Gem-Spiders for Mordheim Witches

A while back I was siezed by an intense need for making minis which I'm still riding into my Warhammer stuff. I really enjoy watching videos by Trent from Miscast - I really admire his loose, artistic style - and he talks a often about the no-longer-supported GW game Mordheim and how it's sort of a no-rules-only-right style. The way he approaches miniature making from a player- and creative- first perspective is so refreshing. So I got inspired!

So I wanted to make a lil Warband (That's the name for a faction) of Woodsy, Runic Witch characters. But I needed the fodder, the Zerglings, the Hormagaunts. I felt spiders were a good starting place for the design, but also (as always) wanted to spice that concept up and make it my own. I remembered a really cool idea for a spider from a video game called "Heroes of the Storm", and started with that. They have a gem for a butt, and that felt like a fun piece of iconography - storing whatever magical power these are fueled by in a massive gemstone.

But I also wanted to have it be grounded in the faction I'm creating. Those spiders above are delicate clockwork items, artisan-crafted with expertise, and that's not exactly the vibe I was going for. Presumable, the Witch's Coven would have constructed them from materials at hand; Rocks, stones, blood, and bone. So I shifted the idea into a more bony direction, giving them legs and horse skulls for faces.

To make them, I hand sculpted just an absolute ton of little bones in bulk. I knew I'd need 12 per spider, and 5 spiders, but I went ahead and made a ton extra so I could be choosy about which one. I also decided to only do 6 legs, just to make things easier. From there, I also sculpted 5 sets of gems and skulls. Since it was oven-bake clay, I baked them up, then glued them together with super glue. The material was weirdly very glueable, if I stuck together two pieces after applying glue, they would stick fast almost instantly. It was actually a bit difficult to work with.

From there, I primed them and painted them up! I continued to reinforce the bony coloration, trying to make the gem colors pop, and delicately added touches of color for the vines that hold the creatures together.

I think they turned out real damn cool! I'm still working on other parts of this project, but I'm really proud of how these turned out, especially with them being completely scratchbuilt. Thanks for reading!

- Miss Captain Bear