MiniModelPaint Studios: Painting realistic fire is hard. Painting magic fire is harder.

Holy Mother of all that is Glossy and Reflective! I think I bit off more than I can chew his time.

I volunteered to paint a mini for Dave (@docbungle)'s #waac Guild Ball charity event supporting Macmillan nurses. I'm occasionally charitable like that. He sent me a little metal chap who is, after a bit of online research, called 'Mercury'.

Part of the Alchemist's Guild, he is depicted in illustrations as a Lederhosen-clad, steampunk master of fireballs.

My instructions from Dave were simple: Paint Scheme is Macmillan Green. Don't do the base.

A bit more online digging gave me some indicators as to the Macmillan colours and style - no more than 2 of the 3 approved greens on a poster. Okay - a mini.

Standard prep - pinning and mould line removal, and mounting on a temporary base to hold while painting. Assembly will wait until the main body is done.

Primer and a tone wash to see what I've missed.

And then the start of the greens. Traditional, but with a twist.

I've decided to go with blue fire. Blue fire is magical, or alchemical. Regular fire isn't exciting enough. Also, the blue will streak nicely, making the greens pop.

Here's the twist on the traditional. These greens will look like Macmillan colours once blended. Also, the face is now more or less done. Trying to figure out the tones in the hair.

Shading is coming along. Steampunk goggles and some light emanating from the fire.

Of course, OSL glows across materials and skin. The blue streak down the shirt is in anticipation of the flame swoosh.

The flasks and phials are different colours. I assume Mercury has more than one fire in his skillset.

Here's the hard bit. Blue fire doesn't usually swoosh. How can I make it feel deep and powerful with a contrasting brightness and sharpness, without it looking like paint?

After several passes, I've settled on this. Not 100% happy with the flame swoosh, but I've run out of time! Very happy with the rest. Dave needs his figure finished, so time for proper photos and then in the post.