Floating Disc Spell Effect: Bones 5 Figure

      Well, last week I lost track of what week it was and posted a figure thinking it was the third Monday of the month, when in fact it was only the second Monday.  So I thought I'd do up a quick figure this week to get us back on the proper schedule.  At this point, I had painted all the Bones 5 Spell Effects that I got with my Kickstarter except the floating disc from the Core Set Spell Effects set.  So I thought I'd tackle that one for today.

           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 1" grey-primed metal washer with some Aleene's Tacky Glue.  I then glued the Floating Disc into onto a pill bottle with a couple drops of white glue.

 I began by painting the figure completely with Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  When the varnish was dry,  I carefully painted the inscriptions on the disc with thinned Americana "Snow White". Thinned to help it flow into the lines and letters better.  I had some vague idea of trying to make the designs and letters look glowing.

     I then painted the disc with Citadel Contrast "Gryph-Hound Orange", and when dry, I painted the vapors under it with Citadel Contrast "Aethermatic Blue".  I had hoped the areas I had painted white would look brighter somehow, but I hadn't thought it through, and the Contrast paint just pooled in the inscribed recesses of the deigns and letters on the disc and ended up covering up the white and looking just plain orange like the rest of the disc.   So I set out to repaint the designs,   this time with thinned Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow".  When the "Daffodil Yellow" was dry, I went over it with some more of the thinned "Snow White". 

    Next, I painted the stonework base with Americana "Neutral Grey".  When dry, I gave the base a  wash with Citadel Shade "Nuln Oil". I let the "Nuln Oil" dry, and then drybrushed the base with, first, Folk Art "Gray Green" , and then, secondly, some Americana "Dove Grey".      

      The next day I gave all the piece a complete coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish. 

     Well, I can't say I got any glowing effect.  Trying to do light effects on the translucent figures has always been challenging.  Still, it doesn't look bad; it's just a good serviceable figure.

Hand Spell Effects: Bones 5 Figures

     This past couple weeks I painted the 3 translucent Hand Spell Effects from the Spell Effects 2 set in the Bones 5 Kickstarter Core Set. 

       I prepped these figures in the usual way, soaking the pieces 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.  Once dry, I glued the parts together (hand and base) using Gorilla Gel superglue.   I then glued them to 2" primed metal washers, using the superglue again.  I then glued each washer to a pill bottle with a couple drops of Elmer's School Glue.   

     I painted these all basically in the exact same way, so only took photos of the first one.

     I began by painting the entire hand, and the swirl of magic vapor it sits on with Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish to give the paint a better surface to stick too.  When dry, I painted the grasping hand with Citadel Contrast "Iyanden Yellow", the pushing hand with Citadel Contrast "Magos Purple", and the punching hand with Citadel Contrast "Blood Angels Red".  I let these colors dry, and then painted the vapor clouds with Citadel Contrast "Aethermatic Blue".

     When the Contrast paint was dry, I painted the stonework bases with Americana "Neutral Grey".  When dry, I gave the bases a  wash with Citadel Shade "Nuln Oil". I let the "Nuln Oil" dry, and then drybrushed the bases with, first, Folk Art "Gray Green" , and then, secondly, some Americana "Dove Grey".   After the drybrushing, I went back and added a little thinned Citadel Contrast "Militarum Green" to a couple of the stones on each base; followed by doing the same with a little thinned Citadel Contrast "Aggaros Dunes" on a couple other stones, to add some visual interest.

        The next day I gave all three pieces a complete coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish. 

     I think these are really cool figures, but in my opinion Reaper made them twice as big as they should have been.  With their big 2" bases they are simply huge.  I would have preferred 1" bases, with the hands likewise scaled down to about half size.  That being said, these were fun to paint, and I think really look great with just a little effort.  

Ghost of the Dwarf King and Everliving Flames: Bones 5 Encounter Figures

      This past week I painted the "Ghost of the Dwarf King Durman the Mad", and two of the "Everliving Flame" pieces, from the Bones 5 The Dwarf King's Crypt Encounter set.  The set only comes with one of the Everliving Flame terrain pieces, but I ordered two of the Encounters as I wanted pairs of a number of the set's scenery items, as well as a bunch of the Dwarf Zombies that came with it.

     As you can tell from my past entries, I've really had a lot of fun experimenting with all the translucent figures that came in this Kickstarter.  This gave me an excuse to start working on the excellent Dwarf Kings Crypt set.  I was interested to see what I could do with the King's ghost which had been cast in blue.

         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 the Dwarf King and the Flames to 1" primed metal washers, using Aleene's Tacky for the King, and some Gorilla Super Glue Gel glue for the Flames.  I then put the King into my painting grip, and glued the Flames to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of Elmer's School Glue.

          I started with the King, and began by painting the entire figure completely with Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  Then, when the varnish was dry, I painted the figure completely again using thinned Citadel Contrast "Ultramarine Blue" to help provide some shadows in the recesses.

     When the "Ultramarine Blue was dry, I drybrushed the body with, first Citadel Dry "Hellion Green", and then Folk Art "Celadon Green", careful to avoid the weapon and the wisps coming from his left hand.  I then drybrushed the weapon, and the wisps in his left hand, using Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow", and then Apple Barrel "Lemon Chiffon".  After that, I painted his eyes with Tamiya Color "Clear Red".  When dry, I added pupils with Reaper MSP "Holly Berry", and highlight dots with the "Lemon Chiffon".  Lastly, I painted his open mouth with Contrast "Black Templar".

     

     Next, I turned to the Eternal Flames. Like the Dwarf King,  I began by painting both the figures completely with Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.   When dry, I started on the flames, and painted the bottoms with Citadel Contrast "Iyanden Yellow", and then painted the midsections with Citadel Contrast "Gryph-Hound Orange". After that, I painted the tops of the flames with Citadel Contrast "Blood Angels Red", and then a tiny bit of Citadel Contrast "Black Templar" at the very tips.  

      I was really pleased with the flames until I painted the bases with Ceramcoat "Charcoal". Making the bases dark and opaque cut off a lot of the light that had helped brighten the translucent flames. 

     So, I decided I would need to paint the bases of the flames with regular acrylic paint to brighten them, and blend it with the more translucent Contrast paint as it went up.  So, I painted some areas with Reaper MSP "Hearth Glow, and then added some Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow", and a little Apple Barrel "Lemon Chiffon".  I then added some dots of the "Lemon Chiffon" near the top to try and look like floating sparks. I then put a little of the "Black Templar" around the base of the flame to blend the bottom with the base of the braziers. 

     I then worked on highlighting the braziers, drybrushing with, first, Americana "Zinc", then, Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey", and then a bit of Americana "Grey Sky".   After that, I tried to do a bit of an OSL (object source lighting) effect by drybrushing the tops of the braziers, as well as the bottom where the flames leaned over the edge, with Crafter's Acrylic "Pure Pumpkin", Crafter's Acrylic "Bright Yellow", and the "Daffodil Yellow". I lastly used a bit of Reaper MSP "Holly Berry"  

    When everything was dry, I used some white glue to glue some sand onto the base of the Dwarf King.  When this was dry I  painted it with the "Black Templar".  When that was dry,  I drybrushed the edges of the base with some of the Crafter's Acrylic "Tropical Blue", and then I blended in some Crafter's Acrylic "Cool Blue" closer to the figure, to again try a little OSL effect to make it look like the ghost was glowing.

      I let all the figures dry overnight and the next day I gave them a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.     

     I'm generally pleased with these figures.  I think the translucence helps give them a unique look.  The OSL I feel is not my best, but works okay.  I probably should have spent more time with it, but was eager to get these figures finished up.

Invisible Servant and Spiritual Weapon: Bones 5 Figures

    This past week I painted the "Invisible Servant" and "Spiritual Weapon" from the Bones 5 Spell Effects 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 then glued the figures to 1" grey-primed metal washers with some Gorilla Super Glue Gel glue.  I then put the Invisible Servant into my painting grip.

     I began by painting both figures completely with Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  When the varnish was dry, I painted the entire figure with Citadel Contrast "Aethermatic Blue".  When the Contrast paint was dry, I went back and did a second application of the same color just in the eyes, letting it pool a little.

     I then put that aside, and worked on the Sword Spell Effect.

     I began by painting the sword blade with Citadel Contrast "Space Wolves Grey".  I then painted the base of the guard and the pommel with Citadel Contrast "Snakebite Leather", and the grip with Citadel Contrast "Wyldwood".  Next, I worked on the flame, painting the base of the flames with Tamiya Acrylic "Clear Yellow", then add some Tamiya Acrylic "Clear Orange", and then Tamiya Acrylic "Clear Red" on the ends of the flames.  Lastly, I added a bit of Citadel Contrast "Black Templar" to the very tips of the flames.  When everything on the sword was dry, I painted the cloud beneath it with the "Aethermatic Blue".  

       I then painted the bases of both figures with Americana "Neutral Grey".  When dry, I gave both bases a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.  When the wash was dry, I drybrushed the stones with Folk Art "Platinum Grey". 

      I let the figures dry overnight and the next day I gave them a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed the figures with Testor's Dullcote".      

     I'm pleased with how these Spell Effects turned out.  They are really cool pieces, I just wish they were a little smaller. 

Stained Glass Knight: Bones 5 Figure

      This past week I painted a pair of the "Stained Glass Knights" from the Bones 5 Core Set.  The Core came with one of these figures, and I thought it was such a fun figure I ordered an extra Constructs set to get a second one.   

     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 the figures to 1" green-primed metal washers with some Aleene's Tacky glue.  I then glued the figures to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of white glue each.   

          To begin, I gave both figures complete coats of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  When this coat was dry, I picked out some details on the armor and painted them with Citadel Contrast "Snakebite Leather", front and back.  I then painted the rest of the armor with Citadel Contrast "Space Wolves Grey", both front and back.  With the arms behind the shields, I just painted the backs since the fronts were covered by the shields.

     Next, I painted both the sword blades with Citadel Contrast "Basilicanum Grey", both front and back. I then painted the shield on the left knight with Citadel Contrast "Talassar Blue", and Citadel Contrast "Blood Angels Red"; and on the right night with Citadel Contrast "Creed Camo", and Citadel Contrast "Iyanden Yellow".  On the shields, I painted the front, and the parts of the back that were'd covered by the armored arm. After that, I painted the faces with Citadel Contrast "Gulliman Flesh".

     I then painted all the lines between the panes with Ceramcoat "Black".  When dry, I went over them again using Accent "Princely Pewter".   After that, I painted the bases with Americana "Neutral Grey", and when dry, gave them a drybrush with Folk Art "Platinum Grey". 

      I let the figures dry overnight and the next day I gave them a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed the figures with Testor's Dullcote".  

    I'm really pleased with how these turned out, and am impressed with how the Contrast paint works on these translucent/clear minis.  I'm looking forward to experimenting with some of the other translucent figures from Bones 5. 

 

Phase Cat: Bones 4 Darkreach Figure

     This past week I painted the "Phase Cat" translucent figure from the Bones 4 Darkreach Expansion.

      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 brown-primed 1.5" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and then glued the figure to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of Elmer's glue.

     When I set out to paint his figure, my plan was to try and give it a black wash to provide shadows and still retain some of the purple translucency.   So, first thing I did was paint the entire thing with Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish to give the wash something to cling to.  I then got the idea to try my Citadel Contrast paint to see if that would work to give a thicker  covering yet still pool enough into the recesses and recede enough from the high points to give me the effect I was looking for.  The initial coat ended up giving an uneven covering and dried really splotchy, not really flowing well over the matte varnish coat.  I tried applying a second coat which didn't improve things much.  Also, by that time the figure was really dark and virtually opaque over most of its body.  So, at that point I just threw in the towel and painted the whole thing, except the ends of the tentacles (which I had left bare to begin with), using Ceramcoat "Black", abandoning the hope of making the whole thing partially transparent.

     Next, I applied a wash to end of the tentacles using Iron Wind Metals "Purple" Ink.   I then did a drybrushing over the body and tentacle shanks using Crafter's Acrylic "Purple Passion".  I also used the color directly to paint on some highlights more directly on the head, claws, and where the tentacles meet the body. Next, I mixed the "purple Passion" with a lighter purple from a Reaper MSP S"sample" bottle I have, and repeated the process.  Lastly, I hand applied some point highlights using Apple Barrel "Apple Lavender". I also drybrushed a little of this over the end tentacle pads (which were dry by this time). 

        I then painted his eyes with Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow", and gave them "Black" pupils.   After that, I painted his tongue with Crafter's Acrylic "African Violet", then painted his teeth with  Americana "Bleached Sand".  And, lastly, I painted his 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". 

     Well, there it is.   I'm not too thrilled with how it turned out, but in the end the figure just didn't inspire me.

Killer Fungi: Bones 4 Darkreach Figure

     This past week I painted the two translucent "Killer Fungi" from the Bones 4 Darkreach Expansion.     I had been holding these back since I painted the rest of the Darkreach mushrooms, in hopes that I could figure out some way to illuminate them, without having to include a huge base to hide the battery & electronics; but I finally abandoned that plan because I was tired of them sitting in my waiting-to-be-painted shelf.   This also led me to decide to start making a concerted effort to work my way through the remainder of my Darkreach figures since I had painted a lot of them already.

     I began by giving both the mushrooms a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  When dry, I gave the one on the left a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash, and the one on the right a coat of thinned Iron Wind Metals "Dark Blue" ink.    

     When the washes were dry, I drybrushed the one on the left with Reaper MSP Bones "Dungeon Slime".  I then painted the underside of the cap, and the tentacles on the righthand one with Crafter's Acrylic "Purple Passion".  While the tentacles were still wet, I blended Americana "Cranberry Wine" in on the ends of the tentacles

I realized I couldn't really paint the roots of the mushrooms without painting the bases first, so I took the time at this point to paint the bases on both the mushrooms with Americana "Mississippi Mud".   I then painted the bottom of the domed mushroom with Apple Barrel "Apple Lavender", and also used the color to drybrush the top.   While that dried, I used some Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash to apply a coat to the underside and roots of the conical mushroom.   I then went back and used the "Nuln Oil" wash to give a coat to the tentacles, underside, and roots of the domed mushroom.

     When the washes were dry, I drybrushed the conical one with some Americana "Margarita" to help it pop.  I then drybrushed the domed one's tentacles, underside, and roots with some of the base "Apple Lavender"  mixed with some Reaper MSP "Breast Cancer Awareness Pink".   After that, I highlighted the ends of the domed mushroom's tentacles with some Ceramcoat "Opaque Red".
      I let the mushrooms dry overnight and the next day I gave them and their bases a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.

     I'm pretty happy with these two fungi.  I'm glad I went ahead and got them finished up.

Carnivorous Pudding and Acidic Ooze: Bones 4 "Darkreach" Translucent Figures

     This past week I also painted the Carnivorous Pudding and Acidic Ooze translucent figures from the  Bones 4 Darkreach Expansion Set. 
       I prepped the figures 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 superglued the Carnivorous Pudding to an unprimed 1.5"x1.5" steel base, and attached the Acidic Ooze to a 1" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue.
 

     To begin with, I painted the entire Pudding with Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  When it was dry, I then gave the figure a coat with thin Vallejo Game Color "Black" Ink.  When the ink was dry, I drybrushed the figure with, first, Folk Art Color Shift "Black Flash", and then, Folk Art Color Shift "Purple Flash".   

     I was starting to find it awkward to paint the pudding just holding it in my hand, so at this point I glued it to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of Elmer's glue.   When dry,  I painted the skeleton parts with Ceramcoat "Territorial Beige", the shield with Americana "True Blue", and the sword with Americana Zinc.    I then painted the sword grip with Accent "Rea Umber", and then drybrushed the skeleton parts with Americana "Antique White".

     Then, to try and give a corroded look, I painted the parts of the shield and sword that were touching the Pudding with Reaper MSP "Aged Pewter",  followed by Reaper MSP "Scorched Metal".   After these, I hit it with some spots of Accent "Golden Oxide".  After that, I gave the skeleton parts, shield and sword all a coat of Citadel "Nuln Oil" wash.     When the wash was dry, I highlighted the skeleton parts with some Americana "Bleached Sand".

     I then glued the Acidic Ooze to a tongue depressor as well, with a couple drops of the Elmer's glue.

    For this figure, like the Pudding, I painted the entire thing with the "DuraClear Matte" varnish.  When it was dry, I then gave it a coat with thin "Black" Ink.  When the ink was dry, I simply drybrushed it with some Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey".  To finish up, I painted the base with Americana "Neutral Grey".

      I let the two figures dry overnight and the next day I gave them another coat of the "DuraClear Matte" varnish.    I decided not to spray varnish these as I have had some issues in the past with the translucent figures getting a little tacky after a while; so I'm just going to go with the brush on matte varnish. 

     I'm really happy with how these two came out.  And like the Darkreach crystals I did last week, I think the Color Shift paint really gives the translucents an interesting sheen.