Of dungeons deep – Bailey Silverbell

Bailey Silverbell, a sculpt by Werner Klocke, is one of my favourites of the Bones hoard. She is beautifully sculpted with a good amount of detail that translated very well in the Bones material.

She is a good example for Klocke’s comic-book style, with big eyes and overall slightly exaggerated features. Nevertheless, this really suits a halfling or dwarven lady and I really like her face and the ease to bring it alive. It is evenly shaped, making it especially easy to paint the eyes.

Her front is full of detail: Belt buckles, seams and rivets on the different parts of her leather armour, a small circular fibula to hold her cloak, it all suggests that Klocke put a lot of effort in the sculpt. Her back is covered by a dynamically flowing cloak, well suited for nice blends, but also free-hands to add interest. She wields a short sword and a crossbow. The sword could be slightly thinner, but the nice hilt and tiny decoration on the blade make up for it. The crossbow is not very spectacular, but is sculpted well enough to not ruin an otherwise well executed miniature.

She is depicted in a “sneaking” pose, just a blink of an eye before she uses her crossbow or her sword to strike down her opponent. Naturally this corresponds well with the concept of a dwarven thief. Her head is even slightly tilted to the left, as if she would look around a corner. She works as a Halfling thief, too, given her face is not too ‘dwarfish’ and her equipment is not dwarf specific.

Vergadain’s servant

Bailey chose a path most different from her brethren and sistren. She heeded the call of Vergadain, god of wealth, trickery and luck. As a child she was drawn to sparkling jewels and admired the work of the goldsmiths in the dwarven hold of Bolvast-Kor. Too much, her mother would always say. “It will be your downfall Bailey. Greed leads to Abbathors embrace and it is he who will twist your mind.” Her mother proved wrong, as Bailey followed the way of her lord Vergadain, her heart free of the Lord of Greed’s temptations. She developed a keen sense for veins of gold and deposits of gems, making herself indispensable for the craftsmen of her hold.

“Over here…by Vergadain, that must be the biggest amethyst I ever saw!”, she exclaimed crouching into a small crevice. She took a small chisel and tried to loosen her find. A loud crack and plenty of dust opened a wide gap in the rock exposing a narrow corridor losing itself in the darkness. “I found something! Quick…!”

Painting Bailey Silverbell

Painting Bailey was a real joy, as the details can be picked out easily and the floating cloak offers a nice contrast to the detailed front. All parts of the miniature can be reached easily and I encountered no problems at all while painting it. I used a mix of Reaper Master Series paints, Vallejo Model Colour and GW washes.

Cloth

Cloak: Basecoat of RMS Grass Green and successive amounts of Vallejo Deep Yellow for the highlights, RMS Grass Green with RMS Pure Black for the shadows.

Robe and cloak borders:  Basecoat of Vallejo deep Yellow, followed by a wash with GW Reikland Flesh and successive amounts of RMS Pure White for the highlights.

Linen shirt and pants: Basecoat of RMS Pure White with a hint of RMS Muddy Brown, wash with GW Agrax Earthshade and highlights with RMS Pure White.

Leather

Dark leather parts: RMS Muddy Brown with a bit of RMS Blood Red as base colour. Vallejo Deep Yellow mixed in for the highlights.

Light leather parts: RMS Tanned Leather with a wash of Agrax Earthshade, followed by highlights with successive amounts of Vallejo Gold Yellow.

Metal

Bronze parts: Brown Base Coat (RMS Muddy Brown) followed by Vallejo Bronze and a wash with GW Reikland Flesh. I then mixed some Vallejo Bright Bronze in it for the first and the second highlight, finishing of with some Vallejo Silver. Vallejo Smoke was then applied to add again more depth in some places.

Steel parts: Basecoat of black, followed by Vallejo Gunmetal Grey. For the highlights Vallejo Oily Steel with successive drops of Vallejo Silver. Vallejo Smoke for added depth.

Face and skin

Hair: RMS Muddy Brown with a bit of RMS Blood Red as base colour, highlights with successive amount of RMS Tanned Leather and RMS Fair Skin.

Face: 50:50 of Vallejo Medium Fleshtone and Vallejo Basic Skintone for the basecoat followed by a wash with GW Reikland Flesh. Successive highlights with Vallejo Basic Skintone and RMS Pure White.

Details

Wooden parts: Basecoat of 90:10 RMS Muddy Brown and Vallejo London Grey. Highlights with successive drops of RMS Pure White.

Base: The base is home-brewed. You can find a step-by-step tutorial here. The grass tufts in the crevices are MiniNatur Autumn Grass.