Painting Nemo Miniatures 2518 Swamp Dragon Reptaar

By Dirk Stiller

Well, on great demand I wrote down a little tutorial about how I painted the rereleased Grenadier Swamp Dragon from Nemo-Miniatures.

Here we go:

First I had to decide which way to paint the dragon. As it is a swamp dragon the idea of doing it crocodile-like was close at hand. I have a couple of good books about reptiles and dinosaurs ( I love dinosaurs!) and so I took a look into these to find the right pattern.

After cleaning and gluing the Dragon together with two component epoxy I attached it onto a small plastic box with a hot glue gun. This way I can handle the miniature better when I paint it. I can only recommend a good handle whenever you paint a miniature. Smaller miniatures I usually glue onto film canisters filled with old screws or sand for weight.

Then I primed the Dragon with white car primer, like all my miniatures. I apply the thinned paint with my airbrush. Thatīs quick and provides an even coat of thin paint.

The next step was the base color. I painted the entire miniature with a thin coat of light ivory. Not too thin, cause this layer should cover the miniature good enough that only a touch of the primer shines through and marks the highlights.

After the paint had dried, I washed the dragon with a thinned down light yellow ocher. This is the first step to darken out the deeper areas of the dragonīs skin. This washing technique is basically what I do with all of my minis to archives very smooth transitions between different colors or from highlights to shadows. Itīs always wet on dry painting. I usually donīt mix the paints on the figure, like itsīs done with oils.

This first wash with light yellow ocher is followed by a second wash (after the first has dried, of course) with standard yellow ocher. At this point I started to concentrate the wash more into the deeper areas. Like under the arms, the legs, the lower jaw and so on. Well, now the dragon looked much like an albino (hmm, nice idea, maybe next time).

The next wash was a light brown which I applied to the palms of the claws and down the sides of the neck where the color will be divided into the lighter underbelly and the green upper side. This way I predefined a contrast between the upper and down side. The same on the sides of the belly and down the sides of the tale. The same brown wash also went onto the chest between the shoulders and the down side of the skin connecting the upper right arm with the shoulder. The other arm is fit to the body so that the skin there is folded. A brown wash goes into that folds also. It is a deep shadowed area. The mace-like tip of the tail was also washed brown.

I repeated this step with a deeper brown, taking care that the mixture was very thin and translucent, so that the overall color doesnīt get too dark. The darker colors must only be applied into the deepest areas.

After the wash had dried I drybrushed the miniatures underside with the ivory I started with. This drybrush lightens up and defines the scales, that have become darker throughout the washing. Better drybrush two or three times with an almost dry brush, then one time with too much paint on the brush. The problem with too much drybrushing is that you can see the brush stokes when the paint is not dry enough. Less is better here.

Finally I applied another wash of a more reddish brown to the already darkened areas. The dragon must have some kind of blood in his veins and so naturally the skin becomes a reddish in the folds and wrinkles.

Now for the upper part of the body. I wanted this to look green, like on the picture of the Crocodile I choose for reference. Again I used several "washed" layers of water-thinned green paint. I started with a very light green to give the ivory looking skin on the back a basically green look. I tried to leave the edges of the scales as light as possible by washing the green paint from them. I ran a wash with the green paint down the sides of the dragon where the ivory-ocher underbelly goes into the green back of the dragon. By using a very thin wash of green the transition from ivory to green becomes very soft and natural. I proceeded with darker washes of green paint on the back.

I used a bit water to clean the edges of the scales and the eyebrows and nostrils so that they stand out in the basic ivory-ocher color. I also washed the up sides of the arms and legs this way to match them with the rest of the Dragonīs upper side.

The claws and horns on the back where washed with a few layers ranging from yellow ocher to darkest brown at the base. This way the tip of the claw/horn stays ivory and the base becomes dark-brown and a good contrast to the surrounding green and ivory skin is archived.

And now for the details. I basecoated the eyes with a light lemon-yellow. Then I applied a few washes from light to dark green around the edges to darken and blend the eyes into the sockets.

Onto the yellow center I painted a vertical line for the reptile pupil and edged it out with lines of the light yellow I started with. Then I surrounded the pupil with a few tiny light yellow spots.

The cheeks, just behind the eyes I washed with a red brown, just like on a tortoise.

The long frog like tongue and the gum was basecoated with a light pink. Then I washed it down to the throat with several reds to a very dark red. The tip of the tongue was given a blending with white. Thinned down a bit so that the pink still shined through and the tip didnīt became too white.

For the spots I used a dark brown which I applied thinned down to various scales randomly. Then I highlighted these spots softly with a mid brown.

The tree stump, the dragon clings to in his dramatic pose, was based with a light flesh color and then washed down with several brown colors from light to dark. For the rotting look I finally washed it with some dark green. Then I drybrushed the whole tree with some very light brown. Again, better three times very soft then once too much. I only wanted to lighten up the edges of the wood structure a bit. After all, this tree was supposed to come right out of the greenish water of a rotten swamp pond. I sealed the paintjob with a couple layers of matte varnish. The eyes and tongue where covered with gloss varnish for the "wet" look.

Onto the base:

Though I didnīt sculpt any of this swamp around the tree stump I tried to find a base for the dragon that would fit into the mood of the model and at the same time provide a nice base to stand on.

I took a wooden doll buggy wheel (from my local hobby store) and primed it with black. Then I took a large brush and applied a dark green on the base by dipping the brush onto the base in a dry brush way. This way I build up an uneven, broken pattern of green on the black basecoat to simulate the deep randomized structure of the marble.

I repeated this step with lighter green. Then I took a feather (also from the hobby store) and dipped the edge into white paint. After wiping of the paint I drybrushed the edge of the feather over the base in long strokes. This way you get a broken "veiny" pattern.

Make sure to brush mainly into one direction to give the white "veins" in the marble a general "natural grown" stream.

The last step is to apply random tiny spots of white over the base. You can use either a spattering airbrush or a simple toothbrush for this. Finally I sealed the base with a few coats of high gloss clear varnish. This brings out the structure, ads a certain deepness and gives this paintjob that "real" marble look.

After the varnish had dried, I glued on the dragon with two part epoxy and the model was finished.

Painting this dragon was pure fun. The only small flaw I encountered was the throat that was, due to a worn out mould, not deep enough. So I had to drill it out with my dremel to provide a proper socket for the tongue. Besides this the sculpting is still very attractive, even after all those years and well worth itīs price.

Any further questions? Just let me know.