PTS VII: Lantern Bearer

The lantern-bearer is next up for The Helping Hand Challenge. Ideally the mini would be finished today but it's still very much a work in progress.

Things were delayed somewhat by the need to catch up on the previous two months' subjects and my choice to modify the miniature a bit.

To see the work of the Challenge's more punctual participants, Check out Duke of the Blood Keep and Deviant Designs Deeds.

Some WIP pics:

Mini shimmed to stand slightly higher than base. Cork added.

Glack gesso on cork. Mini flush with base after sand is added.

Grey primer, black wash, drybrushed grey then white.

Arm position altered.

Lantern modified to hang vertically.

Deep recesses painted black.

I had to work today and tomorrow's a national holiday so this is turning into a lost weekend on the painting front. I shall press forward next week.

In closing: GO HAWKS!!

Low-Tech Cephalopod

Being a re-visitation of Naval November with feeble excuses offered as to the author's failure to fulfill his ongoing obligations...

Cut to the chase... Roy over at RoyW's Hobby Blog came up with Naval November last year. I liked the idea and put together a wizard/familiar combo in line with the theme.

So far, so good. The sticking point was that NN came right after Zomtober and participating in those two events back-to-back badly impacted my previous commitment to The Helping Hand Challenge. (The fact that I'm a slow painter and a general loss of interest stemming from my costly involvement in the Center Stage Kickstarter debacle only made matters worse.)

It felt wrong to produce a LOOK WHAT I PAINTED!! post featuring the pair while The Helping Hand Challenge sat neglected. Consequently, only the fish familiar saw the light of day back in November while his boss was allowed to cool his heels (or tentacles in this case) until The HHC was caught up.

As I'm nearly caught up, it seemed a good time to finally unveil the pair as originally intended.

The wizard began as Bombshell Miniature's Edo Underling #1. In keeping with the pulp sci-fi theme of Bombshell's Counterblast line, the mini holds an enormous ray gun. Nothing against pulp sci-fi or ray guns, but that needed to go. After much filing, carving, and pinning, it was replaced with a suitable staff from a Reaper mind flayer (a staff with tentacles, no less).

There are some awfully cool minis in the Edo faction. As there's always a little more room in the lead pile, I picked up a couple other items at the same time as this one.

The markings were cribbed from the mimic octopus... an amazing animal optimized for deception and a fitting inspiration for a wizard specializing in illusion.

Beyond that, he's still something of a work in progress on a conceptual level. If nothing else, I see him and his kin as foes of the aquatic undead from Zomtober.

Good or evil? The jury's still out.

Playing Catch-Up

I'm still participating in The Helping Hand Challenge... though one would be forgiven for thinking otherwise based on recent performance. After a promising start I drove straight into the ditch, it seems. This sorry state of affairs ends here and now. I didn't produce the semi-obligatory New-Year's post complete with targets for 2015 but, if I had, getting back on the beam as far as the challenge is concerned would have been hobby-resolution #1.

With this in mind, and without further ado, I present the pack-bearer and the squire (which should have been November and December's contributions respectively).

The pack-bearer's pack was painted separately and attached afterwards. The face received a five o'clock shadow but no additional color in the cheeks or nose. Hopefully this gives him a slightly ashen look.

By contrast, the squire received no five o'clock but a lot of color in the cheeks and nose in an attempt to present a healthy, well-groomed subject. The sculpt has prominent cheek-bones, a high forehead, and equally high hair. I tried to accentuate these features through shading and highlights.

The other two challenge participants used blue and red on their tabards so I thought it only fitting to go with the remaining primary color, yellow.

Speaking of the other participants, be sure to check out their most recent efforts at Duke of the Blood Keep and Deviant Designs Deeds.

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.