Ral Partha Classic Firbolg 1989

[Prex 568]

So I dug an old mini out of the bottom of my box of forgotten lead - the 1989 Firbolg by Ral Partha. This classic figure deserved better than being lost for  a generation so I decided to paint it up and take a few photos on the way. 

It was in fine shape except for the broken / missing handle and pommel for the sword, so I started with a repair job - pin it to win it. 

 

 

A quick test of my sculpting skills, I used milliput to add a new handle over the pin.  I gave the whole model a new prime with vallejo surface primer through my airbrush. Overall, not too bad and one quick mold line removal later and a touch up prime and it was ready for some color. 

 

 

Time for getting some basic color on the model. I started with reaper golden shadow for the skin. It's a nice warm base to paint over, so I was pretty hopeful that it would provide the right base for the reaper warrior flesh  I planned on using later.  

Next up. some shadow. I used vallejo model air burnt umber for the shadows and for a first coat of the leather bits.

 

[Glitterwolf 207340]

Good save on the sword!

[Prex 568]

As you might have guessed, the first images came over a number of sessions. Luckily for the impatient viewers, I have actually finished the projects and can post rapid fire as I get the images downloaded off my phone. :)
Next step base was base coating!  The colors used: vallejo model air silver mixed with liquitex blue and black inks for the sword and metal bits. The beard was done with saddle brown (which came out quite red over the golden shadow base). The furs were done with reaper wolf grey and the skin in reaper warrior flesh. 

 

After the base coat came the first wash and I muddied up the metals. The wash was army painter strong tone, thinned with water and done with 2 coats to make sure that I didn't darken the base too much. The sword got a sloppy dabbing of black ink to add some wear and make it look well used. I think at this stage I had also done one quick highlight of the skin with reaper warrior flesh and reaper rosy pink skin to lighten it. 

Next up. adding some rust effects to the sword and starting work on the leather, gem and some basic highlights. The sword got reaper lava orange and some of the saddle brown dabbed and dry-brushed on to build up a patina of rust. The gem int he belt was base coated with white to prep it for the green, hoping that it would make it brighter. The skin got a highlight of rosy skin to get it to pop. I also darkened the eyes to make them more shadowed. There are no eyes sculpted on the model, so I'm not going to try to freehand some. I like the shadowed look. 

 

[Prex 568]

There was a bit of back and forth on the skin tones and highlights but I didn't capture every step. After adding some scratches to the sword, leathers, and finishing off the gem, I based him with a variety of grasses. To get the base level, I used some vallejo ground texture first, so the old metal base would not show through. This was a fun little project and was a trip down memory lane, taking me back to painting figures like these when I was a kid. 

[72moonglum 15259]

Wow, beautifully painted and very nice to see the process from beginning to end!

[Glitterwolf 207340]

I love the colour of that beard!

Well done!