A Couple of Old School Minis recently Completed

I've actually been painting quite a bit these last few months since January, I just have not posted anything.  Now I suppose I should binge post mini pictures.

Below are a few of the minis I have completed recently.  The first up is a Gnoll Champion done sometime in May, part of Julie Guthrie's Grenadier Personalities collection. My daughter wanted him for gaming, but she wanted a Polar Bear Paladin, so I painted the mini in that style. I would say this was a fairly quick paint for me, less than 8 hours LOL. I'm getting older and so my eyes are getting bad!

Next up is one I completed in July, a Ral Partha AD&D Gnoll. I tried to use a Zenithal highlight technique on the mini during the priming stage.  This means I spray primed him black first, then I spray painted yellow at a 45 degree angle, then I sprayed him from straight above with a shot of white primer. I then tried to glaze on paint over the primer highlights.

The yellow spray paint was too globby, and I should have used a finer primer, but it worked OK.

He has a lot of metallic paint on him, and I find this makes the mini extra reflective for photos.  The camera kind of freaks out.

Vaeloth, Hellborn Paladin

This is the finalized Vaeloth, Hellborn Paladin from Reaper.  My version is a person who seeks to prove himself to society as a force for order and justice.  He is kind of a vigilante who goes after evildoers...perhaps that is why I chose the Batman blue colors.

I did my best to photograph these minis with the iPad.  The pictures are not optimal,  but they are good enough to show the colors and the work.  I'm glad this miniature is done, as the NMM metal colors tool a long long time. Each subsequent picture of him shows another side of the mini, as if it is being rotated.

It is interesting how the sword colors really pop out in the pictures.   I find the scale mail to be hard to do in the NMM style.  I think I could have tried some freehand runes or lettering on the kilt, but I really wanted him done so I passed.

Here you can see the wolf pelt he wears.  I chose the colors of the red wolf as inspiration.

Coming up with a sigil or logo for the shield was hard.  I decided on a blue infernal flame look to match the flame-like appearance of the shield frame. 

Finally, I decided to make a quick little battle scene with him fighting a dragonborn to the death.

That's all for now.  Good health and good painting to you...

The Latest on Vaeloth, Hellborn Paladin...a Work in Progress

Well, progress has been slow on this mini up until this week.  I seem to have gotten my second wind or runners high, and I'm making good progress each day now on Vaeloth.  The scale armor is done, the wolf pelt is done, and now there is only the sword, shield, tail, and base left.  My silver metal style is getting better, especially on the tricky scale mail.  Chain is even tougher for me to do.  Below is a grainy iPad picture of the mini:

In these next few views you can see the wolf pelt which I thought was a bit intimidating at first.  I chose a brown/red wolf for this guy, since it seemed to play off the reddish skin he has.

The next big thing to think about is the base, which is usually what most painters think of first!!

I'm not sure if this guy deserves a plinth or a rock...I may want to use him in a game one day...perhaps just a nice Gale force 9 magnetic base.

Hellborn Paladin Work in Progress Pictures 2

I'm still slowly working on this Reaper Hellborn paladin - Vaeloth. I've got the plate armor done I believe - it is a royal blue color that  I wanted to try. I've painted the base coat for his kilt which is going to be a kind of golden brown color that may match his horns, and I also have added some metallic buttons and things to his belt and armor in the NMM style. So far so good on this guy.  Here is full frontal shot:

I will probably paint the kilt next and then the scale armor.  I'm not sure whether to go for a silver scale armor or perhaps a gold. Is he a rich paladin? After that I will tackle the wolf on his back and then the shield.  The sword will be last, and that might be a reddish glowing color.  Anyways, here is a view of the back where you can see my attempts at making the boots look shiny.

Work in Progress (WIP): Reaper Hellborn Paladin

When I was sorting through the lead pile a few weeks back, this metal Hellborn miniature caught my eye.  His name is Vaeloth, and he is a paladin of some sort.  I can't tell if he is supposed to be evil or good, and I have no idea if tieflings or hellborns are usually evil/good.  The interesting segmented armor is what caught my eye , along with the good attack pose and wicked sword.

For the record, I think the metal miniatures from Reaper show detail much better and seem easier to paint and prepare.  Also, they don't have the weird facial bluriness that the Bones minis suffer from.  I still think the Bones are a good deal and good to play with; their lighter weight makes them much less prone to chipping when they get knocked over.

I'm going for a kind of blue metal on the armor here - although this armor could be construed as leather.  This guy will most likely have silver chainmail, done in a NMM style. I'm going to try and think of some blue-complimentary or split complimentary colors for the skirt and shirt sleeves. Something that will have a nice contrast with the blue.  

For the wolf pelt, I think that a medium to light brown would look good...perhaps even a little reddish. 

That is it for now...good painting to you all!

Reaper's Ansel, Paladin

As far as effort goes, this mini has probably taken me the most time to complete. I was trying to see how well I could do the Non-Metallic Metal technique on a fully armored adventurer, and boy did I pay the price.  I must have labored on and off for at least two months trying to get the metals to look right.  You see, this does not come naturally to me like it does for other painters, so I suffer when I do it.  The results are always very pleasing however:

I chose brown hair for this guy as well as blue eyes. I laugh about that choice now because it really makes this sculpt look like Ozzy Osbourne in armor.  Oh well, he seems like a cool fellow to me, so I just let it be.

I really liked painting the red cape for this guy...I don't often paint red.  I need to use more of it.