Nothing Ventured...

Not too long ago, I posted this image as a teaser for a future project:

That project is now underway as a grand experiment in sculpting and conversion work.

I decided to set out on this project as a way to stretch my sculpting skills. I have done a number of conversion projects, and I have used putty to reconstruct damaged or incomplete miniatures in the past, but this is, by far, the most extensive reconstruction and modification project that I have undertaken to date.

It has been fun so far, and it brings me one tiny step closet to being able to sculpt a whole part, or even a whole figure, from scratch.

Bones-apalooza Arrives

My Reaper Kickstarter Bones have arrived!

It will take me a little while to go through them and make sure everything's in order, but for now:

Woo-hoo!

Note that the small mountain of plastic in front is just from add-ons. The Vampire box is lurking in the back of the pile - that's where the real numbers are.

I had better get painting. :)

Hawkman Revisions and Conclusions

Last time I walked through the marble technique I wanted to try out on my Hawkman's base. I am happy with the technique, but, as mentioned, I wasn't completely satisfied with the warm-tone floor I created, when set against a very cool-themed miniature. Rather than randomly paint and repaint the base (which I had foolishly epoxied to the painted miniature before reaching this stage), I clipped some styrene tiles from spare stock and experimented with colors.

I didn't use any of those patterns exactly, but I was much happier with the greyer and bluer marble style for this figure.

Darksword Hawkman Continued

I made lots of progress on the Hawkman WIP last week. I started painting in his sword. I painted the trim on his robe. I even started in on some experimental basing techniques - more on that below For now, here is his state, as of last week:

Read on for tinkering with base-painting

Darksword's Hawkman

I thought about naming this post for a certain popular novel whose title revolves around a tremendous variety of monochrome, but didn't think it would drive the right sort of Google traffic.

As a part of playing around with Paizo Publishing's Pathfinder game, I built a Tengu character and decided to build up a miniature for him. Sadly, Tengu miniatures are in rather short supply in the industry, and about half of the ones I could locate don't really fit the look Paizo has chosen for their bird-men.

Fortunately for me, Darksword miniatures has an absolutely beautiful sculpt that is close enough, and, I am pleased to say, is turning out to be an absolute joy to paint.

More Cool Kickstarters

Fractured Dimensions is running a campaign to fund some absolutely beautiful Demon and Devil sculpts(well, impressive may be a better word) by Paul Muller. If you like these sort of things for your fantasy RPG, I think you will be impressed by the sculpt quality.

Social Painting

The thing that I have most enjoyed about ReaperCon, the two times I have been there, is the social camaraderie of sitting in a room full of painters. First off, it is nice to just have people to talk to while you are hunched over a tiny piece of metal or plastic, focusing on some fine detail.

Even more than that, it lets you swap stories, share ideas and give mutual advice with people who share your interest. There are local paint clubs in various areas, but I have not, so far, belonged to one in my own home town.

This year, I decided that I should go out and try to create the thing that I desire, rather than sit at home and bemoan its absence.  Upon return from RCon I set the wheels in motion to pick a time and lure some people in to paint, hang out and socialize.