Search the Community

If there's one thing I love painting, it's skeletons! I think these designs by Mantic Games are probably my favorite: they have a great deal of character, (for skeletons), the sculpted details are pretty crisp for the most part, and they offer a fair amount of customizability. These all came off of one sprue that I got in a sort of "undead sampler" pack. I know there's at least one other skeleton sprue out there...I may have to track it down at some point. I went for a very dark, desaturated look throughout the squad. I wanted them to look like they've just emerged from the muddy earth onto a rain-soaked battlefield (this also informed my decision to go heavy with the rust effects). Anyway, these guys really came to life as characters while I was painting them. I couldn't resist making up some little bios (to be honest, I got a little carried away). Enjoy! A formidable squad of mercenaries in life, the Damned Company's relentless love of carnage and war led them to develop many powerful enemies. One such enemy was a fiendish wizard skilled in the dark arts. This wizard placed a powerful curse on the Company...a curse which has condemned them to continue fighting other people's wars even centuries after the members of the Damned Company shuffled off this mortal coil. Now, the Company's skills can be purchased by any necromancer brave enough to call them forth. Anyone looking to "hire" the Damned Company should be aware that they still require payment for their services. But they no longer crave gold. The form of payment that the Damned Company now demands is truly enough to chill a man to his very soul... Captain Roderick: Commander Captain Roderick is the proud commander of the Damned Company. He possesses the three most important qualities of leadership: 1) a mind for military strategy, 2) the ability to inspire his troops, and 3) a helmet with a really fancy feather sticking out of it. Contessa: Contessa is the lone female member of the Damned Company. In life, she would often use her beauty to lure opponents into a false sense of security before she butchered them with her sickle. As a skeleton, she tends to skip right to the sickle violence. Marcus: Once a proud soldier serving a noble king, a series of misfortunes and bad decisions led Marcus to the less-illustrious life of fighting in a mercenary band. He resented his role in the Damned Company in life...being stuck with them for an eternity in death hasn't done much to improve his outlook. Louis: Easily the most blood-thirsty member of the Damned Company, Louis is always ready to enthusiastically skewer opponents with his spear. It's usually best to just point him toward the enemy and let him do what he does best. Christoph: Nicknamed "The Screaming Star" in life, Christoph is certainly a fearsome fighter who has earned his role as the Company's second-in-command. However, his fighting prowess is equalled by his ambition and tendency toward treachery. Christoph is always on the lookout for an opportunity to wrestle away command of the Damned Company for himself. Howard: Howard is the jokester of the group...always pushing the boundaries of humor. Unfortunately for him, his "axe in the head" routine was never as much of a hit with his fellow mercenaries as he thought it would be. George: George's preference for solitude led to many nights of guard duty in life. His alleged preference for sleeping while on guard duty probably led to many of the Damned Company becoming skeletons earlier than planned. Change is often slow to come, however. Even in death, George still pulls more than his fair share of guard duty. Stanley: Stanley is a capable soldier with the annoying habit of shouting "hammer time" after each vanquished opponent. In life, he also had an odd preference for wearing extremely oversized pants. No one understood it then, and no one understands it now. Karl: Karl is the lumbering powerhouse of the group - always willing to confidently wade head-first into battle. He was also the first member of the Company to actually be killed in battle. There's probably some sort of lesson to be learned from that... Horace: Despite being well-liked by the rest of the group, Horace is often regarded as the forgotten member of the Damned Company (on the rare occasions when anyone bothers to regard him at all). Sandoval: Sandoval is an accomplished soldier. However, he is also chronically late. Whenever the Damned Company is called forth from the depths of hell, it's not uncommon for Sandoval to be absent at first. No worries, though...he always shows up eventually (usually at the most opportune time). Lobo: In life, Lobo served as the team's scout and mascot. He has much the same role in death. But, for obvious reasons, he's now less-enthusiastic about chewing on bones.

Started a diorama for ReaperCon. I've got quite a bit to touch up but wanted to post progress here!

I finally got inspired to paint these guys up after BlazingTornado posted one a while back. For what they are, the sculpts have a respectable amount of detail (except the teeth...the top row of chompers had to be freehanded on each skeleton due to soft details). I was originally going to go with a tarnished bronze look on the shields. But, after I muddied them up a little, I fell in love with the look and decided to keep them as-is. I think the rust effect came out pretty well on the sword blades. They won't be superstars in my skeleton army, but they're good middle-of-the-road models.

Just some bulk skeletons...nothing special. The spears were pretty bent when I got them. I worked with them a little to straighten them out, but figured I wouldn't spend too much time driving myself crazy (these were cheapies, after all 🙂). The detail on these guys is fairly soft, but they get the job done on the table. Sorry for the quality on the group shot. Wide shots aren't my camera phone's specialty.

Another Ebay find! The base is foamboard, sand, and Vallejo Mud & Grass paint with some Citadel Stirland Battlemire. The model was a ton of fun to paint.

The main block of the force I was working on in September... Emerging from the corn to defend the patch... ...and the whole force together... Woe to the Pumpkin Smashers!

The companion unit to the archers presented earlier. The back pumpkin is from a set of doll house decorations, the front two are from the Reaper pumpkin blister. Corn is made by JTT Scenery Products. The shields being large and mostly smooth were conductive to freehanding the pumpkins on.

When the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch on Halloween to bring toys and gifts to the deserving, and a painful smiting to the pumpkin smashers, it is vital that He should covering fire if He needs it.... Four of these were among the first minis I painted for the Army of the Great Pumpkin, and I finally got around to getting them enough friends to make a unit. The large Jack O Lantern is from Reaper's pumpkin pack, I don't remember who manufactured the tree, I picked it up in the model railroad section of a hobby store sometime around 1997. There's also an Army Painter Wasteland Grass tuft. The fence was scratch made from balsa wood. Painted their shoulder skulls orange to represent the skulls of pumpkin smashers dyed with the remains of their innocent victims so as the pumpkin spirits can rest easy knowing they have been avenged... Both the older "white and bendy" Bones and the newer grey "better detailed and not bendy" Bones are in the unit. Later I need to spray primer the elf outta this so the leaves stay put. The increased detail of the grey Bones really made itself evident while painting these.

So this past February, I got around to painting up these Bog Skeletons. I was in need of more swamp zombies for Rangers of Shadow Deep and had these guys laying around and figured it was the perfect excuse for painting them. Though I am a big fan of bog-bodies, I decided to lean more into a swampy look. I figured they could be a bit more colorful and I got a strong vision of a green-tone horde of skellies. Plus bogs are notorious for preserving bodies and these guys missing quite a bit of their flesh, organs, and hair. More Below the Spoiler: I had a lot of fun working on these guys. They're very colorful despite being monochromatic and I think they're among some of my best work. I tried out new techniques and pushed my skills. In the end I have a group of evocative minis that really imply a setting beyond the limits of their bases. I couldn't be prouder of these bone-boys. I also recently shared some photos of some of my earlier attempts at painting skeletons. It was really fun looking back at where I started - especially since these models are very similar to the Skeleton Guardians. You can check out my old skeletons in the Show-Off post HERE.

Want something to read? Click below.

Finally! These were among the first miniatures I bought and the nucleus of my original undead army in the 90s. Over a year ago I decided that I ought to repaint them, and so began a saga of Simple Green, several starts and stops, and entirely too much procrastination...but finally now that the Leafening is done.... A mixture of Grenadier (the standard bearer and champion with the freehanded shield), Heartbreaker (the ones with armor) and Mirlton (unarmored). The standard and shield emblems are those of Elizabeth Bathory. One of the first vampires I bought was the GW Isabella von Carstein and she had the Bathory vibe to her, so since I painted these as wights, I figure that they are her personal guard. Kinda visible are the greenish tinge to the weapons and eyesockets to signify their wight-dom in a low key way. and here they are with the army thus far...

10 pint-sized skeletons with eyeballs. Which is a bit strange as all the other soft tissue is long gone. Especially strange since the eyes are usually the first bits to go, eaten by crows (or by fish if you die at sea). Them eyeballs are scrumptious, it would seem. The minis are from the "Halflings and Fantasy Friends" kickstarter TTcombat ran late 2018 and that was delivered some time ago. I have painted ghosts and ghouls from this line earlier. They are all very cartoony and also rather cute. Three little swordsmen ...er, knifemen. Three little pikes. Two have build their holes of straw and of sticks. The third of bricks. And four archers. 10 skeletons in all, from the "RPG pledge level" that basically gave a nice assortment of different types, either 5 or 10 of each. I used a mixture of regular paint and contrast paints on these. As always, they look better when not magnified. Some of the mould lines I simply have not noticed before, and now I see them glaring at me in the pictures. My eyesight is not what it once was. I printed out 20mm bases for the little rascals. Halflings Skeletons TTCombat 2018/2019 Unknown sculptor Resin 20mm bases Should be available from TTCombat in the future. These models were painted the 10th and 11th of April.

Short Wart's Cohort Mort Being a band of bony retribution soon to cross the Brandywine and come a-knocking on little round doors under the hills. Most of these skeleton minis are from the same second hand purchase where I got the zombies that were featured a few week ago. I got the incomplete undead mammoth off Ebay several years ago, and Short Wart himself is an Oathsworn Halfling Necromancer. All minis have been given 3D printed bases, most of them 25mm. There are a lot of pics beneath, although some are distictly unfocussed, as if a dark power did not wish to be documented...

Last few days of the second Triumph of Death kickstarter. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, new character minis, skeleton cavalry and foot units for a 28mm metal Renaissance-style skeleton army, inspired by the art of Peter Breugel, Holbein and Durer, with more than a nod to Minifigs' classic Valley of the Four Winds. If you don't want wargaming units, there's a pledge level for one each of the core 13 models: they are the very definition of characterful. You can also get all the minis from the first kickstarter as add-ons. Among many gaming achievements, Thomas Foss is also responsible for the recent Medieval Killer Rabbits kickstarter, which went down well around these parts. Not affiliated in any way, but I backed the first KS, and all the minis were great, communication was excellent and delivery was prompt. Well worth a look!

Well it’s been a while since I posted anything here. But I have been slowly painting in the background since moving house. Here is a regiment of GW skeletons. These were a bit fiddly to build but will form part of my Dragons Rampant army. as always comments welcome.

This was one of the first add-ons from the Kickstarter that was a must for me. Monster Undead are always fun.

A little Easter Sunday painting for the game table. These were from Bones1. They are risen! They are risen! Tell it out with fearful voice. They have burst the darkest prison; Let the whole earth feel remorse. Death is risen; man will flee! My photos are as bad as my verse, sorry.

I crossed over to the global beast from Nottingham to buy these, they were at a trade show on a deal. Néed to paint some Reaper figures for balance, maybe the Bog skeletons from Bones 4. Vallejo bone primer all over, which was hard to do as it was the exact colour of the unpainted plastic minis. Then an Army Painter Strong tone wash all over everything. Then I did Mirage blue cloaks and shields, and sand and off white wraps and rags. The weapons are Army Painter Old Iron. The bones were not dry brushed, I tried to carefully (for me) paint highlights with Army Painter Skeleton Bone. I seem to have been helped with some very literal paint names on these. In terms of assembly these were very easy as they essentially snap together. All I would say is that this limits converting a bit as you don't have a sprue of heads, arms etc to muck around with and swap. Would recommend these though and they are one of the better value sets as you get seven models.

I painted up the skeletons I had from Bones 2 together with a Bone Fiend. The Skeletons were fun to do, the Bone Fiend a bit less as the model was quite undefined. For the skeletons, I took some inspiration from the game Morrowind for the colours, bases and shield designs.

The final skeletons for my set from Renaissance Skeletons Kickstarter. Also, a group shot of the previous ones.

The beginning of what will be another unit of PumpkinGuard. The shape of the shields made the freehand a bit more difficult.

When I got back into painting in October of 2015, these were among the first minis I bought. Since I'd been painting undead mostly when life got in the way years ago, I thought it appropriate to begin again with the same.(I also got a couple boxes of Zombicide VIPs undead are the easiest things to paint and after an 11 year gap I needed something forgiving at first) However I didn't actually get them done until Halloween of 2016. It was also my first attempt at freehand in years.

Eventually I'll make a full unit of these guys.

I finished painting mr. and Mrs. Bones.

The last weekend of April I was able to finish some projects that I started way back in February. First up I have a pair of Bones Skeletons. I had used the two of them to test a couple of different paint options for a different project and thought that I would give them their time in the sun and finish them off. They are not perfect, but I think that they turned out ok. The photos didn't turn out great. I will admit that I was in a rush as I was trying to get these models finished and posted for the RP Challenge. I took the time to fix one of them, but I decided to just leave the others as is.