Dancing Girls and Half-Orcs Have a Picnic - Reaper Figures & Recipes

Okay, so there isn't really any picnic...I just have a tendency to need to make snazzy titles.  But, it is close, there is food involved and there really are dancing girls and half-orcs amongst other figures.  Yesterday, Thursday, was D&D night so I decided to make pizza on the grill again.  Last week I told you my recipe, this week is no different. In addition, I have my usual blather about the minis I was painting.

Part of my day was spent painting, the other part baking and generally messing around.  I finished up two dancing girls that I had started late on Wednesday.  Then, I started and finished three half-orcs; a monk, rogue, and pirate?

Let us start with the prettier of the two sets; the dancing girls.

The dancing girl in red has a variegated or tie-dyed effect skirt.  I've painted her before and made the skirt multi-colored; this time I wanted to keep it one color but add a neat effect.  I was thinking of fantail fish or Siamese fighting fish when I painted her skirt.

 This dancing girl with the coin bikini, well, I like the idea of just black; this way it doesn't distract from her boobs.  The gold accents, the black doesn't detract.  BTW, yeah, I think she's leaning more than she should be, I'll have to straighten her out a bit, she must have gotten a bit twisted in the molding process.

Onto some half-orcs.  Did somebody say beauty and the beast?  Haha!

The monk on the left is a cool idea.  I went with burnt sienna pants with the bright orange loincloth.  I chose the loincloth color based on Buddhist monk robe colors.

The rogue on the right  is pretty standard.  I wanted him dark, roguish, but not too dark.  I went with browns and a nice burgundy studded vest.

I really like this ?pirate? version of a half-orc.  I stuck with primary colors, nothing fancy.  I wanted to stay away from bland, brown or gray colors because I felt that the gray skin needed offset.  Plus, pirates need bright clothes.  ;-)

What I'm most pleased with is the skin of these half-orcs.  You know, traditionally they are to have grayish human skin.  Makes sense to me.  So, I started with a base of Gray 20, dry-brushed on some Gray 15 heavily, then mixed 50/50 Gray 10 and Tanned Skin Highlight and dry-brushed that on very lightly.  Depending on how you like your half-orc flesh you could add more flesh color or brush it on more heavily to get a more human effect.


Onto some miscellaneous figures by Reaper; two assassins and a Mystic Knight.

On the left is the Mystic Knight, Jaron.  I painted him similarly to the Reaper site.  I liked the colors that they chose so I stuck with them.  Like I said before, sometimes it's okay to let others do the thinking for you.
To the right is Blue Orchid Assassin.  Seeing as how his name is Blue Orchid, I went with a Necron Abyss blue cloak and made his bracelet a blue gem.  Keepin' it simple.  Sometimes sticking with the acronym K.I.S.S. is the best policy.  Don't go overboard, it'll make the figure look too busy.

This is Deladrin the assassin.  I think she is a very nice figure.  I really love the knee-pads they designed for her.  She is also painted similarly to the Reaper site.  Sorry, I guess I wasn't that creative.  I just really liked what they did.  I contemplated painting her studded leather in burgundy wine and that would have been wonderful with the brass/gold of her accents.  Could have gone silver too...maybe next time.  I just really enjoy the softer tone of the olive green with the gray.


I promised pizza...and so I shall deliver.  Now mind you, these aren't the outdoorsy beautiful pics from the last pizza episode.  No, just kitchen ones.  Our D&D group doesn't do romantic.  Although, one time we did have champagne with strawberries; one of our players thought we deserved a treat.  Usually we imbibe in pop and fatty snacks.

Both of these pizzas, actually there are four, were done on the grill.  One is a Traditional Pizza of red sauce and cheese, the other is a Santa Fe Chicken.
Use the King Arthur Flour recipe for Now or Later Pizza and prepare according to directions. 
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/now-or-later-pizza-recipe



 

1. Remove from fridge, shape according to directions on olive oiled parchment paper.  Let rise for 30 minutes.  
2. Take to preheated grill, oil top of pizza.  Flip pizza onto grill surface, remove parchment paper by peeling it away from the dough.  
3. When dough browns on grill, flip it over with spatulas.  Brown other side.  While this brown, top pizza.

 This pizza is a Traditional one.  We just used Ragu red sauce from a jar.  It's not to flavorful, so I suggest adding more basil or oregano.  Spread the sauce on with a spoon, top with pepperoni slices and add a mix of mozerella and provolone cheese. 

Of course you can do whatever you want to this type of pizza and add all the toppings that please you.  Bob only likes pepperoni and cheese...he's a plain kinda guy.

This pizza is the Santa Fe Chicken with Pico de Gallo.  Here's what you need:

• Chicken breasts or tenderloins.  
• Pico de Gallo (ours is pre-made and bought from Giant Eagle in the refridgerated veggie section).  
• Philly Cream Cheese Santa Fe Cooking Sauce.  
• Mexican Blend Cheese.

1. Ahead of time, grill the chicken, don't add any seasoning, and cut it into bite-size pieces.  
2. On the grill, top the pizza with the Santa Fe cooking sauce using a spoon.  
3. Place the cooked chicken pieces onto the pizza.  
4. Sprinkle on the pico de gallo.  
5. Finally, top with Mexican blend cheese.  Allow to melt.  Voila!!

Here's the D&D group enjoying the pizza before the game begins.  So, this must have been why I thought there were half-orcs having a picnic.  Wonder where the dancing girls have gone?  ;-)

Lovely Lamia - by Reaper

I suppose I'm behind in posting pictures of what I've been working on; however, posting pictures doesn't exactly pay the bills.  Bob has me chained to the painting table (figuratively) and I must keep my little mind focused.  It was my birthday the other week, when I painted the marid, and Bob ordered me a beer making kit.  Well, it came in the mail yesterday and I've been itchin' to being the beer brewing process; painting must come first, beer second.
So, another really cool figure I was working on is this lamia.  She's not the standard lamia; well, not the one I think of.  The lamia I always picture, you know, when lamia come up in conversation, are the ones with beast bodies not serpent.  In my circle of friends, lamias do actually come up in conversation quite often.  Here she is:

 I apologize, but the images seem to be a bit darker than usual.  I don't have time, however, to fiddle with the lighting.  I take these photos at my painting desk when I'm finished with a mini.  Bob takes better photos after they've been sprayed, flocked, and glossed, and are ready to be shipped out to the customer.

Her snake body is a dark brown with light brown highlights to the scales; pale, creamy belly.  Her armor is Blighted Gold (a metallic green-gold) and gold.  The reason I went with this combination is because of an illustration found on the Pathfinder Wiki, below.

 I think you can see more clearly the brown, almost copper color of her snake body from the back photo.  It fades from a light brown to a dark brown, almost black, tip.  The tip is actually highlighted with a very dark burgundy; as is her hair.

I started at the tip by painting on Raw Umber, then up the tail with Burnt Umber, up some more with Brown, and finally at the top by the skirt Light Brown.  After it all dried I dry brushed the Light Brown into the Brown, the Brown into the Burnt Umber, and the Burnt Umber into the Raw Umber sections.  After it all dried the banding was washed on with Devlan Mud and Badab Black.  The very tip of her tail is Burgundy Wine and it is dry brushed up into the Raw Umber a bit.  It is difficult to see in the photos.

Her belly is Stained Ivory with a highlight of Creamy Ivory.  You'll notice that I continued the banding around to her belly.

 

 The armor is Blighted Gold metallic, made by Privateer Press, which has been washed with black and then individual scales have been recolored with the Blighted Gold.  The shoulder plates, cuffs, spear, mask, and netted skirt are all Gold from Games Workshop that has been washed in Ogryn Flesh and high points picked out with gold again.

I chose for her belt and the tie on her spear a Burgundy Wine (Reaper Color) with a highlight of Red (Vallejo).

The eyes of the mask are Dark Green, Green, and Lemon Yellow (all from Cel-Vinyl).  It is accurate to the illustration but I also feel that the green is suitably serpentine.  Yellow or ocher would have also been a nice touch but I think they would have blended into the gold mask far too much.

Her hair is black with Gray 25 highlights and the very tips are highlighted again with Burgundy Wine.

"Did I leave the iron on?"

More Display Pieces for Primeval Designs/ Acheson Creations

I was able to get the latest pieces Allison did based up and ready to ship out to Craig. These three will add to the displays he already has:

Tyrannosaurus with Dead Brontosaurus

I forget what this one is called. The name's written on the base of the figure, but it's glued to the display base so it'll remain a mystery until I talk to Craig later today.

Add caption

This is a re-make of the Nanotyrannosaurus.

There's more on tap for this line with a few more pieces here to be done up. In addition, Craig's sending me the first of the 15mm versions to be painted up.

Display Figures for Scale Creep

Here's a selection of display figures we've done for Mark at Scale Creep. These are going to be used to display some of the figures he makes and/or carries in his shop and at conventions. Pending his approval, these will be packed up and shipped out to him.

First up are some sea creatures the Allison did: a Kraken and 2 Sea Dragons. One sea dragon is for Mark and the other will be for us to sell:

28mm Kraken

28mm Sea Dragon

A different version of the 28mm Giant Sea Dragon

Next up are some 15mm Black Hat miniatures. Here are two pieces from the Martian range:

Next are 15mm Black Hat Aztec/ Mesoamerican figures:

Mayan Archers

Aztec Warriors

More Aztec Warriors

Aztec Jaguar Warriors

Aztec Command

Here are the sample stands from the 15mm Black Hat Greek range:

Macedonian Pikemen

Babylonian Archers

Greek Hoplites

Thracian Cavalry

Macedonian Command

These are based to the customer's specifications for display on his racks. The Black Hat miniatures are pretty decent figures. There's a bit of clean-up to do on them, but no more so than usual. I especially like the Aztecs and feel they capture the spirit and feel of the culture quite well.