PETER PAINTS: THE RED DRAGON, PART 8

Greetings! I’m Peter Lee, a designer in R&D for Dungeons & Dragons at Wizards of the Coast. For the past two months, I’ve been painting Gale Force Nine’s red dragon miniature. After a long journey, I finally finish the miniature this week. If you haven’t been following along, here’s what you missed:

·       Week 1: Gluing it Together

·       Week 2: Painting the Base 

·       Week 3: Airbrushing

·       Week 4: Painting the Underside

·       Week 5: Painting the Head

·       Week 6: Painting the Neck & Body

·       Week 7: Painting the Tail & Arms

This week, we finish the miniature by doing the final work on the wings. I start by painting a dark red line along the edges of the underside of the wing.

I apply a thin wash of dark red along the bones  on both sides of the wing. Here’s the right wing.

And here’s the left wing.

I next work on the “arm” of the wing, starting with the right side.

I continue painting the wing bones. I start with a dark red coat, and gradually go lighter and lighter.

I do the same on the left wing.

I finish the left wing’s arm section.

Next, I work to the top side of the wings. I start with dark shading near the bones.

Here it is after some more shading.

At this point, I’m not that happy with the roughness of the back of the wings, so I break out the airbrush to fix some of my mistakes. This is a bit nerve-wracking, as the airbrush can have a bit of overspray and I don’t want to mess up my previous work. I cover the head and tail with a few pieces of paper towels before using the airbrush.

I apply a coat of medium-red paint.

I do some final highlights with the brightest shade of red and remove the paper towels. Note how much smoother the wings look!

I paint the edges of the wing bones with dark red.

I do some final highlighting on the wing bones with a bunch of small red dots to give the impression of little scales.

All that’s left are little details. I make the tip of the wings transition from red to black.

I paint a thin wash of dark red over all the red parts to make it a little more cohesive.  I also repaint the black edge of the base, as some had flaked off since I first painted it over a month ago.

Next, I apply a little model grass. I have a gel super glue and I apply little dots of superglue in open areas of the base. I dump a pile of grass onto the glue.

I shake off the excess grass, and what remains are little tufts of grass. I only do about a quarter of the base at a time, as I can have more control and might make mistakes if I try to do the whole thing at once.

I apply a few coats of a clear protective spray, and I’m done!

I offer thanks to the crew at Gale Force Nine for giving me the opportunity to do this, and thanks to everyone that has tuned in! It’s been a lot of fun!

Until next time!

CONTEST CONTEST CONTEST!

Now that you’ve seen this red dragon come to life thanks to Peter’s mad skills, you’re probably feeling inspired and want your very own, right? Well, here’s your chance. 

Peter may have put the finishing touches on the red dragon it’s not finished yet. This dragon needs a name and that’s where you come in. Enter the Name Peter’s Dragon contest and you could win your very own Red Dragon from Gale Force Nine. Good luck!