Sunday 29 November 2015

Frostgrave: the Demon Bones

Introduction

My youngest son and I actually played a game of Frostgrave yesterday - more on that on another occasion.  For now, here are some more pictures of monsters.  These are both from Reaper's range of miniatures and are made from the "bones" plastic.

Bones

Whilst this makes them very cheap, the bones material does require a slightly different approach to building and painting a  model.  My research suggests that gluing the parts together isn't really a problem (just use superglue), but that such figures should not be undercoated with an aerosol - they can turn sticky or tacky.  Indeed, the common advice is just to paint them directly with acrylics.

Since I wanted to base them and I did want to undercoat the bases, I had to make the models in a different manner from usual.  The bases were built and undercoated as normal, but leaving a gap for the figure's integral base.  Once the base was prepared and primed, the bones model was glued to it and the joint between figure and base was filled.  After that, painting proceeded as usual.

The Demon


My Frostgrave demon is built from Reaper Miniature's "Nabassu" figure.  As you can see, he's a winged, horned humanoid with fur down his back and some nasty-looking finger- and toenails.


I can't actually remember what colours I used to paint this demon, but I know I was aiming for a grey-green tinge.  He's not what we would think of as a healthy colour, at least for a human!


In Frostgrave, a minor demon is supposedly about man-sized.  Possibly this monster is a bit too big for that role, but I think the extra bulk (and height!) increases his menace considerably.

That's not a demon; this is a demon



Technically, this is Reaper's model "Agramon, Pit Fiend".  Looks like a demon to me, though...

This guy is huge!  If he was made from metal or resin then the cost of the model would have been more that I cared to spend, but in the bones material, he's not too expensive.


Agramon has gigantic, bat-like wings, a scaly skin and a long, reptilian tail.  He's holding a ball of flame in one hand, so it seems that he's fireproof as well.  Oh, he also has some very large fangs...

For this model, I used a red palette for the body and a much darker red for the wings.  I wanted the flames to stand out, so I deliberately kept the main figure quite dark and subdued; the bright flames then look especially hot.

For his spines, teeth and horns, I aimed for an obsidian effect.  They were base-coated in black and then edged with dark green.  I'm still not sure how well this works, though.

I've painted the dirt around his feet as if it were slightly scorched; the snow has certainly melted from these areas.  This demon comes from a much warmer climate and my guess is that he'll feel the cold of Frostgrave bitterly.  It probably won't improve his temper any!


I don't think that anyone could mistake this model for anything other than a major demon.  Once again, Oscar the thief has been placed nearby, just to give a sense of scale.  Oscar will be having nightmares about this encounter for a long time, I think!

Conclusion

Bones is a different material to work with, but I didn't encounter any real issues whilst building these figures.  The resulting models are light, cheap(-ish) and somewhat flexible.  Indeed, I don't think they would be significantly damaged by being dropped on the floor (not that I plan to try this any time soon!)  They have been painted and sealed as per my usual methods; it's just the preparation that's a little different.  No primer!

16 comments:

  1. Two very different models, bith with plenty of character and usuable for games other than Frostgrave too. I do like your great choices of colours too for both.

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    1. Thanks, Joe. I think that almost any colour scheme could be used on such a monster; after all, who knows what colour they are in real life :-) ?

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  2. Great stuff C6, they look awesome!! Personally I'm not a fan of Bones at all after trying to paint one of their Black Mist "Reaper Miniatures". But for the larger scale figures, such as these, they clearly do just the job - and are significantly cheaper than their metal cousins too. Terrific idea to use them for "Frostgrave" too :-)

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    1. These 2 bones models painted up very well. However I also have a pair of giant spiders that didn't work so good. I'll probably use them anyway, but I'm not completely familiar with the bones material yet.

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  3. Daddy and Baby demons!!!! Nice work on them both I can see them treading through the frozen ruins putting fear in mens hearts already!

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    1. They're certainly quite scary, aren't they. I don't know about daddy and baby, though: the family resemblance is only slight. Hmm, perhaps "daddy" should have a word with his wife about that :-) ?

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  4. "Nice" Demons.... Not sure that Nice is the right word. They both look significant and terrifying

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    1. No, they're not "nice", are they :-) ! Indeed, they both seem somewhat put out to find themselves in the world of men...

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  5. Replies
    1. Thanks, Michael. They're not *great*, but they'll do well enough.

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  6. Lovely job C6! Great demonic adversaries. I particularly like the big un!

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    1. Now all I need is for some fool of a wizard to try to summon a demon in a game :-) .

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  7. I have never had any problem in painting the Reaper Bones figures so I like them. That big red demon of yours is a mighty impressive figure.

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    1. He is big, isn't he? I hadn't quite appreciated just how large the model is when I ordered it. While I do like having some big figures, they aren't stored as neatly and easily as the human-sized ones...

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  8. Replies
    1. Thanks, F.E.M. I don't think he could be mistaken for anything else :-) .

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