H.A.W.K.s

Chris Palmer

     This past week I continued to work on the Bones 5 Core Armory set and painted up a pair of the "Suit of Armor " figures.  I had one from the Core Set, and one from an additional Armory set I had pledged for from the Core break out offerings .  

     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 each of them to a 7/8" 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 by painting the figures entirely with Ceramcoat "White".  I let that dry, and then gave both pieces a complete coat of slightly thinned Citadel Contrast "Templar Black".

     When the "Templar Black was dry, I drybrushed them with Ceramcoat "Metallic Silver".  I then did follow-up drybrush coats with Reaper MSP "Polished Silver", and a lighter final drybrush with Reaper MSP "Sophie Silver"

     Next, I gave the support pole on the back of each figure a coat of Citadel Contrast "Snakebite Leather".  After that, I painted the belt on each one with Crafter's Acrylic "Cinnamon Brown", and the platform each stands on with Ceramcoat "Charcoal".

     I then gave the belts a wash with Citadel Shade "Agrax Earthshade", and the platforms a wash of Citadel Shade "Nuln Oil".  I let those washes dry, and then I highlighted the belts with Americana "Sable Brown", and I did a drybrush highlighting on each platform with Crafter's Acrylic "Storm Cloud Grey".  I also added highlights to the support poles with DecoArt Dazzling Metallics "Bright Brass".  Lastly, I went back and did some spot highlights on some of the rivets with the "Sophie Silver".

     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 happy with how these turned out with a quick paint job on them.  Not perfect, but just right for some nice scenery.

Chris Palmer

     This past week I painted up a pair of the "Scale Armor Racks" from the Bones 5 Core Set Armory addition.  I had one from the Core Set, and one that I pledged for from the Core Set  break out Armory set.   Since I had just posted last week (due to Easter weekend putting me behind), I picked these simple figures to do. (And I barely managed that, finishing them only today!)

     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 each of them to a 7/8" 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 scale armor and the helmets 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 the wood rack bases with Crafter's Acrylic "Cinnamon Brown", and the belts with Accent "Real Umber".  I let these dry, and then gave them a wash with Citadel Shade "Agrax Earthshade".   When the wash was dry, I painted the back of the shields with Ceramcoat "Charcoal".

     I then drybrushed the rack base with Americana "Sable Brown".    Next, I painted the shield faces with Americana "Snow White".  When the white was dry, I painted two of the rings on the left one with Americana "True Blue", and two of the rings on the righthand one with Speed Paint "Blood Red".    After that, I painted the riveted ring with the "Gunmetal Grey".  I let the shield faces dry, and then gave them a wash with Citadel Shade "Nuln Oil".   

     When the wash was dry, I highlighted the white with the base "Snow White", highlighted the blue with the base "True Blue", and highlighted the red with Reaper MSP "Fresh Blood".    Lastly, I went around and did spot highlighting on the metal with the "Polished Silver, and highlighted the belts with Folk Art "Teddybear Brown".  I finished by then painted the bases with Americana "Neutral Grey".  

     Since I was painting thee right up to the wire, I didn't have time to do a final brush on matte varnish, or spray.  Hopefully I can get to that in the next day or two.  Here, however are the finished paint jobs. 

    I'm generally pleased with how these turned out.  They're not perfect, but as minor terrain pieces, I don't think they have to be. 

     Bones 6 ended this past weekend.  Like others, I did not find this one to be as tempting as ones in the past.  I don't know if it's my overabundance of unpainted stuff from Bones 4 & 5, or the lack of a lot that interested me, but I went in at the beginning for a Core Set pledge and never raised it at all.   In the end, I don't think I'll even get the Core Set... there just wasn't enough in it that I thought I would have a use for, since my gaming is primarily wargaming, not RPGs.   I think I will get the Lighthouse,  the Owlbear Legendary Tale Encounter, the Phoenix Egg Legendary Tale Encounter, and one or two Orc Add-ons.    Not sure what else.  Possible the Storm Goddess simply because she's an exclusive. 

   So, what did you all pledge for, if anything? 

Random thoughts:

    1)  Interesting that Reaper is just going ahead and calling the bigger pieces "Exclusives", after a series of big pieces from past Kickstarters that never actually made it to retail. 

    2)   Where were all the Encounter sets?  One of the big hits of Bones 5 was the Encounter sets.  These sets had a handful of figures and some cool terrain.   There were only 3 this time, and two of them came very late in the game.

    3)  I'm not liking Reapers increasing tendency to produce cartoon-like figures.  So many of them have faces, and body proportions that look like they're straight from a Disney or Pixar movie.  I really perfer more realistic stuff.  I'm not a fan.

Chris Palmer

      Over the past few weeks I have worked on the "Andromedan Hunter" figure from the Bones 4 Chronoscope Expansion, as a change of pace from doing the Dwarves last time.  

     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 1" brown-primed metal washer with some Aleene's Tacky glue.  I then affixed the figure to the top of a pill bottle with some blue-tac.    

     I decided to go a little color craz on this one, and I wanted to try doing her skin with one of the Folk Art Color Shift Paints.  So, I painted her body with a base coat of Reaper MSP Bones "Dungeon Slime", and when dry, I went over it with Folk Art Color Shift "Green Flash". 

     Next, I gave her skin a thinned coat of Citadel Contrast "Creed Camo" to act as a wash.  It was not as effective at doing this as the purpose-designed Citadel Shades.  So, I went back and reapplied some to various spots to add a little more shadow.  I then painted her hair with Reaper MSP Bones "Heraldic Red"., and her clothing, bracers, shinguards/shoes, pouch, and holster with Reaper MSP "Auburn Shade".  After that, I painted her rifle with Reaper MSP "Spruce Green", and her hair tie, as well as the pompoms on the back of her shoes, with Reaper MSP Monarch Purple. 

     I then painted the "U" shaped parts of her top, the front piece of her little bottom, and her bracers, with  Ceramcoat "Metallic Copper".  After that, I painted the metal parts of her rifle and pistol with Folk Art Brushed Metal "Brushed Bronze".   I let the figure dry for a while, and then gave her hair, clothing, and accessories, a wash of Citadel Shade "Reikland Fleshshade"; and then her rifle, hair tie, and shin pompoms a wash with Citadel Shade "Nuln Oil". 

     When the washes were dry, I painted her eyes (I used Crafter's Acrylic "Daffodil Yellow" for the "whites"), and then highlighted her skin with a mix of the base "Green Flash" and some Reaper MSP "Sophie Silver".  After that, I highlighted her hair with Crafter's Acrylic "Orange Spice", and some Crafter's Acrylic "Pure Pumpkin".   

     Next, I highlighted her clothing and accessories with a mix of the base "Auburn Shadow", and some Americana "Shading Flesh".  I then highlighted her hair tie and shin pompoms with Anita's "Violet", and followed with highlighting the guns with Folk Art "Hunter Green", and a little Americana "Sea Breeze".  After that, I highlighted the metal parts of her clothing with the base "Metallic Copper", some Reaper MSP "Rose Gold", and a little pf the "Sophie Silver". Finally, I highlighted the metal on the guns with Ceramcoat "Metallic Bronze", and some DecoArt Dazzling Metallics "Bright Brass".   Lastly, I painted the base with Americana "Neutral Grey".  

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

     Well, I had fun using some wild colors on her, and I don't think she looks half bad.  Unfortunately, any effect from the color shift paint was lost between the Contrast Paint wash, the non-color shift highlights, and the final Matt Varnish and Dullcote.  

Chris Palmer

     Over the past two weeks I've been working slowly on the "Andromedan Hunter" figure from the Bones 4 Chronoscope Expansion as a change of pace from doing the Dwarves last time.   Unfortunately, with the Easter Holiday this past weekend, and company staying into this week, I was not able to finish the figure, so I hope to get it posted next Monday.   Apologies for the delay.

Chris Palmer

     (EDIT:  I didn't get these guys done in time, but am very close so will be posting the final results on Thursday.  I did however have a great weekend of gaming and terrain making, so am not totally sad. :D )

     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".

     That's as far as I got before my busy weekend set in.  Tune in Thursday for the finishing work on these Dwarves!

Chris Palmer

    The Reaper BONES 6 Kickstarter went live today. So far, I'm in for the Core Set amount.  The reality is that I have almost all of Bones 5, and most of Bones 4, still unpainted, so my intent is to go easy on this one.  Fingers crossed I pass all my Will roles. :)

BONES 6 Kickstarter

Chris Palmer

      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.

Chris Palmer

    This past week I painted the "Dire Cabbage" from the Bones 5 Fan Favorites 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 trimmed the figure's integral base a little, and glued the figure to a 1" black-primed metal washer with some Aleene's Tacky glue.  I then placed the figure in my painting grip.   

     I began by painting the entire figure with Americana "Olive Green".  I then heavily drybrushed it with Ceramcoat "White".

     I let the first coats dry for a while, and then gave the entire figure a coat of thinned Citadel  Contrast "Creed Camo".  When this was dry, I went back and dry brushed it again with the base "Olive Green", and then drybrushed with the "White". 

               Next, I went over his legs with a coat of Citadel Contrast "Aggaros Dunes".  I then painted the mouth with Anita's "Violet", and the spikes on his tail with Crafter's Acrylic "African Violet" .  After that, I mixed a little Reaper MSP "Breast Cancer Awareness Pink" into the "African Violet", and blended in some lighter tips on the tail spikes.

          I then painted his claws with Folk Art "Barn Wood", and his teeth with Reaper MSP "Bleached Linen". After that, I painted the eye socket with Citadel Contrast "Wyldwood". 

      I let the claws and teeth dry for a while, and then gave then a coat of Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" wash.  When the wash was dry, I highlighted the claws with the base "Barn Wood", and the teeth with the base "Bleached Linen".  After that, I painted the eye with Reaper MSP "Holy Berry".  I went back then and did spot highlights on the teeth, and a pinpoint highlight in the eye, using some Ceramcoat "White".  Lastly, I painted the base with Americana "Charcoal Grey". 

     I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave it a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish. When dry, I used some white glue to glue a mix of dried used coffee grounds and nutmeg to the figure's base. Another overnight dry, and I sprayed the figure with Testor's Dullcote". 

     I'm really happy with this little guy!  It is such a fun and imaginative figure; and there's a lot of detail in the sculpt which made painting it a lot of fun.  

Chris Palmer

      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.

Chris Palmer

     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.  

Chris Palmer

     This week, Reaper announced the kick-off date, March 24th 2022, and theme name, "Tales From the Green Griffin",  of their upcoming Bones 6 Kickstarter.  If you'd like to  see a handful of photos of figures that are expected to be included, head over to the Bones 6 Re-Launch Hype thread on the Reaper Forums:  Bones 6 Pre-Launch Hype.

Chris Palmer      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.

     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.

Chris Palmer

     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. 

Chris Palmer

      Happy 2022 everyone!  Back before Christmas one of the last things I got painted was the "Chicken Swarm" figure from the Bones 5 Fan Favorites Expansion as a Christmas gift for a friend.  I didn't want to post it before Christmas for that reason; so now I thought I'd get it up on the blog

      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 1" primed metal washer, using Aleene's Tacky Glue.  I then put the figure into my painting grip.   

     I began by painting the entire figure with Ceramcoat "White".  When this was dry, I gave the whole thing a coat of Citadel Contrast "Apothecary White".  When this was dry, I drybrushed the figure with Americana "Snow White". 

     I then painted the comb and wattle with Folk Art "Tomato Red", and after that I painted the beaks with Americana "Primary Yellow". 

     Next, I painted the shadow areas around the legs at the bottom, as well as the entire base, with Citadel Contrast "Wyldwood"; and when dry, I painted the legs with Americana "Antique Gold".  After that, I painted all the little eyes with Ceramcoat "Black".

     I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave the swarm 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".       

     This is such a fun figure, and I'm really pleased with how it turned out! It was an interesting challenge since, while it is basically a simple figure, the repetitive nature of painting so many identical tiny chicken parts proved to require an added level of concentration.

Chris Palmer

     The past two week I worked on the Gingerbread Knight, which was a Bones USA promo figure that came in this year's Reaper Christmas Sampler.  With all that was going on with preparation for Christmas, I thought this would be a fast and fun figure to work on.

        I prepped the figure in the usual way, soaking the parts (comes with the left arm as a separate piece) 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 arm to the body using Gorilla superglue gel. Next, I glued the figure to a 1" primed metal washer, using Aleene's Tacky Glue.  I glued the washer to a tongue depressor with a couple drops of Elmer's School Glue. 

     I tried to take the easy route first and use Citadel Contrast paint for the gingerbread.  So I gave the figure a base coat of Ceramcoat "White"; and when dry, I mixed some Citadel Contrast "Fyreslayer Flesh" and Citadel Contrast "Snakebite Leather" together and painted it on the figure.  When dry, I was sad to see that it came out very mottled.  I had hoped it wouldn't, but knew in the back of my mind that it probably would.  Oh, well; I tried.

     I then started over, painting directly over the Contrast paint, with a mix of Folk Art "Teddy Bear Brown" and a little Accent "Mustard Seed".  When dry, I gave the entire figure a coat of Citadel Shade "Agrax Earhdahde".  I let that dry, and then drybrushed the figure with some Reaper MSP "Ginger Cookie", because I just had to.  :) 

     Next, I painted all the icing decorations, as well as his epaulette and candy cane, with Americana "Snow White"  I let that dry, and then did his eyes and belt with a mix of Reaper MSP "Ultramarine Blue" and  Crafter's Acrylic "Tropical Blue".  Then I painted his mouth a mix of Folk Art "Tomato Red" and Crafter's Acrylic "Tutti Frutti".  After that, I painted his buttons with Crafter's Acrylic "Holiday Green".

     I then painted the stripes on the candy cane and epaulette with some Citadel Contrast "Blood Angels Red" in hopes it would give it a bit of a translucent look. When it was dry, I touched up all the white parts of the icing with Reaper MSP "Peppermint White".  Again, becuase I felt I just had to. :) Lastly I painted the entire base with Americana "Zinc". 

      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 base.  When this was dry I  painted it with Citadel Contrast "Basilicanum Grey".  When that was dry,  I drybrushed the sand withAmericana "Grey Sky".  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed the figures with Testor's Dullcote".   Afterwards, I went back and painted the epaulette and candy cane with some Americana "DuraClear Gloss" varnish.

     I'm pleased with how this fun figure turned out. It was just the perfect simple sculpt to tackle in the busy weeks leading up to Christmas.

Chris Palmer

      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.

Chris Palmer

     I just wanted to remind my readers, as I announced a couple weeks ago, I am changing my new figure posting schedule to now be only on the first and third Monday of each month.  So please tune back in on December 6th for my next post.  See you then!