D&D Monster Manual 1: Purple Worms – aka Reaper Bones 77006: Great Worm

Purple Worms, Reaper Bones 77006: Great Worm

There’s a bit of discussion about at the moment, regarding how Bones is not a great material for certain figures, and can be a bit of an unpleasant material to work with for some people. While I’d agree that it’s far from perfect, it works out really well for certain figures. I bought this pair of Pre-KS Bones over a year ago, but they got put to one side for most of that time when I had to pack up to move, then move, and unpack and so forth. Recently I finished them, and finally we had some decent light, so today they got photographed. There’s a bit of mould line that I missed on one of them. Noticed it when it was too late, and I didn’t want to butcher my paint in order to fix it. You barely notice in person, anyway.

Purple Worms, Reaper Bones 77006: Great Worm

Purple Worms, Reaper Bones 77006: Great Worm

Drippy: I used some Woodland Scenics Water Effects to create the beginning of the “drool”, some WC Realistic Water over the top to smooth it out, and some Vallejo Model Colour Clear Yellow to add a touch of colour to the discharge.

Purple Worm, Reaper Bones 77006: Great Worm

Purple Worm, Reaper Bones 77006: Great Worm

Purple Worm, Reaper Bones 77006: Great Worm

Purple Worm, Reaper Bones 77006: Great Worm

Bitey: One with mucus/drool/mouthy discharge was enough.

Purple Worm, Reaper Bones 77006: Great Worm

Purple Worm, Reaper Bones 77006: Great Worm

Purple Worm, Reaper Bones 77006: Great Worm

Finally a scale shot. A couple of fantasy figures, and a ubiquitous Space Marine for scale. These are some decent sized models!

Purple Worms, Reaper Bones 77006: Great Worm

These suckers took awhile to get going, but once I actually sat down to make myself paint them they were quite an enjoyable experience. Originally they were all-purple, then I looked up the D&D colouration, which said they had yellow bellies/undersides, which I thought would look far too cartoony, but it kept bothering me. A day or two later I came back to them and used some sand and ochre shared for the “yellow” to make them look much more like natural colouration, and it worked for me. I used some pinky-purple for the transition ridge between the ochre and the main dark bluish-purple for the main body. One of the things I enjoyed most was the fact that since these are cheap Bones models, I allowed myself to play with them a lot more. I used drybrushing, blending, a purple oil paint wash at one stage, the aforementioned realistic water products, and a few weathering powders in the end. Basically a lot of experimentation and “play”, and I think they turned out pretty successful in the end!

From the Painting Desk 3.5 – Mini-update, and Goblin Aid!

I realise I haven’t updated in donkey’s ears. While I have been doing by best to get more painting done, it’s been restricted mostly to the weekends, since I’m pretty much pooped on weeknights after work, and Mondays are a particularly trying day that involves me putting out spotfires all day with no actual breaks from about 8:45am till about 4pm (and I get in at 7:45am). This sets off a cycle of not really wanting to be arsed with anything aside from shooting things on my PC and sharing abuse in online forums until the weekend comes, when I slowly cycle back into a painting mindset  ….just in time to go back to work on Monday morning.

Anyway, the shitty midwinter weather here has been ok for painting, but not so good for photographing, so here’s some quick snaps of figures I’ve been working on recently.

First up is a pair of the Wardancers I’ve been updating.

Quite happy with these results.

This pair were last shown in WIP post #3. The one charging with the sword and shield has had little changed. I brightened up his armour a little (it looks a bit shit in this photo) and basically just touched him up here and there. The musician had a lot more updated. I redid his leggings in a similar colour to the original, and touched up his boots and leathers. The biggest change, obviously, is his tunic. A friend noted that it reminded him of one of the Croatian National Football Team strips. While it’s unintentional, I will say Pozdrav mojim Hrvatskim prijateljima vani!

Kev Adams’ goblins!

I’ve also been working on some of my Orc & Goblin figures recently. I’ve been rebasing them as I have my old Elves, to use in games like Pathfinder, WFRP and perhaps Mantic’s Kings of War ruleset once I have enough done. I think I’m done with WFB, though I still like many of the models. These three are notable as they’ve been part-painted for well over a decade. The two with static flock on their bases are finished, their mate with the club is close but not quite there yet. Still need to highlight his clothing and do a few spots of detail and cleanup. If I hadn’t spent the afternoon cleaning the house (got to love going through “junk boxes” after a house move!), he’d have been finished as well.

Click to go to the Goblin Aid page on Facebook.

For anyone who hasn’t heard, Kev Adams, the sculptor responsible for the iconic Games Workshop Orc and Goblin look was brutally beaten in a home invasion a couple of months ago. Gamers have banded together to help Kev with his recovery. A large number of sculptors have gotten together and donated sculpts for the cause, and they’re being cast up by Ral Partha Europe. Foundry Miniatures is also donating all funds (excepting VAT) from the Kev Adams Self-portrait figure (with a bunch of snorklings included).

What those fucking cowardly dogs did to Kev.

 

Harlequin(?) Miniatures Skeletons

The last bit of my own work this post are a couple of skellys that again were part-painted for the better part of a decade. I finished these a little while ago, but haven’t had a chance (or the light) to photograph them properly. That’s the nice thing about finally moving into my own place. Being able to dig stuff out of old cases and make it finished. Nothing super amazing here, these guys are for gaming, not Crystal Brush. As Jaokonovski said: “The way I see it, a painted figure is a painted figure and makes you a better person.” Thumbs up to that!