This past week I painted a pair of the Hivewardens from the Bones 4
Dreadmere Expansion. I saw these just as usable as Pulp Sci-Fi baddies as Fantasy creatures.
I prepped the figures in the usual way, soaking them 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. I then glued them to 1.25" brown-primed fender washers with Aleene's Tacky glue. I then glued the washers onto a tongue depressor with a couple drops of Elmer's white glue.
I began by painting the main tentacles with Folk Art "Poppy Seed". I then painted the brains with Crafter's Acrylic "Tutti Frutti", and the mouth tentacles with Americana "Charcoal".
Next, I painted the backsides of the brains with Pathfinder MSP "Urgathoa Red", and then set the figures aside to dry for a while. When I returned to working on them, I gave both the brains a coat of Citadel "Reikland Fleshshade" wash. When this wash was dry, I then gave all the tentacles a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.
When the final coat of wash was dry, I drybrushed the brains with some Reaper MSP "Brest Cancer Awareness Pink", and then went back with a brush and applied some direct highlights to the brain ridges. Then I added a little Americana "Snow White" to the pink and did a little lighter drybrush. Next, I drybrushed the tentacles with Americana "Jade Green", and then a little Americana "Olive Green", and lastly some Americana "Margarita". After that, I painted highlights on the mouth tentacles with some Americana "Grey Sky" mixed with some of the base "Charcoal"
I then highlighted the backsides of the brains with Americana "Burgundy Wine". Next, I painted the eyes with Americana "Bleached Sand". I painted in irises with Accent "Forest Green", and then filled them in with Folk Art "Metallic Emerald Green", with some highlights using Folk Art Color Shift "Emerald Flash". Next, I added Ceramcoat "Black" pupils, and highlight dots with the "Snow White". Lastly, I painted the bases with Americana "Mississippi Mud".
I let all 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 the bases. Another overnight dry, and I sprayed them with Testor's "Dullcote". When the "Dullcote" was dry, I went back and redid the eyes, with a little Americana "DuraClear Gloss" varnish.
Overall, I'm pretty pleased with how they came out. There are mold lines that run around the equator of the brains, that were just terrible. Normally I don't mess with mold lines to a big degree unless they are particularly obnoxious, but these really stood out; and being on the ridged surface of the brains they were almost impossible to deal with. Also, the tentacles, being so intertwined as they are, were a real pain to paint and flock. Otherwise, these were fun figures to work on.
The eyes look really creepy! The gloss adds that touch that makes the whole figure stand out.
ReplyDeleteThank you, XE! It was fun doing eyes large enough they were't a pain in the butt to get right. :D
DeleteDamn, you've really mastered the big eyes at this point! Lovely choice of colours, I wouldn't have thought of going so dark with the green, but it successful grounds the craziness of the brain.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Stephen! For some reason I think green when I see tentacles. I'm glad you like how it works with the pink. That's kind of what I was hoping for.
DeleteThose turned out well! I can see how they would be challenging with mold lines, but you seem to have cleaned them up enough.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lasgunpacker! I'm glad you don't think the mold lines look that bad. I'm not particularly fussy about them, but the ones around the brains just stick out to my eyes.
DeleteVery cool!
ReplyDeleteThanks, xredmenacex!
DeleteNice work! The color choice for the brains was spot on awesome!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Corey! I was a little worried the pink was too bright, but on these guys I think it works. :)
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