Elven Blacksmith: Bones 3 Figure

    This past week I returned to working on the Townsfolk set from Bones 3, and painted the Elven Blacksmith.
      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" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue.   And, when the glue was dry,  I put it in my Citadel painting grip.

     I began by painting her skin with Apple Barrel "Flesh",  When it was dry, I gave it a wash with some Citadel "Reikland Fleshshade" wash.  When that was dry, I painted her leggings with Americana "Zinc", and her skirt with Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey".  I then painted her top, and the borders on the skirt, with Crafter's Acrylic "Navy Blue".

    Next, I painted her apron, and her eye wrap, with Folk Art "Platinum Grey", and her gloves with Crafter's Edition "Taupe".  I then painted the handle of her hammer with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige", and her hair with Accent "Golden Harvest". After that, I painted the bark of the tree trunk with Americana "Charcoal Grey", and the interior of the trunk with Reaper MSP "Ginger Cookie".

     I let everything dry for a while, and then gave the tree trunk, her hair, the gloves, and the hammer handle, a wash with Citadel "Agrax Earthsahde" wash.  When the wash was dry, I then gave her leggings, skirt, apron, and top all a wash with Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.  When that was dry, I worked on highlighting her hair, drybrushing it first with Americana "Moon Yellow", and then Apple Barrel "Lemon Chiffon".  I then touched it with a few Americana "White" highlights.

     Next, I painted in her eye and mouth, and then highlighted her skin with the base "Flesh" and the "Flesh" mixed with a little Americana "White".  I then highlighted her leggings with the "Storm Cloud Grey", and highlighted her skirt with a mix of the base "Storm Cloud Grey and some of the "Platinum Grey".  After that, I highlighted her apron, and her eye wrap, with a mix of the "Platinum Grey" and the "White".    I then highlighted the border on her skirt with Americana "True Blue", and afterwards, used the "True Blue" to paint the decorations on her apron. When I was finished, I went back and highlighted those decorations with some of the "True Blue" mixed with a little Crafter's Edition "Tropical Blue".

    Next, I painted her boots with Americana "Black".  I then drybrushed the tree trunk with, first, "Americana "Neutral Grey", and then with Folk Art Barn Wood".   After that, I painted the anvil and the head of the hammer with Reaper MSP "Scorched Metal", and I painted the sword with Accent "Princely Pewter.   I followed that with painting the vine on the trunk with Reaper MSP "Christmas Wreath".

     After the new colors had time to dry,I gave the hammer head, anvil, and sword all a wash with the "Nuln Oil".  I then drybrushed the anvil and hammer head with Folk Art Brushed Metal "Brushed Bronze", and then painted the scrolling on them with Ceramcoat "Wedding Gold".  After that, I worked on making the sword look like it was still a little molten by layering on Reaper MSP Bones "Cinnamon Red", Reaper MSP "Holly Berry", Reaper MSP "Hearth Fire", and Reaper MSP Golden Glow"  I had to keep doing it several times and in different thinnesses until I got a look I was happy with.
     When I was happy with the sword, I moved on to the vine.  I thought I'd try something a little different, so I first tried doing the  highlights with Folk Art Color Shift "Green Flash", but I felt it was too drastic of a color difference from the base "Christmas Wreath". So I went back and tempered it with Crafter's Acrylic "Wild Green".
      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 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 it 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".

     I'm really happy how she turned out!     Particularly the sword and the anvil.  I messed up her face a little on her left cheek; but given her missing eye, I figure she is a retired warrior, so a scar on her cheek looks fine to me.