Wild West Wizard of Oz Wicked Witch and Winged Monkey: Bones 3 Figures

     Sorry we're a day late... I ran out of time yesterday to finish up.   Anyhow, this past week I finished the last two figures from the Bones 3 Wild West Wizard of Oz set and did the Wicked Witch and the Winged Monkey minis.  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 figures from this set that I have already finished, see: Tin Man, Scarecrow, Lion, and Dorothy & Toto.
       Once again, I tried to as best I could copy the look of the corresponding character from the Wizard of Oz movie.   What I found interesting about the Wicked Witch was that her outfit was entirely black from head to toe.

       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 the witch figure to a black-primed 1" fender washer , and the monkey to a black-primed 7/8" fender washer, with Aleene's Tacky glue. I then glued each washer-mounted figures to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of the Elmer's glue.

     I began by painting the witch's clothes entirely with Black. When dry, I drybrushed them with Folk Art "Medium Grey".

      I then painted her face and hands with Crafter's Acrylic "Wild Green".  After that I painted her broom handle with Ceramcoat  "Territorial Beige", and the broom straws with Americana "Sable Brown".

     When the face and hands had time enough to dry, I gave them a wash with Iron Wind Metals "Dark Green" ink.  When that was dry, I gave the broom handle and straws a wash with Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash.  I then added shadows under her yes by mixing a little of the "Wild Green" with some Black.  I also  applied a little Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash to between her lips to help define her slightly open mouth.   Next, I painted her eyes, and then highlighted her face and hands with the base "Wild Green". After that, I did some highlighting on her hair using Americana "Mississippi Mud", and then went back over or outfit and did specific highlighting on some of the clothing edges with the "Medium Grey" to help define them.   I then turned to her broom and did highlighting on the straw with Ceramcoat "Maple Sugar Tan". When that was done, I did a little crosshatch pattern between the two metal rings on the broom (like in the movie photo at the top) using Americana "Raw Umber".  I then painted the rings Black, and then went back over them with Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver".  Lastly, I painted her integral base with Americana "Charcoal Grey".
         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 her a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed it with Testor's Dullcote".

     I then worked on the Winged Monkey.  I wanted to try to imitate the bluish-grey fur, blue face, and grey wings of the movie monkey, except in a metallic look.   I began by painting him entirely in Black.

     Then, when the Black was dry, I made a mix of Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey" and Folk Art "Metallic Blue Sapphire", and used this to drybrush his body.  I then drybrushed his wings with the "Gunmetal Grey". I then added a little Folk Art Pearl "Aqua Moire" to the mix to lighten it, and painted highlights on his body.

     Next, I used Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver" to do highlights on his wings, and after that I painted his face with the just the plain "Metallic Blue Sapphire" and highlighted it with the "Aqua Moire".   I then tried to paint a bit of his jacket pattern (as seen in the movie photo at the top) on his shoulder pads and on his medallion.  I began by doing the base of the pattern in black, and then painted it with Americana "Dove Grey", leaving a little of the Black edge showing.  This was followed by doing the interior of the pattern with Ceramcoat "Opaque Red", making sure to leave the "Dove Grey", and Black edges show.
     Next I worked on his eyes and the grill work on his chest.  I painted his eye sockets and the grill slots with Iron Wind Metals "Red" ink. When the ink was dry, I painted the eyes and the slots with the "Opaque Red".  Afterwards, I painted the pupils and the very center of the slots with Reaper MSP "Golden Glow".   Finally, I painted his lips with the "Opaque Red", and then mixed in a little of the "Golden Glow" to do highlights.
     Then, like with the witch, I painted his integral base with Americana "Charcoal Grey".
         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 like how the pair turned out.   Of all the set, I think these two fall closest to their movie counterparts in appearance.
     And here's a look at the whole Wild West Wizard of Ox set, both heroes and villains...

     I think they all turned out really well, and make a pretty nice looking set of figures.

Wild West Wizard of Oz Dorothy and Toto: Bones 3 Figures

     This past week I continued on with the Wild West Wizard of Oz set from Bones 3,  and painted Dorothy & Toto.  I still have the Wicked Witch and Flying Monkey remaining.
     To see the figures from this set that I have already finished, see: Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Lion.
     I prepped the two 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 the Dorothy figure to a black-primed 1" fender washer, and Toto to a .75" black-primed fender washer, both with Aleene's Tacky glue. I then glued the washer-mounted figures to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of the Elmer's glue.

     I wanted to try to see if I could figure out a way to paint her dress so it looked like gingham; so I asked around if there was any trick to getting that look without doing the impossible of painting the tiny check pattern in scale with figure.  There didn't seem to be any real trick other than trying to paint it as checkered, or trying to use either blue dots on white, or white dots on blue.

     So I started off painting her skin with Apple Barrel "Apple Flesh".  I then painted her petticoat, apron, shirt, and socks, with Duncan "Slate Grey".  After that, I painted the dress with reaper MSP Bones "Tropical Blue", and then, when dry, I applied a wash with thinned Crafter's Acrylic "Navy Blue", paying particular attention to get it down in the folds of the dress.

     When the wash was dry, I carefully tried to apply the smallest White dot pattern I could to the dress.  That didn't look right, so i went back and tried adding small dots with the "Navy Blue" between the rows of White.

    I just wasn't happy, so I decided to scrap the idea of painting an actual gingham pattern, and just settle for a mid-blue dress.  So, feeling that the results of the dress with dots (as they appear in the photo above) was too dark, I gave the dress a thin wash of White.  This made it a little too light, so I went back and gave it a thin wash of the "Tropical Blue".  I was basically happy at this point so I took the opportunity to apply a wash of Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash to her face, arms, and legs, using a wet brush.  When the wash was dry, I went back and added some specific highlights to the dress with Crafter's Acrylic "Cool Blue".   I then painted highlights on her shirt, apron, and petticoat with White.  After that I painted her hair and Toto with Accent "Real Umber"

     Next, I applied highlights to her hair with Crafter's Edition "Spice Brown", and then Americana "Sable Brown".  I then went back and added hair ribbons with the "Tropical Blue" highlighted with the "Cool Blue".  Next, I painted her eyes and lips.  I discovered her face had some very slight casting errors in it, which I tried my best to hide when I highlighted the skin with some Crafter's Acrylic "Flesh".    I then painted the shoes with Folk Art "Deep Tomato Red", and the gun with Black.  After that, I went back over the shoes with DecoArt Dazzling Metallics "Festive Red", and then highlighted the gun with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey"
    I then turned to toto, an gave him a light drybrush of Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige", after which I did a drybrush of Folk Art "Butter Pecan concentrating mainly on his back and head.  I then gave him Black eyes with tiny White highlight dots, and added a little hint of tongue wth Crafter's Acrylic "Tutti Frutti".   Lastly, I painted both figures bases with Americana "Charcoal Grey".
      Looking at the finished Dorothy, I realized her ruby slippers didn't really have the sparkle they needed.  My wife recommended red glitter nail-polish, which reminded me that I had bought a bottle of Folk Art Extreme Glitter "Hologram" (which is basically clear) paint somewhere along the way. I applied this and it really gave the shoes the extra sparkle I wanted.
     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 the "Territorial Beige", and then with some Americana "Antique White".  When dry, I glued on some bits of flock and 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 found the Dullcote blunted the impact of the ruby slippers a little, so I went over them again with the "Hologram" glitter paint once more, and then hit them with a little Americana "DuraClear Gloss" Varnish.

     I really like how these figures turned out.  While I wish I could have achieved the gingham effect, I think just the plain blue dress gets the idea and "look" of the character across enough.
     And here is a look at the whole gang of heroes together...

     I'm pretty pleased with how the group looks together as a whole.

    And, I was lucky enough to already have had the opportunity to be using them as a gang in a game using the post-apocalyptic rules "This is Not a Test"

I added a figure (A Partizan give-away figure of George Stephenson) to be Professor Marvel "the Wizard".

A shot from during the game of Dorothy carefully peeking around a corner as the Lion backs her up.

Wild West Wizard of Oz Tin Man: Bones 3 Figure

     This past week I started the Bones 3 Wild West Wizard of Oz set and did the Tin Man mini.  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.

       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 the entire figure, and his base, with Black.   When the Black was dry, I drybrushed the figure with  Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey".  I then passed over it with a lighter drybrush of Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver"

     I applied a little Iron Wind Metals "Medium Blue" Ink to the eye sockets, and then that was dry, I pianted the eyes with Crafter's Acrylic "Tropical Blue".  I then did pupils with Crater's Acrylic "Cool Blue", and then added White dots in the center  of the pupils.
     Next, I painted his pendant and the chain it is on, as well as some of the rods in his abdomen with Ceramcoat "Bronze".  I then painted the pendant with Ceramcoat "Opaque Red", and did a shadow on it with Ceramcoat "BlackCherry", and a highlight with Crafter's Acrylic "Tutti Frutti".  I finished the pendant by doing small White highlight dots on it.

     I then went back and highlighted the "Bronze" pendant, chain and rods, with Ceramcoat "14K Gold", and after that I went back and did more specific highlights on his armor with the "Metallic Silver".
     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 really pleased with how this figure turned out, particularly the glowing blue eyes.  Next up, I will be working on the Scarecrow.

Brain in a Jar: Bones 3 Figure

    This past week I worked on the Brain in a Jar figure from the Bones 3 Stoneskull Expansion.  This was one of the figures that most draw me to this expansion set, as I saw uses for it in everything from Fantasy, to Victorian Sci-Fi, to Pulp, to regular Sci-Fi.
     It also reminded me very much of my own Brain-in-a-thing creation I had done several years ago with my "They Saved Hitlers Brain" project. 
     I prepped this 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 was first concerned that the figure's three legs might sag under its own weight, I took a black primed 2" fender washer on which I had glued a piece of card over the center hole before priming, and glued a small section of sprue from one of the clear  weapons sets to the center with a little Aleene's Tacky glue.  This would act as a support for the center of the figure.  I then glued the three legs to the washer with the Tacky glue.  I then used Gorilla superglue to glue the brain to the top piece and the clear chamber bottom to the leg piece.

     I began by painting the bottom and top all Black, and when they were dry, I drybrushed them with  Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey".  Next, I passed over the pieces with a lighter drybrush of Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver".  I then noticed the bad mold line running across the top of the chamber (visible in the below photo), and so took my hobby knife and trimmed it off; then did my best to repaint the section and blend it in.

     I first painted the small circular shape behind the crosshatch on the front panel.  It looked like the mouthpiece of a speaker to me so I painted it Black and did some Americana "Neutral Grey" highlights on it.  I then painted the little light in the upper right corner of the panel with Crafter's Acrylic "Deep Red", and then added highlights with Reaper MSP "Holly Berry" and Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow".  I also used the "Holly Berry" to some reflected light effects along the edges by the little light.  Next I painted all the little ovals running around the edge of the base with Ceramcoat "Bronze", and then added Ceramcoat "14K Gold" highlights.

     Next, I painted the brain with Crafter's Acrylic Cherry Blossom Pink", and when dry gave it a thinned wash with some Iron Wind Metals "Red" ink.

     When the ink was dry,  I drybrushed the brain with some Folk Art "Milkshake".  I then painted all the cables attached to the brain with Black.  I then went back and paint the front ones with Ceramcoat "Copper, and the rest I simple added some Citadel "The Fang" highlights too.

     Next, I flipped the top over, and painted the little panels in the lights on each side with Reaper MSP Bones "Dungeon Slime".  When it was dry, I gave the lights, and a small area around the base of the lights, a wash with some thinned Iron Wind Metals "Mid Green" ink.  When it was dry, I went back and added a central highlight to each panel with, first, the "Dungeon Slime", and then a little White.  Next, I lightly drybrushed an area around the lights with Nicole's "Neon Green" to look like reflected light.
     Lastly, I painted the washer base with Americana "Neutral Grey".
      I let the parts dry overnight and the next day I gave the top of the jar, and the base of the walker a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed the two pieces with Testor's Dullcote".  When the Dullcote was dry, I glued the pieces together with the clear cylinder using Gorilla Superglue.

     I'm happy with how the model looks in general, but I wish I had been more careful making sure everything was straight and aligned before doing any gluing.  The legs are a bit more wonky than I would have liked (though in all honesty getting all three legs straight while steaming and reseting would have been a miracle.  This would have been a good candidate for the stiffer grey Bones material.) , and the brain is a little tilted.  The saving grace is that when it's on the table and in a game things like that won't be really noticed.

Ape-X: Figure 171 of 265

    This week I completed another figure from the Chronoscope Set: Ape-X.  I wanted to paint him to look a little more Victorian Science Fiction than regular Science Fiction, so I planned on lots of iron and brass along with some natural leathers in my color scheme.
       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, and glued the washer to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of Elmer's White Glue.

     I began by painting his entire body Black.  I then drybrushed the areas of skin with Duncan "Slate Blue", and the fur areas wih Folk Art "medium Grey", followed with some spot drybrushing using Crafters Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey".

   I then painted the inside of his mouth with Americana "Shading Flesh", and his teeth with Americana "Buttermilk".  Next, I painted his eyepiece with Americana "Leaf Green." I then  began some of the metals, painting his gatling gun, powerfist, head piece, the motor on his back, and the center of his upper stomach port, all with Accent "Princely Pewter".

     Next, I painted the tubes running from his back to his arms with Accent "Real Umber". The finger pieces and some of the side pieces of his power fist I painted with Apple Barrel "Burnt Sienna".  The tubes running up his back to his headpiece, as well as some of the bits on the top of the finger parts of his powerfist, and a couple of the bits and bobs on the engine,  I painted with Ceramcoat "Copper".   I then painted some of the fittings on his gatling gun, powerfist, headpiece, engine, as well as head and stomach implants with Ceramcoat "Bronze".  I waited a bit, then gave the inside of his mouth and the leather on his powerfist, a wash with GW "Agrax Earthshade" wash using a wet brush.

      At this point I thinned some Black ink and applied it in very thin lines at all the metal joints and wherever the tubes plugged into a socket.     Next, I added a bit of shadow to his eyepiece with Accent "Deep Forest Green", and then a highlight with a bit of White. Then, I highlighted his teeth with Crafters Acrylic "Light Antique White", and then mixed a little of the "Light Antique White" with the "Shading Flesh", to highlight his tongue. I then painted his real eye with the "Real Umber" and gave it a highlight with a dot of White". Next up was drybrushing the arm hoses with Accent "Mustard Seed", and then doing highlights on the powerfist leather with the base "Burnt Sienna".  I finished up with highlighting the metals.  All the "Princely Pewter" pieces I highlighted with Ceramcoat "Metallic Pewter", and then did spot highlights with  Folk Art "Silver Sterling". I then mixed a little of the "Silver Sterling' with the "Copper" to highlight the "Copper" parts. Finally, the bronze parts I highlighted with Ceramcoat "14K Gold". And the last painting was to do the figure's white base with Cermcoat "Walnut".
  After the figure had the afternoon to dry, I gave it a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish" in the evening.  The next morning I flocked the base, and later that afternoon I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote.

    I'm really pleased with how this big boy turned out.  I had originally been hesitant to paint him due to his size, but I realized after I started that much of the figure is simply skin or fur, and in the end it went rather quickly.