Gryph-Hounds

Posted on 14/08/2019 by sho3box

I would never have guessed that bird-dog-cat models would appeal to me much, but I was wrong. I love the haughty, cocksure, high fantasy feel to these feathered felines (it says “hound” but they look like bird-cats to me).

L to R: Justified Anciernts Knight Questor “Paulo Ringseeker”, Gryph-hound “Ravage” and Flagellant “Simon”

I painted the eight of these in December 2017 I think, possibly January 2018, but didn’t get around to blogging them, like a whole lot of hobby items over the last few years.
Part of this omission was due to the less than perfect photographs that I took of the figs, but I have decided to just run with the snaps anyway.
Hopefully this will be the start of a bit of catching up here, as actual hobby output has been pretty decent for the last couple of years, but blogging has been a bit haphazard.

[HANNA BARBERA STOCK AVIAN SCREECHING SOUND] x 3

Six of the gryph-hound models shown are the contents of the gryph-hounds box, one is the companion of the Lord Castellant Stormcast character and the plucky little guy is the Excelsior Warpriest’s companion. I painted them all at once.

I agonised a bit about going for tiger stripes or leopard spots etc on the pack, but in the end settled for a spinal patterning that looks a bit like giraffe pelt. I have forgotten why I went with that look – it is two years and hundreds of painted figures later after all – but I still like how they look.
Even though I didnt really take a decent photo of the markings…  I’m really starting to remember why I didnt post this back then…

I really like the dynamic, proud and loyal look on every one of these sculpts, but even though he definitely has more than a bit of Scrappy-Doo going on, I think that the tiniest one, the Excelsior Warpriest’s buddy, is my favourite.

“Lemme at ’em, Lemme at ’em!”
“Go home Squawky, you’re drunk.”

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30 Responses

  1. Salem, on 14/08/2019 at 21:35 said:

    “bok bok grr wuff rowr!”

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  2. Suber, on 14/08/2019 at 22:13 said:

    I like these models too. The colour combination is a winner, I love the way they look, nice work!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    • sho3box, on 15/08/2019 at 17:21 said:

      Thanks Suber!

      Even sticking to official examples, there is room to paint these in any colour really, but I thought that these would look decent alongside the Stormcast, even if I expand the palette out to steeds etc.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  3. curiso, on 14/08/2019 at 23:22 said:

    So regal. I like them all standing around in their collars, like they’re out as part of a dog-walking service. On poor put-upon Stormcast with all those leashes, picking up their business in little baggies and dropping it in the Sigmaron poop bins.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    • sho3box, on 15/08/2019 at 17:25 said:

      The thing is, I think a dedicated Vanguard chamber beastmaster, the sort who would rather sleep with the hounds than his post-human brothers has a lot of appeal.

      Of the 20 Vanguard I currently have planned for Warcry, half are animals. Then bird-horse-cat cavalry after that.

      And they have giant cat cavalry now too, my saucer runneth over.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  4. Alex, on 15/08/2019 at 08:23 said:

    They are lovely minis mate, and you’ve hit the right note for me with that dark body/white feather combo. Nicely done sir!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    • sho3box, on 15/08/2019 at 17:31 said:

      Thanks Alex!

      I reckon that even though the Justified Ancients intentionally have a palette based on real world religious schemes (Catholic, Vatican, angelic) they are already plenty bling. The navy and white is still relatively realistic.

      I’ll likely paint the gryph-chargers similarly, when I get to them.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply
  5. Achilles, on 15/08/2019 at 12:39 said:

    Lovely paints Paul!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    • sho3box, on 15/08/2019 at 17:35 said:

      Thanks Ash!

      Your Warcry coverage is directly responsible for me working on some more figs to hang out with these. I’m itching to give it a run out.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  6. Allison Mackay, on 15/08/2019 at 20:55 said:

    Wow! I love the variety of poses and size in this bunch. And your paint jobs are lovely. The markings worked out perfectly! Thanks for deciding to post them after all 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    • sho3box, on 15/08/2019 at 22:04 said:

      Thats very kind of you to say Al, thanks.

      I have let the blogging side of things slip an awful lot over the last couple of years, and I realised that I miss it, so I’m planning to reinvest.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  7. Will Postell (Maj Guiscard), on 17/08/2019 at 18:55 said:

    I really like that deep smoke blue for their coats. Not typical, but surprisingly convincing. Very noble looking.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    • sho3box, on 17/08/2019 at 20:11 said:

      Thanks Will!

      I’m planning to try that colour out on the larger avian quadruped gryph-chargers too. I’m hoping that the scheme works out with a metallic purple armoured beefcake astride it too… 🤞

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  8. Mark A. Morin, on 19/08/2019 at 01:25 said:

    Lovely work – nice to see you back!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  9. Gabbi, on 19/08/2019 at 12:36 said:

    Neat paintjob, they look great. Also, photos look fine to me.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  10. axiom, on 19/08/2019 at 13:13 said:

    I really like the grey and cream colour choices on these. Like you, smaller things innately seem to appeal to me too. So your proud juvenile bird-cat is my favourite too – I thought it even before I saw your thoughts on the matter!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • sho3box, on 19/08/2019 at 13:19 said:

      He is a plucky sort, punching above his (feather) weight.

      I’m not sure what it is about that scheme that works as well as it does, but I’m going to run with it.

      Thanks Axiom!

      Like

      Reply
  11. caseyrog, on 19/08/2019 at 19:58 said:

    I love the gryphounds! And these look great! If only I had a reason to actually use some of these models, I’d buy some.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  12. Warburton, on 20/08/2019 at 01:11 said:

    Great work–I quite like these models too for much the same reasons. I wish GW did them without all the straps and collars et cetera, but I also understand why they did it that way.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    • sho3box, on 20/08/2019 at 09:06 said:

      Wild packs/flocks of gryph-hounds could be fun. They feel like they might fit into a Greek myth setting well, a setting that features a number of feathered mammals already.
      Thanks for the feedback Warburton!

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply
  14. Sean Squires, on 23/08/2019 at 23:31 said:

    That’s some fine painting there Cheetor.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  15. Jon, on 28/12/2019 at 09:44 said:

    Nice models, where is the Stormcast’s head from?

    Like

    Reply

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