Pages

▼

Friday, 2 November 2012

Blue Dragon

This is a wedding present for an old friend. The dragon is from Warhammer, the Dark elf range and is called Darkelf Dreadlord on Black Dragon.
The kit contains Dragon armour and a multi pose dark elf but all I was after was the dragon.
Not a bad kit as it goes..fitted together well, the joins are virtually undedectable without any work to cover them up.
I didn´t like the idea of the black dragon as on the boxart..so he/she ended up a blue one..with a slight gold sheen
The kit gives a choice of two heads...this one seemed the best.

The base was a bit of a problem. The one provided hasn´t got enough weight to keep the Dragon balanced..the slightest touch would tip it over, so a larger one had to be found. Choice! Round or square!?
Or combine both ideas and have hexagonal one!!  :-D

I took a chance with the water effect (I´m not very good at creating water for dios)
I mixed some plaster of Paris with woodglue and just smeared it on the base (an old picture frame) and then stuck the plastic rock base into the mixture. As it dried I used a toothpick to make the choppy water effect...
A couple of "pre-basing" pics in different light levels.

A recommendation, Alex´s models at Attention to detail blog
If no-one has seen his work I can only suggest having a look...he is IMHO a scratch build artist of the highest degree of skill and accuracy. I can´t even imagine how anyone can have the patience to construct a motorbike chain in 1-1 let alone in 1/6th scale, but Alex does :-D

Hello to Jehan from Lántre de Jehan blog...Lovely 28mm bods..especially (I´m Biased) his dark age and medievals.

at

37 comments:

  1. The Angry Lurker2 November 2012 at 06:11

    Good grief but he's a magnificent blue boy, excellent teeth too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Paul´s Bods2 November 2012 at 06:32

      Thanks Fran.
      Over 20 cm´s tall without base, the wingspan 25cm´s...a lot of plastic to paint.
      I even added plaque around the teeth..not really obvious from the pics though.
      Cheers
      paul

      Delete
  2. Andrew McCory2 November 2012 at 06:13

    I bow before your painting skills Sir. Painting a dragon only exists in my plans, in the far-far future.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Paul´s Bods2 November 2012 at 06:30

      Thanks Andrew.
      I was a bit nervous about this one. Not only is it a way bigger kit than I normally paint but the cost of the kit! The thought of making a mess of it was a worry. It took two days (without basing) of solid painting time...14 layers of paint in different tones!!!!
      I´m quite pleased with the result....maybe I´ll get another and make a red dragon..
      Cheers
      paul

      Delete
  3. fogsoldiers2 November 2012 at 06:24

    Really nice blue effect :-)

    Marzio.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Paul´s Bods2 November 2012 at 06:34

      Thanks Marzio
      I used a drybrush of blue and gold in the 3rd and second to last layers...in sunlight the thing reflects so much it´s impossible to take any pictures of it...it glows!
      Cheers
      paul

      Delete
  4. Tim Gow2 November 2012 at 06:36

    Very nice. That dragon has had some great dental work!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Schedler Vincent 2 November 2012 at 06:54

    Very nice figure, and very good work, the choice of the color is very appropriate, degrades them, lights and shadows are perfect.
    What about more bravo Paul
    Chers
    Vincent

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jonathan2 November 2012 at 07:21

    I do love dragons, and you have done this great beast justice! Very beautiful and a wonderful gift!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous2 November 2012 at 07:39

    This is really good Paul, rather good than other people who used to paint this kind of stuff.

    Kind regards,

    Bourbaki

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Paul´s Bods2 November 2012 at 10:19

      Thanks. It turned out better than I hoped...:-D

      Delete
  8. Unknown2 November 2012 at 08:52

    Paul I can't tell you how pleased I am so see your work on something like this. The beasts head is fearsome and your color choice really works here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Paul´s Bods2 November 2012 at 10:21

      Thanks Anne.
      Usually I avoid GW stuff like the plague but after this I have started looking a bit more closely at thier range...and I´ve got a few undead (a present from Pater) that I will get to grips with some time soon.

      Delete
    2. peter5 November 2012 at 11:06

      A present from who??? Paul, translate "Pater" from Dutch to English, and you will understand that it means completely different! :-D

      Greetings
      Peter
      http://peterscave.blogspot.be/

      Delete
    3. Paul´s Bods5 November 2012 at 12:17

      :-D Nearly right :-D

      Delete
  9. The Dancing Cake Tin2 November 2012 at 09:03

    Absolutely smashing bi of work there, Paul!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Dalauppror2 November 2012 at 09:19

    Stunning !!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. legatus hedlius2 November 2012 at 09:34

    Completely splendid! The blue colour scheme is inspired!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Paul´s Bods2 November 2012 at 10:23

    Thanks chaps :-D
    There was a bit of tugging at the heart strings having to give this away...it is a lovely model..which, IMHO, would have been spoilt by adding the elf rider and it´s armour.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Milo Burgh2 November 2012 at 10:34

    Awesome!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Jay2 November 2012 at 10:44

    This is one mean looking and very very nicely painted figure!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Erhntly2 November 2012 at 12:13

    very imposing , good job.
    Erhan

    ReplyDelete
  16. Silver Whistle2 November 2012 at 12:46

    A superb model and painting. The water effects also work well.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Michael Awdry2 November 2012 at 13:20

    What a gorgeous Dragon, splendid execution too.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Monty2 November 2012 at 13:43

    Wonderful work, Paul! All teeth and your basing is fantastic!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Paul O'G2 November 2012 at 14:06

    Love the model and you've pulled off that tricky blue/black sheen perfectly!!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. fireymonkeyboy2 November 2012 at 14:46

    Love the shading and skin effect on the wings, Paul. How did you get the "gold" effect?

    ReplyDelete
  21. fireymonkeyboy2 November 2012 at 14:49

    Hmm. Odd. Think my comment "missed".

    Love this, Paul, especially the skin effect / shading on the wings. How did you get the gold sheen / finish?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Paul´s Bods3 November 2012 at 03:53

      Didn´t miss...it "hid" :-D
      To get the gold effect. Difficult to explain but here goes.
      In total there is 14 layers of paint on the thing..from a black base, then a very very dark blue, then dark purple and then going up in ever lighter dark blues into a mid blue. The last 5 layers were dry brushed...the 5th from last layer I added gold to the mix about 90% mid blue to 10% gold...and the 3rd from last an exptremely dry drybrush with 50/50. Then a midblue drybrush on top. The spines along the back got a similar treatment but using silver instead of gold..they look like blue in the pics. Finally the whole thing was put together..the tiny areas around the joins patched up and the whole thing got a another two very dry drybrushes of mid blue and white (70-30 and then 30 - 70%)
      Took ages to get the effect looking ok..it really looks much better in sunlight but the refections from the gold and silver made taking any decent photos impossible.

      Delete
    2. Sam Wise3 November 2012 at 11:54

      Seriously???
      it's a crazy work! but the result is great!
      beautiful Dragon!
      I'm sure that Bilbo would like it....

      Delete
    3. Paul´s Bods3 November 2012 at 13:04

      Seriously. The larger areas gave me a chance to practice a couple of painting ideas. Maybe painting 14 layers (at least twice as many as I have ever painted on a bod/nag) was a bit much but it seems to work. I´m seriously considering getting another big dragon...lovely looking beasts.

      Delete
  22. Daisy Gowan Ditchburn2 November 2012 at 22:21

    A fine beast of flight wonderful work my friend

    ReplyDelete
  23. Ray Rousell2 November 2012 at 22:39

    And very nice he is too, he looks superb, well done old chap!!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Markus Schenk4 November 2012 at 03:08

    Excellent. I am breathles.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Paul´s Bods4 November 2012 at 04:37

    Many thanks all...:-D

    ReplyDelete
  26. daz4 November 2012 at 15:10

    Here be Dragon's. Brilliant stuff as always mate.

    ReplyDelete
  27. peter5 November 2012 at 11:10

    That dragon is brilliant painted! What a gift! And the base is also a nice piece of work!

    I assume you also gave him the voice of Sean Connery? ;-)

    Greetings
    Peter
    http://peterscave.blogspot.be/

    ReplyDelete