miniature painting – Page 2

The Game Changer.

Last week, a purchase I have been wrestling with making arrived on my doorstep. It’s a purchase I have had mixed feelings about for months, but isolation and work stress (I work in the mental health field) from COVID-19 finally won.

I bought an Elegoo Mars resin printer. That model you see up above was my first print, and the reason why I finally gave in. He was, to be frank, too cool not to have in my collection.

I have been conflicted for a long time on this technology. Initial prints that I had seen from extruded printers didn’t really impress me, and resin, until recently, has been really expensive. Now, you can get a good printer with a liter of resin for under $300.

My other big issue has been what I see as a disruption effect on an industry I care a lot about. Good prints made at home could be the death of small game stores, but after all of the printing trials and fine tuning I had to do to get things going, I don’t think we’re there… yet.

There is a lot you have to learn to make resin printing effective, and mistakes can be costly and messy. I messed up the FEP film almost immediately, and my garage was too cold for things to work right. But I am stubborn as hell, so I dove into research mode, and now I’ve been getting amazing prints without fail for a couple of days.

This handsome gent is Gino, and he was one of the awesome models Artisan Guild had available in March. $18 a month, and March had more than half a dozen badass dwarfs, including one mounted on a Griffon. I didn’t really have a choice.

Once I trimmed the supports off, it was time to get Gino primed, and start laying on the paints:

I really had a ton of fun with this model. He’s brawny, puffing on a pipe, and he’s stepping on some poor monster’s head. It wasn’t until I was almost done painting that I realized Gino had knocked a bunch of this dude’s teeth out before chopping off his head. Such a great model, and I think he cost me about .50 cents worth of resin to print out.

The final product is stunning! I’m still working my way through the rest of the offerings for last month, but Gino is ready to kick some ass!

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Kalhana from The Drowned Earth

I don’t know if The Drowned Earth is a good game or not yet, but I love the setting and absolutely cherish the miniatures. Sure, it’s yet another post-apocalypse setting, but the model count per faction is pretty low, and what models there are look pretty amazing!

Kalhana is a big mutant heavy gunner from the Wayfarers faction, and he’s what sold me on the game. He’s really cool to look at, and a blast to paint!

I’m painting up the rest of the faction now, and they’re all a lot of fun. Terrain for The Drowned Earth should be a great deal of fun, too!

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Thor from Marvel: Crisis Protocol

Gotta love Atomic Mass Games right now. Marvel Crisis Protocol hasn’t even been out 6 months yet, and the line up past the initial boxed set is impressive to say the least!

The Asgardians hit stores about a month ago, and as you can see, a certain Odinson isn’t messing around!

I spent a little extra time layering in some richness to the cape, and I’m still thinking of some lightning effects that I can work in. Other than that, Thor is another solid winner from Atomic Mass!

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Bushido: Descension Starter Box

I didn’t even know about Bushido two weeks ago— but, as often happens at Shiv Games, word got out and we all went a little goofy in the head. I was absolutely gob-smacked by the Descension Starter set, which come with five stunning Tengu miniatures.

First up in the warband is Narahobo, who knows exactly how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop:

Why does he have a beard? Do I even care? He’s so cool!

Next comes Hirohito, he’s a spiffy crane dude:

To tie in with the reaper theme, I put the kanji symbol for death on his back:

Now we get to the three Suzume, starting with Honbo, who has a short bow:

He’s probably my favorite in the starter. He looks so regal and *pissed*!

I went i little overboard with the back of the cloak!

Here’s Shubo, who fights with a spear:

And finally, Seibo, who is probably my favorite in the starter. Yes, they’re all my favorite! Seibo fights with two daggers, and has amazing wings!

I really love the fighting claws he has on his talons!

These are the best wings in the box. So nicely sculpted!

We’ll be getting our first game of Bushido in shortly! Anyone want to see a battle report?

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Beastmen for Warcry

Something fantastic happened when I went back into the behavior management field—- I am suddenly in a position to just paint for fun!

When my friend Brody was getting excited about some Beastmen for Warcry, I told him I wanted to paint them. I got to paint some cool minis, and there wasn’t any worry about commission. I was doing this for fun!

The Leader is a lot of fun, it’s just the standard build out of the box.

The Warcry cards have quite a few Ungor options, but the base Beastmen box only has Gors. I kitbashed the spear carrier to match the card, but the unit is a much beefier Gor unit.

The Citadel Contrast line really excell with units like these!

The Warcry cards call for two Ungor options. I took some old plastic bow bits and converted some tougher looking Gor versions.

I just love the facial expressions on these guys. They look like they take things way too seriously, especially for goat dudes. It was also a really great excuse to play with patina and corrosion on the gear!

I’m working on a Nighthaunt Warband for Warcry, too, and I’ll make sure to share the carnage when these two forces face off!

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The Saga of Why I Hate Blue

About two years ago, my family was in crisis. We owned a restaurant that was doing its very best to sink any possibility of us having even a drop of financial security. So, I dusted off my miniature brushes and started accepting painting commissions again.

Turns out this was a massive mistake. Trying to keep a freelance business organized while your actual livelihood was crashing and burning around you? Not an easy thing to pull off. And I in no way pulled it off.

My friend Jeff hires me to paint a bunch of Pan Oceania minis from Infinity. He payed up front, which is something I try not to accept. Why? Because I might flake out, maybe screw up and not finish the job for a couple of years or something.

Now, it’s not all bad. Jeff actually hired me to work at his awesome game store, and it’s still the most fun I’ve ever had at a job. But I painted a lot of Pan Oceania minis while I was there. Probably more than a hundred. I started having nightmares about the particular blue Jeff liked.

Now it’s nearly two years later, and I finally finished the last of that commission. It’s sad, though, because Jeff is a friend and I should have finished this months ago… and I’m not entirely sure if these are all his figures to begin with!

These might be the last Infinity figs I paint, too. I’m pretty burned out on Infinity. The models are amazing, but I always feel dumb when I play the game. And Corvus Belli made some funding decisions that I’m not a fan of, so back to the stuff that I really enjoy painting!

Then again, they really are sweet looking miniatures! Gah! Indecision is tough!

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The Wurmspat Warband

I have developed a deep, unflattering love for Warhammer Underworlds. It started about a year ago, but I denied my love and managed to fight it off. Then I met Fecula Flyblown and her boys, and I was lost for good:

I’ve always had a soft spot for the Nurgle stuff in Warhammer, but I really don’t want to paint a whole army of rotty stompers. But three figs? Sounds like a plan!