WOOHOO!

Once again... WOOHOO!!!

After more than three years, closure has been achieved in the CSM Tome of Horrors I & II Kickstarter/Ponzi -Scheme boondoggle. I got a box of miniatures yesterday.

In fact, I got a box of outstanding miniatures and took many pictures of same. Worth the wait? Let's not get crazy, folks. Three years is three years, after all.

Still.. some great sculpts, unusual subjects,  & quality casting. Behold:

Babbler

Basidirond

Blindheim

Boneneedle

Bullywugs ( AKA Tsathar)

Cassomolar, President of Hell

Catterwaul

Dire Corbies

Disenchanter

Flumphs

Gorbel

Iron Cobra

Jaculi

Kamadan

Splinterdrake

Overall, casting quality is excellent. The only exception being the flanks of the Disenchanter, just below the hump, on both sides. Here the mini's surface is deeply pitted. A picture on Pacesetter's Facebook page shows an example with the same issue so mine's likely typical in this regard.

Cassomolar may be the best sculpt of the bunch. Fine work by Patrick Keith. Its small size was a big surprise, however, in view of its price ($16.95). I can't complain though, technically it was one of my free selections.

The Dire Corbies, on the other hand, are larger than expected... absolute brutes.

In making my selections I focused on certain sculptors (Keith, Kline, Williams, Prow) and subjects tied to the old Fiend Folio (11 of 15).

Very seussian

Finally, a word of gratitude to Bill of Pacesetter Games. He really pulled the fat out of the fire here. Well done, sir.

PS - Love the flumphs.

PPS - WOOHOO!!!

The Saga Continues...

 

Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in.

Michael Corleone

For every ailment under the sun

There is a remedy, or there is none;

If there be one, try to find it;

If there be none, never mind it.

Mother Goose

Center Stage Miniatures and the Tome of Horrors Kickstarters... I & II. 

These words alone make my heart sink and my blood pressure soar. That's even before mention of former CSM top banana and paragon of virtue Matt Solarz.

Go to your happy place, Finch. Go to your happy place.

No screed today. Only this:

Pacesetter Games has acquired the assets of CSM. Assuming resolution of outstanding IP issues this will include miniatures from TOH I & II. I learned of this a couple weeks ago and have been in a hobby funk ever since. Seems I really dislike being reminded of this fiasco and, more pointedly,  my own gullibility.

Should I be pleased at the prospect of finally getting some long sought after flumph miniatures (and other stuff)? Absolutely. 

Should I continue to stew over being so thoroughly hosed by the aforementioned Mr. Solarz? Absolutely not.  

Will I continue to stew over being so thoroughly hosed by the aforementioned Mr. Solarz? Hopefully not.

Bottom line #1: I may yet get my flumphs (and other stuff) if I'm willing to pay for them a second time (albeit at a substantial discount).

Bottom line #2: I should take Mother Goose's advice to heart and resign myself to things as they stand.

Additional observation: I need to get back to painting things.

The Cat's Pajamas

Business Cat approves.

Leaving behind two figures of speech and resorting to a third, it's time to lay my cards on the table. I'm painting for MortalArrow LLC, the new distributor of Fractured Dimensions miniatures. Mike at Mortal Arrow has been hard at work behind the scenes and the online store should go live shortly.

Also involved are artists Bobby Penafiel and Lloyd Metcalf. Bobby did the concept art for FD's IMotOP Kickstarter and has recently immortalized your humble author in pen and ink. (OK, my humility is an open question. What can I say?)

Consider my ego stroked.

I have no inside info on this point but a perusal of Bobby's DeviantArt page seems to offer clues to future FD releases. That's right campers... future releases. Fractured Dimensions has resumed product development. A couple new Paul Muller greens are on display on Mortal Arrow's FB page. Sweet.

Paul Muller can do no wrong.

As for yours truly, a personal matter has been demanding my attention, resulting in limited progress on the painting front. Ideally, as the situation improves, I'll get my ass in gear and paint some stuff. Towards that end, FD's Dispater has received some initial attention.

Ian Mountain's no slouch either.

Day of Deliverance

It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.
John Adams

Our long national nightmare is over...
Gerald Ford

Hallelujah and woot woot! Strike up the band and cue the fireworks! I have received the remainder of my rewards from Fractured Dimensions' Infernal Minions of the Outer Planes Kickstarter. This comes two years to the day after the project's successful funding.

Pictured above are (L to R) a type IV demon, a type I demon, and the heads for two previously delivered type III demons. (Clearly Mr. Gygax had a thing for Roman numerals back in the Monster Manual days of yesteryear.)

With the exception of a little mold-slip on the type IV's extended right arm (very fixable I should think) the minis look outstanding. Of note too is the tiny, seperate, lower jaw of the one type III head (affixed to some masking tape in the picture).  Care will be needed not to loose that bit.

This lot joins the bulk of the rewards which can be seen here.

Killer Klowns

Send in the clowns... the naked, obese, homicidal clowns.

EDIT 05/28/16

Mortal Arrow will only be distributing Fractured Dimensions miniatures until the end of this month (May 2016). A word to the wise: get them while you can. 

*******

Two more minis from Fractured Dimensions' IMotOP Kickstarter are done. These lovelies are a sort of devil called a perribo, first seen as the nupperibo in 1983's Monster Manual II. Their appearance owes more to an illustration by Tony DiTerlizzi for the Planescape setting than to any written description. In fact, that illustration and the written description seem oddly contradictory.

So concludes the D&D minutia portion of the program.

Sculptor Paul Muller did an amazing job with these two. The man's a master of anatomy and musculature (or fat rolls in this case).  Moreover, like all of his sculpts, they practically ooze character (among other things). The heads have a pronounced clown-vibe that led me to the paint scheme seen above.

A not too distant cousin?

To my mind these guys fall just as easily into the ranks of the undead. A sort of demonic ghoul. So inspired, I experimented with a new undead skin-color... pink. Grey was added to pink for the base, a pale, undead fleshtone added progressively to that for the highlights, assorted washes for the shading. The colors used:

The black should be used VERY sparingly, if at all.

Overall, it was warm colors on everything but the heads. Hopefully the cool blue used there provides a nice contrast. 

WIPs:

The finished product:

Various colors used for the undead:

They're like skittles.

The end:

Zombie got Back

Christmas After Action Report

He knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake.

Christmas has come and gone. I thought I'd take this opportunity to stick my head up, prove that I'm still capable of producing a post every now and then, and show off some holiday swag.

First up are some Hangar 18 backgrounds; a gift from my brother Bob. Looking forward to putting these to the test. It's probably time to retire my ubiquitous construction paper for everything but WIP shots.

Chinese brushes. That's right... Chinese brushes. Long story short: Kolinsky sable brushes have become difficult to get on this side of the Atlantic due to CITES compliance issues and the unwelcome (and likely unwarranted) attentions of the Department of Fish and Wildlife. I only learned of this when unsuccessfully attempting to replace my tired Windsor & Newton Series Sevens at the local art store.

I have a client, an artist by trade, who, upon learning of my difficulties, kindly set me up with the brushes pictured. The bristles consist of a pliable outer layer overlying a more springy central core. They're larger than what I'm used to but they each come to a very fine point. I'm not sure what to expect but I'm eager to take them out for a test drive.

Lastly, I received my rewards from Fractured Dimensions' Infernal Minions Kickstarter. A whopping, great pile of metal (and a little resin) goodness pictured above.

It just wouldn't feel like Kickstarter without some bad news. In this case it takes the form of two missing miniatures and one set of two multi-part miniatures that arrived lacking heads.

Orcus

Demons

Devils and Miscellaneous

On the plus side of the ledger, these are absolutely brilliant miniatures. The sculptor, Paul Muller, brought his A game and Brett Zeleznik of Fractured dimensions did, and continues to do, a fine job in seeing the campaign through to a successful conclusion.

Fractured Dimensions has been around for a while, but these minis should really put the company on the map when they're released.

Restoring a few toes should fall within my sculpting abilities.

The casting quality is excellent overall. A thorough inspection revealed only one small miscast: some missing toes on one miniature.

Left to right: Heresy, FD, Otherworld, FD, Reaper

Two of the minis caught my attention as having a creepy-obese-clown-ghoul vibe. As I've been amassing a force of Muller sculpted ghouls for some time, they may wind up being re-purposed as undead. As in all things, time will tell. (Did someone say Zomtober 2015?)

Off to the landfill

Tanked

Normally, two outta' three ain't bad. In this case, it's not so good. I have once again failed to complete this month's Helping Hand Challenge miniature. It's in the works... but not finished.

I spent most of November severely aggravated over CSM's Kickstarter ponzi scheme. Getting fleeced puts one in a decidedly foul mood, I've learned. No point going over old ground but miniature painting simply wasn't in the cards. That said, wallowing in self-pity wears thin eventually.

Long story short: I recovered late, started & finished two miniatures for Naval November, and began work on the HH Challenge mini.

One of the NN minis is shown at the top of the post. The other just managed to get out of frame before the picture was snapped. Slippery devil. They'll both get proper treatment once I've caught up with my Helping Hand commitment.

Speaking of slippery devils, I now close with a picture of Center Stage Miniatures' Matt Solarz.

Hang on to your wallets, miniature fans. Uncle Matt's in the house.

PTS VI: Mojo Reacquisition

Just a short post to prove that I'm still actively involved in painting miniatures (or prepping and priming them at any rate). I was really in the groove during October hobby-wise. Zomtober was a blast and I was unusually productive both painting and blogging.

That all came to a screeching halt with November and the revelation that Center Stage Miniature's Tome of Horrors Kickstarters were little more than a ponzi scheme. All the smart kids are now of the opinion that funds from those campaigns were diverted to fulfilling the earlier Demons and Devils Kickstarter (LINK).

I'm not a smart kid. I'm just a dope who got swindled.

This concludes the "woe is me" portion of the program.

The bottom line is that my brushes sat idle all month as my heart really wasn't into painting. Hopefully I'm emerging from this fraud-induced funk. Time will tell. If nothing else, there are a few items now on the table awaiting paint.

The Otherworld pack-bearer is part of The Helping Hand Challenge and should be done on time. I also have two minis (not shown) in the works for Naval November, the creation of Roy Williamson over at R.W.'s Hobby Blog.

A sinister form glides behind the unsuspecting pack-bearer.