Reaper Bones II Cargo Container and Star Saga Techies

 The Bones Kickstarters have been getting steadily better.  They have always been good value for money but the quality of the first Bones KS was very low.  The sculpts were good but the Bones Material itself was poor.  It was floppy, hydrophobic, and barely usable.

Bones II saw a large upgrade in quality.  The hydrophobic properties of the material were well understood by this time and there seems to have been some change in the formula that both gave stiffness to the models and improve paint adhesion. Also structurally important sections of models, especially larger ones, were further stiffened with a type of hard plastic.


This shipping container is from the Bones II Kickstarter and in made of a hard plastic.  Unlike the softer materials found in the furniture of products like Mantic's Star Saga this had zero warping and holds its shape.  It required no clean up other than a wash.

 I used blue masking tape to create some white spaces and sprayed the unprimed model with Krylon Camoflage Green. The Green area was then washed with Sewer Water (Secret Weapon).

Tape was removed and the White areas were painted directly with Graveyard Bone (Reaper) and the whole thing sealed with Krylon Clear  Satin finish.

I then used some extra decals from Atenociti's Workshop's Fast Panda to create a supply chain for my favorite Undertown Fast Food Franchise!
 

 After the decals were applied and solvaset into the textures I weathered the container with areas of Brown Rust (Secret Weapon), Engine Metal (Secret Weapon) and some targeted washes of  Seraphim Sepia (GW).  A few details were hand painted in and the thing sealed with Krylon Clear Satin.

 The Techies from Star Saga wrapped up at the same time.  The Star Saga miniatures have been surprisingly fun to paint.  I think I like the classic sci-fi look of them... as contrasted with the Grimdark stuff I so frequently paint.  Don't get me wrong! I loves me some Grimdark... but its really been fun stepping outside of it and still being firmly in sci-fi territory.  I think Undertown will be seeing a lot of traffic from the miniatures of this range in future!

 Some size comparisons.  The container is pretty large so it can give full cover to some monsters and vehicles.  As you can see this container has been vandalized by the Free Bruxx Network!

The Bruxx are a complex race of Uplifted Rats from the Serene Dawn RPG setting that I work on sporadically.  I'll have to source some sci-fi Ratmen soon.  I *may* have some here somewhere... but I'm always on the lookout for more great sculpts!

 The container can fit a 5 model squad inside.  I love models that have usable interior spaces.  Too bad this one is full of Plague victims! 

Here is the container flipped onto its side... ya never know right?  So I weathered it a bit further to simulate forklift incidental damage, wear and tear from dragging etc...

Hopefully tomorrow will see the completion of some more Dark Souls minis and construction started on some ADMech, a peddlar to fleece the Jailbirds, and some Twisted Dickensians.

Build it!
Paint it!
Play it!

Cheers,

Swelter

Reaper Fire Giants

 When I first started thinking about getting back into tabletop roleplaying I realized that, for many years, I had been so focused on tabletop wargaming that my collection was stored in such a way or lacked the depth of minis Id like to have for RPGs .

Enter Reaper Bones Kickstarter!

These represented and affordable way to get my collection of dedicated roleplaying minis up to speed.  The Bones II Kickstarter continued in the same vein and these are from that project.

This group represents King Skorg Ironskull, Queen Vanja, and a Body Guard.

I've based these using gravel chips, which makes the bases quite heavy, to keep in theme with the Fire Giants from the Bones I group I did earlier.  That group had yellow spot colors instead of the green I used here.  I like the green better and am imagining the difference to be due to this being a Royal group while the previous set was rank and file warriors.

 I really like the body Guard model.  It's simple but has enough little decorations to differentiate it from the regular warriors.

 King Skorg Ironskull cuts a huge, and angry, figure. 

The skin was worked up from Vallejo Rose Brown and a wash of Secret Weapon Ruby.

The Base was Painted with Americana Alizarin Crimson.  This is a very inexpensive craft paint and really useful for times like this since the tiny gravel really eats a lot of paint on the base coat.  This was then dry brushed with Reaper Fire Orange twice.  GW Blood for the Blood God was applied to make little valleys of deep red and then a final, light, dry-brush of Vallejo Sunny Skin Tone to tie it all together.

 The Greens were worked up from the Reaper Olive Triad, washed with Secret Weapon Baby Poop, and then highlighted with Vallejo German Camouflage Bright Green from the Flames of War line.

Yellow metals were Army Painter Gold, Secret Weapon Flesh Wash, Vallejo Model Color Gold and Fantasy Forest Rustungs Farbe... (read silver of some sort)

 Vanja, Fire Giant Queen was one of my favorite concept drawings from the Bones II Kickstarter and the sculpt was pretty good too!  I really love the massive pile of hair!

 Hair being Vallejo Scrofulous Brown, Reaper Buckskin Pale and Secret Weapon Ruby wash.  The same process was used for all three giants but you'll notice Vanja's hair is a bit darker... I accidentally hit her head with a brush load of glistening green that I was unable to remove completely so I use a little Reaper Yellow from the yellow Triad, redid the buckskin pale and rewashed the ruby.  I think it gave a little more depth having done the process twice so... a fortuitous accident in my book!

 White metals were Vallejo Gun Metal Grey, P3 Armor Wash and a light brush up with Rustungs Farbe.

 As befits a Queen she has a fair load of gems on her.  I mixed the colors with red, yellow and green gems.

... and I almost forgot!  Since these are giants it might be nice to see them alongside a regular sized model!  So Here is Yoko the Psycho, from the Raging Heroes Toughest Girls of the Galaxy, being eyed suspiciously by the Fire Giant Body Guard... Careful Yoko that flamer isn't gonna scare this guy!

Oh Rats! Rat adventurers and adversaries.

 More of the Oh Rats! section of the Reaper Bones II Kickstarter.  This is the same place I got the Gnome in Gimpsuit... and its equally odd.. Ok it's odd in its own... (slightly) less creepy way than Gimp Gnome...

Anyway!

The set of Adventure Rats!

 I suspect these are intended as adversaries for the Mouslings and I'll get round to digging those guys up eventually!

Here we have some henchrats... indispensable really and loaded down with backpacks, sacks, and various supplies for the trip.  The proverbial red shirts of the group.

These were painted while working on a pile of salvage Skaven but should be the end of things Ratty... until the Veermyn roll in from the Warpath Kickstarter.... Rats... IN... Spaaaaacccccceeeee....

The bases are worked up with gray pumice and give a nice weight, and stability, to the models.  

 The infamous Packrat!

Everyone needs a dungeon (or sewer... as the case may be...) capable beast of burden.  This one does all that and can fight to protect the loot to boot!

In truth this guy looks more like a mutant mouse than a mutant rat but that's not entirely unlikely.... right?

 Packrat has a full load of loot, including a huge ivory tusk, and a good big stick to keep pilferers at bay.

Lots of earth tones here and lots of washes.  I added a few points of actual color, like the pot and the lamp, to break up the oppression and draw the eye.

 A Red Shadow!  Fearsome Rat Assassin!

Looks like he has been hangin' with the Skaven a bit too long and has absorbed some of their symbols... as well as the glowing warp poison on his corrupted blade.

I seem to have returned to subsurface symbols on the robes of these and on several more projects that are currently on the table.  These symbols are painted on the base red of the robes and then washed with Secret Weapon Drying Blood, retouched with yellow in the vertices and ends, and rewashed with Drying Blood.

 I can't decide if this is a Rat Shaman manifesting a weasel totem or... a Weasel Shaman... or something completely different!

Ok... ok... NOT Gimp Suit different but still....


Worked up with the same subsurface symbols as the Red Shadow.

Weasel Necromancer....?

Next week is going to be hectic so I think I'll do another update before the weekend gets here I've got a Raging Heroes bit drying its pumice and a major WiP for the Mantic Abyssal Dwarf Army.

Cheers!

Rats old and new, undead musician discovery, and a basing a Kings of War Dwarf Host

 Since I really am a bit OCD about painting stuff that is out of the box before opening something new... I thought I'd better tune up these old Skaven Models, acquired in a partially painted state some time ago, while I was doing the Bones Ratmen.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered that one of the Skaven was actually some sort of Undead Goblinoid Musician!  Worse still... it was originally painted goblin green as though the previous owner was conscripting the unlucky guy into a regular goblin unit!

 If anyone recognizes that fellow post a comment or send me a PM.  I haven't got round to researching him but I'm dead curious.

There was also an incomplete Skaven Warlord, or hero of some sort, that I touched up quite a lot.  I left the banner peg in place because I'm certain, at some point, a back banner will show up that is suitable for him.

 The bases are relatively neutral and void of fiddly bits because I'll want to make a coherent theme for them and haven't yet settled on one... although with a few weeds and bits of junk these might work out fine there is a small Skaven ally force around here somewhere and I'll want to combine them up with these fellows and rationalize the basing.

 The new rat!

This is from the Reaper Bones I Kickstarter.

Looks like it might actually be a ginormous Were-Rat.. 

I based it for use as a Rat Ogre.  This guy is actually a bit larger than the legacy Rat Ogres and will make a great 'Hero' for the unit. 

The Reaper Ratmen have very long snouts and, except for the tail, look rather more like wolves to me than rats.  I'm working on some Ratmen assassins and the wolfish look is very pronounced on them.

 Basing was Grey Pumice which gave a good heft to the figure and stabilized it.  The miniature is made of the light, soft plastic like, bones material and took some convincing to stand in all but the most ideal circumstances. 

 Size comparison with the Skaven and the Reaper model.  Its a good size for a Rat Ogre and much more dynamically posed than its legacy companions.









After a series of Kings of War games it became clear that King of War was written more for movement trays than for miniatures.  There are no pesky formation changes and its even recommended to mount you miniatures, in a visually appealing density, directly onto the movement tray.

With that in mind, and under the direction of Bevie to "Create a Dwarf Host for Bevie! STAT!", I decided that the best approach was to make an army of 17 movement trays painted up in a dwarf theme so she'll have a fun looking army of movement trays to keep her entertained while I get to work on the actual dwarfs!

These are made by Customeeple and are avilable through the Mantic Website.  Once the braziers (really good for holding a die showing the morale status and to provide a kind of handle to move the tray more easily) and any of the curbing is added the trays hold slightly fewer than a full unit number of models while still looking great which allows us to swipe a few minis here and there to generate an additional unit.






The prototype base is the one with the blue, orange, red, and gold.  After looking at this it seems a bit busy so the production bases will be this blue, mauve, and gold (not yet painted).  I think its less busy and the orange was kind of jarring for something on the floor. I will likely match the prototype to the new scheme but I'll wait till the end to see how the new one turns out.

Back to the bench!

Aleksandr Kurganov, Krell, and the most disturbing gnome...

 Aleksandr Kurganov, Chief Commander of the KST.  This is a massive, and heavy, model.  I chose the metal version for this one and it plunks down on the tabletop with authoriTAY!

Shown with a Nurgle Terminator and Assault Marine for comparison.  I like that he is shorter than the Space Marines but still imposing.

 I split the difference on positioning on the base.  The left foot overhangs the base a bit but shifting him too much farther over and the cloak would have become a weapon in it's own right!

He's on a 40mm beveled base like the Terminator and is pretty stable on that.  I went with a Grey and Red scheme to fit in with some incoming Inquisition troops that I'll be working into the campaign fluff.

 This cape has a lot of room for silliness.  I did some stark shading but decided against freehand for the moment... I'm kind of torn between inventing a House Kurgan Sigil and waiting to see what Raging Heroes comes up with in that regard.

 Reaper Bones I Kickstarter.   I really just signed up for everything with the idea that I'd be using it to fill out a long neglected FRPG collection as my interest in Tabletop Roleplaying was perking up. 

In one random bag that I pulled out of the massive Kickstarter box was this... Gnome... pleasure cultist?  ... Inquisitor?

In spite of being perhaps the most disturbing Gnome miniature I've ever seen it was a lot of fun to paint and gave me a few ideas for story lines... I was a bit inspired by the Penny Dreadful character with the outrageous and, I assure you , completely natural..... hair! 

 Yeah... chaps!  pimpled, warty, gnome buttocks... oh my!

It did get a Slaanesh-esque sigil on the hood but otherwise but otherwise a plain utilitarian purple color.  I thought about designs and stripes but thought they might obfuscate how outrageous the miniature really was.










The Gnome spending some quality time with Warlord Krell...

Krell is still missing his back banner and is on a round lipped base instead of his original square one.  I think both of these minis are being added to the pile of stuff for Carnevale. 

Have fun and beware of gnomes in chaps!

Reaper Frost Giant Royals a Tardis and the Hammer MK 2

 I've wandered back into RPG figures with this pair of Frost Giants from the Reaper Bones Kickstarter.   Boerogg Blackrime, Frost Giant Jarl and Svetlana, Frost Giant Princess.

Like the other minis from the first Bones KS these are made of a material that is just a bit too flexible.  I primed them black and had no paint adhesion problems. 

The bases came from the bones 2 KS and I should have gotten a few more bags of these larger ones.  I also learned that I should use them 'upside down' that would give a very smooth bottom that slid well across most surfaces and provided a retaining wall to help keep the base scenics in place and help to hide the molded on base.  Lessons learned!

 Speaking of bases I went with a frozen rapid theme using some slate, woodland scenics snow, and woodland scenics liquid water.  This water requires no heat to use and seems to cure better than the GW Water Effects, which sometimes remains tacky for months.

The main complaint I have with the Jarl is the downward cast of his head.  It looks convincing when fighting a normal human size model... which is good... but it obfuscates the face from the regular viewer.  The model as a whole is more viewable than the Fire Giant Warrior though so I'm not all that concerned.

 I went very cliche with these because RPG centric minis are representative of their generic class.  The huge bases on these two, and the Fire Giant Warrior I did previously, also help setting the mood of the scene they are used in.

Svetlana is one of my favorites from the first Bones KS just because she captures the whole Edgar Rice Burroughs 'Savage Princess' vibe.  I always think of his book covers when I see her although I'm sure she owes more to Frazetta!~

The Jailbirds got some love with the Hammer MK2 which will be the low budget Hydra equivalent.  I had some trouble with the gun barrels warp.  I straightened them with hot water prior to painting but the seem to be slowly returning to their warped condition.  Has anyone tried to fix warped resin after painting? I'll give it a go sometime later this week and see what happens with it.  I'll likely have to replace the barrels with something more rigid.  They are magnetized so popping them off to address it later won't be a big issue.

Finally, a couple of Iron Empire folks hanging out near a Tardis from Reaper Bones 2.  I'm thinking I'll replace the Police Box lettering with something from the printer to make it look more official.  The wobbly hand drawn characters on the Jailbird vehicles is by design... to make it look like their crews did it themselves in the field.  The Police Call Box though needs to look more mass produced.  I'll have to play with the printer and see what I can come up with.