Monday, February 16, 2015

Freja Fangbreaker, Dwarf Warrior: Figure 137 of 265

     This week I started the Dwarves Set, and painted the female warrior, Freja Fangbreaker.  I prepped this figure in the usual way; soaking it in a dish of water with a couple drops of dish- soap added, then giving it a light scrub with a soft toothbrush, and then rinsing and drying.  I then glued the figure to a 1" black-primed fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and glued the washer to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of Elmer's White Glue.
     I began by painting the body of the figure with black, and when dry, gave it a heavy drybrushing of Ceramcoat "Metallic Pewter". I then went over this with a lighter drybrushing of Folk Art "Silver Sterling".
  Next,  I painted the plates on her skirt, her belt buckle, and the rivets on he shield with Ceramcoat "Bronze".  I then painted the inside of her shield with Ceramcoat "Walnut", the two ax handles with GW "Vermin Brown", and her loincloth with Apple Barrel "Apple Blue Spruce".
     I then went on to paint her flesh with Americana "Shading Flesh", and her hair with Anita's "Burnt Sienna". I painted her belt and the straps on her shield ax with Americana Asphaltum, and the pouch on her back I painted with DecoArt "Cinnamon Brown".
    I went back and painted the circlet on her head with the "Bronze.  I then gave her hair, skin, belt, pouch and ax handles all a wash with Winsor-Newton "Peat Brown" Ink. While the ink was drying,  I added some highlights to her loincloth with a mix of the original "Apple Blue Spruce" with a little Anita's "Baby Blue" added in.
     It was now time to do the eyes. I painted the sockets black then added whites with black pupils.  I then moved on to highlighting the hair. I first gave a drybrush with the original "Burnt Sienna", then I used some Accent "Golden Oxide" to added some lighter highlights.  I then did the highlights on her skin, first using the base "Shading Flesh, and then mixing in a little Apple Barrel "Apple Flesh" to do lighter highlights.  I did some quick highlights on her pouch with the base "Cinnamon Brown".  I now worked on finishing up the metals, first highlighting all the parts I had painted "Bronze" with Cermacoat "14K Gold", and then going back and doing some final highlights on the rest of her armor and weapons with the "Silver Sterling". Lastly, I painted her white integral base with the "Asphaltum".
      I let the figure sit for the rest of the day, and before I went to bed I gave it a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish".  The next morning I flocked the base, and late that afternoon I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote.
     I like how this little lady turned out.  I wanted to really make her look all about the metals, with only a minimum of parts painted non metallic colors;  and I think that really came out well.
   As many of you may have heard, Reaper is now shipping out their Bones II Kickstarter boxes.  I'm in Wave 6, so it will be a while before I get mine.  Once it arrives, it will be a real job to stay on task finishing up Bones I.  I've been debating with myself whether I want to showcase the figures from Bones II that I paint on this forum or not.  I don't plan to be as deliberate about completing the entirety of the Bones II figures as I have been about Bones I; and in fact plan to trade some off to some friends.  But I was just wondering if folks would be interested in having the occasional Bones II figure highlighted on this blog as well as the rest of the Bones I ones.

Figure 137 of 265: Complete

14 comments:

  1. I say mix them in. just because they came in a different box doesn't mean they're not still Bones.

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  2. Interested in any/all that you'd like to share!

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  3. Agreed. The "mission statement" aspect of completing the entire Kickstarter isn't as compelling as just seeing you what you do with each mini and learning how you do it. So long as there's variety, paint the figures you want to paint.

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    1. I can see a trend developing here. :) Thanks for your thoughts.

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  4. Chris, I agree w/Jesse - I come here to follow your process and see your step by steps to learn.

    I have a question about the paints you use. Im still a relatively noob when it comes to the hobby - early on I read to avoid Apple Barrel and other "cheaper" paints and to use Reaper or Vallejo bc they're "much better". I have tried both the expensive and inexpensive paints and for the cheaper ones, they seem way too thick and cover unevenly. I get poor results even if I use water or flow aide. So my experience has agreed with the internet chatter that I read early on.

    But clearly your results speak for themselves so I'm thinking Im doing something wrong w/these less expensive paints. My wallet would love to learn if there's any tips you have w/using these types of paints on how to get clearly great quality out of them?

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    1. Michael- I wish I had easy answers to give you. I started painting minis back in the 70's when there was virtually no miniatures specific acrylic paint, and no internet to order them from if there was; so I was stuck mainly using what I could buy locally in craft stores, and some model paint from hobby shops.
      For the large majority of my painting life I have used these craft paints, so doing so just comes naturally to me. So I don't really know any "tips" as it is just "how I paint". Some colors I find better than others, and often I do have to do two coats to get good coverage, but that's what I'm used to.
      It's funny, as I like a thicker paint, as it's what I'm used to; I find the new paints a little too watery for my tastes. :)

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  5. Chris,

    Thanks for the reply.

    I think I'll give it a whirl and see if I can figure out how to mix/blend the "craft" paints so they cover like I am used to. I'm not sure I'm patient enough to do 2 coats, but it sure is appealing to see an 8oz bottle of paint for under 2 bucks @ Walmart, while I'm paying $3-3.50 for 1/2 an ounce from Reaper.

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    1. Sounds good. Stay away from reds and yellows as they are notoriously bad at coverage. Maybe try White and Black, I know I use a lot of those basic colors and would hate to be paying a premium for them! Browns are a color I don't usually have troubles with.

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  6. I enjoy your posts and don't care about the completion of the rewards so much as the journey you're on using Bones as the catalyst. You regularly remind me of the pieces still in my unpainted collection and get my brushes moving on them. Keep going through however many Bones you collect.

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    1. Thanks! It looks like I'm going to be doing what you suggest.

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    2. If you're interested, I've just started addressing some of my Bones paint jobs on my blog. Tacsimgaming.com. Like to know your thoughts.

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    3. Nice article, and you've done some great painting on the examples you show. When are you going to tackle the Cthulu? :)

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