Guest Post on Colossal Skeleton Miniatures Painting

My sister Heather was recently here for a visit and graciously agreed to write a post about her favorite recent miniature that she has painted. It also happened to be one that she painted while she was visiting my house and we were painting one afternoon together or was that one very late night? Either way I enjoyed the visit and the time we had to chat and be creative and now you all get to enjoy her handy work as well. She is such a creative inspiration in my life and I am so grateful for that so thanks Heather. And without any further ado here she is.

When I first got into Dungeons and Dragons I swore I would never paint minis. It seemed like fun, but I already had too many hobbies and not enough time. Not to mention the monetary commitment it would take to really get started…. And I stuck to my guns. No minis at all. I mostly run my games with multicolored parcheesi pawns (different shapes for players/monsters) with a couple of bases to indicated size.

...Well, until July this year, that is.

My sister, Tiffany (our intrepid blogstress) had begun painting minis and showing us her completed subjects over skype connection on game night. When I went out to visit, I knew it was a real possibility that she would be painting while I was there. I was determined, no painting with her. Period.

And I managed.

Until I didn’t.

The rest, they say, is history.

Since July, I have been happily submerged in mini-painting. I’ve painted some pretty awesome minis. Giants and oozes, Harpies and Adventurers… even an awesome Silver Dragon. My collection of painted minis grows, but not nearly at the rate of my collection of unpainted minis (as these things go).

It wasn’t until October 2018 that I painted this: 

Reaper Miniatures Bones Colossal Skeleton (77116)

I was once again visiting my sister (with one of my other sisters) and the three of us had been painting for a day already. The weather was wet, raining all day. Then we had some sun, just enough for long enough to prime a few new things to paint.

I had purchased this skeleton with the intention of making one of my campaign groups face it. So the paint job had to be epic. First came assembly. The Colossal Skeleton comes in four pieces. Two arms, a head and the body. I attached the head and the dagger-hand before painting. The nature of the tombstone hand means that it is easiest to paint if both pieces are painted simultaneously and then the arm attached.

After assembly came trimming any visible seams (of which there were few) and then priming. My preferred primer is Army Painter Colour Primer. They are designed to be both primer and basecoat, eliminating the time and paint for basecoating. I have found that they spray on smoothly and cleanly and I have very few problems with it. My preferred shade is Uniform Gray (CP3010).

After priming, the fun stuff starts.

I always start with the biggest areas first, leaving little details and the base for last. In this case, I began with the actual skeleton. I based him with Army Painter Necrotic Flesh, then dry brushed it in layers in the following order: Skeleton Bone, Drake Tooth and Brainmatter Beige. I then highlighted him with Mummy Robes.

Fun fact - I adore highlighting. It’s one of my favorite techniques. It brings emphasis to edges, curves and corners. One of these days I’m sure I’ll overdo it and end up making something look like a cartoon character. Until then, I’ll just keep trucking.

After that, time for the fabric. The reds used here are also Army Painter. Abomination Gore for the base, then Dragon Red for the middle dry brushed shade, followed by Pure Red. It was highlighted with Pure Red lightened with Matt White (just enough to make it a shade lighter, not pinken it.

For the browns in the belt, leather straps around the arm, neck and leg, along with the wood of the brace on the leg, I layered Army Painter colors in the order of Oak Brown and Leather Brown. I then lightened the Leather Brown with Banshee Brown and highlighted with Banshee Brown.

The hair of the orc head, the tombstone, the fur of the loincloth and the stones on the base were done with Army Painter Dark Stone, then Uniform Gray, then Stone Golem. These I chose to leave un-highlighted. The letters in the tombstone I painted with Matt White.

The orc head and orc hand on the back I painted with Army Painter Army Green, then Combat Fatigues and highlighted with Scaly Hide. The eyes were painted with Matt White, the tongue painted Dragon Red.

The rope wrapped around the hammer and the arms and legs I painted Reaper Master Series Auburn Shadow, which I lightened with MSP Amber Gold and then Amber Gold on its own. The highlights were done by adding a tiny bit if Matt White to the Amber Gold to lighten it a shade.

The dagger, chain loincloth, spiked ball-and-chain, and shackles were painted with Army Painter Plate Mail Metal, and accented with Vallejo Model Color Old Gold. Plate Mail Metal was also used to drybrush a topcoat onto the cross of the tombstone. I used the old gold to turn my skeleton into a pirate by giving him a gold tooth.

After this, he was nearly done. Just the base and accenting to do. For bloody accents I used Game Color Scarlett Red (My first time using this color, and borrowed from Tiffany. It’s a great red). I tried to keep the accents small and organic, but numerous enough to be noticed. The red dots in the eyes of all the skeletons were done using Pure Red.

For the base, I painted the dirt first. I used Army Painter Oak Brown, then Monster Brown then Banshee Brown. Unhighlighted, as it’s the base. I went for a grave dirt sort of effect. The grass was based with Angel Green, which I then lightened with Scaly Hide and top-brushed with Scaly Hide on its own.

Nearly complete I then had a decision to make. What wash to use? I was thinking Army Painter Strong Tone, but Tiffany suggested Dark Tone instead. Since she always makes great color suggestions, I decided to test the Dark Tone on a toe. It looked great, so that was the wash I used. For a finishing touch, we sealed him with a matt sealer.

Overall, I’m really proud of how this mini turned out. I’m really excited to present him to my players when the time comes, surrounded, of course, by an army of the undead!