“Reaping my Rewards” (Advent Challenge)

Now December is always a busy time of year for me, and that’s why I usually take the month off from painting and blogging, but this year is busier than usual as my son and his lady love are coming home for Christmas, so as you can imagine my wife has gone into full blown panic mode! So don’t be surprised if I pass out from the paint fumes before the end of this post! (And it isn’t the acrylic on my figures that’s making me light headed if you catch my drift!). However before I could hang up my smaller brushes for the festive season there was the little matter of the last two figures from my 2022 advent calendar to deal with (as you read this I am in fact 14 days into this year’s calendar, but more on this in the new year). So what have I got to round off this challenge? Something suitably “merry”? …well no, not really as I have a really rather wonderful “Grim Reaper” (apt for a challenge of Reaper miniatures 💀) and an equally nice Elven hero, (and what could be more Christmas’y than an Elf? OK not that sort of Elf, but work with me here okay!). Anyway…

No.7  Grim Reaper (Reaper 25^th Anniversary Figure)

No.13 Elf Paladin, Anduriel (official Reaper name)

Both figures were scrubbed with washing up liquid and had their bases trimmed down before they were re-based onto two pence pieces, and in the Elf’s case were assembled (he came with a choice of either a knife or shield in his left hand, I went for the shield (Obviously!), a touch of “Teterion filler” and a coat of matt black, and we were away.

So starting with the reaper (strange, as most people finish up with him 😉) , I had thought his painting would be relatively simple, but looking at the array of paint out before me, he had more to him than I originally reckoned. So taking a mix of some royal purple, dark grey and a touch of black I started by highlighting his flowing robes, then using the same mix but taking out the black to lighten it a bit) did the highlighting again leaving a touch of the previous highlights on show. His bones and bandages were then added, using a base of chocolate brown, then a highlight of Eurasian flesh, another of coffee, and then just on the “boney” bits a final highlight of cream. Chocolate brown and Eurasian flesh were also used on the shaft of his scythe, and the blade was first dry-brushed with chainmail, then I took some copper highlighted with bronze and added the details on his scythe blade and the top and bottom of his hourglass. Both these areas were then dry-brushed with chestnut and orange to “rust them up a bit”, and finally I re-edged the blade with a little more chainmail. Turning next to his hourglasses contents, I was a little worried about how to do this convincingly (I know The Blue Oyster Cult, said Not to fear the Reaper, but…🙄), so a look online later and it went like this… first the areas that would be the sand in the top and lower bulbs were painted Eurasian flesh then stippled with ECW buff, a thin white line was then added around the top of these areas, before the rest of the bulb areas were painted light blue, then metallic (dark) blue was added in a line between the light blue and white lines, and spread out and up with a damp brush, a tiny bit of black was then run around over the white, and lastly white highlights/reflections were added as dots on the bulbs. It came out OK, but I still don’t think I’m getting these glass areas done as well as I’d like(()). Lastly I just edge highlighted his robes again this time with a mix of royal purple, lilac and a little dark grey.

My (not so 🧝🏼‍♂️) Christmas Elf next, he was begun in my usual manner with a dry-brushing of chainmail and this was followed by me picking out areas of his armour and shield in bronze that I then highlighted with bright gold. The rest of his armoured pieces were then painted in blue steel and I highlighted these with more chainmail. Next I added his cape, a few bits of visible under clothing and half the heraldic shield (on his bigger shield), in coffee highlighted with cream and then again with a little white. The rest of his clothing and little shield I painted in royal blue, then highlighted in a mix of royal blue and ocean blue, and finally edge highlighted in just ocean blue. His boots and gloves I did the usual way, chocolate brown and leather brown doing their duty here. His face (the only flesh on show) was European flesh and once his eyes were in place I highlighted here with a mix of European and pale flesh, though with a little more of the pale than usual as he is an Elf after all. Sand was then used on his “golden locks” highlights of lemon yellow finishing this and his painting off completely.

As usual this was followed by giving them a coat of Strong tone Quickshade, and their bases were finished in my usual inimitable 🤣🤣🤣) style, finally it was just a case of giving them a coat of matt varnish and they were done. And that dear reader brought the last two of my Advent Challenge figures to an end, it was frosty (yes that’s REAL frost and bloody cold!) when I took the photos, so that added a little festive cheer! 🥶 I have to say I’ve thoroughly enjoyed painting the figures out of my calendar this year, many of which I would never have bought or painted otherwise, I’ve also been impressed in general with the quality of the “Bones” miniatures they may not be quite as crisp as their metal counterparts but are more than adequate for a hack like me. In fact as I’ve said, I’ve had so much fun, I’m going to do it again this year coming! But I’ll leave you with a group shot of all twenty four (well twenty six if you count all the shark fins), and wish you all the very best of Christmas’, May Santa bring you all the gaming and modelling goodies you deserve. I’ll see you back here on new year’s eve for Simon’s “Top ten”.

🎄🎄🎄🎅🏼Have a “cool yule”, Cheers Roger.🎅🏼🎄🎄🎄

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