"14" Skeletal Dragon Halloween Decoration" Topic

Here is a link to my photo album of the figure, which is selling at Menards Stores for $8.99 USD: Album. To give you an instant-needs-gratification fix, here is a nice picture to whet your gaming appetite…

Now for the details:

Length: 14", snout tip to tail tip.
Width: 11"-12".
Tail: Pose-able, for the first 4"-6", then stiff to the end. Soft, rubber-like, plastic. Should take paint without issue.
Assembly Required? None. It is held together by small Philips Screws, which need to be tightened. There are some gaps in the spine, where the two halves come together. Some of the screwed joints are loose, so tighten carefully, without over-tightening, and stripping the screw-holes out…
Jaw: Hinged, so you can vary the appearance by opening/closing the lower jaw (add to this the pose-able tail, except for the last 4"-6" length), making it easy to modify.
Finish: The wings, and the skull appear to have a bit of dark wash applied -- not enough, IMO, but it is there.
Brand Name: Pumpkin Hollow.

Zombie version:
To make a Zombie version, I would suggest using the paper mache' method demonstrated by GourmetPaperMache, here, on YouTube, at 45 seconds onwards. Basically wetting thin fabric in PVA Glue, and wrapping it around the wings, and letting it drape down, to form the membrane of the wings. The same technique could be applied to the body, to create an emaciated, sunken in, skin. Be sure to leave holes in the body, and the wings, though…

For $8.99 USD + Tax, you can have a really decent Skeletal Dragon model for your game table. My PC's are scheduled to run through my version of Hell, looking to rescue someone, within the next year. This is a perfect encounter to add to the list… Cheers!

Pretty cool mini!

Good find.

UPDATE:

I could have filled in the screw holes in a great many different ways. I had a tube of white E6000 Glue on hand, so I thought I would try that, since I had it. It dries to a rubber like substance. And it shrinks -- a lot! I applied a second filling in of white E6000 Glue. I tightened the screws, of course, before I filled them in with the Glue. The hardened Glue should keep the screws from turning, so the model should never loosen anymore.

Here are some photos of it, in progress. Second application of E6000 Glue, this will dry and shrink, but the question is, how much? I have a bad feeling that I may need to paint their entire model an ivory color, once I get the screw holes filled in, entirely; the E6000 Glue takes acrylic paint, really well, but I just brushed on The Dip, and I was done with it. These are the wings' attachment points, to the body, at the shoulders; they are stable and strong enough. It's a good sized model, for less than $10 USD; I think the wing bones will support some leather-like, cotton + PVA Glue wing membranes, really nicely. The plastic feet are screwed to the legs, with self-threading metal screws -- don't tighten them too much… The ribs are screwed to the sternum, and the hind legs are screwed to the pelvis -- the E6000 Glue filled the holes in nicely, but it did require two applications of the glue to fill them and then round them off, just a little.

I painted the Skeletal Dragon with my large can of Minwax Tudor Urethane Stain mix. The E6000 Glue took the stain beautifully! It is finished, except for the wings; I have coated it with a Matte Clear Coat -- the tail needs some additional matte applied, but that is a minor touch-up job. I need to make a base for it, as well, but that is easy-peasy.

Now. For some photos:

"Now, Sir, do not eat the little lady -- at least not until after I get the shot!" [To give you an idea of the scale of this toy figure, the grid is made of 1" squares; the Lady is a 28mm Human Fighter (Yikes!).]

""Hold that pose, Sir!"

"Beautiful!"

"Hold it!"

"Gorgeous, Sir."

"I think this is your best side!"

"Now, about my price for my services…"

Sadly, the photographer was never seen, or heard from, again. The end of the sad, but true, story of the Dragon Photographer.

When I get some leathery skin on the wings, I will need to hire a new photographer… Sadly, the woman warrior has not been seen since the photo shoot, either! 8-) Cheers!

I used some heavy weight paper my son gave me from his former print shop job (had a small roll sitting around for 5+ years). I cut a sample piece off the roll, and then I painted urethane stain onto it, as a test piece. It needs to be painted on both sides, separately.

I applied some clear, E6000 Glue to the upper side of one wing bone section, clipping it in place with small clothespins, to hold it until it dries. I will use this one section as a dress rehearsal: staining it when dry, on both sides, to see how it turns out.

If I hate it, I can peel it off, touching up the Tudor Minwax on the wing bones, if necessary. If it works well enough, I will attach the next wing section, and so on, until it is ready to fly, kill, and destroy the Living…

I may add another layer, on the underside, to conceal the wing bones. Not sure. Will trim this, today, and explore the possibility of adding a 2nd layer of wing "skin", to the underside, to see how that works out. This would give the wing some depth, hopefully making the illusion more believable. Experimentation is King, Baby!

Painting on the urethane stain makes the paper softer, while wet, but the urethane stain does not soak through the paper entirely. The urethane stain also gives the paper more rigidity, so there are several benefits to adding a second layer of paper. The two layers will cover each side of the wing, top and bottom, instead of the piecemeal approach this first wing is becoming. I might try using thinner paper, for the underside, as I would like this to wrap and cling, tightly, around the wing bones, to avoid creating a gap between the upper and lower paper layers, surrounding the bones. This second layer of lighter-weight paper will be soaked in PVA Glue, to make it soft and pliable, hopefully allowing me to wrap it tightly to the underside of the bone and wing 'skin' attached to the top of the wing.

I've already figured out how to use a single piece of the thicker paper on top of the second wing, how to press it while the E6000 Glue dries. Just not sure how it will "drape" when dry. :-/

Once I finish one wing, I will tackle the other, with the lessons learned from the first, or I might strip the first, after the second succeeds, so I can repeat the success on the first wing? Until the next update, Draco-Lich fans… Cheers!

So I applied one piece of paper as wing skin, as shown in my last post. I painted Rust-Oleum Urethane Stain onto it, and let it dry. I also trimmed the paper, around the bones, to make it look more realistic. Here are some photos of the freshly painted wing segment: Photo1, Photo2, and Photo3. I think it has a decent, leathery look to it, so far.

While I had the tin of urethane-stain opened, I touched up the skeleton body, as well. Over a period of several days of drying, the sample paper piece I painted the urethane-stain onto, curled, considerably, but it was only painted onto one side of the paper. I will wait a few days to see what happen to this wing segment. After that, I will attach a single piece of paper to cover the remainder of this wing. I like the paper thus far, so I will forego experimenting with the fabric over the other wing. I will likely not bother to cover the bottoms of the wings, either: too much work, for too little return on my time/effort investment. I do not believe the end result will look noticeably better than a single layer of paper on the wings. Time will tell. Cheers!

Second wing covered in paper, with mixed results…

The E6000 Glue used to attach the paper to the wing, is satisfactory. The cutting of the paper to form the wing shape, is satisfactory. The urethane stain application is good.

What I am less than excited with, is the smooth texture on the top of the leathery wing just covered. There should be some bone ridges visible in this, if it were 'real'. Shaping/forming the paper was just too much work, too delicate to pull off (for me).

I filled in the screw holes with white E6000 Glue, and when that had cured fully, I painted urethane stain on it. It blended into the surrounding bone structures almost flawlessly (except for the soles of the feet, which are painfully obvious, in the last photo, above). I am thinking that I might be able to apply a line of white E6000 Glue along the top of the leathery wing surface, gently sculpting it into knobs, at the joints (might do it in two separate applications, applying the 'knobs' after the first uniform line has cured, to create the joint bulges). I could then paint the cured Glue with more urethane stain, to blend them into the wing's surface. I also plan to add more leather skin to the mostly bare wing, to make it look like the creature can still, in fact, fly.

I like the fact that the wing leather has gaps where it is not fully attached to the wing bones. This guy has been around a long time, showing wear and tear of the years in what remains of his body… I plan to make some holes in the wings, as well, but one step at a time, Virginia. This is more involved than I had hoped, but it is still fun to experiment with it. Cheers!

UPDATE: "Ribs" applied to both wings, such as they are, using White E6000 Glue. I held it up to a light, to see where the ribs were, on the other side of the stained paper, so I knew where to 'trace' with the Glue. The E6000 Glue is viscous enough that I really don't need to worry about it running. I did prop the Dragon so that the wings are mostly level, just in case…

Now I wait overnight, for it to fully cure, then I apply more urethane stain, to color it.

Wings without any ribbing Glue applied.

Wings with ribbing Glue applied.

After I test this technique out, I will begin working on the partially covered wing, to finish it. I will also try making some battle wounds/damage to the wing membranes, and then it will be finished. Cheers!

Update:

The E6000 Glue fully cured, shrunken, on the wings showing the bone 'ridges' on the upper surface.

Wings with the freshly painted urethane-stain on the shrunken, cured, white E6000 Glue. Now I wait for that to fully cure. This will prove the technique works well enough, or not. Cheers!

Second wing got some skin, and the other wing received some battle damage: photo.

The left wing needs some E6000 ribbing added to its surface, it needs to be trimmed up, along with adding some battle damage to it; the right wing received some battle damage, which required additional urethane-stain, as the cuts exposed bright white paper.

Once the remaining steps are taken, I will give the whole of the model another matte clear coat. Once that is completed, I will need to base it, for gaming needs, and it will be ready for the gaming table.

I have a bit bag, full of arms, weapons, and even heads. I think I will paint a number of these up, placing them around the Draco-Lich's base, as a visual warning of what awaits its enemies… I might even add a weapon-holding arm to the lower jaw bone (hinged). LOL! I'll paint one up, temporarily attach it, to see how it looks. I am having way too much fun with this project.
Cheers!

Another update. Only one more upate after this one…

I made some cut-out's on the more damaged wing. I added some E6000 Glue wing ribs, as well. Images: Belly, under-wing; top-down view of the whole Draco-Lich.

There are a few steps left, before I call this project, "Done!"

I have to apply the urethane-stain, to dress up the white cut edges of the paper wing, along with the bone ribs atop the wings. After that, I need to matte clear coat the model, and mount it on an appropriate base. I plan to use it both in my RPG sessions, along with my 2e BattleSystem games. Hoping to finish it within the next two weeks. Cheers!

Final Update on the Draco-Lich toy conversion… It is finished!

I decided to go with a true square base I had on hand, even though the tail overhangs it, by a long margin. I Hot Glued the feet to the MDF base. Then I painted on some Wood Glue, in patterns, dunking this into my pans of colored sand mixtures.

Enough explanation! What you really want, is photos… Here is his Fast Food Delivery… "My Dietitian told me I was heavy-metal deficient, that I should increase my Brass intake… I always do what my Dietitian tells me to do -- well, what she told me to do, before I devoured her, that is."

The original toy model, straight from the store, and the finished conversion, painted, wings covered in 'flesh', based and matte coated. Here is a link to an album showing all of the project's photos. Cheers!