[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] 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. 

Newest Miniatures

I picked up some new miniatures yesterday. These are immediately going into the “waiting to be painted” pile – currently in the middle of packing to move into a new house – but they were good choices. Duke Gerard will most likely serve as a player character; a Fighter or Paladin would be the most likely choices. The other miniature is a Bugbear Warrior. Obviously, the Bugbear will serve as an encounter.

I am moving closer to having miniatures to represent each character class and what seem to be the most often encounters typically used in my games. The next thing to do is to finish painting them. Then I can start acquiring any miniatures that I will need when they come up in later games. I will have a dedicated painting area when I get moved in to the new house so that will make things easier to manage.

I have been painting miniatures for less than a year. I had tried in the past but I had no idea what I was doing. I chalked that up to a learning experience and decided to focus on other aspects of the gaming hobby. This was all in the pre-internet days so the great wealth of knowledge available on youtube and other sites was not available at the time. In 2020 my son became REALLY interested in Warhammer 40K so I went on the internet to find out how much information I could gather before going any further. I didn’t want him to have the same discouraging experience as I had in my youth.

I found numerous pages of tips, tricks, and tutorials available for any skill level. I let him pick out one of the beginner boxes and we were off to the races. I discovered that I enjoy painting and I decided to continue. I have since picked up many Reaper Bones and a good selection of the Wizkids Deep Cuts range of miniatures. I am not a grand master at painting and I don’t care to be. I paint at an adequate level that I am satisfied with so I can use my miniatures for in game purposes to represent characters, encounters, NPCs, etc.; just happy they don’t look like a blob of paint randomly brushed on a figure. Painting is also a great way to unwind and relax in my spare time.  In addition, it helps me grow the hobby by passing on tips and my collection to my son.

Now it’s time to get back to packing….

Miniatures I Have Painted

I have only been painting miniatures for a few months.  I never bothered with it back in the day because I believed I would not be able to paint "good".  Fast forward years later and I have a teenage son who has become interested in Warhammer: Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40,000.  I agreed to buy a small Games Workshop novice set for Warhammer: Age of Sigmar to serve as a test run. If we were satisfied with the results and game play then we would continue.  The Stormcast Eternals pictured below are the first seven miniatures I painted.  

I was pleasantly surprised that I was satisfied with the results.  I realize the paint job is not something that is going to get me commission work or anything like that but that was not my goal.  I simply wanted the figures to be a reasonable representation of the character without looking like a sloppy mess.  I think I achieved that and I found painting to be extremely relaxing. I picked up some Reaper Bones miniatures to paint for a future roleplaying campaign. I began with typical minis like orcs, goblins, kobolds, and player character classes.  Here are two examples below.

 3 Orc Spearmen

 Player Character (Human Fighter or Paladin)

I stress again that my miniatures are for in-game use only and not for competitive painting at all. I am just displaying them here because I was surprised at how satisfied I was with the results. I have discovered that I enjoy painting them and I can see where I have shown improvement even so I will continue. I am still experimenting with paint.  I have used Citaldel, Reaper, The Army Painter, and Vallejo; I have not decided on a favorite. 

Do you use or paint miniatures? What are some of your favorites?

Wow! It's Been a While....

I finally got a new HP laptop and some really great internet service so I thought I would check out the old blog to see where I need to pick things back up at again.  Yikes!  I had not realized it had been 3 4 years (new year) since I last posted!!!  I really need to get back to blogging again.  I have a goal of easing my way back into the old routine so I will try to post once a week from this point on but that may increase.  Who knows?  So, in an attempt to catch up on some things here are some items that may be of interest.

Latest Gaming Purchases

Over the last few years I have purchased gaming products.  I have the three core D&D 5E books and Tasha's Cauldon of Everything.  I am enjoying these books and will try to get a game together some time soon.  I also have the Pathfinder 2E Core, Bestiary, and Lost Omens manuals.  I really dig the Pathfinder stuff also and I am looking forward to seeing how things develop with each.  I also picked up the Aliens RPG Core, Ogre, and the Dungeon Fantasy boxed set.  The last kickstarter project I backed was The Fantasy Trip Legacy Edition by Steve Jackson Games.

New Gaming Interests

My son has gotten really interested in Warhammer: Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40k that basically means I just got interested in both of them to at least a minimal level. I discovered that I can actually paint to a level that I am satisfied with so I have also begun painting Reaper miniatures to gather a collection of standard encounters; orcs, goblins, minotaurs, mind flayers, mimic, etc.  I may not be the best painter in the world but I am painting for in-game use and representation instead of painting competitions so it all works out in the end.

Other Stuff

I own the first two seasons of TITANS and I am really looking forward to the third season.  I have watched the entire Swamp Thing series twice and it is a shame it did not continue.  I have the first season of Doom Patrol on DVD but I just have not gotten around to watching it yet.

I have Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ so I have seen several other movies and shows.  I got caught up on The Walking Dead.  I am still enjoying the show; even without Carol or Rick.  I am watching all of The Orville at the moment and it is much better than I pictured.  I binged the entirety of The Mandalorian.  That show is amazing and much better than the sequel trilogy. 

On a personal note, I am in the process of house hunting at the current moment.  I am at a point in my life where I need to crap or get off the pot so I am seriously looking.  Fingers crossed on a quick and easy process.

The Future

Expect more posts to come.  I am going to try to maintain once a week for the immediate future. I suspect most of the posts will be about gaming and fandom in general but who knows...