Phase Cat: Bones 4 Darkreach Figure

     This past week I painted the "Phase Cat" translucent figure from the Bones 4 Darkreach 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 1.5" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and then glued the figure to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of Elmer's glue.

     When I set out to paint his figure, my plan was to try and give it a black wash to provide shadows and still retain some of the purple translucency.   So, first thing I did was paint the entire thing with Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish to give the wash something to cling to.  I then got the idea to try my Citadel Contrast paint to see if that would work to give a thicker  covering yet still pool enough into the recesses and recede enough from the high points to give me the effect I was looking for.  The initial coat ended up giving an uneven covering and dried really splotchy, not really flowing well over the matte varnish coat.  I tried applying a second coat which didn't improve things much.  Also, by that time the figure was really dark and virtually opaque over most of its body.  So, at that point I just threw in the towel and painted the whole thing, except the ends of the tentacles (which I had left bare to begin with), using Ceramcoat "Black", abandoning the hope of making the whole thing partially transparent.

     Next, I applied a wash to end of the tentacles using Iron Wind Metals "Purple" Ink.   I then did a drybrushing over the body and tentacle shanks using Crafter's Acrylic "Purple Passion".  I also used the color directly to paint on some highlights more directly on the head, claws, and where the tentacles meet the body. Next, I mixed the "purple Passion" with a lighter purple from a Reaper MSP S"sample" bottle I have, and repeated the process.  Lastly, I hand applied some point highlights using Apple Barrel "Apple Lavender". I also drybrushed a little of this over the end tentacle pads (which were dry by this time). 

        I then painted his eyes with Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow", and gave them "Black" pupils.   After that, I painted his tongue with Crafter's Acrylic "African Violet", then painted his teeth with  Americana "Bleached Sand".  And, lastly, I painted his 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". 

     Well, there it is.   I'm not too thrilled with how it turned out, but in the end the figure just didn't inspire me.