Pingo tackles 77110: Deathsleet

[Pingo]

So.

I tried painting some minis without WIPs and found myself having a hard time keeping track of what and how much I had done. So I'm back, although these may be sporadic and really slow to update. We'll see.

Anyhow, after painting a lot of tiny figures for the January Bones Beauty Pageant, I decided to move in the opposite direction and tackle some of the big figures from Bones I to clear out room for Bones II.

So I am painting dragons. Five of them, if you count the Frost Wyrm. Each one gets its own thread, though, since I don't know how I'm going to progress through them.

First up is Deathsleet, which I am thinking of painting in iridescent colors over a black underpainting. I was inspired by this beautiful version of Reaper's gryphon.

First, I primed the figure with Reaper's Brown Liner, which as has been discovered, makes a fantastic first layer on Bones figures (I am keeping the wings separate for ease of painting).


Then I painted the figure black.

 

The other dragons I'm painting concurrently are Ebonwrath, the Fire Dragon, the Shadow Dragon, and the Frost Wyrm.

Stay tuned.

Edited February 28, 2015 by Pingo

[ub3r_n3rd]

Looking forward to this one Pingo, I don't think I've ever seen you paint a dragon before. Am I wrong?

[Pingo]

Looking forward to this one Pingo, I don't think I've ever seen you paint a dragon before. Am I wrong?

You are not wrong. I have never painted a dragon before.

 

Now I'm painting five.

[Adrift]

My title would have been, "Deathsleet tackles Adrift, and wins."

[ub3r_n3rd]

My title would have been, "Deathsleet tackles Adrift, and wins."

 

FATALITY! 

 

FINISH HIM!

[Adrift]

 

My title would have been, "Deathsleet tackles Adrift, and wins."

 

FATALITY! 

 

FINISH HIM!

 

Will you get painting already?! Poor Siri is waiting on you and the Trebeard fans need your attention as well!

[ub3r_n3rd]

 

 

My title would have been, "Deathsleet tackles Adrift, and wins."

 

FATALITY! 

 

FINISH HIM!

 

Will you get painting already?! Poor Siri is waiting on you and the Trebeard fans need your attention as well!

 

 

I'm actually at work, then I need to go pick up my wife from the airport, and then we go out to dinner. Probably won't paint tonight. 

[Pingo]

Welp, I've done more work.

 

I felt like the black wasn't rich enough, so I added another layer mixed from Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna.  It also had the effect of matting down the color some, since the Carbon Black I have has a somewhat shiny finish whereas Ultramarine Blue is naturally matte.

 

The one on the right is a richer black than the one on the left, honest.

 

Then I pulled out the old interference paints. 

 

These are made from microscopic mica flakes which have been coated with carefully calibrated films of Titanium White which act like oil on a puddle to make different colors depending on how thick the coat is.

 

In the jar they look like nothing special, kind of milky white with a sheen of whatever color they have.  This is green.

 

When painted, they are clear-ish from some angles and iridescent colored from others.  This is the sample of green interference paint on the jar on the left, and on the right the blue interference paint, which has a more sophisticated paint sample showing you what it looks like over both white and black, and how transparent it is.

 

As you can see, interference paints are pretty, but mighty subtle over white.  Over black, however, they are stunning, and that's the effect I'm taking advantage of here.

 

Here I'm starting to paint interference blue over the wings.  It's a very thin coat; a little goes a long way.

 

Then I brushed interference blue lightly over Deathsleet's body.  I wasn't aiming for full coverage, just the high points.

 

Interference green is next, blending over the bottom edges of the wings and the arms (photographed before I painted the left wing's arm).

 

I then painted interference green over Deathsleet, aiming for different parts than the interference blue.

 

I felt the green was too harsh, so I washed over Deathsleet with a dark blue mixed from Ultramarine Blue with just a touch of Titanium White to keep it from being completely transparent.

 

Then I mixed interference blue and interference green to make a sort of turquoise color and brushed that on to mellow out the color differences.

 

In hand Deathsleet is currently at the "Eurgh, this needs a lot of cleanup" stage.  But it's chugging along.

 

[LordJosh]

wow, very cool

[klarg1]

*Takes Notes*

 

I have to try those interferance paints on something.

[FireElemental]

Interference paints! I've been wanting to see those on minis since I ran across them a few months ago. Deathsleet is looking very pretty.

[Lochar]

Saw those paints at my art place, wondered what they actually looked like.  Very interesting.

[ub3r_n3rd]

Woah! That's awesome, I may need to pick some of that stuff up now... 

[Bathory]

I need some of these paints! They look great on a dragon. Especially the wings.  

[Marineal]

That is fantastic Pingo!! I love those paints, and you blended them amazingly!