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This is one of the three figures from sculptor Gene Van Horne's set 50157: Townsfolk: Ladies of the Night (or as I prefer to think of them, Women of the Regrettable Fashion Choices). I painted her up as a vampire in an attempt to show the dusky skin of the undead PoC, but I'm not sure I quite managed it. Anyhow, I really enjoyed using all sorts of unlikely colors that ought to scream "Beware!" to anyone paying attention. There is no WIP thread for this figure, but as always comments, critiques, and questions are welcome.

These are the set BFM MLS003 from Bad Squiddo, which I have discovered is called "Vampire Thralls", although in my notes I call them "feral vampires" and I think of them as more unaffiliated vampire pirates or swashbucklers. (Although thinking about it, it would be really difficult to be a vampire pirate, what with the total lack of shade and all.) I painted one of them up blonde, because blonde vampires look extra creepy. There is a WIP thread here. As ever, comments, critiques, and questions are welcome.

(Note: I actually started these a while back, though they are not done yet. This is a bit less of a WIP thread than a how-I-got-here-so-far thread, which I will update as I get my old pictures organized. Questions and comments and critiques are, as always, welcome.) Last summer Bad Squiddo Games hosted a brief Kickstarter, "My Last Sunrise," of an assortment of Gothic horror minis centered around vampires. These two stood out to me as a little beyond the Hammer horror ethos of most of the other figures. While I was painting them I thought of them as "Feral Vampires," although when I just rechecked they are called "Vampire Thralls." I dunno. They don't look very thrall-like to me. Their tag line in the Kickstarter was "Float about in my night dress cooing for scraps? No way. I hunt my own meal." Anyhow, they have a fun, odd, lady pirate or highwayman look. All paints used are Golden Matte Fluid Acrylics. Color mixes are (usually) noted, but not exact ratios. Questions are welcomed and I will try to answer them. Critiques are appreciated. This is a slight deviation from how I prime figures. Normally I prime them with Titanium White (which I did here) and then wash over them with Burnt Umber to bring out the details. These I wanted kind of cold-looking, so I washed them with a cold dark grey mixed from Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine Blue. That's them on the left. For a while I was including Bad Squiddo's "Dracula" in the photos, so you get a free peek at that too. And as per usual, the first thing I did was their skin. In contrast to the skin of living humans, I have been painting vampire skin in stark black-and-white mixed from Titanium White and Carbon Black. The very first layer is thinned Titanium White, then pale shadows of the lightest grey.

These are a couple of modern undead, Reaper's 03383: Vampire Spawn sculpted by Derek Schubert. I didn't make a WIP thread for them. Question, comments, and critiques are welcome as always.

This is Reaper's 14184: Bloodseeker Vampire, Necropolis Solo, sculpted by Matt Gubser. There isn't a WIP thread. I think he's just supposed to be some vampire mook foot soldier. I was scrolling through the Reaper catalogue looking for vampires and this one looked kind of interesting and dynamic without any fancy armor or angst. I especially liked that expressive cape. This was also an experiment in painting with a subdued palette. So many of my figures get so bright ... I thought I'd try something with mainly earth tones. Comments and critiques are welcome, as always. (After I took these pictures I realized I had gotten a little silver paint on the black edge of his base. It's been fixed.)

This is Reaper's 60138: Sheila Heidmarch, Venture Captain, sculpted by Patrick Keith. It's a magnificent sculpt. My GM needed vampires for a game, and as I said in my WIP thread, "not all female vampires hang around graveyards in unlikely and suspicious states of undress." So Sheila Heidmarch has been adapted. Jokes about Ventrue Captains may have been made. I got an idea for how to paint velvet as well, so she is something of an experiment in that line. WIP thread here.

I'm playing in a World of Darkness campaign and we need a bunch of vampires. I'm adapting Patrick Keith's 60138: Sheila Heidmarch, Venture Captain to be a vampire, because not all female vampires hang around graveyards in unlikely and suspicious states of undress. All paints used are Golden Matte Fluid Acrylics. Color mixes are (usually) noted, but not exact ratios. Questions are welcomed and I will try to answer them. Critiques are appreciated. She's such a pretty and elegant figure! I left off her short sword and staff and filled in the slight dimples where they were meant to go with a little Golden Molding Paste applied with the point of a bamboo skewer. The stuff shrinks when drying, so I heaped it up a little. This is the way I usually start miniature figures: Lightly primed with Titanium White, then when that is dry, washing it over with Burnt Umber. Burnt Umber is a dark, transparent pigment that settles into crannies when thinned down and shows the details very well. (I seem to be having a little trouble with it crackling just a bit in some areas, though.) It also gives a nice warm undertone to later paint layers (even though, eh, with a vampire you don't necessarily want "warmth".) I like to paint skin first as something of the undermost layer. After I have the skin more or less smooth and correct I paint the features. I have been painting up vampires with stark white skin because I don't seem to have the knack to make them look undead if there is even a little flesh tone in their skin. Maybe I should paint them violet or something ... Anyhow, this is almost the only time I ever mix grey from pure black and white, rather than a complex mix of brighter colors. The flatness of tone conveys something wrong with the individual, and the simplicity of color mix is very easy to shade. I started with a thin wash of pure Titanium White on her face, neck, bust, and hands. Then (close ups for a while now) I laid in the first pale shadows. All greys are mixed from Titanium White and Carbon Black. Darker shadows and some lights. She's rather a mess now, but you can see how the skin shading is beginning to go.

This is 77282: Vampire in Bones, sculpted by Bob Ridolfi. I painted him up for a game. There isn't a WIP thread.

I hadn't planned to do a Show Off thread of this figure, the Bones 77160: Judas Bloodspire, Vampire, by Werner Klocke. I just grabbed him from my bin o' Bones because a game needed some vampires and he looked pretty good and melodramatic. I didn't even do a WIP thread. But something happened. The more I painted him the more I realized what a magnificent little piece of sculpture he was. Details kept popping out at me. He has this amazing, proud Miltonian damned soul Satanic presence, with that neoclassical drapery and the broken column and that tremendous, flapping, almost alive cape like a fallen angel's wings. Werner Klocke did a fantastic job with him. The figure exists in metal, but I suspect it would be a nightmare to glue and hold together. I would be quite nervous about painting it and can only express the highest admiration for those who have done so. One further note. About halfway through painting him I glued him to a base, because as he is configured he cannot stand flat. That damned sword keeps getting in the way. Note that even in the store photo he is propped up a little by the point of the sword. This seems to be a problem with the Bones version only.

Another quick 2 hour job for some tabletop gaming.

So back to reposting my minis after the account crash. This is Freebooter winged Vampire Raven, sh swoops down from this ruin to attack Hasslefree's Gen. I removed Gen's horns, I wanted her to look more human. Gen's pics are linked cause, nude...mammal parts, I like the wings, but overall I'm not so proud of this. Around this time ( years ago) I noticed my eyesight getting worse. Nowadays I use a visor. https://postimg.cc/image/ef2n7zl6d/ https://postimg.cc/image/dcsgpgpid/ https://postimg.cc/image/5k1sxhbth/ https://postimg.cc/image/d012j9rt1/

This is Julie Guthrie's 14181: Osric, Necropolis Hero, a vampire in armor with two swords from Reaper's Warlord game. As I painted him I have been thinking of him as "Creepy chihuahua vampire dude". There is no WIP thread, although I would happy to discuss techniques, art philosophy or what have you.

This is Dracula from Bad Squiddo Games' "My Last Sunrise" collection, an assortment of vampires, vampire hunters, and a few auxiliaries which was released in a very brief Kickstarter last summer. Annie, the Dice Bag Lady, runs fun Kickstarters. The three vampire brides I painted last month are from the same set. I don't have a WIP for him. Questions and comments appreciated.

So, I got SGHawkins for my Secret Sophie. She said she would be starting Curse of Strahd soon, so I made Strahd... Happy Vampire is Happy! Also, i did a couple "Spell Effects" like this Dancing Magma Sword! And a pair of the new WizKids unpainted minis. I chose the Dragonborn female Fighters set because Dragonborn are hard to find equivilents for outside the official minis and I wanted to try out painting a few of them for future referance. I really like the effect I made with the first's Fire Sword. The mini's Fire sword is made from clear plastic so I used Tamiya Clear "Paint" to shade it and a little bit of Sword steel paint to make it look like the sword is on fire but that it still is metal underneeth. The second Dragonborn was a challenge from SGHawkins to "Try something new" so, I tried Non-Metalic Metal! I used the Copper/Bronze triad from the Bones 3 Kickstarter to attempt it. It came out okay I think, but I can do better in the future. Also, had fun with the Fire and Ice Axes. SGHawkins, please post pictures of the items I included too. i did not get to take any pictures of the gifts as I was ill until yesterday evening. GF

Finished this Reaper figure recently and thought I would stop in to share. I think it's the first I've posted here but I may have some more in a bit. Started this ten years ago or more and it languished all this time in a WIP box. My hat off to Bobby Jackson on this one, it's one of my favorites from him. That scary, hideous face is awesome as are his knock-kneed gait and his little rat friends. A classic vampire of the nosferatu ilk, or "necrarch," in Warhammer Vampire Counts lore. I really took my time with this figure back then and it's up to my "competition standard." When coming back to finish it off I mainly had to just decide not to do a few bells and whistles I had originally intended like freehand on the red fringe, and do the metals. I take pleasure in the distressed ragged bottom of the cloak, the little green gem, the eyes, and the shading of his fingernails. He is the leader of an undead warband, BTW, and his minions are coming up soon. Three ghouls (Reaper Ben Siens ones) and two giant black dogs (Siens hell hounds) are already done and awaiting varnishing.

These are the "Vampire Brides" from Bad Squiddo Games, which last summer came out with a line of Hammer-type horror figures called "My Last Sunrise." They are sculpted by Gus Kearns and were introduced with the tag line "Get married, they said. Best day of your life, they said." WIP thread here.

I believe I have posted one of these before, but I have re-based her, to match the 32mm of the others.:

A note: I use Golden Matte Fluid Acrylics and mix my own colors. All color references are to what I have mixed and sometimes how. Last summer Bad Squiddo Games had an eyeblink of a Kickstarter (I think it might have been one week) for a line of Gothic horror minis, called "My Last Sunrise". Annie the Dice Bag Lady specializes in realistic non-objectified female minis from manufacturers worldwide and has a pretty good sense of humor about it. These are three vampire brides from the assortment. They have a classic Hammer horror look to them. They were introduced in the Kickstarter as "Get married, they said. Best day of your life, they said." Anyhow, I figured I would paint them up. As ever (though I don't think I have mentioned it lately), comments and critiques are most appreciated. I'm always learning and glad to hear other perspectives. Normally I prime my minis white and wash them with Burnt Umber, a rich, dark brown. But I wanted these to look more chilly so I washed them with a cold grey mixed from Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna. It does not enhance the details as much as the darker Umber. Ultramarine Blue tends to dry with a grainy texture in thin washes. In passing, I note that this looks like a pretty good crystalline rock texture and would be a fairly fast method for painting statues. C&C welcome!

Greetings! I kind of finished this diorama a few years ago but have recently finished it for good with some newly aquired basing materials. I originally bought Isabella Von Carstien just to paint up as a single miniature but as her pose seemed to infer a commanding stance, I decided to expand things into a diorama by giving her an elite skeleton guard to command using a pack of GW skeletons that I had. For the actual terrain, I was inspired by a favourite old Ray Harryhausen film of mine, "The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad" where Sinbad swordfights a skeleton on a spiral staircase (which, famously, doesn't go anywhere!). It's a great scene & I wanted to create a spooky ruined spiral stone staircase for Isabella to lead from. The stonework is made from air-drying clay. I made the staircase by cutting out rolled flat wet clay "cookies" using the plastic cap off a deoderant can to create circles. I then scored lines into each wet "cookie" to create quarters & when dry, I snapped the clay into 4 quarters & tidied them up. I then glued each quarter on top of the last one leaving a eighth of the previous step showing, I repeated this until I got to the required height - I'm very pleased with how this worked out! . I then filled in all gaps between the steps to make them look like they were carved out of the stone & added some sand for texture here & there, I also pencilled in then scored some fish-scale tiles into the base. C & C are always welcome - Thanks for looking!

Here is a vampire from Grenadier’s Monsters large box set. I’ve been gradually getting all the undead creatures from the set, I think this is the last of them. Question: is he running after something or running away from something? I can’t make up my mind. Maybe a bunch of villagers with stakes is hot in his heels? Why wouldn’t he just polymorph into a bat or wolf, either of which could go much faster? I think if a vampire is running, he’s doing something wrong.

After working on her for more than a year, I finally finished the Countess. WIP here: http://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/65336-solarwind-countess-karnstein-bust-by-xherman1964/?hl=karnstein Many pics. So I will put them in a few posts: I learned a lot along the way. **** LADIES and GENTLEMEN and CREATURES visiting this Forum!!!*** **** I present SHE WHO RULES THE NIGHT!!!, THE MOST MURDEROUS ONE!!!!, THE LADY OF DARKNESS!!!!*** **** COUNTESS KARNSTEIN!!!**** *** That will do Furball!!!*** *** BEHOLD MY BEAUTY!!!!*** *** NOW BOW TO ME!!!***

This started out as a series of posts in the Randomness thread as I was noodling about with ideas. But things in Randomness get lost fast, and people seemed interested. So here is how I developed a pen and ink drawing from a preliminary sketch to (hopefully - not quite there yet) a finished drawing. I'm currently involved in a game set in the World of Darkness combined with Exalted. My PC is a (former) vampire with a certain amount of mental baggage. This drawing started as a tiny doodle in my sketchbook about The Beast Within, a major leitmotif in White Wolf's vampire games, as seen in the character's House of Memory (a sort of mental structuring invented in the real world in classical times to help people remember awesome amounts of stuff). The original sketch was about 4 by 8 cm. The text (if anyone is interested) is "... I could see what of my character was now imposed. Alien ways --" "You weren't frightened?" "They are only memories -- Diagnoses, if you will, of the actual thoughts. They cannot harm me."

I'm now finished with Nosferatu and have taken final pics. He came out as I intended and I got some very valuable feedback on the skin tones from awesome forum-mates. WIP found here: I present to you, Nosferatu, vampire lord from Green Monkey Models! C&C are welcomed and greatly appreciated! I'm also going to bring him to ReaperCon and enter him into the big figures contest on the forum

As if I don't already have enough projects, I can't keep him waiting any longer! This is Nosferatu, a limited edition bust from Green Monkey Models. I have copy 11/50. This sculpt is amazingly detailed, it's creepy and awesome. I'm going to try out some new undead skin tones on this bust and just have some fun. I'll elicit all of your comments and critiques as I go through this project as well! As you can see he's nearly 90mm tall, a pretty sizable bust. I'm going to clean up the little bits of putty I used to make sure the seams where his arms join his body are smooth and even and then use the airbrush to layer on some primer!

This is a figure from the Goth set from the game "Wild in the Streets" by Slow Death Games. Thanks to FishNJeeps for directing me to them when I needed miniatures of modern people in goth-punk wear for a World of Darkness game. I painted up the figure as a vampire. It didn't originally have any facial hair; that's all painted on. There isn't a WIP thread. So as a quick note, although I have seen people able to do wonderfully subtle and menacing vampires who still look like vampires, I find that unless I paint mine in stark black and white they look like regular people.