Reaper Miniatures Bones 5 Kickstarter Announced!

Stop the presses!   Last night on their Reaper Live video show, the folks at Reaper announced their new Bones 5 Kickstarter, which will be launching on or near September 5th 2019!   Stay tuned for details!
    To check out the video for yourself, see: Reaper Live Ep. 38

Fungal Handmaiden: Bones 4 Darkreach Figure.

     This past week I also painted the Fungal Handmaiden from the Bones 4 Darkreach Expansion set.   I'm considering an "Island of the Living Mushrooms" scenario for our Ghost Archipelago campaign, and wanted to start working on the Mushroom folk from the Darkreach set.  I didn't want to jump right in with the big Queen figure until I worked out exactly how I wanted to paint these.  I had seen someone on the Reaper Forum who had done their mushrooms in very pale muted colors, and I wanted to try for something a little like that as well.
      I prepped the figure in the usual way; soaking it in a dish of water with a couple drops of dish-soap added and then rinsing and drying.   I then glued the figure to a black primed 1" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue.  I then set the washer in my painting grip.

     I was planning on doing this figure in a series of washes, so I began by painting the entire figure with Americana "Snow White"

     I then gave the "clothing" a wash with very thinned Ceramcoat "Denim Blue".  After that, I did the top of the cap with a wash of very thinned Americana "True Blue".

     Next, I used the "Snow White" to touch up areas of the face, arms, hair and underside of the cap where the blues had mistakenly spread.   I then gave the face and arms a wash with some Citadel "Reikland Fleshshade" wash.  When that was dry, I gave the underside of her cap and her hair a wash with the very thinned Americana "Antique White".   I then painted her eyes using Americana " Light Cinnamon" for the socket shadows and Accent "Real Umber" for the pupil dots.

    I then highlighted the face and arms with Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White", and highlighted the hair and underside of the cap with Americana "Bleached Sand".  After that, I painted the specks on top of the cap with the "Snow White".   
     It was now time to work on the rocky outcropping the mushroom was growing from.  I began by painting the outcropping and rest of the base with Americana "Zinc".  When dry, I gave the base a coat of some Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash. When the wash was dry, I gave it alght drybrush with some Folk Art "Porcelain White".
      I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave it a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.     Then, another overnight dry, and I sprayed it with Testor's Dullcote".

     I'm really happy with how she came out.  I like the effect of the pale washes and they were relatively easy to do..

Female Efreeti: Bones 4 Fan Favorites Figure

     This past week I painted the Female Efreeti figure from the Bones 4 Fan Favorites Expansion set.  Since I did the Djinni, last week, I thought I should do her counterpart this week to complete the pair.
      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 rinsed and dried it.  I then glued on the head on with Gorillas superglue.  Then, after cutting down the base a little, I glued the figure to a black-primed 1.25" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and then placed the figure in my painting grip.

     I began by painting the figure's armor with Ceramcoat "Black".  When dry, I drybrushed it with Ceramcoat "Bronze".

     Next, I painted the skin with Folk Art "Barnyard Red", and the loincloths with Crafter's Acrylic "Pure Pumpkin".  I then painted the sword grips with Reaper MSP HD "Umber Brown", the metal parts of the hilt with Accent "Mustard Seed", and the blades with Americana "Zinc"

     I then painted the metal on the sword hilts with the "Bronze", and the sword blades with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey".  I decided I didn't like the blades, and wanted to do something more unique with them, so when dry I repainted them with Folk Art Color Shift "Black Flash".    After that, I painted her fangs and the teeth on her necklace with Americanas "Fawn".   I also took this opportunity to carefully paint the areas of her hair that bordered her skin and armor with the "Black".  If I had it to do again, I should have painted the head/hair piece separately, as the hair is sculpted to really intermingle closely with her body.   

     Then , when everything had a chance to dry, I gave her skin and loincloths a wash with Citadel "Reikland Fleshshade" wash.  When that was dry, I gave her armor and swords a wash with Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash. 

     When the washes were dry, I painted her eyes using Folk Art "Lemon Chiffon" for the "whites", and then painted "Black" pupils.  I then went back and painted the pupil centers with Folk Art Color Shift "Red Flash".   Next, I painted the lips, and afterwards highlighted the face and rest of the skin with a mix of the base "Barnyard Red" and varying degrees of Americana "Shading Flesh".  After that, I highlighted her teeth with Americana "Snow White", and the teeth on the necklace with Americana "Bleached Sand".  

     I then highlighted the loincloths with the base "Pure Pumpkin" with varying degrees of Americana "Tangerine" mixed in, and then mixed in a little of the "Lemon Chiffon" and did lighter highlights.  I wasn't happy with the splotchy way the "Reikland Fleshshade" had pooled in the loincloth creases, so I reapplied shadows using Crafter's Acrylic "Orange Spice".   After that, I painted the rest of her hair with the "Black".

     Next, I painted her claws with the "Orange Spice", and then added highlights with Ceramcoat "Raw Sienna".  I then drybrushed her hair with Apple Barrel "Apple Maroon", and then did lighter highlights with Reaper MSP "Holly Berry".  After that, I painted her horns with Americana "Charcoal Grey", and when they had dried for a while, I gave them a wash with the "Nuln Oil".  When the wash was dry, I drybrushed them with Americana "Mississippi Mud".  I then drybrushed the sword blades with Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver"; and afterwards highlighted the armor and sword hilts with Ceramcoat "14K Gold", followed with Ceramcoat "Wedding Gold".   Lastly, I painted the entire base with "Americana "Mississippi Mud".
       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 thought the eyes ended up looking too flat, so I went back and reapplied some of the "Red Flash",  and added highlight dots with the "Lemon Chiffon".

     I'm really happy with how she came out.  It was fun playing with a different kind of skin tone, and I think the red highlights in the hair was an experiment that ended up looking good.

Tune in Thursday for another bonus post!

Carnivorous Pudding and Acidic Ooze: Bones 4 "Darkreach" Translucent Figures

     This past week I also painted the Carnivorous Pudding and Acidic Ooze translucent figures from the  Bones 4 Darkreach Expansion Set. 
       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 superglued the Carnivorous Pudding to an unprimed 1.5"x1.5" steel base, and attached the Acidic Ooze to a 1" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue.
 

     To begin with, I painted the entire Pudding with Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  When it was dry, I then gave the figure a coat with thin Vallejo Game Color "Black" Ink.  When the ink was dry, I drybrushed the figure with, first, Folk Art Color Shift "Black Flash", and then, Folk Art Color Shift "Purple Flash".   

     I was starting to find it awkward to paint the pudding just holding it in my hand, so at this point I glued it to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of Elmer's glue.   When dry,  I painted the skeleton parts with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige", the shield with Americana "True Blue", and the sword with Americana Zinc.    I then painted the sword grip with Accent "Rea Umber", and then drybrushed the skeleton parts with Americana "Antique White".

     Then, to try and give a corroded look, I painted the parts of the shield and sword that were touching the Pudding with Reaper MSP "Aged Pewter",  followed by Reaper MSP "Scorched Metal".   After these, I hit it with some spots of Accent "Golden Oxide".  After that, I gave the skeleton parts, shield and sword all a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.     When the wash was dry, I highlighted the skeleton parts with some Americana "Bleached Sand".

     I then glued the Acidic Ooze to a tongue depressor as well, with a couple drops of the Elmer's glue.

    For this figure, like the Pudding, I painted the entire thing with the "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  When it was dry, I then gave it a coat with thin "Black" Ink.  When the ink was dry, I simply drybrushed it with some Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey".  To finish up, I painted the base with Americana "Neutral Grey".

      I let the two figures dry overnight and the next day I gave them another coat of the "DuraClear Matte" varnish.    I decided not to spray varnish these as I have had some issues in the past with the translucent figures getting a little tacky after a while; so I'm just going to go with the brush on matte varnish. 

     I'm really happy with how these two came out.  And like the Darkreach crystals I did last week, I think the Color Shift paint really gives the translucents an interesting sheen.

Female Djinni: Bones 4 "Fan Favorites" Figure

  This past week I painted the Female Djinni figure from the Bones 4 Fan Favorites Expansion Set.  I'm thinking of doing the Frostgrave rulebook's "Genie in a Bottle" scenario for this year's Ghost Archipelago campaign, and this figure just seemed like it would be perfect to include.

    When I got the figure, I was a little disappointed in a couple things.  First, it's a very cartoony looking figure; sculpted more in big broad strokes than in the fine detail I expect from Reaper.  Secondly, for some reason, they made the sword so it attached to the figure in a reversed and inverted position from the initial concept art (Compare the illustration above with the production example figure photo below.) Now I have no problem with the Djinni being a lefty but the the sword now hung incorrectly with the bird's head beak pointing up (A good way to impale your palm when reaching quickly for the sword), and the end curve pointed down.   One third and last quibble, the sword is just attached to her butt, without any sculpted straps to show where it would attach to her belt.

(Photo from Reaper Kickstarter Update)

        I prepped the figure in the usual way, soaking the parts 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.      The next thing I did was cut off the lamp from the trail of smoke (It is cast as one piece as you can see in the above photo.)  I wanted to mount them separately, so I could use the lamp and or Djinni as unique pieces.    I then sliced the tab off the sword, so I could glue it to the figure in the correct position as shown in the concept illustration.  Lastly, I cut the base that comes with the figure into two pieces, and glued the figure to its part of the base, minus the part I trimmed off where the lamp mounts.  

       I then glued the figure to a black-primed 1.5" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue after trimming the base so it would fit.  I also glued the lamp to its piece of base, and then glued it to a black primed 1" fender washer. I then placed the Djinni figure in my painting grip.

     When I first saw this figure in the Kickstarter, being a child of the 60's and 70's, the first image that flashed in my mind was Jeannie from the classic  I Dream of Jeannie TV show.   I knew that this was the color scheme I wanted to use on my Djinni figure.

     So, to begin painting; I painted her skin with Reaper MSP "Rosy Skin".  I then painted her smoke plume/pants, and top, with Crafter's Acrylic "Cherry Blossom Pink".  (I don't think she is sculpted as necessarily wearing pants, but they way they blended into the billowing smoke cloud, I thought I could get away with it.)  After that, I painted any decorative trim that obviously wasn't metal, with Folk Art "True Burgundy".

     Next, I painted her teeth with Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White",  her hair with Accent "Golden Harvest", and any metal decorations/jewelry/fittings/ etc., with Americana "Grey Sky".   After that, I gave her skin a wash with Citadel "Reikland Fleshshade" wash.

     When the "Reikland Fleshshade" wash was dry, I gave her hair a wash with Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash.  I followed that by giving her clothing and smoke plume a wash with heavily thinned Iron Wind Metals "Purple" ink.   When wall the washes were dry, I painted all the metal with  Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver".

   After the "Metallic Silver" had a while to dry, I went over the metal parts with Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.  Then when the wash was dry, I painted her eyes and lips, and highlighted her teeth with Americana "Snow White".  I then highlighted her skin and corrected any errors with  various mixes of the base "Rosy Skin" along with Reaper MSP "Rosy Highlight" and "Rosy Shadow".

     Next, I highlighted hair; first with the base "Golden Harvest", then with the "Golden Harvest" mixed with some Americana "Moon Yellow", then the just plain "Moon Yellow", then the "Moon Yellow" mixed with some Apple Barrel "Lemon Chiffon", then the plain "Lemon Chiffon",  then some of the "Lemon Chiffon" mixed with some "Snow White", and lastly just a little plain "Snow White".   I then painted the flowers in her hair with the "True Burgundy", and the flower centers and leaves with the "Grey Sky".

     I then worked on the pants/smoke cloud, highlighting them with the base "Cherry Blossom Pink", and then with the "Cherry Blossom Pink" mixed with some "Snow White", and lastly, a few hits with just the pure "Snow White".  I then highlighted the dark pink "True Burgundy" areas with a mix of Americana "Burgundy Wine", and Crafter's Acrylic "Tutti Frutti.  After that, I painted the leaves and flower centers in the hair with the "Metallic Silver", and wen dry, I went over them with a little of the "Nuln Oil" wash.   My next step was to highlight all the metal, using the base "Metallic Silver", and then Metallic Silver mixed with some of the "Snow White", and then just a little of the pure "Snow White".   Lastly, I painted the entire base with "Americana "Mississippi Mud".

       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".  

     It was now time to work on the lamp, so I placed it in my painting grip next. 

     I began by painting it with Accent "Mustard Seed".  

      When the "Mustard Seed" was dry, I repainted it with Folk Art Burnished Metal "Burnished Bronze".   When that was dry, I gave it a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.  When the wash was dry, I drybrushed it with Ceramcoat "Wedding Gold".   Lastly, I painted the entire base with "Americana "Mississippi Mud".
       I let the lamp 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".

And here's the final outcome:

     I'm really proud of how this one came out.  I know it's a large figure, but I think the face turned out pretty good.  Now if I could only do that good with standard 28mm tall figures! :)  In retrospect, I don't think I used the correct shade of dark red/pink to perfectly match the original Jeannie outfit, but I think it gets the idea across well enough.   My one real regret is that I didn't pay more attention when basing the two parts so that the tip of the smoke plume actually could touch the lamp.

And, once again, please check in Thursday for another bonus post!

Crystal Formations: Bones 4 "Darkreach" Translucent Figures

   This past week I also painted the translucent Crystal Formations from the Bones 4 Darkreach Expansion Set.    They seemed like a nice quick side project to work on while I painted other stuff.
    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 the largest to a black primed 1" fender washer,  and the two smaller to 7/8" black primed fender washers, with Aleene's Tacky glue.  I then glued the washers to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of the Elmer's glue each.

To begin, I gave the crystals all a wash with some thinned Iron Wind Metals "Purple" ink.   When dry, I painted one facet on each crystal point with some Folk Art "Color Shift" Purple Flash".   I then gave one facet on each of the crystals' shafts, located opposite the side of the point I just painted, a wash with a mix of Vallejo Game Ink "Black" mixed with some of the "Purple" ink.
    When the ink had dried, I painted the bases with Americana "Neutral Grey", and when dry, I gave the bases a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.  When the wash was dry, I drybrushed the based with some Folk Art "Platinum Grey".
       I let the crystals dry overnight and the next day I gave them a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.    Once again I decided not to spray varnish these as I have had some issues in the past with the translucent figures getting a little tacky after a while.   So, to finish up,  I painted the crystals with Americana "DuraClear Gloss" varnish to give them a nice shine.

     I'm really happy with these.  The addition of the color-shift paint really makes an interesting and somewhat realistic looking reflective pattern.

"Tormentor" Female Devil to Forest Guardian Faun-Queen Conversion and Paint: Bones 4 Core Figure

    This past week I painted the Female Devil figure from the Bones 4 Bedeviled group from the Core Set.   During the run of the Kickstarter, I had read on the Reaper Forum about folks who where considering the possibilities of  converting the larger Rulers of Hell figure set into some sort of Forest King and Queen creatures by removing their wings and skull iconography.   With the cloven hooves and horns I could see how easily this could be done.  And, while I didn't get that set, I did get the smaller sized Bedeviled group that came in the Core Set.  Looking at the female figure in that set, it seemed to me that she too would be an easy conversion to make into some sort of Faun-like Forest Creature.

   So, with figure in hand, I began.  I prepped the figure in the usual way, soaking the parts 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.
    The first conversion step I wanted to do was remove the trident-like weapon from her right hand.  Once removed, I replaced it with one of the spear/staff type weapons weapons from the Bones 3 Clear Armory of Virtue sprues.    I then glued the right arm into place using Gorilla Superglue Gel.

      The figure had three holes in her back; the top two for wings, and the bottom for her tail.  Next step was to fill these.

      So, using some 2-part epoxy putty greenstuff, I filled in the top two holes by sculpting in the missing hair; and I filled the bottom hole by sculpting her a more Faun-like tail.

     I then glued the figure to a black-primed 1.5" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, after trimming the base so it would fit. I then placed the figure in my painting grip.

      I began by painting all her skin above the waist with Reaper MSP "Tanned Shadow", and her legs with Americana "Light Cinnamon".  I then painted her loin cloth with Crafter's Acrylic "Forest Green", and the underside of her tail with Americana "Fawn".

     Next, I painted her hair with Accent "Real Umber", and her hooves with Vallejo "USA Olive Drab".  After that, I painted her belts and wrist wraps and guards with Accent "Mustard Seed", her staff with Ceramcoat "Walnut", and her horns with Folk Art "Barn Wood".

     I decided I wanted to add a little color to her loincloth, so I gave it a border with Apple Barrel "Yellow".  I then painted her belt buckle and fittings, as well as her wrist guard and the fittings on her staff, all with Folk Art Brushed Metal "Brushed Bronze".   I let everything dry for a while, and then I gave the entire figure (except the clear end of the staff) a wash with Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash.  When the wash was dry, I painted her eyes, and gave her some Folk Art "Metallic Emerald Green" eye shadow.  I then highlighted her skin with the base "Tanned Shadow" mixed with some Reaper MSP "Tanned Skin", and Reaper MSP "Tanned Highlight".

     I then highlighted her hair with some of the "Light Cinnamon", and then some Folk Art "Teddy Bear Brown"; and, next, I used these same two colors to highlight her legs.   After that, I highlighted her loin cloth with Folk Art "Hauser Green Medium", and the border with Crafter's Acrylic "Bright Yellow".  I then highlighted her tail and her horns with some Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White", and her hooves with a mix of some Americana "Mississippi Mud and the base "USA Olive Drab".   Next, I highlighted her belts and arm bands with some Accent Golden Oxide, and then a little of the "Golden Oxide mixed with some Ceramcoat "Maple Sugar Tan".  I wrapped up the highlighting by doing her staff with Folk Art "Dark Brown", and the metal fittings on her belt, staff, and her wrist guard with Ceramcoat "14K Gold".  Lastly, I painted the head of the staff with Tamiya Color "Clear Green", and the whole figure base with the "Mississippi Mud".
     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 head of the staff with Americana "DuraClear Gloss Varnish".

     I really am pleased with how the conversion from demon to forest queen worked out on this, as well as the paint job.  And it was quite a nice sculpt to begin with as well.

     Be sure to tune in Thursday for another bonus post this week!