Bones 1 Miniatures: Black

The previous batch was purple and violet; we have come to the end of the rainbow. I have these minis and I thought to paint them black. Of course, lots of animals and fantastic creatures are colored black, and lots of people wear black, so I gave them their own batch. But pure black would be boring and hard to see, so I made most of them off-black.

Here, 2 stout felines bravely accompany a pair of magic users on a mission.

• "Slynx the Cat" (metal) by Bombshell Miniatures 
• Bones 1 "30 New Bones" cloaked human caster from "Satheras, Male Warlock" by Bobby Jackson (SKU 77040)
• Bones 1 "Heroes" elf caster with polearm from "Elquin the Daring" by Werner Klocke (SKU 30158)

I once had a pair of clever and fierce and loving black Maine Coon mix kitties, Hansel & Pretzel. They crossed the rainbow bridge many years ago, and I still miss them. I bought and painted these cat miniatures to honor them, thus the Rolling Stones video link above is doubly appropriate. The worst thing about black cats is that they shed dark fur on your pale carpet. The second-worst thing is that they are hard to photograph. If you're superstitious, I had a Friday the 13th during this batch!

They come upon a powerful party of Dark Elves, but these are NOT their objective! With careful negotiation, these elves COULD provide valuable assistance...

• Bones 1 "Dark Elves" cleric from "Tierdeleira, Dark Elf Cleric" by Werner Klocke (SKU 77122)
• Bones 1 "Dark Elves" ranger from "Dark Elf Warrior" by Bobby Jackson (SKU 77124)
• Bones 1 "Arachnid Archer" by Gene Van Horne (SKU 77182)
• Bones 1 "Shaerileth, Spider Demoness" by Patrick Keith (SKU 77180)
• "Many Eyes (Spider)" from Kraken Dice

The cleric is tinted with yellow/gold, the ranger is tinted with orange/copper, the archer is tinted with red/red metallic, the spider demoness is tinted with violet, and the spider is tinted with blue (inspired by the metallic blue tarantula).

Finally, our adventurers approach the lair of the big, bad, evil guy (BBEG); including these stealthy dire black rats. A friendly skeleton promises that he is just an employee of the BBEG, and will not resist. "It's an unliving," he meekly offers in his own defense. 

• Bones 1 "Dungeon Attack" Dire Rats, based on "Dire Rats" by Sandra Garrity (SKU: 07036).
• Bones 1 "Mr. Bones" by Julie Guthrie (SKU 77195)

Dire black rats inspired by the black rat.

Mr. Bones was the mascot from the original Bones Kickstarter! I imagined him as a menial grave- or ditch-digger, so I painted him with a black robe heavily dusted with dirt.

And the BBEG is... a vampire. I hate vampires. I think this miniature was a freebie.

• Reaper's "Kaspar Von Mondstein, Vampire" by Bobby Jackson (SKU 07073)

The vampire is in black, tinted with red for blood. I also put some glitter on his skin, because recent documentaries have revealed that vampires sparkle.

My spray primer came out spattery and thin this time and clogged my original nozzle (last time) and replacement nozzle (this time). I of course don't need a lot of primer per batch of minis; so I own these cans for a long time, and because the paints are composed of (I assume) organic compounds, I suspect the spray acrylic just went bad in the can, and/or obstructed the parts inside the can. Still, the minis got enough primer on them to accept paint, and the surfaces were not bumpy with blobs of congealed paint, so it all worked out. I bought a new can, anyway.

Bones 1 Miniatures: Purple & Violet

It's another miniatures adventure, with a purple & violet theme! 2 magic users on a journey to spooky Dark Elf territory. All of these are cast by Reaper Miniatures, and most are part of the Bones 1 Kickstarter, which started soliciting pledges way back in the time before COVID: July 2012.

We open with our pair of surface-dwelling spellcasters and their familiars:

• Bones 1 "30 New Bones" Wizard in a floppy hat from "Galladon, Male Wizard" by Bobby Jackson (SKU 77054)
• Bones 1 "Familiars" Bat from Familiars 1 (02018) by various (SKU 07048)
• Bones 1 "30 New Bones" Lady caster in a big dress from "Devona, Female Wizard" by Werner Klocke (SKU 77036)
• Bones 1 "Familiars" Fairy from Familiars 4 by Julie Guthrie (SKU 07088)

They stop to get directions, supplies, and perhaps to enjoy a rustic meal with a household of country folk and their farm cats:

• Bones 1 "Townsfolk II" Pitchfork man from "Townsfolk: Village Rioter" by Bobby Jackson (SKU 77140)
• Bones 1 "Townsfolk" Mom with 2 kids from "Townsfolk: Mom & Kids" by Bobby Jackson (SKU 77087)
• 2 Cat familiars (metal) from Familiar Pack I by Julie Guthrie, Richard Kerr (SKU 02018)

I imagined that these hardworking farmers would wear clothes in faded pinkish and lavender colors; unlike our wealthy eldritch travelers in rich, deep (perhaps illusory!) colors.

I painted these cats to honor my own beloved brown & orange tabby cats.

The magicians are sure they're on the right track when they encounter lots of big purple spiders! Purple spiders actually exist, including the Avicularia purpurea "Purple Pink Toe" spider. As with other domestic pets, I imagine that these spiders have been selectively bred (by Dark Elves) to maximize their attractive pigmentation. 

• 2 Bones 1 "Vermin" Spiders from Vermin: Spiders by Kevin Williams (SKU 77126)
• 2 Bones 1 "Vermin" Spider swarms from Vermin: Spider Swarm by Shannon Stiltz (SKU 77128)

You may notice some skulls littering the bases under these (and other) minis. I put these skulls under some minis to remind you that these monsters are deadly, kind of like a skull & crossbones "poison" symbol. The skulls are from Games Workshop. 

And finally they arrive at their objective, meeting with a pair of Dark Elves.

• Bones 1 "Dark Elves" assassin from "Zalash, Dark Elf Assassin" by Bobby Jackson (SKU 77123)
• Bones 1 "Dark Elves" caster from "Liela, Dark Elf Wizard" by Werner Klocke (SKU 77121)

Although the D&D Drow Elves are described with 'obsidian' skin, I was inspired by the purple theme and painted these as World of Warcraft Night Elves with purplish skin. Humans have different skin color variants, why not Dark Elves? 

I try to paint these miniatures for about an hour each evening. Each batch takes about 2 weeks to complete. During these 2 weeks, I bought a blind bag of mystery D&D dice, and inside each transparent die in the bag was a blue plastic spider (COOL!). Then I finished reading a dreadful nonfiction book, and I was looking for a fun novel to start on. I remembered this ONE book in my queue; I was painting spiders, I randomly got spider dice, it was the perfect time to start reading "This Book is Full of Spiders" by Jason Pargin, originally published the year the Bones 1 Kickstarter started, bringing it all back to 2012.