Mountain King Monday

Today I finally get to post my take on the Mountain King- one of the finest models to come from Privateer Press to date. Details after the jump!

I snatched up a Mountain King as soon as it was released, but it's been waiting quite a long time to be painted. For one thing, it's just a damn daunting model! Large, lots of detail, and a natural army centerpiece so you want it to look great. In addition, frankly, the MK is just not a great choice for an army list. I won't repeat what's been said on the internet thousands of times, but gargantuans in general are generally not great choices (Skorne Mammoth is the exception that proves the rule) and the MK is the worst of the lot. I chose to spend my limited painting time painting up more important staples for my army, such as my Fennblades, or beasts like the Dire Troll Bomber. But I decided it was time, so here we are.

Taking advantage of finally getting some great weather here in MI.

This guy was equal parts fun and annoying to paint. I mostly used the same techniques as my usual beasts. I did want his skin slightly darker though, so I did my paint mixes slightly differently. My method for the rocks started the same way as always, involving the amazing (and sadly OOP) GW Charadon Granite. I found it didn't translate as well to a model this big, so I changed it up as well. There's a lot of subtle stippling, drybrushing, and washing going on with the rocks since in reality rock is rarely a solid color. I like it, though it's hard to see in photos.

I love all the little whelps. They add a ton of character.

All those chains were a nightmare to glue on. I'm sure they'll continue to be as they inevitably break off every time I transport or play with the MK.

I added some purple around the larger rock outgrowths. I'm certainly not the first to do something like that, but it looks really good and represents that having rocks growing out of your skin probably doesn't feel super great.

Patchwork loincloth. No one wants to stare at MK arse.

Manly people have done some really great scenic bases for their gargantuans and colossals. There are some excellent examples on the PP forums that I've found for example. But I find by the time I get done converting elaborate bases, I'm more likely to burn out on painting the actual model. So I kept things simple here. I did carve an old, eroded krielstone out of insulation foam. There's another piece of one behind it, hard to see under the MK himself. They just add a bit of character and contrasting color to an otherwise large and featureless base.

All in all I am pretty stoked on how this guy came out. I look forward to some nice friendly, very non-competitive games with him. Thanks as always for checking out my work!