Sunday 3 January 2016

From BillA - Frostgrave Bestiary (20 points)

This armored skeleton (Reaper Bones "Arrius, Skeletal Champion") represents a couple of firsts for me - he's the first figure I've painted exclusively with Reaper paints (I'm in the process of replacing all my craft store paints with Reaper brand because I've finally come to my senses and realized how much higher the quality is for what I'm trying to do) and the first "Bones" figure I've had come out really good and with a look that I'm happy with.




Plus, I'd argue he's the single best-looking figure I've ever painted.  I've never gotten results this good before.




It makes me much more inclined to buy more "Bones" figures in the future, especially when it comes to big guys like a Frost Giant and Ice Trolls for Frostgrave.  I've also got my eye on buying a couple of Reaper's "Barrow Wardens" to back this handsome fellow up on the frozen battlefields to come.  Heck, I may buy enough to build a warband I can use in Dragon Rampant in addition to serving as wandering monsters in Frostgrave!



I'm always particularly pleased when I do the verdigris-crusted copper effect, and I use it extensively on undead - I feel like it makes them seem particularly old.


Following up on this, I scavenged three "Giant Frogs" from my collection of prepainted D&D miniatures to repurpose as Frostgrave "Ice Toads."  I'm not sure what the issue was, but the smell of the Krylon primer really clung to these guys for *days*.  Didn't get great coverage either, whether from the nature of the plastic or some sort of sealant on them from their factory of origin.  So I painted a few more layers of white over them, washed with Reaper "Tropical Blue," drybrushed again with white to emphasize the warty detail, and then picked out the eyes and mouth in Tropical Blue.

I don't know if I'd try to repaint some of these prepainted D&D miniatures again, but I think these guys are effective enough for my purposes.







You're right Bill, that armoured skeleton is the bomb. Wonderful job. I really like how you did his verdigris plate mail.
I also agree with you about the good quality of the Reaper brand - very opaque and smooth. That being said, I still keep a lot of craft paint on my desk. I use it primarily for my terrain and basework as the cost per square cm is pretty low. (That's my prairie peasant frugality coming out.) :)
Again, great work!

17 comments:

  1. Wow Bill, that verdigris is just outstanding!

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  2. I heartily concur - I would love to know your recipe for that awesome effect!

    Love those DnD frog models - always wanted to get one so I can paint it up as the Hypnotoad from Futurama!

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    1. ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD!

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    2. It's actually really easy - I mixed up a medium turquoise-y green (actually still using my craft store acrylics - I haven't bought the right shades in Reaper yet for this) and thinned it down into a wash. Then it's just a matter of brushing it over the copper!

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  3. Excellent work on the skeleton - the verdigris looks fab :)

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  4. As others have said the verdigrises' is excellent. Be nice to see more painted bones as well.

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  5. That really is a fantastic figure, the verdigris is proper fab

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  6. Great work! And hope to see much more now with the new paints.. curious how your style changes from a change in paint!

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  7. That bony feller looks the business, alright, and that verdigris is the icing on the cake (or the corrosion on the cuirass, at least)!

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  8. A spooky fellow to be sure, and I like the frost toads. Dragon Rampant would be a good use for this lot, nice rules by the looks of them.

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  9. Great stuff. Don't know what verdigris is but I like the greenish corrosion on the bronze armour. Cheers PD

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  10. Great work. Bones is great for Frostgrave espeicaly for those but mintures. I have the Ice Troll and he is awsome.

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  11. Gotta agree on that skeleton-terrifyingly terrific! The frogs are almost...cute!

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  12. Great looking figures. What color did you use for the verdigris? I too am slowly incorporating more Reaper paints into my arsenal. I got the metallic set with aged bronze etc. One final question. When you lick an ice toad, does your tongue stick to it?

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    1. The verdigris was the only thing that wasn't Reaper. I think it was a 50-50 mix of Folk Art Aqua and Bluegrass Green, thinned down to a wash.

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  13. The skelllie's verdigris is excellent! He needs an entourage for sure. The ice toads turned out well for the added challenge too.

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