Revenge of the Pink...Ettin?

Howdy! First I'd like to welcome Blackwarden and point ya'll toward his blog Blackwarden, fittingly enough. Great old school stuff there!

Next, yup, that's right, the title does say revenge of the pink ettin.

I honestly don't know when the idea for pink ettins was planted in my head, how the seed was planted, or where (if anywhere) I first saw a pink ettin, other than my paint table. The only ettin I had painted, until recently, was Ral Partha's AD&D 11-410 Ettin. Years ago, I was featuring an ettin as the leader of a raiding band of goblins, bugbears, and ogres plaguing the country side, and I wanted to make him stand out a bit. I started with baby pink paint for the skin and finished with beady red eyes, and by the time I was done, I thought the guy looked flat-out creepy. Looking at his skin made me itch! My players agreed. When I placed the figure on the table, the ranger asked if he was contagious and the cleric bemoaned he hadn't memorized any Cure Disease spells. Since then, pink ettins have just been the way to go in my book...

 

When I unpacked a few months back, I found this guy with his arms fallen off and his paint chipped up in spite of the bubble wrap, foam and individual box he was in, so I ended up stripping, reassembling, and repainting him. I attempted to stay pretty close to my original paint job. I always liked this figure, and since his style is rather unique, I never expected to find another that was similar enough I could make a convincing pair. But then...

 

... I saw this guy at the local gaming store.

 

 

Reaper Bones 77103 Nor'Okk, Ettin. He was of a size and shape that I knew instantly he'd make a great compliment to my RP ettin, and impulsively I bought him. The minute I got to the truck, I thought, "Why did ya do that, Ivan, ya didn't even check to see if there was a metal version on the Reaper site!" (there is a metal version, BTW, Dark Heaven Legends 3137 Nor'Okk, Ettin). Regardless, once painted, the two make quite the pair.

 

 

I'm definitely happy with the result. In spite of the difference in age and manufacturers, when painted they match up rather well.

 

Another figure I dug out recently, painted years ago.

 

 

The first version of Ral Partha's AD&D 11-411 Owlbear. Later, this figure was replaced by a standing version with prominent ear tufts like a great horned owl and large feathered arms spread wide for big bear hug, under the same product number. I need to touch up the flocking, but he fared far better over the years in the move and storage than the ettin did. I like this style better myself. I used to have a module (B2 Keep on the Borderlands, maybe?) that had an illustration of a very similar owlbear fighting a party of adventurers. If anyone recalls exactly, feel free to chime in.  

 

Work will continue on the hill giant horde, some miscellaneous figures, and a few PCs from my recently started D&D campaign. Still at a creative standstill on my "fyrsnaca".

 

'Til next time.