Saturday, December 27, 2014

2014 Year in Review

It's been a great year for this little mini painting blog. This year I decided to dedicate a lot more time to painting again. Also, I changed format on how I post about projects, opting out of progress posts and going more for posts about completed projects or new things I've backed/gotten.

As a result, I've finished more projects and posted more than ever before. Which is awesome!

With that in mind, I thought maybe it would be a fun little idea to post up a Year in Review looking back on the projects and important happenings that went down in 2014. Within you will find pics and links to all the various projects and important posts I've made over the course of the year, along with some new thoughts on these guys.

As Mario says... "Here we go!"

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Throwback Thursday: 2002 Christmas Sophie

It's Thursday! That means we jump into the time-stream and go back to revisit some of my older miniatures and projects. It's Throwback Thursday! But it's not any Thursday, it's Christmas day! This week, in celebration of Christmas we are going to take a look at Reaper Miniature's 2002 Christmas Sophie.


Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Super Secret Christmas Present: Trex the Terrible

This year I got to make a miniature for my older cousin, Mark. He's actually the older brother of Rob, who I made Apoca vs. The Minotaur for last year. This time I had an idea that I'd been thinking of for a few months, but didn't do anything with in case I drew Mark's name for our family exchange. In truth, I drew Rob's wife for my giftee. But, my mom drew Mark's name and after a little bit of convincing I was able to trade her names.

Much like with Rob, I didn't think buying minis alone was going to work for Mark, since we've not played in person in a few years now. But, this project goes back to our 3.5 days and one of Mark's best villains ever.

Space Hulk!


Finally, I've gotten my hands on a copy of Space Hulk! I've been wanting to get a copy for years and missed out on it back in 2009. Those copies were going for close to $300 at one point and there was no way I was going to pay that much for it. But it's definitely one of my grail games.

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Throwback Thursday - Space Marine Sergeant 2008 Limited Edition

It's Thursday! That means we jump into the time-stream and go back to revisit some of my older miniatures and projects. It's Throwback Thursday! This week, we're taking a look at the 2008 web exclusive Space Marine Sergeant. This limited edition Space Marine was given away for free with all Games Workshop web orders over a certain threshold in 2008 and thanks to a different project, I was lucky enough to get my hands on it. I didn't know much about Warhammer 40k at the time, so it was  bit of a challenge figuring out the legit markings/colors/etc.

Saturday, December 13, 2014

(Late) Throwback Thursday - Pathfinder Iconic Barbarian Conversion: Babeester Gor Initiate


Throwback Thursday totally slipped my mind, but here it is now! This week we're taking a look at another party member from our RuneQuest days. This time it's a Pathfinder Iconic Barbarian converted into an initiate of Babeester Gor. This one was super fun to do and involved weapon swapping and some minor conversion work (if you haven't noticed yet, I love conversion work).

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Throwback Thursday - Ultramarine Dreadnought


After a break for Thanksgiving, Throwback Thursday is back! That means we jump into the time-stream and go back to revisit some of my older miniatures and projects. This week we are taking a look at one of my favorite Warhammer 40k models, the Space Marine Dreadnought. Dreadnoughts are bad ass, they are basically cybernetic sarcophagi housing the remains of a Space Marine and allowing them to continue to battle after they body has been ravaged by war.

More Caverns of Roxor Progress

The Rock Top Gang is finished! These guys were fun to paint, while being slightly tedious at the same time. The reason for the tedium was thanks to my decision to paint all of their shells the same color, which meant I needed to batch paint the entire crew. But thanks to movies and music it went by quickly and I am really pleased with the results.

Please excuse the photos. For some reason, these minis didn't want to color correct properly.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Throwback Thursday - Monk Conversion


It's Thursday! That means we jump into the time-stream and go back to revisit some of my older miniatures and projects. Today's Throwback Thursday is a conversion I did for a RuneQuest character of mine. This guy fought with a spear and focused on spell casting. He had Leather Armor, unlike most mages and as such I needed a mini that fit all that criteria. Enter Reaper Miniatures and a Monk. Thanks to one of Reaper's weapon packs, a monk and an instrument pack. I was able to add the spear and lute to the mini.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Throwback Thursday - RuneQuest Party


Starting today, I'm going to start posting old (or new) pictures of old minis I've painted over the years. Both to keep posts flowing on a weekly basis, and also to show off old stuff from years past. Some of it is good, some of it is bad. But it's all things that have been learning experiences.

So without further ado, welcome to the Brush Wizard: Throwback Edition!

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Caverns of Roxor Progress

Haven't posted much lately, because I've been working on Caverns of Roxor, doing house remodels and hunting down a mouse/ deep cleaning the house. But I've made some good progress in the expansion pack though and thought I'd share it.

Please excuse the photos, I still haven't gotten my phone's camera configured properly.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Nyan Nyan - Super Dungeon Explore

Nyan Nyan is complete! The final single release special edition figure, not counting the Relic Knights special editions, and it's all finished. She's kind of a perfect character for the Halloween season, as she's basically a girl in a cat costume. She was also really fun to paint!

Monday, October 20, 2014

Succubus Vandella - Super Dungeon Explore

Another small break in painting. I've been really busy this last few weeks, and while I haven't painted anything for showing off, I have been working on some things in the background. One of which is this little Succubus for Super Dungeon Explore.

Sunday, September 14, 2014

A 4 Hour Speed Painting Challenge... Accepted.

On Monday of last week, I was browsing my Twitter feed looking over all of the #miniaturemonday listings when I came upon this tweet by Mocha Minis.

  The premise is simple. You have 4 hours to paint the selected model using a limited palette of colors. The goal, to paint the mini to the best of your ability with the time and colors available. I found that Bones #77131 is one of the pirates from the first Bones Kickstarter and it was in the Vampire Pledge box. And since I didn't need to go out and pick up a mini specifically to join in, I decided that I would take part and see how well I could do.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Kaelly the Nether Strider - Super Dungeon Explore

After a small break in painting projects, I finished up the Super Dungeon Explore mini-boss Kaelly the Nether Strider. This mini, while not really challenging required a bit more work than I was expecting, thanks to her huge ass cloak being in the way.

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Captain R - Super Dungeon Explore

The scourge of Clockwork Cove, Captain R, is finished and ready for battle! There were a few issues with painting the trim on his coat, but that worked out nicely in the end too. I really enjoyed painting this one and he turned out really nice.

Sunday, August 17, 2014

King Starfire and the Herald of Vulcanis Completed!

The paint keeps on flowing over at my house! This week I was able to finish off King Starfire and the Herald of Vulcanis models! Originally I was just painting King Starfire, but I found that I was waiting for paint to dry a lot. So I pulled out the Herald and got to work on him as well.

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Super Dungeon Explore Base Set 100% Painted!


It's been nearly 2 years since I first got Super Dungeon Explore (I ordered it on 8/23/12) and I'm happy to report that it is now 100% painted. It took a long time and there were a lot of starts and stops to it, but it's finally done. Of course, it's just the Base Set along with an extra Dragon's Clutch pack and there are still the Roxor, Van Drakk sets and the single releases to go yet. But this is a large step forward.

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Captain America - The Third Avenger.


Captain America is completed and he's the most in depth conversion yet for the Avengers crew. Unlike Iron Man which just needed a piece cut off, or Hulk who needed hair and pants added. Making Cap required cutting, filling and even a bit of custom sculpting.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Iron Man!


After showing the Incredible Hulk to a few friends of mine, it was suggested that I try doing minis of all the main Avengers. Originally, I thought it would be nearly impossible to do so, since Iron Man is pretty particular in his look. But one day when I was flipping through Reaper's store I found the mini that would make the task of making Iron Man a reality.

Friday, July 18, 2014

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn


The last stretch goal for the first Bones Kickstarter by Reaper was a massive C'thulhu miniature. The entire backer base went wild over it, and I was one of them. It was so hectic that we broke the Kickstarter servers and I was lucky to get it into my pledge before the timer ran out (little did I know, that they were going to let us add more to our pledges in the pledge manager). This is the first of the large figures I've painted from the Bones campaign rewards I received, and I'm super pleased with the end result.

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Super Dungeon Explore: Forgotten King Pledge Manager Opens!

Soda Pop has opened the Pledge Manager for Super Dungeon Explore: Forgotten King. But that's not the only news, since they are running it through their webstore, they've also opened it up to folks that may have missed out on the Kickstarter too!

Week of Relic Knights - Day Seven: Super Dungeon Explore Special Editions

It took 7 tubes of Kragle, many hours and even some blood, but I finally have all of the Relic Knights figures glued and mounted on bases. All this week I'm going to go through them faction by faction, with pictures of each mI love my SDEdel in a Week of Relic Knights!

Today's Faction: Super Dungeon Explore Special Editions!



Super Dungeon Explore! A lot of folks were put off that they were even offered up as part of the Kickstarter, but all the SDE fans rejoiced, and I was right there with them. These are sweet, and I do love me my SDE. These are a welcome addition in my book.

Friday, July 11, 2014

Week of Relic Knights - Day Six: Darkspace Special Editions

It took 7 tubes of Kragle, many hours and even some blood, but I finally have all of the Relic Knights figures glued and mounted on bases. All this week I'm going to go through them faction by faction, with pictures of each model in a Week of Relic Knights!

Today's Faction: Darkspace Special Editions!


Originally I thought these were just going to be bonus miniatures. But then it was announced that they were becoming Darkspace variants of their respective characters and they'd come complete with rules, cards and factions. These guys don't work for their original faction and instead, the Darkspace Calamity has twisted them and they are members of completely different factions. 


Thursday, July 10, 2014

Week of Relic Knights - Day Five: Prismatics

It took 7 tubes of Kragle, many hours and even some blood, but I finally have all of the Relic Knights figures glued and mounted on bases. All this week I'm going to go through them faction by faction, with pictures of each model in a Week of Relic Knights!

Today's Faction: Prismatics!


The Prismatics are a neat concept. A Prismatic Knight can lead a Cadre mixed with any of the 3 factions it has affinity with. Currently, the only models Prismatics can include in their Cadres are uniques, so you won't see Harbonath leading Diamond Corps. troopers or Candy leading the Hell's Belles. When these were all announced, I knew I had to pick them up, for anything the extra options in team building, even if it's a minor upgrade. It also helps that one is of Candy and Cola and I couldn't pass them up.

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Week of Relic Knights - Day Four: Noh Empire

It took 7 tubes of Kragle, many hours and even some blood, but I finally have all of the Relic Knights figures glued and mounted on bases. All this week I'm going to go through them faction by faction, with pictures of each model in a Week of Relic Knights!

Today's Faction: Noh Empire


Space demons! Interstellar ogres? Overall brutes and badasses, that is all. The Noh Empire is one faction I wasn't sold on originally. They seemed kinda, meh. But when it came time to pick a fourth faction for the Kickstarter rewards I finally decided on them, and it was a tight race with the Corsairs. I didn't go all in on everything for these guys and it's actually something I kicked myself for later. After seeing the previewed models after the Pledge Manager had closed, I wish I had been able to pick up more of these guys. As it stands currently, they are not only the faction I have the minimum reward for, they are also the one I have the least options for, play wise.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Week of Relic Knights - Day Three: Doctrine

It took 7 tubes of Kragle, many hours and even some blood, but I finally have all of the Relic Knights figures glued and mounted on bases. All this week I'm going to go through them faction by faction, with pictures of each model in a Week of Relic Knights!

Today's Faction: Doctrine


Doctrine represent the Wizards, Socerers, Witches and arcane in the world of Relic Knights. Kisa's panther shaped Relic was one of the main reasons I went in for Doctrine. But I also was a fan of Hasami and Fiametta. These wizards and student mages are all pretty nice and I'm fairly pleased with how they turned out. There are a few issues though, but we'll get into that.

Monday, July 7, 2014

Week of Relic Knights - Day Two: Black Diamond

It took 7 tubes of Kragle, many hours and even some blood, but I finally have all of the Relic Knights figures glued and mounted on bases. All this week I'm going to go through them faction by faction, with pictures of each model in a Week of Relic Knights!

Today's Faction: Black Diamond

The mercenaries of the Black Diamond Corps are a wholly different group of folks, compared to the Cerci Speed Circuit. These guys are full on futuristic military, complete with AI tanks, soldiers in power armor and even a couple ninjas. They were my second pick when I was looking at what factions I wanted to pick up. In the end, the Black Dragons and One Shot were the big selling point. They're sweet!

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Week of Relic Knights - Day One: Cerci Speed Circuit

It took 7 tubes of Kragle, many hours and even some blood (put a 1/2" long slice in my thumb with the x-acto knife) but I finally have all of the Relic Knights figures glued and mounted on bases. So starting today and for the next 6 days, I'm going to go through them all faction by faction, with pictures of each package's figures in a Week of Relic Knights!

Today's Faction: Cerci Speed Circuit!

These speed junkie street racers are the main reason I got into the Kickstarter to begin with. I thought Malya's Relic was sweet and I couldn't pass up the ultimate cuteness that is Mr. Tomn. I even bought the metal promo version from Soda Pop's webstore. Plus the Hell's Belles hover bikes just screamed to be painted up with neon colors and light effects. I'm hoping that I can get to paint them up soon, with custom made transfer decals and I might have to do custom flying bases... Anyways, on to the hotness!

Friday, July 4, 2014

New Challenger: King Starfire!



I finally got my hands on a copy of King Starfire! I had some extra cash from ebay auctions and Soda Pop gave Relic Knights backers a free $15 credit for use in their webstore (for Candy Heart, or anything else). So I splurged and picked him up, mainly because he was back in stock and I didn't want to wait any longer.

And boy am I glad I picked him up... he's sweet!

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

The Darkspace Calamity Arrives!

The Box of Greater Patience
It's been 21 months since Relic Knights funded and the product is finally being shipped out to customers! And now, a year and a month after the estimated ship date, I now have my pledge rewards in hand! This is an exciting day, for sure. Especially since it's in time for my birthday! This reminds me of last year and Reaper's Bones KS rewards arriving around the same time. Once again, I couldn't afford to buy myself anything special for my birthday, like I usually would. But I'll take this as a suitable replacement!

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

The Incredible Hulk


Back when I received the rewards for backing Reaper's first Bones campaign, I found in the box the Clay Golem mini. Instantly I knew that he was the Hulk and that I had to convert him! Having always liked the Incredible Hulk, the chance to make my own model of him was all too tempting. I kept the idea in the back of my head for a while, as I had other projects. Finally, I was able to dedicate focus to him and begin work on converting the mini into the the Hulkster.

Monday, June 2, 2014

Photo Backdrop

Over the last few projects I've been wanting a better way of photographing them. Currently the way I've been doing them is to lean my art board on the back wall of the painting table and then put it all in front of white paper. Before that I had made a small light box, but it didn't seem to work as intended. So, I needed a new solution.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Super Dungeon Explore: Forgotten King Currently on Kickstarter!

Soda Pop has their latest expansion/revamp of Super Dungeon Explore running on Kickstarter right now. The new expansion, Forgotten King, brings out new heroes, monsters, bosses and dungeon tiles! Super Dungeon Explore: Forgotten King is both an expansion to the original SDE game, while also being a revamp of the rules and it's own standalone edition.This Kickstarter is kind of a big deal.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Relic Knights: Candy Heart - A Special Thank You.

As a special thank you to all of the backers of Relic Knights, Soda Pop is releasing a new special edition miniature. Candy Heart will be a white metal figure, similar to the metal line of Relic Knights and early Super Dungeon Explore minis.

Friday, March 7, 2014

Gandalf vs. The Balrog

Gandalf and the Balrog are finally complete! This set is the first release from Games Workshop's Lord of the Rings miniatures line. I bought it ages ago and never had the technique for painting fire down, so I got frustrated with it and left it sit in my minis collection. Now, years later it is finished.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Relic Knights: Super Dungeon Explore Minis

Kind of old news, but Soda Pop as shown off the production models of the Relic Knights minis for Super Dungeon Explore. I'm hyped for all of them, originally I was bummed that Kasaro was changed to a big bulky mini-boss, but he's grown on me.

Video from the Relic Knights Kickstarter update:


As a huge fan of Super Dungeon Explore, I can't wait for these to come out. But it's just icing on the Relic Knights cake, because that game looks like it should be a ton of fun.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Mr. Bones' Garden - COMPLETE!

Mr. Bones' Garden is finally complete! I originally posted about this project way back in July, 2013. But the project actually started back in August of 2012, when I ordered the Christmas Future (Death) miniature and other parts from Reaper. I was hyped on the Bones Kickstarter and when I found out that Mr. Bones was based on an existing miniature, I had to do it. But, I've already gone over this all in the previous post. So lets move on to the new hotness.

Rotating Display Stand!

When Soda Pop posted up their Relic Knights Battle Boxes, they included a 360 degree video of all the models. For awhile now I've wanted a better way to show off projects, rather than taking pictures from varying angles, and I instantly latched onto that idea.


Friday, February 7, 2014

Relic Knights Battle Boxes Revealed on Kickstarter!

Starting on the 31st of January Soda Pop has been revealing the contents of the Relic Knights Battle Box starters. In this post I'm going to share my thoughts, the contents of the packages and shots of the Battle Boxes we've seen on Kickstarter. Also, I'll share links to the individual updates, because in these updates we are shown video of each model fully assembled.