Ral Partha Mind Flayer

This miniature came in a blister pack back in the 90's as part of the AD&D set from Ral Partha. I think it was a fairly popular mini at the time as I see it on eBay consistently.  It certainly caught me eye considering how much better it looks than the Grenadier flayer I have from the early 80's.

In the last two years, I've been on a big push to paint up all of my old monster miniatures from my collection of Ral Partha and Grenadier figures. They have been waiting patiently for decades in dusty boxes to get painted, and it just seems unfair to keep promoting the Reaper guys ahead of them. Also, now that I have rediscovered the joy of older D&D, these guys seem to fit right into that vibe.

I decided to paint tihe skin on this mini a kind of blue...getting away from any of the classic mind flayer colors.  I could not believe their eyes are just white per the Monster Manual.  I really wanted to paint an evil pupil of some sort ,but I left it alone.

Other than the skin, my biggest decision what what color to use for the robe.  I suppose I could have used a complement to blue or a split-complement.  I think green is approaching a split.  Orange, Yellow, Red, and Purple did not appeal to me for some reason.

Gold trim seemed appropriate since these creatures are super powerful; I assume they could have all of the wealth they wanted.

Finally, I used some green stuff to mold some dungeon stones onto the base for the dungeon look. Looking at the back view, I wish I had blended the green on his robe at the neck a little more. I'm very happy with the gemstones and the gold trim.  The custom sleeves are not bad....could be a little more precisely shaped.