About a month ago I started Project Colouring In to get some colour on the oldest of my Bones minis, otherwise condemned to stand around unpainted and unloved.

The Plan was thus:

“So, what I have done for now, is to assign ten of my mini holders (=old glass paint jars with a big lump of blue tack on the lid) to “Project Colouring In”. This is a long term project where I select ten of the old white undercoated models, stick them on a mini holder each, and place these minis all over my painting desk. Every time I open a contrast paint, or even have some other paints left over on my palette, I will try to get some of it on to one or more of these models as well.

What usually happens when I have semi-painted models cluttering up my work space is that over time I get sick of the sight of them and make an effort to finish the offending models. So the idea is to get the older models painted in addition to whatever I am actually wanting to paint, simply by nickeling and dimeing them like this.

When one is done, I replace it on the mini holder with another of the old minis. In this way, I should ever so slowly manage to churn through the collection, if given enough time.

Maybe this whole plan will go the way of the shelf game (which is, the way of the dodo) and the partially painted minis will just go back in the drawers. But maybe not…and the plan might just about work. We shall see.

The key is to get some paint on the models and not be too fussy about anything. Laissez-faire! Sure, it’s lazy painting, so what? These are models that would never get painted otherwise. (And they still look better than Mage Knight prepaints. Admittedly, that is mainly because I care enough to paint the eyes.)”

So how is it going?

Well, minis are getting painted, albeit slower than expected. This has a lot to do with me not using very many contrast paints on my other minis this last month. Here are the next six out the gates:

All of them are from the first Bones kickstarter, and therefore are made in the white, rubbery, bendy classic Bones PVC material. I believe the more recent reprints for retail versions that are dyed more grey are in a better and more rigid version of the material.

77036 Devona, Female Wizard

There is something distinctly weird about wearing plate armour trousers underneath a ball gown. With no armoured top and bared shoulders, and a pair of party wings? One must conclude the player is either trying to use the partial armour rules out of one of the AD&D brown books (was it the gladiator kit in the fighters handbook?) or there is some illusionist magic going on.

Sculpted by Werner Klocke
30mm base

89005 Amiri, Iconic Barbarian (Pathfinder)

The “Iconics” pathfinder minis often have cartoony weapons. Yet again here we have a female with armoured extremities but a bare midriff. Those uncultured barbarians really don’t understand the point of armour do they?

Sculpted by Derek Schubert
30mm base

77131 Finaela, Female Pirate

A pirate with a feather in her hair.

Sculpted by Patrick Keith
25mm base

77077 Finari, Female Paladin

Blue and white to match my other random Bones fighters so they can make a unit for some wargame in the future.

Sculpted by Werner Klocke
30mm base

77135 Mariel Twinspar, Female Pirate

The classic Captain Hook look with the red coat, eyepatch and gold-trimmed tricorn hat.

Sculpted by Werner Klocke
25mm base

89006 Seoni, Iconic Sorceress

The pathfinder iconics seem to be based on official artwork, and therefore sometimes have ridiculous poses. She is either busting some move or her spine.

Sculpted by Bob Ridolfi
30mm base

This hen-do has gone down the drain, hasn’t it?

These minis were completed during the first week of February 2021

Painted so far this year:   (Miniatures:  43 / 365 goal // scenery and terrain: 5)

January: 36 // 5
February: 7

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The Bones 1 Core Set, aka “Vampire Pledge”

Currently at 110 of 241 minis painted. If I remember correctly that is.