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 .  

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!

Razormouth: Bones 4 Dreadmere Figure

   This past week I painted the Razormouth figure 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 black-primed 1.25" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and then glued him to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of Elmers glue.
     I forgot to take a photo of it before I began so grabbed this one from the Reaper website.

     I began by painting the body with Folk Art "Hauser Green Medium".   I then painted the spines with Americana "Wedgewood Blue", and the inside of the mouth with Crafter's Acrylic "Cherry Blossom Pink".  After that, I did the teeth with Americana Bleached Sand".

      Next, I painted the claws with Aleene's "Deep Khaki, and then did the scales with Folk Art Color Shift "Green Flash".

     I let everything dry for a while, and then gave the inside of the mouth a coat of Citadel "Reikland Fleshshade" wash.  When that was dry, I gave the rest of the figure a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.  Then after the washes were dry, I painted the very deepest part of the mouth with Ceramcoat "Black".

     Next, I painted the eye using Accent "Golden Harvest", and gave it a "Black" pupil.  I then highlighted the body with the base "Hauser Green Medium", mixed with a little Americana "Jade Green", and highlighted the spines with Crafter's Acrylic "Tropical Blue".   After that, I highlighted the claws with Aleene's "Dusty Khaki", and his teeth with, first, Crafter's Acrylic Light Antique White", and then some Americana "Snow White". Following that, I did his scales with the base 'Green Flash", and then did the inside of his mouth with the base "Cherry Blossom Pink".   Lastly, I painted the entire 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.    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 hit its eyes and the inside of his mouth with a little Americana "DuraClear Gloss" varnish.

   I'm really happy with how this guy came out.  he may ned to appear in the Ghost Archipelago...

Bufo (Frogman) Bones 4 Dreadmere Figure

  This past week I painted Bufo, the Frog-man (or maybe he's a Toad-man since "Bufo" literally means "Toad") figure from the Bones 4 Dreadmere Expansion.  Since most all my frog figures are painted like colorful tree frogs and poison dart frogs, I thought I'd continue that pattern here, and paint Bufo like a Red Eyed Monkey Tree Frog. I love how full of character this figure is, and had been looking forward to painting him since the Kickstrater ran.

       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 black-primed 1.25" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and then placed the figure in my painting grip.

     I began by painting his body with Crafter's Acrylic "Wild Green".  When it was dry, I gave it a wash with some thinned Citadel "Dark Green" ink.  Then, when the ink wash was dry, I painted his belly with Americana "Bleached Sand", and the border area between the "Wild Green and "Bleached Sand" with Ceramcoat "Denim Blue".  The "Denim Blue" also went up the undersides of his arms, and the insides of his legs.

    Next, I painted his hands and feet with Crafter's Acrylic "Pure Pumpkin", and his apron (tabard?) with Apple Barrel "Yellow".  I then painted his belt with Americana "Terra Cotta", and the basket on his back with Accent "Golden Harvest".  After that, I painted the bottom and top of the basket with Reaper MSP HD "Golden Brown", and the lamp pole with Reaper MSP "Olive Skin".

     I then painted the trident shaft and the axe handle with Americana "Light Cinnamon", and then the wrist bands with the "Terra Cotta".  After that, I painted the lamp and its fittings with the "Golden Harvest", and the axe and trident heads with Americana "Zinc"  I also painted the strapping on the trident with Anita's "Burnt Sienna".

   

     Next, I painted the trident and axe heads with  Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey" and the lamp and its fittings with Folk Art Burnished Metal "Burnished Bronze".  Then, after the figure had a chance to dry for a while, I put some Citadel "Reikland Fleshshade" wash on the feet, hands, belt, apron, wrist straps, and trident straps.    When that was dry, I applied some Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash to the basket, lamp pole, trident shaft, and axe handle.  Then when that was dry, I applied some Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash to the lamp, and trident and axe heads.

     When all the washes were dry, I highlighted his belly with Americana "Snow White", and the blue areas with Crafter's Acrylic "Tropical Blue".  I then highlighted his body with the base "Wild Green", and his feet with Reaper MSP "Hearth Fire".  After that, I painted his eyes with Reaper MSP "Holly Berry", and then gave them ceramcoat "Black" pupils.

 

     Next,  I highlighted his apron/tabard using Crafter's Acrylic "Bright Yellow", and then painted a cattail badge on it using the "Holly Berry".  I then highlighted his basket using Americana "Moon Yellow for the weaving, and Americana "Sable Brown for the lid and bottom.  After that, I highlighted his belt, wrist guards, and the strap on the basket with Accent "Golden Oxide"; the lamp pole with Reaper MSP "Olive Skin Highlight"; and the trident shaft and axe handle with Folk Art "Teddy Bear Brown".  Wrapping things up, I highlighted the strapping on the trident shaft with Americana "Shading Flesh", the trident and axe heads with Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver", and the lamp with Ceramcoat "14K Gold" followed by a little Ceramcoat "Wedding Gold".   Lastly, I painted the entire 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.    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 hit is eyes with a little Americana "DuraClear Gloss" varnish.   

     I'm really happy with how this one turned out!    It's a great little sculpt with a lot of charm.

    Be sure to tune in Thursday, for another bonus entry on the blog! I'll be posting a couple more of the Dreadmere pieces!