Raft and Rowboat: Bones 4 Dreadmere Models

   This past week I also painted the Raft and Rowboat from the Bones 4 Dreadmere Expansion Set.  We're doing a water based Ghost Archipelago scenario later this month, and I wanted to include these if needed.
       I prepped the pieces in the usual way; soaking them in a dish of water with a couple drops of dish-soap added and then rinsing and drying.  I then assembled the raft, by gluing in the oars and the fish basket, using Gorilla Super Glue Gel.   (It also comes with a pair of loose fish, but I thought I'd save those to use somewhere else.)    After that, I glued 1"x1" steel bases to the undersides of both models using Gorilla Super Glue Gel.

     I started with the raft, and began by painting the bark of the logs with Americana "Charcoal Grey".  After that, I painted the ends with Americana "Fawn", and the ropes with Folk Art "Barn Wood".

     When the raft had dried for a bit, I gave the whole thing a wash with Citadel "Agrax Earthsahde" wash.  Then, when the wash was dry,  I drybrushed the bark with a 50-50 mix of Americana "Neutral Grey" and Americana "Mississippi Mud", followed by a lighter drybrush with Americana "Dove Grey".  I then drybrushed the ends of the logs with Americana "Antique White", and the ropes with Americana "Bleached Sand". 

     I then started on the rowboat.  I glued that to a tongue depressor for easier handling, using a couple drops of Elmer's glue.

      I began by painting the entire boat with Folk Art "Barn Wood".  I then painted the netting with Folk Art "Porcelain White", and the fish basket with Americana "Fawn".

      Next, I painted the lamp with Folk Art Burnished Metal "Burnished Bronze".  I then painted the plank patches on the outside of the boat with Folk Art "Grey Green",  Folk Art "Dapple Grey", and Americana "Mississippi Mud".   After that, I painted the rope with Americana "Neutral Grey",and the fish in the basket with Folk Art Color Shift "Blue Flash".

    I let the paint dry for a while, and then I gave the entire raft a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.

     When the wash was dry, I drybrushed the boat with Americana "Dove Grey".  I then drybrushed the net with some Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White" mixed with some of the base "Porcelain White", and drybrushed the fish basket with some Americana ""Antique White". After that I drybrushed the lantern with some Ceramcoat 14K Gold, and put some color on the fish with Folk Art Metallics "Metallic Emerald Green".  Lastly, I painted the panes of the lantern with Ceramcoat "Black".

     These were nice simple pieces to get done.  I didn't spend a lot of time with them, but I think they turned out looking pretty good nonetheless.

Assembling and De-Necro-ing the Stygian Barge: Bones 4 Model

     Welcome to a special Thursday blog post!   I was excited to get the Stygian Barge Add-On from the recent Bones 4 Kickstarter, and I was not disappointed in the model when it arrived.  It is a truly beautiful and big ship.

      However, I didn't necessarily want to use the barge in all its Stygian glory; it looked more like a Necromancer's fancy yacht than anything else.  I wanted more of a plain everyday working barge.  I figured a plain barge would have much more game use than one specifically decked out in death-related motifs.  So, the first thing I set about doing was looking over the pieces to see just what removing all the skulls, etc. would involve.  With a little effort it seems like it just might work

All the Barge pieces minus the figurehead pieces and the crew and passengers.

      The first thing I did was to glue the front middle and rear hull sections together using Gorilla Superglue Gel.  I then used coffee stirrers and toothpicks to lay down a new deck and trim in the middle hull section to cover over the bone strewn deck that is molded onto the model. 

    I then cut off the two skull decorations on the front protrusions of the rear deck piece, and replaced them with two round wood beads.  When they were dry, I glued the rear deck and front deck into place.  I then painted the hold interior on the front deck with Ceramcoat "Black".

When the Black was dry I glued the hold cover over it, and then worked on putting together the rope and anchor assembly.  I then glued the barrel assembly to the other side

      After that, I worked on gluing in the rear deck bracers.

    I then began trimming the vertebrate spines off of the rear deck roof, and trimming the skeletons off of the roof supports.

     Next, I glued the rudder into place, and then the mast.  I left the skull on the mast, figuring it looked like some kind of trophy or oddity the crew came across, rather than strictly saying "necromancer's boat". 
     When these ware dry, I glued the roof supports to the deck, setting the roof in place to keep them aligned while the glue set, but not actually gluing the roof.  I don't want to permanently glue the roof until after I have painted the underside.

      After the roof supports were dry, I worked on fixing where the skeletal mermaid figurehead was supposed to go.  I used a bit of bamboo skewer to make a bowsprit, and a little nail in the center of the rope circle to make it look like it was actually hanging from something.

      Lastly, I cut the skulls off of the ends of the railings, and once de-skulled, glued them into place

   And here is the finished boat; ready for painting!   I'm very pleased with how it turned out, and think it will look suitably like a regular workaday barge.  Hopefully I will get it painted in time to use it in our June Ghost Archipelago game.