Mansions of Madness (2nd Edition) - Investigators (Part 1)

With the majority of the enemies done, I decided to cut my teeth into the heroes of Mansions of Madness, the investigators. I was kind of looking forward to painting these guys, mostly because they all have their own base which makes painting much easier. I also decided that from now on I was going to put a bit more effort in the miniatures. Basecoats and a wash had served me well for a while but I wasn’t growing as a painter. And in a typical catch-22 situation, I think I’m bad at layering and highlights so I don’t do them. But I can’t get better at doing them without practice. So it’s time to break the cycle and throw down some poorly placed highlights. With all  that in mind, I cleaned them up and got them primed. 

Father Mateo the Priest

I decided to paint the Priest, Father Mateo, first mostly because he looked like he had the simplest clothes. To start with I painted his clerical collar and the belt/robe around his waist with a few thin coats of Ultuan Grey. The cassock (the robes) itself I painted with Corvus Black. Due to the fact that the back of Father Mateo’s character card says that he spent a “few decades” in Mexico and that Mateo is a Spanish name, there is a very good chance that Father Mateo is not caucasian. With that in mind I base coated his skin with a few thin coats of Ungor Flesh. I didn’t want to give him black hair (as depicted in his artwork) as his robes so instead I used a dark brown, in this case Rhinox Hide. The last things that I needed to do was to base coat his crucifix with Scale75 Dwarven Gold and his shoes with Vallejo Glossy Black. 

To start off the washes, I painted his sash with a coat of Apothecary White contrast paint. His robes I washed with Nuln Oil, and his skin and hair I washed with Army Painter Strong Tone. For layers, I applied thin coats of Ulthuan Grey to his sash and Ungor Flesh on his skin. The skin ended up looking more yellow than perhaps he should have but it will suffice.  

Agatha Crane the Parapsychologist

Whilst I had the Ulthuan Grey out for Father Mateo I used it to put a few thin coats on Agatha Crane’s lab coat. For her blouse I mixed Corvus Black with Mephiston Red in a two-to-one ratio, it wasn't the maroon/burgundy colour that I was looking for but it would suffice. For her skirt I mixed Mephiston Red with Screamer Pink in a fifty-fifty ratio. This produced a colour that was distinctly different from the one I had used for her blouse yet complimented it perfectly. To complete her outfit I painted her pump shoes with Corvus Black and the medallion around her neck with Scale75 Dwarven Gold. Agatha’s artwork shows that she has white hair but like Father Mateo is already mostly black, I didn’t want to give Agatha white hair on top of her white lab coat. So instead I painted it Dawnstone, I reasoned that I could always highlight up to a near white. Lastly, I base coated her skin with Cadian Fleshtone. 

Like Father Mateo, I started by giving the white areas on the model a coat of Apothecary White contrast paint. Her skirt and blouse I washed with Nuln Oil and for her skin I gave her a coat of Reikland Fleshshade. The Apothecary White dulled down her lab coat far more than I was expecting, so I went fairly heavy with layering back up to Ulthuan Grey. To highlight the skirt and blouse, I ran some Mephiston Red along the edges. For the skin, I first layered with Cadian Fleshtone then highlighted using Kislev Flesh. 

Minh Thi Phan the Secretary

I started Minh Thi Phan by using the same Corvus Black and Mephiston Red mix that I had left on my palette for her skirt. I painted her jumper with Two Thin Coats Celestial Blue which is a light pastel blue that matched Minh’s artwork nicely. The books she has clutched to her chest I painted with Mournfang Brown. Like Agatha, I painted her pump shoes with Corvus Black, maybe they shop at the same store? I also used Corvus Black for her hair. Minh’s skin is coated with a few layers of Ungor Flesh. I have to say it didn’t feel great using the same colour for her skin as I did for Father Mateo given they’re very different ethnicities. It was a stark reminder that I desperately need to expand my non-caucasian range of skin tones. 

For the washes, I used Nuln Oil on her clothes and hair, then Army Painter Strong Tone on her skin, the books and the candlestick holder. As with Agatha, I highlighted Minh’s skirt with Mephiston Red. And as with Mateo I layered her skin with Ungor Flesh. The artwork has Minh rocking some ruby red lipstick but with the prominent lips on the model, I was a little worried that his might end up looking problematic so in the end I skipped it. 

William Yorick the Gravedigger

I figured a Gravedigger would have a nice tweed suit, so with that I mind I set about looking for my pot of Vallejo English Uniform. Whilst looking for it I came across my pot of XV-88, which I realised would actually make a decent colour for Willim’s suit. His shirt I painted with a few thin coats of Ulthuan Grey. His shoes I painted with my standard colour for brown leather: Mournfang Brown. I painted William’s belt buckle with Scale75 Dwarven Gold. The skull I painted with, shock, Army Painter Skeleton Bone. The shovel handle I painted with Dryad Bark and the head I painted with Leadbelcher. His ginger hair and beard I painted with Skrag Brown before finally base coating his skin with Cadian Fleshtone. 

As with other models with white on them I gave his shirt a coat of Apothecary White contrast paint. His suit and shovel handle I washed with Army Painter Strong Tone, then used Nuln Oil on his hair and the shovel blade. For his skin, I used Reikland Fleshshade. I then layered his suit back up with XV-88 and with Cadian Fleshtone on his skin. As before, I then highlighted his skin using Kislev Flesh. 

Bases

I kept the bases fairly simple in the end. I started with a layer of Stirland Mud texture paint, then a wash of Army Painter Strong Tone and a drybrush of Tyrant Skull. The mud effect probably wasn’t the most thematic but I don’t have a haunted mansion texture paint, so it will have to do. I tidied up the bases by painting the rims black. Then to make it look less like our investigators were standing in a muddy battlefield I used some PVA to stick down some tufts and static grass. 

Final Thoughts

Another four miniatures done, we’re on the home stretch for Mansions of Madness. Not many left to go now and we’re inching closer to two hundred board game miniatures painted this year. Pretty happy with how they turned out, although I definitely need to keep practising with the layering and highlights. Perhaps I’ll make an effort to do that for every project from now on. It didn’t take all that long, compared to the tedium of edge highlighting Space Marines’ power armour at any rate. 

Boardgame miniatures left to paint: 576

Boardgame miniatures painted this year: 190