Big Black Cockatrice

   Ever have one of those times when you buy a model kit, and it sits in your closet for a decade or more waiting for love and attention?

   This is one of those times.

   Waiting patiently in my closet has been this dreaded fellow... a Cockatrice!

Bwaaaarkkk!

   This old fellow is a Marauder Miniatures, specifically number 'MM44 - Cockatrice', released in 1990. The poor guy has been sitting in darkness for twenty-fie years, waiting... waiting...

   Why black, you say? Surely a cockatrice is colourful. Well, yes, normally, but I had a special goal. My family crest features a black cock.

Black Chicken of Death

   'cough'.

   Shush!!

   It's a symbol of our Norman roots, commemorating the lands of northern France where our family came from!

   I wanted to paint this cockatrice in colours that echoed my family's heraldry. Looking for inspiration I GOOGLE'd images of 'black cock', and, after a few false starts, I found a picture of this magnificent fellow.

Now that is a shiny black cock.

   My cockatrice didn't really have feathers, as such, but I thought the effect would be similar. I mixed some Army Painter Deep Blue and Matt Black with a hint of Gun Metal, and lightly drybrushed it over a black basecoat to get this effect. I think it turned out rather well. (As a side note, I think I might try this for some Genestealer/Aliens figures.)

Shiny

   The cockatrice uses its powerful magic gaze to turn its victims to stone. To emphasize this I added a poor en-stoned victim to the model's base. This is a Foundry pirate dead guy I had in a bits box. He seemed to fit the bill.

Looming over his kill

   So there it is! Thanks for checking out my black chicken of death! He'll be joining my Chaos army, along with a few more baddies gracing my painting bench right now.

   ...and thanks as always for checking out my mad corner of the web!
-Andrew