Khaos WolfKat Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 (edited) Now that I've finally finished my Mr. Bones, I have started on my Dragon & Werewolf project. This is going to be rather a lot more involved than my first mini, but I think I'm up for the challenge! I'm making this for my my woman as a gift for our 18th anniversary. She's my Dragon and I'm her Wolf (Well, WolfKitty), so this ought to be perfect. I started out with doing a really rough colour mockup (in Corel PSP) to help me remember what I had in mind for the dragon and use as a reference. Once I had that, I started laying down some lining and initial colouring. I learned on my first one that it's a LOT easier to find the little details if you've picked them out beforehand. I'm definitely not going for the "paint a base all in one colour first", school of thought. Perhaps I'll change my mind on that at some point, but for now, I think I like doing it this way. Then I did some experimenting with where the minis are going to be in relation to one another. This isn't where on the base they will be (probably), but that isn't important just yet. I love how the space between their forepaws and faces makes kind of a heart. That's perfect for the occasion! The wolf is going to be leaning against a big boulder or wall or something with the upraised hand/paw, so it won't look like an attack pose, and I'm planning on doing some fancy shading or something that will make the ferocious snarl more of a lupine smile. Same with the dragon. Of course, there will also be plenty of treasure! I'm going to be sort of following the advice of the article, Big ol' Pile of Treasure, in the, "The Craft" section of this site. If you're in the mood for a bit of pun-ishment, go read what my twisted brain came up with when pondering my (well, my dragon's) hoard. ;) I haven't figured out the rest of the scene yet, and am open to suggestions. I'm especially open to suggestions about making some large boulders or castle ruins or the like that are both sturdy and not horrifically heavy (like using actual big rocks would be). Edited May 4, 2014 by Khaos WolfKat 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshuaslater Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 looking forward to seeing the finished work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khaos WolfKat Posted May 4, 2014 Author Share Posted May 4, 2014 First off, I changed my mind about posting everything in the OP. I'm just going to post updates as regular replies. I appear to be painting a LOT faster already, and this is only the 2nd mini! I fear my blithe predictions about painting so fewer minis, and therefore, spending less money were woefully off the mark. You all warned me. I thought I knew better. Alas...... Anyway, on to the update! Young Fire Dragon 2.0 I did most of the main painting last night/this morning, and am pleased with the results so far. (link to super detailed image) I was a little worried about being able to get the different colours in the mouth right for gums/tongue/"lips"/teeth, but I managed pretty well, I think, other than the 2 bottom teeth I have to go back over. I used a crackle finish to get the leathery effect on the wings, but it made them REALLY shiny! I'm hoping that a couple coats of matte sealer will take the shine down several notches, but I DO like the effect. Next will be cleaning up the random paint in wrong places, adding some more colour (I'm thinking a deep cranberry) on the scales of the main body, then covering that with some more small amounts of glitter paint and pearlizer to get that iridescent look I'm going for. I'm also thinking of adding some shading to the head horn so it doesn't look quite so much like silver lamé. There will most likely be other shading needed as well, but I'll get to that after I do all the other stuff. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khaos WolfKat Posted May 4, 2014 Author Share Posted May 4, 2014 looking forward to seeing the finished work. ME too!! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khaos' Dragon Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Itslooking good so far Mistress, starting to get my stuff in to begin my minis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsmiles Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 (edited) Nice start! As far as rocks, and walls, and such, I use floral foam. Cut to shape, glue down with super glue, and then apply coat after coat of regular white glue. You'll keep the texture and it will harden up nicely. I'd post a pic, but I don't want to steal your thread. Edited May 5, 2014 by dsmiles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khaos WolfKat Posted May 9, 2014 Author Share Posted May 9, 2014 Nice start! As far as rocks, and walls, and such, I use floral foam. Cut to shape, glue down with super glue, and then apply coat after coat of regular white glue. You'll keep the texture and it will harden up nicely. I'd post a pic, but I don't want to steal your thread. No no.. Please do post the pic! I'd totally love to see it. I picked up some floral foam that's NOT the super fine textured, crumbly, water retaining sort at the $ store Monday, and also found an AWESOME tile for the base at the hardware store! I'll post a pic of that once I remember to bring it in from my van. What do you think of using Modpodge for the sealant on the foam? Think that should work. I just bought some finally, after hearing about it for various craft stuff forEVER, and it seems like it might work. Also, I got several 8 oz "sample size" containers of custom mixed latex paints from the hardware store for a little under $3 each! They may not be ideal for doing any painting on the minis themselves, but should be GREAT for terrain and scenery, especially at that price! Also, a friend just happened to be about to throw out a bunch of old spices a couple days ago, and so now I've got ALL kinds of sand, blacktop, turf, fallen leaves, foliage, etc! W00T!! Now I'm gonna have to make MORE elaborate bases! And buy more minis! Err.. No. I didn't just say that. And I also totally didn't just buy a sack o skulls and 8 more minis (even though I still have 9 unpainted ones). Nope.. Nothing to see here. Move along... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khaos' Dragon Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 shakes head,yep definitely hooked, giggles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsmiles Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 I'm pretty sure that this is made out of what you're referring to as the "super fine textured, crumbly, water retaining sort." And enlarged to show texture: i'm not sure about ModgePodge, I've never used it for anything. This was done with three layers of white glue. Then primed (possibly unnecessary, but I did it just to be safe), basecoated in mid-tone gray, washed with Payne's Grey (you could use black or brown instead), then drybrushed with the same mid-tone, and drybryshed again with a light gray. If you want bricks or stones (instead of concrete), you take a dull-ish #2 pencil or medium ball-point pen and press the lines into the foam. You don't want to use anything sharp, as you'll cut the foam instead of just condensing it. Hope this helps! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khaos WolfKat Posted May 13, 2014 Author Share Posted May 13, 2014 (edited) I'm pretty sure that this is made out of what you're referring to as the "super fine textured, crumbly, water retaining sort." i'm not sure about ModgePodge, I've never used it for anything. This was done with three layers of white glue. [...] If you want bricks or stones (instead of concrete), you take a dull-ish #2 pencil or medium ball-point pen and press the lines into the foam. You don't want to use anything sharp, as you'll cut the foam instead of just condensing it. Hope this helps! Yes.. I think that is the sort of foam I didn't get, but that looks AWESOME for concrete! I am going for more of cave walls/rock face.. In other words, natural rock formations, rather than concrete, stones, or bricks, but your walls definitely give me the general idea. I think that sort of foam actually will work for some of the rock, if I use a sharp knife to carve out planes and such, and use a combo of foam types. And NOW I want to try doing some bricks and stone too, which means more elaborate bases! LOL. Where the hell am I going to put all these guys!? Ahh well. It keeps me off the streets. (though not out of the craft store/internet craft stuff buying places) If white glue worked, then I'm pretty sure the modpodge will too. I guess I'll find out! The foam's pretty cheap, so if any get "eaten" by paints, I'll just try something else. I'll experiment on a small amount first. Thanks so much for your pics and info. You can hijack my threads any time if that's the way you do it! ;) Edited May 13, 2014 by Khaos WolfKat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.