Painting Reaper Bones II - Dungeon Decor

Reaper Miniatures Bones II Kickstarter - The Return of Mr. Bones!

Missing the first Reaper Bones Kickstarter, I bought into the second Reaper Bones Kickstarter by purchasing the core set. I didn't feel the need to buy anything more at the time, although some of the expansions were quite cool with possible future use. Some of the miniatures didn't mold so nicely and few were missing parts, but otherwise I feel I got my money's worth in the purchase. When I made my initial pledge I didn't have any idea where to use them and to this day I still don't. One thought was to use them to try painting fantasy miniatures for a change. I have had some with them acting as stand ins for player characters and npcs during RPG sessions in my ATOW campaign. I eventually found time to start painting these miniatures and I feel I am going to be using a lot of imagination and creativity compared to following an established paint schemes.

Putting Words to Brush

When it came time to start painting I figured I should start with something small and easy so I chose Dungeon Decor. Dungeon Decor in the core set was grouped with two pillars; Pillar of Good and Pillar of Evil. I set both pillars aside for the time being for an OSL idea further in time. Dungeon Decor gave me a few textures I rarely paint as of late; cloth, glass, and wood. I paint cloth and glass sometimes on my Blood Angels, but wood I never paint so this will be a good chance to experiment.

Dungeon Decor consisted of one small and one large barrel, one small and one large crate, one pile of loot bags, one set of mystery pots and vile.

I cleaned the miniatures the best I could along with trimming what I could. Imperfections on these miniatures do not file down well and trimming off excess mold leaves flat portions void of detail. I primed all the miniatures with Krylon Flat Black spray paint. I used Army Painter Warpaint colors where noted.

Dungeon Decor

Small barrel and Large barrel

A study of wood.

Both barrels were painted in the exact same manner. Starting with a solid layer or Oak Brown following up with an Dark Tone ink wash to fill in the cracks. I then applied a dry brush layer or Fur Brown and Leather Brown. I reapplied more ink wash to each large wood plank separation. The large barrel has highlights of Desert Yellow around the edges to give a wear and tear look as if the barrel has been pushed and shoved around. The metal securing bands around the barrel were painting with Plat Mail Metal with a Strong Tone ink wash. Since there is wear and tear on the wood the should reflect this look and appear old and not shiny.  Looking at the metal now it never occurred to me to apply some weathering powder for a bit of rust adding to the wear and tear look.

Standing

Side view of large barrel

Small crate and Large crate

A study of wood.

The small crate was the last of the crates and barrels to be painted using an idea I saw previously used online. I painted the wood with a lighter tone of wood in mind with Necrotic Flesh so it would give the impression of being assembled from scraps of driftwood. Necrotic Flesh is a bone color with a mix of green in it. This idea actually makes sense with the miniature so badly molded. The lighting in the picture gives off way too much yellow also.

The large crate was the first of the crates and barrels to be painted. It was painted using the exact same method as the barrels except it doesn't have the Leather Brown or the Desert Yellow dry brush layers applied. I still applied ink wash to each large wood plank separation. I wanted this crate to look newer in comparison to the barrels.

Standing

Side view of large crate

Loot bags

A study of cloth.

When I painted this pile of loot bags I was more concerned in focusing on identifying and painting the raised areas of the bags. I picked out tie straps as best I could as well. Painting cloth is a weakness so this is a start of some sorts.

Mystery pots and viles

A study glass, but rather clay.

Examining previous painting examples of this miniature online I saw most painted everything in similar colors along with the open pot with the look of holding gold. I chose to paint everything in different colors again focusing on the raised portions and changed the open pot to some kind of herbal colored ingredient.

I used Leather Brown for the base of the far left pot and the small pot. I wanted a more clay look for the second pot and Fur Brown did the trick. The tall vase I wanted a look as if it was holding some sort of fluid so I used Deep Blue. Everything got a Soft Tone ink wash then a reapplication of the original color on the raised edges. I think these painted well and are somewhat of a favorite of the bunch.

Conclusion

I feel I got a good chance to experiment and paint several types of wood grains. This is very important and something I can better myself at because a large portion of the miniatures I have to paint have various wood objects. Cloth and leather I need practice and finding easy to follow and adapt examples has not been fruitful. Painting glass turned more into painting clay and it turned out well.

For pictures I am using my Droid camera phone. It can get great focus, but low light causes bands to show in the pictures. I had a small lamp and a tall lamp with multiple light bulbs to help light everything, but one or two of the light bulbs where not natural bulbs. This may have been part of the problem. Google Photos auto fix helps somewhat.

One of the last things I need to do is purchase and apply a protective coal. I have often heard the use of Testor's line of coating sprays so I may start there.

I am almost finish with a pair of Barrow Rats so they should be featured soon enough.