Zombie Giant: Bones 5 Figure (Part 2, Completion)

     This past week I finished painting the "Zombie Giant" from the Bones 5 Core Set.  To check out part one of this painting article, see: Zombie Giant: Part 1 .

    When we ended last week's post, I had just applied the shading wash coat to the giant, and had begun to do the details on the face.

         First, I highlighted al his akin with the base "Jade Green", and then mixed in some Ceramcoat "White" for lighter highlights.  Next, I worked on the club, drybrushing it with the base "Barn Wood", and then some of the "Graveyard Bone".  After that, I highlighted the exposed bones with Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White", and then highlighted the wounds with  mix of the base "Urgathea Red" and then mixed in some Folk Art "Milkshake".

     Next, I highlighted the wood splints  and the wagon wheel using the base "Mississippi Mud", and then added in some Americana "Fawn".   I then highlighted the loin fur with Americana "Sable Brown", and the  lighter Americana "Khaki Tan".  After that, I worked on the metal bands on the leg and club as well as the chain around his neck; dabbing them with, first, Americana "Light Cinnamon", then some Accent "Golden Oxide", and lastly, Americana "Tangerine".  I finished them  by giving them a drybrush of Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey".  I worked on the hair next, highlighting with the base "Charcoal", mixed with some Americana "Neutral Grey".  I highlighted the big bead in his hair with Folk Art Pearl "Aqua Moire", then the smaller beads with the "Gunmetal Grey" and some Folk Art Metallics "Pure Gold".

     I then highlighted the bandages with Folk Art "Porcelain White".  I had noticed some ares of bumpy pimply looking skin, and had wanted to do something moldy looking to them, and finally decided to give them some dabs with Citadel Contrast "Militarium Green".   Likewise, I decided the scar down his back looked too plain, so I went down the seam with Citadel Contrast "Fireslayer Flesh" to make it look a little seeping.  

     I the worked on the vultures, first painting them Ceramcoat "Black".  When dry, I drybrushed them with the "Sable Brown".  I then painted their heads and legs with Americana "Burgundy Wine", and when dry, drybrushed them with Reaper MSP "Brains Pink".  After that, I painted their beaks and feet with Americana "Moon Yellow", and when dry gave them a wash with the "Nuln Oil".  I wrapped things up by adding Back dots for eyes.  Lastly, I painted the bases with the "Mississippi Mud".

     I let the Giant 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 flock the bases.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote".   When the Dullcote was dry, I went back and gave his eye, wounds, and mouth, a coat of Americana "DuraClear Gloss" varnish.  

    I'm really thrilled with how this figure turned out. It really is a dynamic and excellent sculpt with lots of fun details.

Zombie Giant: Bones 5 Figure (Part 1)

      This past week I started painting the "Zombie Giant" from the Bones 5 Core Set.  I thought it might be fun to start tackling some of the Kickstarter's bigger figures. 

      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 trimmed the figure's integral base a little, and glued the figure to a 2" black-primed metal washer with some Aleene's Tacky glue.  I then glued the figure to a pill bottle with a couple drops of white glue.       

     To begin, I painted all the skin with Americana "Jade Green".  I then painted the open wounds with Pathfinder MSP "Urgathea Red".  I then mixed a little of the "Urgathea Red" with some of the "Jade Green" and splotched the skin around the open woulds to give it a stained, rotting, look.  After that, I painted the club with Folk Art "Barn Wood".

     Next, I painted his loin fur with Americana "Charcoal Grey".  I then painted the bandages with Reaper MSP "Alien Flesh", and then the wagon wheel and splints with Americana "Mississippi Mud".  After that, I painted the necklace chain, and metal straps on the right leg, with Americana "Asphaltum".  

     I then painted the rope with Reaper MSP "Ginger Cookie", and the inside of his mouth with Reaper MSP "Drow Nipple Pink". After that, I painted the exposed bones with Reaper MSP "Graveyard Bone", and the hair bead on his left with Ceramcoat "Denim Blue".  I painted the other beads with Reaper MSP "Fresh Blood", Ceramcoat Charcoal", and Accent "Mustard Seed"

     I then used the "Charcoal" to paint his hair, and I having noticed the metal band around the club I went back and painted that with the "Charcoal Grey".  I also painted the teeth with Accent "Golden Harvest".   then let the figure dry for a while.  When dry, I gave the entire thing a coat of Citadel "Agrax Earthshade".  While I was doing that, I noticed I missed his toe and finger nails, so when the wash was dry, I went back and painted those with Vallejo "Brown Violet".  When the nails were dry, I went back and gave them, and the inside of the mouth, a coat of  Citadel "Null Oil" wash. After that, I highlighted the teeth with Americana "Moon Yellow", and then pained the eyeball with Apple Barrel "Apple Barrel" "Apple Parchment".  I then painted the iris/pupil with Americana "Zinc".  When dry, I went back and went over the iris/pupil with a wash of the "Apple Parchment" to try to give it a milky appearance.

    That is all I got done for now.  Be sure to tune in next week for the highlighting and completion of this figure!  Part 2 can now be seen here: Zombie Giant Part 2

Giant Frogs: Bones 4 Dreadmere Figures

    This past week I painted two of the "Giant Frog" pairs that came in the Bones 4 Dreadmere Expansion.  The Expansion comes with one of each pose, but I picked up a second pair of these so had 4 to paint. 

     The first thing I did was Google "colorful frog" to see if there were any unusual frogs found in nature I could copy.  I didn't want to necessarily go the Poison Dart Frog route, even though they tend to be very colorful, as I felt these models looked to beefy and Bullfrog like, rather than the more slender nature of the Poison Dart variety. 

     What I found that I liked were blue frogs.  These are normal green frogs, that are missing some yellow pigmentation due to a mutation, causing their skin to appear blue.  I thought this would be a fun and easy to paint.  

        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 all to 1.25" fender washers using Aleene's Tack y Glue.  When the glue was dry, I glued each like set of two to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of Elmers glue.

     I thought I'd do these guys with Citadel Contrast paint to help keep things simple, and it seemed like an easy way to blend the colors from the blue to green to the white under belly.   So, I began by giving all of them a complete coat of Ceramcoat "White".  When that was dry, I gave their lower halves a coat of Citadel Contrast "Apothecary White".  When dry, I drybrushed the lower halves with Americana "Snow White". 

     Next, I painted their mouths and tongues with thinned Citadel Contrast "Blood Angels Red".  When it was dry, I drybrushed it with Apple Barrel "Apple Lt. Pink".  I then cleaned up their faces and chins where any of the Contrast paint, or pink drybrush had strayed using the "White".   I then painted their legs with Citadel Contrast "Creed Camo", and while it was still wet, I painted their backs with Citadel Contrast Talassar Blue".

          I drybrushed their backs a little with a mix of some Crafter's Acrylic "Tropical Blue" and the "Snow White".  I then painted their eyes with a mix of Americana "Antique Gold" and Folk Art Color Shift "Green Flash".  When dry, I painted an outer pupil with Apple Barrel "Lemon Chiffon", and the inner pupil with Ceramcoat "Black.  Lastly, I painted the bases with the "Mississippi Mud".

     I let the frogs dry overnight and the next day I gave them a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.    Then, when  the varnish was dry, I  gave them a coat of Americana "DuraClear Gloss" varnish.   When dry, I went back and gave their eyes and tongues a second coat of the Gloss.   Finally, I used some white glue to flock the bases.  

    For just some fast and simple monsters, I think they look okay; and using the Contrast paint helped get them done quickly and with a reasonable appearance of shading .  

Gulper (Giant Catfish): Bones 4 Dreadmere Figure

      This past week I painted the "Gulper" giant catfish figure from the Bones 4 Dreadmere Expansion set.  The figure is designed with a flat spot on its underside so you can glue it directly on a base if you want, but I decided I wanted mine to be swimming, so I grabbed a reaper flight stand I had and drilled a matching hole into the Gulper's belly. 

      I then prepped the figure in the usual way, soaking it in a dish of water with a couple drops of dish-soap added, and then gave it a light scrub with a soft toothbrush, and then rinsed and dried it.   Next, I stuck it onto the flight stand's peg, and put the peg in a pair of alligator clips for ease of holding.

When painting animals, I always like to look for real world inspiration, so I Googled images of "colorful catfish", and came upon the Redtail Catfish.  I thought it would be a fun pattern to paint, so I looked through a bunch of photos to get a sense for the coloration on this type of catfish.

     Because the figure has a bit of weight to it, I glued the base of the flight stand to a 2" fender washer with some Aleene's Tacky glue.  When the glue was dry, I sprayed it brown.   

     To begin with, I painted the figure with Americana "Dove Grey".  I then painted on the darker pattern with a mix of Americana "Charcoal" and Aleene's "Deep Khaki".

     Next, I drybrushed the light areas with some Americana "Snow White", and then highlighted the darker parts with a mix of the "Charcoal Grey" with the lighter Aleene's "Dusty Khaki"  After that, I painted the dot pattern on his head with Ceramcoat "Black", mixed with a little of the "Charcoal Grey", and then painted the tail with Reaper MSP "Holly Berry".   After that, I painted the inside of the mouth with Folk Art "Milkshake", and then painted the eyes with the "Snow White" and added inner circles with the "Black"

     When the mouth was dry, I gave it a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.  I then drybrushed the tail with some Crafter's Acrylic "Pure Pumpkin", and then used the "Pure Pumpkin" to paint the edges of the top and underside fins.   Next, I highlighted the fin edges, and parts of the tail with some Americana "Tangerine", followed by some spot highlights with Crafter's Acrylic "Bright Yellow". 

      I then painted the eels affixed to the Gulper's sides with Apple Barrel "Apple Black Green".  By this time the "Nuln Oil" wash was dry, so I highlighted the mouth with the base "Milkshake", and then a little of the "Milkshake with some Ceramcoat "White" added.   I then painted the teeth with Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White", and highlighted them with the "Snow White".    At this point I went back and painted the eels with the "Deep Khaki", leaving a thin edge of the "Apple Black Green" to serve as a shadow, and then highlighted with the "Dusty Khaki".  Lastly, I aded some tiny "Black" dot eyes. 

      I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave it a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  I didn't shake the varnish a lot in hopes of getting more of a semi-gloss shine than a matte finish. I wasn't going to use my regular Dull Cote final spray on this, as I thought a slightly shiny fish would be better than a matte one.   I then used some white glue to glue some course sand all over the base.  When the sand was dry,  I made a water and white glue mix and painted that over the sand to help it stay in place; since I wasn't going to paint it or spray it.  Lastly, I added some tiny shells and plants.  

     I'm happy with how this turned out.   Doing creatures with irregular color patterns like this never look just right while I'm doing them, especially if in nature the dividing line is not sharp but made up of individual hairs or fur; but I think this doesn't look too bad when viewed at table distance or in photos.

Stone Giant Champion: Bones 4 Lost Valley Figure

 This past week I painted the Stone Giant Champion from the Bones 4 Lost Valley Expansion.  Readers may remember that I had painted the Stone Giant Guard back in September, and for this one I figured for the most part I'd just copy how I had done that one.

I had forgotten to take a picture of the figure before I started, so here's a shot of the model from one of the Kickstarter updates.

     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, after trimming the figure's integral base a little, I glued the figure to a black-primed 2" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and then used some Elmer's glue to glue it to the top of a pill bottle. I used some green stuff epoxy putty to help blend the trimmed integral base to the washer.
     Then, shortly after beginning, I realized that the buttons on her dress looked faceted, like they were meant to be gemstones; so I decided rather than try and paint them as such, I was going to try and replace them with actual craft gems.  So they got sliced off with a hobby knife.

     The first painting I did was to paint his skin, using an equal mix of part Crafters Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey" and Folk Art "Milkshake".  I then painted her dress with Citadel "The Fang", and then did the handle of her rock-pick looking weapon with Americana "Light Cinnamon".

          Next, I painted her shoes, belts and straps with Americana "Charcoal Grey", and then I painted the strings holding the object to her right calf, and holding the skull on her left hip, using Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige".  I then painted the two bands on her upper arms and her necklace with Accent "Golden Harvest", and the two wrist bands with Accent "Mustard Seed". After that, I painted he two rune stones hanging from her belts with Americana "Burgundy Wine", painted the basket at her hip with Reaper MSP "Golden Brown", and painted the skull with Folk Art "Butter Pecan". I moved on to painting the sheath of the dagger on her right thigh with Americana "Asphaltum", and the grip with the "Mustard Seed"; followed with painting the icon(?) on her calf with Reaper MSP HD "Rich Indigo".

     I then painted all the metal bits with Americana "Zinc", and I painted the inside of the mouth with Americana "Shading Flesh".  I felt at first glance it looked like her tongue was extended, so I painted it that way with the "Shading Flesh".  I put the figure aside to dry for a while, then when I came back I gave the entire thing a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash. 

       When the wash was dry, I painted the eyes, and then highlighted the skin with some of the base "Milkshake" mixed with the "Storm Cloud Grey", and added a bit of the lighter Americana "Dove Grey" for the lighter highlights.

     Next, I highlighted her dress, using the base "The Fang" mixed with Folk Art "Cloudy Day". After that, I highlighted all her belts and straps using the base "Charcoal Grey" mixed with some Americana "Mississippi Mud", and I highlighted the basket at her hip using Ceramcoat "Maple Sugar Tan".

     I then highlighted the skull, first with Americana "Antique White", and then Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White".   Next, I highlighted the icon strapped to her calf using a bit of the "Rich Indigo" mixed with some Americana "Snow White".  I did the dagger then, highlighting the sheath with the "Territorial Beige", and the grip with some of the "Maple Sugar Tan" mixed with the base "Mustard Seed".  I also used this mix to highlight the wrist bands.  After that, I worked on the icons hanging from her belts, highlighting them with the base "Burgundy Wine" mixed with some of the "Snow White".   I then highlighted the handle of her rock-pick using Americana "Sable Brown"
      Now it was time for the metallics.  I painted the arm bands and necklace with Folk Art "Brushed Metal "Brushed Bronze", and when dry, I went over them doing highlights with Ceramcoat "Wedding Gold".  I then painted the head of the rock-pick, the buckles and all the various studs, with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey", and when dry, highlighted everything with Citadel "Mithril Silver". Lastly, I painted the base with Americana "Mississippi Mud".
      I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave it a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.    Then, when  the varnish was dry, I used some white glue to flock the base.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed it with Testor's "Dullcote".  When the "Dullcote" was dry, I used Gorilla Supeglue to affix a trio of tiny nail gems to the studs on her dress.

     In general I'm pretty happy with her.  I don't like the way her eyes came out, but you get to a point after messing around with them for an extended period of time that you just have to concede defeat and move on.  :P

Stone Giant Guard: Bones 4 Lost Valley Figure

     This past week I painted the Stone Giant Guard from the Bones 4 Lost Valley Expansion.  I had painted a Stone Giant before when I did the one that came with Bones 2 Expansion Set 1, and since I liked how that one had turned out,  I figured I'd just copy how I had done that one to some extent.
       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, after trimming the figure's integral base a little, I glued the figure to a black-primed 2" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and then used some blue-tac to stick it to the top of a pill bottle.

      I began by painting his skin, mixing equal part Crafters Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey" and Folk Art "Milkshake".  I then painted his fur loin cloth with Americana "Charcoal Grey" and his apron with Apple Barrel "Burnt Sienna"  I then painted his club with Americana "Light Cinnamon".

     Next, I painted his belts and straps with Citadel "Snakebite Leather", and the wraps around his club with Accent "Real Umber".   After that, I painted the buckles, chisels, and other metal bits with Americana "Zinc", and I painted the cord around his neck with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige".

     I then painted the rectangles on his apron with Americana "Charcoal", and the ones hanging at his belt with Citadel "The Fang".  I also used "The Fang" to paint the knobs on the club, and I painted the crystals on his necklace with Americana "Margarita". After that, I worked on the rock he was holding, as well as the rocks on the base, painting them with Americana "Neutral Grey" and then splotching it with some Folk Art "Dapple Grey", and some of the "Charcoal".  I let everything dry for a while and then gave the entire figure a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.

     When the wash was dry, I painted the eyes, and then highlighted the skin with some of the "Milkshake" mixed with the lighter Duncan "Slate Grey". I then highlighted the apron with some Americana "Shading Flesh", and the rectangles at the bottom of the apron with the "Zinc", and those at the top of the apron with Ceramcoat "Denim", and a little Folk Art "Cloudy Day".

     Next, I highlighted his belts and straps with Ceramcoat "Maple Sugar Tan", and the wraps on the club with Nicole's Brown.  I then highlighted the club with Americana "Sable Brown", and the stones in the club with Folk Art "Cloudy Day".  After that,  I drybrushed the throwing rock and the stones in the ground, with some Americana "Dove Grey".  I then painted the hammer head, buckles, and studs in the apron with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey", and lastly, I painted the base around the rocks with "Americana "Mississippi Mud".
      I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave it a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.    Then, when  the varnish was dry, I used some white glue to flock the base around the stones.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed it with Testor's "Dullcote".   When the "Dullcote" was dry, I went back and painted the crytal necklace with Tamiya "Clear Green".

     I'm really pleased with how this big guy turned out.  I'm looking forward to tackling the Stone Giant Champion now.

A quick added photo to show the new Stone Giant's size in relation to the old Bones 2 Stone Giant and Sir Forscale.

Fungal Queen: Bones 4 Darkreach Figure

     This past week I painted the Fungal Queen figure from the Bones 4 Darkreach Expansion set.   I'm considering an "Island of the Living Mushrooms" scenario for our Ghost Archipelago campaign, and wanted to start working on the Mushroom folk from the Darkreach set.  I didn't want to jump right in with the big Queen figure until I worked out exactly how I wanted to paint these; so last week I painted the Fungal Handmaiden as a trial for some ideas I had, and I  was happy enough with the results to start work on the Queen.
      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 1.5" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and then placed the figure in my painting grip.   I didn't glue the mushroom cap on at this point, because it really would have blocked access to her head, and conversely the underside of the cap.

     I began by painting the entire figure with Americana "Snow White".

     When the "Snow White" was dry, I gave her "dress" a wash with very thinned Crafter's Acrylic "Purple Passion".  When the wash was dry, I touched up areas where is had spread onto the "Snow White", and then gave her skin a wash with Citadel "Reikland Fleshshade" wash.    I decided the train of her dress looked to bland, so went over alternating bands with Iron Wind Metals "Purple" Ink.

     Next, I realized she had glove-like tendrils on her hands, so I painted those with thinned "Purple Passion", and gave them a light coat of thinned "Purple" Ink to help define them.   I then touched hup her hair with the "Snow White", and when dry, went over it with some thinned Americana "Neutral Grey".  After that, I highlighted her clothing with a little Apple Barrel "Apple Lavender", and some of the "Apple Lavender" mixed with some of the "Snow White". I then painted the stalagmites at her feet with Americana "Mississippi Mud". 

     I also at this time painted the underside of the mushroom cap with the "Snow White", and when dry, went over it with the thinned "Neutral Grey".

     I painted her face like I had done the Fungal Handmaiden, and then highlighted her skin with a mix of Crafter's Acrylic "Light Antique White" and a little of the "Reikland Fleshshade"  I then did lighter highlights with the base "Snow White".  I also highlighted her hair, and the undrside of the cap with the base "Snow White".

     I went over the Stalagmites with Citadel "Agrax Earthsahde" and when dry, drybrushed them with Folk Art "Butter Pecan, and then the lighter Americana "Bleached Sand".  I also decided to add more bling to her train, and went over the bands I had used the Purple" ink on using Folk Art "Color Shift "Purple Flash".   I then painted the washer base with a mix of the "Mississippi Mud" and the "Neutral Grey"
      At this point I drybryshed the underside of the cap with the base "Snow White", and then glued the cap on the Queen's head using Gorilla Superglue Gel".   After the Glue set for a while, I painted the entire top of it with the "Apple Lavender".  When the "Apple Lavender" was dry, I then drybrushed it with the darker Crafter's Acrylic "African Violet", trying just to hit the little raised geometric areas.  When done, I then worked with a small brush at cleaning up where the "African Violet" drybrushing had gotten on the narrow "Apple Lavender" channels, and then filling in by hand those geometric areas of the "African Violet" that hadn't been fully hit with the drybrushing of the color.
     I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave her a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed her with Testor's "Dullcote".

     For the most part I'm really happy with how she turned out.  I wish I had spent a little more time with the tendrils on her hands, and in getting the highlights on the underside of the cap up to a brighter true white. But for my gaming purposes I am content.  Now on to some more of the mushroom court!