Miniatures Monday

The dreaded Minotaur patrols his deadly labyrinth.

5 miniatures finished this weekend

A Giant Snake

A Skulking Assassin

A Sinister Mummy

A 1920s Adventurer

A Starship Captain

It's good to be painting again.

Miniatures Monday

A fearsome giant stalks the forest in search of adventure...or victims....

Miniatures Monday

The fierce Lord of the Jungle!

Miniatures Monday

Somewhere deep in the underworld, this mysterious idol waits to be discovered by daring explorers.  But, is it malevolent or benign?

Miniatures Monday

A fierce warrior charges into battle against overwhelming odds!

Miniatures Monday

This doughty delver is armed and armored to the teeth!

M.A.R. Barker

Word has it that Professor Muhammad And-al-Rahman Barker, creator of the world of Tekumel has died. A sad day for fantasy enthusiast and gamers alike.

Jack Vance

There is now an official Jack vance website!   If you like Jack Vance, go check it out.  If you don't know who Jack Vance is, read his Dying Earth books, and then go check it out!  :-)

Miniatures Monday

A heavily armored warrior with a dragon helm charges into battle!

Reaper Bones

Reaper Miniatures has released the first of their line of unpainted plastic miniatures known as Bones.  The idea is to have the same Reaper detail that people are used to but at a much lower price point.  So far, individual miniatures are priced at between $1.99 and $2.99, while small sets are priced at between $3.49 and $5.49.  The ones currently available are all casts of existing Reaper metal miniatures, so I think this may be a good way for cash strapped gamers to start, or add to their collections.  I imagine that I will stick with metal minis for the most part, but I think that this is a good idea and wish Reaper great success in this new endeavor.

Miniatures Monday

A half ogre adventurer, armed to the teeth!

Thrud the Barbarian: Step by Step - Highlighting and Sealing

At last we're near the end!  We have arrives at the final stages, highlighting and sealing.  Now I'll be the first to admit that I'm not very good at highlighting, but I like to try to make a go of it anyway.  I dry brushed silver onto the hard edges of Thrud's axe and helmet to make them stand out.  I did the same for the studs on his belt.  Then I used a brownish yellow on the ground to make it stand out a bit better.  A little light brown on the edges of his loincloth, and I was done.  Nothing too hard, just a little work to make the miniature look a bit more finished.  And there you have it.  All Thrud needs is a coat or two of clear sealant.  For sealing my miniatures, I use a two step process.  First, I spray-coat the miniature with Rustoleum Crystal Clear Enamel.  This gives a hard coating that will stand up to the rigors of the gaming table, but it's way too shiny for actual use.  So after letting that coat dry over night, I use a spray-coating of Testors Dullcote, which eliminates the shininess.  Finally, I brush-coat the areas that are supposed to be shiny, such as jewels or shiny metals, with a gloss coating such as Games Workshop's 'ARDCOAT or Model Master Gloss Clear Acryl.  And there you have it, he is ready for the gaming table!  

Afterward: I've been toying with the idea of adding some clumps of static grass to the base, but I still haven't decided on that.  If I do, I'll be sure to post a follow up.

Thrud the Barbarian: Step by Step - Shading

Now that the main colors are done, it's time to add some shading with washes.  These can be a bit tricky.  I can't count the number of times that I've used too dark a wash and had to repaint sections of a miniature!

I started by applying a heavy wash of sepia to the base.  This helps to bing out the texture of the gravel.

Next, I applied a darker brown wash to the belt and axe haft.

Then, I applied the same sepia wash that I'd used on the base o the loincloth.  I was tempted to use the same darker brown that I'd used on the belt, but in the end, I was glad that I'd gone with the lighter wash, as I think it made the loincloth stand out from the belt a bit better.

Then, it was back to the darker brown was for the boots.  I was careful to avoid the straps at first.  This allowed me to use a slightly watered down dark brown wash on them so that they would stand out better.

Next, I used a muddy greyish black wash on the helmet and axe head.  This helps to bring out some of the detail in the recesses and also makes them less shiny.

Finally, we come to what I consider to be the trickiest part of shading, the flesh.  When I mess up, this is usually where it happens.  Fortunately, this time it didn't go too badly. I applied the wash to all of the flesh colored areas to shade the muscle lines and facial features.  In then end, I wish that I had watered the wash down just a tiny bit, but overall, I'm not too disappointed with it.  Thrud has just been well bronzed by the rays of the ancient sun!

Next:  Highlighting!

Thrud the Barbarian: Step by Step - Painting

So now we get to the meat of the process, actually painting!  For the first step, I used two coats of flesh colored paint to cover most of the model.  He is a barbarian after all.  I also painted the base and the haft of his axe in a light brown,

Thrud with a base coat of flesh paint

Next, I painted the leather areas, boots, belt, and loincloth, being careful not to get any on the flesh areas.

Thrud with his belt, boots, and loincloth painted

The boot straps were time consuming,  I chose a lighter color for them, so that they would show up against the brown of the boots.

Thrud with his boot straps painted

Next, I moved on the the ornamentation on Thrud's belt.  I decided to go with a coppery color for some contrast.  The small metal studs along the belt were done in a dark silver.

Thrud with some belt ornamentation

Next I moved on to the metal areas, helmet and axe head.  Again, I had to be careful not to get any on the flesh colored areas.  Not that I couldn't have fixed it, but I just wanted to avoid the extra work.

Thrud is totally metal!

Finally, I painted the horns on Thrud's helmet, and the main painting was done!

A good helmet needs horns

Next:  Shading with washes!