Li'l Death, Familiar: Figure 260 of 266, or the 4nd of 10 Figures Remaining

   Before I left for the Fall-In wargame convention in Lancaster, PA last Friday, I finished up another of the Familiars set who's called, L'il Death.
     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 .75" 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 robes Black, and then drybrushed them with Citadel 'The Fang".

      Next, I painted his large bag with Americana "Bittersweet Chocolate", and the three items onhis back (scrolls?) with, top to bottom, Folk Art "Barn Wood",  Americana "Buttermilk", and Americana "Zinc". I also used the "Buttermilk" to paint what looked like a scroll emerging fom his big bag.  I then painted the handle of his weapon with Americana "Mississippi Mud".

     I then painted the wrappings on his weapon with Folk Art "Grey Green", and the ropes securing the bundles on his back with Nicole's "Brown".  I also used this color to paint the other object in the big sack he's carrying.  After that, I painted his face and hands with Folk Art "Milkshake", and then painted his weapon's blade with Americana "Zinc".

     Next, I painted the blade of his weapon wth Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey".   Then, after everything had a chance to dry, I gave the weapon, the packs on h bag, and his bag and contents a wash with Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash using wet brush.  When the wash was dry, I higlghted the wraps on his weapon's shaft with the base "Gray Green".  I highlighted the 2 rolls/scrolls on top of his back with some Americana "Bleached Sand", and the bottom roll/scroll with Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey".  I highlighted the ropes tying everything on his back with Americana "Terra Cotta".  After that, I highlighted his face and hands with the base "Milkshake", and then painted his little fangs with White.  I then did highlights on his weapon's blade with Folk Art "Silver Sterling".  Laslty, I painted the base with a 50/50 mix of Americana "Neutral Grey" and Americana "Mississippi Mud".

     For a quick paint job I'm relatively pleased.  It certainly is an odd little figure, and it will be interesting to see if I ever find a use for it.

Figure 260 of 266: Complete

6 figures left.

Terezinya, Bonepander Wizard: Figure 210 of 266

   The weekend I finished up Terezinya, Bonepander Wizard, the last of the Necromancer set that was left to paint.  The set now joins the list of completed sets over on the right.   Even though this figure is labeled as a wizard, I thought her lack of extensive armor, or anything particularly 'wizardy" looking, and that fact that she is carrying just one weapon, made her a good candidate to be a Thug in my Necromancer warband.
      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 entire outfit with Black.  I then drybrushed it with a mix of the Black and Ceramcoat "Denim Blue".   I thought I would try a different skin color than my usual, so I painted her head and hands with Americana "Terra Cotta".

           Next, I painted her pants and the drape hanging from her right arm with Ceramcoat "Black Cherry".  Then I painted her hair with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige".   When the paint had had a while to dry, I gave her skin and hair a wash with Winsor-Newton "Peat Brown" Ink using a wet brush.

    When the ink wash was dry I worked on her hair, doing highlights first with Americana "Moon Yellow", and then spot highlights with with Apple Barrel "Lemon Chiffon.  Next, I painted her eyes, and then did her lips with a mix of the Black Cherry", Terra Cotta", and Crafter's Acrylic "Flesh".  I then mixed together some of the "Terra Cotta" and "Flesh", and did the highlight on her skin.  Following that, I used some Crafter's Acrylic "Deep Red" to highlight her pants and the drape hanging from her arm.

    I then used some of the "Denim Blue" to do some spot highlights on her outfit.  Next, it was time to work on the metallics.  First, I painted her sword fittings with Ceramcoat "Raw Sienna". Then, I used Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal" to paint her various buckles and the little test-tube type cylinders she has in her belt.  I then went back and painted the sword fittings with Ceramcoat "Bronze", and then went back and did highlights wth Ceramcoat "14K Gold".  Lastly, I added some corks to the cylinders on her belt using Americana "Khaki Tan".
      I painted the base White, and when dry I glued on a couple pieces of cork to look like stone rubble.   When the glue was dry, I painted the cork Black, then drybrushed the cork with Americana "Neutral Grey", 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 generally pleased with how she turned out. I think the simple paint job I did turned out to be effective on this figure.

Figure 210 of 266: Complete

Leisynn, Mercenary Mage: Figure 209 of 266

  I got back to the Necromancer set this past week, and painted the Leisynn, Mercenary Mage figure.   I was apprehensive going in to this "not-Tim the Enchanter" figure, as it just seemed so busy with all the horns, the ornate staff and book, and the huge shoulder pads and skull-decorated hangings coming off of them.   I was further discouraged when halfway though painting him I discovered he has a mold line running down his face!  I knew I had to do him, so the only way to finish a figure is to start with the first color, and just keep adding one more color after that.  And so I began...
      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 him with Apple Barrel "Rock Grey".  I then painted his skin with Folk Art "Milkshake"

 Next, I painted his beard with Americana "Zinc", and his staff with Crafter's Acrylic "Cinnamon Brown".   I painted the outer edges of his shoulder pads, the hangings that come off of them, and the cover of the book, all with Ceramcoat "Black Cherry".  Next, I painted the animal skulls with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige", and the book pages with Ceramcoat "Raw Sienna".

   I then painted his horns with Americana "Mississippi Mud"; and the textured portions of his shoulder pads, as well as the corners, and decorations on the book cover, with the "Raw Sienna". I also went back and painted the skulls on the hangings with the "Zinc".   Then, after everything had a while to dry, I gave all the non-Black parts a wash with GW "Agrax Earthshade" wash using a wet brush.  

        When the wash was dry, I began work on the highlights.  I started with the two animal skulls, painting them first with Crafter's Edition "Taupe", and then with Americana "Buttermilk" followed with detail highlights using Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White". I then did the two sets of horns; first using the base "Mississippi Mud", then mixing in a little Folk Art "Barn Wood", and lastly plain "Barn Wood".  Next, I did his beard and hair, with first Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey", and then detail highlights with Folk Art "Platinum Grey".  I moved to his face and hands next, first painting the eyes, then doing highlights with the base "Milkshake" followed by a little "Light Antique White" on the tip of his nose.

     I was going to make the pages of the book much lighter, but as I looked at them I decided I really like the heavily yellowed look they had.  So, I just gave the edges a little highlight hit with some Folk Art "Butter Pecan", and then painted the bookmark, and some of the big lettering on the pages with Crafter's Acrylic "Deep Red".  While I had the "Deep Red" out, I used it to highlight the edges of the shoulder pads and the attached hangings.  Next, I took some black and used it to write in tiny lines of text in the book.
  It was time to do the metallics now, so I used some Ceramcoat "Bronze"  to do his shoulder pads, and the markings and corners on the covers of the book. I also used it to do his belt buckle.  Next I used some Folk Art Metallics "Silver Sterling" to paint the skulls on his shoulder hanging.

I now worked on completing the staff.  I had wanted it to look like it was all carved from the same piece of wood, rather than the snake being separate, so I simply added highlights with Americana "Sable Brown".  I then painted in the snake's eyes using Crafter's Acrylic "Holiday Green", and then added tiny White highlight dots to them.   I wanted to try to make it look like a glow was emanating from the snake's mouth, so I first painted it with Crafter's Acrylic "Citrus Green", and then drybrushed the "Citrus Green" along the mouth's edges.  Next, while the "Citrus Green" was still wet,  I used White to paint the very center of the mouth, blending it in with the paint around it.  Lastly, I painted  some highlights on the tongue, teeth, and along the edges with Reaper MSP Bones "Dungeon Slime".  I finished up by painting the figure's base completely with 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.  Later that afternoon I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote.

       I actually grew to like this figure as I went along; and I think he turned out looking much better than I had expected.  I'm now torn as to which figure to use as my Frostgrave Necromancer; this figure, or Malek, who I completed a couple weeks ago.

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.

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.

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.