Miniature Review: Female Wraith (Dark Heaven Legends)

Female Wraith
Publisher: Reaper Miniatures
Release Date: 11/30/2015
Cost: $6.99
Get it Here: Reaper Miniatures

Today’s miniature is a figure I fell in love with as soon as I saw it. I knew I could do something special with it, so I snatched her up during the “12 Days of Reaper” sale. You don’t see a lot of female undead unless they are vampires, so hopefully you like this one as much as I do! Let’s take a look at the painting process.

Here is Female Wraith in her Reaper blister.

Here is the Wraith removed from the packaging. Look at the detail on this piece. Creepy, yet alluring, there is so much that can be done with her. I decided to go out of my way to only use black when absolutely necessary. Black is such a default color for wraiths that I wanted to shy away from it.

This is why. Here is the wraith primed in black. The piece is just screaming for color. Sure, the black could work, but then she’d be just another quickly done undead in a world full of 28mm metal and plastic monochromatically clad figures. Primer was really the only black I planned for this piece, save for two small areas on the completed model. Would it work in something other than black? I felt confident she would, and I hope once you see the end result, you will agree she doesn’t need to be all emo/goth.

First up is skin tone. I chose Citadel’s Russ Grey, which is an eerie blue-grey. I always though it would be great for an ethereal skin tone and this was my chance to try it out. Even now as just a basecoat, I find it really striking. It’s a great sign that this figure will be something special.

Next up is the painting of the robe. I went with Naggaroth Night with is a fantastic dark purple but out by Citadel. The Russ Grey matches really well with it too. She’s getting spookier and spookier with each color laid done.

Now we have two more colors added to the mix. The base is done in Dawnstone, which is a light grey. I also then painted the lantern and scythe in Leadbelcher.

Now for a bunch of other colors. For the skull on the scythe, I drybrushed it in White Scar. This left the sockets black with primer, the first of two areas where I left black on the figure. I did her bracelets in Ghenna Gold and the glowing light of the lantern in Retributor Armour.

The final piece was to paint the inside of the hood with Abaddon Black. There’s not a lot, but it makes the headpiece seem like a void with no end. It’s a slow blend from the Naggaroth Night to the very center of the inside of the hood which is pure black. It create a subtle but noticeable darkening that seems to suck in light, especially when the figure is finished.

Here is the final figure after touch-ups. I had a hard time getting pictures of her as the dark colors just seems to eat up the light, which is what I was going for. Even in a brightly lit room during the middle of the day, the final result picture ends up looking really dark, especially compared to when she was being painted on a white paper towel. I love it. Sure it’s a fraction of what someone with more talent could do with Female Wraith, but I’m extremely happy with how she turned out.

A look at the back of the Female Wraith

Finally, a shot with the flash on so you can better see the finished piece. I’m really happy with how ghostly she looks and feels. I’m also glad I went for gold in the lighting in the lantern instead of the usual mix of yellows and whites people tend to do for this sort of lighting. The gold looks more glowing and unnatural, which adds to the overall feel of the piece. I really do give Female Wraith as high a recommendation as I can. She’s all one piece so there’s no gluing involved and she’s very easy to paint. If you’re looking for a good piece to start painting with, this is an excellent option.