Reaper Miniatures Cadirith, Demonic Colossal Spider - 77395

 

This colossal was the big bad at the bottom of the chasm. I was running a module by Kobold Press that has the adventures going down into a muti-level chasm and at the bottom is this huge demonic bone spider. I didn't have a huge demonic bone spider, but I did have a huge demonic "Bones" spider sitting on the shelf in a pile of "Bones" from an early kickstarter for the "Bones" product line from Reaper. So I had this bad boy emerge from a pile of bones at the bottom of the chasm and everything worked perfectly.

One of the difficulties of this colossal monstrosity is that the original white Bones mixture has a tendency to bend/warp over time for something this big and heavy. Another problem, in the tactical combat of a Dungeons and Dragons game everyone playing needs to know which squares the monster is in order to determine both player and monster attacks. 

I solved both problems with a base and a paperclip. The bottom of the spider has a hollow and I bent one side of the paperclip into the hollow and superglued it into place. I then determined that the monster without the legs is basically "huge" in game terms which is a 3" diameter base. The paperclip was then superglued to the base and the base covered with compound. Problem solved - the spider has proper game dimensions and the weight of the miniature is on the metal post of the paperclip.

Painting instructions for Demonic Colossal Spider (used Vallejo paints)...

Step 1: Airbrushed the entire model with a dark blue
Step 2: Airbrushed the entire topside of the model with Magic Blue
Step 3: Airbrushed the very top (from the 12-o'clock position) with Electric Blue
Step 4: Airbrushed the bulb part of the spider with an Orange
Step 5: Brought the model into the hobby room and brush painted the remainder
Step 6: Use Scarlet Red on the talons
Step 7: Use Bloody Red on the tips of talons
Step 8: Use Black on the pincers and eyes
Step 9: Use Livery Green on the eyes
Step 10: Use Hot Orange on spikes
Step 11: Use Orange Fire on tips of spikes
Step 12: Use Black on base
Step 13: Drybrush Cold Grey on base
Step 14: Drybrush Stonewall Grey on base

Kickstarter paint total 179 + 1 Demonic Colossal Spider = 180

Reaper Miniatures Ghast (2 More) - 77159

I was gathering up all the metal Ghouls and Ghasts in my to be painted collection and along the way I found two more Ghasts in the bones format.  So I painted them up in the same schema as my other Ghasts.  Now I have a total of 5 to drop on a party of adventurers going through the crypt.

Kickstarter paint total: 94 + 2 Ghasts = 96

Reaper Miniatures Ghast - 77159

 

 

 

Back to the bones models.  This was a fun project for a Saturday afternoon/evening during a very cold early April day.  I wanted to play around with a bunch of the Reaper MSP HD paints.  I found three of the Reaper bones ghasts and did a bit of an experiment on each.

Painting instructions for Ghast:

Step 1: Undercoat model with Stynylrez green primer (this is awesome on bones)
Step 2: Use Suntan Flesh on all skin
Step 3: Drybrush Caucasian Flesh on all skin as highlights
Step 4: Use Golden Brown on leather strap and belts
Step 5: Use Woodland Brown on leather strap and belts as highlights
Step 6: Use Jungle Camo, Twilight Purple, Dragon Blue on cloth
Step 7: Used watered down version of each and wash the entire skin
Step 8: Use Meadow Green, Witchcraft Purple, Ice Blue as highlights on cloth
Step 9: Use Twilight Purple, Crimson Red, Rusty Red, Brilliant Red on green ghast
Step 10: Use Brilliant Red, Burning Orange, Fireball Orange on purple ghast
Step 11: Use Fireball Orange, Mustard Yellow, Golden Yellow, Gilded Yellow on blue ghast
Step 12: Use Brilliant Red on eyes
Step 13: Use Solid White on teeth
Step 14: Use Solid Black on base
Step 15: Drybrush Concrete Grey on base
Step 16: Drybrush Arctic Grey on base
Step 17: Drybrush Solid White on base

Kickstarter paint total: 85 + 3 Ghasts = 88

Reaper Miniatures Werebat - 77448

2019-06-05 update - finally released by Reaper as model number 77448

This is the Werebat from the Reaper Miniatures Bones3 Kickstarter - given number 169 as part of the Kickstarter, the model has not yet been released in either bones or metal at this time.  Once released, I'll come back and give it a proper number and appropriate sculptor tag.

First time using Reaper Miniatures MSP paints (MSP = Master Series Paint).  I picked up their three cases of MSP HD which provides the entire HD range.  A couple observations after using their paint in comparison to the Vallejo Game Colors...(a) you can use the paint straight out of the bottle without any water - it contains extender and flow which makes it flow silky smooth off the brush and takes a bit longer to dry; (b) it dries dead flat and sucks light out of the air - ok, maybe an exaggeration, but there's no glare at all; (c) it takes a couple coats - it's more translucent / less opaque than the Vallejo - this can be beneficial if you're layering or blending but does make double the work when putting down a base coat; (d) there's no system with the HD range, you have to tinker on your own making shades and highlights of your base color.

Here are my thoughts on Reaper's MSP paints... if you're a beginner, stick to GW or Vallejo's - it's easier to paint using a system approach with more opaqueness to the paint.  However, as soon as you break into that intermediate level and above, then switch over to Reaper.  You have greater control of the way the paint comes off the brush and onto the model - it's silky smooth, dries to a crisp flat, and I found that I didn't need to dilute - I was able to paint straight from the bottle - in fact, I used a Kolinsky sable brush size 8 to paint the entire model.  I've never been able to do that with any other paint before.

Again, working on fast good painting - I tried keeping the paints to a minimum and techniques simple so I could bang this model out within a few hours.

Painting instructions for Werebat:

Step 1: Undercoat model with Stynylrez green primer (this is awesome on bones)
Step 2: Use Ash Grey on the skin
Step 3: Use Ruddy Brown on the fur
Step 4: Use Solid Black on the wings
Step 5: Use Winter Blue on the rock formation
Step 6: Use Jungle Camo on the ground
Step 7: Use 1/3rd Solid Black with each of the basecoat colors with a bit of water to make a wash and apply to each section
Step 8: Use the base color to provide an initial highlight
Step 9: Use 1/3rd Solid White with each basecoat color to provide highlights except use Tropical Aqua as highlight color on the rock formation and drybrush Nightsky Blue on the wings
Step 10: Use Desert Tan on talons and claws
Step 11: Use Solid White to highlight talons and claws
Step 12: Use Witchcraft Purple on the tongue

Kickstarter paint total: 84 + 1 Werebat = 85