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..