Alistrilee, Elf Archer: Bones II Figure

      This week I also completed the Alistrilee, female elf archer, figure from the Bones II Core Set.  I had actually put this figure in my Bones "out" box when I first sorted my Kickstarter, to sell at a con flea market. But since I have been bitten by the Frostgrave bug recently, and needed to boost my warband recruits, I pawed through the "out" box to look for suitable candidates who look attired for winter adventuring.  I had culled this figure originally as it is rather plain and lacks a dynamic pose, and I already had a selection of elf archers from Bones I, but her hood and cape made her perfect for exploring the ruins of Felstad.

       I prepped the 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" white-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 her under armor Black, as I had originally intended to drybrush it with a metal color.  Then I changed my mind, as archers in Frostgrave wear leather armor, and not metal. So, I decided to do it in a non-metal color to look perhaps like some sort of dyed scale leather armor.  I chose Duncan "Slate Blue" and used that to drybrush it.  I then painted her pants Aleene's "Dusty Khaki", and her jerkin with Americana "Territorial Beige".

    Next, I painted her sleeves with Folk Art "Dapple Grey", and her boots and arm guards with Folk Art "Butter Pecan"  Then I painted her face and hands with Crafters Acrylic "Flesh", and her hair with Americana "Buttermilk".  I worked on her scabbard next, painting it Americana "Jade Green", with Duncan "Olive Green" trim. The arrow shafts I painted Folk Art "Porcelain White", and the fletchings with Crafters Acrylic "Light Antique White (L.A.W.)".  Next I did her bow, painting it Folk Art "Grey Green" with Aleenes "Deep Khaki" trim.

      After the paint had a while to dry, I gave the figure a wash with thinned Winsor Newton "Peat Brown" ink, being careful not to get any on the cape or base.  When the wash was dry, I did some highlighting on her under armor, first with the base "Slate Blue", and then with Crafters Acrylic "Cool Blue". I then worked on her cape and hood; first painting the cape with Folk Art "Celadon Green", and then when that was dry, adding shadows with thinned Americana "Salem Blue".

      I finished up with the cape by doing highlights on it with White.   I then worked on her face and hands, first doing her eyes, and then mixing a little Americana "Shading Flesh" with the "Flesh" to do her lips, and then adding a little White to do her lip highlights.  I then used the base "Flesh" to add highlights to her skin, and then added a little of the "L.A.W." to do finer highlights. Next, I did her hair, first highlighting with the base  "Buttermlk, and then mixing in a little of the "L.A.W." to do finer highlights.  I now worked on her clothing, highlighting her pants with the base  "Dusty Khaki", and her shirt with the base "Dapple Grey" with a little of the "Dusty Khaki" mixed in.  I then highlighted her jerkin with the "Butter Pecan", and her boots and arm guards with the "Butter Pecan" mixed with a  little of the "L.A.W."  Her scabbard I highlighted with the base "Jade Green" mixed with a little "L.A.W.", and the trim I highlighted with the base "Olive Green" with a little of the "Jade Green" mixed in.  Her arrow shafts I highlighted with the base "Porcelain White", and the fletchings with plain White.   I moved now to the bow, highlighting it with the base "Gray Green", and the trim with the base "Deep Khaki".  I finished up with some metallics; first with her earring, painting it first with Ceramcoat "Bronze", and then doing highlights with Ceramcoat "14k Gold".  I then added a little dab of thinned "Peat Brown" ink to the earring to help it pop. I then did the little circle trim around her hood, painting each dot with Folk Art "Metallic Blue Sapphire" first and then adding a tiny pinpoint highlight of Folk Art "Aqua Moire" Pearl paint to each dot.   Lastly, I painted her base White.  

     When everything had overnight to dry, I gave the figure a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish".  The next morning I flocked the base with Woodland Scenics "Snow" flock.  Late that afternoon I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote.

      I'm really happy with how this figure turned out, and quite honestly it was a nice change of pace to paint a simple fantasy figure without 5 layers of clothing and a dozen things hanging off them, many of which you need to guess at what exactly they are.   In the end I'm glad she was rescued, as I think this figure has a lot of subtle grace to it, that I missed on first passing.
  For them that likes a close up, here you go:  

Bones Soup

    In other news, I spent part of the morning boiling some Bones terrain (the Dragons Don't Share ruins and the Mashaaf base to be exact) in an old pot I picked up earlier this week at the local Goodwill.  After a 15-20 minute boil, I dropped the pieces into pot of ice water, and did my best to hold the bases flat on the bottom of the ice-water pot so the pieces would set up correctly.  So far I'm pleased with the results; not 100% flat but about 90%-95%, which I can live with.