Working with Bones #01

I have recently received a portion of my Reaper Miniatures Bones along with 36 new tubes of paint and some figure cases. I wanted to start off talking a little bit about working with bones miniatures. I'm going to start with one of the biggest things that seems to stop the most people from ever working with Bones.

How to unbend your minis.

       

           You will want to get to containers large enough for the mini you are fixing to be submerged. Fill one with hot water, Boiling works best for the mini to not bend back, but even the hottest your tap water can get will work. Fill the second one with Ice Water.





You will then submerge the miniature you are fixing in the hot water for 10-15 seconds, the time will vary based on how thick the piece you are readjusting is. The idea is you want the plastic to be heated up all the way through. You will then pull the mini out, adjust whatever needs adjusting. Hold it in that position as you submerge it into the ice water.
                                                       Before                                    After

Before getting onto any base coating you will want to wash the Bones with some soapy water and rinse them off. There is a releasing agent used in the molding process that will increase the chance of paint flaking off.

Light Box

Today's post is about my light box. This a picture of it sitting on my drafting table. I am sick of having shitty lighting in pictures so I bought a lamp, a 120 watt light bulb, and some tracing paper today. Cut some whole in a box, taped the tracing paper to it and lit it from outside.

A picture to give a better idea of set up.

 Here are some photos I took of my first ever terrain piece inside my light box.

I was really impressed with the amount of detail I got just changing my lighting.

I must say this was an easy thing to make and will be a wonderful thing to have. Well worth a few bucks.

Now you will get higher quality pictures from me!

Some changes to my blog.

I have decided to make some changes to my blog and figured I would share why. Really only two big ones.

1. I linked my blog to my Google+ Profile. This makes it publicly known who I am. I feel like this gives people a chance to interact with me more. Feel free to contact me through Google+

2. I started an AdSense account. Please feel free to tell me how you feel about ads being on the blog as I am not sure how I feel about it. I like my blog developing into an income source and will be watching what ads show up closely, but I also understand the distaste for ads. I do not want the ads to disrupt my intent for having this blog. Please keep me informed as to if these bother you and if anything offensive is to show up.

Thanks for your understanding.

Project: Abomination Part 2

Read Part 1

Today I took my Abomination quite a bit further.

I started off blocking out all of the flesh. I went with a grayish green using paints from the Reaper Mini MSP HD Paint Set 1. He is a bit glossy because i photographed it before it fully dried. 

Next I I did a quick wash with a darker version of that green and dry brushed the flesh. This brings out some highlights and makes details like the veins in his arm really show up. 

Next I blocked out colors for the shorts and shirt. I decided to go with really tacky colors that you would see a tourist at Disneyland wearing. You can also imagine someone out of the 80's with these colors. I also added some white to the teeth while waiting for the blue to dry.

I was then away from my camera for a while at which point I got quite a lot done on the model. I put gray down on the spikes, cleaned up a nimber of lines, painted the belt, and blocked out the fanny pack. I think mixed some reds and watered them down to add some blood to things.  My camera doesn't do it justice but the mouth is looking fantastic. Really looks like the Abomination has already had a few meals before chasing you down.

I'm now going to let it sit over night come back to it another time and see what I'd like to change. I know I want to add some details to the base to make it look like a road. Possibly a yellow stripe and some rubble.  We'll see where my thoughts go when I pick him back up again.

Project: Abomination Part 1

I kickstarted Zombicide, a board game by Cool Mini or Not. In my package I got two Abominations, a large zombie, only one of which is meant to be on the board at any given time. So I've decided to paint the second.

This is an unpainted Abomination. (Photo from Cool Mini or Not)

This is where mine is at as of now. So far I have put a base coat of black on it. I am using Reaper Mini's MSP paint series for this project.

I'll start adding some details in tomorrow.

Read Part 2