Saturday, June 29, 2013

Hammer Time


Pictures of the completed Koschei green went up last night over at Fractured Dimensions' Infernal Minions of the Outer Planes Kickstarter. Wow! I wouldn't change a thing. A fitting homage to some cover art from long ago:


There are differences to be sure; hopefully enough to avoid a future cease & desist letter from whoever holds the I.P. rights (WOTC?). Even should that happen (as it did with campaigns from Dark Platypus and Center Stage) a little tinkering (i.e. name change) should fix the problem (knock on wood).

That said, I am enthusiastically backing this project which has entered its final 36 hours. Brett at FD had plenty of outstanding greens ready to go even before the campaign kicked off. The stretch goals that have been unlocked, as well as those that remain, will result in some amazing minis once turned over to Paul Muller's capable hands.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Summertime Blues


Things have been pretty slow around the paint cave lately. That being said, I have finished one mini recently: Otherworld Miniatures' type II demon. The blue and olive scheme seen here was inspired by a Hugh Jamieson illustration. As for the miniature itself, it's a great example both of OW's commitment to quality and Paul Muller's flair for sculpting the denizens of the underworld. More on the last point later.

 The olive paint didn't behave quite as expected. The first time through I shaded by adding dark brown and highlighted by adding Reaper's Bloodless Skin. This looked OK in terms of light vs dark but a bit weird otherwise. I suspect that by adding a warm brown to the shadows and a cool zombie flesh-tone to the highlights I had violated the rules regarding color temperature.

Long story short, I glazed away most of my work with the original base color (GW Death World Forest), shaded with a cool color (P3 Coal Black), and highlighted with a warm (Reaper Bronzed Highlight). Big improvement.

As for the wisdom of photographing an olive miniature against an olive background, I throw myself on the mercy of the court.

 
 
 
 

Returning to the talented Mr. Muller, I am currently backing Fractured Dimensions' Infernal Minions Kickstarter. All the new sculpts made possible thereby will be sculpted by Paul Muller. The campaign has entered its final week and, while it long ago hit its modest funding goal, it's been barely sputtering along for a while now.

WARNING: URGENT APPEAL TO FOLLOW

I urge anyone who shares my appreciation for Paul Muller's work to check out the Kickstarter. Look past the ho-hum concept art and general complexity of the page and focus instead on the amazing greens already completed. Then consider the potential for even more if a few additional stretch goals are achieved. 

There's good value to be had at the $95 backer level and above. Please, give it a look.