Gingerbread Knight: Christmas 2021 Promo Figure

     The past two week I worked on the Gingerbread Knight, which was a Bones USA promo figure that came in this year's Reaper Christmas Sampler.  With all that was going on with preparation for Christmas, I thought this would be a fast and fun figure to work on.

        I prepped the figure in the usual way, soaking the parts (comes with the left arm as a separate piece) 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 the arm to the body using Gorilla superglue gel. Next, I glued the figure to a 1" primed metal washer, using Aleene's Tacky Glue.  I glued the washer to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of Elmer's School Glue. 

     I tried to take the easy route first and use Citadel Contrast paint for the gingerbread.  So I gave the figure a base coat of Ceramcoat "White"; and when dry, I mixed some Citadel Contrast "Fyreslayer Flesh" and Citadel Contrast "Snakebite Leather" together and painted it on the figure.  When dry, I was sad to see that it came out very mottled.  I had hoped it wouldn't, but knew in the back of my mind that it probably would.  Oh, well; I tried.

     I then started over, painting directly over the Contrast paint, with a mix of Folk Art "Teddy Bear Brown" and a little Accent "Mustard Seed".  When dry, I gave the entire figure a coat of Citadel Shade "Agrax Earhdahde".  I let that dry, and then drybrushed the figure with some Reaper MSP "Ginger Cookie", because I just had to.  :) 

     Next, I painted all the icing decorations, as well as his epaulette and candy cane, with Americana "Snow White"  I let that dry, and then did his eyes and belt with a mix of Reaper MSP "Ultramarine Blue" and  Crafter's Acrylic "Tropical Blue".  Then I painted his mouth a mix of Folk Art "Tomato Red" and Crafter's Acrylic "Tutti Frutti".  After that, I painted his buttons with Crafter's Acrylic "Holiday Green".

     I then painted the stripes on the candy cane and epaulette with some Citadel Contrast "Blood Angels Red" in hopes it would give it a bit of a translucent look. When it was dry, I touched up all the white parts of the icing with Reaper MSP "Peppermint White".  Again, becuase I felt I just had to. :) Lastly I painted the entire base with Americana "Zinc". 

      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 glue some sand onto the base.  When this was dry I  painted it with Citadel Contrast "Basilicanum Grey".  When that was dry,  I drybrushed the sand withAmericana "Grey Sky".  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed the figures with Testor's Dullcote".   Afterwards, I went back and painted the epaulette and candy cane with some Americana "DuraClear Gloss" varnish.

     I'm pleased with how this fun figure turned out. It was just the perfect simple sculpt to tackle in the busy weeks leading up to Christmas.

Durman's Ledgers: Bones 5 Figures

      Over the past few weeks, as time permitted, I worked on painting the pair of "Durman's Ledgers" I had from ordering two of the Dwarf King's Crypt Encounter Set from the Bones 5 Kickstarter.  This past week I finally finished them up. 

      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" 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 bases of the bookstands with Ceramcoat "Charcoal".  I then painted the top parts of the stands with Americana "Snow White".  When dry, I used Citadel Contrast "Templar Black" to make marble-like striations on the white tops, doing some with the paint straight from the bottle, and some thinned a little.

     Next, I painted the pages of the books with Ceramcoat "White".  I then painted the cover of the lefthand book with Reaper MSP "Auburn Shadow".  I then used this color to paint the bookmark of the righthand book.  Then, I painted the cover of the righthand book with Accent "Mustard Seed", and then used this color to paint the bookmark of the lefthand book.  There appeared to be some sort of clasp mechanisms on the edges of the covers, so I painted them with Folk Art Brushed Metal "Brushed Bronze".  I also used the "Brushed Bronze" to paint the metal plates on the bookmarks.

      I let everything dry for a while,  and then gave the bookstands a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" Shade.    Then, I painted the pages of the books with Citadel Contrast "Skeleton Horde".  I followed with using some Citadel "Agrax Earthsahde" Shade on the book covers and the bookmarks.

     I let all the washes dry, and then drybrushed the bottoms of the bookstands with Americana "Zinc", Crafters Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey", and Americana "Grey Sky".  I then carefully applied some highlights to the tops of the bookstands with the base "Snow White". 

     Next, I drybrushed the book pages with Americana "Bleached Sand".  I then painted in some text, using Reaper MSP "Heraldic Red" for the big letters, and the "Charcoal" for the small text.  After that, I highlighted the lefthand book cover with the base "Auburn Shadow", and the lefthand book cover with the base "Mustard Seed". I finished up by highlighting the metal parts with Ceramcoat "Metallic Bronze". 

      I then painted the bases with Americana "Neutral Grey"; and when dry, I went around the outline of the bookstand bottoms with some of the "Nuln Oil".

      The next day I gave both pieces a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.   Another overnight dry, and I sprayed all the pieces with Testor's Dullcote".    

     I'm really happy with how these turned out.  One of the few times the end result matched the original vision I had had in my head.

     My next post will be in two weeks on December 20th.

New Posting Schedule Reminder: 1st & 3rd Mondays

     I just wanted to remind my readers, as I announced a couple weeks ago, I am changing my new figure posting schedule to now be only on the first and third Monday of each month.  So please tune back in on December 6th for my next post.  See you then!

Dwarf Statues: Bones 5 Figures, Part 2 (Completed)

      A couple weeks ago, I started work on the pair of "Dwarf Statue" models from the two The Dwarf King's Crypt Encounter Sets that I got through the Bones 5 Kickstarter.   This past week I had time to complete them.  There wasn't much left to do.

     For Part 1, see: Dwarf Statues Part 1

     I let the painting I had done in Part 1 dry for a bit, and then I gave the top part of both statues a thinned coat of Folk Art "Patina".  I let this dry, and then went back and drybrushed it with Folk Art "Celadon Green".

      I let the Statues 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 terrain pieces, and glad I decided to go with the metal and rock scheme, rather than doing them as all rock.  I still haven't perfected my verdigris bronze look yet, but am pleased with how it turned out this time.

     

Dwarf Statues: Bones 5 Figures, Part 1

      For the past couple of weeks, I have been working on painting a pair of the "Dwarf Statue" models from the pair of The Dwarf King's Crypt Encounter Sets that I got through the Bones 5 Kickstarter.   

     I've come to realize that life has gotten much busier for me this year, and I'm not finding the time to paint my Bones like I used to.  Therefore, going forward, I'm going to try changing my posting schedule to just the first and third Monday's each month rather than having to do these 2-part posts that I find myself doing more and more often. 

      I prepped the pair of figures in the usual way, soaking them in a dish of water with a couple drops of dish-soap added, then I gave them a light scrub with a soft toothbrush, and then rinsed and dried them.  I then glued the figures to 2" primed metal washers with some Aleene's Tacky glue.  When that glue was dry, I glued each one to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of Elmer's glue. 

     While I believe these are intended to be all stone, that felt too drab to me, so I decided I would paint the base as stone, and the tops as bronze covered in verdigris.

     So, I began by painting the bases the same way I had painted the bases of the "Everliving Flames" that belong to this set back in September.   To start, I painted the bases with Ceramcoat "Charcoal".  When dry, I  drybrushed them with, first, Americana "Zinc", and then Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey".

     Next, I did some final highlights with a bit of Americana "Grey Sky".   Then, I painted the statues with Accent "Mustard Seed"   to give a good base color; and when dry, repainted the statues with Folk Art Brushed Metal "Brushed Bronze".

     When the "Brushed Bronze was dry, I gave the top statue portions a wash with Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" Shade.   When that was dry, I drybrushed the statues with, first, Ceramcoat "Metallic Bronze", and then a little Deco Art Dazzling Metallic "Bright Brass".

    And that's as far as I've progressed.    Please tune in next Monday for the conclusion.

  

No Post this Week

   I was out of town for a memorial service Friday through Sunday, so was unable to finish painting a figure, or even get a partial post written up.  Please stay tuned for next week, when hopefully regular Monday posts will resume.

 

Durman's Tomb and Queen's Tomb: Bones 5 Figures.

     This past week I painted the "Durman's Tomb" model from the Bones 5 The Dwarf King's Crypt Encounter Set; and I also painted the Queens Tomb conversion I did from my second "Durman's Tomb" model that I had worked on back in the beginning of the month.

    This model is actually in three parts; the lid of the tomb, the base of the tomb, and a corpse insert that fits within the tomb.  I deiced to paint each part separately, since the way the tomb is constructed required that I paint both insides and undersides of the parts.  

     I decided I wanted to paint the tombs like marble, as I figured the Dwarf royalty deserved something a little more fancy than plain carved stone. I then needed to decide on a color of marble.  Black and Red both seemed to indicate more of an evil tomb in my mind, where as white seemed to holy, and green seemed more Elvish.  This left me with blue, which I felt was a worthy color for the Dwarf King and Queen.

    The other decision I made was to not do any conversion work on the second corpse insert to make it more Queen-looking.  In practical game terms the times that the appearance of the inner corpse would matter would be so few and far between (if ever!) it did not warrant the effort it would take to do the conversion.

     I began with the pair of corpses; having pre-washed and dried them, I used a bit of blue-tac to secure them to a tongue depressor.

     I egan by painting the piece entirely with Ceramcoat "White".  When dry, I gave the floor of the tomb a coat of Citadel Contrast "Ultramarines Blue".  When this was dry, I used some Americana "Snow White" to make thin striations on the floor to make it look like marble.

     Next, Next, I painted both the bodies entirely with Citadel Contrast "Basilicanum Grey".  When dry, I went over the armor areas with Citadel Contrast "Templar Black".  Antoehr drying period, and then I drybrushed the amor with Reaper MSP "Scorched Metal".  next I did some dabbing on the metal with, first, Americana "Terra Cotta", and then, Americana "Tangerine" to give a rusty appearance.  Afterwards, I painted the heads, arms, and hands with Reaper MSP "Alien Flesh". 

     I then painted the boots with Americana "Charcoal Grey", and the soles with Ceramcoat "Charcoal".  Next, I painted the beards and hair with Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey", and their teeth with Americana "Bleached Sand".  After that, I painted the tunics wit Crafter's Acrylic "African Violet", the belt with Americana "Asphaltum", and the boot tops with Americana "Sable Brown".

     Next, I painted the crowns with Folk Art Brushed Metal "Brushed Bronze".  I then let everything dry for a while, and afterwards gave both corpses, but specifically not the floor, a wash of Citadel Shade "Nuln Oil". 

     When the "Nuln Oil" was dry, I painted the eyes with Apple Barrel "Lemon Chiffon", and then gave them pupils with Americana "Zinc".  Next, I highlighted the teeth with a little of the "White", and then drybrushed a little Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Gmay" over the armor.  After that, I highlighted the face, arms, and hands, with the base "Alien Skin", and added in a little Americana "Dove Grey" for lighter highlights. 

     I then highlighted the beards and hair with the base "Storm Cloud Grey", and did lighter highlights with some Americana "Grey Sky". Next, I highlighted he boots and belt with some Nicole's 'Brown", and the boot tops with the "Terra Cotta".  Lastly, I highlighted the tunics with Crafter's Edition "Purple Passion", and I highlighted the crowns with some Folk Art Metallics "Pure Gold". 

       I let the corpse inserts dry overnight and the next day I gave them a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.   When these were dry, I pulled them off the tongue depressor,  turned them over, and painted the undersides with the "White".  When this was dry, I applied a coat of the "Ultramarines Blue" to the underside of the inserts.  I let the inserts dry overnight again, and the next day I gave the undersides a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish as well. 

   I put those pieces aside, and began work on the tombs themselves.  The lids I affixed to a tongue depressor with blue-tac like I had done with the corpse inserts.  The tomb bottoms I glued to 2" grey primed washers, and attached these to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of Elmers glue each. 

     Like with the inserts, I began by giving these pieces complete coats of the Ceramcoat "White".  When dry, I gave the lids and bottoms complete coats of the Citadel Contrast "Ultramarines Blue".  I let this dry, and then drybrushed the pieces with some Crafter's Acrylic "Cool Blue"

     I didn't feel the highlights were light enough, so I mixed some Americana "Snow White' into the "Cool Blue", and did some more drybrushing for lighter highlights.  Afterwards, I used the "Snow White" to add thin striations all over the pieces to help give the marble look.

     I then painted the bases on the tomb bottoms with Americana "Neutral Grey"; and when dry, I went around the outline of the tomb bottoms with some of the Citadel Shade "Nuln Oil".

      I let the tomb lids and bases dry overnight and the next day I gave them all a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.   When this was dry, I pulled the lids off the tongue depressor,  turned them over, and painted the undersides with the "White".  When this was dry, I applied a coat of the "Ultramarines Blue" to the underside of the lids.  I let the lids dry overnight again, and the next day I gave the undersides a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish as well.   

 Another overnight dry, and I sprayed all the pieces with Testor's Dullcote".    

     I'm really happy with how these turned out.  The splotchy results the Contrast paint usually gives on flat surfaces really served well here to help give the marble look.   

     

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! 

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

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! :)