Father Dagon

“With only a slight churning to mark its rise to the surface, the thing slid into view above the dark waters. Vast, Polyphemus-like, and loathsome, it darted like a stupendous monster of nightmares to the monolith, about which it flung its gigantic scaly arms, the while it bowed its hideous head and gave vent to certain measured sounds. I think I went mad then.” —H.P. Lovecraft, “Dagon.”

The Dagon model was one of the last rewards unlocked as part of the Reaper Bones 3: The Search for Mr. Bones Kickstarter, and one of several very large figures produced as part of that campaign. Like the Shub-Nigurrath, it’s another Kevin Williams sculpt of a Cthulhu monstrosity.

Dagon has a special place in the Great Dungeon of the North, even though Delvemount is many leagues from the Lythian Sea. Rumors claim that one or more gates in the deeper levels lead to an Abyssal layer of dark ocean, filled with sea monsters. I’ve previously written about the Dagonites, his horrid servitors. One of my sample Inhabited Idols is a Gargantuan statue of Dagon. And I’ve provided some details of Dagon as a Demonic Patron.

Like one of the ancient Deep Ones, this Dagon model lay for many a long year in the dark of my basement, dreaming and awaiting its time. I took a good run at this in the early summer, right before I tackled the Shub-Niggurath model. 

I started by assembling the entire model, though I did not attach Dagon to the terrain. There were some significant gaps with the limbs that I filled using Green Stuff. I then primed Dagon with the Army Painter’s Uniform Gray out of a rattlecan, but this model would have definitely benefited from a zenithal undercoat.

I put down a base coat of Reaper MSP Sapphire Blue, then gave it a wash of Army Painter Dark Quickwash. I drybrushed the figure with more Sapphire Blue, then added highlights with Reaper MSP Clear Green, and then another layer of highlights with MSP Clear Yellow. One of the things I liked about using the yellow on the model is it brightened everything up and looked a bit like filtered sunlight playing on underwater surfaces.

I then set the model aside for a few months as I was unsure how to tackle the terrain, which consists of two stone idols in a sandy substrate. I wasn’t quite sure how to paint up a sand texture—many modelers use actual sand or textured material when working on sand terrain, and I didn’t want to go there. I also had partially embraced object source lighting (OSL) with Dagon, and really wasn’t sure how to extend this technique to the terrain section.

After a few months experimenting with other techniques I returned to Dagon’s terrain. I started by putting down a base coat of white, then colored the sand sections with Army Painter Light Tone, and the stone statues with Army Painter Dark Tone. The Quickshades gave both the sand and stone a diffused, mottled appearance which to my mind worked well with the underwater theme. I then highlighted both surfaces with more Clear Yellow, which helped tie the terrain with Dagon. Although it’s not really an OSL technique, I really liked the contrast of the golden sand with the dark blues and green of Dagon.

I then glued Dagon to the terrain. I made a glaze out of 2 parts Pure White to 3 parts Matte Medium and 3 parts water, and used this filter to lighten up Dagon’s teeth, claws, and tentacles. I also lightened up the many spots along the demon’s three tails. 

To create a glowing eye effect I painted the large eyes white, then put down a line of Clear Green around the outermost rim of the eyes. I then made a ring of Clear Yellow just inside the green. I then made a glaze out of pale, pale yellow and began running this around the outside of the eyes, gradually adding more yellow to the eye and the surrounding flesh. A few layers of the glaze helped blur the three colors together and created the appearance of a glow.

To finish I sealed the model with Testor’s Dullcote. I didn’t really have a gaming base big enough to suit this model, so decided to leave Dagon as is.

Williams did a great job sculpting this model: Dagon neatly combines the features of a frog, eel, octopus, and anglerfish into a sleek, sinuous form that looks like it could be swimming through water. I felt very vexed at several points while painting this model, and more than once figured I had wrecked the job beyond recovery. So it was very satisfying to stick with it and end up with a miniature I am pretty happy with. Ad astra per aspera.