Reaper's Warlord Figures: Work in Progress

So...while I wait for my Romans and Carthaginians to make it across the pond, I have been working with my new found friend, Reaper Master Series Paint. Of course trying out this paint would only be proper on new figures—so I bought the starter box for Reaper's Warlord and augmented the figures that come in the box with standard bearers and musicians for the factions provided. I took off this week (Thanksgiving week) and have been lazing around the house experimenting with the Reaper Master Series Paint instead of doing yard work (any excuse to avoid yard work is a good one in my book).

NB: These photographs were taken with a Canon XT w/ 50mm Macro in a light tent. The tent was lit from the sides and above by two 150w (equiv) daylight balanced fluorescent lights. The figures were lit by two incandescents, one on each side at about a 45 degree angle. The objective is to provide “flat” light to show off the layered painting technique. They were Photoshopped only to convert from RAW to JPG and reduce the size for uploading to this posting; no other alterations were made.

This is the front of the command group. The castings are pretty well done. Minimum cleanup required. The Triad system is hard at work on the faces, cloth and armor (yes there is a metallic paint Triad). You can see that the leader is taller than the other figures. This is by design. His size is actually a factor in the game.

Here we see the back of the figures. In some ways the back of the leader, Lord Ironraven, is more detailed than the front. All of the @*&%&*!!!! straps for holding the plate armor in place are sculpted.

This close-up of the musician will give you an idea of the detail that is sculpted into these guys. It’s pretty impressive, even for “heroic scale”. You’ll notice that I painted eyes on these (I don't on my historical stuff). They are fantasy figures and the troops (units) are so small at 8-9 figures that I can afford the time and effort. Besides when your army consists of, perhaps, a couple dozen figures at the most in a big game, each figure is out there for everyone to see.

I didn’t put quite as much effort into this one as the leader figure, I still need to go back and touch-up. See where I slopped black paint under the belt? Yikes! That’s what I get for trying to paint under the influence of caffine! The armor needs more shading under in the shadows. It’s particularly noticable under the calf of the grieves. I’m not real happy with the horn either. It needs to be more shiny (but not too much).

Lord Ironraven is obviously in progress. His hair is just blocked in and the spear haft and scabbard aren’t painted yet. If you look closely you’ll see all kinds of errors and touch-ups that need to be corrected. (See the metal bit on the end of the scabbard that I forgot to metalize?) I think the face came out pretty good though. The lighting in the pictures is flat to bring out the shading that the Triad system enables. This face is a good example. I base coated in the darkest color; did the eyes along with the touch-up around them; then the next lightest color for all but the deepest shadows like the cheek recess; then the highlight for the cheek bone, temples, and nose. I have to admit it was pretty easy, technically, but it was mentally exhausting because of the concentration needed for brush control.

Here’re all those blankety-blank straps I was was talking about each one is highlighed and outlined! What a chore, but the result is very nice. The base gament underneath the armor I wanted to look like deer skin and it came out pretty good. I’m not happy with the blue cloth though. I’m going to have to blend a lot more. Since it’s such a prominent feature of the model, I will have to use a wet blending technique. The same is true of the haft of the spear. It’s huge and it used to balance out the pose so it can’t be ignored or given half measure.

Ah well, work continues. The command group is, by far, the most difficult part of this faction (that’s what they call the opposing sides in Warlord). The rank and file are simple tin cans (like the standard bearer) and wear a simple tabbard which will be painted like the hornist’s. The other faction that came in the box is undead. They’re simple skellies with huge swords. They are going to be really, really, easy. Their command group is an armored guy with no face because of his helmet and a vampiress—that will be the challenging figure in that faction. The musician is interesting in that he’s playing a fiddle and the standard bearer is a reaper.