Seelah, Iconic Paladin: Figure 216 of 266

  This past week I officially began the Iconics and Officially Licensed Pathfinder Miniatures Set, and painted the Seelah, Iconic Paladin, figure.  I say, "officially began", because I had already pulled the Feiya, Iconic Witch, figure from this set to paint up as my Illusionist apprentice for Frostgrave. My plan now it to work on this set in ernest.
     Also, this being the 216th figure for me to post, it marks the 50-more-figures-to-go point for me.  It's all downhill from here!
      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 white-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 the armor and sword entirely in Black.  I then drybrushed it with Americana "Neutral Grey".

     Next, I drybrushed the armor and sword with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey".  Then I painted the outside of her cape and the drape at her waist with Crafter's Acrylic "Bright Blue".  I then did the lining of the cape, and the face of her shield with Folk Art "Platinum Grey". After that, I painted her head with Americana "Raw Umber".

      Next, I highlighted the cape's exterior and the drape at her waist with a mix of the "Bright Blue" and Crafter's Acrylic "Cool Blue". I highlighted the cape's lining, and her shield, with White.  I painted her hair, belt, pouch, and sword grip with Black, and then gave her head a coat of GW "Agrax Earthshade" wash.

     When the wash was dry, I painted her eyes, and then did highlights on her face with a mix of the "Raw Umber" and Americana "Shading Flesh".    Next, I highlighted her hair with Americana "Zinc". I then highlighted her belt, pouch and sword grip with Ceramcoat "Denim Blue".  I then painted her bow with Crafter's Acrylic "Cinnamon Brown', the quiver with Nicole's "Brown", the scabbard with Crafter's Acrylic "Navy Blue", and the one object hanging from her back I couldn't identify, with Americana "Asphaltum".
     Next, I highlighted the bow with Americana "Sable Brown".  I then added trim to the quiver, and painted her hair tie with Americana "Terra Cotta".  Afterwards, I painted the arrow fletchings with the "Denim Blue", and used this color to highlight the scabbard too.  I highlighted the fletchings with the "Cool Blue". I then did a free-hand design on the shield using the "Bright Blue".
     At this point, I got out the metallic"Gunmetal Grey" again, and painted the border around the shield, and the bottom tip of the scabbard.  I then used Folk Art Metallics "Silver Sterling" to add highlights to the armor, sword, and shield border.
     I had originally mounted her on a white washer to use as a Templar in Frostgrave; but as soon as I started painting her, I had realized she was carrying bow and quiver and there is no bow-armed, sword-wielding, armored class in Frostgrave.  (I really like to have my figures match as close to possible to how they are supposed to be armed and armored for this game. WYSIWYG!) So, at this point I used Ceramcoat "Walnut to paint the figure's integral base, and the white washer.
    After the figure had overnight to dry, I gave it a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish" the following morning.  Later that morning I flocked the base, and that evening I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote.   After the Dullcote was dry, I used a little dab of superglue to affix one of the tiny nail gems to the base of the sword.

    I like the way she came out, though I probably should have spent a little more time with the free-hand on the shield.   Nonetheless, it is a nice basic figure and was easy to paint.

Figure 216 0f 266: Complete

Caryatid Columns: Bones II FIgures

   This week I painted up the Caryatid Columns from the Bones II, Expansion II, Caryatid Column set.  We will be doing the "Living Museum" Frostgrave scenario next campaign session,  so I thought I should have at least one statue to contribute. :)
     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 each figure to a black-primed 1" fender washers with Aleene's Tacky glue.  I then glued the washers to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of the Elmer's glue each.

 I didn't want to just do them as regular grey stone, so I decided to paint them as green marble.  I began by painting them entirely Black.  When the Black was dry, I drybrushed them with Accent "Forest Green", followed by a drybrushing with Americana "Leaf Green".

  I then added thin striations, specks, and smudges with White and then Black.   Next, I painted their sword blades and their bases with Americana "Zinc".

          I painted the eyes of the "living" one with Crafter's Acrylic "Citrus Green", and gave the eyes White pupils.  I then drybrushed the bases with Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey", followed by Folk Art "Platinum Grey".   Next, I painted the sword hilts with Americana "Terra Cotta".  I then went back and painted the sword blades with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey", and did highlights with Folk Art Metallics "Silver Sterling".  Then I painted the sword hilts with Ceramcoat "Bronze", followed with highlights using Ceramcoat "14K Gold".
  After the figures had overnight to dry, I gave them a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish" the next morning.

   I really like how these turned out.  I think the green marble look helps raise them above the ordinary.

"All Bones About It" Blog Hits 100K Views!

  I'm happy to announce that today this blog hit its 100,000 view!  I was lucky enough to check in this morning at 99,999 and was able to refresh once to see it roll over to the big 100K.

   This June will mark the 3-year anniversary of this blog; started after receiving my Bones I Kickstarter from Reaper Miniatures.   I had hoped this blog would help keep me on task in my goal of painting all 266 figures I had received; because I knew if I didn't set a goal, that most of the figures would probably still be languishing in the box they shipped in.   I'm proud of the fact that I have been able to stick with it these three years, and am happy so many folks have supported me along the way.

  Next Monday, I will be posting my 216th figure, which will put me just 50 figures away from reaching my goal.  Thank you all so much for supporting my efforts along the way, and be sure to stick around for the last stretch; it's all downhill from here!

Orc Snipers (Archers): Figures 212-215 of 266

  This weekend I finished up the four Orc Sniper figures from the Orcpoclypse add-on set.   Ive got two more sets of four to go to complete this set.
     I prepped these figures in the usual way,  washing them in some dish soap, lightly scrubbing them with a soft toothbrush,  and then letting them dry. I then did some conversions to them using Gorilla superglue gel. Looking at the row below; The first orc has his arm sliced at the shoulder and wrist, and repositioned back around to look like he is reaching for an arrow out of his quiver.  The second has had his arm sliced at the shoulder and repositioned down to look like he is reaching for his short sword.  The third and fourth orcs are unchanged.
       After the conversions were done, I glued the four onto black primed 1.25 inch fender washers using Aleene's Tacky glue.  I then glued them onto a tongue depressor, for ease of painting, using a couple drops of Elmer's white glue each.

     I began by painting them entirely Black; and then when the Black was dry, I drybrushed the chainmail areas with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey".  I then went back and used the Black to repaint the fur areas where the "Gunmetal Grey" paint had gotten on them.

I then drybrushed the fur garments and the fur boot tops: for the first archer's fur tunic and the third archer's boot tops I used Americana "Zinc", for the second archer's fur tunic and the fourth archer's boot tops I used Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey", for the third archer's fur tunic and the first archer's boot tops I used Americana "Mississippi Mud", and for the fourth archer's fur tunic and the second archer's boot tops I used Folk Art "Dark Brown".  Next, I painted their under-tunics: for the first archer I used Ceramcoat "Black Cherry", for the second I used Crafter's Acrylic "African Violet", for the third one I used Americana "Bittersweet Chloclate", and for the fourth I used Crafter's Acrylic "Navy Blue".

     I then did their skin with Aleene's "Deep Khaki".  Next, I did the belts and pouch on the first two, and the quiver and scabbard on the second two with Nicole's "Brown".  I then reversed this, doing the belts and pouch on the second two, and the quiver and scabbard on the first two with Crafter's Edition "Spice Brown".  I painted the padding on their wrist guards with Americana "Khaki Tan", and the straps, as well as the sword grips, with Americana "Asphaltum".  I then painted their bows with Crafter's Acrylic "Cinnamon Brown".

      Next, I painted the fletchings on their arrows with Americana "Neutral Grey", and all the stitching on their belts, scabbards, quivers, and pouches with the "Khaki Tan".  I painted their teeth with GW "Bubonic Brown".  I then used the metallic "Gunmetal Grey" to paint all the metal fittings on their bows and short swords.   Then, after the paint had a while to dry, I gave the figures all a complete wash with GW "Agrax Earthshade" wash using a wet brush.

     When the wash was dry, I painted their eyes, and then highlighted their teeth with Americana "Buttermilk". Next, I highlighted all their skin with a mix of the original "Deep Khaki" mixed with a little Aleene's "Dusty Khaki" . I also highlighted each of their tunics with the original colors I had used.  I highlighted their belts with Americana "Sable Brown", and hit the stitching again with the "Khaki Tan".  I then repainted their boots Black, and then added highlights with the "Neutral Grey".   Lastly, I painted their sculpted bases with Ceramcoat "Walnut".
     After everything had dried overnight, I gave the figures a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish" and, when dry, flocked their bases.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed them with Testor's Dullcote".

     Though there's nothing extraordinary about them, I'm generally pleased with how they came out.  I'm looking forward to seeing how the whole group of orcs looks set out toghether, including the ones from the original 30 New Bones set, when I finally get this set complete.

Figures 212-215: Complete

Bones CAV SO: Ashigaru

   This week I completed my first unit from the Reaper Bones CAV Strike Operation Kickstarter, the Ashigaru missile launcher vehicles.
   I prepped the vehicles in the usual way for Bones; soaking them in a bowl 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 missile rack in place with superglue.  Next, I sprayed them with Army Painter "Necrotic Flesh" spray paint.  When they were dry, I glued them to a black-primed 3"x1.5" steel base (For use with LSNC: Sci-Fi rules), with Aleene's Tacky glue.

      I began by painting camouflage splotches all over the vehicles' surfaces using Nicole's "Brown". I the painted the wheels all Americana "Territorial Beige".

     Next, I added small dots to the camouflage splotches  with Americana "Khaki Tan".  After the paint had a while to dry I gave the all the vehicles an entire wash using Winsor-Newton "Peat Brown" ink using a wet brush.

     When the ink wash was dry I gave the vehicles an all-over drybrushing with Americana "Buttermilk".  I then painted the missile tips with Americana "Zinc", and the vehicle windows with Crafter's Acrylic "Navy Blue".

    I then added small highlights to the tops of the missile tips using Crafer's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey", and highlights to the windows with Americana "Salem Blue", followed by small pinpoint White highlight dots in each window.  Lastly, I painted the tail lights with Crafter's Acrylic "Deep Red".
     After the vehicles had overnight to dry,  I gave them a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish" early the next morning.   When the varnish was dry, I covered the bases with white glue and dunked them in a sand and gravel mixture.  When the sand was dry, I painted it with Americana "Raw Umber", and then when that was dry, I drybrushed it with Americana "Territortial Beige", followed by Folk Art "Butter Pecan", and lastly Americana "Bleached Sand".
  The next day I sprayed the missile launcher unit with Testor's Dullcote.

Three platoon stands and a company HQ stand.

    I'm happy with how these turned out, and am looking forward to tackling more of the CAV vehicles in the future!

Ingrid, Female Gnome: Figure 211 of 266

   Over the weekend I finished up Ingrid, Female Gnome from the Half-Sized Heroes set.  I'm not officially working on this set now; I just wanted to get another Thief figure painted up for Frostgrave, so I pulled this figure out and bumped it to the front of the line.  I didn't realize she was a Gnome when I painted her, so I did her up as a Halfling.
      I thought the object in her hand looked like it was supposed to be some sort of magic light source, like the Phial of Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings; so I had to have a nice debate with myself as to whether I was going to attempt serious Object Source Lighting (OSL) for the first time, or skip the pressure and just paint her as if she was simply holding a snowball, or a rock.   
     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 white-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 her chainmail black, and then drybrushing it with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey", followed with a lighter drybrushing with Folk Art Metallics "Silver Sterling".   I then painted her face with Americana "Shading Flesh".

     Next, I painted her studded leather jerkin with Ceramcoat "Raw Sienna", followed by painting her leggings with Folk Art "Cloudy Day", and her sleeves with Folk Art "Dapple Grey".  I painted her cape with Crafter's Acrylic "Navy Blue"; followed by doing her hair with Crafter's Edition "Spice Brown", and her shoes with Nicole's "Brown".

     I then painted her belts and the sword grip with Crafter's Acrylic "Cinnamon Brown", and her gloves with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige".  Next, it was her sword, belt buckle, and all the studs on her jerkin,  with Americana "Neutral Grey".  I let the paint all dry for a while, then gave all the brown toned parts a wash GW "Agrax Earthshade" wash using a wet brush.  When this wash was dry, I have all the blue and green parts a wash with GW "Badab Black" wash using a wet brush.

     When the wash was dry, I highlighted her hair with Americana "Sable Brown". I then painted her eyes and lips, and then highlighted her face with the base "Shading Flesh".   Next, I highlighted her cape with Ceramcoat "Denim Blue", followed by painting her magic rock with Crafter's Acrylic "Cool Blue".

     I then highlighted her jerkin with Americana "Khaki Tan", and then highlighted her leggings and sleeves with their base colors; "Cloudy Day", and "Dapple Grey" respectively.  Next, I used the "Sable Brown" to highlight her shoes and gloves. I noticed the barrettes in her hair and painted them with the "Neutral Grey".   I then used Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey" to paint her sword, belt buckle, jerkin studs, and barrettes; then added highlights to these areas with Folk Art Metallics "Silver Sterling".
    The figure was done now, for all intents and purposes, so it was time for me to make the decision about the OSL.  I realized I needed to just do it, or I'd always be afraid of it; so I spent a minute studying how light from the rock she holds would hit her body.  I then took a small brush I use for drybrushing tight areas, and applied a heavy drybrush of the "Cool Blue" down the areas of her body the light would hit.   I then went back and added White highlights to the rock itself, and all the areas of her body I had just hit with the "Cool Blue".  I also added White reflective dots to her eyes, and some of the metallic parts.   Lastly, I used the White to paint her base.
     I then used some Aleene's Tacky glue to add some cut Bones sprue to the base to look like some ruins.  When dry, I painted it Black, and then drybrushed it with Americana "Zinc", followed with Crafter's Acrylic Storm Cloud Grey", and lastly Folk Art "Platinum Grey". When everything had overnight to dry, I gave the figure a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish" early the next morning.  That afternoon I flocked the white areas with Woodland Scenics "Snow" flock the next day I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote.

      In the end I'm pleased.  It's a little heavy handed; but I wanted it to look like a very stark unnatural lighting, and I think it does.   I can also say there's lots of room for me to improve, but luckily its a skill I don't think I will have to call upon very often.

Here I tried some lighting effects; using just my phone's flashlight, shining from tabletop level.  I think it helps accentuate the painted OSL effect.

Figure 211 of 266: Complete

Quick SIze Comparison: Forstgrave Soldiers vs Reaper

   Over on the Reaper Forum there was question regarding how the size of Frostgrave-specific figures stacked up against Reaper figures.  So I took a quick photo to show:

L to R: Frostgrave plastic soldier, Reaper Bones figure, Frostgrave plastic soldier, Reaper Bones figure, Frostgrave metal Rangifer. 

As can be seen, the Frostgrave stuff is a little smaller.  Note, that not only have I glued the Frostgrave soldiers to a washer, like I did with the Reaper ones; but I also glued them to the 1" plastic bases that come with them to add a little more height.