Grave Minions: Bones 3 Figures

     This past week, with it being the first week of October, I was feeling in a Halloween mood so I painted the Grave Minions, originally released as part of the Bones 3 Graveyard Expansion.  I didn't get that expansion but had ordered these guys directly from Reaper once they were released to retail.

       Because these were the white original Bones material, I began by giving them all a wash with some thinned Reaper MSP "Grey Liner" to help me see the details.   When it was dry, I painted  the pants on the lefthand one and the boots on the center one with Americana "Asphaltum".  I then painted  the pants of center one and the coat of the righthand with Vallejo "Brown Violet".  After that I did the boots of the lefthand one and the coat of the center one with Ceramcoat "Black".  I also painted the pants of the righthand one with Americana "Light Cinnamon".

     Next, I painted the lining of the lefthand one's coat with Reaper MSP Bones "Cinnamon Red", and the coat itself with Crafter's Acrylic "Navy Blue".  I then painted the lining of the center one's coat with Crafter's Acrylic "African Violet", and the lining and collar of the righthand one's coat with Accent "Golden Harvest".   After that, I painted the gravestones with Americana Zinc, the tool handles and rope with Americana "Mississippi Mud", and the metal parts of the tools with Americana "Raw Umber".  I followed that with painting the sack, the skull in it, and the lantern, with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige", and then the pumpkin heads with Crafter's Acrylic "Orange Spice"

      I then painted the pumpkin stems with Duncan "Olive", and then gave the heads a coat of Citadel "Agrax Earthsahde" wash.  When that was dry, I gave the rest of the bodies a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.  After that was dry, I highlighted the pumpkins with, first, a mix of the base "Orange Spice" mixed with a little Americana "Tangerine", and then just the plain "Tangerine.  Next, I painted the insides of the eyes and mouths with Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow", and then added smaller highlights in the centers with Americana "Snow White".

      I then highlighted the coat lining on the left figure with Reaper MSP "Holy Berry", and highlighted the coat itself with Americana "True Blue".  Next, I highlighted the pants on the lefthand one with the Territorial Beige" and did the stitching on the coat with Folk Art "Cloudy Day".  After that, I highlighted the coat lining on the center one with Anita's "Violet", and highlighted the coat with the "Zinc".  I followed that by highlighting the pants with Duncan "Olive", and did the stitching with Americana "Grey Sky".   I then moved on to the righthand one, highlighting the coat lining , and collar with the Daffodil Yellow, and the coat with a some of the "Olive" mixed with a little Aleene's "Dusty Khaki". The pants I highlighted with Americana "Khaki", and the stitching I did with the "Dusty Khaki". 

     Next, I highlighted the axe and shovel handles with Americana "Fawn", and highlighted the sack and the rope with Americana "Khaki".  I then highlighted the skull in the sack with, first, Americana "Antique White", and then a little Americana "Bleached Sand".  After that, I drybrushed the tombstones with some Folk Art Platinum Grey", and then painted the lamp panes with the "Black", and then the lamp itself with Folk Art "Brushed Metal "Brushed Bronze".  I also, lightly drybrushed the axe head and shovel head with some Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal  Grey".  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".

     I really like how this trio turned out!  They're a quirky set of minis, and were fun to paint.

Wild West Wizard of Oz Scarecrow: Bones 3 Figure

    Last week I started the Bones 3 Wild West Wizard of Oz set and posted the Tin Man mini. This past week I continued working my way through the set by painting the Scarecrow.  As I said before, I don't know what particularly makes this set Wild West; it seems to me it would fit in in any kind of Steampunk, VSF, Pulp, or Post-Apocalyptic setting.
     These figures were actually cast in the newer grey Bones material, and are a bit stiffer than normal Bones.
     To see the already completed figure from this set, follow the link: Tin Man.
     In painting this figure, I wanted to try to copy the colors used in the Scarecrow from the movie; with the realization that they weren't dressed or constructed exactly the same.

    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" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and then glued the washer-mounted figure to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of the Elmer's glue.

       I began by painting his hat, head, torso, arms and legs all with Black.   I had assumed at first that he was a skeleton figure underneath his clothing, as I clearly saw the ribcage and spine.  Then, as I began applying paint, I realized is arms and legs were supposed to be, in fact, wood. That left me a little perplexed as to how he was supposed to be put together; was it a human ribcage on a wooden frame?   That just seemed odd; and I thought it might look odd once painted.   I decided, therefore,  to go with an all over dry grayish-brown wood color, and hoped that visually it would just look right.  So, when the black was dry, I drybrushed his internal structure with Americana "Mississippi Mud", and then went over it with a lighter drybrush of Folk Art "Barn Wood". Next, I painted his head with Americana "Antique White".

      I then painted his straw hair with Accent "Golden Harvest", and the rope around his neck with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige".  I decided I didn't think his head looked yellowish enough, so repainted it with Americana "Moon Yellow".  Next, I painted his pants with Nicole's "Brown", and then did his shirt in Folk Art "Porcelain White".  After that, I painted his coat with Crafter's Acrylic "Forest Green", and his boots with Americana "Raw Umber".

     Next, I painted his rifle stock with Crafter's Acrylic "Cinnamon Brown", and the metal parts on it with Ceramcoat "Walnut".  I painted what looked like rope around his wrist, and wrapped around part of the gun with the "Territorial Beige."  I one again decided his head didn't look the right shade of yellow tan, so repainted it once more with Apple Barrel "Apple Maple Syrup", and then painted his nose with Apple Barrel "Raw Sienna".  I let everything Dry for a while, and then I gave the entire figure a wash with Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash using a wet brush.
     When the wash was dry, I drybrushed his hat with Americana "Asphaltum", and highlighted his straw hair with the "Moon Yellow". I then applied a little Iron Wind Metals "Mid Green" ink to each eye socket.  When the ink was dry, I painted the pupils with Crafter's Acrylic "Citrus Green", and then added a White highlight dot.  After that, I highlighted his head with Apple Barrel "Lemon Chiffon", and the rope around his neck with Folk Art "Butter Pecan".

     Next, I highlighted the remains of his shirt with the base "Porcelain White", and his coat with Folk Art "Hauser Green Medium".  I then highlighted his pants with Americana "Sable Brown", and his boots with Folk Art Teddy Bear Brown".  I did the ropes around the gun and his wrist with the "Butter Pecan".   After that, I worked on the rust effects on the gun, and the bolts in his knees, blotching the metal parts with Crafter's Edition "Spice Brown", and then applying thinned Accent "Golden Oxide" to the crevices.   Lastly, I touched up the highlights on his wooden limbs using the "Barn Wood", and then painted his base with the "Walnut".
   When I was done painting the figure, I used some white glue to glue a mixture I made of some fine brown sand, and courser black sand to the base.  When this was dry, I drybrushed the sand and the figure's own base with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige", and then with some Americana "Antique White".  When dry, I glued on some bits of grass tufts.
      I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave him a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed it with Testor's Dullcote".

     I'm pleased with how this fellow turned out.  I have to add in closing though; one thing I puzzled over while I was painting him (other than the human ribcage on a wooden frame??), is why the sculptor chose to give him what is clearly a modified Game Workshop Kroot rifle?

Gauntfield, Necropolis Hero: Bones II Figure

This week I finished up Gauntfield the giant scarecrow figure from the Bones II Core Set.    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.  I then glued the figure to a 1.5" black-primed fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue.  The washer was big enough to hold in my hand that I didn't feel I needed to glue it to a tongue depressor to make handling any easier.

I began by painting the entire figure Black.

     After the Black basecoat had dried, I began by heavily drybrushing all the figure's visible bones with Americana "Buttermilk", trying as best I could to keep it off his coat which I planned to leave black.  I then went back over the bones and gave them a lighter White drybrushing,   I then went back and carefully touched up anywhere the "Buttermilk" or White had gotten on the coat.   Now I brybrushed the coat using Duncan "Slate Blue", trying to be careful not to get any on the bones.  I had to hand paint the "Slate Blue" highlights, rather than drybrush them, when they were right next to any exposed bones.  I finished up by touching up any areas of bone that had accidentally gotten the "Slate Blue" on it.
   I next painted his shirt with Folk Art "Tomato Red", and his pants with Americana "Asphaltum".  His head I painted with Americana "Dove Grey", and his straw hair with Folk Art "Golden Harvest".

   I realized at this point that I had forgotten to paint the bones in his sack, so I painted those at this point using the "Buttermilk" and White.  I then painted the sack with Americana "Butter Pecan".  I painted his hat with GW "Khemri Brown", and the handle of his scythe with Americana "Mississippi Mud".  His left boot I painted with Accent "Real Umber", and his right boot  with Anita's "Burnt Sienna".  I painted the rock between his feet with Folk Art "Medium grey"

     At his point I painted his teeth White.  Then, after everything had time to dry, I gave the entire figure a wash with GW "Agrax Earthshade" using a wet brush.

        Once the wash was good and dry, I began working on highlights.  I first did highlights on his head with the base "Dove Grey"  then I painted his eyes with Americana "Olive Green". I then used the "Olive Green" to add some light highlights to his eyebrows, cheeks, and upper lip to give the impression of a green glow.  Next, I did highlights on his hair with Americana "Moon Yellow".
    I  realized I hadn't painted his neck cord, or hat band, so I painted those in with Americana "Khaki Tan". I then highlighted the hat with the base "Khemri Brown".   I did highlights on his shirt, pants, and boots with the base colors as well.  I did highlights on his sack with the base "Butter Pecan", and then painted the stitching on the side with Accent "Mustard Seed".  The scythe handle was highlighted with the base "Mississippi Mud".  I finished up by painting the scythe blade with Accent "Princely Pewter", then going along the edges with Folk Art "Silver Sterling" to add  highlights.
      I let the figure sit overnight, and the next morning I gave it a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish".  Later that afternoon I flocked the base, using some plain green flock mixed with some of the tiny roof grit and leaf debris that had gathered in the splash guard at the base of our house's downspouts.   The next day I sprayed the figure with Testor's "Dullcote" spray varnish.

     I'm really pleased with how this fellow turned out.  Particularly the glowing eyes, which I usually find hard to do .