Zealot Miniatures Demon Gate (Red)

This is a resin piece with a translucent plastic insert representing a portal generated by pointy bits instead of a ring thingy. I purchased mine from Zealot Miniatures when I was going hog wild over various Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sales late last year. The plastic insert is available in red or blue. I opted for red given the aggressively spiky appearance of the resin model. The glow effect took some time and effort, but I think it turned out well.

Not ominous. At all.

Preparation
There were some bits that needed to be fixed. The plastic insert had a rough edge that needed to be sanded down. I also had to remove a tab on the resin part. The biggest issue was that the resin piece tended to wobble, so I had to sand down the bottom to get it to sit level. Following that was the usual scrubbing in warm soap and water. I set the clear plastic inset aside - no priming or paint was applied to it.

"I think we're guarding the wrong thing." "Yes. Yes, you are."

Primer Coat
Tamiya Surface Primer (L) in Gray sprayed evenly over the resin piece.

First Paint Coat
I brushed on a layer of FolkArt 479 Pure Black diluted with water to darken the gray primer and fill in the recessed details.

Second Paint Coat
Next came a light dry brush of FolkArt 480 Titanium White as a highlight on the uppermost areas.

"How about you go through and see what's on the other side?" "How about no."

Glow Effect
I used layers of FolkArt 437 Lipstick Red, 932 Calico Red, and 480 Titanium White to color the crystals sculpted on the model and build up the glow effect radiating out from the crystals and portal. My initial attempt turned out more pink than red. The solution was to darken it down with washes and dry brush more of the glow colors with more of an emphasis on the darkest red color. The washes were FolkArt 479 Pure Black and 231 Real Brown diluted with water. Excess wash was wiped away to prevent pooling. The second layer of red glow colors worked much better.

Assembly
I glued on the red plastic insert with a drop of Tacky Glue. This was to avoid any potential issues with using superglue on clear plastic. No primer or paint was used on the plastic insert.

What happens if somebody goes through the back of one of these things?

This was a quick and fun rainy day project. The completed piece has a distinctive look and works well with 15mm and 28mm scale miniatures. I'm really pleased with how the red glow came out. I'm not sure if I can convince any players to risk their characters on a trip through it, but I can always have something step out of it for a visit.