Pumpkin Dragon, Wyrmling / Harvest Dragon

 

 

 I have been struggling to do hobby stuff since the start of autumn, due to other responsibilities, which is really unfortunate because this is my favorite time of year. This also seems to be the season for the absolute best miniatures releases. So, to shake off my low productivity, what better way than to paint a seasonal release! This cute little dragon is from the under appreciated Dillon Olney, and took paint like a champ for a speed-paint. I had such a fun time, I will start work on a bigger pumpkin dragon mamma dragon. Not sure what the timeline will be there, but ill definitely post more thematic Halloween treats this month.

Color balance was tough on the photo here - I went with a very naturalistic orange, but the smartphone want to crank this think up to neon.

Dragonfly-Folk, Male

 

This is a fun piece that I had a lot of fun with. The subject for the Printed Encounter was "Modular Insectoids, " and I wanted to make another unique entry in the spirit of the kobolds I did for the last round. I found a really cool giant dragonfly in their catalog, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to make something really unique that fit perfectly thematically. This model was the first of six that I prepared, but with the whirlwind of activity that the end of summer brings to my household I was only able to finish prep on one of them before I was facing a tight deadline of only a few days of painting time (with limited time each day, that is pretty tough for me).

I decided to take a chance on the color scheme, and rather than the safe blue palate for a dragonfly (the classic blue-eyed darner) I went with something flashy that broke up my current color palate. Specifically, I modeled my paint after the real world "roseate skimmer" - those were some really striking (and risky!) colors

(credit to Jim Angelo for the great pic)

The males are super flashy purples, pinks, magents and reds, while the females are a whole different palate (for another post!). 

Definitely a bold palate that would pose a challenge, and very different from anything I had done before! I also elected for some other firsts - most notably, the transparent wings. This model, like most I print, was done with transparent resin.  I then used some liquid latex mask to cover the wings while I painted the model to keep them perfectly clear (good thing, too!). once I was done with the bulk of painting I carefully stripped of the mask - this was really challenging and took hours to achieve because I didn't want to damage the delicate wings.  Then came a clear coat, and some final details, including a transparent colorshift glaze (pink-gold). this looks amazing in person, but only the back photo captures it here. Ill have to get some alt photos to really focus on that effect at some point. I was really happy with the (super labor intensive) outcome, enough that my gears are turning and I want to dry all sorts of shimmery clear wings!

Bone Golem / Patchwork Skeleton, Large

 

I Just completed a new bone construct, which makes it another series I seem to be building. I tried to keep the paint as similar as possible to those original models, but I have definitely upped my game on subtle color shading with simple palates since I last worked on the patchwork skeletons. 

The picture came out pretty nice, so I posted it at a relatively large size. This fellow is pretty big, sitting on a 45 mm base.

MZ4250s paint contest this month covers constructs and I didn't have time to print something new, so I dug this gem out of the depths of the bag of unused prints. This model itself if one of the first things I printed and had a bunch of damage - my support game was weak. I think I managed  to salvage it, though, and I'm glad that I was able to put it to good use.

A Shiver of Sharks; Bullsharks (4)

 

Yay! I finally finished something new! I have had a bunch of projects bogging down my painting, but I was able to find some quiet time to finish these sharks this week. They might be my favorite project of the year so far. It has been ages since I finished an extant animal, and I feel a little invigorated returning to real world critters as a subject. I had thought they would be a fast project, being fairly monotone, but I sorely underestimated how much surface area I needed to cover for these large sized models.

The sharks themselves are really great Bullshark sculpts from  Wundervale Games - I was impressed with how anatomically accurate they are, and I was happy to get a set of four. In the same spirit, I based the paint-jobs on real pictures of bullsharks to keep them as realistic as I could. My son said the paint was "basic" - LOL. Sometimes you can't beat the real deal - I like 'em! 

I'm not really a fan of "flight stands" for models, and fortunately creatively basing undersea creatures is forgiving. I remixed these bases with elements from scatter terrain by "Fantastic Plants and Rocks" and some sand bases by "Cobra Mode" I reshaped. The kelp was perfect for creating an elevated look. The execution wasn't flawless, but definitely captures the idea. 

Same could be said of the whole project, I suppose. I'm pleased, so I included a lot of pics. 

 A note about bullsharks: they are a really fascinating species of large shark capable of living in fresh water (they may even rely on fresh water to breed). This often puts them in conflict with humans - we both occupy the near shore environment and estuaries. They are probably responsible for more shark attacks than the usual suspects, but their populations are in decline. Bullsharks are fierce predators, but they are also vulnerable to overfishing (they mature slowly). Take a moment to learn more about these amazing creatures!

Kobold Adept (2)

 

This pair of kobold casters make nice minions for the sorcerer I posted previously. Despite appearances, even an apprentice kobold can be a serious threat! It seems I have committed to posting my kobold warband; looking forward to the group shot.

Kobold Sorcerer

 

 My kobolds were the first really large warband I did where I completed a large variety of character types, from goons all the way to apex threats like this fellow here. They had seen a ton of use because of that, to the point of overuse, so I have taken an extended break from them. That is, until I received a fresh batch from Reaper! I was pleasantly surprised to find that the new models meshed really well with the Ben Siens classics, so I'll give them some reinforcements over the next year. Between them, and my goblins, I am getting close to completing the models needed for one of my favorite 3.5 edition modules "The Sunless Citadel," so I'll need to make a push for that sooner than later.