Project Avalanche!

   I wasn't able to get a figure completed this week, as I found myself a bit buried in a number of different projects.
    A couple weeks ago, I recived my shipment from Secret Weapon's "Tablescape Dungeons: Mines" Kickstarter, and as rain and  humidity cooperated, I got them all spray primed.  This past week, I have been giving them their initial drybrush of Base Grey.  I'm using Dwarven Forge paints, based on their "How to Paint Dungeon Tiles tutorial, so hopefully they'll fit in a little better with my existing DF stuff.

   At the same time, I got a box of Perry's plastic War of the Roses troops, and since I got back from Historicon I have been busy assembling them in preparation for priming and painting; because (fool that I am!) I signed up to run a game with them at our club's regional con, BARRAGE, in two months!   So 40 of them need to get painted in 60 days!

   Even with these projects going on, I have been duly working on my next Bones post, having made good headway on my next figure, Ingrid, Female Viking; from the Bones 2, Heroes I set.

     I also got Goremaw, from Bones 3 Optional Rewards all washed, assembled, based, and ready to go.  I even got a first coat of purple slapped on him.   

      So I'm going to head back to the paint table now, and I will see you next Monday with my finished (finders crossed!) Ingrid!

Fiara, Elf Heroine: Bones 3 Figure

     This past week I painted Fiara, Elf Heroine, from the Bones 3 Core Set, to be a new member of my Ghost Archipelago crew.  (I seem to lose a lot of crew on my expeditions! :-)   ) 
      I prepped this figure in the usual way; soaking the parts 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.  When dry, I glued the figure to a black-primed 1" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue. I then placed the figure in my painting grip.

     I began by painting the face and hands with Crafter's Acrylic "Flesh", and then the pants with Crafter's Acrylic "Citrus Green".  Next, I painted the tunic with Crafter's Acrylic "Dark Turquoise", and then the belt, boots, and shoulder and forearm guards all with Americana "Terra Cotta".

     I then painted her hair with Crafter's Edition "Spice Brown", and then the grips on the sword with Folk Art "Teddy Bear Brown".  Next, I painted stripes on the pants with Apple Barrel "Yellow", and then painted the decorations on the coat, as well as the center of the stripes I had just painted, with Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow".  After that, I painted her sash with Crafter's Acrylic "Tropical Blue", and the sword blade with Americana "Zinc".

      Next, I went back and overpainted the sash with Folk Art Color Shift "Blue Flash".  After everything had time to dry, I gave her face and hands a wash of Citadel "Reikland Fleshshade" wash.   When that wash was dry, I then gave a wash to he rest of her with Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash.  When the washes were dry, I painted her eyes, and highlighted her face.  I then highlighted her hair; using first, Americana "Sable Brown", then Folk Art "Butter Pecan", and lastly, some of the "Butter Pecan" mixed with "Americana "Bleached Sand".

      When, I was done with her face, hair and hands, I started work on her clothes.  First, I highlighted her pants using the base "Citrus Green"; and then highlighted the stripes, and the decorations on her tunic with the base "Daffodil Yellow".  I then highlighted her tunic with the base "Dark Turquoise", and then did lighter highlights on the jacket by mixing the "Dark Turquoise" with some Folk Art "Celadon Green".  Next, I highlighted all the leather: boots, armor, belts, forearm guards; all with a mix of Accent "Golden Oxide" and Ceramcoat "Maple Sugar Tan".  After that, I highlighted the sword grips with some of the "Sable Brown" I had used on the hair.  I then highlighted the sash, using a mix of the base "Blue Flash", and some Folk Art Pearl "Aqua Moire".     Next, I went back and went over the sword blade again with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey", and then highlighted it with Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver".   I then finished up by doing the beads in her hair with different metallics.
     Lastly, I painted the figure's integral base with the "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 base.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed it with Testor's Dullcote".

     I'm generally happy with the figure, and I think her outfit turned out looking really nice; though in the end I'm a bit disappointed in her face, as she just kind of looks stunned or despondent, not heroic or pensive, or determined.  I don't know if that's the sculpt or just the way the paint fell, or both.

Ogre Guard, Ogre Smasher, Ogre Clubber: Bones 3 Figures

     I enjoyed painting the Merrow figure a couple weeks ago so much, that I was in the mood to tackle some more similarly sized monster figures; so I pulled the Bones 3 Ogres set out to paint this past week.  I decided, since they were basically all so similar, to just go ahead and paint them all at the same time.
     I prepped the figures in the usual way; soaking them in a dish of water with a couple drops of dish-soap added and then rinsing and drying.   I then glued them to 1.5" black-primed fender washers with Aleene's Tacky glue.  I then glued the figures to a  tongue depressor with a couple drops of the Elmer's glue each.

       I looked in my old 197? D&D Monster Manual to see what it had to say about the coloration of Ogres; and it described them as having anywhere from black-brown to "dead yellow" colored skin.  So I split the difference and began by painting them a 50/50 mix of Americana "Bittersweet Chocolate (a very dark brown), and Americana "Moon Yellow" (A mid-toned greyish yellow).  The end result turned out to be a mid-brown with greenish greyish overtones, and I was pleased with it.  I then painted the section of chainmail on the leftmost one with Ceramcoat "Black", and when dry, I drybrushed the chainmail with  Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey"

     Next, I painted the fur loincloth on the leftmost one with Crafter's Acrylic "Cinnamon Brown", and on the center one with Americana "Asphaltum".  The on on the right had a loincloth of layers of cloth, and as I thought about what colored cloth an Ogre might wear, I was struck by the angular shape and overlapping layers of the cloth, and how they could be painted to resemble flags and banners.  I really liked this idea, so I tried to painted the loincloth to look like it was assembled from the banners and flags of defeated foes.  I thought there was something humorous in the ultimate insult in defeat of having your personal banner rubbing against an Ogre's unmentionables!  :-D   While I had the bright colors out for the flags, I also painted the shield on the lefthand one's arm, and the righthand one's hip.  I then painted the keg on the belt of the lefthand one, and the back of the shield on this arm with some Folk Art "Teddy Bear Brown".  After that, I painted all the clubs with Americana "Mississippi Mud".

     I then painted all the belts, an the leather parts of the wrist guards on  the left one and the center one, with Accent "Real Umber".  Next, I painted the ankle wraps on all of them, and the wrist wraps on he righthand one with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige", and the pouches on the middle one and the righthand one with Reaper MSP Turkey Brown".  On the lefthand one I painted the padding on his right wrist brace with Folk Art "Gray Green".

     Next, I painted anything that looked like leather straps with Americana "Terra Cotta", and then painted any large corded ropes with Folk Art "Butter Pecan".  I then did smaller strings with Folk Art "Barn Wood", and then all the skulls and any other bones, and the Ogres' teeth, with Americana "Antique White".  After that, I did the stone in the righthand one's club with Folk Art "Dapple grey", and then I painted any of the larger metal pieces with Americana "Zinc".  I finished the main painting, by doing their nipples with Vallejo "US Olive Drab", and then I went around and any odd thing that hadn't been painted yet got done with Folk Art Teddy Bear Brown".

     When everything had had a chance to dry, I gave the figures a complete wash with Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash.   When the wash was dry, I painted their eyes, and then highlighted their teeth with Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White".   Next, I mixed some of the same colors I had used to paint their skin, "Moon Yellow" and "Bittersweet Chocolate", into a slightly lighter tone by adding a little more of the "Moon Yellow".  I then used this color to highlight their skin.   After that, I painted the center one's eye patch, the lefthand one's side whiskers, and all three's belly hair, with some Ceramcoat "Black".  When the "Black was dry, I highlighted it with some Citadel "The Fang".

      Next, I highlighted the wood of their clubs with Folk Art Barn Wood", and then highlighted their ankle wraps, the wrist wraps on the third one, and the keg on the lefthand one, with Reaper MSP "Ginger Cookie".  I then highlighted the loin cloth fur of the first one with Americana "Sable Brown", and the center one's with Folk Art Butter Pecan", and finally on the third one I added highlights to the flags.  After that, I highlighted their belts, and the leather parts of the wrist guards, with some of the "Teddy Bear Brown".

     I then highlighted all the leather strapping with Accent "Golden Oxide", and then highlighted the big cord on the righthand one with the "Antique White".  Next, I highlighted the skulls with Americana "Bleached Sand" followed by some "White". After that, I highlighted the smaller cords, and the wrist pad on the right hand of the lefthand Ogre, with Folk Art "Porcelain White", and highlighted the stone in the righthand Ogre's club with Folk Art "grey Green".   I then splotched the stone with a little Ceramcoat "Black Cherry" to give a slight bloodstained look.   Next, I highlighted all the pouches on all of them with Reaper MSP "Olive Skin Highlight", and while doing so I noticed there was hand sticking out of the righthand Ogre's pouch, which I painted with some Americana "Reindeer Moss Green".
    Next, I painted all the metal parts with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey", and when dry, I gave all the metal, and the pouch hand,  a wash with the "Agrax Earthshade" wash.  When dry, I highlighted some of the metal with Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver".
    Lastly, I painted the figures integral bases with the "Bittersweet Chocolate".
     I let the figures dry overnight and the next day I gave them a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.    Then, when  the varnish was dry, I used some white glue to flock their bases.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed them with Testor's Dullcote".
   

    I'm generally happy with these.  They ended up being a bit of a speed paint, as I was attending Historicon this past weekend; so I had to get these all done before I left on Friday, so some corners were cut.  But they'll look good enough when on the game table, and that's what counts.   I'm particularly happy though with how the loin cloth made of the banners of defeated foes turned out. :) 

Kassandra of the Blade: Bones 3 Figure Conversion. Painted as Snow White

   This past week, I painted Kassandra of the Blade from the Bones 3 Core Set.   A couple weeks ago, I found myself painting up a Disney Monopoly Snow White figure to command a unit of Dwarf Miners (Long story you can read about here: Princess Snow), and I was really struck by the simple but effective primary color scheme of Snow White's outfit.  I immediately decided I wanted to paint a Bones female fighter figure with the same palette.

         So, I pawed through my boxes of unpainted Bones, and fell upon Kassandra of the Blade as the most suitable of what I had.      I prepped this 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. I then placed the figure in my painting grip. 
       The one thing I didn't like about her was the dual-wielding of swords.  In my opinion there are too many fantasy figures that are wielding two weapons. I like simple.  So I decided to chop off her left hand and replace it before I started painting her.

      Then came the decision of what to replace it with.  I considered a shield for a while, then in looking through my box of Bones transplant donors I came across Sarah the Seeress, whose staff hand had gone to make my Highland Heroine into a Frostgrave Apprentice, leaving her with just her left hand holding an orb of some sort. At first I thought, no, why would Snow White be holding a crystal ball; but then it hit me: paint it like an apple.

     So it was an easy matter to cut off Kssandra's left hand at the wrist and glue on Sarah's hand with the orb.

      I began by painting her face and hands with Crafter's Acrylic "Flesh".  I then painted her pants with Apple Barrel Yellow" and to help carry the yellow color of Snow White's skirt further, I painted her boots with Accent "Mustard Seed" . After that, I painted her tunic with Americana "True Blue".

     Next, I painted the lining of her cape with Reaper MSP Bones "Cinnamon Red" and the apple with Ceramcoat "Black Cherry".  Then, after everything had a chance to dry, I gave her face, hands, apple, cape and pants all a wash with some Citadel "Reikland Fleshshade" wash.  When that was dry, I gave her boots a wash with some Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash.

     When the washes were dry, I painted the back of her cape with Accent "Real Umber", and her scarf with Americana "Dove Grey".   After that, I painted her hair and the pouch at her waist with Black.

     Next, when everything was dry, I gave the outside of her cape a wash with the "Agrax Earthshade"; and when that was dry, I gave her tunic and scarf a wash with Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.  When the washes were dry, I painted her eyes, eyebrows, and lips, and then did the highlights on her face and hands.  I also did some highlights on the apple with some of the "Black Cherry" mixed with a little Crafter's Acrylic "Tutti Frutti"; and then painted a leaf on the apple using Reaper MSP "Christmas Wreath", and highlighted it a with a little Americana "Festive Green" and Crafter's Acrylic "Wild Green".

     Then, I highlighted her hair with Citadel "The Fang", and some Folk Art "Cloudy Day".  After that, I highlighted her pants with Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow", and then her boots with Americana "Moon Yellow".

     Next, I highlighted her tunic with the base "True Blue" mixed with Americana "Salem Blue", and I highlighted her scarf with White.   I then highlighted the inside of the cape with Reaper MSP "Holly Berry", and for the really high highlights I mixed in a little of the "Daffodil Yellow". After that, I worked on the outside of the cape, highlighting it with the base "Accent "Real Umber" mixed with Americana "Sable Brown".    I then painted her sword blade with Americana "Zinc", and the sword guard and the bracelet on her left arm with some of the "Mustard Seed".  I then went back and went over the sword blade again with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey", and then highlighted it with Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver".  I then went back over the bracelet and sword hilt with Cermcoat "Bronze", and highlighted it with Ceramcoat "Wedding Gold".
     Lastly, I painted the figure's integral base with the "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 base.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed it with Testor's Dullcote".   When the Dullcote was dry, applied a little gloss varnish to the apple.

     I'm really happy with how she turned out.  I think the color scheme works really well, and this goes right to the top of the list of best faces I've done I think.

Merrow (Aquatic Troll): Bones 3 Figure

    This past week I painted the Merrow figure from the Bones 3 Stoneskull Expansion set.   
    I prepped this figure in the usual way; soaking the parts 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.  When dry, I glued his arms to his body, and when dry, I trimmed his base a little and then glued the figure to a black-primed 1.5" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue. I then placed the figure in my painting grip.

      As I looked at the figure, I decided I wanted to play up his aquatic nature, and thought it might be fun to paint him like a frog; and then I thought it might also be neat to do him in wild colors like a Poison Dart Frog.  Looking at pictures of colorful frogs, I decided in the end to copy the coloration of a Red-eyed Tree Frog.

     I began by painting his body, except his chest and stomach, with Americana "Festive Green".  When dry, I gave it a wash with Iron Wind Metals "Dark Green" ink.  When the ink was dry, I drybrushed him with some Crafter's Acrylic "Wild Green", and some Reaper MSP Bones "Dungeon Slime".

     Next, I painted his chest and belly with Americana "Bleached Sand", his hands and feet with Crafter's Acrylic "Pure Pumpkin, and his fins with Crafter's Acrylic "Tropical Blue".

     I then painted the netting draped over him with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige", and his loincloth with Folk Art "Dapple Grey".  After that, I painted the shaft of his billhook with Americana "Mississippi Mud". 

      Next, I painted the roping on his weapon with Folk Art "Butter Pecan", and then I painted the little shells and baubles on his netting an assortment of about five different colors that I just grabbed randomly off on my table.     When everything was dry, I gave his feet and hands a wash with some Citadel "Reikland Fleshshade" wash.   When that wash was dry, I then gave a wash to his netting, loincloth, and billhook, with Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash.

     I then gave the fins on his arms and legs a wash with some Iron Wind Metals "Mid Blue" ink.  When all the washes were dry, I painted his eyes Reaper MSP "Holly Berry", and as I was doing it, realized I hadn't painted his teeth, so I did those with some Americana "Antique White, and when dry, gave them a wash with the "Agrax Earthshade".  When dry, I highlighted them with some Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White".

While I was using the "Light Antique White", I also used it to clean up some of the bigger wash stains on his belly, and do some general belly highlighting.   I realized I hadn't painted his claws, and so did those with some Americana "Terra Cotta".  When dry, I gave them  a wash with the Agrax Earthshade".  Next, I highlighted his hands and feet with Americana "Tangerine". I didn't feel it was light enough, so went back an touched it up with some of the "Tangerine" mixed with some Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow". After that, I highlighted the claws with some Accent "Golden Oxide".   I then highlighted his fins with some Americana "Salem Blue", and his loin cloth with some of the original "Dapple Grey" mixed with some Americana "Jade Green".   Next, I highlighted the shaft of his billhook with Americana "Khaki Tan", and the rope binding with some Reaper MSP "Olive Skin Highlight".  I painted the metal part of the weapon with some Americana "Zinc", and when dry, went over it with some Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey".  When that was dry, I gave it a wash with some Citadel "Nuln Oil wash; and when that dried, I did a few highlights with Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver". 

    Lastly, I painted the figure's integral base with the "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 base.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed it with Testor's Dullcote".  After the Dullcote was dry, I applied a little watered-down Woodland Scenics "Water Effects" to the edge of the base, to give a slight swamp effect.

    I'm really happy with this fellow, and in my opinion I think the non-traditional color scheme looks kind of cool.