Miniature Monday – Kar Drakir (updated)
Welcome to the last installment of Mini Monday before our break. How will things go on? Check the bottom of the article – and enjoy some great minis on the way down 😀 For our last monday miniature for now whe chose a mighty dragon warrior. As always with dragons there are many different colour choises…
(posted by Antonia)
I wasn’t sure how to use this mini, it doesn’t fit into any of my RPG campaigns, so I just went for a nice color scheme idea, silver and ivory.
As you can see the mini is still a WIP with all the details missing, but at least I can see how the colors work together, and fortunately the combination looks quite nice. I’m a bit sad I didn’t get to finish the base, but to be honest I’m not 100% sure how it’s supposed to look, anyway… probably something desert-like.
Dirk painted his version as the evil overlord and endboss in a planned adventure, but didn’t tell too much about it in order not to spoil me.
He went for a green dragon as parent for this half-dragon, matching with our existing bones green dragons. The scales need another highlight, but Dirk is happy with the dark overall look, especially the armor. As a bonus, he added the wings of the succubus from Bones I. Really an impressive villain!
John used a bronze dragon as basis for this halfdragon.
He went with a verdigris style shadowing and blue sword and shield to mimic the bronze dragons electric breath- great idea by the way! I also like how the sigle scales are highlighted, esp on the wonderfully grim looking face!
The metallic dragons dominate this week, as Jim painted his mini as a Bozak (Dragonman perverted from bronze dragon eggs) from Dragonlance.
All the metals look great on this one, well done, Jim! From skin to weaponry the shine is quite realistic, which brand of colors do you use?
Update by Dirk: Arjen send us a WIP shot of his reptile barbarian.
Seeing this bare chested warrior, Arjen decided to make a barbarian out of him, so he chose to paint a leather armor – a fresh different approach, didn’t think of that! He chose purple for his reptile’s skin, with a fittingly tunic. I like the work so far – perhaps you can show us the finished work.
gallery:
So, how will we go on? The next few weeks we’ll have a break for family reasons, after which we’ll hopefully be back posting. Maybe a weeks later or so, who knows, but we do our best 😀
To give you something to look forward to, we prepared a new list of minis! That way you can check out what’s coming and maybe even start painting some of them 😉 If you have more suggestions, just tell us via Email or comment.
12/05/16 Charnel grub (aka carrion crawler) Core Set
After a bit of a break we’ll be back with another classic dungeon monster, soft, squishy and carrion eating… no, not the baby. Really.
Want to participate in the next post? Email the pictures of your minis until 12/04/16 to
11/07/16 Baby break
11/14/16 Baby break
11/21/16 Baby break
11/28/16 Baby Break
MM is back here –> 12/05/16 Charnel grub (aka carrion crawler) Core Set
12/12/16 Anti Paladin, Core Set
12/19/16 Burrowing Horror Vers. 2 (aka Bulette/Land Shark) Core Set
12/26/16 Christmas Break
01/02/17 Dwarf Cleric (aka Father Christmas/Dwarven Santa 😉 okay, I’m kidding here) Core Set
01/09/17 Tick Queen, Core Set
01/16/17 Sqoug Warriors (Swamp Invasion Part I) Core Set
Caffeineforge 
Nice work, everyone! (even the WIPs) I particularly like Dirk’s with the additional wings and lizardy green scales.
It’s funny, when I got my Bones II minis I thought this one was just a huge lizard man, so I set it aside for “someday”. Once I realized it was a dragon man I immediately thought of Draconians!
I think I managed to use GW, P3 and Vallejo metallic, maybe more!
Hello everyone, I only recently discovered the world of mini painting and came across this site while looking for color scheme ideas. So far I have only gone through a few of the Reaper Bones with their learn to paint kit, but I am trying to devour as much information as possible. I feel like there is a huge leap between the basic techniques in the learn to paint kit (base coats, washes, and dry brushing) and the amazing shades and details that are used in the pictures submitted here. I intend to keep practicing as much as possible but I am also wondering what skills I should be practicing in my early work.
What are some other techniques I should pick up in addition to the few mentioned above? What resources would you recommend for improving my painting skills?
Thanks for posting your pictures and I can’t wait for more MM installments.
Hi Trevor! Welcome to a very fun & consuming hobby! 😛
Based on what you have said, I think you are starting in a great place. A lot of miniature painting is experimenting and seeing what works for you.
The biggest tip I can give you is take it slow. Use thin layers of paint and build it up to where you want it. It may take several layers to get the intensity you want. Its easier to clean up mistakes and you are less likely to lose detail of the miniature. It can also allow you to add additional colours to add more depth.
Its not unusual for me to dislike how my miniature is looking half way through. I just keep at it and usually I get there – if I don’t, I just hand it off to my husband to wash it for me (I don’t handle methylated spirits very well). Its okay to start over.
Some times the best way to learn is to see an effect you have seen on someone else’s mini and try and replicate it on your own. Most of the people on MM will happily answer if you ask “how did you do that” but your open ended question can be a bit harder to answer. Most of my miniatures I use the basics you are talking about – base coat, washes, & dry brushing and building up layers of colours to get it the way I want. The only “advanced” technique I would probably use is free hand – which is where you paint on additional detail. and that just takes practice.
Hoped this helped you out.
If you are wondering about my own painting, I participate in Monday Miniatures when I can, but my health does not always allow me to paint, like the week this was posted.
Thanks for such a detailed response Dabbles! I will go back through some of the old MM posts and see other painters’ tips for their work. If I may ask a more directed question since I haven’t been able to find a final answer on this: in what situations is it best to use drybrushing? In most tutorials I have watched they call it a beginner technique that is replaced by careful layering.
Also, it seems like all the latest posts are using Reaper miniatures – do I need to prime these before painting?
Trevor,
Welcome aboard! I have to agree with Dabbles’ advice and tips. I just want to address a couple of specific questions.
Don’t think of techniques as beginner, intermediate or advanced. Think of them as tools to be used in the correct circumstance. For example, drybrushing doesn’t work all that well on smooth flat surfaces like a cloak but is perfect for chainmail or highlights on fur. I’ve been painting for decades (not that I’m very good) and use a variety of techniques every time I paint. I use drybrushing, wetbrushing, wet blending, washes or whatever type of highlighting/shading I think will work.
Definitely prime your figures. This gives the paint something to stick to and helps you achieve a smooth paint job. You can use any quality primer on metal and resin minis but I have found that only Army Painter primer works well on Reaper Bones minis. It is the only primer that isn’t tacky after it dries/cures on the Bones material (at least in my experience).
A couple of good resources for painters are YouTube (try Doctor Faust’s Painting Clinic), Reaper’s miniature forums (lots of great painters and pictures) and when/if you get ready to spend some money, check out the painting DVDs available through Darksword Miniatures. All of these are friendly, helpful and I always learn things from them. Try to avoid tutorials that have an “I’m right and everybody else is wrong” or “I’m great, you stink” sort of attitude, no matter how good you think their painting is. I’m surprised at how unfriendly and mean spirited some painters are. Fortunately, there are far more that are both extremely talented and very encouraging.
Thank you Jim. I read somewhere that people had good results with the Vallejo brush-on acrylic primer for Reaper minis, so I think I’ll give that a shot. If it fails miserably, I’ll buy some of the Army Painter too.
Great points about the tools for every circumstance. I’ll have to practice more with all of them before I can know which is best at a given time.
The community here has been awesome so far and I’m excited to get back to some more painting!
I agree with all of Jim’s advice – especially about using techniques in the correct circumstances. Dont be afraid to experiment and figure out what works for you.
As for priming – most miniatures definitely need to be primed. Reaper’s bones line officially doesnt need to be primed but I have found its a bit hit & miss with which paint will ‘stick’ if you dont. Personally I use Reaper’s HD line to do base colours and find I dont have have to prime with those. My mini’s are played with during pathfinder games & have been dropped and I have yet to see any chipping of the paint so I feel comfortable with that.
Hope everything is going well with the new baby! I would love to see Monday Miniatures running again but I understand that family comes first and a baby can be very time consuming. Hope you are all well.