Wearbear: Bones 3 Figure & Cave Bear: Bones 4 Lost Valley Figure

     This past week I painted the "Werebear" from the Bones 3 Lycanthropes set, and the "Cave Bear" from he Bones 4 Lost Valley Expansion.   I want to make a unit of War-Bears for a fantasy army I'm building, (See: Arakus Landarzad), and thought a selection of the Reaper bear figures would fit the bill.  I chose the Werebear to be the leader of the unit; similar to Beorn, the man who could change into a bear as depicted in the Hobbit.  The Cave Bear would just serve as one of the rank and file in the unit.  My plan was to mount these with 2 figures on a 2"x2" base.

       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 put the Werebear directly into my painting grip, and used some blue-tac to attach the Cave Bear to a pill bottle.

     I painted these two figures basically the exact same way, so I will only show the Werebear in the step-by-step photos.  I wanted to make them look kind of like grizzly bears, so I googled some images to give myself some inspiration of the coloration.

     I began by painting the bears entirely with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige".  I then immediately painted the forearms and lower legs with Americana "Charcoal Grey", blending it in with the still-wet "Territorial Beige". I then painted the claws with Americana "Dark Chocolate".  After that, I painted his under-shorts with Folk Art "Dapple Gray", his over-shorts with Ceramcoat "Denim Blue", and his sash with accent "Mustard Seed".

     Next, I painted his rope belt with Americana "Buttermilk", and his rope necklace with Reaper MSP "Auburn Shadow".  Aftr that, I painted the axe handle with Reaper MSP "Shield Brown", and the wrap on the axe handle with Reaper MSP "Hallowed Orange".   I let the figures dry for a while, and then gave them both a complete coat of Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash. 

    When the wash was dry,   I drybrushed the dark areas of fur with Folk Art "Teddy Bear Brown".  I then drybrushed the rest of the fur with first, Reaper MSP "Ginger Cookie", and then a little Americana "Bleached Sand".  Next, I highlighted the under-shorts with a mix of the base "Dapple Gray", and some Folk Art "Gray Green".   After that, I highlighted the over-shorts with a mix of the base "Denim Blue' with some Apple Barrel "Apple Scotch Blue". 

     I then highlighted the sash with Americana "Antique Gold", and a little Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow".  Next, I painted one feather on his necklace with Ceramcoat "Black" and the other with Americana "Grey Sky".  After that, I painted one of the beads with Reaper MSP "Ultramarine Blue", the other with Pathfinder MSP Urgathea Red", and the fringe decoration with Apple Barrel "Burnt Sienna". 

      Next, I highlighted the axe handle with Folk Art "Barn Wood", and the wrap on the axe handle with Reaper MSP "Bronzed Highlight".  I then painted the axe head with Americana "Zinc" and highlighted the belt with Folk Art "Butter Pecan".   I followed that with touching up the necklace cord with the "Auburn Shadow" where the fur drybrushing had gotten on it, and afterwards highlighted it with Americana "Shading Flesh". After that, I highlighted the blue bead with Reaper MSP Bones "Tropical Blue", and the red bead with Reaper MSP "Blood Red".  I then highlighted the black feather with some of the "Apple Scotch Blue", the white feather with Ceramcoat "Snow White", and the tassel with Ceramcoat "Maple Sugar Tan".  

    I then painted the nose and eyes with the "Black", and gave the nose highlights with the "Grey Sky" and the eyes highlights with the "Snow White".     Afterwards, I painted the axe head with  Folk Art Metallic "Gunmetal Gray" and then the clasp holding the tassel on the necklace with Folk Art Brushed Metal "Brushed Bronze".  I then applied a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash to the center pattern of the axe head.  When dry, I went back and highlighted the axe head with Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver", and the tassel clasp with Folk Art Metallic "Pure Gold".   Lastly, I painted the figure's base with the "Mississippi Mud".

     I let the figures dry overnight and the next day I gave them a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish. My plan had been to mount these two figures side-by-side on a 2"x2" base, and I had just assumed they would both fit.  I had a bit of set back though when I test fitted them, as the figures' bases were too large, and the feet not placed well to even consider trimming the bases down.  So I made the decision to change to a 1-figure per base unit, as that seemed to be my only choice.       

Ooops!

   I then glued each figure to a brown-primed 2"x2" steel base and when dry, used some white glue to flock the base.  I let them dry overnight, and sprayed them with Testor's "Dullcote"the next day.  

     I'm really happy with how these guys turned out.  The fur on both is really sculpted well to take advantage of drybrushing.  And in the end, I think they are big enough to not look too lonely mounted individually on their bases.  I now have 3 more to paint to complete a unit of 5 bases

Were-armadillo: Bones 3 Figure, as the Holiday Armadillo!

      [Edit: I meant to publish this yesterday (Monday the 24th), but got so caught up in Christmas Eve activities, I totally forgot.  Now that Christmasing has quieted down for a moment, I thought I'd take the opportunity to get it on the blog. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!)
     This past week I  once again mined my Bones backlog for something quick and simple that I could squeeze in painting among the usual pre-Christmas chaos.  I also, wanted something I could give a Holiday or Winter spin, and thus I landed on the Were-armadillo figure from the Bones 3 Stoneskull Expansion, which I thought would make a pretty good "Holiday Armadillo".

     For those of you who weren't regular watchers of the 80s-90's sitcom "Friends", the Holiday Armadillo is a character made up by one of the show regulars, named Ross, in one of the Holiday episodes.  Ross wants to teach his son, who is half Jewish, about Hanukkah instead of focusing on the Christmas holiday as is usually the case.  In the end though, Ross gives in to his son's desire for Santa to visit, and tries to rent a Santa costume, only to find out there are none available. In a desperate move, he settles for an Armadillo costume, and comes up with the story that he's the Holiday Armadillo, Santa's half-Jewish friend and assistant.  This leads to a great opportunity for Ross to talk about Jewish traditions with his son.

     In subsequent years, the Holiday Armadillo has taken on a bit of a life of its own, and a quick Google search reveals all sorts of T-shirts and ornaments available for purchase, as well as a generous assortment of memes.

   My goal was to try and copy, as best I could, the coloration of the costume.

      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, after clipping the edges of the figure's integral base to make it smaller,  glued the figure to a black-primed 1.5" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and then placed the figure in my painting grip.

     I began by painting his back armor with Americana "Mississippi Mud", and then his chest plates with Accent "Golden Harvest".  After that, I painted his legas and arms with Accent "Real Umber".

     I then decided to repaint the middle back armor section with Folk Art "Teddy Bear Brown", and .  used the same color to paint his tail.  Afterwards, I painted his face and hands with Anita's "Burnt Sienna" and then painted his claws and nose with Americana "Bleached Sand".

    Then, after everything had overnight to dry, I gave the entire figure a coat of Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash.  When the wash was dry, I drybrushed is upper and lower back armor, as well as the small bit of armor on his head with Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey", and then a little Folk Art "Platinum Grey".   I then painted the eyes ceramcoat "Black", and highlighted his face and hands with a mix f the base "Burnt Sienna", and some Crafter's Acrylic "Orange Spice".

     Next, I highlighted the middle section of back armor with a mix of the "Storm Cloud Grey and Americana "Khaki Tan", and then highlighted his underbelly with Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow".  After that, I highlighted his arms and legs with a drybrush of Americana "Neutral Grey" mixed with Americana "Light Cinnamon", and highlighted his claws and nose with the base "Bleached Sand".  I wrapped things up by highlighting his tail with the "Khaki Tan".
     Lastly, I painted the base with Ceramcoat "Snow White".
     I let the figure sit overnight, and the next morning I gave it a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.   Later that afternoon I flocked the base using Woodland Scenics snow flocking.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed them with Testor's Dullcote".

   I'm happy with how this fellow turned out.  The yellow should have been a little paler to truly match the costume; and seeing the final photos, I see I need to go back and add some tiny reflection dots to the eyes, but overall I think I came pretty close.

Weregorilla: Bones 3 Figure

  This past week I painted the Weregorilla from the Bones 3 Lycanthropes II set.  We had been needing a good Gorilla figure for our Ghost Archipelago games, and this one seemed like it would fill the bill nicely, as there didn't seem to be anything about him that screamed "Were"-creature.  He just looked like a slightly higher evolved Gorilla, which was fine in my opinion for a Fantasy setting.
    I prepped this 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 white-primed 1.5" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue. I then placed the figure in my painting grip.

     I began by painting the whole animal, and the base for that matter, with Americana "Bittersweet Chocolate".  When it was dry, I gave it a heavy wash of Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.

     I then drybrushed the gorilla with Americana "Neutral Grey", followed by Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey", and lastly, mainly on the back and highpoints, Americana "Grey Sky".

    Next, I added a little drybrushed ares of crafter's Edition "Spice Brown" followed by Americana "Terra Cotta" to the top of his head and lightly to his hips.  I then painted the inside of his mouth with Americana "Shading Flesh", and then did his teeth and the teeth on his necklace with Americana "Antique White".  After that, I painted the string the necklace teeth are strung onto with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige", and the cord his loin furs are on with Americana "Mississippi Mud". I followed that with painting the loin furs with Apple Barrel "Apple Maple Syrup".

     I then painted the spear with the "Territorial Beige",  and the cord holding the spear point with Reaper MSP "Olive Skin Shadow".  Then when everything was dry, I gave his mouth, the necklace, the loin cloth, and the spear shaft and cord, all a wash with Citadel "Agrax Earthshade"wash.  When the wash was dry, I went back and gave the skulls a wash with some of the "Nuln Oil" wash.  I then painted the spear point with Americana "Zinc", and then did his eyes with Accent "Real Umber", with some White pinpoint highlights.

     Next, I highlighted the tongue and inside of the mouth with a bit of Crafter's acrylic "Cherry Blossom Pink" mixed with some of the "Shading Flesh".  I then highlighted the gorilla's teeth, and the the ones on the necklace, with Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White"; and I finished up the necklace by highlighting the string with some Folk Art "Butter Pecan".   After that I highlighted the fur on the loincloth with some of the base "Apple Maple syrup", mixed with a little Americana "Buttermilk", and I highlighted the skulls with  some Folk Art "Porcelain White", and a little of the "light Antique White".  I then completed the Loincloth by highlighting the cord with some Americana  "Sable Brown".  I moved on to the spear,  giving the point a hit with the "Nuln Oil", and then highlighting the shaft with Americana "Khaki", and the cord with Reaper MSP "Olive Skin Highlight". I then did some highlights on the spearpoint with Apple Barrel "Rock Grey".
      Lastly, I painted the figure's integral base with the "Bittersweet Chocolate".
     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".

     A fun and easy figure to paint.  I'm particularly happy with how his mouth and eyes came out.  Hopefully I'll never have to face him in the Ghost Archipelago! :)