Reeve Irremborg Planomap: Bones 4 Dreadmere Figure (Completed)

     I'm going to try something different this week.  Once again, over the past week my painting time was cut short, and I was not able to complete this week's figure.  But instead of posting nothing, and just putting it all off until next week, I thought I'd post as far as I've gotten today, and then add the rest when I complete it, which I hope will be Thursday.  Let's see how this works out.

     So, this past week I painted "Reeve Irremborg Planomap"  from the Bones 4  Dreadmere Expansion. While it's a relatively simple figure, it has a lot of fiddly details in all the buttons and embroidery sculpted into his clothing, and that was one thing that slowed me down.

    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" metal washer with some Aleene's Tacky glue.  I then placed the figure in my painting grip.   

     I began by painting his face and hands with Americana "Shading Flesh".  I then painted his coat, vest, and pants with Folk Art "Burgundy"; and his coat cuffs, collar, and the scalloping under the vest, with Americana "Antique White".  After that, I painted his cape, and shirt cuffs with Americana "Dove Gray".

     Next, I painted his hat, the strap across his chest, and his shoe with Ceramcoat "Black", and then painted his cane and wooden leg with Accent "Real Umber".   I then painted his hair and beard with Americana "Light Cinnamon", and the feather in his hat with the "Burgundy". 

     I then painted all the buttons, embroidered trim, and the fittings on his cane and wooden leg, with Accent "Mustard Seed".  I let this dry, and then painted over it with Folk Art Metallic "Pure Gold".  After everything had a while to dry,  I went back and gave everything, except the shirt cuffs and cape, a coat of Citadel "Reikland Fleshshade" wash.   When this was dry, I gave the shirt cuffs and cape a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash. 

ADDED THURSDAY:    

 When the washes were all dry, I painted his eyes, and highlighted his face with Reaper MSP "Rosy Skin", and then Reaper MSP "Rosy Highlight".  Next, I highlighted his coat, vest, and pants with a mix of the base "Burgundy" and some Americana "Burgundy Wine".  I then did some lighter highlights with the "Burgundy Wine" mixed with some Crafter's Acrylic "Tutti Frutti".  I then moved to highlighting the fringe under his vest, his coat cuffs,  and coat lining using the base "Antique White", and then some Americana "Bleached Sand".

     Next, I highlighted his cape and shirt cuffs with the base "Dove Gray", and then some Americana "White".  I then went back and added ermine spots with the "Black".  After that, I highlighted the hat, shoe, and strap with Ceramcoat "Denim Blue".  I then moved on to his cane and wooden leg, highlighting them with Folk Art "Teddy Bear Brown".  Finishing up, I highlighted his beard with Accent "Golden Oxide", and ll th gold bits with Ceramcoat "Wedding Gold".   Lastly, I painted the figure's 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. 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". 

     And here he is complete!  I'm generally happy with how he turned out.  As with so many of Reaper's figures, this little guy just has a ton of character! 

Here is a photo next to a wizard I recently featured here on the blog, to give a sense of the size of the Reeve Irremborg Planomap figure next to a human miniature.

Dreadmere Fishmonger: Bones 4 Dreadmere Figure

    Over the past two weeks I've work on the "Fishmonger" figure from the Bones 4 Dreadmere Expansion.  This figure gave me a lot of trouble and while I thought it was going to be quick and easy, it ended up taking me two weeks to complete. 

       There's a few problems with this figure that really slowed me down.  First, this is a figure that should not come pre-glued.  The cart, its handles, as well as the hands, arms, and front of the bent-over woman are all just too close and cramped, and it is really difficult to get in there to paint any of it.  Second, the cart is designed so there is a lot of areas that should be open that are sculpted solid; for example, the area between the woman and cart is solid plastic, and the area under the cart between the wheels is solid plastic.  Likewise, the cubby hole where the tentacles are is solid.  This means a lot of weird optical issues to try and hide.  And thirdly,  the sculpting of the cart is problematic.  The net areas are sculpted with the net cut as slits into the model, not as raised lines.  This means simply dry brushing, or carefully painting, the lines of the net is not an option.  You have to somehow paint the cuts, either before or after painting what one would assume is the dark shadowed interior of whatever is behind the nets.  Also, the relief of everything sculpted on the cart, the knives, wheels, etc. is very thin, so painting these thin or narrow pieces and staying in the lines is hard, and there was lots of having to go back and paint over mistakes.  

       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" metal washer with Aleene's Tacky glue.  I then placed the figure in my painting grip.   

     I began by painting her face, arms and hands with Reaper MSP "Tanned Shadow".  I then painted her skirts with Reaper MSP "Fresh Blood", her blouse and apron with Folk Art "Dove Grey", and her wrap, hat, and hair with Ceramcoat "Charcoal".

     Next, I painted the area of netting with a thinned wash of Folk Art "Barn Wood".  When it was dry, I tried drybrushing it with the "Charcoal"  I wasn't entirely happy with this as the drybrushing covered over some of the slits cot to represent the net, obscuring the wash.  I then used the "Charcoal" to paint the solid area that were representing open spaces; the area between the cart and the lady, the area between the wheels, and the area at the bottom where the tentacles are emerging.  After that, I painted the cart and her bracelets with Americana "Antique Gold", the tentacles with Reaper MSP "Bronzed Shadow", and the knife holders and pouches with Americana "Asphaltum"

         Not being happy with the netting, I went back and hand-lined the worst covered portions back in using the "Barn Wood". I then painted the knife and cleaver handles with Accent "Real Umber", and the cleaver blade and wheel rims with Americana "Zinc".   When dry, I repainted the cleaver blade and wheel rims with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey".  After that, I painted the fish with Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver", and while still wet, blended in some Folk Art Color Shift "Emerald Flash" on the head, fins, and tail.  I then painted the cart handrails and handles, as well as the woman's bracelets, with Folk Art Brushed Metal "Brushed Bronze".

     I let everything dry for a while, and then gave her face, arms, and skirts a coat of Citadel "Reikland Fleshshade" wash.  When that was dry, I gave her blouse, hat, shawl, apron, and the fish a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash. Another drying period, and I gave the cart a coat of Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash, being careful to avoid the net areas.  Then, when everything was dry, I  painted her eyes, and then highlighted her face, arms, and hands with the base Tanned Shadow, and Reaper MSP " Tanned Skin".

      Next, I highlighted the skirts with Reaper MSP "Holly Berry", and then mixed in some Crafter's Acrylic "Pure Pumpkin" for lighter highlights.  I then  highlighted the blouse and apron with Folk Art "Dove Gray", and some Americana "Snow White". After that, I highlighted the hat and shawl with Americana "Zinc" followed by Americana "Neutral Grey"; and then highlighted her hair with Folk Art "Cloudy Day".         

     I then highlighted her pouch and purse with Folk Art "Teddy Bear Brown", and after that I highlighted the cart with the base "Antique Gold", and some Americana "Primary Yellow".  Next, I painted the front signboard with Ceramcoat "White", and when dry, painted a fish on it with Americana "Forest Green" (So even the illiterate peasants will know what she's selling).  I also used the "Forest Green" to paint some simple decorations on the cart's sides.  After that, I highlighted the tentacles with Americana "Terra Cotta", and then a little Apple Barrel "Flesh".

    Next, I highlighted the knife holders with Americana "Sable Brown", and then handles of the knves and cleaver with the "Teddy Bear Brown".  I then highlighted the fish with the base "Emerald Flash", and Metallic Silver.  After that, I highlighted the handrails, handles, and bracelets with DecoArt Dazzling Metallics "Bright Brass".   Lastly, I painted the figure's 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. 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". 

     Well, even though this figure was a bugger to paint, I'm quite pleased with it in the end.  I feel she came out very well, the cart came out good but not quite as good as she did, and the nets are still a mess.  But I did with them what I could, and am not a painter who beats my head on a project indefinitely.  

Giant Frogs: Bones 4 Dreadmere Figures

    This past week I painted two of the "Giant Frog" pairs that came in the Bones 4 Dreadmere Expansion.  The Expansion comes with one of each pose, but I picked up a second pair of these so had 4 to paint. 

     The first thing I did was Google "colorful frog" to see if there were any unusual frogs found in nature I could copy.  I didn't want to necessarily go the Poison Dart Frog route, even though they tend to be very colorful, as I felt these models looked to beefy and Bullfrog like, rather than the more slender nature of the Poison Dart variety. 

     What I found that I liked were blue frogs.  These are normal green frogs, that are missing some yellow pigmentation due to a mutation, causing their skin to appear blue.  I thought this would be a fun and easy to paint.  

        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 all to 1.25" fender washers using Aleene's Tack y Glue.  When the glue was dry, I glued each like set of two to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of Elmers glue.

     I thought I'd do these guys with Citadel Contrast paint to help keep things simple, and it seemed like an easy way to blend the colors from the blue to green to the white under belly.   So, I began by giving all of them a complete coat of Ceramcoat "White".  When that was dry, I gave their lower halves a coat of Citadel Contrast "Apothecary White".  When dry, I drybrushed the lower halves with Americana "Snow White". 

     Next, I painted their mouths and tongues with thinned Citadel Contrast "Blood Angels Red".  When it was dry, I drybrushed it with Apple Barrel "Apple Lt. Pink".  I then cleaned up their faces and chins where any of the Contrast paint, or pink drybrush had strayed using the "White".   I then painted their legs with Citadel Contrast "Creed Camo", and while it was still wet, I painted their backs with Citadel Contrast Talassar Blue".

          I drybrushed their backs a little with a mix of some Crafter's Acrylic "Tropical Blue" and the "Snow White".  I then painted their eyes with a mix of Americana "Antique Gold" and Folk Art Color Shift "Green Flash".  When dry, I painted an outer pupil with Apple Barrel "Lemon Chiffon", and the inner pupil with Ceramcoat "Black.  Lastly, I painted the bases with the "Mississippi Mud".

     I let the frogs dry overnight and the next day I gave them a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.    Then, when  the varnish was dry, I  gave them a coat of Americana "DuraClear Gloss" varnish.   When dry, I went back and gave their eyes and tongues a second coat of the Gloss.   Finally, I used some white glue to flock the bases.  

    For just some fast and simple monsters, I think they look okay; and using the Contrast paint helped get them done quickly and with a reasonable appearance of shading .  

Dreadmere Townsfolk Fisherman: Bones 4 Figure

   This past week I painted the "Fisherman" townsfolk figure from the Bones 4 Dreadmere Expansion.

   All I could see when I looked at this figure, was the Gorton's Fisherman, so I decided jut to embrace that image, and Googled some photos of him to get a clearer idea of how exactly he was dressed.

     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" plastic base with some superglue.  I then placed the figure in my painting grip.   

     I began by painting his face and arms with Reaper MSP "Suntan Flesh".  I then painted his outfit with Americana "Antique Gold", and his shoes with Reaper MSP "Turkey Brown".

     Next, I painted his belt and sheath with Reaper MSP "Shield Brown", and his fishing kreel with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige".  I then painted his side pouch with Americana "Terra Cotta", and the front pouch with Ceramcoat "Charcoal".  After that, I painted his gloves with Americana "Charcoal Grey", and the bottle with Americana "Leaf Green". I finished up his accessories by painting the rod with Americana "Sable Brown", and the reel and fish with Americana "Zinc".

     I then painted the fish with Folk Art Pearl "Aqua Moiré", and the reel with Folk Art Metallic "Gunmetal Grey". After that, I painted the fittings on the rod and the knife with Folk Art Metallic "Pure Gold".   

    I let everything dry for a while, and then I gave his skin and clothing a coat of Citadel "Reikland Fleshshade" wash.  When that was dry, I gave his accessories a coat of Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash. Another drying period, and then I gave the front pouch and the fish a coat of "Nuln Oil" wash. 

     When all the washes were dry, I painted his eyes, and then highlighted his skin with Reaper MSP "Tanned Shadow and Reaper MSP "Tanned Skin".  Next, I painted his hair with the "Zinc", and then highlighted hit with Folk Art "Dove Grey".    After that, I highlighted his clothing with first Americana "Primary Yellow", and then Crafter's Acrylic "Bright Yellow".

     Next, I worked on highlighting all of the accessories.  First I highlighted his belt and sheath with Folk Art "Teddy Bear Brown", and then I did his fishing kreel with a mix of the base "Territorial Beige" and some Folk Art "Butter Pecan".  I then highlighted his side pouch with Reaper MSP "Hallowed Orange", and the front pouch with some of the "Zinc".  After that, I highlighted his gloves with a mix of the base  "Charcoal Grey" and some Apple Barrel "Rock Grey", and highlighted the bottle with some of the base "Leaf Green" and some Americana "Margarita" along with a little Americana "Snow White". I finished up by highlighting the rod with Reaper MSP "Olive Skin Highlight", and his shoes with the "Sable Brown". 

     I then highlighted the metal parts, using Deco Art Dazzling Metallics "Bright Brass" for the pole and knife fittings.   Lastly, I painted the figure's 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. 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 the "Charcoal Grey". When this was dry, I drybrushed the sand with Americana "Mississippi Mud", and then with some of the "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 fish and bottle with a little Americana "DuraClear Gloss" varnish.   

 

     Well, I like how this guy turned out.  He doesn't quite look the part of a medieval fantasy character in the bright safety yellow, but it's such an iconic look for a fisherman maybe the anachronism doesn't matter. :)  

Gulper (Giant Catfish): Bones 4 Dreadmere Figure

      This past week I painted the "Gulper" giant catfish figure from the Bones 4 Dreadmere Expansion set.  The figure is designed with a flat spot on its underside so you can glue it directly on a base if you want, but I decided I wanted mine to be swimming, so I grabbed a reaper flight stand I had and drilled a matching hole into the Gulper's belly. 

      I then prepped the figure in the usual way, soaking it in a dish of water with a couple drops of dish-soap added, and then gave it a light scrub with a soft toothbrush, and then rinsed and dried it.   Next, I stuck it onto the flight stand's peg, and put the peg in a pair of alligator clips for ease of holding.

When painting animals, I always like to look for real world inspiration, so I Googled images of "colorful catfish", and came upon the Redtail Catfish.  I thought it would be a fun pattern to paint, so I looked through a bunch of photos to get a sense for the coloration on this type of catfish.

     Because the figure has a bit of weight to it, I glued the base of the flight stand to a 2" fender washer with some Aleene's Tacky glue.  When the glue was dry, I sprayed it brown.   

     To begin with, I painted the figure with Americana "Dove Grey".  I then painted on the darker pattern with a mix of Americana "Charcoal" and Aleene's "Deep Khaki".

     Next, I drybrushed the light areas with some Americana "Snow White", and then highlighted the darker parts with a mix of the "Charcoal Grey" with the lighter Aleene's "Dusty Khaki"  After that, I painted the dot pattern on his head with Ceramcoat "Black", mixed with a little of the "Charcoal Grey", and then painted the tail with Reaper MSP "Holly Berry".   After that, I painted the inside of the mouth with Folk Art "Milkshake", and then painted the eyes with the "Snow White" and added inner circles with the "Black"

     When the mouth was dry, I gave it a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.  I then drybrushed the tail with some Crafter's Acrylic "Pure Pumpkin", and then used the "Pure Pumpkin" to paint the edges of the top and underside fins.   Next, I highlighted the fin edges, and parts of the tail with some Americana "Tangerine", followed by some spot highlights with Crafter's Acrylic "Bright Yellow". 

      I then painted the eels affixed to the Gulper's sides with Apple Barrel "Apple Black Green".  By this time the "Nuln Oil" wash was dry, so I highlighted the mouth with the base "Milkshake", and then a little of the "Milkshake with some Ceramcoat "White" added.   I then painted the teeth with Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White", and highlighted them with the "Snow White".    At this point I went back and painted the eels with the "Deep Khaki", leaving a thin edge of the "Apple Black Green" to serve as a shadow, and then highlighted with the "Dusty Khaki".  Lastly, I aded some tiny "Black" dot eyes. 

      I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave it a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  I didn't shake the varnish a lot in hopes of getting more of a semi-gloss shine than a matte finish. I wasn't going to use my regular Dull Cote final spray on this, as I thought a slightly shiny fish would be better than a matte one.   I then used some white glue to glue some course sand all over the base.  When the sand was dry,  I made a water and white glue mix and painted that over the sand to help it stay in place; since I wasn't going to paint it or spray it.  Lastly, I added some tiny shells and plants.  

     I'm happy with how this turned out.   Doing creatures with irregular color patterns like this never look just right while I'm doing them, especially if in nature the dividing line is not sharp but made up of individual hairs or fur; but I think this doesn't look too bad when viewed at table distance or in photos.

Dreadmere Hag: Bones 4 Dreadmere Figure

  This past week I painted the "Dreadmere Hag" from the Bones 4 Dreadmere 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" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue.  I then placed the figure in my painting grip.

     I began by painting her face, arms, and hands with Reaper MSP "Tanned Skin", and then painted her dress with Ceramcoat "Charcoal".  After that, I painted her shawl with Reaper MSP "Alien Flesh", and her kerchief with Apple Barrel "Lemon Chiffon".

     Next, I painted her apron with Reaper MSP "Graveyard Bone", and her over apron with Folk Art "Porcelain White".  I then did her hand rag with Folk Art "Barn Wood", and the knife holder with Reaper MSP "Shield Brown". 

     I then painted the broom handle with Americana "Mississippi Mud" , and the broom head with Americana "Antique White".  After that, I painted the bindings on the broom head with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige", and then painted the knife handles, and the wrist bands on her right arm, with Americana "Asphaltum". 

     Next, I painted her hair with Folk Art "Medium Grey" and then let the figure dry for a while.  When I returned to it, I gave her face, arms, and hands, as well as the broom, a coat of Citadel "Agrax Earthshde" wash.  I let that dry, and then gave her entire body a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.  When the washes were dry, I painted her eyes, and then highlighted her face, arms, and hands, with the base "Tanned Skin" and Reaper MSP Tanned Highlight".

     I then highlighted her dress with Americana "Zinc", and her shawl with the base "Alien Flesh".  I followed that with highlighting her hair with Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey",  and then highlighting her kerchief with the base "Lemon Chiffon" and some Ceramcoat "White". 

     Next, I highlighted her apron with Folk Art "Platinum Grey", and her over-apron with the base "Porcelain White".  I then highlighted her rag with the base "Barn Wood", and the knife case with Americana Sable Brown".  After that, I highlighted the knife handles with Crafter's Acrylic "Cinnamon Brown", and her wrist bands with Reaper MSP HD "Golden Brown".  I finished up with highlighting the broom, using Americana "Bleached Sand" on the head, the base "Mississippi Mud" mixed with a little of the "Barn Wood" on the handle, and the base "Territorial Beige" on the binding. Lastly, I painted the figure's 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. 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".

     I'm pretty happy with this one.  The camera's light meter had a bit of difficulty with the light yellow kerchief and the black dress, wiping the kerchief of all color so it looks just bright white. It's actually a pale yellow-grey.  I love how her expression turned out!  "That was the day Granny decided those frickin' orcs had raided her village for the last time.  And with her trusty kitchen knives, put an end to their shenanigans once and for all!". 😄