28mm Reaper Dark Heaven Legends Mini – Kelainen Darkmantle, Evil Wizard

by theimperfectmodeller, posted in Fantasy, Uncategorized

For the moment I suddenly I seem to have found myself fixated on a genre that I did think I would ever find myself interested in – Fantasy!  I’m not entirely sure why this has come about but three things spring to mind.  Firstly, I’m really liking the detail on the Reaper figures and because I wanted to try to crank up my painting skills this has really helped.  Secondly, I’ve been more than a little impressed  by the work of fellow bloggers in this area.  Thirdly, it’s nice to use a multitude of colours and not be restricted to uniform paints.  I’m not sure how long this interest will last but I’ve got another half a dozen figures to do and have my eye on at least another dozen or more so I’m not finished just yet.

Metal Reaper figures aren’t prohibitively expensive but neither are they that cheap either.  Personally I think they represent good value for money but the quality of the figures are deserving of a little more effort on the base work.  Hopefully I’ve achieved that with this one.

Not a great deal to say about the figure itself.  It’s a great sculpture in my opinion and it was a joy to paint using a combination of oils and acrylics and, in the case of the sword some free hand yellow and green hatching.  I particularly liked painting the many folds, a great opportunity for some shadow and highlight painting.  For the base I settled on a rugged rocky staircase look, obscured somewhat in the photo’s, with a little snow added for no other reason than I wanted to!

I was in two minds about this one for the July challenge but decided to stick with my original plan which I think will prove to be the better centre piece.  Details for that one will appear next week.

Photo’s below.  I hope you like it.

TIM

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37 thoughts on “28mm Reaper Dark Heaven Legends Mini – Kelainen Darkmantle, Evil Wizard”

  3. Very nicely done, Dave! Like everything on this guy! Would not believe this is a step away from what you’re used to painting! And I know you’ve really added the snow ’cause you have a bucketload of it to use up and SWMBO has told you “use it or lose it”!

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  5. Great painting again Dave as Array said ,great cross hatching ,not my realm but the girls would love me to go in that direction ,Tech Ad want’s me to do a Harry Potter one or Lord of the rings ,but I told her that you were already onto that one so I shouldn’t cut your lunch . she said wicked ! . Sorry mate ,well maybe you could ,you have proved you can rise to most occasions wether personal or modelling mate so I’m sure you could if only they made the figures fort the job . I’m amazed they haven made a set (or have they ) .

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  7. Your Wizard has come up very nicely indeed. With the Elf and this guy you’re painting Fantasy models like it’s an old thing to you, quite frankly. As others have said, the freehand and fleshtones are lovely, and you’re clearly onto the fine details like the brass highlights.

    Oh, and as far as the July Challenge goes – you know that you can successfully hit it multiple times, right? I’ve finished two so far (only shown one atm) and plan to hit it another 5 or 6 times as I finish the 6 models on my painting desk. This guy is definitely deserving of the showcase at the end of the month, and I’m all for having as many as you (or anyone else interested turn out up there!

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    1. Cheers mate. I’m really enjoying doing something different and I’ve certainly got a few more in the pipeline. The detail on these minis is quite incredible I think. Given what you’ve said consider this the first July figure with at least one more to follow, maybe two!

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      1. It is funny how sculpting style can impact figure painting- too little detail and I struggle, too much detail and I also struggle, some of the new GW stuff has got too much going on for me and I think the figures look too ‘busy’… so much so I’d never know how to go about painting them.

        Cheers,

        Pete.

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      1. Not sure about great painter after some of the work I saw at the Plymouth Show. Still I’m happy with what I’m doing and the progress being made. As for IRO, you’ve got to laugh, great guy and we would be less of a group without his input. Crazy as a box of frogs though!

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  11. Wonderful, just wonderful. I like all your stuff, but this one definitely shines. The eye is really nice, the leather belt and pouch, the wisp of green smoke from the bottle, the dirt on the base of the robes, the metals…..lots of great stuff to look at. It probably shows up better in person, but I couldn’t really see the snow on the rocks, as it looks almost like highlighting. Cool idea though and great paints! 😀

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    1. Glad you like him. I wouldn’t normally say it about my work but I do think it looks better in the flesh. The snow comes across better and the steps on the rocks are more obvious too. Both look a little flat in the photos, still can’t get the knack of improving them beyond what I take now. At least the light box improved things! Quality figures do make a huge difference though and Reaper are excellent, just wish they covered more genre’s, still I’m enjoying these at the moment so can’t complain. Nobody would listen anyway!

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      1. Yea, I sometimes think about what everyone’s minis would look like in person. I know Azazel’s Gandalph’s mini would look really great in my pocket, haha! But seriously, I’d stroll through TIM’s museum of minis anyday!

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