Reaper Bones Khael Stonekindle - Dwarf Wizard

This guy is Khael Stonekindle, a Reaper Bones miniature I purchased some time back.  I don't know when or where..as I am prone to sudden mini purchases anytime I'm in a game store around here.  How often do you see a dwarf wizard mini?  Not very often.

 Khael was painted using my under painting technique followed by lots of washes.  I tend to add a lot of shadow washes to my minis to make the bright areas stand out. Below is the underpainting:

He looks like a little Gandalf to me..but I did not have the desire to paint him up as Gandalf the Grey.

By the way, we have some pretty good game stores in San Diego these days.

• Villainous Lairs is a very fun comic and game store in Normal Heights, with a very big room and lots of tables for gaming. They carry mostly Warhammer and a smattering of Reaper.
• Game Empire in Clairemont is perhaps the oldest game store in town now.  They have a nice but loud game room with a lot of  loyal wargaming customers. They tend to keep the largest Reaper mini selection of any store around here.  
• Another one nearby is At Ease Games, near the Marine Air Station.  That store is huge, new, and very well stocked on warhammer and Magic cards. The Reaper mini selection is not huge, but they seem to have a lot of  tabletop skirmish minis.  Apparently This store has a very large painting and crafting room in the back, which I missed.

Reaper Bones Mountain Troll

I painted this mini a few weeks ago using my newly discovered underpainting and glazing technique.  As I said before, this new method has really sped things up for me and has given me better blends. For those interested, I first paint the mini in monochrome or grey scale to get highlights and shadows figured out.  I then go back over it with glazes and lay down the colors. I then use glazes to darken the shadows and crevaces.  After that, I add glazed highlights.  Final steps include black lining borders to make colors more apparent.

  Here is the grey scale version.

Here you can see the final painted version. I went for a yellowish-brown skin tone for this monster.  I wanted to get away from green, and I did not have the nerve to try grey skin.  I really tried underpainting sharp highlights and using glazes of silver over them to attempt a True Metallic Metal look.  I'm getting closer.

As with all minis, I strive to get the colors contrasting between light and dark.  I've painted some minis where I did not do this and they are hard to look at LOL!

This is pretty cool mini and would make an excellent opponent for players in a RPG game.  I may also use this guy in a skirmish game...if I ever get around to playing Age of Sigmar with friends.

The paint on this mini does not peel off or scrape off very easily on the upper half.  Along the base I notice that paint scrapes off .... perhaps more Dullcote layers would help that.

Thanks for taking time to look at my work and happy painting all!

Reaper Bones Goblin Commander

Behold the Bones Goblin Commander.  All tremble in his wake!

This is another model from the Reaper Bones II Expansion Set #1.

This model was painted fairly quickly by my standards...in 6 or 7 hours.  I under painted him in shades of black, white and grey and then used glazes to bring in the color.  After I glaze a few layers, I usually drop in some more really dark shadows around borders of areas.  After that, I highlight the mini with glazes.

This mini will make a fine leader for my Bones goblins painted several years ago.  I sprayed the model with 2 layers of Dullcote to make sure it wont scratch during RPG sessions. 

Another monster model added to my army!

Reaper Bones Ice Troll

This mini came as part of Expansion Set #1 for the Reaper Bones Kickstarter II project.  I think that set had quite a few large monsters, which must be why I bought it.  I don't know exactly because my kids have ferreted away many of the good minis for their painting needs. Anyways, this ice troll throwing a chunk of ice is a really nice sculpt.

I did something new on this piece which I'm really excited about.  I primed the mini black.  I then under painted the mini in shades of black, white, and grey.  Next I painted on the colors in thin glazes, one after another using my Vallejo paints mixed with glaze medium. The results are very nice and the amount of time this saved me over my usual method of layering highlights is huge.  This mini only took me 8 hours, which for some of you is a lifetime, but for me this is like speed painting...

For the snow I just used a quick technique of mixing baking soda, white paint, and glue together and then brushing on.  It looks OK...not super.  This mini will go in the RPG figure box for use with our games.

I named him Krondar.

Otherworld Fighter

I present to the internet my version of the Otherworld fighter/warrior miniature that came in their Dungeon Adventurers pack for their Kickstarter.  I worked on this fellow about the same time as the thief, but stalled out on him quicker than I expected.  I think this is because of the monotony of painting all of that steel armor.  Color choices for grubby warriors are also limited.  I will say that painting the torch and trying to get a decent representation of fire was interesting.  I would like to practice that more often.

The mini looks better than these poor iPad pictures show, but you get the idea of my scheme for this guy. It may be time to get a portable light box.  He would be a great miniature for tabletop gaming...particularly Old School D&D.

One of the first things I did to these Otherworld miniatures before I primed them is to create some stone dungeon floor tiles on their bases.  I used green stuff that was very thinly rolled out to achieve the effect.  There was no need to go for symmetry on the tiles since the places this guy explores are bound to be old and decrepit.

These side views give you an idea of all the detail on these miniatures. They are loaded down with torches, bags, and backpacks.

Otherworld Thief

Below is my latest paint job...one of the Otherworld Miniatures thieves.  This fellow arrived a year ago in a shipment that was part of their Kickstarter.

I think he's great.  There is a lot of character in that face of his and his stance.  He's ready to sting anything that gets in his way.  The overflowing loot bag is also a nice touch.

I didn't spend too much time trying to perfect the loot bag or the boots because I get a bit of miniature fatigue when I paint player characters.  I don't have this issue with monsters...it is a weird condition so be thankful you don't have it.

The mini is supposed to look dirty and unshaven from being underground for a long time.  Also, I tried to make his face a reddish color to indicate that he has been drinking heavily on the adventure - I know I would if I had to loot a dungeon full of monsters.

Grenadier Lost Lands Human Cleric

This mini is another of several that I found in a bin at my local game store.  It is supposed to be a human cleric, and it comes from the Grenadier Lost Lands boxed set released in the early 1990's. The ears on this mini are pointed which leads me to think it is really a half-elf or even an elf.  Imagine an elf cleric in old school D&D.

 I noticed that a dwarf mini I had painted last year comes from the same boxed set, so I must really really like it.

I decided on a blue and silver color scheme for the cleric, with hints of gold around.  I assume he does not want to be flashy, but at the same time wants to look respectable and devout.  I added some freehand Celtic knot patterns to the bottom of his tunic for a little interest.

The freehand on the shield is not very well done, but I grew tired of the mini so I stopped perfecting it.  This is supposed to be the symbol of the D&D god Lathander...a road leading into the sunset.

Again I decided to use real metallic paints here.  I washed the hammer pick and shield with various Citadel washes to try and make them look aged and interesting.  The chain mail is bright silver as I was going for a shiny clean cleric look.

He will go in the case now as one of the brave adventurers trying to fight off all the monster minis I have painted.  It is very possible he could be used for gaming if someone in our group wanted a human cleric mini.