For this week, I completed the Dark Elf Warrior from the Dark Elves set. I'm not particularly thrilled with these sculpts; their spindly, wrapped in layers of clothing, look just doesn't do it for me. But, the only way to get through them is to start doing them, so here goes.
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 all his wrapped legs, arms, and torso with Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey". I then painted his cape with Americana "Burgundy Wine".
I then gave the whole figure a wash with Iron Wind Metals "Purple" ink. When the ink was dry, I painted his head, hands, boots, belts, and the armor-like plates on his chest, all with Black. I then painted his swords, buckles, and the triangular armor parts at his waist, hips, and shoulders, all with Ceramcoat "Metallic Pewter".
Next, I gave the triangular armor parts a wash with GW "Badab Black" wash using a wet brush. I then painted his hair with Americana "Neutral Grey", and then did highlighting on his boots, belts, and the armor like plates on his chest all with Americana "Zinc".
I then did highlights on his hair with first Folk Art "Porcelain Grey", and then some White. Next, I painted his eyes, and then highlighted his face and hands with Folk Art "Dapple Grey". I mixed some Apple Barrel "Apple Lavender" with some of the "Porcelain Grey" to highlight his clothing wraps, and the mixed some of the "Burgundy Wine" with the the "Apple Lavender" and a little Crafters Acrylic "Cherry Blossom Pink" to highlight his cape. I finished up painting the figure by highlighting all the metal areas with Folk Art "Silver Sterling". Lastly, I painted his integral base with Ceramcoat "Walnut"
After the figure had overnight to dry, I gave it a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish" in the morning. Later that morning I flocked the base, and that evening I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote.
Well, for a figure I wasn't enthusiastic about painting, I'm pleased with the results. After I started, I was worried he might turn out a little too "pinkish" in coloration, but I think the colors came out suitably muted for him to maintain his menacing look.
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I just noticed you don't prime the miniature. Has this always been the case or have you shifted your process? I'm asking because I'm seeing a lot of stuff online about not priming Bones.
ReplyDeleteWQRobb- First let me say, what you've read about not priming Bones is for the most part correct; especially when it comes to most spray primers. The plastic material Bones are made from reacts poorly to chemicals in many spray paints, and will become very tacky when sprayed. And, Reaper designed the Bones material to take paint directly, so there really isn't a need to.
DeleteThat being said, when I first started painting Bones I was coming from an all metal miniature background, so not priming a miniature before painting it seemed heretical, so I tried a plastic specific spray paint called Krylon Camouflage with Fusion "Flat Black", and it worked fine on the Bones. Unfortunately, a little while after I started painting the Bones, I could no longer find the Krylon Camouflage with Fusion spray paint anywhere any more. I was able to find some regular Krylon Camouflage "Flat Black" (without the Fusion technology) but it left the minis I sprayed with it tacky. So I gave up experimenting, and dived in to paining the Bones primer-less. In the end, I'm glad I did, as I actually like it better.
Here is an excellent article on the Reaper Forum covering what does and doesn't work on Bones: http://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/48669-bones-the-first-coat-is-the-difference/
I'm totally with out on the off-putting sculpts. I can squint and bear the different styles of my pre-painted plastic minis vs. Reaper most of the time, but these dark elves are a tough pill to swallow. That said, you did a great job with a color scheme that's vibrant while still fitting.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
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