Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Super Secret Christmas Present: Apoca vs. the Minotaur

Over the years my cousins and I have played thousands of hours of tabletop RPGs. From AD&D, to RuneQuest, to D&D 3rd, 3.5 and now Pathfinder. For the most part it's always been my three cousins, their dad and myself playing. Sometimes we'd have a few extra friends playing as well, but for the most part it's always been us as the core group. And over the years my cousins and I discovered our love for Fantasy miniatures.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

"Do Not Pass" Gandalf

While working on the Mr. Bones' Graveyard, I was looking for some ivy for either around the tree, or onto the tombstones. After searching for awhile, I stumbled upon Hasslefree Miniatures studio in the UK. Well it turns out that they sold the ivy I was looking for, but they also had etched brass signs, manhole covers and a multitude of other scenery bits.

Monday, December 9, 2013

The State of Brush Wizard

It's been some 5 months since I posted last. The reason being a mix of house responsibilities, lack of time and crafter's block.

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Welcome to Mr. Bones' Garden!

This is a project I had started back when Reaper's Kickstarter was running and was working on it all throughout it's duration. It's all based around the graveyard scene used during the campaign, in which Mr. Bones walks from tombstone to tombstone digging up all the stretch goals.

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Reaper Kickstarter Rewards Arrived!

Normally for my birthday I buy myself something expensive that I normally wouldn't justify. Last year it was a pair of high-end headphones and the year before that it was a complete copy of Castlevania: Dracula X for SNES. This year, however, I didn't do anything. Mainly because money has been a lot tighter since I bought the house. There are a lot of things that went through my mind as I debating splurging for my birthday, but I didn't go with any of them. But then 3 days ago I got an email from Reaper stating that my BONES KS Rewards were shipped out, with an estimated delivery of... my birthday!

Friday, May 24, 2013

Update: No Paint Progress and a Possible Commission.

Well I have the motorcycle base coated purple. But last Saturday I was at work and the tire changing machine nearly took out my hand. Luckily nothing broke, but I couldn't hold a paint brush, game controller or do much of anything hobby related.

But, now it's feeling a lot better and I should be able to get back to painting on this long weekend. Which is a good thing, since my sister's friend wants me to do some custom work for a diorama she is setting up. But she's gonna be waiting til her moss grows anyway and I wouldn't start it until I got Sophie done either.

Monday, May 13, 2013

Painting Sophie's Bike - Primer Coat and FAIL.

Painted Black and Ready for painting! Or was it? . . .
I was all set to get some paint time in on Sophie's bike. So Saturday before I had to leave for a wedding I put a coat of black paint on it to get it ready. Afterwards I didn't have time to work on it, so it sat until Sunday afternoon.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Setting up the Helping Hands and Gluing Sophie's Bike.

Both of the Helping Hands came from Amazon today. I actually opened up the mail box and saw this box in there and couldn't remember for the life of me what it was. So I got inside and opened it up to see them laying in there. Which meant I needed to crack them and play with them. The ball joints seem pretty tight and I can adjust them w/ the wing nuts on the joint themselves. The only thing I was worried about with them was if the alligator clips would mar the surface of pewter minis and/or if they would chomp right on through plastic ones. Super deal and at $6 a piece I couldn't pass it up. 

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Painting Area Ready to Roll!

I was able to clear a spot in the side room and get all my painting stuff organized, finally.

I took one of the sets of plastic drawers I had been using as a dresser for the last 4 years and filled it up with all my bits, tools and misc mini related goodness. Then I set up the table with the work lamp, and went through all my paints by color.


I guess I didn't realize how many paints I actually had. But some of this stuff is really old, so I need to sort that out. I could easily half that total if the old GW paints are dried out, like I think they are.

I also ordered 2 Helping Hands. These things will make gluing stuff like Sophie's bike, or the Relic Knights relics much much easier. They both have 2 alligator clips on them and a 2x magnifying glass. But I'm going to likely take the magnifiers off. I'll also need to wrap the alligator clips with foam and tape so that they won't mar the minis when I use them.

All in all, the paint area is coming along nicely. But I still need a better chair, as I am stealing one of my dining room chairs for the moment. Work should be starting up again soon, and I'll be able to get Sophie glued together on Tuesday when the Helping Hands show up.

I'm really looking forward to getting things rolling again!

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Moved in, Unpacking and Internet installed. Setting up paints soon!

Alrighty,

So last weekend, I moved into the new house and have been working on unpacking everything and settling in. I think I'm making pretty good progress with it too and only have a few boxes left that need to get sorted out.

Tonight, I'm going to finally set up my painting table. I bought a nice new 2' x 4' table from Home Depot and it'll give me a nice work area. So once that's all set, I can continue working on that Kickstarter Sophie!

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Guilds of Cadwallon GET!

Today my copy of Guilds of Cadwallon came in the mail! I'm looking forward to taking a break from packing my house and sitting down to play a few rounds with the girlfriend tonight. It seems like it should be a really fun and fast game. And since it's a CMON product, it's filled with all sorts of neat minis.

Unlike Super Dungeon Explore, I won't be painting these minis, since they are more like Tokens rather than individual characters.

Speaking of SDE, I just realized that the new Expansion Pack came out for it! The Castlevania Van Drakk Manor expansion includes all kinds of sweet undead, bats, spiders and 3 new heroes! Plus along side it, was also released 2 new booster packs; Herald of Vulcanis and Succubus Vandella.

Naturally, I had to splurge and pick up all 3. It's also got me wanting to finish up the base set after I finally move.

But, before SDE painting starts up again, I MUST do the Sophie miniature from Reaper's Kickstarter campaign. Which will be a priority, once I finally get my painting table set back up.

For those of you who are looking forward to progress on my projects. I apologize for the lack of updates. Apparently home buying and packing is a lot more hectic than I expected it to be. But I should be moved in next weekend, and can get back to working on this hobby of mine. 

Saturday, March 23, 2013

KS Sophie - Decal Update

I've been sitting here waiting for a shipping confirmation on my water slide decal paper, and nothing. I checked the order status on it and it was backordered. But yesterday I got an email saying it was completed! Which is a good thing, cause I need to do tests before I pull the trigger on using it on this Sophie mini.

Of course, I'm not home this week anyway, so work is hauled again. I did start gluing the pieces together, but I can't seem to find my green stuff, so I can hide the seam in the front tire. I may run home and grab the mini and a few important tools, so I can at least get some work done on it.

Saturday, March 16, 2013

KS Sophie - Water Slide Decal Paper

In the midst of packing and spending cash on house stuff, I was able to swing the money for the Water Slide Decal paper I need for Kickstarter Sophie. I've always liked using decals on minis and sometimes it seems like the best way to go for details. Especially if you need something to look "just right". Plus, my ultra fine brushing skills are lacking, and I don't think I'd be able to pull off what I have in mind by hand anyway.

I need to rework how I have my mini painting gear packed anyway, so I might pull her out and get to work assembling the pieces. I still have a month or so until I'm moving anyway and have been wanting to get work started on her as soon as possible.

At this point, I think I'm going to  look in my boxes for some sacrificial test minis to test run a few techniques on. Both with the decals, and with the metallic paint process.

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Status Update - Lack of Progress

I haven't had much time to do much painting at all lately. My painting table is still covered in Super Dungeon Explore stuff and I haven't even looked at Sophie yet. The reason for this is that I am in the midst of buying my first home! So for the last 2 weeks I've been busily running around doing paperwork and such. The way things are looking, I may be moving in April. Which means I need to start packing up all of my stuff and prepare for moving day.

That means that my hobbies have taken a hit in the "free time" department. Hell, the only gaming I've done lately has been late at night on my 3DS, just before I fall asleep. As far as minis go, I am going to need to take all of the SDE minis I have painted so far and varnish them now, rather than after I paint their bases. I'll need to pack up all my paints and brushes and make sure I keep everything together so it's easy to set back up when I get to the new house.

In other mini news. Reaper announced that they are planning on shipping out the Bones minis in late March. That's awesome and I don't have to worry about them going to the wrong address, since it's going to my Sister's house anyway. The same goes for Relic Knights, Guilds of Cadwallon and Kingdom Death.

It's an exciting time. But also a low production time. Hopefully I can get back in the swing soon. But I just don't want to start Sophie and then have to worry about the paint getting chipped in moving.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Flingers Finally Done... FINALLY. Taking a Break from SDE.

Finally those stupid Flingers for Super Dungeon Explore are done. They are totally not my favorite mini in the box. Nothing about them really got me excited to work on them and they were kinda lacking on the details. I didn't get a picture of them last night. But I'll see if I can get one tonight and edit the post w/ it. For the time being I'm going to take a break from SDE painting. While I really like the game and want to see it finished. I hate, hate squad painting. So instead of continuing on SDE, I'm going to do a one off mini. I've decided I want to paint Reaper's Kickstarter Sophie, the regular version.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Red Box Games KS Minis Arrived!

In yesterday's mail, the minis from Tre Manor's Red Box Games kick starter arrived.

They are pretty sweet. Slightly smaller than I was expecting them to be. But super detailed. They do have a lot of mold flashing all over them which will need to be cleaned off. But all in all I'm glad I backed the KS.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Reaper Miniatures' KS Vampire Pledge Flyover Video

Reaper Miniatures released a fly over video showing every miniature that is included with their Vampire level pledge from their Bones Kickstarter (which I am a backer of). That's a lot of minis and man does it get me excited for that box of goodies to arrive! Really, you should watch this video in full screen to take in all of the awesomeness.


In other news. I'm still working on the damn Flingers for Super Dungeon Explore...

Friday, January 18, 2013

NETHYRMAUL THE UNDYING!!!!

Reaper posted a pic of their Nethyrmaul the Undying "miniature" dragon from their Bones Kickstarter. My god, this thing is sweet! And it's massive too. This baby is going to be the largest thing I've ever painted before, now that's a challenge in itself, but the other part is that it's undead... So I have to also paint necrotic flesh, which I've never done.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Paint is Flowing Once More.

I started painting the Flingers again last night while watching The Untouchables. I decided to paint their arm bands the same color as the head wraps and inked it all with what little Devlan Mud I have left. So far they look pretty good. I'm going for dirty cloth and an almost smokey appearance to them, since they handle fire and smoke pots.

No pics yet. But I've gotten back in the project and should be making more headway in the next few days.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Seeking Motiviation...

I tried getting some painting done on the SDE Flingers a couple nights ago and completely lacked motivation. I painted all of their face wraps, and was going to keep going at it, but decided to set it back down so I don't do things half assed.

I think my main issue at the moment is some of these models are really kinda muddy in the details. The arm bands on them look like they could either be leather pads or cloth straps. The sling with the stone in it lacks a clear line between where the stone starts and the cloth ends. And the face wraps are difficult to tell what is muscle and what is cloth wrapping.

My other main issue is I've come to realize that I don't really like squad painting. I prefer doing one offs of heroes or monsters, where I can focus on a single figure without needing to repeat the same steps over 5-6 different models. I would never be able to play Warhammer 40k or anything like it, where you are fielding that many models. I would never be able to get them all painted for play. Luckily Relic Knights seems to be smaller amounts of models, so I don't think it'll be as bad as 40k.

I need to find my groove again badly. Perhaps I'll take a small break from SDE again and paint up Princess Malya from RK. Then come back to it. But I really need to finish the base set of SDE, so I can knock out Roxor, so I'll be all caught up when the undead expansion releases.

Who's wise idea was it to paint all the minis anyway?

...

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Kingdom Death: Monster KS Ends with a Freebie!

Looks like Kingdom Death: Monster ended at $2,049,721 and their final stretch goal was a free miniature! That's cool, and I believe it left the campaign on a high note. A lot of folks were grubbing for new stretch goal after the freebie, but I say end it without unattained goals. And giving everyone something for free is a nice way to end a successful KS, like a big thanks to everyone involved.

Anyway, it looks like anyone that is recieving a reward package of physical goods will be getting 2 free minis in their boxes. One for hitting 2 mil and the other as a Christmas present.

Monday, January 7, 2013

UPDATED: Kingdom Death: Monster and Get a Special Edition Candy & Cola? Yes Please!

I've been super busy lately and the paint projects just keep stacking up... I've been unable to touch anything mini painted related. I did just back a new project on Kickstarter though.