Monday, April 25, 2022

Andromedan Hunter: Bones 4 Chronoscope Figure

      Over the past few weeks I have worked on the "Andromedan Hunter" figure from the Bones 4 Chronoscope Expansion, as a change of pace from doing the Dwarves last time.  
     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" brown-primed metal washer with some Aleene's Tacky glue.  I then affixed the figure to the top of a pill bottle with some blue-tac.    
     I decided to go a little color craz on this one, and I wanted to try doing her skin with one of the Folk Art Color Shift Paints.  So, I painted her body with a base coat of Reaper MSP Bones "Dungeon Slime", and when dry, I went over it with Folk Art Color Shift "Green Flash". 
     Next, I gave her skin a thinned coat of Citadel Contrast "Creed Camo" to act as a wash.  It was not as effective at doing this as the purpose-designed Citadel Shades.  So, I went back and reapplied some to various spots to add a little more shadow.  I then painted her hair with Reaper MSP Bones "Heraldic Red"., and her clothing, bracers, shinguards/shoes, pouch, and holster with Reaper MSP "Auburn Shade".  After that, I painted her rifle with Reaper MSP "Spruce Green", and her hair tie, as well as the pompoms on the back of her shoes, with Reaper MSP Monarch Purple. 
     I then painted the "U" shaped parts of her top, the front piece of her little bottom, and her bracers, with  Ceramcoat "Metallic Copper".  After that, I painted the metal parts of her rifle and pistol with Folk Art Brushed Metal "Brushed Bronze".   I let the figure dry for a while, and then gave her hair, clothing, and accessories, a wash of Citadel Shade "Reikland Fleshshade"; and then her rifle, hair tie, and shin pompoms a wash with Citadel Shade "Nuln Oil". 
     When the washes were dry, I painted her eyes (I used Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow" for the "whites"), and then highlighted her skin with a mix of the base "Green Flash" and some Reaper MSP "Sophie Silver".  After that, I highlighted her hair with Crafter's Acrylic "Orange Spice", and some Crafter's Acrylic "Pure Pumpkin".   
     Next, I highlighted her clothing and accessories with a mix of the base "Auburn Shadow", and some Americana "Shading Flesh".  I then highlighted her hair tie and shin pompoms with Anita's "Violet", and followed with highlighting the guns with Folk Art "Hunter Green", and a little Americana "Sea Breeze".  After that, I highlighted the metal parts of her clothing with the base "Metallic Copper", some Reaper MSP "Rose Gold", and a little pf the "Sophie Silver". Finally, I highlighted the metal on the guns with Ceramcoat "Metallic Bronze", and some DecoArt Dazzling Metallics "Bright Brass".   Lastly, I painted the base with Americana "Neutral Grey".  
      I let the figure and base dry overnight and the next day I gave them a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.   Another overnight dry, and I sprayed the figure with Testor's "Dullcote". 


     Well, I had fun using some wild colors on her, and I don't think she looks half bad.  Unfortunately, any effect from the color shift paint was lost between the Contrast Paint wash, the non-color shift highlights, and the final Matt Varnish and Dullcote.  

Monday, April 18, 2022

No Figure This Week. :(

     Over the past two weeks I've been working slowly on the "Andromedan Hunter" figure from the Bones 4 Chronoscope Expansion as a change of pace from doing the Dwarves last time.   Unfortunately, with the Easter Holiday this past weekend, and company staying into this week, I was not able to finish the figure, so I hope to get it posted next Monday.   Apologies for the delay.







Monday, April 4, 2022

Valgar Swiftaxe (A) and Dagar Bronzebeard (A) Bones 5 Figures (Complete!)

       I returned this past month back to working on the Dwarves from the The Dwarf King's Crypt Encounter Sets that I got through the Bones 5 Kickstarter.  Between the two sets, I have 12 of the Dwarf warriors (2 each of the 6 that came in each set. I randomly picked one of the "Valgar Swiftaxe" figures, and one of the "Dagar Bronzebeard" figures to work on.
     I had decided to work on these two at a time to help save a little time.  My plan was to paint them basically the same; with the hopes that when mixed into a unit, combined with the difference in the poses, they wouldn't look too identical. 
     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 trimmed the figures' integral bases a little, and glued each of them to a 1" grey-primed metal washer with some Aleene's Tacky glue.  I then glued the figures to a large craft stick with a couple drops of Elmer's glue. 
      I began painting by giving all the chainmail armor a coat of Ceramcoat "Black".  When dry, I drybrushed it with Folk Art Metallic "Gunmetal Grey".  I then went over it lightly with a drybrush of Reaper MSP "Polished Silver".  Next I painted their faces, arms, and hands with Reaper MSP "Tanned Skin", and their tunics with Ceramcoat "Denim Blue".
     Next, I painted fur lining on the righthand one's hood, and both their shoes with Folk Art "Real Brown", and I did their belts and pouches with Americana "Raw Umber".  After that, I painted their boot tops with Americana "Sable Brown", and the soles with "Black".   I noticed there was a bit of trouser peaking above the boot tops on the righthand one, and I painted it with Folk Art "Dapple Grey".  
     I then painted their beards with Americana "Light Cinnamon", and their axe handles with Reaper MSP "Shield Brown".  After that, I did the axe heads, handle base, belt buckle, and bracelets, with Americana "Zinc". I also painted the border around their tunics with Americana "Snow White".
      I decided at that point that the white trim on both made them look too similar, so I repainted the righthand one with Americana "Festive Green".  I then painted the beard holders with Ceramcoat "Metallic Copper"; and then did the axe heads and the handle base with Reaper MSP "Honed Steel".  After that, I painted the bracelets, with the "Gunmetal Grey" that I had used earlier on the chainmail. 
     I let the figure dry for a while, and then gave his face, arms, and hands a coat of Citadel Shade "Reikland Fleshshade".   I let that dry, and then gave the rest of the figure a coat of Citadel Shade "Nuln Oil". 
      I let all the washes dry for a while, and then began on the highlighting.  First I painted their eyes, and then highlighted his skin with the base "Tanned Skin", mixed with "Reaper MSP "Tanned Highlight".  I then highlighted his beard with first Folk Art "Teddy Bear Brown", and then Folk Art "Barn Wood".
     Next, I highlighted the tunics with the base "Denim Blue", and some Crafter's Apple Barrel "Apple Scotch Blue".  I then highlighted their boot tops with the base "Sable Brown" and some Americana "Fawn".  After that, I highlighted the boots, and the fur lining on the right one's hood with Folk Art "Dark Brown", and did the highlights on the belts and pouches with Americana  "Mississippi Mud" . 
 I then did the highlights on the axe handles with some Americana "Khaki Tan".  After that, I highlighted their beard rings with some Ceramcoat "Metallic Copper", mixed with some of the "Polished Silver". I also highlighted the axes with the Silver"Metallic Silver", and the bracelets with the "Polished Silver".  I wrapped up the painting  by highlighting the left one's tunic trim with the base "Snow White", and the right one's tunic trim with the base "Festive Green" mixed with some Crafter's Acrylic "Wild Green".
     I let the figure 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 glue some sand onto the bases.  When this was dry I  painted it with Citadel Contrast "Wyldwood".  When that was dry,  I drybrushed the sand with Americana "Neutral Grey", and then a bit of Folk Art "Barn Wood".  Due to the weather, I was not able to give the figures a final spray varnish.

     I'm happy with them, and while I think they look very similar here, my hope is that when they're mixed with the other 10 of their best Dwarf buddies it won't be so noticeable.


Thursday, March 31, 2022

Reaper BONES 6 Kickstarter is Live!!

    The Reaper BONES 6 Kickstarter went live today. So far, I'm in for the Core Set amount.  The reality is that I have almost all of Bones 5, and most of Bones 4, still unpainted, so my intent is to go easy on this one.  Fingers crossed I pass all my Will roles. :)





Monday, March 21, 2022

Floating Disc Spell Effect: Bones 5 Figure

      Well, last week I lost track of what week it was and posted a figure thinking it was the third Monday of the month, when in fact it was only the second Monday.  So I thought I'd do up a quick figure this week to get us back on the proper schedule.  At this point, I had painted all the Bones 5 Spell Effects that I got with my Kickstarter except the floating disc from the Core Set Spell Effects set.  So I thought I'd tackle that one for today.
           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 1" grey-primed metal washer with some Aleene's Tacky Glue.  I then glued the Floating Disc into onto a pill bottle with a couple drops of white glue.
 I began by painting the figure completely with Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  When the varnish was dry,  I carefully painted the inscriptions on the disc with thinned Americana "Snow White". Thinned to help it flow into the lines and letters better.  I had some vague idea of trying to make the designs and letters look glowing.
     I then painted the disc with Citadel Contrast "Gryph-Hound Orange", and when dry, I painted the vapors under it with Citadel Contrast "Aethermatic Blue".  I had hoped the areas I had painted white would look brighter somehow, but I hadn't thought it through, and the Contrast paint just pooled in the inscribed recesses of the deigns and letters on the disc and ended up covering up the white and looking just plain orange like the rest of the disc.   So I set out to repaint the designs,   this time with thinned Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow".  When the "Daffodil Yellow" was dry, I went over it with some more of the thinned "Snow White". 
    Next, I painted the stonework base with Americana "Neutral Grey".  When dry, I gave the base a  wash with Citadel Shade "Nuln Oil". I let the "Nuln Oil" dry, and then drybrushed the base with, first, Folk Art "Gray Green" , and then, secondly, some Americana "Dove Grey".      
      The next day I gave all the piece a complete coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish. 

     Well, I can't say I got any glowing effect.  Trying to do light effects on the translucent figures has always been challenging.  Still, it doesn't look bad; it's just a good serviceable figure.

Monday, March 14, 2022

Dire Cabbage: Bones 5 Fan Favorites Figure

    This past week I painted the "Dire Cabbage" from the Bones 5 Fan Favorites 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 trimmed the figure's integral base a little, and glued the figure to a 1" black-primed metal washer with some Aleene's Tacky glue.  I then placed the figure in my painting grip.   
     I began by painting the entire figure with Americana "Olive Green".  I then heavily drybrushed it with Ceramcoat "White".
     I let the first coats dry for a while, and then gave the entire figure a coat of thinned Citadel  Contrast "Creed Camo".  When this was dry, I went back and dry brushed it again with the base "Olive Green", and then drybrushed with the "White". 
               Next, I went over his legs with a coat of Citadel Contrast "Aggaros Dunes".  I then painted the mouth with Anita's "Violet", and the spikes on his tail with Crafter's Acrylic "African Violet" .  After that, I mixed a little Reaper MSP "Breast Cancer Awareness Pink" into the "African Violet", and blended in some lighter tips on the tail spikes.
          I then painted his claws with Folk Art "Barn Wood", and his teeth with Reaper MSP "Bleached Linen". After that, I painted the eye socket with Citadel Contrast "Wyldwood". 
      I let the claws and teeth dry for a while, and then gave then a coat of Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash.  When the wash was dry, I highlighted the claws with the base "Barn Wood", and the teeth with the base "Bleached Linen".  After that, I painted the eye with Reaper MSP "Holy Berry".  I went back then and did spot highlights on the teeth, and a pinpoint highlight in the eye, using some Ceramcoat "White".  Lastly, I painted the base with Americana "Charcoal Grey". 
     I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave it a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish. When dry, I used some white glue to glue a mix of dried used coffee grounds and nutmeg to the figure's base. Another overnight dry, and I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote". 



     I'm really happy with this little guy!  It is such a fun and imaginative figure; and there's a lot of detail in the sculpt which made painting it a lot of fun.  




Monday, March 7, 2022

Boran Bronzebeard (B): Bones 5 Figure

      This week I finished up the second of the two "Boran Bronzebeard" figures I have. He is one of the Dwarf warrior models from the two The Dwarf King's Crypt Encounter Sets that I got through the Bones 5 Kickstarter.  Between the two sets, I have 12 of the Dwarf warriors (2 each of the 6 that came in each set.  
        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 decided I would do them up as a unit for use in various wargames, so I wanted to do one of the figures up as a distinct leader, and one up as a distinct assistant leader.  So, I needed to make some conversions to the figures to make them more distinct.  
      For the one that would be the leader, I decided I would swap out his axe for a war-hammer, since all the other warriors are axe-armed, it would make him more unique.  For the second figure, I decided to take the spare axe I now had, and put it in his left hand so he would be dual-wielding. 

        The first version, the leader is posted here: Boran Bronzebeard (A).   This is the second, assistant leader, figure.   I stuck him  on a pill bottle with a bit of blue-tac to start.
       I began painting by giving all the chainmail armor a coat of Ceramcoat "Black".  When dry, I drybrushed it with Folk Art Metallic "Gunmetal Grey".  I then went over it lightly with a drybrush of Reaper MSP "Polished Silver".  Next I painted his face, arms, and hands with Americana "Shading flesh", and his tunic with Crafter's Acrylic "Bright Blue".
     Next, I painted his cape with Americana "Zinc" and the fur on his cape with Americana "Asphaltum".  After that, I did his shoes, belt and pouch with Reaper MSP "Noir Wanut Brown".
     Then I painted his boot tops with Americana "Terra Cotta, and then I did the parts I planned to eventually paint metallic gold, with Accent "Mustard Seed".  I followed this with painting his beard with Americana  "Grey Sky", his axe handles with Reaper MSP "Turkey Brown", the axe heads and handle bases with the "Zinc", and the soles of his boots with the "Black". 
       I then painted the beard holders with Folk Art Brushed Metal "Brushed Bronze"; and then did the axe heads and the handle bases with Reaper MSP "Honed Steel".  After that, I painted the bracelets, with the "Gunmetal Grey" that I had used earlier on the chainmail. 
     I let the figure dry for a while, and then gave his face, arms, and hands a coat of Citadel Shade "Reikland Fleshshade".   I let that dry, and then gave the rest of the figure a coat of Citadel Shade "Nuln Oil". 
      I let all the washes dry for a while, and then began on the highlighting.  First I painted his eyes, and then highlighted his skin with the base "Shading Flesh", mixed with "Reaper MSP "Rosy Highlight". I then highlighted his beard with first the base "Grey Sky" and then Americana "Snow White".
     Next, I highlighted his tunic with the base "Bright Blue", and some Crafter's Acrylic "Cool Blue".  I then highlighted his cape with the base "Zinc", and some Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey".  After that, I highlighted his boot tops with the base "Terra Cotta", and highlighted the boots, belt and pouch with Crafter's Acrylic "Cinnamon Brown" . 
     I then highlighted the fur on the cap with the base "Asphaltum", and some Americana "Mississippi Mud", and then did the highlights on the axe handles with some Reaper MSP "Shield Brown".  After that, I highlighted his beard rings with some Folk Art Metallic "Pure Gold", and some Ceramcoat "Wedding Gold". I wrapped up the painting by highlighting the axes with the "Polished Silver", and the bracelets with Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver".
      I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave him a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  Then when the varnish was dry, I used some white glue to glue some sand onto the bases.  When this was dry I  painted it with Citadel Contrast "Wyldwood".  When that was dry,  I drybrushed the sand with Americana "Neutral Grey", and then a bit of Folk Art "Barn Wood".  Due to the weather, I was not able to give the figure a final spray varnish.