A few more finished figures

These would have been finished a week or so ago but an arthritic flare-up in my right wrist made painting difficult and painful. Anyway, here are two angry Yetis from the Copplestone Back of Beyond Adventurers set.

Blue skin and white fur seems to be de rigueur for a Yeti these days, but I wanted mine to be more naturalistic colourwise. I thought that a Yeti living in the woods or below the level where everything is covered in snow would need to blend in with its surroundings, so I chose a brown palette. I think that these are terrific figures which could fit into many different games and locations. I am particularly pleased with their reddish skintone.

The next figure is from Bad Squiddo. It is a Forest Spirit.

I've had this figure for absolutely ages, maybe as long as three or four years and it has been undercoated for most of that time. I thought I really ought to get it finished. It is a resin figure, cast by Ristul and is a sort of manifestation of the forest in animal form. I think it is a lovely piece, a spirit inhabiting a body that is both tree and creature combined.

I've got a few more figures finished, but I'm not happy with the photos, so I'll have to redo them tomorrow.

By the by, I don't recommend having arthritic wrists. It is not only very painful but it really limits what you can do.

Anyway, I won't be starting anything else off because I'm off on holiday soon.

At last! The sun is shining, Pt. One - resin cargo items.

These are from Bad Squiddo Scenics, sculpted by the incomparable Ristul.

Everything that Ristul sculpts for the Bad Squiddo range is wonderful; detailed, crisp and full of possibilities. 

These items have lots of opportunities to appear on all manner of tabletops, from ancient games right through to fantasy and pulp ones. I was delighted to discover that the smaller pieces actually fit in my open-topped Roman cart, so that is a huge bonus. There will be nice things in the cart for the Romans to escort around, and also be nice objectives for the Romans to loot while out foraging for supplies. I can see these pieces being incredibly useful for 28mm Peninsular War games of Sharp Practice too.

I have had these sitting around since last Saturday, but the weather has been so wet, I didn't want to risk them getting fogged while varnishing them. This morning was perfect for the job.

Scarecrows!

These three scarecrows are from Bad Squiddo Scenics, sculpted by the incomparable Ristul. Annie used to sell them under the banner of Ristul's Extraordinary Market, but bought the line in 2018.

I bought these at Colours last year and recently painted them as a change from painting figures for 7TV. Of course, these would be perfect for 7TV games, especially ones involving strange goings-on in one of those inward-looking villages somewhere in rural England.

Anyway, I've photographed them from front and rear, to show off the truly splendid detail on these gorgeous resin pieces.

Worzel Gummidge would never have been allowed on children's TV if he'd looked like this.

I wanted to paint these up looking old, tatty and faded, so after undercoating in Army Painter leather brown, I used mainly pale brown and tan colours, with bits of green and dark red well diluted to act as washes on some parts of the figures. I wanted the orange of the pumpkin heads to look quite faded too, as though these scarecrows had spent too long out in the weather. There is so much detail in the figures that I did a fair amount of dry-brushing, both before and after an ink wash. I made up small mounds from blue foam, covered with mixed ballast. After finishing the figures, I used the same pale browns and tans to dry-brush the bases before finishing them with a mixed flock.

Some treasure scatter pieces from Bad Squiddo.

I bought these a couple of years ago but somehow managed to mislay them until about six weeks ago. I know that I had them with other scenic pieces to be painted and then, POUF! they were gone, as though some evil wizard had spirited them away. Somehow, they ended up in a box full of non-gaming stuff and I only found them while looking for something else.

You can find them on the Bad Squiddo website under the Bad Squiddo Terrain menu. Annie notes that;

"These sculpts were originally part of Ristul's Extraordinary Market and purchased by Bad Squiddo in 2018. We still work with Ristul to add new goodness to the range.". 

They were still Ristul items when I bought them, and I have to say that they are the best resin pieces that I have ever bought in terms of crisp detail, casting and general cleanliness. I have no reason to doubt that they are still of this first-rate quality.

First up are some treasure chests, in varying sizes and styles, all perfect for Frostgrave and pretty much anywhere else you might needs a chest or two.

Next are some lovely piles of treasure, just like you would expect to find in a dragon's horde or in a previously-undisturbed treasure chamber in Felstad or pretty much anywhere else you might stumble over skeletons in armour, heaps of gold coins, enchanted weapons and arcane artefacts.

These were a lot of fun to paint and so easy. I undercoated them in Halford's Matt Black spray paint, which covers perfectly and then built up the colours by dry-brushing, picking out details with a smaller brush.

I really need to show you the reverse view of the seated figure, because it is a beautiful piece of work;

Isn't that absolutely fantastic sculpting and casting? A real joy to paint. Mind you, with casts this good, the painting becomes so easy.