Gloom Stalker: Bones 4 Darkreach Figure

      This past week I painted the "Gloom Stalker" from the Bones 4 Darkreach Expansion; this is Reaper's version of the D&D Hook Horror.   This is the last figure from the Darkreach Expansion I had left to paint.  So it feels good to get one expansion completed. (Note: I traded or sold the Fungoids, and all but two of the Bloodstone Gnomes.) 

     I began by painting the body of the figure with Ceramcoat "Black".   Then when the "Black" was dry, I drybrushed it with Crafter's Acrylic "African Violet".  After that, I gave it a lighter drybrush of Apple Barrel "Apple Lavender".  I then worked on the underbelly, first using a mix of the "Black" and the "African Violet" around the outer edges, and then adding in some of the "Apple Lavender" to blend it lighter towards the center.  Lastly, I mixed in some Folk Art "Milkshake" for the center.  I then drybrushed it with Americana "Dove Grey", and then directly painted some "Dove Grey" highlights.

     Next, I painted the feet with the "Milkshake", and then painted the blade-like "hooks", talons, and beak with Folk Art "Barn Wood".  When dry, I attempted to blend them all into the black body by mixing the base color, ("Milkshake" for the feet, "Barn Wood" for the blade-like "hooks", talons, and beak,) with Citadel Contrast "Black Templar".  When that was dry, I gave the blade-like "hooks", talons, beak, and feet all a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil".

     When the wash was dry, I drybrushed the blade-like "hooks", talons, and beak, with the base "Barn Wood".  I then did some direct brush highlights with the same color where it was too close to the black body to drybrush well.  Next, I mixed some Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White" with the "Barn Wood" and did another round of lighter highlights.  After that, I did a few spot highlights with just the plain "Light Antique White".  I then highlighted the feet with the base "Milkshake".  

     Moving on to the eyes next, I painted the immediate area around them with the "African Violet", and then painted the eyeball with Americana "Zinc".  When dry, I painted large pupil with Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow", and then  a smaller inner pupil with Ceramcoat "White".

   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 around the edge of the integral base to cover the areas where the black under-base showed.  When the sand was dry, I painted it with a coat of Americana "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". Next, I painted the sculpted bone on the base with the "Light Antique White".  When that was dry, I gave it a coat of Citadel Contrast "Skeleton Horde".

      Another overnight dry, and I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote". When the "Dullcote" was dry, I went back and repainted the eyes with a little Americana "DuraClear Gloss" varnish.

     I'm really happy with how this guy turned out.  I wasn't expecting a lot from the figure, but for some reason the black, purple, and off-white color scheme really seems to make it pop for me.  Sadly this is another figure that suffers from some poorly placed mold lines, and I just don't have the patience to spend a lot of time trying to remove them from uneven and textured surfaces.  

Troglodytes (Spearman, Warrior & Boss): Bones 4 Darkreach Figures

     This past week I painted the "Troglodyte Spearman", "Troglodyte Warrior", and "Troglodyte Boss" figures from the Bones 4 Darkreach Expansion.  I've only got one Darkreach figure left to do after these guys, and I'll have completed all the figures I kept from that expansion.   These guys had a lot of nice detail sculpted into their scaly skin, so I thought they might be good candidates for some Citadel Contrast paint.  So I thought I'd try something of a hybrid approach using both the Contrast paint and regular paint.

      I prepped the figures 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. I then glued them to 1" brown-primed fender washers with Aleene's Tacky glue.  I then glued the washers onto a tongue depressor with a couple drops of Elmer's white glue.

     I began by giving all of them complete coats of Ceramcoat "White".  When that was dry, I painted their bodies with Citadel Contrast "Militarum Green".

     I began by working on their abdomen, chest, and the bottoms of their feet areas, using a blend of the base "Militarum Green" and mixing in some Americana "Antique White"; I then gradually increased the amount of the "Antique White" as I worked towards the higher center areas.  After that, I used some Americana "Jade Green" to highlight areas of the body like fingers, toes, and lips.  I then used Folk Art "Grey Green" to paint the spikes, horns, and claws; and then highlighted these areas with Folk Art "Porcelain White".  I felt the highlight wasn't enough, so I went back and added some Folk Art "Celadon Green" to the very tips.

          Next, I repainted the center figure's bone club, and the bone handle of the righthand ones' axe, with the "White".  I then painted the lefthand one's spear handle with Americana "Mississippi Mud", then painted the spear point, axe head, and all their ankle bracelets with Accent "Golden Oxide".  After that, I painted the bindings on the spear, club and axe, with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige". I then moved to their mouths, painting the inside of the lefthand one's mouth with Folk Art "Milkshake", and then painting all their teeth with Folk Art "Barn Wood".  I then went back and gave the center figure's bone club, and the bone handle of the righthand ones' axe a coat of Citadel Contrast "Skeleton Horde".

         I then applied a coat of "Nuln Oil" wash to the teeth and mouth of the figures.  While that dried, I did highlights on the spear shaft using some of the "Barn Wood" mixed with the base "Mississippi Mud".  By now the "Skeleton Horde" Contrast paint had dried, so I did some light drybrush highlights on the bone club, and axe handle with Americana "Bleached Sand".  The "Nuln Oil" was dry too, so I highlighted the teeth with the "Bleached Sand" as well.  After that, I highlighted all the bindings on the weapons with Folk Art 'Butter Pecan".   

     Next, I moved to the metallics, Painting the spear point and axe head with Folk Art Brushed Metal "Brushed Bronze".  I let that dry for a while, and then came back and drybrushed it with some Ceramcoat "MetallicBronze".  I then mixed some of the "metallic Bronze with a little DecoArt Metallic "Bight Brass" to do lighter highlights.

    Finishing up, I painted the back of the open mouth on the lefthand one with a little Citadel "Black Templar" Contrast to give the appearance of a throat.  I then painted the eyeballs with the "Black Templar" as well.   When they were dry, Ipainted the eyeballs again using Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow"  and then gave them Ceramcoat "Black" slit pupils.  Lastly, I painted the bases with Americana "Mississippi Mud".

         I let the figures 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 flock the bases.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed them with Testor's "Dullcote". When the "Dullcote" was dry, I went back and repainted the eyes and teeth with a little Americana "DuraClear Gloss" varnish.

     I'm really happy with how this trio turned out.  I think the Contrast paint really was effective on the scaly skin, and blended well with more conventional paints.  

Burrowing Behemoth: Bones 4 Darkreach Figure

      This past week I painted the "Burrowing Behemoth" from the Bones 4 Darkreach Expansion.  This is apparently Reaper's version of an Umber Hulk, so I consulted my old original Monster Manual for color inspiration.   

      I prepped the "Burrowing Behemoth" in the usual way, soaking the pieces in a dish of water with a couple drops of dish-soap added; then giving the pieces a light scrub with a soft toothbrush, and then rinsing and drying everything.  I then glued the arms, legs, head, and mouth into place using Gorilla Superglue gel.    I didn't glue this figure to a washer because I planned to sell it, and it already had an effective circular base build onto it.   The feet didn't fit as snugly onto the base as I would have liked, so I added a little white glue around the feet and here and there on the base; and sprinkled some sand on the glue, to help hide the feet joints and add a little more texture to the base.   When dry, I shook off the extra sand, and I then affixed the integral base to the top of a large pill bottle with a couple blobs of blue-tac. 

This was another figure with terrible mold lines on hard to reach and uneven surfaces.  Who's idea was it to have three intersecting mold lines meet in the middle of each eye ball! 

(Oops! I started my black base coat on the leg before I realized I hadn't taken a "beginning" picture)

     I began by giving the entire figure a base coat with Ceramcoat "Black".  I then drybrushed it with Americana "Charcoal Grey", followed by a lighter drybrushing with "Americana "Mississippi Mud", and lastly a highlight drybrush with a little Americana "Fawn".

     Next, I wet blended the lighter yellow-grey stomach area using first a base of Ceramcoat "Charcoal", followed by mixing in a little Americana "Antique Gold" (non-metallic).  I then mixed in some Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey", and lastly a little crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow".  After that, I painted the to of the head with a little of the "Charcoal Grey", and Storm Cloud Grey mixed together, blending it in to the surrounding darker head, and then added some highlights with the base "Storm Cloud Grey"

     I then painted the ridged areas of the forearms with Accent "Real Umber" (Something on an Umber Hulk needed to be painted with an Umber Brown!), and then painted the claws and toenails(?) with Americana "Bittersweet Chocolate".  After that, I painted the mandibles with Americana "Antique White".

     Next, I applied a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash to the ridged forearm areas, mandibles, claws, and toenails.  While the wash was drying, I painted the eyes with Reaper MSP "Fresh Blood", and drybrushed the antenna with DecoArt Dazzling Metaalics "Rich Espresso", followed by a lighter drybrush of Ceramcoat "Wedding Gold".  

     When the wash was dry, I highlighted the ridges in the forearm areas with first, Pathfinder MSP "Urgathea Red", and then mixed it with a little Reaper MSP "Holly Berry" for a lighter highlight.  I then Highlighted the toenails and claws with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige".  After that, I highlighted the mandibles, first with the base "Antique White", and then with a little "Americana "Bleached Sand", and then I highlighted the other mouth bits with some Folk Art "Barn Wood".  I wrapped things up by repainting the eyes with some Folk Art Color Shift "Red Flash", and then added small highlight dots with Americana "Snow White".   

     I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave it a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.   When the varnish was dry, I painted the base with a coat of Americana "Charcoal Grey". When this was dry, I drybrushed the base with some of 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". When the "Dullcote" was dry, I went back and repainted the eyes with a little Americana "DuraClear Gloss" varnish.

      I'm really happy with how this turned out.  There's still some annoying mold lines here and there, but I think the color scheme came out looking pretty good.

Bones 4: Bloodstone Gnome Scragger and Bodyguard

      This past week I painted the "Bloodstone Gnome Scragger" and "Bloodstone Gnome Bodyguard" from the Bones 4 Darkreach Expansion.   I have to say, I  wasn't excited about doing these minis, as I really didn't like the Aztec ascetic for Dark Gnomes.  I also found the sclupts to be particularly fussy for such little figures, with all kinds of details and bits and bobs on them. 

      I prepped the figures 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. I then glued them to 7/8" brown-primed fender washers with Aleene's Tacky glue.  I then glued the washers onto a tongue depressor with a couple drops of Elmer's white glue.

     I began by panting their skin with Americana "Charcoal Grey".  I then painted the loin cloth on the lefthand one , and the shirt on the righthand one, with Ceramcoat "Charcoal". After that, I painted the scarf on the lefthand one, and the loincloth on the righthand one with Crafter's Acrylic "Navy Blue". 

    Next, I painted their armor with Americana "Terra Cotta", and then painted their feet/leg wraps with Folk Art "Cloudy Day".  After that, I painted the wrist wraps on the lefthand one, and the neck collar and belt pouches on the righthand one, with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige". 

     I then painted both sword grips, and sword blade on the righthand one, with with Accent "Real Umber", and the sword blade on the lefthand one and spear shaft on the righthand one with Reaper MSP HD "Rusty Red". After that, I painted the parts I was going to paint gold with Americana "Antique Gold", and the parts I was going to paint as metal with Americana "Zinc". 

     Next, I painted the obsidian "blades" on all the weapons with Ceramcoat "Black".  After that, I repainted the metal parts I had previously paint with the Zinc, using Folk Art  Metallics "Gunmetal Grey"; and repainted the parts I had previously painted with the "Antique Gold", using Folk Art Brushed Metal "Brushed Bronze".   I let the figures dry for a while, and then gave them both a coat of Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash.

    When the wash was dry, I painted the eyes, and then highlighted the skin with a mix of the base "CharcoalGrey", and some Americana "Mississippi Mud".  At that point, I realized they had exposed teeth, so I took a moment to paint those with Americana "Bleached Sand", and then gave them a quick wash with the "Agrax Earthshade".  After that, I highlighted the leather armor with Reaper MSP "Bronzed Skin".

          Next, I highlighted their leggings with Folk Art "Cloudy Day", and then highlighted the left one's loin cloth, and the right one's shirt with Americana "Zinc".  I then highlighted the left one's  scarf, and the right one's loin cloth, with Citadel "The Fang" mixed with a little Folk Art "Settler's Blue".  After that, I highlighted the wrist wraps on the lefthand one, and the neck collar and belt pouches on the righthand one, with Americana "Fawn".

        I then highlighted the body of the lefthand one's sword and the righthand one's spear shaft with some Reaper MSP "Holly Berry" mixed with a little Crafter's Acrylic "Pure Pumpkin".  After that, I highlighted the righthand one's sword blade body with Americana "Light Cinnamon", and then highlighted all the obsidian parts with Crafter's Acrylic "Cool Blue".  Wrapping thing up, I highlighted the parts I painted with the "Gunmetal Grey" using Ceramcoat "Silver", and highlighted the  parts I had painted with the "Brushed Bronze", using Folk Art "Pure Gold".   I finished by painting both their  bases with Americana "Mississippi Mud".

      I let the figures dry overnight and the next day I gave them a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish. I then used some white glue to glue some fine sand to their bases.  When the sand was dry, I painted it with a coat of Americana "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 figures with Testor's Dullcote".  When the "Dullcote" was dry, I went back and repainted the obsidian with a some Americana "DuraClear Gloss" varnish.

     Well, there they are.  They turned out okay, but my heart wasn't in them.  I have decided life's too short for me to paint stuff I really don't like, so the remainder of the set, is going in my sale/trade box. 

Dark Watcher: Bones 4 Darkreach Figure

     This past week I painted the Dark Watcher figure from the Bones 4 Darkreach Expansion.

     I prepped the "Dark Watcher" in the usual way, soaking the pieces in a dish of water with a couple drops of dish-soap added; then giving the pieces a light scrub with a soft toothbrush, and then rinsing and drying everything.  I then glued the two halves of the head together and glued the tongue in, then glued the head to the base using Gorilla Superglue gel. I then glued the figure to a brown-primed 1.25" fender washer using Aleene's Tacky glue, and then glued the washer to the top of a large pill bottle with a couple drops of Elmers white glue.

      I debated how to paint this.  The obvious choice would be some dark color; grey, green, blue, brown, typical for subterranean monsters, but having already painted a couple monsters from this expansion that way, I wanted to try something different.  So I then thought about going with a more pale, almost albino look, to represent a creature that has never been exposed to sunlight and evolved in the dark.  I Googled photos of various albino animals to give myself an idea of what to try for.

     I began by painting the rocky base with Ceramcoat "Charcoal Grey".  When dry, I drybrushed it with Folk Art "Rock Grey", and Americana "Grey Sky". 

     Next, I painted the entire head with Americana "Snow White".  When dry, I gave the entire head a coat of Citadel Contrast "Apothecary White".   When dry, I drybrushed the head with the "Snow White", and then used a brush to do even further "Snow White" highlights.  I then painted the inside of the mouth with Americana "Cranberry Wine".

     I quickly decided that the mouth looked too strong of a color for my liking, so I repainted it with a mix of the "Cranberry Wine" and some Crafter's Acrylic  "Cherry Blossom Pink".  I then highlighted it with just the "Cherry Blossom Pink" followed with further highlights using Apple Barrel "Apple Lt. Pink".  After that, I painted the very back of his throat with some Citadel Contrast "Templar Black" to try and give it some depth. I followed that with painting his teeth with Americana "Bleached Sand", and his horns with Folk Art "Gray Green".

    I let the figure dry for a while, and then applied a coat of Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash to the teeth, and  a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash to the horns.   After that, I painted the eyeball with Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White". 

     Next, I painted the outer iris with Folk Art "Cloudy Day", then painted the inner iris with Crafter's Acrylic "Cool Blue".  I then painted the pupil with Ceramcoat "Black", and afterwards did highlights on the teeth with the base "Bleached Sand" followed by a little Ceramcoat "White".   After that, I highlighted the horns with the base "Grey Green", followed by some Folk Art "Porcelain White". 

       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". When the "Dullcote" was dry, I went back and repainted the eye and the inside of the mouth with a little Americana "DuraClear Gloss" varnish.

     I'm pleased with how this fellow turned out.  The mold line running across his teeth bugs me, but there was no way I was going to get involved in the insane amount of time it would take to try and clear all that out.  (What a crazy place to put a mold line!) In the end I think the mouth perhaps is still too dark in color for an albino creature, but I think in general he looks ok. 

Rockmaw: Bones 4 Darkreach Figure

      This past week I painted the "Rockmaw" from the Bones 4 Darkreach Expansion. 

      I prepped the "Rockmaw" in the usual way, soaking the pieces in a dish of water with a couple drops of dish-soap added; then giving the pieces a light scrub with a soft toothbrush, and then rinsing and drying everything.  I then glued the arms and mouth into place using Gorilla Superglue gel. I then glued the figure to a brown-primed 1.5" fender washer using Aleene's Tacky glue, and then glued the washer to the top of a large pill bottle with a couple drops of Elmers white glue.

     As I was prepping this figure I became aware of some really unfortunate mold line issues, where the lines ran directly down the center of legs perpendicular to the ridges sculpted into the legs.  This would make completely removing these lines a laborious task, one I wasn't willing to undertake.  So I did the best I could to scrape them down a little, then I got on with the panting. 

     I began by painting the figure entirely with Ceramcoat "Charcoal".   When that was dry, I drybrushed the entire figure with Folk Art "Dapple Grey".  I ended up applying the drybrushing too heavily, obscuring the ride deffiniton on the legs, so I went back and gave the entire figure a coat of  Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash to redefine the ridges.

     When the wash was dry, I re-applied the "Dapple Grey" drybrushing to the whole figure.  I then gave a lighter drybrushing of  Americana "Jade Green" to the figure.  After that, I painted the claws and toenails with Folk Art "GrayGreen", the teeth with Americana "Antique White", and the eyes with  Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow".  I then went back and directly painted the center of each leg ridge, and some of the bumps on the body and arms, with the "Jade Green", to give each a brighter central highlight.

    Next, after everything had dried a while, I gave the claws and toenails a coat of the "Nuln Oil" wash, and then gave the teeth a coat of Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash.  After that, I used some Reaper MSP "Grey Liner" to outline the eyes and help define them.

     When the washes and liner were dry, I highlighted the claws and toenails with the base "Gray Green", and then mixed in a little Americana "Dove Grey" to give a lighter highlight.  I then highlighted the teeth with the base "Antique White", and blended up to some "Americana "Bleached Sand" at the top of each tooth. After that, I painted Ceramcoat "Black" pupils in each eye and added an Americana "Snow White" reflective dot in each eye.   

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

     I'm happy with how this beastie turned out, despite the mold-line issue.  The shape and textures made it an interesting challenge over the usual humanoid shaped monster.