NOVA Corp, Female: Figure 145 of 265

     This past week I was still recovering from my cold, which decided to morph into bronchitis just when I thought I was getting better, so there were only a couple days that I felt really up to painting.  I decided to do a quick sci-fi figure to test out an idea I'd been thinking about, so I grabbed the female NOVA Corp figure.  I had been considering painting these NOVA figures in some sort of chameleon armor, so wanted to try painting them the same as I paint my usual rocky desert-like bases.  In other words, painting the figure and base as one.
      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" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue; and when that was dry, I gave the washer and figure's base a brush on coat of Elmer's white glue, and dunked it into a course sand mix.  My original idea was to spray the figure with Krylon Dark Brown Camouflage with Fusion spray paint, so that is why I didn't prime the washer beforehand.  I decided against the spraying, so in the future I think I will used black-primed washers for these.   When the sand mix had dried, I glued the figure to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of the Elmer's.

I began by painting the whole thing with Americana "Charcoal Grey".

  I then gave the whole figure and base a drybrushing with GW Khemri Brown, followed with a drybrushing with Ceramcoat "Raw Sienna".

     Lastly, I gave the entire figure and base a lighter drybrushing with Americana "Buttermilk".  I then worked on a little detail I had planned to add.  I planned to glue some purple alien-looking grasses to the base; so to help with the chameleon armor illusion, I gave a light drybrushing to her lower right leg, with a 50/50 mix of Anita's "Violet" and Apple Barrel "Apple Lavender", to look like the armor was changing to match the nearby grass.  I then moved on to paint her goggles with Accent "Real Umber", and added some small reflective light highlights with the "Buttermilk".  I then painted some of the assorted straps, breathing tubes, and ammo magazine with Folk Art "Butter Pecan".  Lastly I painted the gun's muzzle black, and a small insignia on her right shoulder with Folk Art "Tomato Red".

        I let the figure sit overnight, and the next morning I gave it a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish".    Later that afternoon I glued on the small bunch of purple grass.  The next morning I sprayed the figure with Testor's "Dullcote" spray varnish.

    I'm really pleased with how this figure turned out.  I think the experiment worked, and I plan to paint the rest of the fireteam to match.

Figure 145 of 265: Complete

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 .

No New Figure Today

Due to a having a really bad cold last week I was unable to complete any figures, and so will not be able to do my usual Monday posting.    I'm going to try to get something ready to post on Thursday.  See you all then.

Mother & Children: Figure 144 of 265

This week I painted the Mother & Children figure from the Townsfolk set.  That leaves just one more figure to go to complete that 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" 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 the mother's dress with Folk art "Golden Harvest".  I then painted the boy's tunic with GW "Ice Blue".   I then went back to the mother and painted her top and apron with White.

     Next, I painted the baby's cloths with Americana "Dove Grey". Then I painted the mother's and boy's skin with Americana "Mocha", and the baby's with Apple Barrel "Apple Flesh" I painted the boy's shoes with Americana "Sable Brown", and the baby's booties and boy's socks with Folk Art "Barn Wood".  Lastly, I painted the mother's shoes, and the integral white base, with accent "Real Umber"

     I painted the baby's hair with Americana "Moon Yellow", and then let the figure dry for a while.  After it was good and dry, I gave the entire figure a wash with GW "Agrax Earthshade" wash, using a wet brush.

     After the wash was dry, I painted the mother's and boy's hair Black.  I then drybrushed it with some Duncan "Slate Blue" to add highlights.  Next, I painted the eyes on all three figures, with Black sockets, White whites, an Black pupils. Doing those tiny baby eyes was quite a challenge, and he turned out a bit wobbly-eyed; but I could only paint over them so many times.   I then did skin highlights on the boy and mother with the "Mocha", then added a little white to it to do further highlights.  The boy basically has no molded nose, so I tried as best I could to paint one in with highlights.  Same with the baby, who I did skin highlights on with the "Apple Flesh" with a little white added.  I then highlighted the boys tunic with the "Ice Blue" with a little white added, and the mother's dress with the "Golden Harvest" with a little white added.  I highlighted her apron and top with plain white, and the baby's clothes with the plain "Dove Grey".   I highlighted the baby's hair with Apple Barrel "Lemon Chiffon".  Lastly, I painted the entire base with GW "Khemri Brown".
      The next morning I gave the figure a coat of  Ceramcoat "Matt Varnish".  The following day, I sprayed the figure with "Testor's Dullcote".

   I'm really please with how this little vignette turned out, despite the lack of detail on the kids' faces.

Figure 144 of 265: Complete

Water Wierd Translucent from Bones II

     This week I also completed the blue translucent Water Weird figure from Bones II.  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 it to a 1" black-primed fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and glued the washers to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of Elmer's White Glue.

     First, I gave the "creature" part of the figure a heavy wash with Iron Wind Metals "Dark Blue" ink.  I used a brush I had dipped in water, to help thin the ink slightly.

       When the ink was good and dry, I drybrushed the figure with plain white. I then painted the vessel and washer with Apple Barrel "Rock Grey".

     When the grey paint was thoroughly dry, I gave the vessel a wash with thinned Black ink. When the ink was dry, I gave the vessel a good drybrushing with the base "Rock Grey", and then some lighter highlights with Americana "Dove Grey".
     The next morning I gave the figure a coat of  Ceramcoat "Mate Varnish".  The following day, I sprayed the figure with "Testor's Dullcote".  After the Dullcote had had  a day to dry, I painted the "water" part with Americana "DuraClear Gloss Varnish".

    I'm really pleased with how this figure turned out.  I really like the texture juxtaposition between the wet water and the gritty old vessel.

Innkeeper and Wench: Figures 142 and 143 of 265

     This week I painted the Innkeeper and Wench from the Townsfolk set.  Since they were both such basically simple straightforward figures, I thought I'd work on both of them at the same time.
     I prepped the couple 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.  I then glued each figure to a 1" black-primed fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and glued the washers to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of Elmer's White Glue.

        First, I painted the Wench's dress, and the Innkeeper's pants with Americana "Wedgwood Blue"  I then painted the Innkeeper's shirt with Americana "Khaki Tan".  Next, I did the aprons on both of them, and the Wench's shirt, with White. I worked on their skin next, painting the Innkeeper with Americana "Mocha", and the Wench with Apple Barrel "Apple Flesh"

     Next, I painted the beer mugs with Duncan "Slate Grey".  I then painted the Innkeeper's hair and eyebrows with Folk Art "Medium Grey". I moved on to painting the Wench's hair Crafter's Edition "Spice Brown".  I used the "Spice Brown" to also paint the Innkeeper's belt and shoes.   I painted the Innkeeper's cleaning rag with Folk Art "Barn Wood".  I finished up with painting the foam in the beer mugs with Americana "Buttermilk".

     After everything had a chance to dry, I then gave both figures a head to toe wash with GW "Agrax Earthshade" wash, using a wet brush.

      When the wash was good and dry,  I began the detailing.  I started with the eyes, doing both sets with White whites and then Black pupils.  Next, I did their hair highlights, using the "Slate Grey" for the Innkeeper, and Americana "Sable Brown" for the Wench.  Skin highlights were next with the base skin colors I had used.  I followed with doing highlights on the pants and dress with the base "Wedgwood Blue", I then mixed in a little Folk Art "Settlers Blue" to the "Wedgwood Blue"to lighten it, and did some further highlights. I then used the base "Khaki Tan" to highlight the Innkeeper's shirt. The aprons were next, and I used plain white to do their highlights, along with the Wench's shirt as well.  I highlighted the cleaning rag with the base "Barn Wood", and the beer foam with the base "Buttermilk". I wrapped up the figures with doing small designs on each of the mugs with a mix of the "Wegdewood" and "Settlers" blues.  lastly, I painted the bases and washers with GW "Khemri Brown".
     I let the figures sit overnight, and the next morning I gave them a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish".  That afternoon I gave the figure a coat of Testor's "Dullcote" spray varnish.

     Well, file these with figures that might have been great.  I unfortunately do not often notice the flashing on these bright white Bones figures until after I've started, and by then it's too late; much to the detriment of these figures.  It seems I do a figure like these with the bad flashing, then become hyper about checking, then get several flash free figures and get lazy and start not checking, then get surprised with another like these...it's a bad cycle.  Granted these are "background scenery' figures in most cases, so it's not the worst that could happen.  I also was a little heavy handed with the wash on the Innkeeper's face, and it left a bit of a splotch by his nose on the left, I tried my best to hide it, but you can still see a bit of it. Oh, well. So, I move on to the figure next in line...

   Be sure to tune in Thursday for another Bones II figure.

Figures 142 & 143 of 265: Complete

Dwarven Forge Adds Battlements, More Street Sets, and Sewers Only Pledge Level

     I just wanted to let folks know that Dwarven Forge has now added Battlement sets, and several expanded Street sets to their City Builder Kickstarter.  And, with just two weeks to go, it's a great time to jump in on these deals.
You can check it out here: Dwarven Forge City Builder

UPDATE: In response to popular demand, Dwarven Forge just added a Sewers Only pledge level, so folks can buy into the sewer stuff without having to buy any of the building stuff.