This spuds for you

I ordered some terrain a few months ago from the newly discovered Mini Monsters and true to my nature as somewhat susceptible to impulse buys, I added a few small packs to my order that I might not have really needed. I'm always keen to try out a new manufacturer that looks promising, and little bits and bobs can be a cheap way to get an idea of the quality of the work without much risk if they turn out to be sub-par.

Since we're doing a community terrain project over at Random Platypus, this autumn, and it seemed entirely unlikely I'd be able to get my next larger scale terrain project done before the deadline, it seemed like a perfect time to pull out some of the MiniMonsters bits and see if I coudn't slap something together before early December.

The result is this little objective marker. Sacks of foodstuffs, which I have decided are potatoes.

It's the first group painting project at RP that I've actually completed by the deadline, but thats probably the only criteria by which this silly little scenic piece is noteworthy. Well that, and when was the last time you tried to figure out how to paint a potato? 

I'll do a full review of the MiniMonsters stuff when I get the rest of my order assembled.

Under the gaze of the Sultan

The other day someone said that someone should do a showcase for Arabian Nights / Alladin / Sinbad, and all that jazz.

Well, someone did.

http://randomplatypus.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=718

At the corner of Hou and Wen

Another niche showcase. This one of asian martial artists, chinese / mongol / korean armies and wuxia fantasy settings.

White Metal Fist! 

I'm sure I'll paint something again sometime. . . . I promise I'll let you know. 

Turning Japanese

I've posted a round up for figures available for historical samurai and japanese fantasy gaming, if such a thing interests you:  Showcase: Samurai / Japanese Fantasy 


 So far nothing smaller than 28mm, but 15mm might be added at a later time.

  

Boudi Call

As both an excuse to share painting progress, and as a motivational measure, I've agreed to paint the same figure that another person or three are also painting. We've given our selves a deadline of early July to allow for all sorts of distractions, but also to give time for other folks that might want to join the endeavor time to get the same figure, and put aside some time to work on it.

We're painting Boudi, from Hasslefree, a stylized female fighter inspired by Boudicca, and originally commissioned as a convention give away for the Diceni show in Norwich.

As of last night,  I have mine primed, and the flesh base coated.

If you'd like to follow along as people work on their own versions, or even join the project,  you can do so right here

Also rumor has it that there may be some Hasslefree goodies awarded to a lucky participant.

green is the color

I've posted two reviews of verdigris effect paints.

Modelmates Verdigris Effect: Green

 &

Citadel Technical: Nihlakh Oxide

Have a look, you might find them useful

Modelmates Liquid Rust

I've written a small product review of Modelmates Liquid Rust if you're interested

Have a Look

Scout, Scout, Let it All Out

I wasn't really sure what was going to happen with these aside from some sort of festival of greens and browns.  Uniforms? Variety? These questions way overly heavy on my mind all the time. Because I'm a weirdo.

I think I've arrived at what will likely be the maximum number of main colors i'll use, so the posse will have a uniform feel, if not a uniform coloring. I'm really happy with the drab woodland colors on all of these. Definitely got the feel I was after for sneaky scouts.

More to come over time.

just a bunch of hoodlums

A bunch of hoods up in here these days. On their way to becoming Empire scouts.

Let your freak flag fly

Sometimes you just have to get naked and let your hair down

boom chaka lakka

I was going to do this months ago for an artillery themed contest, but never got to it.

Now seemed like a good time to get around to it, since I need something to work on while the snail putty dries. The next themed empire contest focuses on doing red uniforms, so I chose this high contrast color scheme for how neat it looks, as well as its suitability as an entry for that.
.
The crew figures are really fun sculpts full of character, and painted up very quickly.  The culverin is from EM4 / Mirliton, the figures are from a Foundry medieval artillery crew set.

I really don't need more artillery pieces, but they are fun to paint, and well, I collect Empire. . . it's not about needing more artillery pieces at all. It's about unleashing fury like the angry fist of a drunken god on anyone across the table from you.

(and yes, I have a few more artillery pieces yet in the closet of woe)

Look at that S Car Go!

It all started innocently enough. A curious Smithsonian article about medieval manuscripts. After reading it, I googled for other commentaries on the subject, but mostly for more examples, of which I found plenty.

The more I looked, the more I realized I could not resist making something to pay homage to this weird affectation of the scribes of old.

I had two competing ideas, and true to form I decided to tackle both, rather than come to a decision regarding which one made more sense.

To that end, I began sourcing various snails.

The first of these creations finally came to fruition last week.

The militia figures are from Ebob's Rebellion range. The snail came from Archie McPhee, though it is no longer available from them.  Resin walls by Fenris Games, and the roadbed is from Lemax.

The other project is underway, but is taking much longer since it requires a fair amount of sculpting, and while I've done a little here and there, I've never tackled anything like this. I have started a bunch of new projects to have on the go so I can paint other things while I wait for putty to dry. I can only get a little bit done each day because of that, so until I get the putty work done, it will likely be sometime before Snail Duel #2 graces these pages.

I made a bit of noise on a few forums to see if anyone else wanted to join me in this madness, and a fair number of folks expressed interest. As these things normally go, many of them did not have anything completed by the deadline we'd set to share them all by. But there is one exception! The greatly talented BeePie made this wonderful interpretation of the brief:

A direct link to this image is worth it so you can enjoy it at full size. You can see more of his excellent work here!

Apples and Edelweiss.

An offering, just in time for the Kalends.

The monthly contest at the Empire forum is taking a different turn for 2014, and each month has an over arching theme that each painter can interpret in a variety of ways, rather than  a set type of unit or character.

One of the variations for january was a shrine, temple, cathedral, etc. So I decided to see if I could sculpt apples.

Kalo Iuno Novella!

snail mail

More than are needed have arrived.  Let the madness begin.