Spooky Ghost (Spirit Host)

[Will Vale]

Hi folks,

I've been painting these newish plastic Spirit Host figures as a diversion between other things. It's not going entirely to plan but I'm starting to get them into some kind of shape and I think I can see my way to the end now

They're quite fiddly to assemble - lots of thin bits all standing up in 3D - and I ended up giving up on some of the seams and things after two rounds of cleanup and primer, so they're not the tidiest minis ever...

I started off airbrushing them with a mixture of Tamiya acrylics - I think mainly IJN Cockpit Green and Desert Yellow, lightened and warmed with Flat White and Flat Yellow as they got brighter.

The idea was to have a bright light source where the tail of the middle ghost is bursting out of the tortured skeleton (!) and then some internal light for the body of each ghost as well.

I was going to try and paint highlights "inside-out" so that it looked like the ghosts glowed from the inside but my attempt went quite badly and I ended up trying something different. This is a mixture of a couple of loose edge highlights and some yellow-green glazes over the airbrushed shading:

My wife thinks they should be teal-white rather than green-yellow as they look a bit cabbagey, but I wanted something with a hint of "glow in the dark" to it.

I need to clean these up a bit more under a magnifier and repaint the failed one, then follow the same steps on the other two bases. I also need to figure out what to do with the blades.

Cheers,

Will

[Will Vale]

I've got the first one more-or-less done now - a matte coat and some metallics for the knives. I've had a go at some light and shadow play on the base, I'm not sure how effective this is but it was fun to try.

I also re-sprayed the bungled ghosts while I had the airbrush out, so now I can get the other two bases finished. I should be able to do the edge highlights and glazing tonight, laziness permitting

Cheers,

Will

[TonyG]

Zoinks! Scooby Doo, where are you?

That's pretty impressive painting, given the scale.

[Will Vale]

Thanks! These are on a 40mm base so not quite as tiny as they might seem. I'm pleased with how it's going though - my layer of edge highlights was really rough but with the glazes it becomes quite effective.

I haven't done any "proper painting" stuff like blending highlights this time.

Will

[Billydick]

Something else excitingly different from you Will. Are they Games Workshop ?

BillyD

[Stu_davros]

I think they look fantastic, I like the detail on the bases.

Cheers,

Stuart

[Will Vale]

Are they Games Workshop ?

They are, sorry I didn't make that very clear in the description. They recently released several new undead models of which these are the smallest. There are also skeletal angels, giant soul-eating skeleton tiger things ridden by vampires, and a foot-tall flying skeleton called Nagash who is the boss of the whole lot

I thought I'd start with the smaller ones - the ghosts are a recurring element and if I can paint them OK I'll be ready to do one of the bigger models maybe.

I like the detail on the bases.

Thanks, that's all included in the kit apart from some rocks. I like the gravestone with dribbly candles, and all the unhappy poses the skeletons are in

Will

[Will Vale]

I've been ignoring these for a few days (busy with stuff) but I managed to get back to them tonight and put a good session in with the brushes and magnifier. The other two bases now have painted ghosts:

(click for bigger)

Along with gravestones and such. They aren't varnished yet, and I'm not sure if I should go with these plainer bases, or try and do the painted lighting like the first set. I think maybe I like the plainer ones better, the first one was a bit overwrought!

I also need to do a bit more fine highlighting around the faces of the ghosts, and get some more definition on the ribs of the one leaning back. Then varnish and do the metallics, and touch up the first base to match these (or vice versa...)

Cheers,

Will