Sculpting a Penanggalan, part 1

Sculpting minis isn’t something I’ve spent much time doing. Why bother, when artists have been working on that skill for years and years. But sometimes you think of something, and you get inspired by other amateurs, and you say to yourself “why not?”

My inspiration primarily comes from a Reaper forumite named Malefactus who makes delightfully creepy mushrooms and other blighted beings. He is so prolific that he even shares his finished minis, and I was fortunate to be so honored with this trio of figures.





I was thinking about horrific monsters, and the Penanggalan came to mind… a floating head, trailed by various organ bits… I’ve got spare heads, and how hard can it be to sculpt dragging intestines and various organs? Turns out, not too hard, actually… Now, before we go any further, understand this is NOT professional quality, but rather good enough for tabletop. Kinda like most of my painting.

I started with a cork holder, a base, a bit of paperclip, and a head from the Mantic Ghoul kit.



I kept Sir Forscale handy to make sure that it was sized appropriately. Then I mixed up some greenstuff and wrapped it around the wire. The stories don’t mention the spinal column/spine coming out with the head, but it seemed like that would be easier to sculpt, so I started by adding in lines to indicate vertebra. Then I made some twisty ropes of greenstuff to be the intestines dangling… and some organ-ish shaped blobs that I’ll glue on.





Looking at it the next day, the intestines should probably be more kinked, rather than twisted. I may cut them off, and redo them.