Trick or teat or your head HAHAHAHALLOWEEN SPECIAL

Halloween Special - Reaper Bones Gauntfield

To celebrate Halloween or All Hallow's Eve, whichever you prefer, I decided to paint up a figure I've had sitting around for some time. Let's take a look at the Reaper Bones Gauntfield ($2.99) which I decided to base on one of Secret Weapon's Field of Screams base sculpted by davetaylorminiatures.

Gauntfield bare bones

To start of course, make sure you give the figure a good wash with warm soap and detergent. I typically use  whatever dish soap I have at the sink.  As with all of the BONES that I have painted, my first paint choice is Reaper MSP HSD paints, but I don't have them all and so readily reach to my Vallejo Game Color and Army Painter paints. I apply the first layer of paint directly without a primer coat first and without watering down. There have been lots of discussions of other techniques on the Reaper forum, so check that out and find the method that will work best for you.

Base colors

I started with some basic colors to the figure because I seem to now be obsessed with Gotham and happened to be watching the mid-season Dr. Crane/Scarecrow episodes in season one and got inspired. The skeleton of the figure got a base coat of Reaper MSP Tusk Ivory. The face and straw were initially painted with Vallejo Game Color Khaki. The eyes of were first painted with Vallejo Model Ink Red. To this a pupil of Citadel Undercoat Black. The entire face was given a wash of Citadel Athonian Camoshade.

You may have noticed that the base also was not primed, which is unusual for a resin base. I decided to attach the figure directly to the base, which was done with a combination of green stuff and Kragl (Krazy Glue). The pumpkin is painted with Reaper MSP HSD Pumpkin Orange then washed with the Vallejo Brown Wash. highlights with Pumpkin Orange was added. To make it look like a Jack O'Lantern, I painted the inside with Vallejo Red Ink, then mixed up some of the Flou Yellow with the Pumpkin Orange to add depth until the area of the candle was with the pure yellow. I kept this small and muted so the focus stayed at the top of the miniature.

Starting highlights

The sack was base coated with Army Painter Leather Brown. After painting up the skeleton in the sack and the pumpkin, I washed them with Vallejo Brown Wash to quickly give some depth to those parts. I followed the same color pattern for the rest of Guantfield's bones. After the wash was set, I used a layer of Citadel Bleached Bone as the highlight.

The pants were painted with Vallejo Game Color Grey Blue. This was then washed with Vallejo Model Color Blue Wash. The belt was painted up with Army Painted Leather Brown and small skull buckle was painted using the Citadel Nihilakh Oxide. Typically you would use this on top of a silver to make it look aged, but the small size of the skull and the fact that most of my paint got spilled once so it was thicker than normal, made it perfect for this.

The boots were painted with Vallejo Game Color Grey Black, then washes with Vallejo Dark Grey Wash. I went back over the boots with a highlight of mixed Vallejo Grey Black mixed with Reaper MSP HSD Concrete Grey at about a 1:1 ratio. The shirt started with a base of Reaper MSP HD Off White, then a wash of watered down Reaper MSP HD Woodland Brown.

The cloak was first painted up with Army Painter Color Oak Brown. This was a bit darker than I had originally anticipated. To tone it down, I created a wash out of the Oak Brown with the Vallejo Dark Grey Wash. I wanted to give it a weathered and beaten look, like it had been out hanging for a long time. To bring the highlights up, I used a mix of the Oak Brown with Reaper MSP HD Ash Grey. I added a base highlight to the ridges of the coat, but it didn't bring up the color enough for the weathering. I added a little of the Reaper MSP HD Concrete Grey to the previous mix and again this was added to the highest parts of the coat.


The handle of the scythe was painted with Valley Model Color Mahogany Brown. I had considered adding a wash to the handle, then coming back over it with a grayish brown (probably Reaper MSP Ashen Brown), but it is 2:50 am and I don't have it in me to do any more work. The blade of the scythe was painted with Citadel Leadbelcher. To dull this down toward the bottom and by the handle, I went over it lightly with Vallejo Grey Metal. Then to give it the rust look, I applied the Citadel Dry Technical Paint, Ryza Rust. I am not sure if the depth of the color is sufficient or if it may need some additional rusting effect.

Odds and ends...the mouth was painted a base of Reaper MSP HD Golden Olive. This was touched up with a mix of the golden olive with Vallejo Yellow then touched up with just the yellow. The ropes were painted with a mix of Khaki and the Yellow. I think this covers most of it, but there may be more but for now, check out this information on Reaper's sale and Secret Weapons' sale and a big announcement from Reaper!

HALLOWEEN TREATS

Reaper Halloween Special

Reaper Miniatures always runs a great Halloween special, which I took advantage of last year. If you order before October 31 and spend tt least $40 you will receive four Reaper MSP Paints (Pumpkin Orange, Spectral White, Mouldy Skin, Breast Cancer Pink), one surprise miniature, and a bag of candy! This is a while supplies last, so get acting on it now! There is a huge stock of materials available including the new Bonesylvanians, plenty to get you to $40.

Secret Weapon Sack o' Corpses

Secret Weapon is running a sale for Halloween (through November 1) and this is your last week to take advantage. Take advantage of a 20% discount on sacks of pumpkins, corpses, and skulls and 20% off all Field of Screams beveled bases and Field of Screams round lipped bases. You can't go wrong with the corpses and skulls, I mean who can't use more skulls and take a look at the incredible details on the corpse parts.


BONUS MATERIAL!!! Reaper has just announced an entire line of BONES MSP HD PAINTS!!! The announcement was made yesterday on the Reaper Miniatures Facebook page. That's right an entire line of paints specifically designed to work with the BONES material. Many people have worked at getting the right paints or the right lots of paints that would work well, but now there is a better way. There will be 54 paints in the line and will be available in early 2016!