Dwarf Frostgrave Crew

    It was a super busy week, so I didn't get much painting done; therefore, I decided to take a couple photos to share with you all of the current state of my all-Dwarf Frostgrave warband.  I am currently missing one Thug; and I'd like to eventually replace the second crossbow figure, who is actually made up of some GW parts, and some from the Frostgrave plastic soldier set. Otherwise, they're all Bones figures.
   I should be back next Monday with a new figure to post.

Front row:  Wizard, Apprentice, Templar, Crossbow, Corssbow.  Back row: Thief, Thief, Thief, Thug. 

A closeup of the Wizard, Apprentice, Templar, and two of the Thieves.

The third Thief, two Crossbows, and a Thug.

Durgam Deepmug, Dwarf Hero: Bones 3 Figure, Converted to Frostgrave Thug

    This past week, I painted the Durgam Deepmug figure from the Bones 3 Dwarves set.  A while back I had converted three of the figures from this set to fill out an all-Dwarf warband I was making for Frostgrave.  This is the third and final of the three conversions I had to complete.  The other two, can be seen here: Hagar, Dwarven Hero, and here: Durok, Dwarf Ranger.

     Durgam Deepmug is the figure on the far right of the above and below photos.  He was a simple conversion; I merely removed the front of the weapon in his left hand, and hallowed out his fist a little to make it look like it was simply clenched.  I actually left the back handle end of the weapon, shortening it a little; figuring I would paint it to resemble a map case or such hanging from his belt.

      I had prepped this figure in the usual way back before I did the conversions; 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 now glued the figure to a black-primed 1" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and then placed the figure in my painting grip.

      I began by painting all the armor Black.  Then, when the Black was dry, I drybrushed the armor with  Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey", and then passed over it with a lighter drybrush of Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver".  After that, I painted his face with Americana Shading Flesh.

     Next, I panted his pants with Accent "Forest Green", and his shirt with Accent "Mustard Seed". I then painted his his beard with Folk Art "Teddy Bear Brown", and his belts and straps with Americana "Bittersweet Chocolate".

     While I had the "Bittersweet Chocolate" open, I flipped the figure around and used it to paint his backpack.  I also decided to use it for his boots and gauntlets.  I then continued working on his back, painting his blanket roll with Folk Art "Dapple Grey", his sack with Americana "Sable Brown", the rope with Folk Art "Butter Pecan", and the "map case" (cut down removed weapon handle) with Aleene's "Deep Khaki".

     I then gave his face a wash with some Citadel "Reikland Fleshshade" wash.  When that was dry, I gave his beard, and everything on him that wasn't armor, a wash with Citadel Agrax Earthshade"wash.  When this wash coat was dry, I painted his eyes, and then highlighted his head with the "Shading Flesh" mixed with some Apple barrel "Apple Flesh".  I then highlighted his beard with the "Sable Brown".

    After that, I worked on highlighting his clothing; doing his shirt with Accent "Golden Harvest", and his pants with Crafter's Acrylic "Holiday Green".  I then highlighted his belts, straps, backpack, and gauntlets with Crafter's Edition "Spice Brown"; and painted his sword with Americana "Zinc". 

     Next, I worked on highlighting the stuff on his back; doing his blanket roll with the base "Dapple Grey", his sack with Americana "Khaki Tan", the rope with Americana "Antique White", and the "map case" with a mix of the base "Deep Khaki" and some Aleene's "Dusty Khaki".
     I next worked on the metal parts, painting the sword and touching up the armor with the"Gunmetal Grey".  I also painted his beard ornament with Americana "Bronze".  After that, I went back and gave the runes on his sword a wash with Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.  When that wash was dry, I did highlights on the sword and armor with the "Metallic Silver", and highlights on the beard ornament with some Americana 14K Gold".
     Lastly, I painted the figure's base with Black.
    When the Black was dry, I used some white glue to glue a little black course sand onto the base.  When this was dry I drybrushed the bases with some of the Americana "Neutral Grey", and then some Duncan "Slate Grey", and lastly some Folk Art "Platinum Grey".
      I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave him a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed it with Testor's Dullcote".

   Well, I'm happy with this guy, though in reality he is a bit over-armored for a Thug.  But he'll do just fine.  There just aren't a lot of non-armored Dwarf Warrior figures out there.

Durok, Dwarf Ranger: Bones 3 Figure, Converted to Frostgrave Thief

    This past week I returned to working on my Frostgrave Dwarf conversions, and painted Durok, Dwarf Ranger; who I had earlier converted to a Thief for my warband, by using a dagger and torch from the Frostgrave plastic Soldiers Set.

This week, I am working on the figure on the left.

Here he can be seen with his original weapon removed and a dagger and torch added.

      I forgot to take a starting photo, but you can see what he looked like in the bare Bones, so to speak, on the left in the photo above.  I had of course prepped this figure in the usual way; soaking it in a dish of water with a couple drops of dish-soap added, and giving it a light scrub with a soft toothbrush, and then rinsing and drying it, back before I did the conversion work.   After the conversion work, I glued the figure to a black-primed 1" fender washers with Aleene's Tacky glue.  When dry, I put it in  my painting grip.
     I began by giving the figure a thinned wash of Reaper MSP "Grey Liner".  When the wash was dry, I painted his face with Americana "Shading Flesh". This figure is pretty much decked out in  a lot of armor, but I thought I'd try to paint it so it either looked like cloth or leather armor; to help sell the idea he was a thief.  So, I painted his "tunic" with Americana "Zinc", and then painted his cape, hood, and gloves with Ceramcoat "Black".

     Next, I painted his belt, pouch, shoulder armor, and boots with Reaper MSP  "Coal Black", and his beard and with Reaper MSP "Turkey Brown".  After that, I painted the torch hanlde with Nicole's "BrowN', and his knife blade with the "Zinc"

     I let everything dry a bit, and then I gave his face a wash with some Citadel "Reikland Fleshshade" wash.  When that was dry, I gave his beard a wash with Citadel Agrax Earthshade"wash; and when that dried, I gave his tunic a wash with Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.  After that, I did highlights on his boots, belt, pouch and shoulder armor with Citadel 'The Fang", and I painted the knife blade with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey".

     I then painted his eyes and highlighted his face.  I only applied the highlights to the right side, to help with the OSL (Object Source Lighting) effect.  I then did the highlights on his beard, using the warmer Americana 'Sable Brown on the right of the beard, and the cooler Americana "Mississippi Mud" on the left of the beard; again, to help with the OSL effect.  At this point I realized I better actually get to painting the source of the light, so I began work on the flame.  I started by painting the indented areas of the sculpted flame with Reaper MSP "Golden Glow", then working up to the higher ridges of the sculpted flame, I progressed through Crafter' Acrylic "Pure Pumpkin", Reaper MSP"Holly Berry", and Reaper MSP Bones "Cinnamon Red".

     Next, I finished highlighting the beard, giving some areas closest to the flame highlights with Folk Art "Butter Pecan", and then some of the 'Butter Pecan" with a little of the 'Golden Glow" mixed in.  I then worked on highlighting his tunic with some Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey", and like the beard, I mixed a little of the "Golden Glow" in to do those areas where it looked like the flame would be most directly shining.  After that, I worked on highlighting his cape, hood, and gloves with Americana "Neutral Grey", and then, once again, I mixed a little of the "Golden Glow" in with the "Neutral Grey", and highlighted the areas closes to the torch.     At this point I highlighted his dagger with some Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver", and then hit the very edge of the blade near the tip with some of the "Golden Glow" to (hopefully) make it look like the light was glinting off the edge.
     Lastly, I painted the figure's base with Black.
    When the Black was dry, I used some white glue to glue a little black course sand onto the base.  When this was dry I drybrushed the bases with some of the Americana "Neutral Grey", and then some Duncan "Slate Grey", and lastly some Folk Art "Platinum Grey".
      I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave him a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed it with Testor's Dullcote".

     I'm really pleased with how this guy turned out.  I think the conversion worked really well, and it's interesting to see how the brave Ranger changed into the sneaky Thief.  I'm not happy with the OSL, but that takes work to perfect.  I think it works on the beard and his left knee, but the hood and his left shoulder aren't quite right.

Hagar, Dwarven Hero: Bones 3 Figure, with Crossbow Conversion

    This past week I got back to working on my all-Dwarf warband for Frostgrave, and painted Hagar, Dwarven Hero, from the Bones 3 Dwarves Set.  I had converted this figure a while back, as part of a trio of Bones 3 Dwarves I converted for an all-Dwarf warband for Frostgrave, by replacing one of his axes with a crossbow and adding a quiver of bolts, both from the Frostgrave Soldiers plastic figure set from Northstar.

Working on the figure in the center this week.

Figure in the center with axe removed, and crossbow and quiver of bolts added.

       I had originally planned to start working on this figure a while ago, and had glued it to a craft stick, but then it got back-burned for other projects.  When I decided to get back to it last week, I popped it off the stick and put it in my painting grip.

     I began by painting all the armor Black.  Then, when the Black was dry, I drybrushed the armor with  Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey", and then passed over it with a lighter drybrush of Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver".  After that, I painted his face with Americana Shading Flesh.

     Next, I painted his beard with Reaper MSP "Turkey Brown", and then did his belts, straps, shoes, and quiver with Americana "Raw Umber". I also painted the pouch on his back with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige", and his pants with Apple Barrel "Apple Maple Syrup".

    I then painted his crossbow and axe handle, with Crafter's Acrylic "Cinnamon Brown", and then painted the crossbow rope with Americana "Antique White".  After that, I painted the quarrel fletchings with Americana "Dove Grey", and the fang(?) on the quiver with Americana "Bleached Sand".  When all that was dry, I gave all the non metallic parts, except for his face, a wash with Citadel "Agrax Earthsahde" wash. I then went back and applied some Citadel "Reikland Fleshshade" wash to his face.

     When the washes were dry, I highlighted his face with some Crafter's Acrylic "Flesh" mixed with a little of the Shading Flesh".   I then highlighted his beard with Americana "Sable Brown", and then a little Americana "Khaki Tan".  Next, I painted the beads in his beard, using a base of Apple Barrel "Yellow", and then highlighting up using, first, Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow", and then Apple Barrel "Lemon Chiffon".  I first only highlighted alternating beads, as I planned to paint the other ones with gold, but as I looked at the highlighted beads I realized I had achieved something of an unintentional Non-Metallic Metal  (NMM) effect unintentionally, so I just went back and highlighted the rest of the beads.

     Next, I highlighted his belts, straps, and quiver with Americana "Terra Cotta", and then highlighted the pouch on his back with the "Khaki Tan".  I then highlighted the wood parts of the crossbow, the axe handle, and his shoes with Americana "Mississippi Mud", and the rope on the crossbow with the "Bleached Sand".   after that, I highlighted the fletchings with White, and the fang(?) with Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White".
    I then turned to the non-armor metal parts; and painted his beer mug with Accent "Princely Pewter", and the axe head and crossbow fittings with Ceramcoat "Metallic Pewter".   I then went back and highlighted these parts, as well as some of the armor with the "Metallic Silver".
 Lastly, I painted the figure's base with Black.
    When the Black was dry, I used some white glue to glue a little black course sand onto the base.  When this was dry I drybrushed the bases with some of the Americana "Neutral Grey", and then some of the "Dove Grey".
      I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave him a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed it with Testor's Dullcote".

   I like how this Dwarf turned out; though in the end, I find the sculpt's turned head a little awkward looking.  The beard in my opinion is not arranged in  a position to match the angle of the head, and the face ends up having a somewhat squished appearance.  But, in the end, none of that will affect his performance in a Frostgrave warband!  :)

Imrijka, Iconic Inquisitor : Bones II Figure

     This past week I painted up the Imrijka, Iconic Inquisitor, figure from the Bones II Pathfinder Heroes set.   I believe this figure is supposed to represent a half-orc character, but I chose to paint it up as a half-elf female instead.  So, the first thing I did was very carefully try to slice off the fangs. What I couldn't get off with a hobby knife due to the cramped area under her hat, I hoped to disguise with paint.
     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.  

       There was something about her outfit that read Old West Cowboy to me; so I decided I would go with that kind of earth-tone palette for this figure.
       I began painting by doing all the figure's armor with Black; then when the Black was dry, I drybrushed the armor with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey".  I then passed over the armor with a lighter drybrush of Folk Art "Silver Sterling".

      Next, I painted her skin with Americana "Shading Flesh", and then painted her pants with Reaper MSP "Turkey Brown".  I then painted her bodice top with Americana "Bleached Sand", and then painted her loin cloth with Folk Art "Poppy Seed".  My next step was to paint her coat with Folk Art "Teddy Bear Brown".

     I then painted her boot, pouch, and some of her belts with Americana "Asphaltum", and then I painted the tassel hanging along her left leg with Crafter's Acrylic "Navy Blue".   Next, I painted her hair with Accent "Mustard Seed", and then did her hat with Americana "Mississippi Mud". After that I worked on her weaponry: painting her bow with Crafter's Acrylic "Cinnamon Brown", her sword's sheath with Accent "Real Umber",  her quiver with  "Sable Brown", and lastly, the top and bottom trim on her quiver and the the grip on her sword with Americana "Bittersweet Chocolate".  I then painted all reamining belts, straps, and cords with Americana "Terra Cotta". 

   Next, I painted the metal parts of the weapons with Americana "Zinc".  I also used this color to paint the arrow fletchings. The round clasp on her should, which I planned to make gold metal, I painted with the "Mustard Seed".  I then went back and repainted all the weapon parts I had painted with the "Zinc", (except the fletchings) this time using Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey".  I also used this color to paint any buckles I could see.  I then I repainted the shoulder clasp, this time using Ceramcoat "Bronze".    Then, after everything had a while to dry, I gave the entire figure a wash using Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash using a wet brush.

      I then painted her eyes and lips; and then highlighted all her skin with a mix of the "Shading Flesh" and some Crafter's Acrylic "Flesh".  After that, I highlighted her hair (and added eyebrows) with, first, Ceramcoat Maple Sugar Tan", and then, Apple Barrel "Lemon Chiffon".   I then highlighted her top with Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White".

     Next, I drybrushed her hat with Americana "Khaki Tan", and then did highlghts on her jacket with Americana "Sable Brown".  After that, I highlighted her loin cloth with a mix of the base "poppy Seed" and Folk Art "Gray Green", and then I highlighted her pants with a mix of the original "Turkey Brown" and some of the "Khaki Tan".  I then did her boot highlights with Americana "Mississippi Mud", and highlighted the tassleon her left leg with Ceramcoat "Denim Blue.  I then added yellow stripes to it with Reaper MSP "Golden Glow". 

     I now worked on her belts and pouch, as well as her bow, highlighting them with Nicole's "Brown". After that, I highlighted all the leather straps and the wrist guards with Reaper MSP Pumpkin Orange". Next, I worked on the metallics. I first worked on the parts I had painted with the "Gunmetal Grey", highlighting them with Folk Art "Silver Sterling".  I then did the clasp I had painted "Bronze", highlighting it with Ceramcoat 14K Gold.

     Lastly, I painted the base with White, and then glued some dried clear crackle paint "ice" to it. 

     When everything had overnight to dry, I gave the figure a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish" early the next morning.  That afternoon I "snowed" the base with a mix of Citadel "Vahallan Blizzard" textured paint, and regular White paint.   The next day I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote. After the Dullcote was dry, I hit the ice with a little Americana "DuraClear Gloss" varnish.

     I'm really happy with this figure.  I think the "Western" look came across well; and I'm particularly pleased with how her face turned out.  I have to say with me faces are a good deal of luck rather than skill.  I'm not good at painting those tiny details, but sometimes, like with this figure, my squinting stabs with paint turn out to be in just the right places. :)

Garrick the Bold, aka Sir Justin Forscale: A Frostgrave Conversion

     As those of you who have taken part in any of the Reaper Bones Kickstarters know, their favorite figure to use in photos to show the approximate scale of large figures compared to a normal human, is their Garrick the Bold figure.  Since the figure is always shown to compare sizes, but isn't included with what was being offered in the photo, the figure is always listed as "just in the photo for scale", and so his new name came about: Sir Justin Forscale.
    Because the figure had never actually been part of a Kickstarter, I never had had one to paint; until this past Christmas when I asked Mrs Claus to get me one, since coincidently I needed a knight figure for a new Frostgrave warband I was assembling.
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.   Then, since I planned to use the figure for Frostgrave, I wanted to make him look a little more dressed for winter.  So, I dug through my bits box and found an old Chaos warrior cape.  With a little trimming on Garrick's shoulder armor, I was able to make the cape fit nicely.  I then sprayed the cape with flat white spray paint, and super glued it onto the figure's shoulders.  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 decided I wanted to decorate his base a little before I started painting, so I glued on a bit of cork with the Tacky glue.  Then I began painting by doing all the figure's armor with Black; then when the Black was dry, I drybrushed the armor with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey".  I then passed over the armor with a lighter drybrush of Folk Art "Silver Sterling".

   I then painted his tabard with Americana "Wedgewood Blue", and his cape and shield with Americana "True Blue".  After that,  I painted the lining of his cape with Apple Barrel "Burnt Sienna", and then did the borders of his tabard, shield, and cape with Reaper MSP "Pumpkin Orange".

       Next,  I gave the lining of his cape a wash with Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash using a wet brush.  I then painted the decorations on his shield, tabard, and cape with Reaper MSP "Golden Glow". I also used this color to do some freehand runic words on his shield.  I then painted his sword with Americana "Zinc", his belt with Crafter's Acrylic "Cinnamon Brown", and the cork rock on his base with Black.

     I started the highlighting at this point by drybrushing his cape lining with American "Shading Flesh".  Next, I did the highlights on his tabard with Reaper MSP Bones "Tropical Blue", and the highlights on his cape with a mix of Crafter's Acrylic "Tropical Blue", and the base "True Blue".   I highlighted the decorations I had done earlier with the "Golden Glow", using Apple Barrel "Lemon Chiffon".  Then I highlighted all the edging with a mix of the base "Pumpkin Orange", and some of the "Golden Glow".
    I then painted the sword with the "Gunmetal Grey", and then did highlights on the sword with the "Silver Sterling".  While I had the "Silver Sterling" out, I touched up the highlighting on his armor. Next, I painted his belt buckle, the cape clips, and the disc on his sword with Ceramcoat "Bronze".  I then went back and highlighted these with Ceramcoat "14K Gold".
     Lastly, I drybrushed the cork, with first Folk Art "Medium Grey", followed by Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey", and lastly Americana "Dove Grey".  I finished by painting the rest of base White.
     When everything had overnight to dry, I gave the figure a coat of Ceramcoat "Matte Varnish" early the next morning.  That afternoon I "snowed" the base with a mix of Citadel "Vahallan Blizzard" textured paint, and regular White paint.   The next day I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote.

     I am very happy with how this knight turned out.  I really enjoyed painting him as he was a nice simple old-school style figure without a lot of extra bits and bobs sculpted all over him.

Kyra, Iconic Cleric: Figure 247 of 266

     This week I also painted Kyra, Iconic Cleric, from the Iconics II Pathfinder Miniatures set.  The painting of her completes that set.  It now joins the list of completed sets over on the right.
      She looked to me to be suitably clothed for adventures in a cold environment, so since I am short on Templar type figures for Frostgrave, I decided to paint her as such a figure for my Frostgrave collection.   She would have also made a good Thaumaturge wizard or apprentice; but since I already had a set of those in my collection, I chose to stick with the Templar plan.
     Unfortunately, this is one of the figures from the Bones I Kickstarter that ended up with nose issues. For gaming purposes this doesn't bother me too much, and I crossed my fingers and hoped a nice heavily highlighted nose paint job would hide the fact that she barely had one.
     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 giving the figure a wash with Reaper "Brown Liner" using a wet brush.  This was to help bring out the details so I could see them better.   When that was dry, I painted all the chainmail Black.   When that was dry, I drybrushed the chainmail with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey".  Next, I painted her face and hands with Accent "Mustard Seed".  Then I painted her long sleeves with Aleene's "Deep Khaki", and the one odd short sleeve on her right arm with  Americana "Terra Cotta".

     Next, I painted her robes, pants, and turban with Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White".   I then painted her short sleeves, sash, and head scarf with Crafter's Acrylic "Christmas Red" and her scabbard with Apple Barrel "Apple Maroon".   After that, I painted her shoes, pouches, and belt with Apple Barrel "Burnt Sienna".  I then painted everything I planned to paint gold with a base coat of Accent "Golden Harvest".

     When the "Golden Harvest" was dry, I painted over it with Ceramcoat "Bronze".  I also painted the sword blade with the "Gunmetal Grey".  I let those dry for a while, and then gave the entire figure a wash with Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash using a wet brush.

     When the wash was dry, I painted her eyes, and then highlighted her skin with a mix of the "Mustard Seed", and Crafter's Acrylic "Flesh". I then highlighted her short sleeves, sash, and head scarf with Americana "Cadmium Red".

     Next, I highlighted her robes, pants, and turban with White. I then highlighted the scabbard with Ceramcoat "Bright Red", and her shoes, belt and pouches with some of the "Burnt Sienna" mixed with some White.   After that I highlighted all the parts I had painted with the "Bronze" using Ceramcoat "14K Gold".  I then highlighted her sword blade, and the chainmail with some Folk Art "Silver Sterling".  Lastly, I painted the figure's integral base with 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 the next day I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote.

     I like how she turned out.   You can still tell the nose isn't quite right, but I think the rest of her makes up for it.  And on the tabletop, who will notice?

Figure 247 of 266: Complete