Monday, January 27, 2020

Miniature Monday: Léa

In May of 2019, Ouroboros Miniatures launched a Kickstarter for a line of female busts called Exquis. Originally I didn't pay much attention to it, since I had a bunch of other things on my plate, but eventually I couldn't resist ordering Léa through the Kickstarter campaign.

While the campaign was going I kept looking at this bust and dreaming of how I wanted to paint it up.

What color would the skin be? What about the hair? How do I want to do the hoodie?

After awhile I decided that I wanted to do her with a tan skin tone, with teal and magenta hair. But I wasn't sure what to do with the hoodie. I did know that I wanted to try some freehand on it, but not the design itself.

The model arrived and sat a few months on the shelf, due to other projects and a bit of intimidation.

Why was I intimidated? Well, at that point it had been well over a year since the last female bust I had painted, which was Kommander Sorscha. I had taken her to GenCon for Privateer Press' painting competition, and while she placed bronze I had messed up the shading on her face and she looks like she has a bit of 5 o' clock shadow going on.

Whoopsie!

Monday, January 20, 2020

Miniature Monday: The Child aka BABY YODA

No one was prepared for the cuteness overload that is Baby Yoda, aka the The Child, in the new The Mandalorian. After the first episode, the internet exploded with memes and GIFs, the likes I've never seen before.
Disney+ series,

Disney drastically misjudged the ravenous need of the Star Wars fandom for all things Baby Yoda. While there we toys, shirts and other branded goodies, none of them featured the world's favorite young green Force user. That's when the fandom stepped in and suddenly there were crocheted dolls, posters, shirts and eventually even 3D printed miniatures. Much to the chagrin of Disney execs, I'm sure.

I was lucky enough to get my hands on this one through Shapeways, before the listing was taken down. It is very, very tiny and very, very adorable!

In general, I'm not 100% sold on 3D printed models. I'd rather have a standard molded model kit any day of the week. But, even I am not immune to Baby Yoda Fever and I had an unreasonable need to purchase this little fella. Purchase him, I did.

Monday, January 13, 2020

Miniature Monday: Constantin Valdor, Captain-General of the Legio Custodes

Of all the models for Games Workshop's Horus Heresy game system, the best by far have to be from the Character Series. This series of specialty models depict important characters in the Horus Heresy setting, mostly the leaders of the Adeptus Astartes, sculpted into dynamic poses that capture the action and feel of a galaxy at war in the year 30,000.

It's a well known fact that I don't really know much about the lore of Warhammer. I don't read the books and mostly just skim the lore for the factions that I do play. I'm especially lost when it comes to the Horus Heresy, other than the fact that it's a civil war between the Space Marine Legions of the Imperium.

In general, I just like the game and the models. Even for those, like myself, who aren't super invested in the setting, there's a lot to love in the Character Series and the sculpts are amazing. I've always wanted to paint one of them, and this model of Constantin Valdor, the Captain-General of the Legio Custodes was the one that grabbed me.

Monday, January 6, 2020

Miniature Monday: Death Riders Commissar

Alright folks, it's time to kick off the '20s with a new, better Miniature Monday!

This year I want to try to talk more in-depth about the model that is being featured, include additional detail shots and also pictures before paint for heavily converted models. The goal is to make each Miniature Monday as detailed as possible and worthy of its place as a main feature of the site.

What better way to kick off the new year and new format than with my favorite model of 2019, the Death Riders Commissar! This model has been heavily converted there's a lot to cover on this guy.

2019 was a big year for customizing models, thanks to the Death Riders project. A massive 15 motorcycle addition to my Steel Legion army, which I'll be cover in their own Miniature Monday in a few weeks. Each of those bikers were customized by plopping a torso of a Death Korps of Krieg infantryman onto the legs of a Genestealer Cults Jackal biker and doing a bit of green stuff work to rebuild the long coats on them. Those models are pretty tame in comparison to this bad boy, which is made from four separate models and a few bits pulled from my collection.