Mashaaf, Great Old One: Bones II Figure

  A few months ago I began working on the Mashaaf, Great Old One, add-on figure from Bones II, and had gotten as far as washing it, assembling it, and spraying it with a base coat.  It had then sat gathering dust, waiting for me to find inspiration to complete it.  Then, with the successful competition of my Kaladrax figure a couple weeks ago, I felt emboldened to bite the bullet and finish this figure up as well.
   When purchasing this figure I had some vague idea of using it for my Pulp mash-up Space1889/John Carter of Mars games, so I pictured in some sort of tan,bron,reddish type of color scheme.  However, i didn't want to limit it to just Mars, so I wanted to tone the base colors down so they might just as well blend in with any desert setting.
    I prepped the figure in the usual way; soaking all the pieces it in a bowl of water with a couple drops of dish-soap added, then I gave them all a light scrub with a soft toothbrush, and then rinsed and dried them.  I then assembled the figure using Gorilla superglue.   Next, I  used Aleene's Tacky glue to glue the base to a n old CD.
    When everything was dry, I used masking tape to taped off the area of the base where the figure was going to be glued, and taped the underside of the figure where it sat on the base as well.

     I then sprayed both the base and the figure itself with Krylon Camouflage with Fusion "Khaki".  This left the model a little tacky, but I knew from having  used this to paint some of my CAV that once I painted over the tacky basecoat, it would be fine.

   I then began easing into the project by painting the base.  I felt if I could establish a color palette I liked on the base, it would help me decide which direction to take the figure.  I painted various mottled areas using Folk Art "Baryard Red", Americana Terra Cotta, and Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige"; applying one color right after the other while they were still wet so they would lend together a bit.

When these colors were dry, I applied some white glue to the areas that were the plain surface of the CD, and then sprinkled the glue with a mix of regular course sand, and a reddish-orange decorative sand.   When that was dry, I gave the entire base a wash with Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash using a wet brush.

   When the wash was dry, I drybrushed the base with Americana Shading FLesh", Folk Art "Butter Pecan", Folk Art "Almond Parfait", and lastly, Americana "Bleached Sand".
    I then started work on the big worm itself.  First, I painted the underbelly with the "Bleached Sand".  I then painted the crusty rock-like bumps on its back with the "Terra Cotta", and the pustule like citcles running alng the sides with the "Barnyard Red".

     Next, I painted the two large scythe-like talons, as well as the little ones running down the side with Folk Art "Gray Green" .  I also used this color to pint the two blade-like protrusions on each side of the mouth, and the four covering its little anus.   I then painted the tentacles and mouth with Apple Barrel "Apple Light Pink", and his eyes with Black.  I also used the Black to paint the very back of his mouth, blending it with a little of the "Apple Light Pink" to try and create the illusion of a receding hole down his gullet. I folllowed this with painting the teeth with Americana "Buttermilk"

    At this point I deiced to go ahead and glue it to the base, as I was having trouble holding it and either wearing off the dry paint, or putting my fingers in areas where it was still wet.   Once the glue had a while to dry, I gave the entire figure a wash with the "Agrax Earthshade" using a wet brush.

     When the wash was dry, I began the final drybrushing of the highlights.  I drybrushed his back with a mix of Accent "Golden Oxide" and the "Buttermilk", and then drybrushed the bulk of the body with a mix of Americana "Khaki Tan" and Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White".   I then mixed a bit of the "Barnyard Red", and the "Apple Light Pink", and used that to paint highlights on the pustules. I highlighted the mouth and tentacles with a mix of the "Apple Light Pink" and the "Light Antique White"; and the highlighted the talons, and the mouth and anus blades,  with a mix of the original "Gray Green", and the "Light Antique White".  I also highlighted the teeth with the "Light Antique White".  Lastly, I used White to add tiny reflective dots to the eyes.
     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.  

John Carter and Dejah Thoris battle a strange creature from the Barsoomian wastes.

     Note: the colors appear a little washed out in these photos.  I think it may have been the lighting I used, or the fact that the background cloth was relatively dark.

     I'm really happy with how this big fella came out; and have an increased confidence in tackling these big miniatures.  Which is good considering I have a number of them coming up in the not-too-distant future in the Bones I painting queue.