Miniature Monday – Turtle Warriors
The swamp invasion continues! These are not agile ninjas 😉 but strong warriors with brutal clubs and spiky shells. Do we want to know where one of them got his shield from?
(posting by Dirk Vogel)
As my wife had too much to do, and I was entraped in work, we both hadn’t the time to paint our turtle warriors. Perhaps we can update them later. But our painters were busy and send us some very different color schemes. I think it gives a lot of inspiration to our readers.
Arjen painted his minis as green sea turtles.
This turned out as a very tricky color he told us, as the interlocking lines between the shell plates on the back are lighter (almost white) then the plates itself. He repainted the minis three times and only reached a WIP-state.
Does someone has a tip how to paint light recesses?
I like the idea of multi-colored turtles, and they will look great when finished.
Brian also send in a WIP-Warrior.
This one is a light brown turtle with an interesting color gradient on the back spikes. I like this color scheme, reminds me a little bit of bearded dragons (which I like). I imagine this warrior coming from a desert or dry environment, perhaps I burrow this to use mine in our dark sun campaign…
Did you had any real life references you used?
Michael had fun painting these ones.
He wanted to paint them in different shades from one another, as he said, and ended up using a bright green and somewhat ruddy tan on one, and on the other he used Spruce Green (which was actually kind of blue) and a dark brown shell. He also thought dry brushing was the best way to add detail to all the ridges and spikes.
Very nice color schemes, and a good example how you get subtle mood chances by changing the colors a little bit. I think the left one is more gloomy.
Something happened to the first pic while we assembled the pictures, but we will correct this ASAP.
Jim also used these minis to practice his dry brush technique.
I think he doesn’t need any practice, I like the smooth highlights. You brought out many details, especially in the face.
Did you make just one layer of drybrushing, or did you drybrush with more then one color gradient?
And the eyes are really gorgeous, I love them!
Jim also had fun painting this minis, and that’s the best reward and the reason we’re doing this, right?
This week’s gallery:
And wow, how time flies! We really have to sort out which Bones III mini we can paint next! We will start with Arjen’s greatest wish (at least if you consider the comments during the Kickstarter 😀 )!
Coming next:
9/11/17 Little ones: Hobbit Ranger and/or Gnome Druid (as many as you like 🙂 )
9/25/17 Catch-Up Monday: Monday Minis that you missed last time! Bones I & II. Antonia e.g. will do the Bones I Griffin, Dirk maybe the Bones II Samurai which he didn’t finish last time.
10/09/17 Start with Bones III! Pack Donkey (Bones III Core Set)
10/23/17 Bones III miniature TBA
11/06/17 Bones –> II <– miniatue TBA
11/20/17 Bones III miniature TBA
Caffeineforge 
Hi all, as Dirk explained above I would like to know if there is a way to make a wash that collects nicely in the ridges and still looks bright white or yellow, even if I painted the surface blue or green before? I guess you have to make the wash slightly less translucent. I may try adding a bit of white paint to a yellow citadel wash, but if anyone knowns tricks I am listening.
I am wondering did Jim use a wash first or is it a dark layer with drybrush over it? It looks real crisp.
Arjen: The only thing I can think of would be to just start by painting the low valleys white and then working the greens on after. I know what you are trying to achieve, but I’m not sure how to accomplish it!
On mine, I painted a base color and then did a heavy drybrush of a lighter shade and a light drybrush of an even lighter shade followed by a brown wash to help shade and blend. I did the same on the shell just with a different (darker) trio of greens.
Brian here. I really like Michael’s this round. It’s nice to see the various colors he used for the two.
For mine, I basecoated it with the light yellow and went over the outer parts of the scales with Smokey Ink (Vallejo Game), trying to avoid the lighter parts as much as possible. I really don’t know of any other way to get the lighter part inside, and mine still needs some touching up to get the lines perfect.
For my catch-up, I’ll probably take on Oswald the Overladen (https://caffeineforge.com/2015/05/25/monday-miniatures-oswald-the-overladen/), as I missed that one and it’s been sitting on my paint shelf for quite a while!
I really like Michael’s and Brian’s use of browns. That works very well on these turtles. Arjen’s sea turtles are looking good, especially considering the challenge of color scheme. Mine aren’t terribly “realistic” but make for pretty good fantasy monsters!
I see these two as stand ins for ogres in a swamp or marsh setting. They are the enforcers to back up the smaller lizard or frog people.
For some upcoming Bones 3 mini suggestions I’m totally open but here are some ideas:
77412: Lendil Blackroot
77405: Aeris, Female Elf Ranger
89040: Aglanda, Herald of Razmir
I like 89040: Aglanda
Great work, everybody! As I mentioned, I did mine wanting to be different from one another. My inspiration for doing so was actually due to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who in most incarnations are done in different shades of green (like in this image: http://comicsalliance.com/files/2014/08/TMNT02.jpg). I was trying to do sort of a Mikey/Raph pair with the colors.
Jim, your dry-brushing and detailing are super smooth. It looks great. Beyond the turtles, the clubs look very nice too.
As someone with a background in vertebrate anatomy (I teach human A&P these days), I appreciate the realistic takes Brian and Arjen took. Interesting how one is a sea turtle and the other looks like it may be from an arid environment. My advice for Arjen’s dilemma would be the same as Jim’s – to paint the lighter low parts first and then paint the plates. I don’t think the thinness of inks and washes could work to make a color that light.
My teaching semester has started, so I’m trying to stay ahead of the game a bit here. I just finished the little heroes, and I have a few minis done for the break week. I’ll be continuing the herpetological adventure with my Squogs, and I might have something else too. As for now, I have to find that donkey to get it prepped!