Bêlit is the eponymous character from Queen of the Black Coast, and is Conan's first real love (of only two). She's a pirate queen, terrorizing the Southern Sea. Her ship, the Tigress, captures the ship that Conan is traveling on, slaughtering the rest of the crew. Bêlit gives Conan the choice of death or being her consort, and he is enthralled by this dangerous woman.




I've heard a fair amount of discussion that Bêlit is a sexist character, even in the context of the board game. I think a lot of it comes from the fact that she's always depicted mostly naked, so she must just be eye candy. Reading her story though, you realize that she's just as much of a rogue as Conan, taking what she wants by force or charm, and confounding the civilized kingdoms. She's also the only character that ever dominates Conan. He is clearly her second in command. Sure, she's seductive, but that doesn't mean that she's not a powerful character.

Obviously, the most important part of this model was her skin. I wanted it to be very smooth and feminine looking, as well as pale. For some reason, this woman who spends all her time mostly naked on the ocean is described as very pale. Doesn't make sense but I'm a stickler for accuracy.  I started with a base of Reaper's Fair Shadow, which I carefully shaded with Reikland Fleshshade. I then layered up through Fair Skin, Fair Highlight, and Pallid Wych Flesh, using very thin glazes.

I'm really happy with how it looks. The model doesn't have too much contrast, so you have to look closely to see that it's not just painted a flat color, but I think it holds up to close inspection.

That's the last of the basic heroes, so I'll be painting up some bad guys next.