Ev's Challenge - The One That Got Away

Greetings, paint fans! Here's what I was working on when time ran out and the 9th Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge came to an end. 

Reaper Bones again (keeping my hobby expenditure within reasonable bounds); it's a Blue Dragon, a stalwart of Old Skool AD&D monsterdom.

He stands 100mm from the base of his feet to the top of his head, and measures 160mm from wingtip to wingtip, so he really is a monster! Wish I'd gotten started on this one earlier, since he's a pretty impressive model, and would undoubtedly have put me over the line for the 500 point target I'd set myself.

The beast was base coated in GW Caledor Blue, and highlighted with increasing amounts of Vallejo Sky Blue. Blue ink was applied to the shaded recesses. The armour plates on the limbs and belly were worked up from a base of Vallejo Sombre Grey up to Wolf Grey, and inked in GW Asurmen Blue.

The wings were painted with the same set of greys as the armour plates, but without the blue ink.

He's been stuck to a 100mm Warbases MDF round, built up with white pumice paste to disguise the original moulded plastic base of the model. A bit of trimming was needed for it to fit on the MDF base.

The ancient scrolls (OK, the 1st Edition AD&D Monster Manual, but it's from 1977, so it counts) tell us that Blue Dragons live in arid or desert environments. With this in mind, I went for an appropriate basing combo.

The usual mix of slate chips, sand, and a couple of larger pebbles was painted with a basecoat of Vallejo Game Colour Leather Brown, and inked with GW Agrax Earthshade. Once this had dried, the base was worked up through Khaki and Desert Yellow, with a final drybrush of Citadel Bleached Bone to pick out the detail. Tajima Tufts Desert Diorama Elements put the icing on the desolate cake.

And just think, if I'd been better organised, this bad boy would have seen the light of day a couple of weeks ago!

I may not put my paints away just yet - there are other also-rans left over on the painting table, and it would be a shame to let them lie fallow for another year.

What's next then? Stay tuned...

Ev