Monday, March 27, 2017

Toghra, Gnoll Leader: Bones II Figure

   This past week I painted up the Toghra, Gnoll Leader, figure from the Bones II Gnolls & Bugbears set.  My second Gnoll to complete as I work my way through them in the eventual expectation to play the scenarios in the Frostgrave "Into the Breeding Pits" supplement book.
         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 it.    I then glued the figure to a black-primed 1.25" 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 giving the figure a wash with heavily thinned Reaper "Grey Liner" using a wet brush.  When that was dry, I painted his fur and chest armor with Americana "Zinc", and then did his mane with Ceramcoat "Maple Sugar Tan".  I then painted his tunic with Crafter's Acrylic "African Violet".
     I then painted his bone staff with Americana "Antique White" and the guard on his right forearm with Americana "Sable Brown".  After that I painted his belt, pouch, and the wraps around his left foot with Americana "Raw Umber", and the bag tucked in his belt with Americana "Mississippi Mud".  I also used the "Mississippi Mud"  to paint the ropes on the  right forearm guard, and the bones staff.  Next, I painted the left forearm guard with Apple Barrel "Burnt Senna"; and then the handle of the horse hair rod, the dogs head on the  left forearm guard, the belt buckle, and the decoration on the head of the staff, with Accent "Golden Harvest". I then painted his teeth and teeth in the jaws on the staff's head with Americana "Buttermilk". I painted the ribbon on the staff with Ceramcoat "Black Cherry",  and then hit the base of the staff, and spike on the right forearm guard with the "Zinc".
    Next, I went back and painted his chest armor, the base of the staff, and spike on the right forearm guard with Folk Art Metallic's "Gunmetal Grey".  I then went back and repainted the parts I had painted with the "Golden Harvest" with Ceramcoat "Bronze".   Next , I repainted the left forearm guard and the band on the right foot with Ceramcoat "Copper".  
     Then, after everything had time to dry, I gave the entire figure a wash with Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash using a wet brush". When the Wash was dry, I highlighted his mane with ,Americana "Moon Yellow", and then drybrushed his fur with Americana "Grey Sky".
     I then painted his eyes and muzzle, as well as the tip of his tail with Black.  Then, while I had the Black out, I painted the horse hair rod, and his claws.   After that, I worked on highlighting his tunic using a mix of the base "African Violet" mixed with some Apple Barrel "Apple Lavender".  I then worked on the staff, I highlighting the bones with Americana "Bleached Sand". I moved from there to highlighting the teeth on the staff's head and in his mouth with Crafter's Acrylic "Light ANtique White".  Next, I highlighted his belt, straps, and pouches with Americana "Territorial Beige, and then highlighted all the rope with Americana "Khaki Tan" and the ribbon on the staff with Crafter's Acrylic "Christmas Red". At that point I went back and highlighted the horse hair with Citadel "The Fang", and his claws with Americana "Neutral Grey".
    I then highlighted the parts I had painted "Bronze" with Ceramcoat "14K Gold", and highlighted the he parts I had painted with the "Gunmetal Grey" using Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver".  The parts I had painted with the "Copper", I simply highlighted with the base "Copper".
   When I was done painting the figure, I used some white glue to glue a little sand to the base.  When this was dry, I painted it all Black.  When the Black was dry, I drybrushed it with some of the "Neutral Grey", and then some Duncan "Slate Grey".
    I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave him a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed him with Testor's Dullcote".

I'm really happy how this fellow tuned out, though I'm not particularly a fan of the sculpt;  while it's wonderfully dynamic, it lacks a real focal point, or an easily determined front, making it difficult to get a good photo of it.

Monday, March 20, 2017

Crates & Barrels: Bones II Pieces

     This past week I painted the crates and barrels from the Bones II Dungeon Decor set to use in the Frostgrave Loot Cart scenario we will be doing this weekend.
        I prepped the crates and barrels in the usual way; soaking them in a dish of water with a couple drops of dish-soap added, then giving them a light scrub with a soft toothbrush, and then rinsing and drying them.    I then glued the crates to a white-primed 1"x.5" steel base, and the large barrel to a 3/4" fender washer, and the small crate to a 5/8" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and then glued the steel base and washers to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of the Elmer's glue.

     I began by painting one crate and one barrel with Americana "Territorial Beige", and the second crate and barrel with  Folk Art "TeddyBear Brown".   I then gave everything a wash with Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash.

     When the wash was dry, I drybrushed all the pieces with Americana "Khaki Tan", and then a little Americana "Bleached Sand".   After that, I painted the bases with Americana "Mississippi Mud".
     I let the crates and barrels dry overnight and early the next morning I gave them and their bases a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.   I let it dry all day, and late that afternoon I sprayed it with Testor's Dullcote".

Monday, March 13, 2017

CAV Warden Unit: CAV 1 Kickstarter

    This week I decided for a change of pace to work on some of the CAV Bones minis I got from the first CAV Kickstarter, and complete a company of Warden vehicles.  These are being based up for the upcoming version of "Look, Sarge, No Charts: Near Future & Sci-Fi" rules we will begin working on soon.  So, my company will consist of three 2-vehicle platoon bases, and a single-vehicle HQ base.
      I prepped the vehicles in the usual way for Bones; soaking them in a bowl of water with a couple drops of dish-soap added, then giving them a light scrub with a soft toothbrush, and then rinsing and drying them. I then glued the laser in place with superglue on 6 of the vehicles, and on the 7th, HQ vehicle, I scratchbuilt a simple radar/communication unit to sit on the back using a piece of mini lego and a plastic gem.
     I first sprayed the vehicles with Krylon Camouflage with Fusion, Ultra Flat "Woodland Light Green".    When dry, I glued 6 of them onto 1.5" x 3" bases, and the HQ onto a 1.5" square base.   I then painted the big lasers on back with Crafter's Acrylic "Tropical Blue";  and when dry, I gave the all the vehicles a wash with Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash using a wet brush.
When the wash was dry, I painted the tires Black, and then highlighted the lasers; first with the "Tropical Blue", and then with Crafter's Acrylic "Cool Blue".  Next, I painted a simple camouflage pattern on the vehicles with Americana "Khaki Tan".  After that, I drybrushed the vehicles with Americana "Bleached Sand.  
    I let the vehicles sit overnight, and the next morning I varnished them with Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  Later that day, when the varnish was dry, I applied a thin coat of white glue to the bases and dipped them in a mix of course black sand and fine brown sand.  When the glue was dry, I drybrushed the sand with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige" and then Americana "Antique White", followed by the "Bleached Sand".  I then added some small bits of various static grass and other flocking.


     I'm very pleased with ho these turned out, and am looking forward to the chance in the near future of finally getting some of my CAV on the table. 

Monday, March 6, 2017

Bloodmane, Gnoll Warrior: Bones II Figure

    This week I painted up the Bloodmane, Gnoll Warrior, figure from the Bones II Gnolls & Bugbears set.   I ended up with a bunch of the Bones II Gnolls through trades and flea market purchases, so I thought it was about time to start work on them.    I'm going to need them eventually for the Frostgrave "In To The Breeding Pits" supplement, so rather than wait until the last minute, I thought I'd start now and allow myself the luxury of being able to work on them at a leisurely pace.
         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 it.    I then glued the figure to a black-primed 1.25" 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 giving the figure a wash with heavily thinned Reaper "Grey Liner" using a wet brush.  When that was dry, I painted the armor and shield Black.  When the Black was dry, I drybrushed it with  Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey".  I then passed over the armor with a lighter drybrush of Folk Art "Silver Sterling".
     I then painted his fur with Americana "Mississippi Mud", and his mane and tail fringe with Crafter's Acrylic "Orange Spice".  Next, I painted his kilt with Americana "Zinc", and then painted the inside back of his shield with Teddy Bear Brown".  After that, I painted all his belts and straps with Americana "Bittersweet Chocolate".
Next, I painted the skulls with Americana "Antique White", and his teeth with Americana "Buttermilk". I then painted the wraps on his foot, the string holding the skulls, as well as his axe handle with Nicole's "Brown", and the wraps around the axe handle and his scabbard with Anita's "Burnt Sienna".
     I also used the "Burnt Sienna to paint three of the stripes on his shield, and Apple Barrel "Yellow" to paint the other two.  After that, I painted his pouches all with Ceramcoat "Raw Sienna".
     Then, when everything was dry, I gave the entire figure a wash with Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash using a wet brush.  When the wash was dry, I painted his eyes, and the highlighted his teeth with Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White".
     Next, I highlighted his fur with Americana "Khaki Tan", and then highlighted his mane and tail fringe with Americana "Tangerine". I then painted his nose, muzzle, claws and the grip on his short sword with Black.  I then highlighted his kilt with Apple Barrel "Rock Grey", and a little Folk Art "Platinum Grey"  fro the stitching.  After that, I highlighted all his straps and belts with Americana "Sable Brown", and then highlighted the front of his shield with Reaper MSP "Holly Berry" for the red stripes, and Reaper MSP "Golden Glow" on the yellow stripes.
     I then did the highlights on his axe grip an short sword scabbard with Americana "Shading Flesh", and on his pouches with Apple Barrel "Apple Maple Syrup". The rope holding the skulls I highlighted with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige", and I then highlighted the skulls with the "Buttermilk", and then the "Light Antique White".   I then went back and highlighted his nose, muzzle, claws, and sword grip with Americana "Neutral Grey".   I then went back over the metal parts adding highlights with Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver".
     Lastly, I painted the base with the "Neutral Grey", and then gave it a wash with Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.  When the wash was dry, I gave it a drybrush with Duncan "Slate Grey"
      I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave him a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed him with Testor's Dullcote".

     As a test, subject, I'm really happy with how he turned out.  Now on to the rest of the pack!