Wyvern? Why not Vern?

Here is another beastie from the Reaper Bones 4 Kickstarter Core set. This was actually one of the early stretch goals. The sculpt is really nice and includes a very cool sculpted base. The figure is on the small side if compared to the likes of Games Workshop. Looking at the pictures, I regret not filling the gaps at the hips but otherwise I am happy with how it turned out.

Aw, Rats!

This is the Rat Ogre from the Bones 4 Kickstarter Core set (#12). It is a beautiful sculpt and casting.

The base is a piece of cork sheet gouged out with the muck made from the bits. The bubbles are drops of super glue. The water is just painted and given a gloss coat. 

Gorilla My Dreams

This is one of the many monsters from the Bones 4 Core set. When I saw him I thought "Albino gorilla". I wasn't intending on starting this one but I searched Pinterest and sure enough there were plenty of pictures of just such a creature so away I went.

Let's Make Historex

Many years ago I discovered Historex figures. These are wonderful plastic kits of Napoleonic (mostly) figures. Each kit comes with a staggering amount of fiddly little parts with every details possible. By combining kits, you can recreate virtually any uniform worn by any combatant from that era. Of course when you are starting out with something new, why buy one when many will do? Alas my modelling and painting skills were not up for the challenge at the time and for decades they sat in my collection in their special box...someday, someday...Well I guess some day arrived and I decided to dust off the old boys. This figure represents a drummer of the 2nd Regiment (Dutch) of the Old Guard Grenadiers. I'm pretty happy with the way he turned out, though I definitely learned some lessons during the construction and painting phases - for example it is a good idea to leave the pack off next time until the paining is complete. It was a bugger the get at the straps and the queue. I will definitely be putting a few more of these kits.

Rathor of Kings

This brute is called a Rathor from the Nasier faction of the game Wrath of Kings. This is the other piece that comes in the box with the Longhorn I did earlier.I didn't stray too far from the box art for colours, though I went more brown than grey for the skin tones. I really enjoyed painting this, with the well defined musculature. Also, really good value for the money considering you get two "monster" size figures.

Dummer of the 42nd Line

This is a 54mm figure from Metal Modeles representing a drummer from the French 42nd line regiment around 1809-1812. The figure is pretty straight forward with the head, pack, arms, sword and drum as separate pieces. A strip of lead foil is supplied for the drum strap. Metal Modeles casts its heads as one piece with the headgear and all which can make painting in the eyes a bit tricky but otherwise I enjoyed painting it. I'm continuing to practice painting yellows and I tried to get a variation to the whites. There are many wonderful pictures of Napoleonic re-enactors which show a variety of white tones, not only on an individual uniform but from one soldier to the next. I love these photos because I think it gives a real sense of what it must really have been like. I think we forget sometimes that these uniforms weren't being mass produced in factories with each one identical to the next.

That Would Be a Giant...

 Here is the Reaper Bones version of Krug the Hill Giant. I took my inspiration from the giants in Skyrim. I read somewhere that you should always try something new in your painting so for this figure I tried to add texture to the wraps with cross-hatching. I also tried applying a verdis effect to the brass/bronze metals. My one regret is not doing a better job of sealing the join of his right shoulder on the back. All in all I was pretty happy with the result.