Reaper Dark Heaven Legends Female Half-Orcs for my daughter, Ellen Morin

My daughter Ellen plays Pathfinder with her boyfriend Chris and a group in Worcester.  She told me in the past that she had a couple of characters that were half-orc females and quite tough.  One was a pirate (Alzura) and one was a mythic warrior (Urldra).  I had wanted to get her some figures and paint them for Christmas, but time ran out.

Still, I found these two Reaper Dark Heaven Legends figures on eBay when I did a search on female half-orcs.  As luck would have it, they were perfect! Rozmina (03242) became Alzura, and Janara (02708) became Urldra.

 

I then asked Ellen for some details, and she actually had a drawing that she made of Alzura – which I used as a starting point for color.

 

For simplicity, I will describe each in turn.  Alzura was on a ship base, which was a new one for me.  I found an old circular slotta base, mounted it on a washer for weight, and then mounted Alzura on it with wood glue.  I then used matchsticks (bought in Germany in 1987!) that I split to size to the base to create a deck-like appearance with wood glue.

 

Basing Urldra was done similarly, without the need for matchsticks.

I then primed both figures with Krylon “Flat White” primer, and once dry, coated both figures with Citadel “Agrax Earthshade”.

 

 

Alzura was the easier figure to paint of the two.  I base coated her after the first shade with Citadel “Castellan Green”.  I then did the eyes in the usual way.  After that, I added a second layer with Citadel’s “Waaagh! Flesh”.  I base coated her trousers, her top, and her sandals with Americana “Raw Sienna”.  Her hair was a mix of Americana “Raw Umber” and Armory “Red Brown”.  I painted her cutlass blade with Tamiya “Gun Metal” and the hand guard with Tamiya “Metallic Grey”.  As Ellen’s favorite color is blue, I used Deka Lack “Blau” for her do-rag/hair scarf.  For her arm band I used Tamiya “Titanium Silver”.  For her armbands and her earrings, I used Tamiya “Gold Leaf”.  Her dagger handle is Americana “Ivory” and her leg straps are Americana “Black”.  I then outlined the figure with Secret Weapons Washes “Sewer Water” ink.  I have her trousers another wash – again “Agrax Earthshade”.

I then proceeded to layer her skin using a series of mixes of  Citadel’s “Waaagh! Flesh” cut with (amusingly so) Americana “Buttermilk”.  I lined the edge of her cutlass blade with “Titanium Silver”.  I dry brushed her trousers and top with a series of lightened “Raw Sienna” and “Buttermilk”.  As I did this, I alternated more “Agrax Earthshade” at the deeper borders of the muscles.  Her lip is Polly-S “Demon Dark Red” and her teeth are Americana “Snow”.  I finished off the base with Citadel XV-88.  I then varnished the model with Krylon “Clear Glossy”, followed several hours later by a second coat with Krylon’s “Clear Matte” varnish.

 

 

Urldra was the harder figure to paint.  She had a lot of details that were close together.  I base coated her after the first shade with Citadel “Castellan Green”.  I then did the eyes in the usual way.  After that, I added a second layer with Citadel’s “Waaagh! Flesh”.  I base coated her leather armor with a combination of 1/3 Americana “Raw Sienna” and 2/3 Americana “Raw Umber”.  Her hair was done with Americana “Black Tie” which is a satin paint and gave some shine to her head.  I painted her sword blades and her armor with Tamiya “Gun Metal” and the sword pommels with  with Tamiya “Titanium Silver”.  Later when I used Secret Weapons Washes “Sewer Water” the “titanium Silver became slightly gold-colored or brassy.  The bow was painted with Citadel’s XV-88, as were her boots, though these were darkened with “Agrax Earthshade” and Armory “Musket Brown”.  Her sleeping roll was painted with Deka Lack “Braun”.  All straps were painted with Americana “Black”.

I alternated with Armory “Red Brown” and “Leather Brown” for the quiver, her “bustier” (if that is what that was), and some highlights on her leather armor.  I painted her earrings with Tamiya “Gold Leaf.  I then outlined the figure with Secret Weapons Washes “Sewer Water” ink and more “Agrax Earthshade”.

I then proceeded to layer her skin as I did Alzura’s using a series of mixes of Citadel’s “Waaagh! Flesh” cut with (again) Americana “Buttermilk”.  Her lip is Polly-S “Demon Dark Red” and her teeth are Americana “Snow”.  I finished off the base with Citadel XV-88, and flocked it with Army Painter’s “Battlefield Brown”.  I then varnished the model with Krylon “Clear Glossy”, followed several hours later by a second coat with Krylon’s “Clear Matte” varnish.  I then added some grass to the model from Army Painter as well as some loose foliage from 4Ground.

 

 

 

I then got a small Really Useful box from Staples (blue of course).  I mounted a magnetic sheet on the bottom from Michael’s, giving Ellen a safe way to bring home her figures.

I am very pleased with how the figures came out, and Ellen was very happy too.  As you can tell, she is ecstatic and looking forward to using her figures this weekend!  It felt awesome to give her a gift like that!