War Dog: Bones 3 Figure

    This past week I finished up the War Dog from the original Bones 3 Core Set.  I had long needed a proper War Dog for my Frostgrave warbands, having pressed the Bones II wild dog into service time and time again.  So I was excited to finally get this figure and be able to paint it up.
         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 white-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.

    After studying some pictures of Mastiffs online,  I began by painting the whole dog with Folk Art "Butter Pecan".  Then, while the "Butter Pecan" was still wet, I blended in some Americana "Antique White" on to his belly, rump, and the inside of his legs.  I followed this with adding some Americana "Bleached Sand" to the center of the mix.  As you can see in the picture, I started painting his harness, but realized it would be easier to drybrush his coat if the harness wasn't painted yet, so I stopped.

     After his coat was was dry, I gave the entire figure a wash with Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash using a wet brush.  When the wash was dry, I drybrushed his coat with the "Bleached Sand".   Next, I painted his muzzle and eye sockets with Black, and then applied some thinned Black to the outside of his ears.

     Next, I painted the harness straps with Crafter's Acrylic "Cinnamon Brown".  I then drybrushed the muzzle with some Americana "Raw Umber", and then added some more detailed highlights with Americana "Neutral Grey".  I repainted the eyes Black, and gave each one a small White highlight dot.

     I went over the harness straps with a little of the "Agrax Earthshade" wash along the edges, and while that was drying I painted the armor plate, clasps, and chain with Americana "Zinc".  I then went back and highlighted the straps with Folk Art "Teddy Bear Brown".  Next, I painted over the "Zinc" with some Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey", and then aded highlights with Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver".
     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 the sand and the figure's own base with Black.  When the Black was dry, I drybrushed the bases with some of the "Neutral Grey", and then some Americana "Dove 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 it with Testor's Dullcote".

Here he is already pressed into service in a Frostgrave game we had on Saturday.

     I'm really pleased with how this fellow turned out, though he might look a little more dopey and adorable than fierce and mighty!  :)

Death Star Lilies: Bones 3 Figures

    This past week I began work on my new Bones 3 stuff, and to start painting I chose the pair of Death Star Lilies from the Stoneskull Expansion set: something not too complex, yet colorful, and fun to work on.
     I prepped these figures 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 figures to black-primed 1" fender washers with Aleene's Tacky glue, and then glued the washer-mounted figures to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of the Elmer's glue under each washer.

     I began by painting the bottom potions of the plants with Crafter's Acrylic "African Violet".  When dry, I drybrushed the ridges and spines with Apple Barrel "Apple Lavender".  I then painted all the tentacles with Reaper MSP "Christmas Wreath".

     Next, I painted the petals, (the outside of the petals specifically on the opened lily), with Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow".  I then painted the edges of the petals with Reaper MSP "Holly Berry".  After the "Holly Berry" had a while to dry, I ran some Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash down the seams between the petals on the closed lily.    When the wash was dry, I highlighted the petals with Apple Barrel "Lemon Chiffon", and some plain "White".  I then used the White to paint all the little teeth running down the edges of the petals.  After that, I highlighted the tentacles with Crafter's Acrylic "Wild Green".

     I then worked on finishing the open lily.  I begn by painting the inside of the petals with Americana "Margarita".  After that, I fixed up the petal edges with the "Holly Berry", and also used this color to paint the central circle of the plant, and the pistil.  While the "Holly Berry" was still wet, I blended it with Crafter's Acrylic "Tutti Frutti" to paint the end of the pistil.

     I let everything dry for awhile, and then once again, I ran some "Agrax Earthshade" wash down the edges of the petals, and also applied some to the central circle where the bases of the petals met.    When this wash was dry, I highlighted the central circle at the base of the pistil with some Crafter's Acrylic "Pure Pumpkin", and the bumps on the pistil with some Crafter's Acrylic "Cherry Blossom Pink" I then highlighted the inside of the open petals with some of the "Margarita" mixed with some White.  I then painted all the little teeth along the edges of the petals with White.
    Lastly, I painted the washers with some Ceramcoat "Walnut".
    I let the figures dry overnight and the next morning I gave them a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish. When that was dry, I flocked their bases. Another overnight dry, and I sprayed them with Testor's Dullcote".

     I'm quite pleased with how these plants came out.  I think they have the right blend of joyous color and sinister intent.

Some Quick and Simple Bones 3 Weapon Swaps.

     Since I got a number of the new hard plastic weapon sprues in my recent Bones 3 Kickstarter shipment,  I was eager to play with some of them and do some simple conversions on a couple of the new figures.
       As shown in my previous post I got two types of weapons sprues from the KS; a grey plastic set that came with the Core set, and a clear plastic set that was a additionally purchased add-on set.   Each of these sets came with four different sprues: The Arsenal, The Armory of Virtue, The Armory of Vice, and the Armory of Death.

All four clear sets.

A section of the Armory of Virtue.

 I began by selecting three figures that I thought would be simple ones to do conversions on; with weapon wielding hands accessibly placed on outstretched arms: Galadanoth, Elf Sniper, from the original Core Set, one of the Bandits from the Stoneskull set, and Jurden, Half-Orc Paladin from the Heroes I Set.  I also selected three weapons, a clear bow from the Arsenal Set, a hammer from the Armory of Death set, and a sword from the Armory of Virtue.

     I began by slicing off the existing weapons directly above and below the hand, trying to leave nice flat cuts perpendicular to the alignment of the hand.   I then drilled small holes through the hands with my Dremel tool.

You can see here I slipped on the archer's hand and accidentally drilled through part of it. 

    Then I used a hobby knife to make a small slice through the hand right at the end of the fingertips and base of the thumb.  You need to be extra careful to only cut though one side of the drilled hole, and not slice the whole end of the hand off.
     I then test fit the weapons into the hands to make sure the hand would close again around the grip of the weapon.  If they were too big, rather than risk drilling a larger hole, I simply filed down the handle of the weapon a little to make its diameter smaller.

      I then super glued the weapon into place, and held the hand closed until the glue set. For the archer with the missing section of hand, I tried to apply some extra superglue to fill in where the missing fingers would be.  I'll then attempt to hide the mistake with paint.

     I'm happy with how these turned out, and look forward to painting them up.   It may be a while though, as my Bones 3 painting queue is beginning to get quite extensive as I keep picking out one cool figure after another to paint "next".  :-D

Kallaguk, Troll King: Bones 2 Figure

     This past week I painted the Kallaguk, Troll King, figure from the Bones 2 Swamp Things set.  My Bones 3 box arrived as I was working on this figure, so it will probably be my last Bones 2 figure for a while. :)
     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 was a little worried about this sculpt, as it has a tendency to lean forward due to the large gut, and very small ankles to support it.  My concern was that even if I set him upright again using the hot water method, the weight of his stomach would just pull him forward again.

     So, I decided that a small support pole under the belly might be the best thing to assure he maintained his status as an upright citizen.   I drilled a small hole in his base, and then cut a section of paper clip to fit up through it.  I then bent the paper clip in an "L" shape, and cut a notch under the base to fit the horizantal bottom of the "L".

  I then inserted the paperclip section and glued the figure to a black-primed 1.5" 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 painting by doing his skin with Vallejo "Brown Violet", and then doing his belly and the insides of his arms and legs with Reaper MSP Bones "Dungeon Slime".  I then painted his groin hair and beard with Vallejo "Olive Drab".

     Next, I painted the inside of his mouth with Apple Barrel "Apple Lt. Pink", and his teeth with Americana "Antique White". I then painted his club handle with Americana "Mississippi Mud", and the rock at the end of it with Americana "Neutral Grey". After they dried, I went back and painted the rope wrapped around it all with Folk Art "Butter Pecan",  the spikes with Americana "Raw Umber", and the fang at the end with more of the "Antique White".  His claws were next, and I did them with Folk Art "Barn Wood". 

     I then painted the little dingle dangles on his club with various colors sitting around my painting table, and then turned to the little pustules on his stomach and arms, painting them with Folk Art "Barnyard Red".   Then, after everything had a while to dry, I gave the figure a wash with Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash using a wet brush.  When the wash was dry, I drybrushed all his scaly outer skin with Aleene's "Dusty Khaki", and then painted the spikes on his back with Black.

     Next, I highlighted his belly with a mix of the "Dungeon Slime" and some White. I then painted his eyes with Crafter's Acrylic "Pumpkin Orange", and then gave them Black pupils and White highlight dots.  I then did highlights on the teeth, and the fang in the club,  with Americana "Bleached Sand", and the tongue with some of the base "Lt Apple Pink" mixed with a little White.  After that I worked on the pustules, painting them with Crafter's Acrylic "Tutti Frutti" highlights, and then highlighted the claws with Folk Art "Porcelain White".   I moved to the club next, giving the handle highlights with the "Barn Wood", and the stone at the end with Folk Art "Platinum Grey".  For the spikes I used  Folk Art "Teddy Bear Brown" to do the highlights, and for the robe I used "Antique White".  I highlighted the spikes on his back with the "Neutral Gray".

     I felt he looked a little plain, so I decided to add some Black stripes on his head and neck plates, and then drybrushed some Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow" onto the top edges.  Lastly, I painted the figures integral base (and the paperclip support) with Ceramcoat "Walnut.

       I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave it a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.   When that was dry, I decided I would try to make his base look a little marshy, so I dabbed on some Apple Barrel "Apple Black Green", and then applied some Woodland Scenics Water Effects with a brush to a small area. (Not realizing at that point the Dullcote spray would take away the shine.)  When the Water Effects was dry, I added some flock to the base, and then some tufts; one strategically placed to hide his paperclip support.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote".  When the Dullcote was dry, I went back and applied some Americana "DuraClear Gloss" varnish to the Water Effects area, his eyes, and the inside of his mouth as well as his tongue.  I also took a little bit of the Water Effects and tried to do a little drop of spit coming off the end of his tongue.

     I'm generally happy with how he turned out.  It's not a great paint job, but it gets the figure done.

     On Thursday I think I will post an article on doing some weapon conversions, since I have all those cool new weapon sprues.  Then on next Monday I will post my first Bones 3 figure.

Bones 3 Kickstarter Shipment Arrives!

   Yesterday, my Bones 3 Kickstarter box arrived on my doorstep!  I snapped some photos as I opened it and sorted through it, so I could share with a you all a look at what I got.

The box...10 pounds of plastic goodness waits inside!

The first whiff of fresh Bonesium.   Ryan C did a great job packing: none of the lots were missing, however I still need to go through all the sealed bags and make sure the multi-part figures have all their pieces.

Everything all laid out.  Top row: Core Set box, Stoneskull Expansion box, Goremaw. Second row: Clear weapons sprues add-on, Bones 3 release schedule, How To Paint Bones pamphlet etc.,  Bases, and the Titans of the Tide add-on set. Third Row: Froghemoth add-on, 2 packs of the Undying Lords add-on set, Dagon Statue add-on, and an extra add-on set of the Lizardmen.

Froghemoth.  I was a little disappointed in this, as I was expecting it be a little more frog-like to use as a big baddie along side my Eureka Frog Warriors.  It, in fact, bears very little resemblance to a frog in any way.  I think I should have looked at the original art a little closer I guess.

Goremaw  The shear size of this is amazing, and I am really looking forward to painting it up.   I had purchased this with an eye towards the Frostgrave Worm Hunt scenario, only to have that opportunity for use pass me by by almost a year. 

Dagon Statue. I purchased this to use in my undersea games, or even in Frostgrave; but now am thinking it will be great for Ghost Archipelago. 

Titans of the Tide.  Here again, I purchased this for the Shipwreck Revenant to use with my harbor setting for Frostgrave, but I think both will be great for Ghost Archipelago.

Clear Weapons.  Had to get some of these just to play with.  I'm seeing some cool magic weapon uses...

Invisible Heroes.  Don't know what I'll do with these, but they sure are cool! 

The orignal core Core Set

The entire Stoneskull Expansion

    So for starter selections for the painting queue, I pulled the Thugs from the Stoneskull set because I know they will find immediate use in my Frostgrave warbands, and I may practice swapping some of the Core Set weapon sets on them; and I picked the Plant Monsters from Stoneskull as well, just for fun, as something easy and colorful to kick things off with. :)

     If there's anything particular any of you would like to see a close up of, let me know, and I will see about adding a photo of it here in the next couple days.

Here are the photos requested by Lasgunpacker:

I know Lasgunpacker didn't request this, but since he was asking about the clear weapon sprues, I  thought I'd show a sample of the grey that came with the Core Set as well.  As far as release date, the various weapon sets don't appear to have a date assigned, and are merely listed at the end of the pamphlet as "coming soon".  :(

The Savage Worlds set.  The figures are on the list for Spring/Summer 2017

I tried to get a close up of some of the faces, but the white Bones material is so hard to get good shots of.  Since he asked, I took the time to study them, and in my opinion I think they're some of the best faces I've seen in Bones.

Prett Deadly set.   Release date Summer/Fall 2017

Hobgobageddon.  Release date Summer/Fall 2017

Gnoll Warrior: Bobby Jackson Version

    This past week I worked on another Gnoll Warrior, this one by sculptor Bobby Jackson. (The earlier Gnoll Warriors I painted are by Tre Manor).    I'm not sure where I picked this fellow up, or if he was ever part of a Kickstarter as I couldn't find him shown anywhere.  He is not a good match for the others stylistically, but I figure he can join the pack as a hero, where his visual difference makes him stand out; or as a rank and file fighter hidden in the back of the wide-angle panning battle shots. :)
       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 Folk Art "Porcelain White", and then did his mane, beard, and the end of the tail, with Reaper MSP "Pumpkin Orange".  I then painted his loincloth with Reaper MSP Bones "Cinnamon Red".

     Next, I painted his leggings with Americana "Mississippi Mud", and the right forearm wraps with Folk Art "Butter Pecan".  I then did his necklace and belt with Folk Art "Dark Brown", and his axe handle and the back of his shield with Folk Art "Teddy Bear Brown". After hat I painted the rest of the right forearm arm-guard, and the left hand wrap and armband, all with Americana "Terra Cotta".

     I next painted his shield front with Apple Barrel "Yellow", and then the inside of his mouth and his tongue with Americana :"Shading Flesh".  I then did the the shield strap and the grip of his dagger with Americana "Asphaltum", and then his teeth with Americana "Antique White".  After the teeth, it was time to base coat the metal parts; so I painted the axe, dagger, the rim and hub of his shield, and the armored plates on his loincloth with Americana "Zinc", and the round badges on his belt and necklace, as well as the band on his left arm, with Accent "Mustard Seed".

     I let those colors dry a while, and then I came back and painted over the "Zinc" with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey", and I painted over the "Mustard Seed" with Ceramcoat "Bronze".  Then another break to let the metallic paint dry, and afterwards I came back and gave the entire figure a wash with Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash using a wet brush.  When the wash was dry, I highlighted his mane, beard, and tail end with Americana "Tangerine", and his body with a mix of the base "Porcelain White" and some Americana "Dove Grey".

     Next, I painted his muzzle, claws, and eyes with Black, and then added a small white dot to each eye.  I then highlighted his tongue with Crafter's Acrylic "Cherry Blossom Pink", and his teeth with Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White".  Next, I highlighted his loincloth with Reaper MSP "Holly Berry", and his belt, necklace, and axe handle with Americana "Sable Brown". After those, I went back and highlighted his nose and claws with Americana "Neutral Grey", and then highlighted  his feet wraps with Americana "Khaki Tan".  After that, I highlighted his arm guards and adornments with Accent "Golden Oxide", and the wraps on the one on his right arm with Folk Art "Grey Green".  I highlighted the shield with Reaper MSP "Golden Glow", and the dagger grip and shield strap with the "Mississippi Mud".
     I then turned to the metallics; highlighting the axe, loincloth plates, shield rim and hub, and the dagger with Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver". Next, I highlighted the parts I had painted with the "Bronze", using Ceramcoat "14K Gold".
       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 the sand and the figure's own base with Black.  When the Black was dry, I drybrushed the bases with some Apple Barrel "Rock Grey", and then some Folk Art "Platinum 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 it with Testor's Dullcote".

      I'm generally happy with how he came out.  Nothing too fancy or complicated. :)

     In other news, my Bones 3 box is scheduled to arrive on Wednesday! So I think I will post some photos here on Thursday for those interested in seeing what I got.  And If I'm feeling really ambitious I will try to make an unboxing video since they seem to be popular these days. :)