Saturday, January 30, 2021

Another Ogre completed

 
No, not that kind of Ogre ... this model is an Ogre Chieftain from Reaper Miniatures' Bones line. 
I had fun painting him, but such a large figure was more challenging than the smaller castings I've done lately.
For a color scheme, I decided to go with Gary Gygax's description from the original AD&D Monster Manual: dead yellow skin, green hair, and black teeth (actually I used dark gray with highlights, and the fangs came out brighter than I intended).
In the end, this felt like I never would finish it. I would try to do something, make a mistake, attempt to fix the mistake, make another mistake ... I finally called it done when it looked like most of the blunders cancelled out one other.
Like I said, working on this substantial mini made it hard for me to keep on-task. Since I needed a break from the big guy every now and then, I did some quick paint-ups of a couple more familiars (also Bones minis).
I'm happy with the expression on the little red guy, but the tree creature doesn't really have much of a face. But a base coat and drybrush gives me something to put on the table.
So that's three more miniatures painted this month, for a total of eight figures! If I can keep up this habit, I should get a lot done this year. Thanks for reading, and as a reward, here's a group shot of this week's work.  
As you can see, quite a size difference. See you next time, and keep painting!

Thursday, January 28, 2021

Starfinder spaceships

I received an Amazon gift card for Christmas last month, so I decided to treat myself to two sets of spaceship minis for the sci fi RPG Starfinder, the Corpse Fleet and the Pact Worlds Fleet. I don't actually play Starfinder, but one can never have too many spaceship minis, can one? The minis look good with their factory paint schemes, and they will scale just fine with the rest of the many spacecraft casting in my collection.

Since these models came prepainted, I don't feel guilty because I'm not adding to my pile of unfinished miniatures. I figure I can use them with any of my space combat games, but I'm curious about how this roleplaying game resolves starship battles. Has anyone played Starfinder, and if so, did you use their spaceship rules?

Friday, January 22, 2021

I didn't say they'd be big minis

In my ongoing attempt to complete at least one miniature each week, I finished up these three smaller figures, some of the familiars from Reaper's Bones line of miniatures. Ostensibly 28 mm scale, they're smaller than the human figures from that range, and therefore easier and quicker to paint. Also, I don't have to worry about clothing and equipment.

I like the way this three-eyed gremlin turned out, especially the expression on his (her? its?) face.
You can't really see the details in these photos, but this cthuloid being looks good with the color-shifting paints I used.
And I'm not sure why this flame sprite is so curvaceous, but some various bright colors make this fig stand out.
I don't know when I will game with these figures, or what I'll use them for, but I'm really enjoying the progress as I work my way through all these unpainted minis. Until next week!

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Another map for Melee

I haven't been a total slacker recently when it comes to working on game stuff; while I was off for the Christmas holidays, I cranked out this arena for Melee battles. Just like with my previous game mat, this came from a styrofoam sheet in some furniture packaging and was fairly simple to complete. This time, however, I decided to put just a single map on the board.

First, I pressed Heroscape tiles into the surface to imprint the hexes onto the styrofoam. After that, I painted the whole thing with white school craft glue for protection--and to save time, I mixed the base color of brown in with the glue (this also made it easy to see where I missed a spot). Once I had the base coat done, I painted the individual hexes, using different colors for each megahex and for the starting areas. Finally, I brushed a dark wash into all the hex borders for better visibility.  

Not counting drying time, this project probably took about an hour or so for me to finish. I like the earth tones here; it's a lot brighter than my first attempt, which is more dungeonesque compared to this outdoor desert arena look. And it looks pretty good with some of my newly painted minis to show it off. 

I have one more sheet of styrofoam I plan use for a Wizard map, with its additional megahexes. I'm thinking of a wholly different palatte--maybe with cooler colors for a more magical look, but we'll see. 

Saturday, January 16, 2021

Bear with me ...


Get it? Because it's a bear!

This miniature is the latest in my quest to finish one or more figures each week. I actually completed it yesterday, and forgot to post until today.

This fella is from Reaper's Bones line of minis. He will come in handy for all sorts of skirmish games, especially Melee and Frostgrave.

I like the angry expression on his face--like he got woken up unnecessarily. Some days I can relate to that. Anyway, what's everyone else working on? Have you all painted up some animal minis recently?

Friday, January 8, 2021

At least one miniature a week

Last year was a shitshow, for so many reasons, and then 2021 said, "Hold my beer and watch this." No in-person gaming, of course, and I was not very productive when it came to minis or terrain or even this blog. So in order to motivate myself and keep my mind off current events, I decided I will paint at least one miniature a week this year. 

Here's the result for week 1: a female martial artist from Reaper that's been sitting primed in my closet for several years. It's not an award-worthy effort--I paint to a tabletop standard, where figures look good at arm's length or more--but it's done. Completing this figure to where it can go on the mat gave me a sense of accomplishment (and material for this blog).
My gaming buddies are able to crank out mini after mini, week after week, but it's harder for me. I don't know whether it's laziness or a short attention span, but my eyes are bigger than my concentration when it comes to painting gaming miniatures. So I'm gonna use this weekly showcase to get in the habit and inspire myself, and hopefully my fellow gamers.

I don't have to be a great painter of miniatures. I just have to paint. The more I apply pigment to figure, the easier it will become. See y'all next week.