Miniature Monday: Catch-Up Monday
Once again, we welcome the “Ghosts of Christmas Past”… Or, rather, the ghosts of Mini Mondays past. Let’s see what our painters scratched off their respective painting lists this time!
(posting by Antonia)
Since “birthday season” has started in Dirk’s familiy (mine will take over next moth) we didn’t manage to catch up on anything besides gossip and new recipes. But although our half- or unpainted minis will continue haunting our painting stations, fortunately some of our dear readers sent in their projects to fill that gap!
Arjen painted this week’s “poster ghost” and also a special guest freshly out of the box!
He wrote: “For catch up I painted the conjuror Aaron. Monday miniature featured this mini a year ago (May 2018) but I skipped it because it did not look interesting. When I found out it had these amazing faces in the fire (that I missed completely) I put it back on my to do list. So, to complement the yellow fire and grey smoke that others painted, I gave mine this magic green fire. Then I chose a robe color that contrasted well.”
My god, you are right, May 1018 is already a whole year ago. Time flies. But Magical fire does, too, and your Aaron looks just awesome! The ghostly faces look very cool, and the contrasting color scheme was a very good choice – you’re getting really comfortable in the pink/purple range, right?
Special guest:
Arjen said: “My Bones 4 arrived this week! So to celebrate I painted a mini from one of the expansions, the troglodyte. My camera had difficulty capturing the color, which is slightly more greyish. I have a new computer, but no painting software on it yet, so no nice combined picture* or color adjustment. Pictures from the side and rear, as I think these are the interesting parts of my paintjob, with the spots and brown spine. The initial idea for the paint scheme was based on the 3.5 monster manual, though the end result is very different as the mini looks very different and I let it evolve as I painted.”
First of all – congrats on your Bones finally arriving! Your news give me hope and envy at the same time because that means our shipment could also arrive soon-ish. (We were really biting our nails and hoping that our Bones would arrive before any final Brexit-drama started, but since they now postponed the whole mess into autumn we *should* be safe on this front at least.)
I like what you did with the troglodyte, the gradient mottling works great to convey reptilian (or amphibean) skin and the pale green contrasts nicely with it. I’m curious why you chose this mini to paint first – did it just catch your eye or do you have sinister plans for using it sometime soon?
(* I combined the two pics for you, but left the colors, because only you know how they look in Real Life.)
Jim sent us a fierce lady for mother’s day:
He wrote: “I almost didn’t do a mini this time but did a quick job on Cassiata from a while back. I’m still not entirely sold on the style of the mini, but I like her more now that I’ve painted her. Not much highlighting or shading but the overall effect is still decent.”
I know what you mean (both with “almost didn’t manage” and “weird style”), but I’m still glad you sent her in – your take on her as some kind of high fantasy “forest-warden” or bright heroine is interesting, considering the model was sculpted as an anti-paladin of some sort, if I recall correctly. I think with her hair, her stance and her “plate mail high heels” Cassiata could absolutely star in some over-the-top fantasy flick from the 80s, right? I like what you did with the gemstone, did you use gloss varnish on it?
Michael unleashed a horde of monsters:
He said: “For catch-up week, I’ve included a few more werebeasts that I finished with the wolf and croc back in January – the wereboar, wereshark, and the Avatar of Rage, who is basically a were-hippo. As I was going through my phone images, I was reminded of how many models I completed in December and January, when I wasn’t teaching. Well, my semester is nearly over, so I’m hoping for another burst of productivity!”
Well, we obviously do, too, because we’re always happy about more contributions for this page 😉
Thanks for sending in the were-creatures, I like the models a lot, and the were-hippo is definitely my favorite! How much time did you spend on this one? All the small details are greatly done, especially the scarring and that pendant, and is that blood on the bandaged hands/paws? “Avatar of Rage” indeed!
(He also included the finished Skara, and I’ll upate the last article asap.)
He added: “I did (finally!) get my Bones 4 Kickstarter. It’s… a lot!!! And of course, I’ve got the remnants of all the other ones and everything else I’ve purchased from multiple games. I’m still planning on taking on some of the big, big models this summer, so wish me luck!”
Much luck for that, do you care t share which ones you are thinking of? Maybe it sparks motivation in all of us!
This week’s gallery:
Coming next:
05/27/19 Bones III Eastern encounter part 3 – Kitsune! Female and/or male.
I added tons of miniatures to the schedule now. We might still shuffle them around, do extras (like “Show me your project!”) or add more, just tell us what you think in the comments!
06/10/19 Bones III Gwyddis, Dwarf Valkyrie (B3 Core)
06/24/19 Bones II Sir Conlan (B2 Core)
07/08/19 Bones III Durok, Dwarf Ranger (B3 Core)
07/22/19 Bones III Wraith (B3 Core)
08/05/19 Bones II Alistrilee, Elven Archer (B2 Core)
08/19/19 Bones III Sigurd, Viking (B3 Core)
09/02/19 Bones III Brotherhood of the Seal (B3 Core)
09/16/19 Bones II Mi-Sher, Sword Dancer (B2 Core)
After that Bones 4? Or should we start earlier? Until then everyone should have had the chance to check their shipments or even bought some minis directly from the shop.
We’ll gladly accept your suggestions!
Caffeineforge 
Why the troglodyte? I did not want to take one from the core set (as we will do these together, right?) and I wanted something quick, so no assembling (warning: about half ! of your Bones 4 will need assembly) and not too much tiny details-quick paint job. So it was gnomes, dark-elves or troglodytes and I always do monsters first. Also, if my DM requests dark elves I have plenty to put on the table while for troglodytes I could only field lizardmen untill now.
Jim, very nice details. Any secrets to share? how did you do the fingers, is it a brown wash? Any hints on brushes? My brushes keep losing their tips quickly. Does anyone clean their brushes with something other than water? I think it might help, but not sure.
The marble-like gem is really well done.
Michael, That avatar of rage…I like how battered you made the poor thing. The bloody bandages, patches of skinned flesh, nicely done. That jewel has that magic quality that up close, it is a mess of blues and pink and then from father away it is clearly a gemstone with some light effect. Now why did the sculptor put a pumpkin on its behind?
Thanks! All the flesh is Vallejo light flesh (and highlights) with Vallejo Fleshtone Wash. The wash is actually a bit heavy in places. I would say that over 90% of my painting is done with 4 Scharff sable brushes: #2, 1, 0 & 2/0. The rest of my brushes are widely varied for everything from drybrushing to stippling. I recommend using distilled water in my rinse pot but I use the tap as well. I also use The Master’s Brush Cleaner and Preserver. It really pulls excess paint out of the brush and puts a little oil back in to keep the hairs supple. I’ve been using the same jar for years (decades, actually!). I was just starting some translucent effects on the gem but had to quit due to time. I hope some of this helps!
Arjen – Great work emphasizing the faces in the flames, which look like they were conjured from the same place my Bat Demon from a while back came from. The trog is just super; I love the color gradient, the mottling on the back and the vegetation on the base.
Jim – That’s the mini that inspired me to find this blog! I was looking to see if people thought she was wearing pants or not… I like the steel and green colors and the gold highlights, which overall give me an Elf vibe. Very different than mine, which I made look Thayan with olive skin and red armor.
So I shot off my email last week without actually explaining the story behind these, aside from “painted werebeasts in January”. While my Werewolf and Werecrocodile were done intentionally faster, I took a lot more time on these. All of them feature a lot of layering of highlights. I used Agrellan Earth texture paint (the same one Dirk used to amazing effect on Athak’s shield) on the base of the Wereboar. I worked hard to get the colors on the Wereshark just right for a Great White; building those highlights was a pain (slightly lighter grays), but all the little details took me longer for some reason. I used water effect on the base and added some Ocean Blue.
Then there’s the Avatar of Rage. This is actually a PC (naked Tiny) of my friend in a weird game we play. I think I repainted his base color at least twice trying to match to a reference picture of a hippo (I think from Wikipedia). He is in fact a nasty rage-filled brawler, with blood on his knuckles. On his body, though, is the “blood sweat” that hippos secrete, made with a mixture of water effect and a touch of Citadel’s Blood for the Blood God, smeared in a few select places. As for the gem… it’s actually an RC Cola can, Tiny’s favorite beverage. :-P. Overall, I’m guessing I spent at least six hours total on this guy over several days, but I often work on multiple models simultaneously.
I’ll have to review some of the recently received models and the previous big ones for some suggestions for the future!
I see what you mean about the elf look. Hmmm. I should let you know that I painted her rear bare, but after I was done I think she is actually supposed to have pants or leggings on. Thanks for sharing the additional info. It adds to the appreciation of the minis.
Arjen: I have to admit, I do like the Aaron mini. I find the robe colors a good fit and the green flames contrast nicely. Good work on that flame! Love the trog! The scale pattern shows of it’s reptilian nature and I like the paler green. Too often I start with a too dark green and it obscures the detail. For some reason, these trogs remind me of Kua-toa a little bit.
Michael: Holy Multitude of Monsters! All kidding aside, they look superb. Each paint job reflects those dynamic poses. I, too, think the hippo is truly the standout. Nice detail work and a great overall appearance and effect. That is one angry water horse!
Cassiata reminds me of the phrase “out of my league”! I can’t say why I chose blue and a bit of green but it ended up alright. The picture makes me cringe a bit as I can see the spots that I missed or didn’t quite finish in my haste. That’s easy to remedy, though. I mainly wanted to avoid overtly “evil” colors such as crimson or black, but otherwise I’m not sure whether she’s good, evil or somewhere in between. In any case, she’s decidedly glam (or Goth Glam). I was seriously short on time with the gemstone, Moonstone Blue btw, so yes it has a healthy coat of gloss. It really lets you know where the primary light source is!