Hoardlings: Bones II

   This week I completed the Hordlings set from the Bones II, Expansion I.  I needed something quick and simple to do because, like I said with my Monday figure, I was traveling over Spring Break, so knew my painting time would be limited.
    Since there were three of these figures in the set, I decided to base up two of them for Frostgrave, to represent Minor Demons; and  the third I based regularly for other Fantasy games.   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 one of the figure to a black-primed 7/8" fender washers with Aleene's Tacky glue and the other two to  white-primed 7/8" fender washer.  I then glued the washers to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of the Elmer's glue each.

     I began by painting the Hordlings with Crafter's Acrylic "Citrus Green", and then when the "Citrus Green" was dry, I gave it a wash with Iron Wind Metals "Dark Green" ink using a wet brush.  When the ink was dry, I painted the tentacles and wings of the center Hoardling, and the spine bumps of the first and third Hoardlings,  with Apple Barrel "Apple Lavender".

    When the "Apple Lavender" was dry I gave the tentacles, wings, and spine bumps all a wash with Iron Wind Metals "Purple" ink using a wet brush. I then applied some slight thinned Black paint to the mouths of Hoardling 1 and 3, and painted the eye sockets on all three with the Black.  I then went back and painted the eyes with Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow".

     My next step was to paint the tongue on 3 with Crafter's Acrylic "Purple Passion", followed by doing the teeth on 1 and 3 with Americana "Buttermilk", and then highlighting the teeth with Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White". I then painted their irises with Crafter's Acrylic "Deep Red", followed by Black pupils.  Next, I added highlights to the wings, tentacles, tongue, and spine bumps with the "Apple Lavender" followed by doing highlights on their bodies with Reaper MSP Bones "Dungeon Slime".  Lastly, I painted the the hooves on all three of them, and the horns on the third one, with Americana "Neutral Grey", and when dry, I gave the hooves and horns a wash with some GW Agrax Earthshade" using a wet brush.

        After I was finished painting the figures, I cut a small section of the sprue these Hoardlings came on and glued it to the base of the second one to represent some old stonework; and when dry, I painted it with Americana Zinc and then drybrushed it with Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey", followed by Folk Art "Platinum Grey". Then, when everything had overnight to dry, I gave the figures a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish".  Later that afternoon I flocked the first two's bases with Woodland Scenics "Snow" flock, and the third one's base with regular green flock.  The next day, I sprayed the figures with Testor's Dullcote.

     I'm happy with how these little fellows turned out.  They were quick to do, and I was glad to have an excuse to use some vibrant colors for a change.

Village Rioter: Figure 208 of 266

    Knowing I would be short of time for painting this past week due to Spring Break traveling, I skipped doing another figure from the Necromancer set that I had been working on, and instead selected one of the simpler figures from the Townsfolk II set to paint: the Village Rioter.
     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 his head and right hand with Americana "Shading Flesh". I then painted his pants with Crafter's Acrylic "Navy Blue", his tunic with Nicole's "Brown", and his cowl with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige".

     Next, I painted the torch with Americana "Mississippi Mud", and the shaft of his pitchfork with Folk Art "Barn Wood".  I then painted his gloved hand with Folk Art "Dapple Grey".  I used Folk Art "Dark Brown" to paint his shoes, and Folk Art "Porcelain White" to paint his socks.

     I painted his hair with Folk Art "Butter Pecan", and then painted his belt and pouch with Americana "Asphaltum".    I let the paint dry for a while, and then gave the entire figure a wash with Winsor-Newton "Peat Brown" ink using a wet brush.   When the wash was dry, I painted the fire on his torch using a series of five colors progressing from a light yellow to a brick red-orange. I then added a little Black at the bottom of the flames to help blend them into the top of the torch handle, and a little Black at the top to make the flames look a little sooty.   Next, I painted the head of the pitchfork, his belt buckle, and the fitting on the torch handle, with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey".

      I decided the pitchfork looked too new, so I mixed some of the "Asphaltum" and "Gunmetal Grey" together to get a more aged looking metal color, and painted the base of the fork with that, transitioning up to the bare "Gunmetal Grey" on the tines.
      I then highlighted his hair using Americana "Buttermilk"; followed by painting his eyes, and then highlighting his face with the base "Shading Flesh", then a little of the "Shading Flesh" mixed with some Americana "Mocha" to do lighter highlights.  Next, I highlighted his cowl with Americana "Khaki Tan", and his tunic with Americana "Sable Brown".  I then did highlights on his pants with Americana "Wedgewood Blue", and on his socks with the base "Porcelain White".  I highlighted his shoes, and his belt and pouch,  with Crafter's Edition "Spice Brown", and his glove with the base "Dapple Grey".  After that, I highlighted the torch handle with the base "Mississippi Mud", and the pitchfork shaft with the base "Barn Wood".  Lastly, I painted the figures sculpted base with Ceramcoat "Walnut".
 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.

     I'm happy with how he turned out.  Nothing fancy, just a good solid villager figure.

Figure 208 of 266: Complete

Warg Painted as Arctic Wolf: Bones II

   This week I completed the Warg figure from the Bones II original figures set.  I didn't realize he was a Warg when I started painting him; I just assumed he was a large wolf.  So, I decided to paint him as an Arctic Wolf because,  as with the rest of the animals I've been doing recently, I was painting him up for Frostgrave.
      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 1.25" fender washers 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 with Americana "Dove Grey". I then drybrushed his top half with Americana "Neutral Grey", followed by doing is top third with Americana "Zinc".

     I then mixed a little of the "Zinc" into some Black and painted his very top spine area and the tip of his tail and also around his face and ears.   I then painted his mouth and nose Black, and then I painted his eyes.    Next, I painted his teeth with Americana "Buttermilk, followed with highlights using Crafter's Edition "Light Antique White".   I used some of the "Zinc" to highlight his nostrils. 

     Lastly, I painted the base White.   When everything had overnight to dry, I gave the figure a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish".  Then, the next morning I flocked the white areas with Woodland Scenics "Snow" flock and added some tufts of twine to represent dead grasses.  Later that afternoon I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote.

     I like the way this fellow turned out.  I think he will make quite a formidable wolf to encounter in the frozen city.

Malek Necromancer: Figure 207 0f 266

   Last week, before I left for Cold Wars, I put the finishing touches on Malek Necromancer from the Necromancers set.  I'm now half way through this set, with two done, and two to go.
      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 figure entirely in Black.  I then drybrushed the cape with Folk Art "Dapple Gray".  Next, I painted his leggings and sleeves with Americana "Zinc", and then I added highlights to his loincloth with Duncan "Olive Green".

My next step was to paint his mask with Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White".  I then painted highlights on his boots, belt, and gauntlets with Americana "Neutral Grey".  Next, I painted all the parts I planned to eventually paint gold with Folk Art "Golden Harvest". 

    I then painted the skulls at his feet with Nicole's "Brown", and the rod of his staff with Crafter's Acrylic "Navy Blue".  After that I painted his sword with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey", and the sword hilt, scabbard top, staff parts, and the skulls on his outfit with Ceramcoat "Bronze".   After everything had a while to dry, I gave his mask and all the metallic parts a wash with GW Agrax Earthshade" wash using a wet brush.

    I took some time to work on the skulls he's standing upon at this point.  First, I drybrushed them with Americana "Khaki Tan", and then with Americana "Buttermilk".  I then painted on spot highlights with Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White".  By now the wash was dry, so I worked on his mask.  First I carefully painted in eyes, then I used some of the "Light Antique White to do highlights.  Next, I added highlights to his staff with Americana "True Blue", and I highlighted the ribbon that seems to be hanging from the staff, with Ceramcoat "Black Cherry".    I then did highlights to his leggings and sleeves with Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey"; and then touched up the highlights on his cape with the original "Dapple Grey", and his gloves and boots with the "Neutral Grey".   Moving on to the metallics, I did highlights on his sword with Folk Art "Silver Sterling", and I highlighted all the gold parts with Ceramcoat "14K Gold".
      Lastly, I painted the base White.  When everything had overnight to dry, I gave the figure a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish" early the next morning.  Midday, I flocked the white areas with Woodland Scenics "Snow" flock and late that afternoon I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote.  When the Dullcote was dry, I superglued a green nail-art gem to the circle at the top of his staff.

    I really like how he turned out, and I think the gem on his staff makes a really nice accent.

Wild Dog: Bones II Figure

  This week I finished up the Dog/Wolf figure from the Bones II Original Figures set.   I chose to paint it up like a Wild Dog and base it for Frostgrave.
   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 1.25" fender washers 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 bagn by painting his legs and underside with Americana "Terra Cotta".   I then painted his upper body with Americana "Neutral Grey".

      When these first colors of paint were dry, I gave the figure a wash with GW "Agrax Earthshade" wash using a wet brush.  When the wash was dry, I drybrushed the figure with Folk Art "Barn Wood"

     I then painted his muzzle, open mouth, and eyes Black.   Next, I added tiny White pinpoint highlights to his eyes, and painted his teeth with Americana "Buttermilk".  Then I added some highlights to his nose with the "Neutral Grey".
    Lastly, I painted the base White.  When everything had overnight to dry, I gave the figure a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish".  Then, the next morning I flocked the base with Woodland Scenics "Snow" flock, and added some fiber grasses.  Later that afternoon I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote.

     I'm pleased with how this puppy turned out.  I think he has a nice feral look about him.

Ghoul Queen: Figure 206 of 266

   This past week I started working on the Necromancer set, and over the weekend I finished painting the Ghoul Queen figure from this set.  I had previously modified this figure, removing one of the scabbards she originally came with.  You can see the article I wrote about the conversion I did on her here: Ghoul Queen Conversion.
     After I completed the conversion, I glued the figure to a white-primed 1" fender washers 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 figure entirely in Black.  I then drybrushed her with Americana "Zinc".  I then painted her skin with Folk Art "Milkshake"

     When the "Milkshake" was dry, I gave it a wash with GW "Agrax Earthshade" wash using a wet brush.  I then painted her various belts, straps, and cords with Folk Art "Hunter Green". Next, I painted the bone adornments on her sleeves, headdress, and on her scabbard with a mix of Americana "Buttermilk and Americana "Mississippi Mud".  I then painted all the parts I planned to make gold, with Americana "Terra Cotta".

     I then highlighted all the "Hunter Green" areas with first, Americana "Forest Green", and then Americana "Leaf Green".  I followed that with highlighting all the bone adornments with first the "Buttermilk", and then some Crafter's Edition "Light Antique White". Next, I painted the all the "Terra Cotta" parts with Ceramcoat "Bronze".

     My next step was to highlight her hair with a mix of the "Zinc" and some Folk Art "Cloudy Day".  I then painted her eyes, and used some of the "Hunter Green" to apply eye shadow.  Next, I highlighted her skin with first the "Milkshake", and then the "Light Antique White". I used Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey" to do some specific highlights on her dress, and then I did the final metallic highlights with Ceramcoat "14K Gold".
    I painted the base White, and when dry I applied a small area of white glue to the base and glued on some course sand.   When the glue was dry, I painted the sand Black, then drybrushed the sand with the "Zinc", followed with Folk Art "Platinum Grey". When everything had overnight to dry, I gave the figure a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish" early the next morning.  Midday, I flocked the white areas with Woodland Scenics "Snow" flock and late that afternoon I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote.

     I'm very happy with how she turned out.  I think she has the right hangs-around-with-the-dead look about her. :)   In retrospect, I think she would have been further improved if, during her surgery, I had removed that big crab-claw ornamentation behind her head.  It's a redundancy with the bone hair adornments she already has.

Figure 206 of 266: Complete.  60 more to go.

Reaper CAV Bones Kickstarter Boxes Arrive

   I'm happy to report that my shipments from Reaper's CAV: Strike Operations Kickstarter arrived this week!   I happily spent that night sorting through all my goodies. :)

      I didn't go in for a lot of the big stompy robots, as I was more interested in getting a bunch of the well-priced 10mm tanks and other vehicles for a set of Sci_Fi rules we will be working on based on our popular "Look, Sarge, No Charts" system.

    So, you can expect to see the occasional tank or two, as well as a couple of the big stompy robots,  to show up here; since they are made from the Bones material, so fall under the jurisdiction of this blog. :).

Bones II: Bear

   This week I painted the Bear figure from the Bones II Original Figures set.   I chose to paint it up like a Black Bear and base it for Frostgrave.
   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 washers 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 Black. I then drybrushed it with Accent "Real Umber"  and then a lighter drybrush with Apple Barrel "Burnt Sienna".

     I felt it was still missing the sheen on the fur that bears have, so I drybrushed the high points with Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey".

      I then painted the muzzle with Americana "Terra Cotta", and the paw pads with a mix of Americana "Mississippi Mud" and a little Black.   I then painted his nose and eyes Black, and then outlined his nostrils with the "Storm Cloud Grey". I also added tiny White pinpoint highlights to his eyes, and touched his teeth with a little Americana "Buttermilk".
     Lastly, I painted the base White. When everything had overnight to dry, I gave the figure a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish".  Then, the next morning I flocked the base with Woodland Scenics "Snow" flock, and then glued on a stick to look like a log.  I then painted the top of the log with White, and while the paint was wet, sprinkled a little of the ""Snow" flock on it.  Later that afternoon I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote.

     I think he turned out looking pretty good. Beware the unwary wanderer in the Frozen City!

Orc Berserkers: Figures 202-205 of 266

     This past weekend, I finished up the four Orc Berserker figures from the Orcpocalypse add-on set.  As with the group of Orc Marauders (from the same set) that I finished recently, I tried to do minor conversions to each one to give them a little individuality.
    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 the conversions to them using Gorilla superglue gel. Looking at the row below; The first orc is untouched. The second has had his hands flipped around and repositioned opposite of the way they were so the sword now is in front of the orc.  I also replaced the sword blade with one from one of the Orc Stalker figures.  The third orc has had the sword removed, his hands drilled out, and a toothpick spear-shaft inserted.  I borrowed the spearhead from one of the Orc Hunter figures.  The fourth orc, has had his forearms removed and replaced with a pair from one f the Orc Stalker figures.
       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 them entirely with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey".  I then passed over them with a lighter drybrush of Folk Art Metallics "Silver Sterling".

  I then painted their skin with with Aleene's "Deep Khaki".  Next, I painted their cloth "skirts" hanging under the chainmail: Orc one with Americana "Terra Cotta", Orc two with Nicole's "Brown", Orc three with Americana "Zinc", and Orc four with Apple Barrel "Apple Black Green".     I painted the grips on all the swords with the "Asphaltum", and the spear shaft with Americana "Mississippi Mud".  I then painted the wrist guard wraps on the first two orcs with the "Asphaltum",  and the second two with Americana "Charcoal Grey".  Then, I painted their teeth with Americana "Buttermilk".

     After everything had a chance to dry, I gave all four figures a complete wash with GW "Agrax Earthshade" wash using a wet brush.  When the wash was dry, I painted their boots, belts, and straps wit Black.  I hen painted their eyes with the "Buttermilk", and gave them black pupils.

     I then did highlights to their skin using the original "Deep Khaki", then mixed a little of the "Deep Khaki" with Aleene's "Dusty Khaki" to do lighter highlights.  After that, I did highlights on their "skirts", using the base color for Orcs one and two, Americana "Neutral Grey" for Orc three, and Folk Art "Hunter Green" for Orc four.  Next, I did highlights on the wristguard wraps using the "Mississippi Mud", and on their boots, belts, and straps using the "Zinc".  Lastly, I did highlights on all the metal bits using Folk Art "Silver Sterling".
    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".

     I'm really happy how this guys turned out! I think they ended up really looking like individuals.

Figures 202-205: Complete

Bones II: Snow Leopard

     This week I finished up the big cat figure from the Bones II Original Figures set.   I chose to paint it up like a Snow Leopard for Frostgrave.
   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 1.25" fender washers 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 figure with Folk Art "Platinum Grey". When that was dry, I gave the figure a wash with GW "Badab Black" wash using a wet brush.

      When the wash was dry, I drybrushed the figure with the base "Platinum Grey", and then drybrushed the underside areas with Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White", followed with a lighter drybrushing of the underside areas with plain White.

      I then painted spots on the figure with Black and used Americana "Mississippi Mud" to paint the centers of the spots. Next, I did his eyes using Crafter's Acrylic "Tropical Blue" with Black pupils, and the nose with a mix of Crafter's Acrylic "Tutti Frutti" and a little of the "Mississippi Mud".
     Lastly, I painted the base White.  I then glued on a couple bits of gravel.   When the glue was dry, I painted the gravel Black, then drybrushed it with Americana "Neutral Grey", then did a lighter drybrush with the "Platinum Grey". When everything had overnight to dry, I gave the figure a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish".  Then, the next morning I flocked the white areas with Woodland Scenics "Snow" flock.  Later that afternoon I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote.

     I'm very happy with how this snow leopard turned out. It ended up being a quick and easy paint.

Bones I "Ghoul Queen" Quick and Simple Conversion

    I wanted to add a couple properly snow based necromancers to my Frostgrave collection, so I looked through the Bones I Necromancers set and selected two, one of which was the Ghoul Queen.  I figure she will make a good apprentice for my Necromancer warband.  As I studied the figure, I was bothered by the fact that she seemed to be wearing two scabbards, one with a sword and the other empty.  I thought the empty scabbard looked kind of useless and redundant, so decided I would reduce her scabbard count down to one, and make it one that had a sword in it.

      Now, the easy thing to do would have been to remove the top sword, which is a glued on addition anyway, cut the hilt off and then glued the hilt to the empty scabbard.  But the scabbard on her back is the cooler one with the bone additions, so some more intensive surgery would be necessary.

      First thing I did was use my hobby knife to pry the bone-scabbard sword off her back

      Next, I very carefully cut the empty scabbard below the lower attachment ring, and then sliced it off the back of her dress.  I then took the bone-scabbard sword, and cut it into four pieces, hilt, center section, lower section, and the little pin knob that fit into the hole in her back.

   After the surgery, it was a simple matter to glue the lower half of the bone-scabbard in place, then attach the hilt, and secure the cords hanging from it to the empty scabbard piece that remained below her right hand. I then glued the pin knob into the hole in her back and when it was dry, I sliced it down to be even with her back.

      I'm really pleased with how this conversion turned out.  In my opinion, it makes the figure look much more streamlined and less busy.    

     I won't be able to paint this figure for a couple weeks, I have orcs queued up in front of it; but I certainly am looking forward to it.