Chris Palmer
Over the weekend, I was able to complete the Beholder figure from the 30 New Bones set. I’ve had this figure sitting on my painting table for a while now, as I was never able to really decide on a color scheme for it. I finally figured the only way to get it done was to just plunge in.
To begin with, the figure had not been pre-assembled well in the factory. (I’ve noticed this with a number of the pre-assembled figures.) There was a noticeable gap where the upper face/mouth part joined the rest of the body. So, very carefully, I took a hobby knife and pried the upper mouth part away from the rest of the figure, slowly working around the joint and loosening the glue that held it in place. Eventually I got it free, and after several test fittings, and trimming of the tab on the face section that fit in the slot on the body, I was able to make it fit relatively tight. I then glued it in place with super-glue.
I then went about preparing it in the usual way; soaking in some water with a little dish soap added, then giving a light scrub with a soft toothbrush to remove any left over mold-release agent, and then rinsing and drying. After it was good and dry, I sprayed it with Krylon Camouflage Flat Black with Fusion, and glued the figure to a black-primed 1.25” fender washer using Aleene’s Tacky glue. I then glued the washer with a couple drops of Elmer’s white glue to a tongue depressor.
As I thought about the colors I wanted the figure to be, I decided I didn’t want it to be too psychedelic in coloring, but I didn’t want it to be too drab either, so I tried to split the difference. I began by grabbing my bottle of Folk Art “Medium Gray” and painting the body/head of the monster . I then painted the tentacles Apple Barrel “Apple Lavender”, and, before they were completely dry, I got the idea to go back and add a short section of darker purple, with Anita’s “Violet” paint, at the very end; attempting to blend it in with the still wet lighter purple. I now moved to the mouth painting the interior of the mouth and the gums with Americana “Shading Flesh”. I then painted the teeth with Folk Art “Porcelain White”.
After the paint had time to dry, I gave the whole figure a coat of thinned Winsor-Newton “Peat Brown” ink.
I then went back and drybrushed the body/head with the original “Medium Gray”, and the tentacles with the “Apple Lavender”. I added some highlights to the tongue and gums with the original “Shading Flesh”, and the teeth with the “Porcelain White”. I then went back and added a little pure white to a bit of the “Porcelain White” to lighten it a little, and added some further highlighting to the teeth.
I now painted all the eyes, on the head/body, and the ends of the tentacles. I began by painting them all white. I then went back and added irises to them all with Americana “True Blue”. Lastly, I added black pupils to each of them.
Next I worked on the scenic base. I began by drybrushing the whole thing with Folk Art “Poppy Seed”. I then went back and gave it a lighter drybrushing with Folk Art “Gray Green”.
I then painted the dirt between the rocks with Crafters Edition “Spice Brown”, and then gave it a light drybrushing with Americana “Sable Brown”. Lastly, I painted the skull with American “Buttermilk”, and the sword with Ceramcoat “Metallic Pewter.” I painted the sword’s grip black, and hilt with Ceramcoat “Bronze”. I then added a couple splotches of rust on the blade with Duncan “Aged Metal: Iron”
After the paint had overnight to dry, I painted it with coat of Ceramcoat “Matte Varnish”. When this was dry I flocked the base; and after the flock had a bit to dry, I sprayed the whole thing with Testor’s “Dullcote spray paint. After the “Dullcote” had dried overnight, I went back and I painted all the eyes with Americana “Gloss Varnish” to make them more realistic looking.
I’m generally pleased with how the Beholder turned out. My one complaint is that I wish I had painted the main eyeball looking downward instead of gazing straight ahead; so he would appear more like he was looking directly at any human sized attacker, and not peering over their head. I got the iris so nice and centered and circular though, I don’t dare go back and redo it, as I would only mess it up.
Figure 78: Complete
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