A thing a week 2026, week 34

These are the last of the biggies for Bones 5 which is a relief and they're mostly speed paints. First up we have Hammerfist Catapult and Deathrattle Ballista and I could find links for the latter. They're both really big and were in a gajillion warped parts. I did what I could while gluing them but ultimately they were going to be what they are. As speed paints, they got not very much attention for their size but I did wash the metallics and put some time into the rope-y parts. Ultimately they sell because of their size and I'm fine with that.

Next up we have a big 'ol scarecrow guy also sans link.  He's also helped by being so big which means that my lack of highlighting efforts aren't as obvious. The gloss on the browns sells as being wet which is unintentional but works at least a little in this context. I wanted to do a glow from his mouth and eyes which doesn't super sell. His scythe is pretty badly warped despite my best efforts to heat treat it out and it rubs against his boot in a paint-removing kind of way which I don't like. The white mouse glove just felt right. 

This crazy looking guy is the Overgourd according to the kickstarter material and he sadly has no link. I don't like this guy as he's a) big, and b) I don't know what I'd use him for. I've said that before and worked them into campaigns in the past so that's no guarantor of future performance. On the other hand, a couple of my pals really like this guy because he's so odd and so striking. I got nothin'. I put not very much effort into this guy though I did paint him in sub-assemblies and glued him together after the fact. Here again, I wanted glowing eyes and mouth but it didn't really work out. I got more glossyness out of the Contrast Paint basecoat which I also really dislike. About the only th
ing that worked was the Reikland Gloss Shade on his big 'ol central eye which makes it look bloodshot. 

Last up we have a Gem Dragon painted mostly with Pro Acryl Transparent Purple as an experiment. All three of the Bones kickstarters I've backed has had several figs in transparent/translucent plastic which is what this guy is. Most of the time I wash over them and note that their surface is hydrophobic despite washing. So, too, was it for this guy but I really wanted to keep the translucent properties. The base is primed by brush and mostly painted in washes after that. I don't like its glossyness but don't super care enough to flat it down. For the dragon itself, I struggled pushing washes around which didn't really want to stick until I figured out the trick. Usually when paint starts drying, it leaves streaks and tears and whatnot and is generally not good to work with. Between "straight from the bottle" and "oh jeez, I can't use this anymore" there's a narrow window where it's still mostly paintable and will stick to bones transparent plastic which I took advantage of. It works sort of but didn't shoot super well here. I did more on the body than in the webbing which doesn't super show but ultimately, this is a step in the right direction. Notably, the paint still doesn't want to stick--even the primer, and a bunch of it tore off when I was gluing him together after the fact.

2026 finished mini counter: 194