Undead Elf Archer & Conversion: Bones 3 Figure

   This past week I painted a pair of the Undead Elf Archers from the Bones 3 Undying Lords add-on set.  I bought two sets of the Undying Lords so I could include more than just one example of other races in my undead forces.  I also planned to convert one of each race of figure so the pair didn't look like identical twins.
     I prepped the 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 cut away the bow and quiver on one of the figures, and gave him a shield and sword instead.  I then glued the figures to black-primed 1" fender washer 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.

     I began by painting the scale mail skirts, and all the skeleton parts with Black.  I then drybrushed the skirts with Accent "Golden Oxide".  After that I drybrushed the exposed skeleton bits with first Americana "Antique White", and then Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White".

     Next, I painted the little aprons hanging down under their mail skirts, with Americana "Terra Cotta", and then painted their robes with  Americana "Avocado".  I then painted their capes with Americana "Forest Green", and their collars with Accent "Mustard Seed".  I also used the "Mustard Seed" to paint a design around the hem of their robes.

     I then painted the hair of the lefthand one with the "Mustard Seed", and the hair of the righthand one with Folk Art "Teddy Bear Brown".  After that, I painted their boots and all their belts, scabbards, and the quiver with Nicole's "Brown"; and followed with painting their gauntlets and wrist guards with Apple Barrel "Apple Maple Syrup".

   Next, I painted the bow with Folk Art Porcelain White", and the grips on the swords, as well as the back of the shield, with Americana "Bittersweet Chocolate".  I painted the face of the shield with Folk Art "Hunter Green", and then did a design on it with Americana "Margarita".  I painted the arrow shafts and the string on the bow ends, with Folk Art "Butter Pecan", and the fletchings, as well as the blade of the sword, with Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey".  I painted the metalwork on the hilt with the "Mustard Seed".  I then went back and painted the sword blade, and the hub and rim of the shield with  Accent "Princely Pewter".  After that, I painted the metal on the hilt with the "Bronze".
     Then when everything was dry, I gave both figures a complete wash with Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash using a wet brush.

     When the wash was dry, I highlighted their bones with the "Light Antique White".   I then highlighted their robes with Americana "Jade Green", and their capes with Crafter's Acrylic "Holiday Green".  I then highlighted their belts, quiver, scabbards and shoes, with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige", and then highlighted the apron hanging under their armored skirt with Reaper MSP "Pumpkin Orange"  Next, I highlighted the hair on the righthand one with Americana "Sable Brown", and the lefthand one with Americana "Moon Yellow". I finished up by drybrushing the bow with some Americana "Bleached Sand", and lastly painted their bases Black.
    When the Black on the bases was dry, I used some white glue to glue a little sand to the bases.  When this was dry, I painted the sand with the Black and then 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 them a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed them with Testor's Dullcote".

     I'm really happy with how these Undead Elves turned out.  I'm looking forward to getting a chance to throw them into a Frostgrave game.

Winter Wolf Painted as Mutant Toto for the Wild West Wizard of Oz Set: Bones 3 Figure

    When I posted my Dorothy and Toto figures from the Bones 3 Wild West Wizard of Oz set a couple weeks ago; one of my readers, Lasgunpacker, asked that with all the other characters undergoing significant "post-apocalyptic" changes from the classic versions, shouldn't Toto get a bit of an upgrade too?  I immediately thought, "What a great idea!" and wondered why it had never crossed my mind before.  Luckily,  I had the Winter Wolf figure from the Bones 3 Chill Out set; and since I had already painted the Warg from Bones 1 as an Arctic Wolf, I really didn't need a second one in Winter colors.
       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 decided I'd paint him in the same colors I used for the Toto I had already done, (So I had the option to use the pair as some sort of canine Incredible Hulk!),  so I painted the entire figure with Accent "Real Umber."  When dry, I gave the entire figure a wash with Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.  I then gave him a light drybrush of Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige"

     Next, I did a drybrush of Folk Art "Butter Pecan concentrating mainly on his back and head.  I then gave him Black eyes, and muzzle, with tiny White highlight dots.  After that I added a little hint of tongue wth Crafter's Acrylic "Tutti Frutti", and then painted his teeth with Americana "Antique White", and then did highlights on them with Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antuque White".   Lastly, I painted his base Americana "Bittersweet Chocolate".
      I let the wolf dry overnight and the next day I gave it a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.    Then, when  the varnish was dry, I used some white glue to glue a little coarse sand to the base.  When this was dry, I painted the sand and the washer with  the "Bittersweet Chocolate".  When the that was dry, I drybrushed the base with some of the "Territorial Beige", and then some of the "Antique White".   Lastly, I glued on some tufts of grass.

A girl and her faithful dog.

A look at the whole gang together.

The original Toto figure with the new "improved" Toto. :)

     I'm really happy with this upgrade to Toto.  I think it works better with the feel of the set than the original plain one did.

Wild West Wizard of Oz Wicked Witch and Winged Monkey: Bones 3 Figures

     Sorry we're a day late... I ran out of time yesterday to finish up.   Anyhow, this past week I finished the last two figures from the Bones 3 Wild West Wizard of Oz set and did the Wicked Witch and the Winged Monkey minis.  I don't know what particularly makes this set Wild West; it seems to me it would fit in in any kind of Steampunk, VSF, Pulp, or Post-Apocalyptic setting.
      These figures were actually cast in the newer grey Bones material, and are a bit stiffer than normal Bones.
      To see the figures from this set that I have already finished, see: Tin Man, Scarecrow, Lion, and Dorothy & Toto.
       Once again, I tried to as best I could copy the look of the corresponding character from the Wizard of Oz movie.   What I found interesting about the Wicked Witch was that her outfit was entirely black from head to toe.

       I prepped the 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 witch figure to a black-primed 1" fender washer , and the monkey to a black-primed 7/8" fender washer, with Aleene's Tacky glue. I then glued each washer-mounted figures to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of the Elmer's glue.

     I began by painting the witch's clothes entirely with Black. When dry, I drybrushed them with Folk Art "Medium Grey".

      I then painted her face and hands with Crafter's Acrylic "Wild Green".  After that I painted her broom handle with Ceramcoat  "Territorial Beige", and the broom straws with Americana "Sable Brown".

     When the face and hands had time enough to dry, I gave them a wash with Iron Wind Metals "Dark Green" ink.  When that was dry, I gave the broom handle and straws a wash with Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash.  I then added shadows under her yes by mixing a little of the "Wild Green" with some Black.  I also  applied a little Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash to between her lips to help define her slightly open mouth.   Next, I painted her eyes, and then highlighted her face and hands with the base "Wild Green". After that, I did some highlighting on her hair using Americana "Mississippi Mud", and then went back over or outfit and did specific highlighting on some of the clothing edges with the "Medium Grey" to help define them.   I then turned to her broom and did highlighting on the straw with Ceramcoat "Maple Sugar Tan". When that was done, I did a little crosshatch pattern between the two metal rings on the broom (like in the movie photo at the top) using Americana "Raw Umber".  I then painted the rings Black, and then went back over them with Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver".  Lastly, I painted her integral base with Americana "Charcoal Grey".
         When I was done painting the figure, I used some white glue to glue a mixture I made of some fine brown sand, and courser black sand to the base.  When this was dry, I drybrushed the sand and the figure's own base with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige", and then with some Americana "Antique White".  When dry, I glued on some bits of grass tufts.
      I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave her a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed it with Testor's Dullcote".

     I then worked on the Winged Monkey.  I wanted to try to imitate the bluish-grey fur, blue face, and grey wings of the movie monkey, except in a metallic look.   I began by painting him entirely in Black.

     Then, when the Black was dry, I made a mix of Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey" and Folk Art "Metallic Blue Sapphire", and used this to drybrush his body.  I then drybrushed his wings with the "Gunmetal Grey". I then added a little Folk Art Pearl "Aqua Moire" to the mix to lighten it, and painted highlights on his body.

     Next, I used Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver" to do highlights on his wings, and after that I painted his face with the just the plain "Metallic Blue Sapphire" and highlighted it with the "Aqua Moire".   I then tried to paint a bit of his jacket pattern (as seen in the movie photo at the top) on his shoulder pads and on his medallion.  I began by doing the base of the pattern in black, and then painted it with Americana "Dove Grey", leaving a little of the Black edge showing.  This was followed by doing the interior of the pattern with Ceramcoat "Opaque Red", making sure to leave the "Dove Grey", and Black edges show.
     Next I worked on his eyes and the grill work on his chest.  I painted his eye sockets and the grill slots with Iron Wind Metals "Red" ink. When the ink was dry, I painted the eyes and the slots with the "Opaque Red".  Afterwards, I painted the pupils and the very center of the slots with Reaper MSP "Golden Glow".   Finally, I painted his lips with the "Opaque Red", and then mixed in a little of the "Golden Glow" to do highlights.
     Then, like with the witch, I painted his integral base with Americana "Charcoal Grey".
         When I was done painting the figure, I used some white glue to glue a mixture I made of some fine brown sand, and courser black sand to the base.  When this was dry, I drybrushed the sand and the figure's own base with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige", and then with some Americana "Antique White".  When dry, I glued on some bits of grass tufts.
      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 like how the pair turned out.   Of all the set, I think these two fall closest to their movie counterparts in appearance.
     And here's a look at the whole Wild West Wizard of Ox set, both heroes and villains...

     I think they all turned out really well, and make a pretty nice looking set of figures.

Wild West Wizard of Oz Dorothy and Toto: Bones 3 Figures

     This past week I continued on with the Wild West Wizard of Oz set from Bones 3,  and painted Dorothy & Toto.  I still have the Wicked Witch and Flying Monkey remaining.
     To see the figures from this set that I have already finished, see: Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Lion.
     I prepped the two 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 Dorothy figure to a black-primed 1" fender washer, and Toto to a .75" black-primed fender washer, both with Aleene's Tacky glue. I then glued the washer-mounted figures to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of the Elmer's glue.

     I wanted to try to see if I could figure out a way to paint her dress so it looked like gingham; so I asked around if there was any trick to getting that look without doing the impossible of painting the tiny check pattern in scale with figure.  There didn't seem to be any real trick other than trying to paint it as checkered, or trying to use either blue dots on white, or white dots on blue.

     So I started off painting her skin with Apple Barrel "Apple Flesh".  I then painted her petticoat, apron, shirt, and socks, with Duncan "Slate Grey".  After that, I painted the dress with reaper MSP Bones "Tropical Blue", and then, when dry, I applied a wash with thinned Crafter's Acrylic "Navy Blue", paying particular attention to get it down in the folds of the dress.

     When the wash was dry, I carefully tried to apply the smallest White dot pattern I could to the dress.  That didn't look right, so i went back and tried adding small dots with the "Navy Blue" between the rows of White.

    I just wasn't happy, so I decided to scrap the idea of painting an actual gingham pattern, and just settle for a mid-blue dress.  So, feeling that the results of the dress with dots (as they appear in the photo above) was too dark, I gave the dress a thin wash of White.  This made it a little too light, so I went back and gave it a thin wash of the "Tropical Blue".  I was basically happy at this point so I took the opportunity to apply a wash of Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash to her face, arms, and legs, using a wet brush.  When the wash was dry, I went back and added some specific highlights to the dress with Crafter's Acrylic "Cool Blue".   I then painted highlights on her shirt, apron, and petticoat with White.  After that I painted her hair and Toto with Accent "Real Umber"

     Next, I applied highlights to her hair with Crafter's Edition "Spice Brown", and then Americana "Sable Brown".  I then went back and added hair ribbons with the "Tropical Blue" highlighted with the "Cool Blue".  Next, I painted her eyes and lips.  I discovered her face had some very slight casting errors in it, which I tried my best to hide when I highlighted the skin with some Crafter's Acrylic "Flesh".    I then painted the shoes with Folk Art "Deep Tomato Red", and the gun with Black.  After that, I went back over the shoes with DecoArt Dazzling Metallics "Festive Red", and then highlighted the gun with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey"
    I then turned to toto, an gave him a light drybrush of Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige", after which I did a drybrush of Folk Art "Butter Pecan concentrating mainly on his back and head.  I then gave him Black eyes with tiny White highlight dots, and added a little hint of tongue wth Crafter's Acrylic "Tutti Frutti".   Lastly, I painted both figures bases with Americana "Charcoal Grey".
      Looking at the finished Dorothy, I realized her ruby slippers didn't really have the sparkle they needed.  My wife recommended red glitter nail-polish, which reminded me that I had bought a bottle of Folk Art Extreme Glitter "Hologram" (which is basically clear) paint somewhere along the way. I applied this and it really gave the shoes the extra sparkle I wanted.
     When I was done painting the figure, I used some white glue to glue a mixture I made of some fine brown sand, and courser black sand to the base.  When this was dry, I drybrushed the sand and the figure's own base with the "Territorial Beige", and then with some Americana "Antique White".  When dry, I glued on some bits of flock and grass tufts.
      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 found the Dullcote blunted the impact of the ruby slippers a little, so I went over them again with the "Hologram" glitter paint once more, and then hit them with a little Americana "DuraClear Gloss" Varnish.

     I really like how these figures turned out.  While I wish I could have achieved the gingham effect, I think just the plain blue dress gets the idea and "look" of the character across enough.
     And here is a look at the whole gang of heroes together...

     I'm pretty pleased with how the group looks together as a whole.

    And, I was lucky enough to already have had the opportunity to be using them as a gang in a game using the post-apocalyptic rules "This is Not a Test"

I added a figure (A Partizan give-away figure of George Stephenson) to be Professor Marvel "the Wizard".

A shot from during the game of Dorothy carefully peeking around a corner as the Lion backs her up.