Painting some Followers of Bone

[PaulinKendal]

This is where I'm at now.

The trousers were wet-blended with mixes of jade green and goblin green.

The jacket was wet-blended with mixes of goblin green and escorpena green (are these daft names why some on here just use nos? This is 72.032). Highlights with increasing amounts of white, and a tiny amount of yellow, were added. A dilution.of jade green was used to.outline the jacket sections.

I then did similar (in brown) on the 'skirt'. After some reflection, I realised that said skirt was more likely part of the same garment as the jacket, i.e. a greatcoat of sorts.

So I then overpainted the skirt in greens, trying to match each jacket. Interesting exercise - and one I'll try to avoid in future!

It was very tricky indeed to match colours, tones and intensities, and I'm far from happy with the results. But it's a valuable lesson - go carefully when 'decoding' the separate elements of your sculpt - BEFORE you paint them!

The bones were painted with a couple of coats of, well - Bonewhite (Wow! A name that helps! 72.034).

Dreadlocks were done in Reds Gory and Bloody, and Orange Fire.

Then washes - Agrax Earthshade and Seraphim Sepia, both diluted with glaze medium. Sepia to leather, Agrax to the bones. Then a wash of glaze medium and violet Vallejo Game Ink helped define and correct skin tones (I know, there's nothing 'correct' about mauve skin, but you know what I mean). It was also used to hint at eyes lurking in those eye-sockets.

Finally (for now), the bindings on his club were painted leather brown (after the wash had helped define them).

 

[PaulinKendal]

I like the way the dark trousers and darker leggings and boots anchor these figures to the ground. The pose is aggressive and defiant, and they seem rooted to the spot.

All the other units in my horde army are based in shades of mahogany brown, but I'm tempted to retain the almost-black finish I've already got on these bases - it contrasts really well with the pale bones, and should make them really stand out as a unit on the table.

And this unit is all about intimidation. A key strength of the unit is the ability to generate panic in opposing units, so anything that makes them look more impactful and extreme works well (to me, anyway).

 

[PaulinKendal]

Lastly, a gripe. Two brushes from two different manufacturers, both are size two's. What's going on?

 

[Tim Marlow]

Great update. Loving the way these are coming together. Good point about the dark bases as well. They do make the figures pop well. I think if it was me I’d possibly give the bone highlights another pass to really make the contrast stand out. They are the lightest and highest part of the figure after all.
As to brushes, there is no international “standard” on sizes. They vary between all manufacturers. The higher quality brushes tend to have longer bristles and a better “belly” to the brush, holding more paint so not tip drying so readily. It’s one of the reasons they are more expensive…..longer sable hairs are dearer and have to be more carefully lined up.
Your picture looks exactly like a comparison between a Raphael 8404 (on the left) and a Rosemary and co series 93 (on the right) except for the pink handle……what on earth were they thinking

 

[NicolasCage]

Vallejo are bad enough, but Citadel? Just ridiculous!

GW's 'Bugmans glow' has to be the most ridiculous name for a paint.

 

[PaulinKendal]

Thanks, Tim. I'll be highlighting the bone, as you suggest (that was always the intention). The fur and the beards also need some work yet.

That's not a pink brush handle, it's an overexposed image. That's a MIG MP1015. But you're right about the left hand brush - it's the Raphael 8404, which I'm finding such a delight to use, for the advantages you mention. (The longer bristles also mean they can be used more confidently without fear of paint reaching the ferrule). And of course I'm using the brush soap and storing it tip down.

I've used the Raphael for everything so far, apart from washes, which were done with the MIG - which feels stiff, clunky and unresponsive in comparison with the Raphael. It's hard to explain just how great the difference is between these two brushes - both sable, one costing £5.75, the other £11.60. They're worlds apart. That was a great recommendation, Tim.

 

[PaulinKendal]

Good point about the dark bases as well. They do make the figures pop well.

A trick I got from, I think, 52 Miniatures (who makes really wonderful YouTube content) is to darken the base considerably under a mini to anchor it - basically it's painting in the shadow the figure casts but, as in so much mini-painting, it can be exaggerated to good effect.

Here it is done under one of my mammoths - it looks massively OTT here, but in the flesh it really works well and isn't intrusive at all.

 

[Tim Marlow]

So the shadow on that mammoth is painted, and not cast by the overhead lighting? If so, that’s a great trick and we’ll worth remembering!

 

[PaulinKendal]

So the shadow on that mammoth is painted, and not cast by the overhead lighting? If so, that’s a great trick and we’ll worth remembering!

That's right. Pinched idea, of course, but I think it works really well.
Here's a picture that shows how unobtrusive it is. I didn't have the nerve to try and paint in a shadow on the piece of wood on the other figure - not sure how to do it without ruining the lovely look of that wood scrap. As a result, the piece of wood looks slightly less integrated into the whole than it otherwise would.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Just had a look at a couple of 52 Miniatures vids and there is some good detail in there….worth me exploring. The guy is a little dull, but his painting and depth of knowledge is excellent. Have you tried Vince Ventruella? He’s a good communicator in the mode of Bob Ross. His recent acrylic metal paint shootout is well worth a look.

 

[PaulinKendal]

The guy is a little dull...

I absolutely love his delivery! Worth bearing in mind English is not his first language. And I'm pretty sure he's a film maker by profession, so the films do look beautiful - his pieces straight to camera are beautifully lit.

I'll seek out VV.

 

[PaulinKendal]

These are starting to look bad-ass - imho, of course!

 

[Tim Marlow]

Yep, pretty BA from here as well…..

 

[Tim Marlow]

Hi Paul.
Everything OK? Haven’t seen an update for a while….

 

[PaulinKendal]

Yes. I'm fine, thanks for asking Tim.

Big family, some big family events (all very positive) and good weather have conspired to keep me away from the bench. Updates in due course!

 

[Tim Marlow]

No probs mate, just wondered because you galloped away at the start……

 

[PaulinKendal]

Looks like I've now got time to have another go at these. I'll next paint four of these chaps:


I've been pondering colour schemes. I don't want to paint this whole unit in combat greens. This is not camouflage they're wearing. A key attribute of the Followers of Bone is the ability to intimidate and panic their opponents - they WANT to be seen!

So that's my excuse for painting the other two-thirds of this unit in bright colours. I think these guys are going to be in shades of - blue? Maybe.

I've also been working on a character sculpt. This is Ygritte (Kissed by Fire). Unlike the paint names, I love these character's names!

It's a great sculpt, but she was moulded with her left foot on a blobby plastic 'rock'. She was asking to be freed of this (just clipped it off with sprue pliers and tidied up with a blade), drilled and mounted on wire into a suitably heroic base.
This is scraps of Scots pine bark glued up to create a rising platform for her. Again used the mix of CA on one part and PVA on the other - works really well. The bark is very flaky and unstable, so after gluing it all together it was still quite weak and wobbly. So I bolstered it with Milliput, very quickly sculpted into something (very!) roughly similar to the bark.

The figure itself is lovely, with eyes, lips, even nostrils properly sculpted. I love the left hand, with index finger braced against the arrowhead.

Now waiting for the postie to deliver some curved blades so I can address those mould lines!

 

[adt70hk]

Paul

Yet again a big thank you for all the information. Very helpful indeed.

Love the fake shadow idea on particular.

ATB

Andrew

 

[PaulinKendal]

Paul

Yet again a big thank you for all the information. Very helpful indeed.

Love the fake shadow idea on particular.

ATB

Andrew

Thanks Andrew.
I've not really experimented with the fake shadow thing that much, but I should. I reckon you could possibly exaggerate it even more than I've done with those mammoths.
And I could see it making a big difference to, say, a 1/32nd scale artillery piece - anchoring it to its base more effectively.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Thanks Andrew.
I've not really experimented with the fake shadow thing that much, but I should. I reckon you could possibly exaggerate it even more than I've done with those mammoths.
And I could see it making a big difference to, say, a 1/32nd scale artillery piece - anchoring it to its base more effectively.

Well I’m going to try it on the big Viking…..