Sophie the Sage Christmas Ornament Project: Bones 3 Figure

     Happy New Year everyone!  Sorry for the brief hiatus, but the holidays turned out to be crazy busy.  Anyway, I'm back at it now, and wanted to show off a project I did over the month of December: a Christmas ornament based on the Sophie the Sage figure from the Bones 3 Core Set.
     I had actually started planning this project in the Fall of 2018, but events overtook my time, and it never moved past the planning and thinking stage, as well as purchasing the ornament I wanted to use.  This year however I was determined to get it done in time for Christmas to give as a gift to my wife, who is an avid reader and book enthusiast.
      My plan was to make a scene of a wizard reading in her chamber, with books, etc. piled around the place.  I started with the Sophie figure and a circular plaster dungeon terrain piece I had.  I had assembled the figure without the wings, as I wanted the figure to just be a human, and not a succubus.

      I quickly realized I'd need some walls for a backdrop; which I constructed out of cork scraps, and added some window frames made from coffee stirrers.  I then cut the figure off her base, and drilled a hole in the bottom of her gown, and a corresponding hole into the plaster disc.  Next, I superglued a length of paperclip wire into the figure.  After that, I used some greenstuff to fill the slot in her back where the wings were supposed to go.

I framed up the walls using more bits of coffee stirrers and some balsa wood.   When I was satisfied, I glued it to the plaster base with Aleene's Tacky glue.

      I had of course washed the figure  before I had started assembly; 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.  And I had used Gorilla Superglue Gel to assemble the two parts.   It was now time to begin the painting.

      I began by painting her skin with Reaper MSP "Tanned Skin", and her dress with Reaper MSP "Christmas Wreath".  I then painted her staff with Americana "Light Cinnamon", and the book cover with Pathfinder MSP "Urgathoa Red"

      Next, I painted her hair with Americana "Asphaltum, and her belt and pouches with Accent "Real Umber".  After that, I painted the book pages with Americana "Bleached Sand", and the top of her staff with Crafter's Acrylic "Wild Green".

     I then painted the wands in her wand case an assortment of browns, and the book mark with some Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow".  After that, I painted her jewelry and the corners of the book with Folk Art "Brushed Metal "Brushed Bronze", and then let the figure dry for a while.  When I resumed working on the figure, I gave her skin a coat of Citadel "Reikland Fleshshade" wash; and when that was dry, I gave her book, pouches and staff a coat of "Citadel Agrax Earthsahde" wash.

  

     When the washes were dry, I painted her eyes and mouth, and then highlighted her skin with Reaper MSP "Tanned Highlight".  I then highlighted her hair with Americana "Sable Brown", and Americana "Fawn". After that, I highlighted her dress using first Apple Barrel "Apple Christmas Green", and then Americana "Festive Green".

     Interspersed with working on the figure, I had primed the walls and base with Krylon Grey Primer, and when dry, I drybrushed the stones with Americana "Neutral Grey", and then painted the walls with Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White".

     I finished painting the figure, highlighting the pouches with Nicole's "Brown", and the staff with Americana "Khaki Tan".  I also highlighted the book cover with Americana "Burgundy Wine", and the bookmark with the base "Daffodil Yellow".  After that, I highlighted the book pages with Americana "Snow White', and then painted text on them with Reaper MSP "Holly Berry", and Ceramcoat "Black".    I highlighted her jewelry and the corners of the book with Ceramcoat "Wedding Gold", and then painted the top of her staff with a mix of Folk Art Color Shift "Green Flash", and Folk Art Color Shift "Emerald Flash".    I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave it a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish. 
    I then quickly painted up the pile of books, bottle, and goblet that came with the model, as well as a small stack of books from the Wizkids Wizards Room set.  In addition, I painted up a pair of cats that came with a Dark Sword figure (I forget the name), to look like our two cats.   After drying overnight, these all got their coat of the "DuraClear Matte" varnish as well. 
    I completed the base by painting the wood work on the walls with Americana "Charcoal Grey", and adding a small rug cut from an old tobacco flannel.   The final step was to plot out an arrangement I liked, and then glue it all down.

    Once everything was glued into place, I glued the base into the ornament bottom cap using E6000 glue, and when dry, screwed on the ornament dome.

     I'm really happy with how it all turned out, and my wife loved her unique gift.