Herryk, Dwarf Cleric: Bones 2 Figure

     This past week I painted Herryk, Dwarf Cleric, from the Bones 2 Heroes I set.  I was continuing to mess around with the clear weapons sprue, like I did on Kristianna a couple weeks ago; and on this guy I decided to replace his hammer with a new clear top.  I was thinking I'd try to paint it with clear green and make it like some sort of magic Emerald Hammer. 

        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 began by cutting down the big ornamental back piece  he was wearing, as I thought it just looked kind of impractical and a little silly.  (Note, I had already done that in the photo above before I took the "Starting" photo. To see what it looked like, you can check the photo in the Reaper Online Store.)  I then cut the top potion of the figure's hammer off just above the hand.  Next, I got the clear hammer from the basic clear weapon sprue, and cut the head off this hammer too.   I then drilled a hole in the top of the dwarf's right hand to insert the clear hammer head into.  When I was satisfied with the hole, and the fit of the handle into it, I glued it in place with some Gorilla Super Glue. I then glued the figure to a black-primed 1" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and then placed the figure in my painting grip.

      I began by giving the figure a wash with Reaper MSP "Blue Liner"; and when that was dry, I painted all his armor with Ceramcoat "Black".  When dry, I drybrushed the armor with  Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey", and then gave it a lighter drybrush with Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver".   I then painted his skin with Americana "Shading Flesh".

     Next, I painted his robes with Reaper MSP "Christmas Wreath", and then did the trim on them, as well as a little freehand along the edge, with Crafter's Acrylic "Tropical Blue".  I then painted the rack on his back with Accent real Umber, and the blank roll attached to it with Allene's "Deep Khaki".   After that, I painted his beard with Americana "Light Cinnamon", and the ropes holding everything on his back with Americana "Khaki".

     I then painted the leather wrapping on the hammer handle with Accent "Mustard Seed", and then painted the metal fittings on the hammer, as well as the anvil on his back, with Americana "Zinc".  After that, I  gave his face, and beard, a wash of Citadel "Reikland Fleshshade" wash.   When that wash was dry, I then gave a wash to the hammer handle, and the all the accouterments on his back with Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash.   And, when that wash was dry, I then gave a wash to his robes, and metal fittings on the hammer, and the anvil, with Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.

    When all the washes were good and dry,   I painted his eyes, and then highlighted his face with a mix of the "Shading Flesh" and some Crafter's Acrylic "Flesh".  I then highlighted his hair using Americana "Sable Brown".   After that, I highlighted his robes with a bit of the "Christmas Wreath" mixed with some Americana "Festive Green", and I highlighted the trip and freehand with a bit of the "Tropical Blue" mixed with Americana "Salem Blue".   I also added to the shadows on the robe, particularly underneath the bottom, and the inner sleeves, with Apple Barrel "Apple Black Green", and a bit of the "Black".

     I then highlighted the wrappings on the hammer with "Raw Sienna", and then went around back and highlighted the rack with Folk Art "Teddy Bear Brown".   Next, I highlighted the bed roll with Aleene's "Dusty Khaki", and the rope bindings with Americana "Antique White".  After that, I painted the Anvil with Accent "Princely Pewter", and then highlighted it with a little of the Gunmetal Grey".  I went around front again, and used the "Gunmetal Grey" to paint the fittings on the hammer.  I then highlighted these with the "Metallic Silver".
     It was now time to finish things up by painting the clear hammer head.  For this I used some clear green paint I got a while back in a hobby store clearance sale:  Tamiya Color "Clear Green".
     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 dried, I went back over the emerald hammer head with Americana "DuraClear Gloss Varnish"

    I'm really happy with how this fellow turned out!   I don't often do Dwarves in green, usually saving it for Elves, but in this case I think it worked very well.

Aeris, Female Elf Ranger (Painted as Dark Elf): Bones 3 Figure

This week I painted Aeris, Female Elf Ranger, from the Bones 3 Core Set.  Like last week's Halfling Cleric, I selected this figure to fill a gap in the figures I need for a game I'm going to be running at the upcoming Fall-In gaming convention.  What I was missing was a Drow/Dark Elf Ranger, and this figure was the only Elf archer I still had in my horde of unpainted Bones, so it got nominated to fill the role.
   

      While a beautiful figure, I was a bit disappointed in it as an Archer or a Ranger because it seemed to be missing any obvious quiver or hand to hand weapon (not even a dagger). I was able to solve these problems with some extra bits from set of hard plastic plastic War of the Roses troops I had recently been working on.
    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 transplanted her right arm with one carrying a set of arrows, and added a sword at her hip on the left side.   With the new additions in place, I glued the figure to a black-primed 1" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and then placed the figure in my painting grip.

     I began by giving the figure a wash with Reaper MSP "Grey Liner"; and when that was dry, I painted her entire body with Ceramcoat "Black".    I then drybrushed her bodice armor and boots with Citadel "The Fang", followed by a lighter drybrush of Folk Art "Cloudy Day".  I then highlighted her pants and over-shirt with Apple Barrel "Apple Blue Spruce", followed with lighter highlights using Folk Art "Hunter Green".

     Next, I painted her under-sleeves with Crafter's Acrylic "Purple Passion", and the lining of her cape with Crafter's Acrylic "African Violet".  I then painted the outer layer of her cape with Americana "Zinc".

     I then painted her bow with Crafter's Acrylic "Navy Blue", and the sword scabbard with the "African Violet".  Next, I painted her hair with Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey" and the arrow shafts with Ceramcoat "Black Cherry".   After that, I painted the lining of the cape with Folk Art Color Shift "Purple Flash", and then the trim of the cape with the "Black".

     Next, I painted the scabbard again with Folk Art "Metallic Amethyst", and the bindings on the bow with Folk Art "Dapple Grey".  I then let everything dry for a while, and afterwards gave the entire figure a wash with Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.  When the wash was dry, I painted her eyes, and then highlighted her face and hands with with a mix of Apple Barrel "Apple Black Green", and Americana "Avocado".

     I then highlighted her hair with Americana "Dove Grey", followed by some Americana "Snow White". I added some eyebrows too.  I decided that the highlights on the green weren't bright enough, so I added additional highlights to her pants and over-shirt with some Folk Art Artists Pigment "Hauser Green Medium".   After that I highlighted the under-sleeves with some Apple Barrel "Apple Lavender" mixed with a little of the base "Purple Passion".

     Next, I highlighted the outer cape with Americana "Grey Sky mixed with a little of the base "Zinc", and then highlighted the cape's fur trim with Americana "Neutral Grey".   I then highlighted the cape's lining using the base "Purple Flash" mixed with a little Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver", and the scabbard using the base "metallic Amethyst" mixed with a little of the "Metallic Silver".  After that, I highlighted the bow with some of the base "Navy Blue" mixed with a little Ceramcoat "Denim Blue", and I highlighted the bindings on the bow with Folk Art "Grey Green".   I wrapped up the painting on the figure by highlighting the arrow shafts with Ceramcoat "Opaque Red", and  highlighting the fletchings with  Folk Art "Medium Grey". I painted the points of the arrows, the metal parts of the sword grip, and the cape's clasp, all with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey", and then highlighted them with a little of"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".

    I'm really happy with how she came out, and I think the conversion to a Dark Elf works just fine.  I also think the added arrows and sword  help the figure a bit too.  

Balazar, Iconic Summoner

     This past week I painted Balazar, Iconic Summoner, from the Bones 2 Heroes II set.  I needed a Halfling cleric for a game I'm running at the upcoming Fall-In gaming convention, and this was the closest thing I had on hand.  I thought he certainly looked the part of a Halfling religious figure all decked put in his ceremonial robes.  Maybe not the best outfit for adventuring, but the rules of his order must be adhered to! :)
     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.  The figure is sculpted with a big long mustache, which didn't look very Halfling-like to me; so after washing and drying the figure, I very carefully trimmed off the facial hair with my hobby knife.   I then glued the figure to a black-primed 1" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and then placed the figure in my painting grip.

       I began by giving the figure a wash with Reaper MSP "Grey Liner"; and when that was dry, I painted his face and hands with Americana "Shading Flesh".  I then painted his hat and inner sleeves with Crafter's Acrylic "Tropical Blue", and the decoration on the hat as well as the flaps that hang down the sides, with Crafter's Acrylic "Bright Yellow".  I then painted the flaps above the inner sleeves with Americana "Bittersweet Chocolate, and the flaps above those, that go across his neck and chest, with Americana "Khaki Tan".   After that I did his longer robes with Americana "Light Cinnamon", and the longer scarf with Americana "Forest Green".

    Next, I painted his shoes and dagger sheath with Americana "Charcoal Grey", and his pouch with Americana "Mississippi Mud".  I then painted his staff with Crafter's Acrylic "Cinnamon Brown", his blanket roll with Folk Art "Dapple Grey, and his canteen with  Accent "Real Umber.  After that, I painted the fittings on his dagger and sheath with Accent "Golden Harvest", and then let the figure dry for a few hours.  Once it was good and dry, I gave the entire figure a wash with Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash.   When the wash was dry, I painted his eyes, and highlighted his face and hands with a mix of the "Shading Flesh" and some Crafter's Acrylic "Flesh".

     I then highlighted his hat and sleeves with apple Barrel "Apple Scotch Blue", and the "Bright Yellow" decorations on it, as well as the "Bright Yellow" flaps, with Crafter'a Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow".  After that, I highlighted the "Khaki Tan" upper sleeve, neck and chest layer with some Americana "Antique White", and the "Forest Green" scarf with Americana "Festive Green".

     Next, I highlighted the lower level of sleeve flaps with Nicole's "Brown", and then the robes with "Folk Art "Teddy Bear Brown".  I did the highlights on the shoes and scabbard with Folk Art "Dark Brown", and the pouch with Folk Art "Barn Wood".   After that, I went around back and highlighted the bed roll with Americanas "Jade Green", the canteen with Crafter's Edition "Spice Brown", and the staff with Americana "Sable Brown".
    I then went back and painted the fittings on the staff and dagger sheath with Ceramcoat "Bronze", and then highlighted with Ceramcoat "14K 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".

     Well, certainly not the best I've ever done.  I didn't really like this figure; as I started to paint it I found all the layers and flaps of clothes more and more frustrating, as I tried to figure out what went with what: front and back, top and bottom, and even left and right.   I tried to make him look like he belonged to some kind of agricultural based religion; with his clothing representative of the sun and sky, the dirt, and growing things. It kind of all just ends up being a jumbled mess.  I also think I put the wash on too heavily as he looks rather smudgey.    But he's fine for tabletop use, and in the end, that's all I wanted from the figure.

Kristianna, Bones 2 Figure

      This past week I decided to continue to work on the Bones 2 Heroes I set, and I painted the Kristianna figure.
     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 had recently seem someone post online some figures they had done with the clear weapons  from Bones 3 weapon sprues; where they had painted parts of the clear piece, and left others see-through,  and I had decided I wanted to try something similar.    Since I'm not a fan of dual-wield figures, I thought it might be neat to remove her lefthand sword, and replace it with a clear shield.  So I looked through the selection of shields, and landed on the one with the hooded head on it with the wing-like surround from the Armory of Virtue clear Add-on set. I was struck by the symbolic similarity between the hood on the shield and the head piece the figure had on, and decided that perhaps the figure was a cleric or paladin, and the face on the shield was an image of her goddess or a saint.  She wore the headpiece as part of her official garb, in representation of the hood worn by the deity.

  My next step was to see if the shield actually fit.  I first carefully cut away the sword, and immediately found that the shield was a little big for the space between the overhang of her headpiece, and the flowing  ribbon like pieces (a clerical stole?) flowing from behind her arm and curving upward.  So I set about trimming off a bit of the underside of the headpiece, and the top curve of the ribbon until I could wedge the shield in there.  I thought it looked pretty good. I decided it would probably be best to paint them separately, and then glue them together at the end; especially since you'd actually be able to see part of her outfit through the clear parts of the shield. 
     So, I then glued the figure to a black-primed 1" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and then placed the figure in my painting grip.

      I began by giving the figure a wash with Reaper MSP "Grey Liner" to help see the detail; and when that was dry I painted her face and hands with Reaper MSP "Tanned Shadow". When the "Tanned Shadow" was dry, I gave it  a wash with Citadel "Reikland Fleshshade".  When it was dry, I painted her pants, blouse, and sleeves, with Americana "Grey Sky", and her corset and tabard with Crafter's Acrylic "Tutti Frutti"

     I then painted all the stuff flowing down her back (coat? cape? clerical stole?), as well as her headpiece, and the decorations on her corset and sleeves, with Americana "Cranberry Wine".  While painting the decor on the sleeves, I decided that it looked more like she was wearing gloves than having bear hands, so I used the "Cranberry Wine" to paint the gloves as well.  I then painted her armor, and the sword blade with Americana "Zinc", and her hair, tiara, and sword hilt with Accent "Golden Harvest".

     After giving everything a few hours to get good and dry, I gave the areas I had painted with the "Sky Grey", "Tutti Frutti", and "Zinc" all a wash with Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.  When that was dry, I gave the areas of "Cranberry Wine" all  a wash with slightly diluted Iron Wind Metals "Purple" ink.

     When the washes were  dry, I painted her eyes and lips and then highlighted her face with Reaper MSP "Tanned Skin" and Reaper MSP "Tanned Highlight".  For the very highest points I mixed in a little Crafter's Acrylic "Flesh" into the "Tanned Highlight".  Next, I did her hair, highlighting it first with Americana "Moon Yellow", and then lighter highlights with Apple Barrel "Lemon Chiffon".   After that, I  did the highlighting on her pants, blouse and sleeves, using first the base "Grey Sky" mixed with a little Ceramcoat "Snow White", and then the plain "Snow White" itself. "

I then highlighted her corset and tabard with Crafter's Acrylic "Cherry Blossom Pink", and then highlighted the flowing stuff on her back, the headpiece, gloves, and the decorations on her corset and sleeves, all with Americana "Burgundy Wine" mixed with a little of the "Tutti Frutti".  I also went back and hit the pearls around the top of her headpiece with the "Snow White"
     Next, I went back and went over the sword and armor with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey", and then highlighted it all with Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver".   After that, I painted the sword hilt, tiara, and necklace, with Ceramcoat "Bronze", and highlighted them 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.
     While I was waiting for the figure to dry and get it's varnish coat, I began to work on the shield.  I began by painting the face with Americana "Shading Flesh", and then I painted the hood and the bow underneath with the "Cranberry Wine"  I also painted the back of the shield, where the head was, with the "Cranberry Wine" so the entire head area would be opaque from front and back.

     Next, I painted the little bit of hair seen under the hood with some Daffodil Yellow", then when the shield was dry, I gave the face and hood a wash with the "Reikland Fleshshade".  When it was dry, I highlighted the face with the "Flesh",  and the hood I did the same as on the main figure; with the "Burgundy  Wine and the "Tutti Frutti".  I then painted the rim around the shield, both front and back, with Ceramcoat "Black", and when it was dry went over it with the "Gunmetal Grey", front and back.
     Now was the moment of truth... Once again I carefully squeezed the shield into he spot between the underside of the headpiece and the upwards curl of the ribbon-like hanging.  However, this time I noticed that, while the shield fit in the area, when I looked around back behind the shield I realized her arm didn't actually come into contact with the back of the shield; there was about 2mm of space between them at the widest point!  In my rush to get started I hadn't actually checked about contact with the arm.  And the shield did not sit close enough to the body that I could just fudge it.
      This meant I'd have to do some after-painting trimming, which I was not looking forward to.    In the end, I game to the realization that the whole lower curve of the ribbon was just going to have to go; so I cut that off and trimmed it back until the ends of it sat more flush with the line of the arm.  I also had to go in and trim more of the headpiece's overhang.  Finally, I got it where the shield would actually sit up against her arm, without doing too much damage to the paint job.  Phew!

     My next step then was to superglue the shield in place to the arm.  I felt there were enough areas I had trimmed, and enough unpainted surface on the back of the shield that I would have a couple of good contact points. 
     Once the glue was good and dry, I gave the shield a coat of the "Duraclear "Matte" varnish. Then, when  the varnish was dry, I used some white glue to flock the base.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote".

    Well, I'm really happy with how this turned out.  I think it ended up looking very cool, and now I want to try more things like this!    As I was painting, I came up with a whole backstory of how the shield is made from some sort of holy crystal slab which, legend tells, was formed from the tears-turned-to-stone of the goddess herself. Imbued with all sorts of magic protective powers. :)