Rugg, Bugbear Leader: Bones 2 Figure, Converted to an Elephantman

      I've been eagerly awaiting the release of the Elephantman from the Bones 3 Kickstarter "Savage Avatars" set so I can order a couple to play the role of Erithereans from the Bestiary.  But that is a little while away, and we've already started our campaign.   So, I was just going to be content to wait, until a friend sent me a link to some photo of some fantasy figures a guy had made by chopping the heads off of dollar store animals, and gluing them to the bodies of 28mm plastic medieval figures.  The little lightbulb went on in my brain...I had just seen a small elephant figure in a box of junk, and I knew I had a spare Bones Bugbear, Rugg, Bugbear Leader, from the Bones 2 Gnolls & Bugbears set  laying around somewhere...
     I found the elephant and the Bugbear, but I had borrowed the Bugbear's weapon hand for an Orc a while back. So, a quick dig in the bits box, and I came up with what I believe is a GW Ogre weapon hand.

      A little bit of sawing, and I had this.

        It was just a matter of gluing it all together then. 

    I then used some greenstuff around the head to blend it to the body, and added some ears.  Another problem was his Bugbear hand only had four fingers and his ogre hand had five fingers.  Considering the problem, and the fact I had already glued everything together, I decided adding an extra finger with greenstuff was the easiest solution.   I also added some hair to the top of his head, and tried to blend it in to the hair on his back.  Lastly, I clipped the claws on his feet to make them look more like elephant toenails.

     Satisfied with the conversion, I decided to spray the figure with some Army Painter "Necrotic Flesh".  I choose this because I had it on hand, and I've found Army Painter primer to be the best option to be a safe primer for multiple types of plastics, including Bones; not because I particularly thought the color was the best option. :) .

     I began by painting all his skin with Folk Art "Medium Grey", and then painted his scale armor with Americana "Raw Umber".  I then painted his belts and straps with Folk Art "Teddy Bear Brown"and his loin cloth with Duncan "Olive Green".

     Next, I decided I wanted all his armor to be the same color, so I also painted his arm guards and his shin guard with the "Raw Umber".  I then painted the cloth/fur under his arm guards and shin guard with Folk Art "Butter Pecan", and the bandage? around his right knee with Americana "Khaki Tan".  After that, I painted his hair with Black, and then painted the pouch around on the back with Americana "Mississippi Mud". I then painted the sword blade, and his back shoulder armor with Americana "Zinc" and the grip on his sword with Reaper MSP "Pumpkin Orange".

I decided I didn't like the orange sword grip, so repainted it with Reaper MSP Bones "Cinnamon Red".   I then painted his tusks with Americana "Dove Grey", and his sword blade with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey".  After everything had a while to dry, I gave the whole figure a wash with Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash. 

     When the wash was dry, I painted his eyes, and then worked on highlighting his hair using Citadel "The Fang".  After that, I highlighted his skin using Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey", and then highlighted his tusks using the base "Dove Grey".  I then highlighted his armor with Americana, Sable Brown, and his belts with Americana Shading Flesh".  For his pouch around back I highlighted with Reaper MSP "Tanned Shadow", and then highlighted his sword grip with Reaper MSP "Holly Berry".   Next, I highlighted the fur under his arm and shin guards using Americana "Antique White", and highlighted the bandage on his right knee with Americana "Bleached Sand".   Lastly, I highlighted all the metal bits with Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver", and then I painted the figure's base with Americana "Bittersweet Chocolate".

     I let the figure 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 flock the bases.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed him with Testor's Dullcote".

      I'm really happy with how this conversion turned out! The head seems to go perfectly with the body.  The ears are probably the weakest point, I should have studied some photos first before sculpting them.
  And of course, I was left with a headless body, and a bodyless head; so this had to happen.  A Bugaphant!  :-D

 
 Here is a photo of the Elephantman next to a regular human to give a sense of size of the figure.

Durok, Dwarf Ranger: Bones 3 Figure, Converted to Frostgrave Thief

    This past week I returned to working on my Frostgrave Dwarf conversions, and painted Durok, Dwarf Ranger; who I had earlier converted to a Thief for my warband, by using a dagger and torch from the Frostgrave plastic Soldiers Set.

This week, I am working on the figure on the left.

Here he can be seen with his original weapon removed and a dagger and torch added.

      I forgot to take a starting photo, but you can see what he looked like in the bare Bones, so to speak, on the left in the photo above.  I had of course prepped this figure in the usual way; soaking it in a dish of water with a couple drops of dish-soap added, and giving it a light scrub with a soft toothbrush, and then rinsing and drying it, back before I did the conversion work.   After the conversion work, I glued the figure to a black-primed 1" fender washers with Aleene's Tacky glue.  When dry, I put it in  my painting grip.
     I began by giving the figure a thinned wash of Reaper MSP "Grey Liner".  When the wash was dry, I painted his face with Americana "Shading Flesh". This figure is pretty much decked out in  a lot of armor, but I thought I'd try to paint it so it either looked like cloth or leather armor; to help sell the idea he was a thief.  So, I painted his "tunic" with Americana "Zinc", and then painted his cape, hood, and gloves with Ceramcoat "Black".

     Next, I painted his belt, pouch, shoulder armor, and boots with Reaper MSP  "Coal Black", and his beard and with Reaper MSP "Turkey Brown".  After that, I painted the torch hanlde with Nicole's "BrowN', and his knife blade with the "Zinc"

     I let everything dry a bit, and then I gave his face a wash with some Citadel "Reikland Fleshshade" wash.  When that was dry, I gave his beard a wash with Citadel Agrax Earthshade"wash; and when that dried, I gave his tunic a wash with Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.  After that, I did highlights on his boots, belt, pouch and shoulder armor with Citadel 'The Fang", and I painted the knife blade with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey".

     I then painted his eyes and highlighted his face.  I only applied the highlights to the right side, to help with the OSL (Object Source Lighting) effect.  I then did the highlights on his beard, using the warmer Americana 'Sable Brown on the right of the beard, and the cooler Americana "Mississippi Mud" on the left of the beard; again, to help with the OSL effect.  At this point I realized I better actually get to painting the source of the light, so I began work on the flame.  I started by painting the indented areas of the sculpted flame with Reaper MSP "Golden Glow", then working up to the higher ridges of the sculpted flame, I progressed through Crafter' Acrylic "Pure Pumpkin", Reaper MSP"Holly Berry", and Reaper MSP Bones "Cinnamon Red".

     Next, I finished highlighting the beard, giving some areas closest to the flame highlights with Folk Art "Butter Pecan", and then some of the 'Butter Pecan" with a little of the 'Golden Glow" mixed in.  I then worked on highlighting his tunic with some Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey", and like the beard, I mixed a little of the "Golden Glow" in to do those areas where it looked like the flame would be most directly shining.  After that, I worked on highlighting his cape, hood, and gloves with Americana "Neutral Grey", and then, once again, I mixed a little of the "Golden Glow" in with the "Neutral Grey", and highlighted the areas closes to the torch.     At this point I highlighted his dagger with some Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver", and then hit the very edge of the blade near the tip with some of the "Golden Glow" to (hopefully) make it look like the light was glinting off the edge.
     Lastly, I painted the figure's base with Black.
    When the Black was dry, I used some white glue to glue a little black course sand onto the base.  When this was dry I drybrushed the bases with some of the Americana "Neutral Grey", and then some Duncan "Slate Grey", and lastly 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 really pleased with how this guy turned out.  I think the conversion worked really well, and it's interesting to see how the brave Ranger changed into the sneaky Thief.  I'm not happy with the OSL, but that takes work to perfect.  I think it works on the beard and his left knee, but the hood and his left shoulder aren't quite right.

Dwarven Brewer: Bones 3 Figure Conversion

      This past week, just for fun,  I worked on the Dwarven Brewer from the Bones 3 Townsfolk set.   As I looked at the figure, I realized I didn't like how the barrel seemed precariously balanced on a ridge of the base; and would probably topple over if the brewer lifted his arm. I didn't think just building up the ground under it would look good, as logically it seemed to me the the barrel would have been set up on something to make getting mugs under the tap easier.

      So, after soaking the figure 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 cut away a little of the base. 

    I then glued the figure to a black-primed fender washer using Aleene's Tacky glue.  When the glue was dry, I used some greenstuff to sculpt a quick tree trunk under the barrel.

     When the greenstuff was dry, I put the figure in my painting grip and got to work.  I began by giving the whole figure a wash with some thinned Reaper MSP "Brown Liner"  When the Liner was dry, I painted his face and hands with Americana "Shading Flesh".   I then mixed a little Reaper MSP "Holly Berry" in with some of the "Shading Flesh", and gave him a reddened nose. After that, I painted the shadowy area under his coat with Black, and then painted his coat with Ceramcoat "Denim Blue".   When the Black under his coat was dry, I painted his shoes, and the pouch round on his back, with Americana "Bittersweet Chocolate". After that, I went back and painted the trim and cuffs on his coat with Accent "Golden Harvest"

           Next, I painted the towel over his shoulder with Americana "Dove Grey", and then did his hammer with Crafter's Acrylic "Navy Blue". I then painted his hair with Americana "Neutral Grey", and the beer barrel with Reaper MSP "Turkey Brown".

      I then painted the interior wood of the trunk with Folk Art "Barn Wood", and the bark with Americana "Charcoal Grey" also  I did the tap in the barrel with Citadel Foundation Color "Khemri Brown".   After that, I painted all the parts I planned to make metal, with Americana "Zinc", and after that, I painted the beer foam with Americana "Antique White".

      My next step was to go back and paint the beer mug and the bands on the barrel with Accent "Prncely Pewter", and then his shoulder plate, cuff borders, and the metalwork on the hammer with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey".  I then painted the border on his shoulder plate, the barley decoration, and the button on his pouch with Ceramcoat "Bronze".
      Then, when everything had a while to dry, I gave the entire figure, except for the face, a wash with  Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash. I then went back and applied some Citadel "Reikland Fleshshade" wash to his face. When the wash was dry, I painted his eyes, and then highlighted his skin with a mix of Apple Barrel "Apple Flesh", and the base "Shading Flesh".  I then highlighted his hair and beard with, first, Crafter's Acrylic "Strom Cloud Grey", an the  Folk Art "Platinum Grey".

     Next, I highlighted his coat with a mix of the "Denim Blue" and some Crafter's Acrylic "Cool Blue".  I then highlighted the trim and cuffs with a some Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow", and after that I did the highlights on the towel over his shoulder with a mix of the "Dove Grey" and White.  I also highlighted his hammer with a mix of some of the "Navy Blue" and the "Denim Blue".

     I then highlighted his shoes and his pouch with Nicole's "Brown"; and did the beer foam with Americana "Bleached Sand" and White.  I next turned to the barrel, highlighting it with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige", and the tap with Americana "Mississippi Mud".  After that, I highlighted the inner wood of the trunk with the original "Barn Wood", and the bark with Americana "Neutral Grey".  Next, I worked on the metal areas, highlighting all the white metal areas with Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver", and highlighting the areas I painted with the "Bronze" using Ceramcoat "Wedding Gold".
     When I was done painting the figure, I used some white glue to glue some fine brown sand to the base.  When the sand was dry, I painted it with a thinned coat of Americana "Raw Umber". When this was dry, I drybrushed the sand with the "Territorial Beige", and then with some Folk Art "Butter Pecan"; lastly I drybrushed it with a little Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White".
      I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave him a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  When dry, I glued on some bits of grass tufts.   Another overnight dry, and I sprayed it with Testor's Dullcote".

A shot to show how the stump turned out.

     I really happy with this figure, and I think the stump turned out looking great.  My only disappointment is in the highlighting on the hammer; for some reason, in the photos, it looks very harsh and wonky.

Hagar, Dwarven Hero: Bones 3 Figure, with Crossbow Conversion

    This past week I got back to working on my all-Dwarf warband for Frostgrave, and painted Hagar, Dwarven Hero, from the Bones 3 Dwarves Set.  I had converted this figure a while back, as part of a trio of Bones 3 Dwarves I converted for an all-Dwarf warband for Frostgrave, by replacing one of his axes with a crossbow and adding a quiver of bolts, both from the Frostgrave Soldiers plastic figure set from Northstar.

Working on the figure in the center this week.

Figure in the center with axe removed, and crossbow and quiver of bolts added.

       I had originally planned to start working on this figure a while ago, and had glued it to a craft stick, but then it got back-burned for other projects.  When I decided to get back to it last week, I popped it off the stick and put it in my painting grip.

     I began by painting all the armor Black.  Then, when the Black was dry, I drybrushed the armor with  Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey", and then passed over it with a lighter drybrush of Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver".  After that, I painted his face with Americana Shading Flesh.

     Next, I painted his beard with Reaper MSP "Turkey Brown", and then did his belts, straps, shoes, and quiver with Americana "Raw Umber". I also painted the pouch on his back with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige", and his pants with Apple Barrel "Apple Maple Syrup".

    I then painted his crossbow and axe handle, with Crafter's Acrylic "Cinnamon Brown", and then painted the crossbow rope with Americana "Antique White".  After that, I painted the quarrel fletchings with Americana "Dove Grey", and the fang(?) on the quiver with Americana "Bleached Sand".  When all that was dry, I gave all the non metallic parts, except for his face, a wash with Citadel "Agrax Earthsahde" wash. I then went back and applied some Citadel "Reikland Fleshshade" wash to his face.

     When the washes were dry, I highlighted his face with some Crafter's Acrylic "Flesh" mixed with a little of the Shading Flesh".   I then highlighted his beard with Americana "Sable Brown", and then a little Americana "Khaki Tan".  Next, I painted the beads in his beard, using a base of Apple Barrel "Yellow", and then highlighting up using, first, Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow", and then Apple Barrel "Lemon Chiffon".  I first only highlighted alternating beads, as I planned to paint the other ones with gold, but as I looked at the highlighted beads I realized I had achieved something of an unintentional Non-Metallic Metal  (NMM) effect unintentionally, so I just went back and highlighted the rest of the beads.

     Next, I highlighted his belts, straps, and quiver with Americana "Terra Cotta", and then highlighted the pouch on his back with the "Khaki Tan".  I then highlighted the wood parts of the crossbow, the axe handle, and his shoes with Americana "Mississippi Mud", and the rope on the crossbow with the "Bleached Sand".   after that, I highlighted the fletchings with White, and the fang(?) with Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White".
    I then turned to the non-armor metal parts; and painted his beer mug with Accent "Princely Pewter", and the axe head and crossbow fittings with Ceramcoat "Metallic Pewter".   I then went back and highlighted these parts, as well as some of the armor with the "Metallic Silver".
 Lastly, I painted the figure's base with Black.
    When the Black was dry, I used some white glue to glue a little black course sand onto the base.  When this was dry I drybrushed the bases with some of the Americana "Neutral Grey", and then some of the "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".

   I like how this Dwarf turned out; though in the end, I find the sculpt's turned head a little awkward looking.  The beard in my opinion is not arranged in  a position to match the angle of the head, and the face ends up having a somewhat squished appearance.  But, in the end, none of that will affect his performance in a Frostgrave warband!  :)