[Miniature Monday] Giant Mushroom

I'm still dabbling with the Vallejo Xpress Colors and I used them to paint this giant mushroom.  I've watched several videos about using speed paints.  I've made several attempts to match the coverage and the results I see in those videos. For whatever reason, I can't get the same kind of results.  I seem to be more in tune with the more traditional layered approach to painting miniatures.  I haven't abandoned the speed painting method.  

After the Xpress Colors dried, I used Dark Tone from the Army Painter line.  I like how dark and grubby this giant mushroom looks after using this wash over the Vallejo Xpress Colors.  These miniatures are available at one of the local stores for 99 cents each so I'm going to pick up some more of them to use for a cavern with several large mushrooms on the floor.

If you paint miniatures, have you tried any of the speed paints from the available brands? Do you have a method you developed on your own or do you follow something you saw in a video?  Do you have any suggestions for people learning this method?

[Miniature Monday] Grave Wraith

 

Ugh...work has been demanding lately.  I just realized it's been a month or a little over since my last post.  We had a four-day weekend at work, so I decided to paint this Grave Wraith miniature that I've been meaning to paint for a while.  I began by opening the miniature, cleaning it with dish soap and water, and then mounting in on a base.

The second step was painting the main color.  I went with a Skeletor inspired color for the robe.  I also decided to add in some black in the face area and a few other small areas.

Then I painted the gravestone and the sword as well as the tiny Skeletal fingers wrapped around the hilt of the sword.

Then I painted the earthen area by the feet and gravestone.

Next, I did some touchup in the areas that need it done.

 

Finally, I did a wash on the miniature and then put a coat of Brush on Sealer once the wash had dried.  

[Miniature Monday] Naga Part II

I completed the second Naga using mostly Vallejo Xpress Color paints for the majority of the miniature.  I would have used them for all of the miniature but there are not metallic paints in the range as of yet and when I returned to buy more the display rack was already down to less than half full. It went much quicker than the Naga I painted in another post.  I will definitely buy more of the Xpress Color paints because they make the process so much quicker to complete.

[Miniature Monday] Vallejo Xpress Color

I made a stop at one my local FLGS locations on Friday and noticed they had a rack of the Vallejo Xpress Color paints setup in their shop.  I tried the standard Vallejo paints when I first started painting and I have remained a fan of them ever since.  I have tried a variety of paints, but I still maintain a healthy selection of the Vallejo range in my collection.  

After browsing through the rack, I decided to pick up three bottles of the Xpress Colors to test them out on an unpainted miniature this weekend.  I still had an unpainted Naga miniature in my collection.  I decided to paint it so I could compare it with the other one I painted a while back. I did not finish painting the Naga but it wasn't because I was disappointed with the results.

I used Snake Green (far right) for most of the body and yellow for the mid-section of the front.  You can tell the difference between the other Naga (left in the picture) and this new one.  The reason I chose to stop painting is because I'm enjoying using this paint and I'm going back to pick up the other bottles before I continue painting.  We get our bonus payout at work this week and that's going to be my splurge item.  

The Xpress Color paint is really smooth and flows like milk.  It's going to take a minor adjustment on my painting method but that's not a bad thing.  I can skip the wet palette for these, and it seems like one coat will most likely do the trick.  Simply put, I can paint more miniatures in a shorter amount of time.  Since my miniatures are for in-game use rather than competition or showcase then that's perfect for me.

 

[Miniature Monday] I Need a Working Space

I have no completed miniature to showcase in this post but here's a look at my current painting area.  Yes, it's part of my kitchen countertop and I need to change it.  I'm going to be on the hunt for a reasonably priced desk or table and some sort of paint stands (or something similar) to get this mess moved from my kitchen to the other room.  I always thought I was just going to have a few bottles of paint and a few miniatures because I intended to give this part of the hobby a try and put it back down.  Now I have over 40 bottles of paints, several sets of brushes, and an accumulated collection of miniatures waiting to be painted.  I'll update in the future when I get a dedicated space.

 

[Miniature Monday] Mind Flayer

 

I've had this miniature for a while, but I was holding off until I thought I was good enough to paint it reasonably well.  I finally got tired of waiting and decided to give it a whirl.  I didn't have to remove any paint or any major rework during the painting process so I'm pretty happy with the results.  I now have a table ready Mind Flayer for my collection.  I need to look into some of the other old monsters such as Beholders and Ropers sometime in the future.

[Miniature Monday] Goblins

I began the paint job on these goblins almost 2 years ago.  I only painted the exposed akin areas and then I closed on my house so were lost in the shuffle for a bit.  During the last week I was at a point where I was between painting projects, so I settled on these Goblins.  I was originally planning on painting only one of them. I wasn't really satisfied with the results, so I decided to continue on with some more.  As you can see from the picture, I wound up painting three of the Goblin miniatures.  

I know I've stated several times that I'm not a competition painter and I have no intention of becoming one. I kept thinking that the results would eventually turn out better, but it didn't matter what I tried to do to produce a better paint job. I'm really not happy with the results.  I'm pretty much meh on these three Goblins.  They do pass my arm length test of not resembling a blob of paint, but these are definitely the miniatures I am least satisfied with in my collection. 

What are my thoughts on this experience?  I did experiment with painting the base of one of the Goblins black.  I do like that and may continue to do so but I will use the black circles instead of the tiled circles in the future.  Maybe it's the lack of a strong contrast between the color of the Goblin skin and the clothing that doesn't quite work for me? Maybe my paints were properly thinned or mixed for this project?  Maybe I'm overthinking it and being too critical?  I honestly don't know on this one.  I do have three more Goblins to paint so I will give it another go sometime down the road.

 

[Miniature Monday] Kobold

 

I completed my first Kobold miniature and I still have 5 more left to paint. This is one of the few tiny miniatures I have attempted.  I am not disappointed in the results, but I do see some areas that need improvement.  I need to give in and open up the smaller brushes I bought just for this size of figures. 

  

[Miniature Monday] Mimic

 

Since my last two painted miniatures were a closed treasure chest followed by an open treasure chest full of gold coins in only seemed natural that a mimic should be next.  It's not an "official D&D branded miniature" but rather a mocking beast from Reaper Bones.  As you can see, it serves the purpose I'm going to use it for quite well.  I was a little concerned with how the teeth and mouth would turn out, but after applying a wash to the miniature it obscured most of the problem areas that had me concerned. I know I still have a lot of improvement to do in some skill areas, but I'm definitely satisfied with the results.  The main thing is that it passes the table use appearance test so it's all good.  It also looks consistent with the other two chest miniatures. 

[Miniature Monday] Open Treasure Chest

"Full of gold" is the answer to what's inside the chest.  I tried to pain gold pieces, silver pieces, and maybe put a few gems in the chest but I was never satisfied with the results.  After it dried, I decided to make it full of gold, so I painted that part again.  I'm really satisfied with the results.  

 

[Miniature Monday] Closed Treasure Chest

 

A treasure chest miniature should get quite a bit of use in a fantasy game so it seemed like a "must buy" when I found this miniature at one of my local gaming stores. I had a little bit of difficulty with the silver parts because they were so small.  It was more to do with the steady hand, but I got just a touch of overage on the brown parts in some places. It took a few touchups before I got it almost perfect but then I remembered I paint for utility rather than competition.  Does it look good at arm's length?  Yes, it does.  I'm even more satisfied with it after applying a wash because it basically eliminated any issues.  The only thing to figure out now is what's inside of the chest?

Maintenance & Plans

Just a quick update about some blog maintenance and plans for the coming year.

I deleted my other blogs because they were dead in the water.  I went through a divorce years ago around the time they were started, and I struggled with getting up and going.  The time for a separate blog on those subjects has come and gone.  If there is anything that comes up that would be worth posting, I will just post it here.

I plan on continuing on with my usual D&D posts, Miniature Monday posts, and Fan Film Friday posts as well.  In addition, I plan on posting once a month leading up to the 50th anniversary of D&D as well as attempting the #Dungeon23 challenge.  I'm not sticking to just a megadungeon for my posts, though.  I'm going to try to use this as an opportunity to consolidate and flesh out the scattered notes for my campaign world a bit better.  There will be overworld stuff, town locations, dungeons, etc.  The point being trying to have 365 posts about campaign world information in one form or another.  

[Miniature Monday] Bone Guardian

 

Bone Guardians are a custom monster for my homebrew campaign world of Toldara.  The basic concept is a "boss monster" type of creature that can basically blend in with a normal group of skeletons and then the characters will discover this one is much tougher.  My original Delving Deeper stats for the Bone Guardian can be found in a previous post from October of 2021.  I have an updated version of the Bone Guardian but I'm waiting on artwork before I make a new post.

I wasn't happy with this miniature when I finished painting it.  I let it sit for a day or two while I looked online for a different miniature to use for the Bone Guardian.  I decided to go ahead and put a wash on it, and I could always use it for something else if I found a better fit.  The wash made it really pop because there is a real look of decay and age to the miniature now.  I'm still fairly new at painting miniatures and I still have plenty to learn but it's getting easier to figure things out.

[Miniature Monday] Yuan-Ti

I always dug the look of the Yuan-Ti and wanted to include them somewhere in my campaign world.  I did use them as depicted in any modules that they might have appeared in, but I wanted to do something else with them.  I never did come up with anything else for them, but I kept that that in the back of my brain all these years. 

When I decided to start working on my campaign world of Toldara I knew I had to include them.  The main design goal of Toldara was to include stuff inspired by things I enjoy as well as a greatest hits compilation of ideas from my older campaigns.  During a time of holiday shut down I was watching some older movies from my collection that I knew what I had to do with the Yuan-Ti.

I had the Cult of Grax representing one of the forces from one of my old campaigns.  I definitely planned to include them in Toldara.  While watching the 1982 Conan film and seeing Thulsa Doom, the cultists, and the snakes brought all this stuff together.  The Cult of Grax would be a snake cult, their symbol would be a globe with a snake coiled around it, they would have custom Clerics, and this hybrid snake & man figure would represent an especially devoted Graxian Cultist rewarded with dark powers by their dark lord. 

[Miniature Monday] Fixing Bent Weapons

 

If you've done enough browsing for miniatures, you're bound to have come across one with a bent sword, spear, axe, or some other item.  I bought a few that were slightly bent but I was able to fix them with a tiny clamp placed on the item for a few days.  That wasn't an inconvenience at the time because I had other miniatures I was in the process of completing.  I did, however, decide to find a better method for the next time I bought a bent miniature.

On another trip to one of the local gaming stores, I was browsing through their selection of miniatures and found two packages with three kobolds in each package.  The only problem was that one of them had a bent sword (see the picture on the left) and those two packages were the only kobolds in stock.  I decided to buy them all so I wouldn't have to wait for more to arrive or worry about trying to match colors if I didn't paint them all at once.

I did try the clamp trick on the sword when I got home.  I let is set overnight but that didn't work.  I visited some forums and other sites to find a simple trick to fix the bent sword.  I put a coffee cup with water in the microwave and warmed it up for one minute.  Then I dipped the sword into the hot water somewhere between 20-30 seconds.  I tested the sword to find it pretty flexible, so I positioned the sword into a straight position (see the picture on the right) and held it under cold tap water for 20-30 seconds.  I placed the miniature in my painting area to see if the sword would remain straight.  That was a month ago and the sword has remained in place.  As you can see, I still haven't painted the miniature, but its time is coming soon.  Just like books, there's never enough time to read them all.

I only have experience with the Reaper Bones miniatures and other lines made from similar material.  I haven't even tried to paint a metal miniature yet, but I do have a few I bought for a trial run.  I don't even know how they paint in comparison but that's an experience for a later time.  

[Miniature Monday] Dungeon Door

 

I've always wanted to try painting some scenery such as doors, tables, altars, etc. for use in my games.  I commonly see this type of scenery at one of the game stores but it's usually a set of several pieces.  I've avoided picking any of those up because the price and contents are both a larger commitment than I wanted to make on a trial run experiment.  I left without purchasing any scenery.

On the next visit I was browsing through the miniatures, and I found a package with two doors.  I don't remember exactly how much it cost but the price was right, and two doors is a small commitment.  I bought the package of doors, and I painted them when I got home that day.  It went really well, and I like the results.  I'm definitely buying more scenery such as some tables, an altar, and some bookshelves to start.  

[Miniature Monday] DIY Gelatinous Cube

I'm still painting miniatures to help scratch the old gaming itch; maybe I'll be fortunate enough to get a group together sometime in the near future.  As I continue to learn new methods and try out new tips, I have dipped my toe into crafting a miniature as well.  To avoid any confusion, I am absolutely not casting a metal miniature or anything similar because that is outside of my skill set and my artistic ability.  My miniatures are painted for tabletop use only and will definitely not win any sort of competition.  

I didn't set out to craft a Gelatinous Cube or any sort of miniature at all - it just happened.  I was picking up some groceries and remembered that I needed to buy some new ink pens.  On my way to that particular aisle, I passed by a shelf with some crayons, markers, and related stuff.   For some unknown reason, the package for the Crayola Model Magic caught my attention.

  

I stopped and picked up the package to read the instructions and see what it contained.  The box contained four small pieces of the modeling clay for a price of just under $5.  I imagined that I could probably craft a few easy things such as boxes, sandbags, boulders, etc. to potentially use in a game.  Again, my miniatures are for effect rather than display or competition so $5 would be a small price to pay if it didn't work out as well as I hoped.

I got home and put the Crayola Model Magic with my other supplies and then it occurred to me that a Gelatinous Cube is basically a box, so why not give it a try?  I formed the clay into a cube and let it sit for a while and noticed it still had some flexibility.  I recalled that I had a few spare bits laying around, so I added a sword, a helm, and a boot to the clay to show parts of unfortunate adventurers caught by the creature but not yet fully dissolved. Finally, I put a coat of slime green on the cube and then some blood around the pieces not yet dissolved. 

I'm pretty happy with the results.  Granted, it doesn't look as nice as a professionally produced miniature, but it cost me very little to make myself.  I still have the rest of the clay left so I will try to make some miniatures in the future.  I have plans for the slimes from the DragonQuest video game series and some oversized mushrooms as seen in the module In Search of the Unknown.  If it works out, there is a bucket of the clay available that costs twice as much but has 3 or more times the amount of the box.  

Have you crafted anything to use in your games?