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. 

Painting Mudcroak Squog Mounted on Giant Rhinocerous Beetle Conversion Bones Figure

      Last week I posted about the conversion figure I made using the "Giant Rhinoceros Beetle" from Bones 4 Fan Favorites Expansion, and a "Mudcroak, Squog" figure.  This past week, I set about painting the figure.   As I mentioned in that article, I planned to use this figure as a Hero or Leader with my existing Frog Army, made up mostly of Eureka Miniatures' range of Frog Warriors.  Most of the units in this army are painted like Dyeing Poison Dart Frogs, and I want to paint this figure that way too.

An actual Dyeing Poison Dart Frog

A couple examples of my original warrior frog figures, and the paint job I would be attempting to replicate.

    I had glued the figure to a 2" fender washer when I was making it; and now I glued that washer, using a couple drops of Elmer's glue, to the top of a large pill bottle. 

         Given the way the beetle sat so close to the sculpted terrain of the base, I thought it might be best to paint the base first.  So, I gave it a base coat of Americana "Charcoal Grey"; and when that was dry, I gave it a cot of Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash.  When the wash was dry, I drybrushed the base with, first, Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige", and then with  Americana "Fawn".

     Next, I worked on the beetle.  I gave it a base coat of Accent "Real Umber", and when dry, I gave it a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.  When the wash was dry, I drybrushed the top of the body and legs with some Folk Art "Tomato Red".  After that, I drybrushed the underside with Americana "Neutral Grey".  I finished the beetle by painting its eyes with a little Reaper MSP "Holly Berry". 

     I then began work on the frog.  I first painted frog's underside, arms, and legs with Americana "True Blue".  When dry, I gave it a coat of slightly thinned Iron Wind Metals "Dark Blue" Ink.   When the ink wash was dry, I painted the back of the frog with Ceramcoat "Black.

     Next, I highlighted the blue of the frog with a mix of the base "True Blue", and some Crafter's Acrylic "Tropical Blue".  Then I highlighted the black back with some Ceramcoat "Charcoal". The next step was to paint on the banding pattern using Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow".    I realized at that point my job would be a lot easier without the skull helmet in place; and though I had tried to do things the lazy way, I decided the hemet needed to come off.  So with a careful pull and twist I was able to separate it from the head.   I fixed the blue and black arts of the head, and the yellow banding that goes up on to the head.  I then highlighted all the banding with Apple Barrel "Lemon Chiffon".  My next step was to do the teeth. I painted them with Ceramcoat "White", and when dry, I gave them a coat of the "Nuln Oil".  When the "Nuln Oil" was dry, I highlighted the teeth with Americana "Snow White:  After that, I painted the eyes using reaper MSP "Bronzed Skin", gave them pupils with the "Black", and then highlight dots with some  "Snow White".  

     Meanwhile, I also  painted the helmet completely with the "White", and when it was dry, I gave it a coat of Citadel Contrast "Skeleton Horde".  When that was dry, I drybrushed it with Americana "Bleached Sand", and then a little of the "White"

          Satisfied with the head, I scraped a little of the paint off the head as well as the underside of the helmet, and use the Gorilla Super Glue Gel to Glue the finished helmet in place.  I then painted his kilt-like garment with Pathfinder MSP "Urgathoa Red", and his spear shaft with Reaper MSP "Shield Brown".  Next, I painted the pouch hanging on the back of his kilt with Reaper MSP "Ginger Cookie", the one hanging at his side with Reaper MSP "Bronzed Skin", and the bit of plant hanging from his belt with Reaper MSP Bones "Dungeon Slime".   After that, I painted the long tassel hanging from the spear shaft with Reaper MSP HD "Rusty Red": and the wrist wrap on his left forearm, as well as the bracelets on his right arm, the metal fitting on his helmet, and the badges on his spear shaft, with Reaper MSP HD "Golden Brown". 

     I then painted the base of the spear shaft as well as the spear point with Americana "Zinc", and the frog's rope belt with Americana "Antique White".  I also decided that the base coat on the plant hanging from his belt was too light, soI repainted it with Americana  "Festive Green".  I let everything dry for a while, and then I gave the spear, everything hanging from his belt (belt included), and his wraps and bracelets, a coat of the "Agrax Earthshade" wash. 

     When the wash was dry,  I first highlighted his kilt-like garment with, first, Reaper MSP "Fresh Blood", and then a little Reaper MSP "Holly Berry". I then highlighted the plant sprig with the Dungeon Slime",  the pouch on the back with Americana "Khaki Tan", and the pouch on the side with Folk Art "Butter Pecan".   I then highlighted the rope belt with Reaper MSP "Graveyard Bone".  After that, I highlighted the wrist wrap on his left forearm with a little Reaper MSP "Hallowed Orange"

          Next, I highlighted the spear shaft with the "Territorial Beige", and then I turned to the tassel on the spear shaft, which I highlighted with a drybrush of Crafter's Acrylic "Orange Spice", and then a little Americana "Tangerine".  After that, I worked on the metallics, painting the star on the helmet, the bracelets, and the badges on the spear shaft with Folk Art Brushed Metal "Brushed Bronze"; and the spearpoint, as well as the end of the spear, with Folk Art Metallic "Gunmetal Gray".  When these were dry, I went back and highlighted the "Brushed Bronze" with Folk Art Metallic "Pure Gold", and highlighted the "Gunmetal Gray" with Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver".  

     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". When the "Dullcote" was dry, I went back and repainted the eyes and and teeth with a little Americana "DuraClear Gloss" varnish.

Shown with one of the original Eureka Frogs I painted 15 or so years ago.

          I'm really happy with how this converted figure turned out!   In retrospect I wish a little that I had done a bit more with the beetle; but since the frog is so busy, maybe making the beetle plainer was a good choice.

Mudcroak Squog Mounted on Giant Rhinocerous Beetle Conversion Bones Figure

     Back when the Bones 4 Kickstarter was running, when the Giant Rhinoceros Beetle was revealed in the Fan Favorites set, someone posted this photo of a Frog riding a Beetle to the Reaper Forum's "Bones 4 Kickstarter" Thread.   I knew immediately then it was a conversion I would eventually want to try.   I have an extensive Frog Army, and I wanted such a figure to be a Leader or Hero for my forces.  Well, I finally decided last December was the time, as I decided I wanted to make a pair of these; one to give a friend who also has a Frog Army, and one for myself.   I completed the gift one last year, and sent that off for Christmas, and the recipient was very pleased with it.  It was now time to work on mine.

   I had the pieces I needed at hand; the Bones Black "Giant Rhinoceros Beetle" from the Kickstarter, and my rider - for which I  had decided to use the Bones "Mudcroak" Squog figure.

    As I looked at Mudcroak, I knew I would have to separate him from his base, but I also knew there was no way I could remove all his thin feet and little toes from the base without damaging them.  I also knew it would be very hard to conform  a figure that was sculpted to sit flat, to mount correctly onto the curved back of the beetle. So, right off the bat I made the decision to just remove his feet along with the base, with the plan that I would then resculpt them with greenstuff directly onto the beetle's back once I had the frog glued in place.

     Here's a test fit I did, with the frog held in place with blue-tac.

     After I removed the base from the frog figure, the next step was to  attach him to the back of the beetle. I first drilled small holes into the frog and beetle and inserted a small section of paperclip to act as pin to help hold the two together.    You can see in the photo below where I tried to carve the underside of the frog a little to help it conform more to the beetle's curved back.  I had to be careful, as I did't want to carve away too much of the frog's body.

     Next, I trimmed down the integral base of the beetle, as I felt it stood too high.  I mount my figures on fender washers and use magnetic storage, so really didn't need the extra height that this base had.  

I then glued the frog to the beetle's back, and the base to a black-primed 2" washer, using Gorilla Superglue gel for both; and clamped the base while the glue set.

     Next, I began the initial greenstuff work on the figure, and added on the base pads of the feet, the left hand which I had had to remove, and I extended the loin cloth in the back.  I'm not a sculptor by any means, but felt frog feet were in my ability level.

      I then added the toe ridges to the back feet, and did the final connections to connect the feet and hand to their respective limbs.   I also gave the spear a bigger point, as the existing one was too small.

  At this point,  I think it's ready to paint.   So tune in next week to see the finished product!

"Tormentor" Female Devil to Forest Guardian Faun-Queen Conversion and Paint: Bones 4 Core Figure

    This past week I painted the Female Devil figure from the Bones 4 Bedeviled group from the Core Set.   During the run of the Kickstarter, I had read on the Reaper Forum about folks who where considering the possibilities of  converting the larger Rulers of Hell figure set into some sort of Forest King and Queen creatures by removing their wings and skull iconography.   With the cloven hooves and horns I could see how easily this could be done.  And, while I didn't get that set, I did get the smaller sized Bedeviled group that came in the Core Set.  Looking at the female figure in that set, it seemed to me that she too would be an easy conversion to make into some sort of Faun-like Forest Creature.

   So, with figure in hand, I began.  I prepped the figure in the usual way, soaking the parts 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.
    The first conversion step I wanted to do was remove the trident-like weapon from her right hand.  Once removed, I replaced it with one of the spear/staff type weapons weapons from the Bones 3 Clear Armory of Virtue sprues.    I then glued the right arm into place using Gorilla Superglue Gel.

      The figure had three holes in her back; the top two for wings, and the bottom for her tail.  Next step was to fill these.

      So, using some 2-part epoxy putty greenstuff, I filled in the top two holes by sculpting in the missing hair; and I filled the bottom hole by sculpting her a more Faun-like tail.

     I then glued the figure to a black-primed 1.5" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, after trimming the base so it would fit. I then placed the figure in my painting grip.

      I began by painting all her skin above the waist with Reaper MSP "Tanned Shadow", and her legs with Americana "Light Cinnamon".  I then painted her loin cloth with Crafter's Acrylic "Forest Green", and the underside of her tail with Americana "Fawn".

     Next, I painted her hair with Accent "Real Umber", and her hooves with Vallejo "USA Olive Drab".  After that, I painted her belts and wrist wraps and guards with Accent "Mustard Seed", her staff with Ceramcoat "Walnut", and her horns with Folk Art "Barn Wood".

     I decided I wanted to add a little color to her loincloth, so I gave it a border with Apple Barrel "Yellow".  I then painted her belt buckle and fittings, as well as her wrist guard and the fittings on her staff, all with Folk Art Brushed Metal "Brushed Bronze".   I let everything dry for a while, and then I gave the entire figure (except the clear end of the staff) a wash with Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash.  When the wash was dry, I painted her eyes, and gave her some Folk Art "Metallic Emerald Green" eye shadow.  I then highlighted her skin with the base "Tanned Shadow" mixed with some Reaper MSP "Tanned Skin", and Reaper MSP "Tanned Highlight".

     I then highlighted her hair with some of the "Light Cinnamon", and then some Folk Art "Teddy Bear Brown"; and, next, I used these same two colors to highlight her legs.   After that, I highlighted her loin cloth with Folk Art "Hauser Green Medium", and the border with Crafter's Acrylic "Bright Yellow".  I then highlighted her tail and her horns with some Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White", and her hooves with a mix of some Americana "Mississippi Mud and the base "USA Olive Drab".   Next, I highlighted her belts and arm bands with some Accent Golden Oxide, and then a little of the "Golden Oxide mixed with some Ceramcoat "Maple Sugar Tan".  I wrapped up the highlighting by doing her staff with Folk Art "Dark Brown", and the metal fittings on her belt, staff, and her wrist guard with Ceramcoat "14K Gold".  Lastly, I painted the head of the staff with Tamiya Color "Clear Green", and the whole figure base with the "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".  After the Dullcote dried, I went back over the head of the staff with Americana "DuraClear Gloss Varnish".

     I really am pleased with how the conversion from demon to forest queen worked out on this, as well as the paint job.  And it was quite a nice sculpt to begin with as well.

     Be sure to tune in Thursday for another bonus post this week!

Converting and Assembling the Mossbeard Treeman: Bones 4 Figure

     How about a bonus Thursday post today!  This past week I worked on assembling and converting the Mossbeard Treeman figure from the recent Bones 4 Kickstarter.   While I loved the basic design of the figure, I did have one quibble with it.  In my mind the arms were wrong, as they were narrower at the shoulder and wider at the wrists.  I felt that arms, as well as tree branches, are generally thicker at the base/shoulder, and get thinner as they go towards the ends.   When I pledged for the figure my hope was that it wouldn't be too hard to reverse the arms and mount them with the thick end at the shoulders and put the hands on the the thinner ends.

     Since the arms and hands were all constructed with peg and hole joints, reversing them would give me peg on peg and hole on hole connections.  This wouldn't work, so the first thing I did was cut of the pegs to make the peg on peg parts fit more closely together.   The pegs on the wrists and hands were large thick chunks of plastic, so in order to remove them more easily, I first soaked them in boiling water for about 40 seconds.

     I was then was easily able to slice through them with a hobby knife.

 

     I then assembled the legs and body, and laid out all the parts to get a feel for how it would look.   So far I was happy.

     Next I trimmed the overhanging shoulder on the body's right side.

     I then worked on trimming the new shoulder connections on the arms (What were intended to be the wrists) so that they would fit onto the body more closely.  This was a matter of trim a little, put it up against the body to test, and trim a little more as needed.

     Test fitting.

     I then got the idea to glue the pegs that I had sliced off back into the holes in the shoulders and body where they would have gone.  This, I realized, would give me good points to put in pins to help anchor the arms.

     So I then drilled holes to insert anchor pins.  I didn't have any wire thick enough, so decided to use some doweling.

     While I got the holes and pins all ready, I didn't actually glue the arms yet; as I wanted to first work on blending the wrist joints with some greenstuff epoxy putty.

      I used some of the leftover greenstuff to fill the gap in the joint where his head joins his body.

  After the wrists had time to set,  I glued the arms to the body using the wood pegs to anchor them.

      After the glue had time to set, I then blended the shoulder joints using greenstuff.

    I then primed an old CD disc and glued the feet to it.  That completes the conversion and assembly phase.  Now all that's left is the painting!

Shown with Sir Forscale.