Oh how much my players loathe this monster – the Mind Flayer. Or “Bathalian” in Reaper’s Bones lineup. Here he comes with three Intellect Devourers aka “Mind Eaters” and a couple of shadow tentacles.

The Mind Flayer is an iconic D&D Monster. There is a great blog post on them from my favorite D&D blog PowerScore. These illithids have quite a bit of history in D&D and are known for their impressive psionic powers. Living in the Underdark, these alien monsters bend the minds and brains of their victims and enslave them.

I used this image as reference for my paint job. There are, however, very nice variants from Reaper Forum Members.

Basing and Priming

The miniatures were glued on 25mm bases and then decorated with sand. Here is the Bathalian after a black and white priming.

Painting

Bathalian/Mind Flayer: First, I’ve put on a Dark Grey Basecoat on the Bathalian robe, a mix of Sky Blue and Light Grey for the Skin and Purple for the coat. Second, I used darker glazes on the robes and the staff. Finally, I painted the details such as the staff’s gem and decoration, the tentacles and eyes as well as the gold and silver ornaments on the robe.

Mind Eaters/Intellect Devourer: Took me a while to find a fitting “brain color”. The flash wash from Vellejo did wonders. I painted their legs in VMC English Uniform and their claws with black.

Tentacles: The figures are made of transparent purple plastic. It would be a shame to loose the transparency, so I just put on a little drybrush of purple to highlight the edges. I then painted both tentacles with glossy varnish.

Here are the results!