In an effort to populate my ebay store with Holiday Merchandise, I've picked up a few dragons to paint. The first one is Reaper's Bones Miniature of a Fire Dragon (77109). As you can see, I did not paint this one as a "Fire Dragon", but rather a Silver Dragon. It was a clear choice after referencing this wiki. This lovely dragon model was sculpted by Sandra Garrity and now painted by yours truly!
First things first. According to that wiki, a 5e Silver Dragon has two claws coming from the wing. To conform to this standard I took the claw on the wing of the Fire Dragon, and split it in half. Presto! Two claws per wing! Once I was done mutilating the miniature, I base layered the fella with twilight blue for all the silvery areas and brown for all the yellowy areas.
Teh Color Scheme
Body: Based with Twilight Blue, Then dry brush layered from Stone Grey to Polished Silver. Highlighted with Polished Silver.
Belly, Claws and Spines: Based with earth brown, the drybrushed with a dull yellow and washed again with earth brown. I then Highlighted it with more of the dull yellow.
Membranes: Based with Twilight Blue, and highlighted with Aged Bone.
Claws: Based with Earth Brown and the drybrushed and highlighted with Aged Bone.
If you would like to watch how I did each section of this miniature, you can check out the raw video from my live stream:
In part two of this series, I showed how I created the custom base for this piece. About an hour of stamping some fast acting epoxy putty with a rock later and we have a great basis for a custom base! I finished the stonework with a moderate dry brushing of Stone Grey and highlighting of Aged Bone.
Checkerout!
If you would by chance like to purchase this collectable piece, I have started an auction on ebay just in time for the holidays! You can check that out here! Happy bidding!
I looked and looked for the name of the sculptor for this one. Alas, no dice. This one for me was a commission piece. I was asked to paint him up as a white slug with green poison spittle! I am always happy to breath some new life into some old miniatures.
The paint scheme is comprised of two color gradients mainly.
For the skin, start with a base coat of dark brown. Follow it up with a dry brushing of pure white to establish the gradient. As a general rule shadowed areas should remain brownish to help create a sense of depth.
For all things poisonous I went with a base coat of leaf green. To give it that poisonous and puss-look I added golden blonde to establish this color gradient and as a highlight.
The underside was based brown and then highlighted with a mix of brown and golden blonde.
The eyes are a base coat of golden blonde with a dot of leaf green.
Note how the pure white and leaf green nodules on the back really give this paint scheme some character. I also added some leaf green veins to the floppy spines on its back.
This paint scheme is a prime example of how to paint a quality job without 17 different colors. Try your best to keep your color palette contained. I used a total of 4 colors to paint this miniature. It makes it easier to find 4 colors that will match, than it is to find 17 that match.
I am going to start doing some short posts every day or so to keep an account and review of the miniatures I have worked on. In each quick post I will share with you how I approached the paint scheme and other resources.
So in this first blurble lets take a look at Reaper's Frost Worm. This miniature was modeled by Kevin Williams. I always start out the same. I frost the figure. This is just a dark primer (or base coat) with a uniform and indiscriminate dry-brushing of the miniature. However, Since this Frost Wyrm is going to be primarily painted white, I toyed with a moderate drybrushing of purple. This will give great color contrast between the scales and the skin.
When I approach a paint scheme, I look for common features on the figure. I then assign a color pattern that will hopefully match. This scheme was obvious. Use cold colors. The blues and purples with make this white look cold!
The scales, carapace, beard and legs were painted white. I then applied a purple wash. After that dried, I drybrushed these areas with white again.
The belly was drybrushed with a light sky blue. I then lightly drybrushed the scales along the back that were closest to the belly and the beard. I wanted a nice smooth color gradient from light blue to white. After a quick highlight with light LIGHT blue, the body looked like ice!
The bony bits and eyes where all base layered with black and drybrushed with light blue.
Finally the skin on the fins had to follow suit with the skin. I based them with purple and then added a light white to the purple to create that stretched skin look. Easy on the paint here!
Time for pics! Checkerout!
This was commission was painted with a value-priced quote. As such, I did not spend days on it as much as I wanted. I did end up going back and touching him up before mailing him out. Also, I painted this guy without the camera in my face for once. So I am sorry but I got no clip for him either.
Anywho...
This was a lovely miniature to paint. I will definitely paint it again! Though next time we'll shoot for showroom quality!
Please don't quote me if I am wrong, but if I'm not mistaken "Fhtagn" means "Waits". If for some reason you have found yourself here completely randomly, this fellow here is a little Ancient One we love to call... C'thulhu! (Did you get that there? call? Hilarious!) Don't get too excited yet. Hold it in. He ain't finished yet. Hence the title. Wait.
Now I am not a huge Lovecraft fan. I am ashamed to say I have never even read one of the short stories. I will insert my disclaimer here so I can get my apologies out of the way now. I am sorry if I butcher anything but english grammar in this post. I did however consult with a Mister Joke-Boy, a fanatic about my ideas for the paint scheme. He is also the one who will be running our single Call if C'thulhu session in the coming months. He also tells me that aside from the tail and claws, this model is pretty darn accurate. My source claims that he has never read anything that describes C'thulhu with a tail. He also thought the claws could have been a little longer. This particular model is produced by Reaper Miniatures in bonesium and was sculpted by a very talented Kevin Williams. While I respect the quality and accuracy of his work. I may end up doing a nail extension before I'm through.
By now you are wondering why I am starting another project when I already have 63 other projects on going. Me too. Rest assured and sleep well at night. Nothing is on the back burner here. I am hoping to go all out with this so called miniature. Incredible detail. Amazing base. I am even thinking of installing a light to that amazing base. Up until now, I have always posted my work to ebay with a price. I am considering putting this one up for auction. I want to know if I am selling myself short.
I started off like I do with all my bonesium minis, with a base coat of a dark color. In this case, that would be pure black. After I lay down that first coat, I tend to lay one more thick drybrushed layer down. This layer I usually mix in the base color with the color I chose first. In this case, it was a dark green. I then give the piece a few pulses of ultra flat matte sealant. You can apply paint directly to bonesium miniatures. However, the first layers can and do rub off on high traffic areas. I let the paint and sealer set at least overnight. Even though it looks dry, it may not have set yet. As you can see You'll still have issues, no matter how much you try and prevent it. If you know a better result, I would love to hear of it.
The paint scheme is composed of hide areas, boney areas and fleshy areas. The hide is a soft color gradient from a dark green to a pale lichen highlight. The boney areas are layered with pure black, and then lightly dry brushed with dark green,and highlighted with the same pale lichen. The flesh is layered with stone grey, and then dry brushed with a mix of blood red and stone grey. I then highlight the flesh with a mix between aged bone and blood red. If you would like to see how I blended it all together you can check out these raw video captures from the livestream broadcasts.
In case you were waiting for the punchline, here are some milestone pics!
So what else is left to do?
I would like to add some natural detailing to the hide. I am pouring over pictures of octopus, cuttlefish and squid as we speak. I am not sure what detail I will go with, but the pattern will be based layered with stone grey.
As stated before, I would love to do something special with the base. I am still toying with some ideas. If you have any, feel free to share!
