Oliva, Female Cleric to Siglist Wizard Conversion: Bones II Figure

   This week I did a Sigilist type wizard for a new Frostgrave warband I'm working on. A Sigilist derives their magical power from words and languages.  I wanted a figure to be very "word" oriented, so I chose the Olivia, Female Cleric Figure from the Bones II Core Set, as she had a book hung at her side.   I then by chance got an extra copy of the Leisynn, Mercenary Mage, figure; and the thought struck me that  it might be an easy conversion to remove the book arm from the Mage, and reattach it to Olivia.

    I began by prepping both the figures 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.  Then, with some careful slicing with my hobby knife, I was able to remove the book and forearm of Leisynn, and do the same with Olivia's forearm.  I then glued the book in place on the cleric, and was amazed at how perfectly it fit; right down to her tilted head now appearing to be looking directly at the new book she was holding.

     I then thought about what I wanted to do with the bottle she was holding, when it hit me that it might make a nifty inkwell.    I scrounged through my bits box, and came up with a pair of feathers from an ECW sprue (intended to be hat plumes); and after trimming off the stopper on the bottle, I drilled a small hole and affixed the feathers to represent quills.  I sprayed the quills with some flat white primer, and then glued them into place.   Next, I glued the figure to a white-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 her face with Crafter's Acrylic "Flesh.  I then painted the robes with Apple Barrel "Apple Parchment", and the hem, the hanging at her waist, and the sleeve cuffs, with Americana "Bleached Sand".  Then I painted her hair,  inner sleeves, and scarf with Americana "Neutral Grey".

     Next, I painted the pages of the big book she is holding with Crafter's Edition "Taupe".  I painted the pages of the smaller book hanging at her side with Folk Art "Barn Wood". I then painted the cover of the big book with Ceramcoat "Black Cherry", and the cover of the little book with Americana "Terra Cotta".   Her straps and pouches were painted with Americana "Bittersweet Chocolate", and the ink bottle was painted with Crafter's Acrylic "African Violet".  I then painted on fingerless gloves using Aleene's "Deep Khaki".

     I painted the handle of her mace with Crafter's Acrylic "Cinnamon Brown", and then let everything dry for a few hours.  I then gave the entire figure a wash with GW "Agrax Earshade" wash using a wet brush.  Next, I painted the quills with Crafter's Acrylic "Deep Turquoise", let them dry for a bit, and then gave them a wash with Iron Wind Metals "Dark Green" ink using a wet brush.

   When all the washes were dry, I worked on the quills in an attempt to make them look like peacock feathers.  First, I drybrushed them with Folk Art "Metallic Emerald Green".  I then painted on the "eyes" using the "Terra Cotta" for the outer rim, Folk Art Pearl "Aqua Moire" for the inner ring, and Americana Wedgewood Blue" for the center.   Next, I painted the metal parts of her mace with Americana "Zinc".
    I decided I wanted to give the impression of ancient words of power floating around her robes, rising to the surface and then sinking back down.  So I used Black paint to paint some made-up runes all over her robes, and while I was doing that, I also added some "text" to the pages of the open book.  I then went back over some of the words on the robes with a light glaze of the "Apple Parchment" paint I had painted the robes with to "fade"them out a bit.  I also used the Black to do piping borders on her hem and cuffs.    I also used some Ceramcoat "Opaque Red" to paint large letters at the top of each page, and to paint the book mark running down the center of the book between the two open pages. When the book mark was dry, I went over it with a little of the "Agrax Earthshade".

     I then worked on her face, painting her eyes and lips.  I then did highlights on her face and hands using the base "Flesh", and then some of the "Flesh" with a little bit of White mixed in. While I had the White out, I did some quick highlights on the inkwell.  I highlighted her hair with Americana "Dove Grey".   Next, I worked on highlighting her robes, using the base "Apple Parchment", and then some of the "Bleached Sand". While I had the "Bleached Sand" out, I ran a small highlight line around the edges of the open pages.   For the hems, cuffs and the hanging at her waist, I highlighted with Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White".  I highlighted her scarf and inner cuffs with Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey", and I highlighted her straps and pouch with Americana "Sable Brown".
     I worked on her base next, painting it first with the "Zinc", and after that had dried, I gave it a wash with some "GE "Badab Black" wash using a wet brush.  When that was dry, I drybrushed the paving stones with first the "Storm Cloud Grey", and then Folk Art "Platinum Grey".
     Lastly, I painted the metal pats of her mace with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey", and then highlighted with Folk Art "Silver Sterling".
      When everything had overnight to dry, I gave the figure a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish" early the next morning.  Midday, I flocked the white areas with Woodland Scenics "Snow" flock and the next day I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote.