Valgar Swiftaxe (A) and Dagar Bronzebeard (A) Bones 5 Figures (Complete!)

       I returned this past month back to working on the Dwarves from the The Dwarf King's Crypt Encounter Sets that I got through the Bones 5 Kickstarter.  Between the two sets, I have 12 of the Dwarf warriors (2 each of the 6 that came in each set. I randomly picked one of the "Valgar Swiftaxe" figures, and one of the "Dagar Bronzebeard" figures to work on.

     I had decided to work on these two at a time to help save a little time.  My plan was to paint them basically the same; with the hopes that when mixed into a unit, combined with the difference in the poses, they wouldn't look too identical. 

     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 trimmed the figures' integral bases a little, and glued each of them to a 1" grey-primed metal washer with some Aleene's Tacky glue.  I then glued the figures to a large craft stick with a couple drops of Elmer's glue. 

      I began painting by giving all the chainmail armor a coat of Ceramcoat "Black".  When dry, I drybrushed it with Folk Art Metallic "Gunmetal Grey".  I then went over it lightly with a drybrush of Reaper MSP "Polished Silver".  Next I painted their faces, arms, and hands with Reaper MSP "Tanned Skin", and their tunics with Ceramcoat "Denim Blue".

     Next, I painted fur lining on the righthand one's hood, and both their shoes with Folk Art "Real Brown", and I did their belts and pouches with Americana "Raw Umber".  After that, I painted their boot tops with Americana "Sable Brown", and the soles with "Black".   I noticed there was a bit of trouser peaking above the boot tops on the righthand one, and I painted it with Folk Art "Dapple Grey".  

     I then painted their beards with Americana "Light Cinnamon", and their axe handles with Reaper MSP "Shield Brown".  After that, I did the axe heads, handle base, belt buckle, and bracelets, with Americana "Zinc". I also painted the border around their tunics with Americana "Snow White".

      I decided at that point that the white trim on both made them look too similar, so I repainted the righthand one with Americana "Festive Green".  I then painted the beard holders with Ceramcoat "Metallic Copper"; and then did the axe heads and the handle base with Reaper MSP "Honed Steel".  After that, I painted the bracelets, with the "Gunmetal Grey" that I had used earlier on the chainmail. 

     I let the figure dry for a while, and then gave his face, arms, and hands a coat of Citadel Shade "Reikland Fleshshade".   I let that dry, and then gave the rest of the figure a coat of Citadel Shade "Nuln Oil". 

      I let all the washes dry for a while, and then began on the highlighting.  First I painted their eyes, and then highlighted his skin with the base "Tanned Skin", mixed with "Reaper MSP "Tanned Highlight".  I then highlighted his beard with first Folk Art "Teddy Bear Brown", and then Folk Art "Barn Wood".

     Next, I highlighted the tunics with the base "Denim Blue", and some Crafter's Apple Barrel "Apple Scotch Blue".  I then highlighted their boot tops with the base "Sable Brown" and some Americana "Fawn".  After that, I highlighted the boots, and the fur lining on the right one's hood with Folk Art "Dark Brown", and did the highlights on the belts and pouches with Americana  "Mississippi Mud" . 

 I then did the highlights on the axe handles with some Americana "Khaki Tan".  After that, I highlighted their beard rings with some Ceramcoat "Metallic Copper", mixed with some of the "Polished Silver". I also highlighted the axes with the Silver"Metallic Silver", and the bracelets with the "Polished Silver".  I wrapped up the painting  by highlighting the left one's tunic trim with the base "Snow White", and the right one's tunic trim with the base "Festive Green" mixed with some Crafter's Acrylic "Wild Green".

     I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave them a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  Then when the varnish was dry, I used some white glue to glue some sand onto the bases.  When this was dry I  painted it with Citadel Contrast "Wyldwood".  When that was dry,  I drybrushed the sand with Americana "Neutral Grey", and then a bit of Folk Art "Barn Wood".  Due to the weather, I was not able to give the figures a final spray varnish.

     I'm happy with them, and while I think they look very similar here, my hope is that when they're mixed with the other 10 of their best Dwarf buddies it won't be so noticeable.

Boran Bronzebeard (B): Bones 5 Figure

      This week I finished up the second of the two "Boran Bronzebeard" figures I have. He is one of the Dwarf warrior models from the two The Dwarf King's Crypt Encounter Sets that I got through the Bones 5 Kickstarter.  Between the two sets, I have 12 of the Dwarf warriors (2 each of the 6 that came in each set.  

        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 decided I would do them up as a unit for use in various wargames, so I wanted to do one of the figures up as a distinct leader, and one up as a distinct assistant leader.  So, I needed to make some conversions to the figures to make them more distinct.  

      For the one that would be the leader, I decided I would swap out his axe for a war-hammer, since all the other warriors are axe-armed, it would make him more unique.  For the second figure, I decided to take the spare axe I now had, and put it in his left hand so he would be dual-wielding. 

        The first version, the leader is posted here: Boran Bronzebeard (A).   This is the second, assistant leader, figure.   I stuck him  on a pill bottle with a bit of blue-tac to start.

       I began painting by giving all the chainmail armor a coat of Ceramcoat "Black".  When dry, I drybrushed it with Folk Art Metallic "Gunmetal Grey".  I then went over it lightly with a drybrush of Reaper MSP "Polished Silver".  Next I painted his face, arms, and hands with Americana "Shading flesh", and his tunic with Crafter's Acrylic "Bright Blue".

     Next, I painted his cape with Americana "Zinc" and the fur on his cape with Americana "Asphaltum".  After that, I did his shoes, belt and pouch with Reaper MSP "Noir Wanut Brown".

     Then I painted his boot tops with Americana "Terra Cotta, and then I did the parts I planned to eventually paint metallic gold, with Accent "Mustard Seed".  I followed this with painting his beard with Americana  "Grey Sky", his axe handles with Reaper MSP "Turkey Brown", the axe heads and handle bases with the "Zinc", and the soles of his boots with the "Black". 

       I then painted the beard holders with Folk Art Brushed Metal "Brushed Bronze"; and then did the axe heads and the handle bases with Reaper MSP "Honed Steel".  After that, I painted the bracelets, with the "Gunmetal Grey" that I had used earlier on the chainmail. 

     I let the figure dry for a while, and then gave his face, arms, and hands a coat of Citadel Shade "Reikland Fleshshade".   I let that dry, and then gave the rest of the figure a coat of Citadel Shade "Nuln Oil". 

      I let all the washes dry for a while, and then began on the highlighting.  First I painted his eyes, and then highlighted his skin with the base "Shading Flesh", mixed with "Reaper MSP "Rosy Highlight". I then highlighted his beard with first the base "Grey Sky" and then Americana "Snow White".

     Next, I highlighted his tunic with the base "Bright Blue", and some Crafter's Acrylic "Cool Blue".  I then highlighted his cape with the base "Zinc", and some Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey".  After that, I highlighted his boot tops with the base "Terra Cotta", and highlighted the boots, belt and pouch with Crafter's Acrylic "Cinnamon Brown" . 

     I then highlighted the fur on the cap with the base "Asphaltum", and some Americana "Mississippi Mud", and then did the highlights on the axe handles with some Reaper MSP "Shield Brown".  After that, I highlighted his beard rings with some Folk Art Metallic "Pure Gold", and some Ceramcoat "Wedding Gold". I wrapped up the painting by highlighting the axes with the "Polished Silver", and the bracelets with Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver".

      I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave him a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  Then when the varnish was dry, I used some white glue to glue some sand onto the bases.  When this was dry I  painted it with Citadel Contrast "Wyldwood".  When that was dry,  I drybrushed the sand with Americana "Neutral Grey", and then a bit of Folk Art "Barn Wood".  Due to the weather, I was not able to give the figure a final spray varnish.

Boran Bronzebeard (A): Bones 5 Figure

     This week I finished up the first of the two "Boran Bronzebeard" figures I have. He is one of the Dwarf warrior models from the two The Dwarf King's Crypt Encounter Sets that I got through the Bones 5 Kickstarter.  Between the two sets, I have 12 of the Dwarf warriors (2 each of the 6 that came in each set.  

       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 decided I would do them up as a unit for use in various wargames, so I wanted to do one of the figures up as a distinct leader, and one up as a distinct assistant leader.  So, I needed to make some conversions to the figures to make them more distinct.  

      For the one that would be the leader, I decided I would swap out his axe for a war-hammer, since all the other warriors are axe-armed, it would make him more unique.  For the second figure, I decided to take the spare axe I now had, and put it in his left hand so he would be dual-wielding. 

They were easy conversions to do. I first sliced the axe off the first figure's hand, then drilled through the raised hand on that figure. Next,I drill a hole in the lowered left hand on the second figure. I then cut the war-hammer handle into two sections, and glued each into one end of the hand.  After that, I glued the spare axe into the left hand of the second figure.  (For the completed second figure, see: Boran Bronzebeard (B).

     I then trimmed down the bases of the figures, and glued them to 1" primed metal washers, using Aleene's Tacky Glue.   I then stuck the first one  on  pill bottle with a bit of blue-tac.

      I began painting by giving all the chainmail armor a coat of Ceramcoat "Black".  When dry, I drybrushed it with Folk Art Metallic "Gunmetal Grey".  I then went over it lightly with a drybrush of Reaper MSP "Polished Silver".  Next I painted his face, arms, and hands with a mix of Reaper MSP "Rosy Shadow", and Reaper MSP "Bronzed Shadow".

     Next, I painted his tunic sleeves with Reaper MSP "Dreidel Blue", and his cape with Reaper MSP "Void Blue".  After that, I painted the fur on his cape with Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey", and his shoes, belt and pouch with Reaper MSP "Noir Black".

     Then I painted his boot tops, and all the parts I planned to eventually paint metallic gold, with Accent "Mustard Seed".  I followed this with painting his beard with Reaper MSP "Auburn Shadow", his hammer handle with Reaper MSP "Chocolate Bar", and the hammer head and handle base with Americana "Zinc". 

          I noticed at that point that I had't painted the soles of his boots, so I quickly did those with Reaper MSP "Blackened Brown".  I then painted the beard holders and bracelets  with Folk Art Brushed Metal "Brushed Bronze", and the hammer head and handle base with the "Gunmetal Grey" that I had used earlier on the chainmail. 

     I let the figure dry for a while, and then gave his face, arms, and hands a coat of Reaper MSP "Flesh Wash". I let that dry, and then gave his beard and the bracelets a wash with Citadel Shade "Agrax Earthshade".  Another drying period, and I gave a coat of Citadel Shade "Nuln Oil" to his clothing, cape, fur, hammer, and boots. 

     Once more I let all the washes dry for a while, and then began on the highlighting.  First I painted his eyes, and then highlighted his skin with the base "Rosy Shadow", mixed with varying amounts of "Reaper MSP "Rosy Skin". I then highlighted his beard with first Crafter's Acrylic "Orange Spice", and then Accent "Golden Oxide". 

   Next, I highlighted his tunic with the base "Dreidel Blue", and some Reaper MSP Bones "Tropical Blue".  I then highlighted his cape with the base "Void Blue", and some Reaper MSP "Ultramarine Blue", with some final highlight touches with a little of the "Dreidel Blue".  After that, I highlighted his boot tops with the base "mustard Seed", and highlighted the boots, belt and pouch with the base "Noir Black" with  little of the "Tropical Blue" mixed in. 

       I then highlighted the fur on the cap with the base "Storm Cloud Grey", and some Americana "Grey Sky", and then did the highlights on the war-hammer handle with some Reaper MSP "Shield Brown".  After that, I highlighted his bracelets and beard rings with some Folk Art Metallic "Pure Gold", and some Ceramcoat "Wedding Gold". I wrapped up the painting by highlighting the war-hammer with the base "Gunmetal Grey", and a little of the "Polished Silver".

      I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave him a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  Then when the varnish was dry, I used some white glue to glue some sand onto the bases.  When this was dry I  painted it with Citadel Contrast "Wyldwood".  When that was dry,  I drybrushed the sand with Americana "Neutral Grey", and then a bit of Folk Art "Barn Wood".  Due to the weather, I was not able to give the figure a final spray varnish.

      In other news, way back in August of last year, I got in my head the idea to keep a couple of the figures from the Bones V Townsfolk Add-On at hand while painting, and made such and announcement when I posted about the Anchor of Damnation when I painted it: Here

   My thought was that as I had extra color dispensed from various dropper bottle paints I could use some of it to gradually apply colors to the Townsfolk.  This was a good idea, as I got base colors applied to both the figures; but the problem was I never had a time set aside to do the final finishing washes and highlights.

    Well this past week I set some time aside and finally finished those first two Townsfolk that had been languishing on my paint table in a half-completed state for a few months now.

Dwarven Archway: Bones 5 Figures

     Over the past few months, I have been working on pieces from the pair of Dwarf King's Crypt Encounter Sets I have from the Bones 5 Kickstarter.  This past week I did the two "Archway" pieces.  

      I prepped these terrain pieces 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 a pair of 80mm x 40mm steel bases under each one to give an underside that would stick to a magnetic storage surface.  The cavities in the underside of the arches were just a couple millimeters too short in length, so I ended up having to cut a couple notches in the underside to get the bases to fit.   I had to use a stacked pair of the steel  bases under each one so they would have the required depth to end up flush with the bottom of the arch.

     I then glued each archway to the top of a weighted prescription bottle.  (I forgot to take a "Before" shot of the arches, so we'll get right into the painting. 

     I began by painting both ahces entirely with Ceramcoat "Charcoal".  When dry, I gave both of them complete washes with Citadel "Nuln Oil" Shade.

     I let the wash dry, and then drybrushed the arches with, first,  Americana "Zinc", then Crafters Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey".

     Lastly, I did a drybrush of both pieces with Americana "Grey Sky". The next day I gave both pieces a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.   The weather has been too wintery to do any spraying, so I wasn't able to give these their final Testor's Dullcote" varnish yet.    

     I'm pleased with how these turned out.  I was tempted to do something fancy, like making some of the runes glowing, but in the end I really just wanted them for plain pieces of terrain.  I added one of the Dwarf Zombies for scale. 

Durman's Ledgers: Bones 5 Figures

      Over the past few weeks, as time permitted, I worked on painting the pair of "Durman's Ledgers" I had from ordering two of the Dwarf King's Crypt Encounter Set from the Bones 5 Kickstarter.  This past week I finally finished them up. 

      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 them to 1.25" primed metal washers, using Aleene's Tacky Glue.  I glued the washers to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of Elmer's School Glue.

     I began by painting the bases of the bookstands with Ceramcoat "Charcoal".  I then painted the top parts of the stands with Americana "Snow White".  When dry, I used Citadel Contrast "Templar Black" to make marble-like striations on the white tops, doing some with the paint straight from the bottle, and some thinned a little.

     Next, I painted the pages of the books with Ceramcoat "White".  I then painted the cover of the lefthand book with Reaper MSP "Auburn Shadow".  I then used this color to paint the bookmark of the righthand book.  Then, I painted the cover of the righthand book with Accent "Mustard Seed", and then used this color to paint the bookmark of the lefthand book.  There appeared to be some sort of clasp mechanisms on the edges of the covers, so I painted them with Folk Art Brushed Metal "Brushed Bronze".  I also used the "Brushed Bronze" to paint the metal plates on the bookmarks.

      I let everything dry for a while,  and then gave the bookstands a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" Shade.    Then, I painted the pages of the books with Citadel Contrast "Skeleton Horde".  I followed with using some Citadel "Agrax Earthsahde" Shade on the book covers and the bookmarks.

     I let all the washes dry, and then drybrushed the bottoms of the bookstands with Americana "Zinc", Crafters Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey", and Americana "Grey Sky".  I then carefully applied some highlights to the tops of the bookstands with the base "Snow White". 

     Next, I drybrushed the book pages with Americana "Bleached Sand".  I then painted in some text, using Reaper MSP "Heraldic Red" for the big letters, and the "Charcoal" for the small text.  After that, I highlighted the lefthand book cover with the base "Auburn Shadow", and the lefthand book cover with the base "Mustard Seed". I finished up by highlighting the metal parts with Ceramcoat "Metallic Bronze". 

      I then painted the bases with Americana "Neutral Grey"; and when dry, I went around the outline of the bookstand bottoms with some of the "Nuln Oil".

      The next day I gave both pieces a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.   Another overnight dry, and I sprayed all the pieces with Testor's Dullcote".    

     I'm really happy with how these turned out.  One of the few times the end result matched the original vision I had had in my head.

     My next post will be in two weeks on December 20th.

Dwarf Statues: Bones 5 Figures, Part 2 (Completed)

      A couple weeks ago, I started work on the pair of "Dwarf Statue" models from the two The Dwarf King's Crypt Encounter Sets that I got through the Bones 5 Kickstarter.   This past week I had time to complete them.  There wasn't much left to do.

     For Part 1, see: Dwarf Statues Part 1

     I let the painting I had done in Part 1 dry for a bit, and then I gave the top part of both statues a thinned coat of Folk Art "Patina".  I let this dry, and then went back and drybrushed it with Folk Art "Celadon Green".

      I let the Statues dry overnight and the next day I gave them a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  Then when the varnish was dry, I used some white glue to glue some sand onto the bases.  When this was dry I  painted it with Citadel Contrast "Black Templar".  When that was dry,  I drybrushed the sand with Folk Art "Rock Grey", and then a bit of Folk Art "Porcelain White".  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed the figures with Testor's Dullcote".       

  I'm happy with these terrain pieces, and glad I decided to go with the metal and rock scheme, rather than doing them as all rock.  I still haven't perfected my verdigris bronze look yet, but am pleased with how it turned out this time.

     

Dwarf Statues: Bones 5 Figures, Part 1

      For the past couple of weeks, I have been working on painting a pair of the "Dwarf Statue" models from the pair of The Dwarf King's Crypt Encounter Sets that I got through the Bones 5 Kickstarter.   

     I've come to realize that life has gotten much busier for me this year, and I'm not finding the time to paint my Bones like I used to.  Therefore, going forward, I'm going to try changing my posting schedule to just the first and third Monday's each month rather than having to do these 2-part posts that I find myself doing more and more often. 

      I prepped the pair of figures in the usual way, soaking them in a dish of water with a couple drops of dish-soap added, then I gave them a light scrub with a soft toothbrush, and then rinsed and dried them.  I then glued the figures to 2" primed metal washers with some Aleene's Tacky glue.  When that glue was dry, I glued each one to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of Elmer's glue. 

     While I believe these are intended to be all stone, that felt too drab to me, so I decided I would paint the base as stone, and the tops as bronze covered in verdigris.

     So, I began by painting the bases the same way I had painted the bases of the "Everliving Flames" that belong to this set back in September.   To start, I painted the bases with Ceramcoat "Charcoal".  When dry, I  drybrushed them with, first, Americana "Zinc", and then Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey".

     Next, I did some final highlights with a bit of Americana "Grey Sky".   Then, I painted the statues with Accent "Mustard Seed"   to give a good base color; and when dry, repainted the statues with Folk Art Brushed Metal "Brushed Bronze".

     When the "Brushed Bronze was dry, I gave the top statue portions a wash with Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" Shade.   When that was dry, I drybrushed the statues with, first, Ceramcoat "Metallic Bronze", and then a little Deco Art Dazzling Metallic "Bright Brass".

    And that's as far as I've progressed.    Please tune in next Monday for the conclusion.