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In a massive bag of random Bones minis I acquired, I found four of the same type of gnoll warrior. I've decided to take three of them and paint them different quality levels - a speedpaint, my average tabletop level, and the last one, the most detailed - to see the difference in the type of efforts I put into things. They've all been cleaned and based. Different basing as well, with the last one being a gnoll on a grassy knoll. A knoll gnoll! >> And the speedpainted one, I'm not priming or gap filling. But the other two I am. I generally like to prime things no matter the material for three reasons - - Habit/preference. - To see the details better because the stark white makes it hard to see definition. - And lastly, because it helps me see how I failed to clean off mold lines as well as I thought I did and take care of it appropriately. Will get into the nitty gritty of it all tomorrow because tonight is D&D night!

Hi guys, back again after a long absence... again. I took a very long time to paint something that was supposed to be a speed paint. I was painting a Bones Finari and wasn't happy with the cast so I was just trying to get her done quick to get her off the shelf but then everything went wrong with the paint job and I stalled out for a long time. I'm not posting her because I wasn't happy but I've finally moved on. This is my Gnoll Warrior. I kind of like him. He is part of my new strategy to just paint and get used to the motions and not try to be perfect all the time. Trying to be perfect puts more minis on shelves of shame instead of in display cabinets. I thought his mane looked a lot like a mohawk so I decided that maybe he would dye it in the colours of his tribe or clan or war party or whatever. I thought it was neat. If I did it again I would maybe use more muted colours but this first time I was afraid maybe muted colours would fade out and go unnoticed. I was happy with the eye and jaws on his right side but not his left (which is why there are no good pictures of his left side ). But here he is, he's imperfect and I'm happy with him! Comments are welcome as always!

I'm a little (a lot) behind on my threads, and even more so on getting to work on May's figure of the month. It didn't help that I didn't order him until the middle/end of the month. I started last night... Prep was done in the usual way, first by washing in warm soapy water, then attaching him to the cork. I then cleaned up mold lines, though I missed a few. Mainly the one running across his knuckles on his left hand. Then I painted on a 5:2 brown liner & flow improver mix. As you can see below, I'm working on a few other minis too. The orc and werebat will get their own threads later. Tonight was blocking in base colors, and working a bit on the skin. I'm sticking with the gnoll theme I did way back in the chainmail days with the gnolls all being demonic, to one extent or another. So they all get greyish fleshy faces, hands, and feet. I used Void blue for that, then mixed in cloudy grey to bring the color up. The fur was Nut Brown, with the ruff getting some Vallejo Red Leather. The cloth is Dragon Red, as are the lips. Everything that is going to be metal got a coat of Black. And that's where I'll pick it up tomorrow! Thanks for looking. C&C welcome!

Here are some gnasty gnolls for your enjoyment! Tried to do some work on groups with an army/matching uniform look... ... And some highlighting on raised areas (the gnoll's left knee). The lighting isn't super great in these pictures (sorry!) but I promise you all they DO have spooky red eyes, as per the usual evil hunters. Next post will likely be a return some bigger minis (I just can't quit my demon lords!). Until then, take care of yourselves! -E.E.

This poor tribe of gnolls has been sitting on my desk half finished for well over a year. I decided I needed to clear them off, so I did enough to get them up to tabletop. I'm not happy with the coloration on the fur, but I still have more to learn there. Luckily I have a big pile of Bones to practice on.

Okay... So I took time out from messing up Sir Garrick, browsing comics and ebay, and finished up this one. Say hello to Ral the Indominable! Destroyer of Adventurers, Defiler of virgins... And in about 30 seconds, he'll be Ral the Flat when his sister catches him messing with her brand new armor, and punds him into the dirt... Now, for the nitty gritty. I started with Brown liner, of course. The base is 09432 Desert Sand His fur is 29854 Arctic Grey, mostly covered with 09142 Stained Ivory, and a few splashes of AP Monster Brown. Muzzle and tailtip is 09437 Dragon Black. The Shield is 09049 Ancient Bronze, with the 'blades' in 09060 Polished Bone, with the wood panels being 09162 Driftwood Brown. His teeth are 09144 Creamy Ivory, and the gums are 09403 Monster Maw. The mace is 09205 Blackened Steel, with a bit of 09134 Clotted Red on the spikes... His kilt is 09428 Saddle Brown, with a bit of Arctic Grey dry-brushed on for wear. The belts and straps are 09429 Rich Leather. I can't remember which colour I used on the mail, or his eyes. (I know it wasn't a reaper Red on his eyes, though) Besides the shoddy job I did on the flash and mold lines, I'm satisfied with how he came out.

Meet Gnancy the Gnoll. A friend of mine had the idea of a gnoll character who was considered too beautiful to live among the gnolls (their patron goddess Lamashtu exalts deformity and ugliness). So she left the gnolls to pursue a life among humans, and became a paladin of Sarenrae - pathfinder's neutral-good sun deity. It was so delightfully incongruous, I had to paint her! I started with the bones gnoll warrior, but did a lot of converting. I mended the tattered kilt, and added a sunburst image to the belt buckle. I replaced the mace with a scratch-built scimitar, which is Sarenrae's preferred weapon. But I'm most proud of the shield, which I converted into a giant holy symbol of Sarenrae. Hooray for greenstuff! Now Gnancy and her party are about to begin their quest through Katapesh. I hope to have the others painted soon!

Part 2 of my gnoll horde, used to further practice TMM, eyes, and basing. Eyes have improved markedly since the first batch taking the level-up painting class with Michael Proctor helped here, although I am still ignoring the white dot. TMM - about the same as the previous batch, starting to shade with some non-metalics to reduce the shine in the shadows. -putting the cork on a small round base (middle) didn't work at all. I tore it off, and put it on a 30mm washer, which disappears under the cork. way better. Eyes: Basing was done with a washer (slight larger than 40mm THANKS reaper!) layer of cork and then rocks, tea, and grass tufts (GW) Comments & Criticism welcome, especially on the techniques I am focusing on. I want to get better.

So to start out I have at least a base coat for the fur on these guys. I am trying to improve my skills with each mini I complete and thought what better way than to have the amazing talent on these forums guiding my hand. We start with one of the gnoll warriors. i am thinking his skin is done, excluding a couple touch ups here and there. What do you think? Also is the orange too much? If so I was thinking of making it the red/orange like the loin cloth. Any tips on making the copper stand out more? Maybe a darker color for the leather? Next is Toghra. I think the dark fur is about done, but let me know if you think it could use a couple more colors. Still trying to figure out the lighter fur. I just rebased the feet after creating a mess. I want to add some more color to the light fur but don't want it to blend too much with the dark fur. Not sure if I will stay with the red on the armor. Though I guess a red/orange theme on all would create a sense that they run together, and give a tribal feel. I am still working out the mouth as well so any advise on that is appreciated. Leaning towards another coat of flat black with some grey highlights. Next is one of my archers. I did the green because when researching I found out that apparently they are a ghoulish green. So I thought I should do at least one with this color scheme. It still needs work as you can see. Again not really sure how I will approach the lighter fur. Also the darker fur looks a bit too reptillian imo. Lastly is the whole bunch. After doing the fur on three I think I will stick to three different color schemes. I wasn't too impressed with the others.

Technique Practice, month one. 4 gnolls,painted the eyes, TTM on the armor and then basing using a Basius stamp pad. also by necessity fur. These three each have a base color that mirrors their skirt. the spear is toothpick and green stuff. the water effect is practically invisible. I cut the blue gnolls hand off, and rotated it. Hopefully he does not look like he is hitting himself.... I am happiest with the eyes, the TMM seems okay, the basing still a work in progress, but I learned a lot trying them.

Critique please! This is the test fig for my gnoll contingent that came with one of my bones kick starter sets. The rest are about half way done, but I wanted to get feedback before I got all the work done on all of them so I can take said feedback into account.

Just in time for the party's not-so random encounter, here comes a cackle of Gnolls!

I got a chance to paint Tre Manor's Gnoll Warrior, the Bones version. Love this guy--I spotted him when I visited a gaming store that actually keeps Reaper stuff stocked, and he became my first in-store Bones purchase. But, anyway. I "primed" him with gray liner and went from there. I don't know why I painted him gray instead of brown; because Disney, maybe. I remember those Lion King hyenas as gray, though I'm not even sure of that. But I shot for gray with black trim, such as it is. This was my first time putting gold metallic paint over a dark base, and I absolutely loved that. How metallics go on over this in general is big part of the reason I've shifted to black primer. Anywho, had fun with this fellow. My wife thought he was really brutal, too, and loved his shield. So when I please the wife in some way, especially with a mini, it's always a bonus. Thanks for looking!

Not really sure it deserves the "Show Off" title, but here is my first completed Bones figure. Here are a couple pictures taken at work with the same lighting as in the WIP: http://www.reapermini.com/forum/index.php?/topic/47407-bones-with-quickshade-wips-while-at-work/ As mentioned in the WIP, I'm just aiming for table top quality with these guys, and my main goal (besides getting something painted) was to test out some colors with the Strong Quickshade. I'm pretty happy overall with how the colors turned out. Should probably have gone with a darker color for his claws, but that's what I had at work. Could have lightened the ruddy leather (his kilt) a bit to get more contrast with the shading as well. And after looking at the pictures, I might have to touch up that light spot just above his tail on the kilt. Not sure when that got there..

Here's probably my last completed model until after the Kickstarter haul arrives. He was originally supposed to be a winter gnoll, but my initial color choices for his fur just didn't work for that, so I went a different route. The base on this one immediately made me think of melting ice/snow, which is where the idea of a winter gnoll came from. I did stick with that on the base, and while I think the effect works, I'm not sure it was a good choice. I think the bright base draws a bit too much focus away from the mini itself. I may yet decide to see if I can turn it into some sort of dungeon stone/rock....thoughts? Thanks to those who gave me input over in the painting tips & advice forum; I'm pretty happy with the olive choice for the clothing. The face came out really good, and I can't take all the credit for that. Jabberwocky's paint job here was the inspiration. C&C welcome!

I bought an extra Bones gnoll warrior with flail to convert to carrying a spear instead. Pretty simple conversion, I just cut the flail off above and below the paw and drilled through where the remaining haft was gripped in his hand being careful not to damage the fingers. Then I took a length of Evergreen brand plastic rod and forced it through the resulting hole. It gripped it so well that I probably could get away without gluing it at all but I did put a small drop of CA glue just to be sure. Then I drilled a hole in the tip of the pole. Next I dug up a piece of spikey frippery intended for a 40k Chaos Rhino and cut one of the spikes off. Then I drilled a hole in its base. I glued a pin made from a paper clip in the hole on the end of the pole and then glued the spike on the pin as a spear tip. This spear is pretty chunky but since the Bones gnolls are a bit larger than the gnolls I already own I am planning to use them as Fiendish gnolls to lead the others so I think it appropriate that he's carrying a massive skewering spear. At any rate, I'm pleased with the conversion and it took all of 15 minutes, including digging around looking for something to use for a spear tip. This conversion was easy enough and turned out well enough that I'm sorely tempted to pick up 3 or 4 more flail gnolls for conversion to spear carriers. On a side note, I only took pics of the finished product because I had a devil of a time getting the Bones material to show up with detail rather than as a white blob. The pics I finally settled on are still pretty crappy but at least you can see what's going on with the conversion. Ironically, I screwed around trying to get pics to post longer than it took to do the conversion.