The Thing in the Gloomwood

A Dark Age of Sigmar Monster

"The Thing in the Gloomwood, eh?" asked the duardin veteran "Believe me, manling, you don't want to stumble upon it. I did, and for the beard of my ancestors, I'm not ashamed to say that I run away, as fast as I could". He paused, chewing on his pipe and puffing out blueish smoke, his eyes veiled by memories. "Hrm...the Reclaimed, they tell it was once a pack of Gleamwolves. Noble beasts, touched by the energies of Chamon and Azyr both. Their pelts, hard as steel, sparkled as if dotted with starts, and their howling could be heard anytime Azyrheim appeared in the night sky. When Chaos came, the Gleamwolves fought hard to defend their home, then the Silvered Forest. For years, they kept skaven and gors out of its boundaries. But Chaos is insidious. A sickness fell on the lesser creatures of the forest. And as the Gleamwolves fed on them, it took root deep inside the noble beasts. But they didn't die. They were overtaken by a raging frenzy and soon not even the mighty Warriors of Chaos dared to enter the Forest. In their frenzy, the Gleamwolves haunted down every other animal in the Forest, gorging on their tainted flesh. And when no other living being but the trees was left, the Gleamwolves turned onto each other. One night, their howls and growls could be heard for miles around. The tree themselves heaved as the Gleamwolves fought each other. Until only the pack leader was left, the flesh of his mates for him to feed upon. And then, as soon as he had picked the first carcass clean, it changed. His body bulged, the glimmering pelt peeling away. As a bloody flower it split and as one the limbs and heads of anything the Gleamwolves had devoured came out, screaming and wailing. And so they still do. Them, and anything else the Thing has eaten ever since. You don't believe me? Why do you think I fled? My companions were screamming at me, emerging from its body as their feet still poked out from those wolfish jaws. It was worse than death. And yes, I cared for my life more than I did for my honour".

The Thing in the Gloomwood is my entry for the Ex Profundis Monster Competition, at once a tribute to Mordheim's Thing in the Woods and to John Carpenter's The Thing.

The Thing started as the main body of a Tyranid Mucolid Spore which I balanced on the rumps of a Chaos Hound and a few Hormagaunts arms. Then around it I dotted arms and heads from the Chaos Forsaken, the old Chaos Mutation sprue, the Genestealers kit and a few more gribbly bits. Finally, I merged two Chaos Hounds, glued them to the front of the Thing and sculpted some fur around the joint.

Jouni Mikkola, on the Dark Age of Sigmar Facebook group, noted that the Hounds needed to be better merged than I had achieved. As I was rewatching John Carpenter's The Thing for inspiration, I decided to replicate the blossoming of the Thing, an effect I'm most pleased with! So, thank you Jouni for pointing me in the right direction!

For the painting, I wanted to stick close to Carpenter's Thing and followed the GW Paint app suggestion for inflamed flesh: Bugman's Glow base, Carrobourg Crimsom wash, Druchii Violet wash and Kislev Flesh hedge highlight, although I went for a heavybrush instead and added Blood for the Blood God where the model texture suggested a lesion.

The bug legs were basecoated with Abadon Black, hedge highlighted with Dawnstone, washed with Drakenhoff Nightshade and then liberally coated in Blood for the Blood God, achieving the same bloodied black of the segmented legs that the Things sprouts out during its transformations.

The Hounds were drybrushed in greys and whites, to match the colours of the dog form of the Thing, and again treated with Blood for the Blood God.

To make the heads I'd dotted around the body more visible, especially because they are in rather hidden spots, I've gone for a greenish, putrid flesh tone.

Wherever the model texture suggested a chitin layer, I've used the same technique of the bug legs, but replacing Blood for the Blood God with Gloss Varnish to get the shiny feeling of a scarab.

The tentacles, eyes stalks and glands were instead painted in shades of green and given a coat of Gloss Varnish to suggest slime. The feathers on one of the forsake arms were done in yellow to tie the Thing in with my Tzeentchian models as they all have yellow feathers. Finally, bones and teeth were painted in a dirty, worn ivory.

One head was not painted like the others, but rather as the main body of the Thing. What else I could have done? It's the double head from the Chaos Mutation Sprue sculpeted exactly like the one in the movie!

My Thing will soon see some gaming action, but not as an AoS Spawn. Rather, it will feature as a NPC in the Inq28-insipred 40k campaign I'm about to start with Warboss Kurgan and a few other friends, The Malfactus Rift. That's why I've combined grey and sand as colours for the base, so that the Thing can fit with all my models. Really looking forward to see it bring terror to the battlefield!