Deathtrap Dungeon: Ian McCaig's iconic illustration re-made

I'm in the process of constructing a throne room for my dungeon tile project and along the way I happened to pick up my copy of Fighting Fantasy's Deathtrap Dungeon for some easy reading. As I was looking through I re-discovered the classic image by Ian McCaig of the skeleton, sitting on his throne, scroll in hand. It's an iconic image that I remember well from my youth and then I had a thought; a model recreation of that image would be the perfect centerpiece for my throne room dungeon tile.

So I set off with some balsa wood, card, a bit of paper (for the scroll) a Mantic skeleton, some bitz and some paints and I created this:

The painting took no time at all, lots of drybrushing up the highlights over a black undercoat and then washing in browns and greens for some weathering. I went for a faded blue on the tunic as I imagined that he was once of regal blood and with all the neutral colours he needed a spot colour to make him pop.

The barrels are from Dark Art Studios dungeon range with a few additional bitz added to create a bit more of a narrative ad interest.

Here's the work in progress shot showing the construction of the model. I had to bend the knees to snapping point (then reconstruct his right kneecap with greenstuff) and both arms were snipped and re-positioned with the aid of a paper-clip. I built the throne and the skeleton at the same time so that I could check he would fit on it with the arms rested on the arm rests and the legs actually touching the floor. The arm rests became wider than I hoped but overall the throne isn't too big (it was at one stage..)

And here's the iconic illustration that started me off on this small, but fun, diversion, with a comparison shot below:

The throne room which he will take pride of place, is in the latter stages of painting, so not far off. I'm quite excited to see him within a scenic space. Sad!

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