A thing a week 2026, week 30

This week we have some tinted metallics and some other fun stuff. First up we have three pseudo-anonymous folks none of which have links (left to right) Elf Shield Gal, Platemail Vampire Guy, and Creepy Potion Gal. I have no idea why Reaper makes it so hard to find these despite the fact that they have a figure finder. Occasionally the Bones kickstarters will give a hint but not this time! The two plate-havers (clearly) have some tinting going on. This is a mix of Vallejo Metal Color and various glossy Golden High Flow Acrylics. That got the base pinky tone which, TBH, I'm not really happy with. I almost sold it with a coat of Badger Ghost Tint but ultimately I don't think it landed. The potion gal is a study in contrast and focus. While there's quite a lot going on with this fig, The yellow eye-catching bits are arranged low on the fig and there's a single contrast green thing high near her face. Was that enough to keep the focus on her face or would it resolve into a mess? I have my own thoughts, but you should feel free to judge it for yourself.

Next up we have Adrasteia Winterborn, Vampiress, Witchy Necromancer Gal sans link, and Halloween Knight who features more tinted metallics. This one worked a little better and is a refinement from previous blue tinted metallics that I've used here before. Not sure if it's the better pigmentation of the dark blue but I feel like this scheme looks a heck of a lot better. This guy's contrast is a little more on the nose and a little more of the traditional scheme which is 100% intentional and helped by the fact that his head is the sole pure contrast part. Our vampiress is mostly an exercise in shading/highlighting red which worked better here than most of my other attempts and again despite my best efforts, the Contrast Paint lowtones still come through as glossy. The witchy gal is another take on triad secondaries which kind of works. I wanted to do a proper crystal for her orb but clearly couldn't have been bothered. I was in a lot of pain when I painted these so I guess that's excusable.

2026 finished mini counter: 178

 

A thing a week 2026, week 29

More characters this week and the first ones are in my school colors which is nice. These are Jolie Adventuring Scribe, Ogana Savannah Ranger, Thregan Helmsplitter Duskwarden. These three came out well despite the shininess of the bases which are a lot less shiny in person. Ogana's skintone shininess is intentional in this case and is played by I think an old Army Painter wash, maybe Dark Tone? I put a lot of work into the yellows which I think shows and even did a little bit of freehand on Jolie's book. Ogana's bow probably should have been in a different tone of brown or maybe taken up a couple hits in value. Thragen is a little rough though I didn't cop out and paint the center shield on his armor in metallic.

Next up we have Burgermeister, Aurelio Endrino Bonehenge Warlock, and Surkar Orc Shaman. These three aren't grouped together for any particular reason except that I painted them in roughly the same span. These guys are chock full of details which took more effort than normal to pick out. The black leather on Burgermeister and Aurelio are pretty good and I did an OK job of distinguishing myriad leathers on Aurelio and Surkar. I did not clock Aurelio's pal as a raccoon which is why he's in a beary chocolate brown. Burgermeister's gems and Aurelio's cloak's stitching were a goddamn pain, tho, and I'm glad they're done. Surkar got a lot more attention than normal since I had christened a new natural hair brush which is always nice. I'd been working without a nice natural hair brush for far too long and I was reminded (again) that I really need to use my expensive nice tools rather than saving them for...something.

2026 finished mini counter:  172

A thing a week 2026, week 28

This week we have more of Bones 5 as I can kind of see the finish line from here. First up we have Kamaria Eshe, Bonehenge Priestess, "mother of dragons", and All Hallow's Eve. These gals got more effort than usual because a) they're nice sculpts, b) as character figs they're more likely to get screen time, and c) I'd been doing a bunch of speed-like paint jobs so it was nice to spend a little more time on each fig. The glossy bits are from the base coat which always throws me. More work could have been done here on the details, clothes, and hair though ultimately I think they landed in a good place.

Next up we have Anduriel Elf Paladin, Krass Omenthrall Evil Warrior which is a little on the nose, and Hanrik Dwarf Pugilist. The first and the last aren't super interesting as I didn't put much work into them. The middle guys is more interesting and he also didn't get much work. Regular readers (ha!) will remember that I've been experimenting with colored metallics for a while, now. This is a mix of Vallejo Aluminum (I think) and a dark blue Golden High Flow Acrylic which I normally don't use because they're glossy. Over top of that I hit it with a coat of Badger Ghost Tint Blue. It mostly works on the table though it's really glossy in these shots. I also notice for the first time that the symbol on his back is unpainted. I'd intended to paint it gold but can't be bothered to do so now. 

2026 finished min counter: 166

 

A thing a week 2026, week 27

This week we have a bunch of undead. My games don't feature undead, generally, so despite having a really big pile of them, they don't get a lot of screen time. 

First up we have Grave Kings, well, most of them. The first guy was featured way back in Week 40 of 2023 which feels like a lifetime and about 850 figs ago. Also, wow was my photography shoddy back then. I burned through these guys pretty quickly and probably the guy on the left and the guy in the helm needed a Seraphim Sepia wash or something to make them blend in less with the background (I do like the bleached effect, tho). I put a lot of effort into pulling the highlights up which I think shows though I didn't do nearly enough in the blending which I hate doing. They could have been weathered and dirtied down as undead but I really couldn't be bothered.

Next up we have The Grim Reaper and Wraith Dread Knight. We saw the first of the Grim Reapers of Bones 5 in Bonus Week 53 of 2023. That guy didn't get as much time and doesn't look quite as nice. This guy was mostly drybrushed and I had a really hard time contrasting his cloak in black and his robe in a more blue dark grey. It kind of sells but only in really high light situations. The sand in the hour glass looks OK at arm's length but doesn't really work close up. If the Wraith Dread Knight on the right looks familiar, he should! He's the missing guy in the trio last seen on Week 18 of 2024 which isn't nearly as long ago (maybe 500 figs ago). I tried to match the color scheme so they'd look OK together but this guy got way more effort even if it wasn't very much all told. 

Last up we have Murkillor the Wraith King and he also doesn't doesn't get a link. I was going to do some fancy purple OSL but clearly didn't. This guy was kind of a speed paint with the Grave Kings above and it kind of shows. He's really tall which makes my lack of blending really stand out. Ultimately, he's done and that's what counts.

2026 finished mini counter: 160