Ral Partha 11-03, Magic User With Crystal Ball (male only)

[Pingo]

This is a fine little piece of Old School lead I got from the Box O' Goodwill project.  It's a Ral Partha, looks like 2nd edition D&D vintage.

 

The original set (so research tells me) had two magicians, a male and female dressed and posed similarly.

 

I started him in March and finished him off quickly during the Memorial Day Weekend challenge.  I can see little sloppy bits, but I think he's okay for tabletop use.

 

Edited June 1, 2016 by Pingo

[Glitterwolf]

I like how you painted this, the mini itself is kinda crude.

 

But the paintjob let it stand out.

 

Love the purple gleam on the boots.

[72moonglum]

Another cool little figure, beautiful colors on this blast from the past!

[Darius Glenwell]

How did you paint that orb? Cause it's awesome. I have a character that I want to have a glass staff, and that style would be perfect. 

[Limey72]

The orb really does work very well I like that a lot ;)

[Silvervane]

The orb really does work very well I like that a lot ;)

+1 to this.  They released several matching pairs like that.  I painted and posted up a partha thief a couple of years ago here....... Years????  Have I been on this site that long and still posting?  Man this must be a rather cool site to keep my interest that long.  Let alone posting.  But back on topic.  Nice work.  Always enjoying when I see your posts.

[Pingo]

Well, the WIP kind of got swallowed up by the speed paint, but this is how I painted the orb:

 

This technique takes advantage of the optical properties of transparent paint, which can get far more saturated colors at higher levels of brightness than opaque mixed colors. 

 

I use artists paints for my minis and for transparents I mix colors out of Phthalo Green, Phthalo Blue, Hansa Yellow, and Quinacridone Magenta.  Any intensely colored transparent paint will do, but they need to be pretty intense.

 

The technique is simple.  First paint the orb with a dark color at the top and white at the bottom, blending a little north of the equator.  The white should dominate the bottom half and kind of creep up the top.  Try to blend smoothly, but it doesn't have to be perfect.

 

If the orb is going to be just about any color except yellow, the top color can be black.  Yellow kind of wants a top color of softer brownish.

 

If you wish a little more complex color, instead of white you can use a pale version of the final color, like an opaque pink under what will be red, or a banana yellow under amber.

 

Then glaze the entire orb with transparent color.  I find it works better with two or three thin coats than one thick one.

 

Once the paint is dry you can add tiny dots of pure opaque white as highlights.  My dots were a little large here -- crisply edged and just big enough to be seen seems a good effect.  I have found that no more than two or three dots, possibly one of them a double-dot, on opposite sides or just slightly unevenly spaced on the upper reaches of the orb give a fairly convincing effect of shine.

 

If you are feeling particularly advanced, depending on what is under the orb, you might damp brush a very thin bit of white softly under it like a light through a magnifying lens and when it is dry glaze it with the same color you glazed the orb.  I did a tiny bit of that on his chest under the blue stone in his necklace, and a bit on the right wristlet as seen from behind.  It's also why I didn't bother trying to blackline his hand where it has been turned just a bit violet by the paint on the bottom of the orb.

[Silvervane]

Annnnd Bookmarked so I can come back to and try.  Thanks Pingo. It actually makes sense now.  I might not have had a clue how to do what you were talking about when I started back up, but now after reading advice from you and other knowledgeable painters on this forum, I can grasp what your saying and I think I have the skills to maybe pull it off.  

[Chaoswolf]

Nice work on him!

[Pingo]

Here's another use of the same orb effect:

Edited June 2, 2016 by Pingo

[Darius Glenwell]

Perfect! Thank you. I'm going to use that on that staff I talked about. The blue works even better. :D

[Mad Jack]

 I still have the female from this set, as well as a couple of the other sets - I'm pretty sure I tossed a couple of them in some of the previous BoGs...

 

Great job on the orb.

Edited June 3, 2016 by Mad Jack