Monday, October 25, 2021

Halloween Knight: Bones 5 Figure, Part 2 (Completed)

    Last week I started work on the "Halloween Knight" from the Bones 5 Core Set.  Given the time of year, I thought I'd take a break from working on the Dwarf King's Crypt, and do one of the Halloween figures that came in Bones 5.  Unfortunately, I didn't get it done on time, so this past week I orked on finishing the figure up.
   Part one of painting this figure can be found here: Part 1.

         Picking up where I left off, I painted parts of the dagger and scabbard with the Folk Art Metallic "Gunmetal Gray".  I then gave, the cape,  shield, weapons, and hands a coat of the Citadel Contrast "Nuln Oil" wash.  When that was dry, I have the pumpkin head a coat of Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash.  When the washes were dry, I highlighted the head with the base "Orange Spice", and some Americana "Tangerine". I then painted the pumpkin's stem with Crafter's Acrylic "Forest Green". 
     Next, I highlighted the stem with a mix of the base "Forest green", and some Americana "Jade Green".  I then painted the interior of the eyes, mouth and nose with Americana "Snow White".  When dry, I applied some Citadel Contrast "Iyanden Yellow" to the eyes, mouth, and nose.  When the "Iyanden Yellow" was dry, I highlighted the center area of the eyes, mouth and nose, with a little Crafter's Acrylic Daffodil Yellow", and then a little of the "Snow White".  I then highlighted the scabbard with some Crafter's Acrylic "Purple Passion", and the hands with the base "Alien Flesh".  After that, I worked on highlighting the cape's lining using the base Pathfinder MSP "Urgathea Red", and some Reaper MSP "Holly Berry". 
      I then highlighted the cape's exterior with the Reaper MSP's Dark Elf Skin triad, "Dark Elf Shadow," "Dark Elf Skin", and "Dark Elf Highlight".  After that, I highlighted the shield straps with Reaper MSP "Dusky Skin".  Next, I highlighted the shield's face with the base Folk Art Color Shift "Purple Flash", and then mixed a little Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver" in to lighten it.  Finally, I picked out some highlights on the armor, sword, and dagger with the Metallic Silver; and then did some highlights on the shield's decoration, as well as the shoulder pads, and the armor's skull and coffin embellishments with some Ceramcoat "Wedding Gold".  I wrapped things up painting the base with Americana "Mississippi Mud".
     I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave him 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 the figure with Testor's Dullcote".   



     I'm really happy with how this figure turned out.  It was a nice break from painting Zombie Dwarves! 

Monday, October 18, 2021

Halloween Knight: Bones 5 Figure, Part 1

     This past week I started work on the "Halloween Knight" from the Bones 5 Core Set.  Given the time of year, I thought I'd take a break from working on the Dwarf King's Crypt, and do one of the Halloween figures that came in Bones 5.  Unfortunately, I didn't get it done on time, so will post the rest of the painting information next Monday.
     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 trimmed the figure's integral base a little, and glued the figure to a 1" primed metal washer with some Aleene's Tacky glue.  I then put the figure into my painting grip.       
     To start, I painted all the armor and the sword with Ceramcoat "Black".  When the "Black" was dry, I drybrushed the armor with Reaper MSP "Scorched Metal".  I then drybrushed the shoulder pieces with Folk Art Brushed Metal "Brushed Bronze".  After that, I drybrushed the scale armor skirt with Folk Art Color shift "Black Flash". 
     Next, I painted the lining of the cape with Pathfinder MSP "Urgathea Red", and then the did the hands with Reaper MSP "Alien Flesh".  After that, I painted the back of the shield with Reaper MSP "Nightmare  Black", and used the "Brushed Bronze" to paint the skull on the left of the chest armor and the little coffin on the right, as well as defining the base of the shoulder pieces.  I let everything dry for a while, and then gave the armor and the hands a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.
     When the "Nuln Oil" was dry, I drybrushed the plate armor with a mix of the base "Scorched Metal, and some Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver".  Next, drybrushed the scale armor with the base "Black Flash" with a little of the "Metallic Silver mixed in as well, and the shoulder pieces with Folk Art Metallics "Pure Gold".  I then used the "Pure Gold to touch up the armor skull and coffin with a regular brush. After that, I painted the outer layer of the cape with Reaper MSP "Coal Black", and then painted the dagger sheath and coffin-lid shield face with Crafter's Acrylic "African Violet". I also painted the pumpkin head with Crafter's Acrylic "Orange Spice". 
     Next, I painted the shield face with Folk Art Color Shift "Purple Flash", and then painted the sword with Folk Art Metallic "Gunmetal Gray".  After that, I painted the design on the shield and parts of the sword hilt with Americana "Antique Gold". 
   And that's where I am now.   I hope to finish it up this week, and have it ready to post on Monday. See you all then.
    Part 2, the completion on the figure, can be found here: Part 2

Monday, October 11, 2021

Zombie Dwarf Thanes #2: Bones 5 Encounter Figures

    This past week I painted the last two of the "Zombie Dwarf Thane" figures from the Bones 5 The Dwarf King's Crypt Encounter set; this time "Zombie Dwarf Thane #2".  Last week, I painted a pair of "Zombie Dwarf Thane #1".  As mentioned in my last post, the set only comes with one of each of these figures, but I ordered two of the Encounters as I wanted pairs of a number of the set's scenery items, as well as a bunch of these Dwarf Zombies.
    This will give me 6 of the Zombies. So to help them look more like a mixed group, I decided to paint each pair of identical figures differently, to give the pairs more of a differing appearance.   Also, while the Like the Thane #1 figure I did last week, these also had a raised right arm that I could easily chop.  So as I mentioned with the Thane 1 figures, I was able to simply swap the right hand on one of the #1's for the right hand off of one of these #2's.  This helped give that pair and this pair a slightly different appearance. 
      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. At this point I did the hand swap, and also trimmed the circlet crown off of the one on the left.  I then glued them to 1" primed metal washers, using Aleene's Tacky Glue.  I glued the washers to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of Elmer's School Glue.
      I began by painting the skin on both figures with Reaper MSP "Alien Flesh".  Next, I painted the pants on the first figure with Ceramcoat "Denim Blue", and then the pants on the second figure with Americana "Antique Gold".   I then added stripes on the lefthand pants using a broad stripe of Reaper MSp "Void Blue", and then centering a smaller stripe of Reaper MSP "Holly Berry" within the thick one.  After that, I painted the boots on both figures with Ceramcoat "Black", and then painted the folded tops of the left boots with Accent "Mustard Seed" just to add a little extra visual difference. 
  Next, I painted the robes on the lefthand Thane with Americana "Zinc", and the robes on the righthand figure with Americana "Light Cinnamon".  I then painted the the belt on the lefthand one with Reaper MSP "Noir Black", and the belt on the righthand on with Americana "Americana "Charcoal Grey".  I also used the "Charcoal Grey" to paint the bracelets and the circlet on both Thanes.  After that, I painted the beard and hair on the lefthand one with Reaper MSP "Blackened Brown", and the beard and hair on the righthand one with Reaper MSP "Dusky Skin Shadow". 
   Next, I splotched Apple Barrel "Apple Maroon" on the hands, mouth, and beard of the righthand one, and also painted his circlet with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige".  I then painted the bracelets with Folk Art Brushed Metal "Brushed Bronze", or Reaper MSP "Scorched Metal".    I let everything dry for a while, and then gave both figures complete coats of Citadel "Agrax Earthshade wash. 
     When the wash was dry, I painted their eyes with Apple Barrel "Lemon Chiffon", and then added pupils with Reaper MSP "Dark Elf Highlight".  After that, I highlighted their skin with the base "Alien Flesh", and then mixed in some Americana "Dove Grey".  I then mixed in some of the "Apple Maroon" to highlight the blood on the hands.  Next, I highlighted the beards, using Reaper MSP "Auburn Shadow" for the lefthand Thane's, and the base Charcoal Grey mixed with some Folk Art "Barn Wood" for the righthand Thane's. I then mixed some of the "Apple Maroon" in to highlight the righthand beard's blood spatter.
            I then highlighted the robes on the lefthand figure with the base "Zinc and then used some Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey". Afterwards, I highlighted his pants with the base "Denim Blue".  Next, I highlighted the robes of the righthand one with the base "Light Cinnamon" and then used some Folk Art "Teddy Bear Brown".  I followed with his pants, highlighting them with  the base "Antique Gold".   After that, I highlighted their boots and the belts with Reaper's MSP "Dark Elf Skin".  I then did a quick highlight on the lefthand one's boot top using the base "Mustard Seed", and the righthand one's circlet using Folk Art "Butter Pecan".  Lastly, I highlighted the bracelets I had painted with the "Scorched Metal" with Folk Art Metallic "Gunmetal Gray", and the other bracelets I highlighted with the base "Brushed Bronze".   I finished by painting the bases with Citadel Contrast " Templar Black".
      I let the Thanes 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 glue some sand onto the bases.  When this was dry I  painted it with Citadel Contrast "Black Templar".  When that was dry,  I drybrushed the sand with Folk Art "Rock Grey", and then a bit of Folk Art "Porcelain White".  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed the figures with Testor's Dullcote".   



      I'm happy with these last two of the Dwarf Zombies, and glad to have completed all of them.  Below is all six of them together.  I think they make a great looking mob! :)



Monday, October 4, 2021

Dwarf Queen and King Crypts: Bones 5 Quick Conversion Project.

      I didn't get to finish painting any figures this week, as Real Life intervened.  But, I was able to work on a simple conversion figure over the weekend.  
      As I've mentioned in my previous two posts, I purchased a pair of the Bones 5 The Dwarf King's Crypt Encounter set as I wanted pairs of a number of the set's scenery items, as well as a bunch of the Dwarf Zombies and Dwarf Fighters.
     One of the scenery items I was most looking forward to having a pair of, was the tomb; as I wanted to convert one to be the tombs to be for a Dwarf Queen, to go along with the Dwarf King's tomb.
     First thing I would need was a suitable Bones Female Dwarf figure to use as the tomb cover's carving; as I did not trust my ability to sculpt one from scratch.   I was not sure what figure to use, as so many of the ones I had, or looked at in the online store, were posed somewhat dynamically.  Then, as fate would have it, I came across one of the Gwyddis, Dwarf Valkyrie figures, and realized it was perfect.  Her pose is terribly static and two-dimensional, but it was perfect for what I needed.
The Gwyddis, Dwarf Valkyrie figure next to the tomb cover.

     First thing I did was cut the Dwarf King off of the tomb cover.  Bones Black is a very hard substance to cut, unlike Original Bones; so in order to do this, I let the tomb cover sit in a pot of boiling water for 4 minutes to get soft.  I then quickly pulled it out and carefully sliced the King off of it.  Next, I worked on the Gwyddis figure, which, being Original Bones, didn't need any pre-cutting treatment.  First I removed her backpack by twisting and pulling it off.  I then cut her base off, then her arms just below the shoulders.  After that, I carefully sliced down through the back of her head and skirt, trying my best to keep the blade straight and perpendicular to her orientation, so that she would lie flat on the tomb cover.  I then did a trial fit, and realized she was a little too tall to fit within the boundaries of the cover, so I carefully sliced a couple millimeters off the bottom of her skirt to make her shorter.
     While I was working on the tomb cover, I also drilled through it and the tomb base to insert a couple rare earth magnets, to keep the lid in place when the tomb was being stored or transported.  I then superglued the magnets in place.
     My next step was to superglue Gwyddis in place on the tomb cover. Once the glue was set, I worked on trimming and arranging her arms, and when I was satisfied, I glued them in place as well.
     Once the glue was set, I used 2-part epoxy (greenstuff) to fill in the gaps in the tomb, as well as the gaps between her repositioned arms and her shoulders, and some of the gaps between her arms and her body to help it look more like a solid carving. I also used the greenstuff to level off the hole where I glued the magnet n the lid.
     And here's the finished result, with the King and Queen side-by-side.     I'm really pleased with how this turned out.  It's not perfect, but when all painted up as weathered stone it should look just fine.

     Hopefully next week we will be back to normal and I can complete the last two Dwarf Zombies from this set.  See you all then.