Mariel Twinspar, Female Pirate: Figure 228 of 266

  This past week I started the Pirates set and painted the Mariel Twinspar, Female Pirate figure.
     I prepped the figure in the usual way; soaking it in a dish of water with a couple drops of dish-soap added, then I gave it a light scrub with a soft toothbrush, and then rinsed and dried it.  Next, I glued the figure to a black-primed 1" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and then glued the washer-mounted figure to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of the Elmer's glue.

 I began by painting the skin with a mix of Americana "Shading Flesh" and GW "Bronze Flesh".  When that was dry, I gave it a wash with GW "Agrax Earthshade" wash using a wet brush.  When the wash was dry, I then painted her top with Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey", and her pants with Americana "Zinc"

      Next, I painted the lining of her coat, and facings with Accent "Mustard Seed".  Then I did the outside of the coat with Crafter's Acrylic "African Violet".  I then did her gauntlets with Folk Art "Barn Wood".

     Painting the boots, belt, and pouch with Black was next.  Then I painted her hair with Ceramcoat "Maple Sugar Tan"; and when that was dry, I gave it, and her gauntlets,  a wash with the "Agrax Earthshade" wash using a wet brush.  Next, I did initial highlights on her top with Americana "Dove Grey".

      I then did final highlights on her top with White.  Then I did highlights on her coat lining and facings, first with Accent "Golden Harvest, and then with Crafter's Acrylic "Bright Yellow".  Next, I did the highlights on her pants, first with Americana "Neutral Grey", followed with the "Storm Cloud Grey".

     I then turned to highlighting her coat, using a mix of the "African Violet "and Apple Barrel "Apple Lavender".  I then painted her epaulettes and the handle of the sword with the "Mustard Seed", and the scabbard with the "Zinc". Next I painted her hat and eyepatch with Black.  I then painted the feathers in her hat with the "Golden Harvest".

     Next, I painted her eye, and I painted her pupil/iris with the "African Violet", I then mixed a little of the "African Violet" with some of the "Shading Flesh", and added a bit of eye shadow.  I painted her lips with a mix of the "Shading Flesh" and Americana "Opaque Red".  I then highlighted her skin; beginning with a mix of the "Bronze Flesh"and the "Shading Flesh", and then I added a little Crafter's Acrylic "Flesh" to the mix, and lastly I added a little White to the mix.  I then highlighted all the Black parts by mixing a little Ceramcoat "Denim Blue" with the Black.
   I turned now to highlighting the plume on her hat using first the "Bright Yellow", then some Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow".  I felt it still needed a little definition, so I gave it a light wash with the "Agrax Earthshade" wash using a wet brush.   Next, I worked on her hair, using first the base "Maple Syrup Tan", and then using Americana "Buttermilk", and lastly some White.
    Next, I worked on the metallics, painting her sword hilt, scabbard fittings, and epaulettes with, first, Ceramcoat "Bronze", and then with Ceramcoat "14K Gold".  I then painted her scabbard, and belt buckle with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey", followed by highlights with Folk Art "Silver Sterling".
   At this point I decided I wanted to get a little fancy, and decided to do some free hand floral designs on her coat.  I first painted small stems across the coat using Americana "Olive Green"; I then went over the stems again to give them dimension, using Crafter's Acrylic "Holiday Green".  Next, I painted half a flower bud with Crafter's Acrylic "Bright Yellow", and the other half with Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow."
     Lastly, I painted he base with Americana "Mississippi Mud".  Since my pirates usually fight on board ships, or in taverns, I usually don't flock them.    After the figure had overnight to dry, I gave it a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish".   The next morning I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote.

     I'm very pleased with how this pirate turned out.  I'm glad I made the extra effort to decorate her coat, though in retrospect I wish I had taken a little more time with it, and concentrated on spacing and uniformity of the designs more.