Aeris, Female Elf Ranger (Painted as Dark Elf): Bones 3 Figure

Chris Palmer

This week I painted Aeris, Female Elf Ranger, from the Bones 3 Core Set.  Like last week’s Halfling Cleric, I selected this figure to fill a gap in the figures I need for a game I’m going to be running at the upcoming Fall-In gaming convention.  What I was missing was a Drow/Dark Elf Ranger, and this figure was the only Elf archer I still had in my horde of unpainted Bones, so it got nominated to fill the role.
   

      While a beautiful figure, I was a bit disappointed in it as an Archer or a Ranger because it seemed to be missing any obvious quiver or hand to hand weapon (not even a dagger). I was able to solve these problems with some extra bits from set of hard plastic plastic War of the Roses troops I had recently been working on.
    I prepped the figure in the usual way; soaking it in a dish of water with a couple drops of dish-soap added, then giving it a light scrub with a soft toothbrush, and then rinsing and drying it.  I then transplanted her right arm with one carrying a set of arrows, and added a sword at her hip on the left side.   With the new additions in place, I glued the figure to a black-primed 1" fender washer with Aleene’s Tacky glue, and then placed the figure in my painting grip.

     I began by giving the figure a wash with Reaper MSP “Grey Liner”; and when that was dry, I painted her entire body with Ceramcoat “Black”.    I then drybrushed her bodice armor and boots with Citadel “The Fang”, followed by a lighter drybrush of Folk Art “Cloudy Day”.  I then highlighted her pants and over-shirt with Apple Barrel “Apple Blue Spruce”, followed with lighter highlights using Folk Art “Hunter Green”.

     Next, I painted her under-sleeves with Crafter’s Acrylic “Purple Passion”, and the lining of her cape with Crafter’s Acrylic “African Violet”.  I then painted the outer layer of her cape with Americana “Zinc”.

     I then painted her bow with Crafter’s Acrylic “Navy Blue”, and the sword scabbard with the “African Violet”.  Next, I painted her hair with Crafter’s Acrylic “Storm Cloud Grey” and the arrow shafts with Ceramcoat “Black Cherry”.   After that, I painted the lining of the cape with Folk Art Color Shift “Purple Flash”, and then the trim of the cape with the “Black”.

     Next, I painted the scabbard again with Folk Art “Metallic Amethyst”, and the bindings on the bow with Folk Art “Dapple Grey”.  I then let everything dry for a while, and afterwards gave the entire figure a wash with Citadel “Nuln Oil” wash.  When the wash was dry, I painted her eyes, and then highlighted her face and hands with with a mix of Apple Barrel “Apple Black Green”, and Americana “Avocado”.

     I then highlighted her hair with Americana “Dove Grey”, followed by some Americana “Snow White”. I added some eyebrows too.  I decided that the highlights on the green weren’t bright enough, so I added additional highlights to her pants and over-shirt with some Folk Art Artists Pigment “Hauser Green Medium”.   After that I highlighted the under-sleeves with some Apple Barrel “Apple Lavender” mixed with a little of the base “Purple Passion”.
     Next, I highlighted the outer cape with Americana “Grey Sky mixed with a little of the base "Zinc”, and then highlighted the cape’s fur trim with Americana “Neutral Grey”.   I then highlighted the cape’s lining using the base “Purple Flash” mixed with a little Ceramcoat “Metallic Silver”, and the scabbard using the base “metallic Amethyst” mixed with a little of the “Metallic Silver”.  After that, I highlighted the bow with some of the base “Navy Blue” mixed with a little Ceramcoat “Denim Blue”, and I highlighted the bindings on the bow with Folk Art “Grey Green”.   I wrapped up the painting on the figure by highlighting the arrow shafts with Ceramcoat “Opaque Red”, and  highlighting the fletchings with  Folk Art “Medium Grey”. I painted the points of the arrows, the metal parts of the sword grip, and the cape’s clasp, all with Folk Art Metallics “Gunmetal Grey”, and then highlighted them with a little of"Metallic Silver".
     Lastly, I painted the figure’s integral base with the “Bittersweet Chocolate”.
     I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave it a coat of Americana “DuraClear Matte” varnish.    Then, when  the varnish was dry, I used some white glue to flock the base.  Another overnight dry, and I sprayed it with Testor’s Dullcote".

    I’m really happy with how she came out, and I think the conversion to a Dark Elf works just fine.  I also think the added arrows and sword  help the figure a bit too.  

via All Bones About It http://allbonesabout.blogspot.com/2018/09/aeris-female-elf-ranger-painted-as-dark.html
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Author: hawksgameclub

0 thoughts on “Aeris, Female Elf Ranger (Painted as Dark Elf): Bones 3 Figure

  1. Looks great. I have a couple questions, if you don’t mind. First, how do you like your gripper? Is there another kind you would rather have? My hands are a bit shaky these days and I thought this might help. Second, what do you use to flock your bases? If I use anything but sand, it buries their feet. Thanks for a very informative post by the way.

    1. Thanks, kennynines!
      I like my gripper a lot. I only have experience with it, and the original method I used which was gluing the figures to a tongue depressor; so I can’t comment on a lot of different options. It might help with shaky hands as it gives a very firm grip. There are many painters who have the shaky hands problem. I did a quick search on the Reaper Forums, and found it being talked about a lot. You might want to scan through the posts at this link to find a lot of helpful discussion on methods to combat shaking hands: http://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/search/&q=%22shaky%20hands%22&type=forums_topic&nodes=3&search_and_or=or&sortby=relevancy

      Here is a link to a post I did about how I base my figures:
      http://allbonesabout.blogspot.com/search/label/Basing

      Basically I use a small brush to cover the base with white glue like Elmer’s (my basing post mentions a white glue and paint mix, but lately I’m foregoing the paint and just using the glue). I guess the key is to use a small enough brush that you can avoid getting it on top of the feet. I don’t mind it on the sides that much, as if you stand in un-mown grass it does tend come up higher than my shoes. If I do get glue on tops of the shoes, I very carefully try to wipe it off with a bit of damp tissue.

      I hope this all helps; and thanks for commenting!

      1. My Citadel gripper got here today and I’m already digging it the most. I was a bit concerned before it came that it might not hold my bases. I use nickels and they’re a little smaller than a standard base, but it grabbed right on and it’s all good. I’m putting together a plan to attend Barrage next year so I hope to see you then.

  2. Wow, so a few weeks back I posted about how I don’t really think you can make pure black skin look right on a mini, and that’s where the original Drow pics in the old modules fail….but then you come along and prove me wrong! If I end up painting a Drow, I’m sure going to reference what you’ve done here. Very nice work, and a great model to use it on!

    1. Thanks Faust! I think the key with the skin is to highlight with a bit of color thrown in, (green or purple) and not just plain grey. The problem I have with the pure black skin is, to me, the eyes. They always look painted on to me, and seem to lack the shadow and depth that eyes on more shaded faces have. I suspect I could cure that with a lot of detailed highlight painting around the eyes, but for a gaming figure I just don’t have the patience to devote a lot of time to something like that. I also wonder if not using pure white for the eyes, and instead using a light grey or pale yellow might be better…

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