Reaper Bones Snakeman Warrior

Happy New Year!

I forced myself to pick up a brush this week and start on any mini that interested me.  I grabbed a Bones mini, thinking that I didn't have to make it perfect and it could be used for gaming.  Also, I was not keen on doing anymore NMM metal work since it takes me forever.  I chose this guy, the snakeman warrior (Yuan Ti?). He will make an excellent addition to the gaming mini box.

Picking a color scheme was tough as usual, but I decided on a Western, rattlesnake kind of color scheme.  This scheme is very orangeish with yellow highlights.  I found that painting the scales on this mini was very enjoyable and relaxing...I have no idea why.  They were not dry brushed, but rather individually painted with layers.

I still have a chance to do some freehand work on that arrow holder thing ...I can't remember the name hahah.  I may do some kind of snake script on it to liven the back up a bit.

The mini is overall pretty good in detail.  However, there are several spots where the Bones casting process came out pretty rough.  The right shoulder pads are very bumby, The interior of the tail at the bend, and so is an entire side of his fanny pack.  Still, he is worth it for the light weight and the stickiness of the paint to the PVC material.  These qualities are good for minis used in gaming (metal minis fall over and chip or paint rubs off with hand holding, even with dullcote spray).

Old Martian Metals Lizardman

Several months ago a couple of friends and I went to the local game store after a meetup to check out the vintage lead minis in their bins.  We knew the  "cool" kids go out drinking and partying, but we're rebels so we looked for old lead on that night.  This store has a treasure trove of old lead - cast aside like trash by their customers who may or may not know the value.  This little lizard dude caught my eye on that night so I picked him up. I think he has a lot of personality and is a pretty good sculpt for being a late 70's / early 80's mini.  He's from Martian Metals based on what I could find on the lost minis wiki.

 

I tried to spruce him up with some NMM gold and silver, as well as some extra scales that I painted on freehand on the neck and shoulders.  I did not finish the base...I'll get to that one day.  I'm just not a base guy.  Hopefully this little one will make it into a game some day.

Ral Partha Dealers of Devastation

About a year ago, I met a gaming and painting friend at our local game store to go through their boxes of old metal minis.  This store has a lot of treasures buried in those boxes, and no one there seems to know or care about them.  That night, we basically picked  through the boxes for all of the cool old fantasy miniatures we could find.  We ended up paying something like .25 cents a piece for them.  It was surreal...especially since I had seem so many of the figures we found go for big $$ on eBay.  These Dealers of Devastation were found on that fateful night.

We recently made another trip to the store and went through the bins again late on a Friday night.  The Magic players thought we were strange or something.  After finding even more good minis, I decided I needed to paint up the ones found a year ago or they would probably rot.  That is why you are seeing these guys here now.

I usually start the skeletons in a brown and then work up to a tan and then finally an off white.  I find that I have to do many, many corrections to the bones to get them to look right. It is a long process for me doing old bones.  I usually stop when I like what I see.

For the weapons,  I decided to give them a tarnished but sharp look.  I used metallic paints and glazed them with several  washes to get the coloring I wanted.  I know some painters like to make these look rusty, and that looks good as well.

For the eyes, I decided to give them the Scooby Doo treatment. In that cartoon, the skeletons and ghouls always have these neon greenish eyes to make them look spooky.  That is what I went for with these minis. I am probably going to put a layer or two of Dullcote on these and have them ready for gaming along with my Grenadier personalities minis.

That is all for now.  Good luck and good painting.

Grenadier Personalities: Desert Warrior

Here is Grenadier's Desert Warrior.

I chose this model for several reasons, one of which was the ornate shield he carries. I thought it would be interesting to paint that up in NMM style.  The pose on the model is quite good too, but that is expected from Julie Guthrie. He looks ready for anything thrown at him.

I purchased this mini from Mega Minis.com while they were still in business a few years back.  He was only $2 - what a great deal.  Too bad they went out of business because of the high metal prices.

I researched pictures of Saracens, Moors, and other desert warrior groups throughout history.  One thing that stood out was how colorful their clothing was, and this surprised me. I thought they only wore white or black robes and head dresses.  I saw lots of reds, greens, and blues in the pictures. With the whole array of colors available to me,  I took a while to decide upon the color scheme.  I decided on blue and yellow,  which always gives a good result .

That's it for now.  Happy painting all.

Grenadier Personality: Female Cleric

One of my twin daughters really likes this cleric, and has been playing with her for a year now.  She has only had primer on her until this last week when I decided to paint her up (get off my lazy butt).   I buckled down and forced myself to paint the face first.  Once the face came to life, painting the rest of the figure went really quick.  I asked my daughter to choose the color combinations for her clothes, which always seems to stump me, and she made a really great selection.

This is one of Julie Guthrie's sculpts I believe.  It seems Julie has worked for all the big names like Reaper and Grenadier and Ral Partha.   Julie, if you are reading this, you are a fantastic sculptor!!  My favorite !

Here is the back of her cape.

 I used a Reaper metallic gold paint on her..and the problem with these metallic paints is that the metal flakes bunch up and don't give me a really smooth surface. The mini looks crusty in the metal areas.  Oh well, there must be some way to water it way down, perhaps shake it for an hour, and then get a smooth metallic.

Reaper Bones Oxidation Beast

I wanted to try something a little more outlandish for this Reaper Bones Rust Monster...err I mean Oxidation Beast -- something more interesting than the usual browns and yellows.  So, I decided to try some crazy alien and space colors on him.  These are the neon greens and purples ...even blues.  I figure he or she is bioluminesent or something like that !

The legs are actually purple that blends in layers into blue.  I would assume that the light blues on the scales would glow along with the eyes and perhaps the fringe on the antennae.

Taking a picture of this guy was really hard, and it looks a lot better in person than the photo.  The camera picks up every little shiny area on the mini and exaggerates it.  I think the paint I used on this one, Vallejo, tends to be a bit shiny as well.  I thought about using a matte sealer but the Dullcote sealer I use also tends to add a sheen of shine...hmmm I wonder what else I could use.

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.

Finished - Reaper Dragonman

I finally finished him..the dragonman mini from Reaper...Yay!  I spend a lot of time on painting the metal armor using my homebrew NMM technique, and that really ate up time.  I can't say how many hours went into this guy..but I'm pretty sure it was too many and most likely embarassing to admit here. As always, I appreciate the NMM metals even if they are not exactly right.

I'm happy with the skin and wing colorings - red is quite fun to paint up in different shades and hues. Getting the wing colors to work with the rest of the mini while not using the exact same colors was challenging.  It seems the violets are OK to mix with the red /oranges. 

I added a homemade giant skull to the base to make it a little more interesting. A past victim of the fierce dragon warriors perhaps.  I may add some tropical ferns or banana leaves as well.  I assume these creatures live in the tropics and are rulers amongst the reptiles. Or perhaps they battle for supremacy with the snake people.

Here is a back shot that kind of shows of more of the wing colorings and those funny scales right by the base of his tail.  Once I had pinned the wings, glued them,  and added some green stuff to the seams, the bond was strong.  These wings don't move much, which is a good thing. 

Now on to paint something different!

Reaper Bones Goblins

Hey Derek and Jason, I assume you are the only ones reading this!  Just kidding.

Here are some Bones goblins that I started last Saturday night at a paint party.  I decided that they would make good scrawny orcs.   I've added a lot more detail to them since then, such as touching up the damn green skin over and over.  So much for a quick dry brush and glaze!  I think they are at a point now where I'm going to spray them with Dullcote and have them in the bin for RPG nights.

These are fun sculpts which makes painting go along quicker for some reason. When you get those nasty teeth to show up and you see the mean faces, you know that orcs are evil. I had no idea what colors to use on the clothes, so I just went with the various browns used for leather and such. I'm sure there are some metrosexual orcs out there with excellent color coordination, but not these hapless blokes.

Anyways, that is all for now.  I'm going to try and finish Khesh dragonman soon.  Keep rocking the paint brushes everyone.

-Nils

Crazy Kobolds

Here are some Reaper Bones kobolds I did a year ago along with a Bones Purple Worm.  These were painted with no primer at all, just washed and dried prior to painting.  I wanted to test the claim by Reaper that no primer is needed.  So far, so good.  Also, I covered them all of them with two coats of Testors Dullcote varnish so that they can be handled and not take damage. I think they are a little too shiny from excessive coating, but they should take a beating now.

The Bones miniatures are perfect for RPG sessions where you need some minis on the grid fast. The paint jobs don't have to be showcase quality, but they can be better than those D&D prepainted minis. They are nice too because you can build up lots of monster lists and not spend a lot of money like you would hunting down the prepaints on the internet.

The kobolds are clearly out of their minds for taking on this purple worm. I'm sure the worm is quite excited to have six tasty snacks along with a little metal fiber to wash them down.

Reaper Dragonman - Kesh Blackscale

Kesh has started to take form ....a red form that is.  He will be the leader of the lizardmen, as they think he is a god sent to help them.

I highlighted the scales and skin with yellow and orange mixed with the red.  I like this better than the white added to red which makes for pink highlights.  I'm not sure about the wings yet...will they be some shade of red.  Also, he will have sone NMM steel platemail.

The NMM is going along slowly.  It looks OK for NMM..I like it better than using metallic paints for some reason.

Lashtash: Another Lizard Warrior

Here is Lashtash...a lizard man with a striking resemblance to a crocodile.  He's got a cool tail with three prominent bone spikes to lash out at any flanking enemies or even those behind.  So watch out backstabbing thieves..you could get Lash slapped.

I like the serrated blades that Julie Guthrie gave these guys. They add nicely to their savagery. Also, the bluish metal is proving over and over to be a good choice on these guys.  It seems to contrast well with their skin, and it also complements the tan colors.

 I also think the armor is very nicely sculpted for a 1990's miniature. I sort of assumed that their armor is not shiny clean and bright, but weathered a bit.  I presume either they know how to make their own banded armor or they stole it from poor adventurers.

Lashtash now joings his comrade Sslishtassh for hunting duty.  What do they eat???

The First Lizardman: Sslishtassh

As part of my three lizardman reconnaissance team, I have completed the first warrior. This is a Grenadier sculpt by Julie Guthrie from the late 90s perhaps. He is really a true 25mm guy, looking very small compared to most other mini makers except perhaps Red Box. Anyways, another really nice semi-old school scult with good personality and the typical Ral Partha "open Stance".

I like going with the greenish yellow skin on these guys, similar to the old Citadel Orcs.  The yellow just helps the highlights pop out so well.  I did try to wash some blue into the crevices of the scales, but it does not show too much.

Here is the back.  I did a crazy logo on the shield of the red dragon god they worship.  They might even have a more primitive logo or sign than this one, but I got carried away.  For the basic NMM on the sword, I added in some blue to my grey colors and I love it.  The handle is supposed to be a dirty bronze metal.

More lizards are on the way slowly....can't do half ass jobs on these for some reason - I did bad and quick paint jobs for years and all I have to show for it are piles of minis that I can't stand!!

Lizard Time!

For my next project I have selected several lizardmen from my collection.  The two small ones, 25mm, are Grenadier models sculpted by Julie Guthrie again.  She is terrific.  The big guy is some kind of Reaper Dragonkin or dragon warrior.  He would obviously make an excellent leader of a group of lizardmen.

The trick on the small guys has been to shade the recesses and get the raised parts lighter using dry brushing. The problem this poses is that dry brushing, the way I do it, is kind of messy and leaves the mini sort of powdery looking.  I have tried some glazes of a darker color to reduce that effect.  Also, I'm experimenting with using blue in the recesses of the scales as opposed to dark green.

So, I expect the guy in the middle to be done first, then the guy on the right.  The dragon guy will take a while.

That's it for now from the Fun House..

Final: Tox the Magnificent

Ahh, he is finally complete and ready for battle.  Here is my take on Tox the wizard from Reaper. One can only assume that he has special powers over dragons and can command them to do terrible deeds.

If that does not work for him, he can spout violent magic from his dragon claw staff of power....probably lightning.  Regardless, stay clear of this mage if at all possible or end up dragon chow or worse, just ash.

Eventually I will coat him with Dullcote from Testors ...perhaps two coats...to make him available for use on the table.  That will at least protect the paint from finger oils...but not the dreaded mini drop attack.

Wizard in Progress

This is Tox, a wizard of sorts from Reaper that I picked up several years ago. I got myself fired up to paint and pulled him out of box the other day. I started with the face, then the eyes, and finally the hair. The face went well for me on this one, so that was great.  The hair has been killing me, as I am trying to show gradual higlights from one end of  strand to another...in grey.

I'm almost happy with the hair, and then I will move on to complete the crystal ball/ palantir thing.  The one area on this mini that I have not come to a decision on is the color for the robe.  Would tox have a purple, blue, green or maybe a black robe?  Perhaps it would be a special color like powder blue or teal.

Reaper Gnoll Ranger

This is BlackTongue, a Gnoll Ranger from Reaper.  I painted him nearly 5 years ago and have never taken a picture of him. He is too cool looking to just rot in the display bin and not be seen, so here he is.

I would not want to be tracked down by one of these giant hyena men, as I'm sure they show no mercy.  Are gnolls really 8-9 feet tall?  Yikes.

I went for greyish skin and light brown fur combination on this one. I think the fur could have been darker as the wood colors tend to match.  The bags and things were done in greens and reds to match the surrounding forest.

Reaper Bones Kickstarter Figure Case

I forgot that I had ordered this, along with a few miniatures, from the Reaper Bones Kickstarter a year ago. Needless to say I was really happy to hear from them when they sent out the mailing notice.  I did not get the Vampire package, which has over 100 miniatures, but I did get a few of the Pathfinder minis and the case below. 
When you open it up, you see the top tray with the open slots and the back of what  I call the middle tray. The slots seem to be for 25 mm miniatures which is weird since Reaper stuff is 28mm heroic scale and huge.

I immediately went about getting all my unpainted miniatures, as well as old paint jobs  from the 90's, from out from their boxes and into this huge case. In some cases I had to tear the foam to make a bigger compartment. For most minis, I stuck them in the slots tightly so that they did not move around. This may be bad on painted minis, as the foam may rub off paint. I will find out.  I'm sure the plastic Bones minis, which are not very heavy, will be fine in this case.

As you can see in this next photo, I have taken out the middle tray to show you the bottom tray. The bottom tray, with the red foam, was facing towards the side of the case when I first opened it. I flipped it over to face inward because I didn't want the miniatures banging on the side of the case if they slid out of the foam.  However, that move created a problem, because now the bottom or top trays would  face the middle tray without a foam barrier.

My partial solution to that problem was to add a sheet of foam as follows to the middle tray. Now the minis in it will not bang the minis in bottom tray, and I also don't have to face the side try to the side of the case. Perhaps there is a better way to do this...like putting this sheet of foam on the bottom between the case and the bottom tray.   I'd appreciate any advice.

By the way, the top tray is mostly populated with Ral Partha AD&D miniatures from the 1990's (painted and unpainted). The middle tray has some of my Reaper minis, along with all of my Dark Sword and Citadel models. Finally, the bottom tray has my Grenadier miniatures as well as some Red Box and Avatars of War guys.  Almost all of my painted miniatures are in display cases.

A Blast from the Past: The Roper

Here is a blast from the past....a 1980's Roper from the Grenadier Dwellers Below box set. This sculpt kind of borders on funny and creepy .. .it could go either way.  These creatures are very dangerous to deal with. In fact one killed my very first D&D character in 1981 or so. Bastard.

It was good mini to paint because of the silky smooth texture.  My layers went on very easily.  There are not a lot of small detail areas on this mini either, so that helped.  Come to think of it, I could have put some different kinds of scales or circular marks on him to add to the stalagmite effect.

Thanks for reading and here is the cool box for Grenadier's Dwellers Below!!!