Daemon Inks Studios: Gallery: Kingdom Death

The last servant of the Golden Entity finally made it into my cabinet! The Lion Knight 2^nd is certainly one of Kingdom Deaths’ most well known and imposing models.

With the sad lion theme that can be found throughout many Kingdom Death pieces, I always saw the Lion Knight 2^nd with its leonine head at the centre of this concept. Also that might or might not be true; I think the knight is a central piece of the Kingdom Death world and would most likely be one of the models I’d show someone who asked what “Kingdom Death” represents.

During the Kickstarter campaign for Kingdom Death: Monster, an encore run of the Lion Knight 2^nd was offered at the original price and I gladly used that opportunity, but that also meant I had to wait for the game to be delivered until I finally got my hands on him. So when he arrived I couldn’t wait to begin and already had my colour concept well developed.

The cloak and all fabric were painted in that lightly beige white colour that connects all my models that follow the Golden Entity. My idea was to create a really regal look by using just the white and a rich gold tone for contrast. That meant that the blending on the white parts were essential for the overall look of the model and I think they turned out really nice. I thought a while about adding a freehand to the back of the cloak or to paint the inner side red, like my Lion Knight 1^st, but I really liked that calm concept of white and gold and decided to go with it.

As some of you might remember from the last Monday Previews I had different ideas for the face and eyes of the knight. In the end I went with a slightly lighter tone of fur and the same eyes as his brother. I still think the golden metal of my original White Knight is the best I ever achieved, but this time it looks quite imposing too.

An important part of the Lion Knights character is his interest in mankind and the three girls are certainly an important part of the model. I chose a different hair and skin tone for all of them, as I wanted them to look like a collection amassed by the knight. So while he is interested in humans, he still regards them as things that can be possessed. That concept sparked the idea in my mind, that every brother of the three Lion Knights treats humans different and so I added the corpse and bloody hand to the 1st. So while the second collects them, his older brother kills them where they stand. I already have an idea for the 3^rd, but will have to see at the model first, before making a final decision.

The most interesting part of the girls is possibly the book. Given the “interest” of the knight I thought it would be fitting if the book contained anatomic studies of humans, so I drew a brain and a heart completed with notes on the pages and placed the girl as if she read the book to the knight. I really like that feeling of storytelling in a model.