XIII C. as Ser Gregor Clegane
For a 360 degree view of Ser Gregor Clegane which was painted using the Nocturna Models Crusader XIII C. resin miniature, please check out the video below. Unfortunately, the video lost a great deal of quality and did not really capture the colours as accurately as the photos above mainly due to the basic video editing software I was using - Microsoft Movie Maker. For videos of other miniatures that I painted, please check out my YouTube channel FourEyedMonster Miniatures.

Painted using the Nocturna Models Crusader XIII C. miniature, Ser Gregor Clegane is one of my best works so far. Of course, that's definitely not saying much when compared to some excellent miniature painters out there in the blogoshpere (in sporting terms ... I am not yet fit to lace their boots), but it's still a huge personal satisfaction to see myself improve ever so slowly over time. Hopefully I can continue to grow as a miniature painter and get up to that next skill level.