Search the Community

Under the Repaint & Rebuild column, we have the Ral Partha Frost Giant, 11-436. A classic version of the Frost Giant for Ral Partha's AD&D line back in the day. Amusingly, I was rather proud of this paint job back in the day. I cut the base out of thick clear plastic and then edged it with a rotary tool. Mixed snow, sand painted white and such to cover the large integral base and painted him up. However, on his way to an early days Finger Lakes Paint Day, he and a few other minis got unceremoniously dropped on the floor in their container. They weren't individually contained. They were just pulled from the shelf, loosely wrapped in paper towels to keep them bouncing off each other and taken in to show off. However, I didn't get out the door before my elbow bumped something and wham, down they went. The Frost Giant comes apart at the waist and the shield comes off. Naturally he came apart at the waist and in my heart sunk condition I shelved the whole box and didn't touch it again until recently. So, I dipped him, cleaned him and re-based him yesterday at paint day. With one distinct difference in the base ... The ice sheet of his old base is now the ice sheet sitting on top of water on top of his new base. The base is one of the 2-inch tile squares I use a lot with a 1-inch plastic tile holding up the old base: I used Golden Heavy Gel with no coloring as the water between the top and the bottom bases after painting the lower base with an aqua/sea blue I mixed from Warpaint Hydra Blue and Reaper Ultramarine Blue. I added a skull floating/hanging in the ice/water near the front of the base to add SKULLZ for my buddy @ub3r_n3rd because ... SKULLZ!! I painted that up on a stick beforehand and used part of the stick to help plant the skull in the gel after I had "cooked" it to set a bit. Speaking of cooking it. I improvised a low-heat method to "bake" the mini all day after assembly: All lights are energy efficient but still generate a lot of heat using the metal shades and the direct contact of the bulb under him. Last night when the gel had contracted a lot, I added more gel to fill the gaps back to the edges of the tile. Here's a close up of the skull. I also sprayed the giant later last night after masking off the base. I am back in the office today to do a little work and paint. So he's back on the lamps "baking" the gel. Upcoming: Ice ... I am going to use the crackle effect I got from Ub3r to create a cragged, icy appearance on the plastic base and bring it level with the integral base to a degree. The plastic base will be painted an icy blue to show through the cracks. Gloves and Sleeves ... I painted his hands as gloves last time to avoid messing with full blue skin. However, this time I plan to add more blue to him. Whether the blue will be in the form of bare hands or bare arms I am unsure. More Water ... as the latest gel contracts I will likely have to add more gel to get it level again towards the edges. I expect should give me some nice edges within the water to look through. Shield ... gonna put some more effort into the shield this time and paint a device on it. Part of the reason I left it off. Stay tuned and Enjoy!