Fountain

In the Fall of 2017 I went to Reapercon and one of the great benefits of the Con is the ability to swap and pick up metal bits.  They bring out a large table and fill it with all sorts of metal bits and then they also run a buy by the pound from anyone for store credit.  Therefore, you never know what you'll find on the metal bits table and you'll find a myriad of miniature companies and age of miniatures (I previously blogged about the cavern worm which was a great find).

I found this fountain and it caught my eye.  It had to be the top part of something as the end had a ball joint which I'm guessing must have gone into some sort of a base.  I have no idea who sculpted, cast, or what brand this miniature is from but I had fun with it.  I figured a way to base it and then built up a bit of a floor to support the ball joint.  Gave it a quick drybrush and picked out the gold coins in the fountain.  Called it done.  I'll figure out how to use this in a D&D game - maybe as a mimic as it lures the players in with glints of gold coins for the "easy" picking.

Leave a comment if you have any idea on the sculptor, miniature company, or to what this bit went to as I figure it's the top of some structure.

WizKids Mimics - WZK73192

A set of mimics from Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures by Wizkids.  Oh my goodness - I can't wait to spring these on my players - we're going to have so much fun.  The chest is straight off the pages of the Monster Manual while the keg is a bit of creative whimsy.

Painting instructions for Mimics (used my Vallejo Game Color)...

Step 1: No need to primer - already done
Step 2: Use Charred Brown on wood panels of chest and keg
Step 3: Use Hex Lichen on tongue and "fleshy" bits of chest and keg
Step 4: Use Bloody Red on tentacles of keg
Step 5: Use Bonewhite on teeth of chest and keg
Step 6: Drybrush Beasty Brown on wood panels of chest and keg
Step 7: Use Glorious Gold on metal bit of chest
Step 8: Use Tinny Tin on metal bits of keg
Step 9: Use Warlord Purple as highlights on tongue and "fleshy" bits of chest and keg
Step 10: Use Squid Pink as final highlights on tongue and "fleshy" bits of chest and keg
Step 11: Use Dead White on teeth and eyes of chest and keg
Step 12: Use Moon Yellow on eyes of chest and keg
Step 13: Drybrush Cold Grey on rock
Step 14: Drybrush Stonewall Grey on rock

Again, would be nice to know the sculptor Wizkids.

WizKids Gargoyles - WZK72561

More from the Wizkids Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures line - each pack provides one gargoyle with wings open and one gargoyle with the wings more in a semi-closed position.  These small models are a bit ambitious and show a bit of the limitations - the face loses some details and there's a decent gap in the connection between the wings and the body.  However, at these prices, it's not a worry - just slap some paint on them and they're ready for your next dungeon and dragons session.

I decided to paint these red as I can use them as gargoyles, winged kobolds, or small demons.

Painting instructions for Gargoyles (used my Vallejo Game Color)...

Step 1: No need to primer - already done
Step 2: Use Gory Red on figure
Step 3: Mix Scarlett Red with a bit of Black and water down into a wash and hit the entire figure
Step 4: Use Blood Red as highlights on figure
Step 5: Use Black on base, rock and eyeballs
Step 6: Drybrush Cold Grey on rock
Step 7: Drybrush Stonewall Grey on rock
Step 8: Drybrush Dead White on rock

Again, would be nice to know the sculptor Wizkids.

Reaper Miniatures Stone Lurker - 77227

Back to the Bones pile... this one is the Stone Lurker which is just a ball of fun to put together and paint.  It's these monster figures where once again the Bones line delivers terrific value - the bigger monster models look great (you can't tell the difference) and it's about a quarter of the price at $3.99 versus $14.49 for the metal version.

I added a bit of smaller stalagmites to the base to show "legs" on the model.

Painting instructions for Stone Lurker (used my Vallejo Game Color)...

Step 1: I'm using Stynylrez primer on the bones models - just slop it on and cover everything - it works great!
Step 2: Use Bronze Flesh on the stalagmite bits
Step 3: Mix Dead White with Bronze Flesh and drybrush on the stalagmite bits
Step 4: Mix more Dead White with Bronze Flesh and drybrush highlights on stalagmite bits
Step 5: Use watered down Scarlett Red and add the final Bronze Flesh highlight as a watered down mix - dab around the creases and the nodules where the tentacles attach to the main stalagmite
Step 6: Use Scarlett Red on the eyeball
Step 7: Use Hot Orange and cover 80% of eyeball
Step 8: Use Gold Yellow and cover 80% of the previous orange
Step 9: Use Black to generate a cat's eye pupil
Step 10: Use Black on base and rock
Step 11: Drybrush Cold Grey on rock
Step 12: Drybrush Stonewall Grey on rock
Step 13: Drybrush Dead White on rock

Kickstarter paint total: 125 + 1 Stone Lurker = 126

WizKids Carrion Crawler - WZK73535

More WizKids officially licensed Dungeons and Dragons miniatures - this one comes from their Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures line.  Again, being officially licensed, the sculpt jumps straight from the pages of the monster manual.

Painting instructions for Carrion Crawler (used my Vallejo Game Color)...

Step 1: No need to primer - already done
Step 2: Use Cayman Green on the front belly
Step 3: Use Dead Flesh on the backside
Step 4: Use Gory Red on head and legs
Step 5: Use Blood Red as highlight on head and legs
Step 6: Mix Rotting Flesh with Cayman Green for highlights on the front belly
Step 7: Add more Rotting Flesh to the mix for final highlights on the front belly
Step 8: Water down mix and use to shade indentions on the backside
Step 9: Mix Pale Flesh with Rotting Flesh to add highlights on backside
Step 10: Use Black on base, rock and eyeballs
Step 11: Drybrush Cold Grey on rock
Step 12: Drybrush Stonewall Grey on rock
Step 13: Drybrush Dead White on rock

Again, would be nice to know the sculpto Wizkids.

WizKids Adult Remorhaz - WZK73393

Wow - I'm just in love with WizKids officially licensed Dungeons and Dragons miniatures - this one comes from their Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures line.  The previous Reaper Miniatures cat I just finished is about as tiny as a sculpt I can paint and this huge miniature from WizKids tips the other end of the scale at three inches wide and almost six inches tall.  What a beautiful sculpt and an awesome model which will strike terror in the hearts of your player's when you drop this beast on them whenever they're adventuring in the cold.  No need to invent anything new here, I just copied the paint schema on the box.

Painting instructions for Remorhaz (used my Vallejo Game Color)...

Step 1: No need to primer - already done
Step 2: Use Night Blue as a basecoat over the entire model
Step 3: Drybrush Magic Blue over the entire model
Step 4: Drybrush Electric Blue as highlights
Step 5: Drybrush Ice Blue as highlights
Step 6: Wash using watered down Magic Blue over the entire model
Step 7: Pick out highlights with Ice Blue
Step 8: Use Gory Red on the spine
Step 9: Use Hot Orange on the spine
Step 10: Use Orange Fire on the spine
Step 11: Use Gold Yellow on the spine
Step 12: Use Camo Green on eyes
Step 13: Mix Camo Green and Sun Yellow on eyes for highlights - add a bit more Sun Yellow for final highlights
Step 14: Use final mix of Camo Green and Sun Yellow as highlights on fins
Step 15: Use Black on rock and claws
Step 16: Drybrush Cold Grey on rock
Step 17: Drybrush Stonewall Grey on rock
Step 18: Drybrush Dead White on rock
Step 19: Use Dead White on snow base
Step 20: Use watered down Electric Blue on base

Wizkids needs to credit the sculptor.

Reaper Miniatures Red Mantis Assassin - 89042

I give a lot of praise to the Bones figures - particularly the monsters - how good they are and particularly their value.  This is a figure where that's not so much.  The metal version is $5.99 retail whereas the Bones version is $3.99 retail.  So $2 savings each.  If you're going to do a one off or even two and you want to put on a great paint job, then go with the metal - the metal version has awesome detail that unfortunately doesn't translate well into the Bones material - maybe it will be better in the new Bones Black.

For these, I just wanted a table ready group of assassins I could throw at my party as a dangerous encounter - for when they get a bit mouthy and boastful around the city.  Therefore I hit these with Gory Red, followed with Black for the eyes and a bit of Chainmail Silver on the sword - called it done.

Another group of bones models out of the kickstarter pile - so up goes the count...

Kickstarter paint total: 121 + 4 Assassins = 125

Reaper Miniatures Familiar Pack I - 2018

Now for something really really small.  Just like the previous familiars pack ii, these bits of metal are very tiny.  However, I needed a cat miniature for one of my players whose cat familiar always appeared to be in the right place at the right time without a miniature representing placement.  I asked what type of cat and the request was for a calico cat - so I looked at a few pictures and painted this one up.

For reference - this is the metal version of the same cat, but in bones, that I used on my Halloween Tree.