Miniature Painting the Wizkids Young Black Dragon

[@DevsDice]

Greeting lovely people! Please continue helping me as I try my best to paint the five chromatic Dragons for D&D! Which one of the dragons painted so far is your favorite? Please tell me in the comments below! If you want to see the other Young Dragons then have a look at this playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PLIPnVHPmyThqgjYHJpTnk-hbZpVWUsx9Q Lots of love! Stay safe! 💙💛💙

[@Thoralmir]

BTW, what is this "grass applicator", and where do I find one?

[@DevsDice]

A static grass applicator charges "static grass" which is the thin nylon strand-like flock that you might see in hobby shops. I got mine from a local train modeler store here in Sweden but they exist also on amazon. Just give it a search and I am sure you will find loads! :)

[@tiph3802]

Imagine playing D&D and the DM pulls out that beauty!

[@DevsDice]

Hahahaha! One day it will happen! Thanks Tiph! 👍😃

[@HarisMirza265]

That’s incredible. Black dragons are my favourite!

[@DevsDice]

Thank you King Snake! My favourite as well! 👍😊

[@HarisMirza265]

I’m so glad you replied. Your one of my favourite KZbinrs 😁😁

[@TheaterTech43]

Thank you for this one! I really wasn't sure how to paint black scales and this really helped!

[@DevsDice]

My pleasure! Glad to hear the video helped! 👍😊

[@Miniocalypse]

This dragon takes the cake so far, they are all amazing tho. The base tho...perfection

[@DevsDice]

Cheers Jamie! Yeah seems like I have rediscovered a love for making environments! Where will this lead? Stay tuned and we shall all find out! :D Thanks again for the nice comment man! 🤘💛

[@Thoralmir]

I concur! I plan to do something similar for my attempt. But such a shame that the UV resin bubbled for the Blue Dragon base and not this one. Would've been much more appropriate for the kind of toxic bogs Black Dragons like to inhabit.

[@NatesMiniatures]

I really do love watching you create these bases Leif, slap that base! Dragon turned out great love your colour choices and that you stick to the lore of the dragons when deciding on the base and colours. Well done mate.

[@DevsDice]

Thank you so much Nate! Yeah it seems like I naturally do gravitate towards the basing, especially with these dragons since they all have a type of terrain or climate they call home! Thanks for the nice comment mate! 💙🤘

[@RFDHobby]

Great work, this is certainly my favourite of the dragons you've done so far. Again the base is perfect for this dragon. He looks perfect. Can't wait for the next one!

[@DevsDice]

Naaw thanks man! Yeah I really like the whole basing and whatnot. Yeah I think I might want to start mixing it up with some terrain crafting for sure! :) Thanks again for the nice comment man!

[@KvaZi_Lux]

Thanks for such a detailed video. I have already painted my young black dragon, based on your painting example. And now I'm going to design a _Swamp Base_ for my river troll, following your example. Your videos are so inspiring and detailed. 😊👍

[@DevsDice]

Thank you so much! Glad my work helped! 👍😊

[@ForrTheXP]

I love the green tones to this black dragon. It really sort of nails it in that its from a swampy area and really sort of blends it to the environment that its supposed to be from. I would be afraid to face that mighty beast as it tortured the Leif from my body! Well done as always! I really love the extra mile you go with the basing Leif!

[@DevsDice]

Hahahaha! You and your word jokes! I suggest you Leif it alone :P Thanks man! :D

[@ForrTheXP]

@@DevsDice Of course! Thank you! I tried to plant the joke towards then it make you think it wasn't coming ;P

[@DevsDice]

Haha! You trixy one ey? :D

[@ForrTheXP]

@@DevsDice along as it's entertains you xD

[@DevsDice]

@@ForrTheXP haha! Of course man! Only one dragon left now! A bit nervous about that one :D

[@johnedgar7956]

I know I'm late to this party, but WOW that dragon is fantastic!! Nice job!!

[@DevsDice]

Thank you so much John Edgar! The black dragon is my favorite one! 👍😊

[@squigdaddy]

Now thats what i call a "kantarellställe" guard (kantarellställe is a place where chantarelles grow) It would be guarded almost as close as a Sweed guards the position of said kantarellställe. Bra jobbat Leif

[@DevsDice]

HAHAHAHA! Yeah I specifically tried to make them not chantarelles but of course the thought crossed my mind! :D

[@squigdaddy]

@@DevsDice I think you should gone all in on the chantarells and build a narrativ around it. Something like: A viking shaman bound this dragon to this swamp to protect the mushrooms (we all know vikings love shrooms) in it, making the dragon even more foul temperd.

[@DevsDice]

@@squigdaddy Haha! Yeah I like it! That being said, chantarells are edible without any berserker rage side effects (that we know of) so it could still be that story but with hallucinogenic white mushrooms that only grow in swamps...? :D

[@squigdaddy]

@@DevsDice without any berserker rage side effects you say, have you seen what happens when a sweeds kantarellställe get raided? It might not be toxicly induced but the rage of generations is realesed without the help of fly agaric. Yes KZbin chantarells are edible, as long as they are not from my kantarellställe then they are most hazzardus to your health.

[@DevsDice]

Haha that is very true! I have seen anger like that once or twice in my life. Black dragon pales in comparison! :D

[@johnharvath2522]

BEHOLD!! Leif Earthshaper, the Norse God of miniature bases!!

[@DevsDice]

Hahahaha! John, you a bloody crazy man! But man do I love reading your comments! Thank you so much man! 💙💛💙

[@johnharvath2522]

@@DevsDice my pleasure brother. You must admit, for someone who hasn't had a ton of years doing miniatures. You do a fantastic job 👏. Some people will never achieve the level you're at. Awesome as always Leif, thank you!

[@DevsDice]

Well..ehh...I mean...ok...I am happy with the result. Let's just say it like that! :) I am not sure the level I am at is good or bad to be honest but I am enjoying it and I hope other people like it as well! :D But thank you man, you might be right - I don't know! :)

[@ronaldboal7500]

@@DevsDice - With the awesome amount of effort that you put into painting your boxes of shame and redesigning the bases to be more appropriate to the figure (something that never even occurs to me), I see this series of dragons as magnificent Christmas/Birthday gifts for a very special loved one who would surely appreciate them. Your videos have inspired me to improve what techniques that I have learned now, and look to what is possible in the future. I recently bought a second Wizkids beholder to paint. Now that I have seen what can be done to spruce them up, I am definitely going to take even more time on that one with base accessories.

[@DevsDice]

That’s awesome man! That really makes me happy! :) remember to have fun!

[@the_donut_man3698]

That's awesome. Great job Leif

[@DevsDice]

Thanks man! Yeah I enjoyed this one! :)

[@cschultziv]

That dragon looks incredible, but that base! Awesome job and an incredible mini.

[@DevsDice]

Thanks a ton Chip Schultz! 👍😁

[@blakec1924]

Amazing job on this model sir. Please do the reeds as a short how to, or any other basing idea you have floating around. You have a keen insight to visuals and it is inspiring me to push myself more when I get to paint again!

[@DevsDice]

Thanks Blake! I will look into it! :D

[@daveschrumpf8261]

That Kraken Skin mix was a great choice for the membranes.

[@DevsDice]

Thank you! I sort of cheated. Well I looked at the concept art in the Monster Manual and matched it to a color :) But I agree, it looks good! :)

[@Crotalus18]

The miniatures keep getting better! Nicely done.

[@DevsDice]

Haha! Awesome! Thanks for commenting!

[@mikeselsor3586]

Greetings Leif! Dang, that has to be my favorite Black Dragon I have done! Keep up the great work!

[@DevsDice]

Hey Mike! Thanks man! Do you paint as well? :D

[@jamesjester2542]

Geezzz dude you blew me away. I been building models since I was 9. I'm 59 now and I'm still going to school. Can't wait to see more from you. You are gladly subbed.

[@DevsDice]

Oh thank you so much! That's so nice of you! Welcome to the channel! 👍🙂

[@katiejohnson1909]

I love your instructions on how to do bases. I have a lot of the same boxes of shame, but am very new to painting miniatures. You’re instructions are very helpful. I love the bases.

[@DevsDice]

Thank you so much Katie! When it came to the chromatic I really wanted to tell an environmental story with the bases to it makes me happy that it comes through! Thank you for the nice comment! 👍🙂

[@DiceLegenz]

That looks amazing! Thanks for sharing.

[@DevsDice]

My pleasure! Thank you so much for the kind words! 👍😊

[@williamporter7596]

You do keep improving and adding to your modeling toolset with each project. Awesome Black Dragon and base. Thanks for all the inspiration so far.

[@DevsDice]

Thanks William! I do try to focus more than usual on the base when it comes to these dragons, I want to try to hint a narrative. Like where they are from etc. Thank you for watching and such! :D💙

[@3lth]

Wow man, this is one of your best. Great job on one of the coolest dragons in D&D.

[@DevsDice]

Thank you! Yeah I really like how most of the dragons have come out so far but yeah, the Black one is especially cool! :D Thanks for the nice comment! 💙🤘

[@n3on72]

Absolutely brilliant... WOW!

[@DevsDice]

Thank you so much! :D

[@gavinwood6024]

OMG,By Far this is now the best,Well done it's a masterpiece..

[@DevsDice]

Thank you Gavin! Yeah I really liked this one! :D

[@robfader2432]

What an amazing base! I often find I do the base last and then I'm so tired of the mini I've been working on, that I cut corners on the base. I'm going to try your method of doing the base first. I really like the paint job on the dragon. The green and blue tones are great. The Swedish proverbs are a nice touch as well. I'd like to see a video on doing the tall grass.

[@DevsDice]

Thank you so much Rob! That's a total of three people asking for that tutorial! Yeah I usually do it the same way you describe but with these Dragons I wanted to show where they come from. Thanks for the nice comment! 💙🤘

[@raymondholmes2854]

The best one so far still excellent work

[@DevsDice]

Thank you kindly Raymond! The Black Dragon was my clear favorite I have to say! :)

[@jameslowrance4849]

Amazing work. I love the base. The highlights look fantastic.

[@DevsDice]

Thanks James! Yeah I wanted to push the bases for these dragons a bit further than usual! :D

[@keylethairashari]

Just finished painting my young black dragon model! I love how it looks! I really appreciate this video you made, I had it on loop for a bit while I painted, for inspiration and technique reminders. I also thought it was super funny that I bought the Kraken Skin green paint in preparation for my dragon before watching the vid because I wanted to add some green tint to my dragon, only to watch and see you using the same green paint for yours too haha! Thanks for the vid!

[@DevsDice]

Hahahaha! Great minds think alike! 👍😉 Thank you so much for this nice comment! 👍💙💛💙

[@BrickWilliamsGuitar]

Absolutely amazing!

[@DevsDice]

Thank you so much! Happy you like the Black Dragon! It's my personal favorite as well! :D

[@morgul_blade]

Model is amazing but that base is absolutely fucking fantastic, I’ll have to try some of that coconut fibre!

[@DevsDice]

Thank you so much! Please do! It is awesome! 👍😊

[@aleccap5946]

Wet mud "paint" would go well with that swamp grass, a great paint job on this dragon. So far i have done Death Dragon with rider and Blind Dragon, not into D&D but love the dragon

[@DevsDice]

Thank you kindly! This was a couple of years back! 👍😅

[@georgemeyer2447]

Great video, thank you I just ordered the young black dragon, and the spectre and wraith set. Psyched to get back into painting miniatures, it has been 30 years...... too long.

[@DevsDice]

That's awesome George! Happy to hear that you're coming back to the hobby! Have fun! 👍😊

[@ronaldboal7500]

5 seconds into the unboxing, I knew you were going to chuck the base. That was truly an amazing job. The dragon was awesome and the base spectacular. I’m going to have to visit my FLGS to buy some terrain decorations. I wonder if I can get Army Painter to buy me the complete 124-bottle box of paints (I only have the 50-bottle one). Thanks for the great video.

[@DevsDice]

Thanks Ronald! Yeah I am not a fan of the decorative parts to be honest. I mean, sometimes, like with the White, I can build on top of them. But when they are just ...wrong then yeah best to throw them into the bits bin! :D Haha you can always ask them nicely :D I started my hobbying with buying their large set of paints as well! :) Thanks for the great comment!

[@Haegeth]

Thank you for sharing this tutorial. I'm about to paint that dragon and this is actually my favorite video of how to do it! Your's is the best concept I've seen. I'll see what I can do, but I don't think I'll have what it's needed for the base :P Really great job!

[@DevsDice]

Wow! Thank you so much Haegeth!! That makes me super happy to hear!! :)

[@180bn]

This is stunning. Love it.

[@DevsDice]

Cheers Barry! Glad you liked it!

[@52Miniatures]

10 points for water lily leaf things!

[@DevsDice]

Haha! Thanks for the idea mate!

[@chicago928]

I love the sharp yellow against the pitch-black scales. Great work as always. Makes me wish I had an in-person campaign. On another note, one of my players asked if this dragon and a manticore ( As separate negative encounters) was enough to balance out a positive encounter with a Friendly glitch. I ask my players to give me random encounters. Based on the system Zee used in his video.

[@DevsDice]

First off thanks for the nice comment! When it comes to balancing I find that it is tricky unless you know everything about the party and such. I had 4 high level characters almost TPK against Manticores because none of them were that good at long range. Also, what the hell is a glitch? :D

[@chicago928]

@@DevsDice My phone auto corrected it from Litch

[@DevsDice]

Well, I mean a Manticore is what, CR3, compared to the Young Black Dragon which is CR 7 and a Lich which is CR 21... Even though the Challenge Rating system isn't perfect I would say that these three "monsters" are very...different in terms of challenge. :D

[@hostagegrenade743]

I am a big fan of you using the warpaints

[@DevsDice]

Ah nice! You have a bunch yourself? :)

[@MMarsee]

Leif thank you for the videos! I am new to D&D and mini painting and hooked! I watched your video for the red dragon and followed your steps to paint and very happy with the finished mini. Now I'm onto the black dragon, but going to try and twist it a little to make my own. I will be trying my hand at the bases for both of them and looked everywhere for the grasses you did with the black dragon. Have you shared this and if so what video so I can learn how you completed them. Thank you again for sharing.

[@DevsDice]

Hey Michael! I am happy that the videos inspired you and I am even more happy that you decided to do your own twist on this! Regarding the long grass, no I haven't had time to do that yet! Sorry! But they are super simple to do. I used some bristles from an old brush and superglued them into clumps. Then I used some washes to create a gradient. Hope that helps meanwhile! Thanks for the comment! :)

[@niklasastrand5434]

I told you guys that this base would be something else. Wow! The end result look so good! Great work. And the dragon was lovely as well! It’s turning body made it perfect for that spinning presentation at the end as well. One thing - add more light when you work. The swamp base was sometimes so dark hard to see all of its beauty. Kill all shadows with surgery room lighting.

[@DevsDice]

Haha! Thanks Niklas for your support man! One step closer to the Genestealers ey? ;) Man I have like a ton of light but yeah I guess I could dial that up to 11! :D Thanks for the nice comment man! 💙💛💙

[@niklasastrand5434]

Devs & Dice 11...or maybe 12.

[@DevsDice]

@@niklasastrand5434 Haha! How bout an even 20? :D Do you supply the wattage? :D

[@niklasastrand5434]

Devs & Dice ”Lightbulb rolled a natural 20...”

[@DevsDice]

Haha! But I will add some more light. I do have some more so no worries :D

[@tonysmoot3712]

Oh man, you had one of the misprint boxes, that's cool! I've only seen it once before on another creator's video lol Work looks fantastic, especially the base! This gives me lots of inspiration for when I paint mine. Definitely gonna sub and check out your other vids man. Keep it up

[@DevsDice]

Thanks Tony! I appreciate the comment and the sub and welcome! :D

[@ErwanMontana]

Used this vid as some kind of inspiration for my own ybd, especially the base and the breast part. Quite awesome job. Although I'm really interested about you did your long grasses, tried to do those by myself, didn't turned out the same. Which is a shame cause yours are really simple and, yet, had a really cool look.

[@DevsDice]

That's great to hear! If I remember correctly I used the "hairs" of an old synthetic brush! Superglued a small clump together and then used various washes to tint them ever so much! Hope that helps! 👍😅

[@doughargis9626]

remarkable!

[@DevsDice]

Thank you kindly! Glad you like it! 👍😊

[@andrewcumings9706]

These are amazing videos, Leif, and a great inspiration to me in my own projects! I wanted to ask if you’ve done any videos where you discuss techniques with the airbrush a little more and maybe identify your preferred airbrush. Thanks so much for the videos and amazing work!

[@DevsDice]

Oh wow! I have thought about doing some more technique oriented videos for sure. Well see! Regarding airbrushes I am far from an expert, I have one airbrush that I have tried and that I liked. That being said I of course did some investigation before purchasing it! :)

[@jasonmed2119]

Well done 👏

[@DevsDice]

Thank you Jason! 👍😁

[@Thoralmir]

Awesome again, as always. I wish my build went better: The transparent stand for the base actually broke on me while I was trying to remove it, leaving part of the transparent bits in the base itself. After super gluing it back together, I ended up having to incorporate the original base into the new one, as a cluster of rocks sticking out of the mire.

[@DevsDice]

Oh no! But yeah sometimes accidents happen and the best way it to do what you did: "roll with the punches!" Good job!

[@mariannemcilrath3767]

Looking forward to paint it

[@DevsDice]

You should Marianne! The black dragon was my favorite model to paint of the chromatic dragons! 👍🙂

[@mariannemcilrath3767]

I did finally and came out good. I’m sure my son will be surprised with the 3 dragons he will open for his bday. Thank you for giving us all the wonderful ideas . Keep it going. We are following you especially me.

[@karmachameleon7148]

Nice! Thank you for the vid!

[@DevsDice]

No problem Karma! My pleasure! 👍

[@douglaslowers1088]

Looks amazing. The base is perfection. Only criticism would be the dragon was a little more green then black by the end but regardless it looked amazing. Keep up the great work

[@DevsDice]

Thank you Douglas! Regarding the criticism: I was going for the look it has in the monster manual. Similar to the White dragon there are several colors involved besides well...white or black. Have a look at this image please: i.pinimg.com/236x/5f/75/28/5f7528ecea8fdd172f2ef7ab87e9149c.jpg Do you still think it comes across as too green? Thanks for commenting! :D💙

[@douglaslowers1088]

@@DevsDice after looking at the image you linked to, I believe you hit it pretty much spot on. I suppose my previous comment is purely my own opinion about wanting it a little more "blacker" so to speak. The bottom line is you did a fantastic job and I appreciate your videos. I do have a request that perhaps you make some more videos ok the future without using an airbrush? While I want to get one I dont have one as of now and would really appreciate viewing an artist brush more than the latter. Either way thanks keep up the great work

[@DevsDice]

Yeah I hear some comments similar to this. I can think about it but at the same time, I want to improve with what tools I have so. :) There are cheap airbrush options out there and it really is a nice tool that gets certain results faster - which enable me for instance to spend more time on editing and making my deadlines for my videos. So we'll see but point taken! :)

[@mariannemcilrath3767]

I love it. Must have had fun making the stand. Where did you get your substrate? Did you cut it?. Also how did you make your grass? Thanks for the show.

[@DevsDice]

Thank you again Marianne! This one is my favorite! The substrate is a combination of different tufts, static grass and yeah the tall grass, which was from an old brush which I colored with some washes! 👍😊

[@zandarrthegreat6790]

Brilliant job on the base! I really like the swamp look. That is my favorite part of miniatures. i was thinking of going a different direction with my base, but I am going to borrow your idea. How did you do the tall grass?

[@DevsDice]

Haha go for it! I used some old brushes and some super glue :) Oh yeah and I colored them using some washes!

[@zandarrthegreat6790]

Devs & Dice Awesome idea! I will try it. Thanks again

[@DevsDice]

Cheers! :D

[@christian2809]

Love the tutorial. Awesome paint job. Do you happen to have name of resin you use, and where you bought it. From Sweden so sometimes hard to find some painters supplies equivalent to the US stuff. Also the grass applicator.

[@DevsDice]

Thank you Christian! In Sweden there is always Green Stuff World's UV Resin. Pretty sure you can get a hold of it at alphaspel.se/. For grass applicator I would check out MJHobby for instance. Hope that helps! :D

[@tiph3802]

What shade of white and yellow did you use for the eyes? I couldnt read the label on the white because of the glare and I didn't catch what shade of yellow. I'm new to learning to paint and like how you did the eyes so I'd like to try replicating it!

[@DevsDice]

So use any grey paint as a base, then I used matt white for the bright dot in the eyes. Once dried I used an yellow ink which is transparent but highly saturated which essentially filters the eye to looking yellow. Does that make sense? 👍😅

[@tiph3802]

@@DevsDice it does! Thank you so much! I've got the milliput doing its thing on the base now, hoping to paint him soon!

[@mawson372]

Also what size is that custom base that you made?

[@DevsDice]

Pretty sure that I ended up using a 3" base! 👍😅

[@mawson372]

What kind of ink did you use for the yellow eye?

[@DevsDice]

I think I used Vallejo yellow ink potentially? Was a long time ago! 👍😂

[@aleccap5946]

Love to see a list of paint used

[@DevsDice]

Noted! Sorry but I can't remember more than what I show in the video! This was a long time ago! 👍😅

[@chriscastillo7780]

How did you do the Long Straws???

[@DevsDice]

I used some hairs from some old brushes, doesn't even need to be for minis, glued them into a "tuft" using super glue and then used some washes to stain them! Hope that helps! :)

[@MrJamocity]

Did you mix black in with your necromancer cloak? Seems much darker than mine.

[@DevsDice]

No I didn't but spraying it through an airbrush several times does give a good even coverage. That being said, I am sure that the video isn't color coded to be 1:1 with reality! :D

[@MrJamocity]

@@DevsDice Okay, cool. Thanks. Nice to see a video with army painter colors. Always see citadel.

[@DevsDice]

Thanks Jessy! Yeah I use all kind of paints but these ones were Army Painter exclusive. :)

[@EQ2Cordanim]

Lief you have got to let us know where to get that UV clear resin for water - this is the 2nd or 3rd time I've seen you use it and it's got a phenomenal result! I have a 3D resin printer, and just don't see where to get that type - I'm sure it's not just the clear resin i can get for printing (is it?) :-) Beautiful job!!

[@DevsDice]

The one that seems to be somewhat accessible is the UV resin from Green Stuff World! Hope you can find it at your local game store! 👍😊

[@thels5217]

I have the same dragon I just purchased for my Pathfinder's Sorcerer. My package says Nolzur's..but I swear it is the same dang model.

[@DevsDice]

Yeah I think mine was mislabeled! Have fun! It's a great model! Also, love your avatar image, I have that Conan concept hanging in front of my computer desk! :D

[@sionmarcsimpson7487]

Real nice job brother. What about Father Dagon? ' ]

[@DevsDice]

I added it to the backlog, as I think I mentioned? But the backlog is thick man. I will get to it eventually!

[@robertobassatt3141]

❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

[@DevsDice]

Thank you kindly Roberto Bassatt! 👍😊

[@johnharvath2522]

Leif!! It's Monday and I'm on break at work. Where is the RED DRAGON!!

[@DevsDice]

Hahaha! Working on it! :D

[@johnharvath2522]

@@DevsDice ok brother 🤘just making sure 👍

[@DevsDice]

I think it will be out sometime on Thursday. This past week life threw me some curve balls but I am rolling with the punches! :)

[@johnharvath2522]

@@DevsDice gotcha Leif, I hope everything is alright?

[@DevsDice]

Yeah I think so. It's looking promising for each day that passes so far so just hoping it keeps that course. Thanks man! :D

[@tomsixi3.s370]

still green is best

[@DevsDice]

To each their own! :) Thanks for commenting!

[@davidlanier2290]

Marsh = swampy ground. Marsh is the word you're seeking. A marsh area is akin to the "swamps" and highlands areas in the battles of the Scottish vs. The English.

[@DevsDice]

Ahh nice! Thank you so much for clarifying that! 👍😊

[@gwen_the_badger3042]

I like to say pile/box of opportunities - not shame :)

[@DevsDice]

Hahaha! That's a good outlook on things! Stay positive! :D

[@FallNine]

Wait, you stole my name.

[@DevsDice]

Haha! Did I really Leif? :D

[@tagezackariasson4141]

SWEDEN!

[@tagezackariasson4141]

Ok det där var cringe

[@DevsDice]

Haha nej då! :D

[@tagezackariasson4141]

@@DevsDice Roligt att du fortfarande svarar på kommentarer från gamla videor :)

[@DevsDice]

Klart jag gör! Mina prenumeranter som kommenterar är underbara så självklart vill jag besvara vänligheten! :)