Mastering Miniatures: Painting the Reaper Bones Orc

Today I'm painting the Reaper Bones Orc miniature, which is the second miniature in the set. The paints associated with the orc performed much better than those for the skeleton. I used some of the paints from the skeleton, but mainly to mix in with the ones from the orc, so they weren't the key piece. I enjoyed painting this one way more, and I believe this turned out to be the best one of the three I painted from this set.

It started out the same way as the other mini. The first thing I did was put down the basecoat, which was a green.

Here it is after the basecoat was put down.

Green basecoat put down on the skin.

After that, it has you do a highlight by dry brushing over the basecoat. I really liked this step and thought it made the model really pop.

Base coat put on the chainmail.

The next step was to do some of the detail work, such as painting things that are leather, chainmail, the sword, and others. I did have some problems with the silver that was sent with the set. Instead of fighting the provided paint, I just dipped into the acrylic paints I had lying around the house from the set I used for my Mech miniatures.

Here is what it looked like afterwards.

Detail work done such as leather, steel, fur and others.

They then had you prepare a wash for the model, which was basically just watering down the darkest color they had and applying it. I ended up putting two washes on because I wasn't satisfied with how dark the first one was and wanted it grittier.

Here are the results from both washes.

First wash:

First wash done on the model.

Second Wash:

Second wash completed.

The final step in the process was doing some dry brushing to try and make things stand out. I think it turned out pretty good. I also painted the teeth and other small details that they recommended to do.

Dry brushing, teeth, eyes and other things painted.

Back of model after same step.

I also tried the eyes but really struggled with them. I don't know if it was the paint, brushes, or my inexperience as a painter (most likely) that made it so tough. I just couldn't get the tiny detail to make it work. I think it turned out pretty well all things considered.