Reaper Bones Kaladrax Reborn - Finale!

Finished!

And I made my Halloween deadline!

Barely.

At least I got done before kids started knocking on the door looking for candy.

It's been awhile since I selected this figure as a $10 add on to the first Reaper Bones Kickstarter. It was delivered with the rest of the backer rewards from that Kickstarter in 2013. I didn't take a brush to it until June of this year.

This project was a real learning experience. My first insight was to stop thinking of it as an enormous miniature and treat it like a terrain piece. It made it easier to divide the work into manageable portions. The layered approach I used for painting the skeleton is going to come in handy for old bones and possibly stone. This was my first attempt at painting a glow effect - something that I look forward to applying to certain future projects.

The plastic used for the tail's end piece is soft enough to flex under the paint, causing some cracking.

Periodically publishing Work In Progress posts helped me with organizing and planning this project. Links are below.

Part 1 - Discussion of the Kaladrax Reborn as a Reaper Miniatures product, the inspiration for the necrotic glow paint scheme, description of the techniques used for painting the base, and testing the paint scheme for the skeleton on two of the legs.

Part 2 - Progress on the other two legs and the tail, the fictional backstory that Reaper created for Kaladrax Reborn, and a few thoughts on how I might use a huge dracolich in a F20 campaign.

Part 3 - Progress on the main body, description of the techniques used for the glow effect, and a look at the brown undercoat used on the skeleton.

Part 4 - Base painting complete, assembly, and planning for the final polishing passes.

There's a face that no adventuring party wants to see.

There's always a little more that could be done with a project like this. A bit more wash. A touch more highlighting. Another polishing pass. But the question has to be asked: "Will the results make the additional effort worthwhile?" Sometimes it does. Other times, diminishing returns rears its ugly head. For Kaladrax Reborn, I've decided that good enough is good enough. It's time to put Kaladrax Reborn into the display case and move on to the next project.

Reaper Bones Kaladrax Reborn WIP Part 4

The Halloween deadline I set for this project is only a few days away at the time I'm typing this. Am I gonna make it? Dunno. But I at least have this beast painted and assembled.

I'm gonna need a bigger display case.

Kaladrax Reborn needs a couple more passes before I'm willing to call this project done.

The skeleton needs some touching up. I put a coat of brown wash on parts of the skull, spine, and tail. The wash brought out the details a little bit more, but those areas are now noticeably darker than the rest of the skeleton. The whole skeleton could also use some highlighting. So I'll be brushing on some more light color paint to achieve the look I want.

The glow effect needs work. The body and wings need more bright green and possibly yellow-green highlights to better convey that they are light sources. I might have gone overboard with the green reflections on the skeleton. They'll get toned down a little when I give the skeleton another pass. The green reflections on the base are looking good, though. They also had the effect of bringing down the shine.

Close up of the body. Note the reflected glow on the skeleton and base.

A problem I ran into during the push to finish this project is the flexibility of the plastic in certain areas. I know that the white Bones plastic is fairly soft, but the horns on the skull and the tip of the tail almost flop around. This causes the paint to crack and flake. Kaladrax Reborn might be a "look, but don't touch" display piece due to this issue. Fortunately, I don't need an enormous undead dragon that often in my fantasy dungeoncrawl campaigns!

I've come to realize that these Work In Progress posts have helped me with planning each stage of this project. Writing each post means that I can stop, review my progress, see where I am, and figure out where I need to go. I'm not sure if I would have maintained any momentum without them as a tool.

Hopefully, I'll have enough free time this week to make the final couple of passes before Halloween. I'm also optimistically clearing out space in my display cabinet for this beast. It's my only storage space that's big enough!

Really Neat Tricks: Weather in the Mouse Guard Role Playing Game

Let's take a look at the Mouse Guard RPG's seasonal weather system. This post leads a series presenting rules, design elements, lore, and concepts that I've found handy beyond the game that they first appeared in. In this case, it's a system that adds weather as an element to a fantasy campaign without needing a meteorology degree.

I'm not usually one for nostalgia, but I miss RPG boxed sets.

The system is built around the idea that weather is a significant obstacle in the Mouse Guard setting. This makes perfect sense in Mouse Guard - the player characters are literally mice. Small mammals would be effected by even minor weather changes.

Adapting the system to other fantasy games brings in an often ignored element. Seasonal weather can present both challenges and opportunities to an adventuring party - spring storms slow travel, supplies are easier to come by after harvest, winter tends to shut everything down as snow and ice block traffic, etc. I'm guilty of overlooking weather unless I want to add atmosphere to a roleplaying interaction or spice up a combat encounter. If nothing else, adding a mechanic for handling weather adds variety to a fantasy campaign.

Mouse Guard's system for modeling seasons and weather takes up a whole chapter, so this is a bare bones summary. The gamemaster determines how many game sessions each season of the year will last, ranging from one to three sessions. An alternate system triggers a seasonal change based on how many times the gamemaster bring weather into play. In either case, the change of the seasons is inevitable.

Each season is described in its own section - animal activity, the kinds of weather that can be expected, conditions in the wilderness, and the kinds of adventures and other activities that are available for the player characters to pursue. Mouse Guard is set in a temperate zone, so winters are long and the other seasons tend to be short. Spring is a busy time, but rain and mud can slow things down. Summer is unhurried, but productive. Fall is another busy time as the harvest is brought in and everyone prepares for the coming cold. Everyone hunkers down during winter - player characters in Mouse Guard use the time to rest, recover, practice, and engage in role playing.

The system can be modified for other climates or for changing conditions. The next campaign does not take place in a temperate zone? Alter the length of seasons and the types of weather generated. Is the big bad cult gathering strength, summoning dark powers in the north while weakening the deity of fertility? Gradually make the winter longer while shortening the other seasons through years of game time. Food gets more and more scarce. Trade is disrupted. Armies can't get around fast enough to respond to reports of a new threat from the north. It's up to a plucky band of adventurers to find the cause and fix the problem before the final winter comes.

Mouse Guard's seasonal weather system avoids a couple of problems I've seen in other weather generation mechanics. First, it does not require the record keeping of a detailed calendar. Creating a calendar for a fantasy world is a daunting task - how many days in the year, what to name the weekdays and months, how do the phases of the moon(s) line up, where do the holidays fall, etc. Keeping up with it is even more work. Mouse Guard sidesteps the issue by basing seasonal progression on the number of sessions played. Second, it does not try to be a weather simulator with tables for wind speed, air temperature, humidity, etc. Is the weather close enough to maintain verisimilitude and how does it effect play are my concerns as gamemaster. The precise air temperature and number of inches of snow matter less to me than is it cold enough and is the snow thick enough to make even Conan the Cimmerian reconsider his travel plans and settle by the fire for some mulled wine?

Reaper Chronoscope #50016 Rosie, Chronotechnician

This is an early figure in Reaper's Chronoscope line. The name is likely a reference to Rosie the Riveter - best known from the "We Can Do It" poster, but also featured in song, film, and a Norman Rockwell cover for the Saturday Evening Post. The headset gives Reaper's Rosie a slightly more hi-tech look than the World War II cultural icon. The heavy boots, tool belt, and goggles are timeless necessities of manufacturing work, though.

Rosie and her attitude adjustment tool.

The paint scheme is inspired by Rosie the Riveter's denim overalls and a character from the video game Starscape (Moonpod, 2003). Jenna Johnson ("JJ") served as Deputy Engineer on the exploration ship serving as a home base in the game. JJ favored red overalls and pink hair. I knew that the hair would work fine, but I didn't want that much red on the figure. The red was restricted to the figure's shirt. I considered painting the overalls a military color like olive drab or khaki before deciding on denim. I might revisit the idea later when I paint the Bones version of this figure.

Denim

With a bottle of Reaper #09285 Denim Blue on hand, choosing a base color for the overalls was pretty straightforward. The color is a good match for new denim. I used Reaper #09057 as a highlight and to add a little wear to the overalls.

Leather

Reaper #09284 provides a rich brown good for somewhat distressed leather. I brushed on Reaper #09110 Oiled Leather to further simulate the look of worn leather on the boots, gloves, and tool belt.

Skin

I decided to experiment with using Formula P3 Menoth White Base with Army Painter Warpaints Soft Tone Quickshade for the bare skin. The result is serviceable and I might choose it for painting a squad or army in a hurry. I just need to find something better for single miniatures.

Details

The hair is Reaper #09183 Cloud Pink with a layer of still viable Citadel Baal Red Wash. The shirt is Reaper #09004 Fire Red. The scarf is painted with Reaper #09011 Leaf Green to stand out from the warm colors around it.

Wash

I switched between Army Painter Warpaints Quickshades between different areas of the figure. A layer of Dark Tone brought out the details on the denim and headset. Strong Tone added to the dirty and used appearance of the leather.

The asymmetry of this specific base is a good fit for this figure.

Base

The base is from a batch I ordered from Champ Industries several years ago. There is a good variety of base designs in the batch I received and all fit the generic sci-fi appearance I tend to favor. The Champ Industries website is still up. I'll have to see if they are still taking orders when my supply eventually runs low.

Closing Notes

The photos from the last couple of posts were taken with my new camera. For this post, I started experimenting with the aperture and ISO settings rather than simply using the automatic or close up modes. The majority of the photos ended up getting deleted, but I learned quite a bit from the process.

This figure has been in my collection for longer than most. I made the purchase when I was getting back into tabletop gaming - roughly the same time that I started this blog. Maybe it's a sign that I'm making progress on my pile of unfinished projects?

Reaper Bones #77041 Harpy

This is another one from Reaper's first Kickstarter - Reaper Miniatures Bones: An Evolution Of Gaming Miniatures. The rewards from that Kickstarter alone amount to a couple hundred figures. I don't expect to be done anytime soon.

Feathers and bat wings? Well, she's a fantasy monster. Forget about biological plausibility, I guess.

One goal I set out for the Reaper Bones Harpy was to experiment with some of the washes I've purchased over the last couple of years. My older stock of washes are either used up or are drying up in their containers. Trying out the newer stuff lets me cycle it in and get used to how it works.

Washer Base

I borrowed a trick from Chris Palmer's All Bones About It and glued the figure to a one inch steel washer. Reaper Bones miniatures are light enough that they tend to fall over easily with the extra weight on the bottom. I spray primed the washer before gluing it to the figure.

Primer/Base Color Coat

FolkArt Tile and Glass Medium mixed with Formula P3 Menoth White Base. A post on Reaper Miniature's forums recommends preparing Bones miniatures with FolkArt Tile and Glass Medium. Formula P3 Menoth White Base works well as an undercoat for lighter colors like white and flesh tones. I tried laying on washes directly over this coat, but the results were so disappointing that I abandoned that approach. Fortunately, mistakes like that can simply be painted over.

Flesh Tones

A coat of Reaper #09047 Fair Skin went over the previous layers. I tried a layer of Secret Weapon W005 Flesh Wash to bring out the details, but I didn't like how it turned out. It might work better applied over a white coat.

I next applied a layer of Army Painter Warpaints Soft Tone Quickshade. This is the wash sold in dropper bottles, not the dip sold in cans. Many of the washes I've used work by darkening the overall color of the surface and bring out details by flowing into recesses. Army Painter Warpaints Quickshade doesn't coat the way that I'm used to - it flows off raised areas more easily. The result is less of a change to the overall color of the surface it is applied to and more pooling in the recesses. I'm pleased with how it worked on this figure, but I may try diluting it next time to reduce the contrast between the raised and recessed areas.

As a final touch, I used a Silver Metallic Sharpie over certain bits to represent the minimal armor worn in those areas in the fantasy genre.

I like how the sculptor captured the figure in the middle of a banking turn.

Feathers

I'm not sure why this figure is sculpted with bat wings and feathers, but harpies are fantasy creatures and I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it. The base color is Reaper #09017 True Blue. I lightly brushed on Reaper #09288 LED Blue over the True Blue, being careful to allow the True Blue to show through in the recesses. This gives the feathers some depth under the brighter color.

Legs and Wings

I used Reaper #09088 Stormy Grey as a base color and a lighter grey for highlighting. A layer of Army Painter Warpaints Dark Tone Quickshade brought out the details. I considered yellow, orange, or tan as more realistic for bird legs, but I felt that the brighter colors might stand out too much from the rest of the figure.

Hair

Reaper #09070 Mahogany Brown is a good color for reddish-brown hair. I applied Army Painter Warpaints Strong Tone Quickshade over it. I considered making the hair the same color as the feathers, but I wanted more variation for the top of the figure.

Cloth

I wanted a relatively bright color to make this detail stand out. Reaper #09004 Fire Red tuned out to be just a little too bright. A layer of Army Painter Warpaints Soft Tone Quickshade brought down the color just enough.

There's always that one mold line that only shows up after painting and photographing.

Basing

Some glue and sand provides texture and a couple of earth tones simulate dry soil.

Closing Notes

I noticed an odd smell when I was using the Army Painter Warpaints Quickshades. It's not an issue that is unique to Army Painter products - some other washes produce a similar odor. Maybe it has something to do with the specific pigments or medium used?

The paint job on this figure turned out darker than I expected, but I'm happy with it. The harpy is a monster - something that will only be on the tabletop as long as the players permit it to be there. Heroes, boss monsters, and other significant figures need to "pop" on the table, but monsters can be subdued in appearance.