Once again, I paint a Bones model...

Since Reaper's Bones models came out a couple of years ago, I've been a little skeptical. Low price point and look good once painted... just a little too good to be true. About a year and a half ago, I picked up a few models on Ebay to give them a whirl... to see how they painted up and to see how much time and effort would have to go in to get them to a level I deem acceptable.

I started off with the Orc Champion in 2014. He painted up decently... although I regretted my choice of primer and I wasn't a fan of how bendy his axe was. Still, not a bad looking model when finished.

Size wise, I'd classify him as a Biggun.. but on the lower end of that spectrum. Bigger than a human model, but smaller than an Ogre or Giant.

At the time, the only other Bones model I had was Garnuk, the Ogre Champ. Definitely a potentially fun model to paint, but I wanted to check out some of the smaller Bones kits. As many people know, I am a fan of Dwarves... and if I could collect a big group of dwarf NPCs for under 20 bucks... that would be awesome. And so, I purchased some smaller models... human sized and down.

That brings us to Hellakin. I'd painted him before, so I figured why not go with a more familiar model. It took a bit of doing, but I got him painted up to a decent standard... not close to my usual "old school 'Eavy Metal" level... but close enough to use as an NPC. Again, not a fan of how bendy his dagger was... nor was I a fan of the primer color I used (Uniform Gray was not the best choice for detailed models).

Again, I didn't have a horrible experience with the model... just a "different" experience. I ended up going a little heavier on the Foundry painting style than I usually do, but in the end I think I ended up with a guy who'd prance about the wilderness stabbing folks with a poisoned knife.

And so, like a dumbass, I went smaller. It took forever to come up with a workflow that allowed me to get that kind of detail on the fur as the details were either really shallow... or just not there. I actually ended up hand highlighting some of the fur to get it to pop more. To be fair, a six pack of metal rats would set you back about $6-$7... where as I think these could be got for less than $3. Still, I think I'd have spent the extra $$$ and gotten metal.

After the rats, I decided to up the size a notch and went with a goblin. No photo... I hated that one so damn much I threw it away. 

Which brings me to my newest addition... the Mimic.

Not a bad model... although you might notice the line where the teeth got a little offset from the rest of the mouth. I tried to minimize it as much as possible, but there is only so much you can do... plus it's a Bones model and there is no way in hell I'm breaking out putty for it.

Still, I'm pretty happy with the end result. I'd be proud to place this on the tabletop and let it devour foolish adventureres. 

  

So yeah... finally got around to doing some painting.

If there is one thing I do not have large supply of, it is spare time. However, I have managed to squirrel away a few hours ever couple of nights and get back to my commissions.

  

Ah... the LotR/Hobbit line from GW... we've had a rocky relationship. Way back in 2001, I got the Fellowship box game and the Fellowship box as a gift. While I loved the metal models... the plastics were kinda meh. Don't get me wrong, the Men of Numenor were pretty good, the Elves ok, but the goblins were atrocious. After that, I kinda kept my purchases to the metal models and decided I'd just collect them.

Now here we are in 2015, and I'm painting plastic Wood Elves... and they are really nice models. I don't know if it's improvements in the casting process, but these are so much better than the original plastics. 

For this one, I went with an autumn themed color scheme. I had originally done the trousers as a light tan, but it felt too "happy" for an autumn. Plus, I wasn't seeing a light tan in any of the leaves in my backyard... but i was seeing plenty of gray. I also went more desaturated than I originally did... really helped push the whole autumn theme more.

Her base was done as a more dried and dead earth... hence the wasteland flock. Definitely think it works well with her color scheme.

Oh yeah. I painted this Wargames Factory Skeleton for Frostgrave way back in August when I got back from Gen Con. Couldn't really get a good angle as he's leaning forward to stab a dude. As I said, he's part of my Frostgrave "monsters" and also part of my big Undead collection. That collection consists of a variety of undead models from Reaper, GW, Wargames Factory, Ral Partha, and Grenadier... and probably more as I come across other really cool undead models.

I've organized my collection into something of a horde of undead... which is inspired by the GW Undead Army book from the early 90s. An Oldhammer styled horde... but with mainly new models.