Wings

Hello folks, and back to our dragon.

Now for the wings, and more specifically the junction line between them and the finger bones.
The different steps won't really stand out in the photos, which led me to do this little diagram:

1 & 2 - green / yellow gradation:

3 - dark brown layer:

4 - dark green layer...

5 ...blended:

Zombicide

OK, I'm quite slow at painting this dragon. But I also paint other things...

Enter 'Zombicide', by a French-staffed American company not-so-subtly named 'Guillotine Games'.
OK, zombies are all the rage these time, and thus deserve to be declared lame anytime soon. Nevertheless this game is quite decent: last Christmas, I even introduced it to non-gamers, non-hobbyists from my family, and everybody, men and women alike, quite enjoyed the game.

After that pleasing success I decided to paint the whole game box, and that means a lot of figures:

Now I'm almost done. Sure this work has slowed the warpfire dragon, but, you see, huge models will require months to get completed, and to keep up a steady pace, the cave-age hobbyist that I am needs the motivational satisfaction of seeing a completed model from time to time.

...and highly disposable zombies offer a a decent result for a quick paint.

More on this in later posts...

Painting...

Once we've applied basic colours with the airbrush, it's time to revert to classic brushes.

Now the whole thing is beginning to look actually look like a dragon and long-ruined temple:

Airbrush time!

From time to time I get to take my old airbrush out of the closet.

Here we go for the black coating:

And then for base colours:

For now, my aim is to gradually turn these colours to some yellowish shade for the wing membrane, and some kaleidoscope of greens for the body. But to be fair, I doubt that it is a good idea, and if it is, and doubt I can implement it properly.

The thing is, these dragon models are a welcome change from the usual science-fiction thingies and other historical warplane kits, so I indulge in some experimentation, not always for the better.

Next stop: I don’t know, for reasons of my mother-in-law staying at home this week. Not the most appropriate time to display my toys.
In the meantime, I should watch out for the mightiest creature in this flat, who can be seen below attempting to stomp the warpfire dragon (again).

Assembly Completed

Here it is, fully assembled.
...and barely fitting into my brand-new foldable studio (obviously the gigantic Carmine Dragon won't fit at all).

This first picture clearly shows the plastic and resin parts. Plastic = wings and torso, resin = everything else.

Here the dead tree can be seen in its "balancing the figure" role.

Now for the painting phase.

Taking Pictures

Taking photo of your minis is always a problem. The light is never how it should be, and getting the camera's settings just right is quite a burden. The internet is full of do-it-yourself-cardboard-box-photo-studios, but I simply can't store a gigantic, empty box in my apartment.

But today the solution has arrived in the form of a very flat parcel, which unfolds to make a tiny photo studio, hence its name: Foldio. It is lightened by a strip of LED powered by a simple 9-volt battery.

This little wonder was launched not so long ago thanks to a Kickstarter campaign. It is made by California-based Orange Monkey, even though the product itself is produced in Korea (the parcel arrived directly from the country of the quiet morning).

Honestly, I have been quite amazed by the quality of its material and assembly, but above all by its ingenuity. The thing has really been carefully thought through and through. The guys from Orange Monkey repeatedly stated so during their Kickstarter campaign, but the real thing really is "quality".

 Now what about the photos?
Well my first guinea pig will be a spectre. That's a 1999 Warhammer figure that my old friend Frédéric  (yes, older than 1999) gave me (again).

Here it is, photographed "the old way" (veteran hobbyists may notice the "hawk turquoise" with which the mini was painted):

And here is the Foldio treatment, a shot taken in my kitchen, long after dark:

You be the judge.