Dark Elf Male Warrior: Bones 4 Darkreach Figure

     This past week I painted the "Dark Elf Male Warrior" from the Bones 4 Darkreach Expansion in my continuing effort to concentrate on working my way through this Expansion.
     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 glued the figure to a brown-primed 1" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and then placed the figure in my painting grip.

     I began by painting all the armor with Ceramcoat "Black".  When dry, I drybrushed the armor with Folk Art Color Shift "Black Flash".  I then painted the face and hands with Reaper MSP "Dark Elf Skin".

     I realized I wasn't totally happy with the armor, so I went over it again with a light drybrush of Reaper MSP "Aged Pewter".  I felt that made it look better.  Next, I painted his pants with Crafter's Acrylic "Bright Blue", and his tunic with Americana "Cranberry Wine".  After that, I painted his cape with  Americana "Zinc", and then his hair with Americana "Grey Sky".

     I then painted his belt and scabbard with the "Black", and his pouch with Americana "Charcoal Grey".   I followed that with panting his crossbow with Americana "Asphaltum", and his sword with Americana "Charcoal".  I let the figure dry for a while, and then gave the whole thing a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.

     When the wash was dry, I painted the eyes, then highlighted the face and hands with the base "Dark Elf Skin", and some Reaper MSP "Dark Elf Highlight".  I then highlighted his pants with a mix of the base "Bright Blue", and some Crafter's Acrylic "Cool Blue".   After that I highlighted his tunic with te base "Cranberry Wine" mixed with some Crafter's Acrylic "Tutti Frutti". 

     Next, I highlighted the cape with a mix of the base "Zinc" and some of the "Grey Sky".  I then added a decorative stripe along the bottom edge of the cape using the "Cranberry Wine" highlighted with mixing in some of the "Tutti Frutti".  After that, I highlighted his hair with Americana "Snow White".  I then did highlights on the belt and scabbard with some of the "Zinc", and highlighted the pouch with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige".  I also used the Territorial Beige to highlight the crossbow.  I then painted the binding on the crossbow with Americana "Khaki Tan".
     After that I painted the sword, belt buckle, and the metal parts of the dagger and crossbow with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey". I followed with giving them light highlights with some Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver".  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. I then used some white glue to glue some fine sand to the base.  When the sand was dry, I painted it with a coat of the "Charcoal Grey". When this was dry, I drybrushed the sand with the "Mississippi Mud", and then with some Apple Barrel "Rock Grey"; lastly I drybrushed it with a little Americana "Dove Grey".
      Another overnight dry, and I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote".

     I'm really happy with how this figure turned out.  This was my first time using Reaper's Dark Elf Skin Triad and I'm very happy with the outcome.

Killer Fungi: Bones 4 Darkreach Figure

     This past week I painted the two translucent "Killer Fungi" from the Bones 4 Darkreach Expansion.     I had been holding these back since I painted the rest of the Darkreach mushrooms, in hopes that I could figure out some way to illuminate them, without having to include a huge base to hide the battery & electronics; but I finally abandoned that plan because I was tired of them sitting in my waiting-to-be-painted shelf.   This also led me to decide to start making a concerted effort to work my way through the remainder of my Darkreach figures since I had painted a lot of them already.

     I began by giving both the mushrooms a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  When dry, I gave the one on the left a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash, and the one on the right a coat of thinned Iron Wind Metals "Dark Blue" ink.    

     When the washes were dry, I drybrushed the one on the left with Reaper MSP Bones "Dungeon Slime".  I then painted the underside of the cap, and the tentacles on the righthand one with Crafter's Acrylic "Purple Passion".  While the tentacles were still wet, I blended Americana "Cranberry Wine" in on the ends of the tentacles

I realized I couldn't really paint the roots of the mushrooms without painting the bases first, so I took the time at this point to paint the bases on both the mushrooms with Americana "Mississippi Mud".   I then painted the bottom of the domed mushroom with Apple Barrel "Apple Lavender", and also used the color to drybrush the top.   While that dried, I used some Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash to apply a coat to the underside and roots of the conical mushroom.   I then went back and used the "Nuln Oil" wash to give a coat to the tentacles, underside, and roots of the domed mushroom.

     When the washes were dry, I drybrushed the conical one with some Americana "Margarita" to help it pop.  I then drybrushed the domed one's tentacles, underside, and roots with some of the base "Apple Lavender"  mixed with some Reaper MSP "Breast Cancer Awareness Pink".   After that, I highlighted the ends of the domed mushroom's tentacles with some Ceramcoat "Opaque Red".
      I let the mushrooms dry overnight and the next day I gave them and their bases a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.

     I'm pretty happy with these two fungi.  I'm glad I went ahead and got them finished up.

Townsfolk Courtesan: Bones 4 Figure

   This past week I painted the "Courtesan" figure from the Bones 4 Townsfolk II set.  This completes this set for me and completes all the Townsfolk from the Bones 4 Core Set.
      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 glued the figure to a brown-primed 1" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and then placed the figure in my painting grip.

  I decided since it was such a plain figure, I would attempt to do some fancy pattern on the dress.  The figure appeared to look like it was meant to resemble a Japanese Geisha to some extent, which inspired me to want to to try to do a cherry blossom print on it.  So to begin, I Googled "cherry blossom kimono" to get some ideas on patterns.  Also, since I had just done a lot of white fabric on last week's figure, I knew wanted to do something colored on this one, and I picked yellow. 

      I began by painting the skin with Reaper MSP "Bronze Skin".  I then painted the dress with Americana "Primary Yellow", and her hair with Ceramcoat "Black"

     Next, I worked up mid-tones and highlights on the dress using first, Crafter's Acrylic "Bright Yellow", then Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow", Apple Barrel "Lemon Chiffon", and finally a little of the "Lemon Chiffon" mixed with Americana "Snow White".  After that, I gave her skin a coat of Citadel "Reikland Fleshshade" wash.

     Then, while the wash was drying, I painted the tree branches on her dress using Americana "Charcoal Grey", and did highlights on them with Americana "Mississippi Mud".   Next, I painted her eyes, and then highlighted her skin with the base "Bronze Skin", and some Reaper MSP "Bronze Skin Highlight".

       I decided at that point that the highlights on the branches weren't light enough, so I added some more highlights with Americana "Fawn".  I then painted the flowers; first doing blossoms with Crafter's Acrylic "Christmas Red", and then giving them centers of Pathfinder MSP "Urgathea Red", then I did more flowers with the "Snow White", and then gave those blossoms centers with Crafter's Acrylic "Tutti Frutti".     Next, I did highlights on her hair, first with Folk Art "Cloudy Day", and then mixing in a little Crafter's Acrylic "Cool Blue", and finally adding in some spots of the "Snow White".  After that I painted the pendant on her necklace with Ceramcoat "Wedding Gold", and then did the pearls on the necklace, and in the center of the pendant, with the "Snow White".   Lastly, I painted her base and the washer with the "Mississippi Mud".
      I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave it a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote".

     I'm really happy with this one.  I wanted to experiment with doing the the shadows, mid-tones and highlights on the fabric simply with paint, instead of my usual use of a wash; and I think it turned out pretty good.  I am especially pleased with how the cherry blossoms came out, although I'm slightly disappointed in the face.

Christina, Female Cleric: Bones 3 Figure

     I'm happy to report that this past week I found my muse again and painted Christina, Female Cleric, from the Bones 3 Heroes II set.   This was a commission piece for a D&D player who wanted the figure painted as a Sea Elf with blue iridescent skin and green hair.
      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 glued the figure to a brown-primed 1" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and then placed the figure in my painting grip.

      Because this was cast in the white original white Bones material, I began by giving it a wash with some thinned Reaper MSP "Grey Liner" to help me see the details.   When the Liner was dry, I painted all her armor, her mace, and the back of her shield with Americana "Charcoal" and her face and hands with Folk Art Color Shift "Blue Flash".  I then painted her skirt and the back of her shield with Folk Art "Dove Grey".

     I then painted her tabard and shield face with Crafter's Acrylic "Dark Turquoise", and her two holy items (censer and reliquary?) and the padded material in her elbow joints with Accent "Mustard Seed".  After that, I painted her scabbard and bottle(?) with Americana "Wedgewood Blue" and then her hair with Apple Barrel "Apple Blue Spruce".

    Next, I painted her belts with Americana "Light Cinnamon".   I then went over her armor and the back of her shield with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey", and her mace, dagger fittings and bottle top with Ceramcoat "Metallic Pewter".  After that, I gave her face and hands a wash with  thinned Reaper MSP "Blue Liner".

     I then painted her religious objects with Folk Art "Pure Gold", and then let everything dry for a while.  When I resumed, I gave her belts, accoutrements,  and skirt a light coat of some Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.  As that dried, I worked on her face and hands; painting her eyes, and then highlighting the skin with a mix of the base "Blue Flash" with some Crafter's Acrylic "Cool Blue".  After that, I highlighted her hair with a mix of the base "Apple Blue Spruce" and Crafter's Acrylic "Wild Green".

     Next, I highlighted the armor using first Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver", and then some Reaper MSP "Sparkling Snow".  I then highlighted her mace, dagger fittings and bottle top with Citadel "Mithril Silver" followed with a few spots of the "Sparking Snow".  Next, I highlighted her skirt with Americana "Snow White", followed by some Folk Art Extreme Glitter "Hologram".  After that, I highlighted her tabard and shield with  a mix of the base "Dark Turquoise" and some Folk Art "Patina".
     Up next were her scabbard and bottle which I highlighted with some Crafter's Acrylic "Tropical Blue".  I then highlighted the belts with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige".   I followed with highlighting the gold religious items with some DecoArt Metallic "Bright Brass".  I finished up by painting  some holy symbols for the cleric on the shield, and some decorations on the tabard.  And, lastly, I painted his base with Americana "Mississippi Mud", and applied some "spatter" around the hem of the skirt.
         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 pleased with how this figure turned out, particularly the face.  And, I'm especially glad to be back painting Bones again!