Another shot at OSL

 This is a 25mm Grenadier #8119 Dungeon Raider by Julie Guthrie circa 1993. A shift from my usual 15mm or vintage 25mm, but I purchased this mini when I first started up again, as I wanted to try some object source lighting techniques (never even imagined during my late '70s heyday of figure painting).

It has sat primered for awhile but I thought I would try to get it done for the Analogue painting challenge. As this was to be a the entry fee and a potential gift for another modeler in the challenge, I decided to push a little bit on paints and techniques. 

I preshaded with vallejos and then used the Golden highflows, with the exception of the armor, which I decided to use silver metallic, despite my aversion to metallic. I took some time blending the silver and it turned out better than I anticipated, especially with a very light wash of black.

The eyes took 2 attempts, but came out much better than previous. I can't say it wasn't more of a lucky stab, than a mastered technique. 

The washes I had mixed up were not cooperating, so I made a fresh batch each of black and sepia. Small dots of black on the helm rivets and lined the layers of armor. Sepia tones in other areas. Unfortunately the leggings didn't capture much shading from the pre shading I did, so I added extra wash to the folds. A coat of matte varnish except for the armor in the lantern light pattern, and then the attempt to add light.

The lantern light squares were painted with hansa yellow medium, then lined in the middle with titanium white. I went back and forth between using my airbrush or hand brushing the light on to the figure and decided to go with a makeup brush. Charged it with the hansa yellow medium and brush it out a good 20 times. Barely showed on the parchment paper - still came off the brush like crazy. 

Luckily I started with a very light touch, and it came out much better than Mr. Ghost. 

I debated darkening the back and far side of the mini with the airbrush. Everything had gone well to this point so I decided to call it, and added a last coat of varnish. 

Lizard men 15mm

 These are some Battle Valor lizard men in 15mm that will be useful for rounding out a selection of swamp creatures. I had a difficult time painting these as I don't think the primer I used was well mixed. It was resisting the base coat in many areas and the shading really didn't work well with the green.

I definitely think the marsh ground work needs extra debris, but it works for photo scenery.

Terrain pieces for pictures

 I've been working on some terrain pieces to take pictures on, and it's an opportunity to get some of the rust out before starting larger areas. I've gotten down into the basement and retrieved some ground foams and equip to make some rubble.  

 

This is a marsh scene. Foam Keep, coffee stir stick bridge and grasses made from twine.

The water was a clear resin product made by Art N Glow. Very happy with it as it is advertised as low odor, and it really was. I poured it in my upstairs hobby nook, and was prepared to take it down to the basement if needed but the odor, although present was minimal so it cured upstairs. 

It behaved as standard clear resin but it is a 24 hour cure. It tints well with ink, and you still get a miniscus.

I think it needs more ground cover to finish it off, but I can add that a bit at a time in the future. 

The desert scene is made on the same 10"x7"x 1/2" drywall base as the marsh. I used drywall because its cheap, has good adherence, and is not overly heavy. 

I made the ridges with cut pieces of pink board covered in home made sculpt a mold. The major rock formations are plaster. I used to have a Woodland Scenics rock mold, but couldn't find it (not sure the mold pattern would have worked), so I used some Equinox mold material and some pieces of charcoal to make rock facing molds.

I painted the base with a mix of 1/3 each, tan latex paint, mod-podge, and baking soda. Makes a very nice sand texture and you can get some small waves and ridges if needed. I couldn't find my silicone rubble mat so I tried the using pink board to cast on and it actually worked well. Not sure you can cast on it twice but you can make a lot of rubble on a single piece then still use it for other things.

I have a few bags of Woodland Scenics talus rubble, but much of the time is seems too round for my needs so I began making my own flatter rubble a long time ago. I can color it by the batch which is also helpful.

Some ground foam and lichen for the grass and bushes and good enough for the time being. 

Art N Glow clear casting and coating epoxy resin was purchased on Amazon. They have a few varieties so look for one that mentions low odor. 

Fresh 15mm turtle sculpts

 I've made about 15 practice owl heads for my twanax conversion, but still have to cut the head off before mounting, if I finally decide on which one to use. In the meantime I've been looking at frogmen for my swamp denizens and there are nice ones in production that I can purchase, so I turned my attention to sculpting turtles.

These are  giant snapping turtles that I have done in Fimo. I used that, instead of Aves, because I wanted to use a 2 part mold for the shell and body so I could have some uniformity. I haven't opened up my resin for casting yet, so the Fimo was the best option for quick repros with the 2 part mold. They have been primered and are awaiting some paint. 

I'm using the 2 part mold as kind of a press mold right now. Pack the Fimo in both sides then squish, pop out the repro, and do some trim work.

The shell and underbody are the same but I can add legs, heads, and tails in different positions. I did a club for the first one, just playing around with the hands, but I need to make some others with some more interesting weapons.

I will do a few more and try to refine the eyes and add some different weapons.

As I progress I should probably add more details to the shell and body. I will be studying these as I make them to see what I need to do to repro them in lead or pewter with a small centrifugal mold system.

I think I need some swamp terrain for pictures too. 

Completed minis and markers

 Still in sculpting and casting mode, but got some more painting done this weekend. A Splintered Light cave troll and a Blue Moon Twanax. 

I did the cave troll in the same color as the other trolls in the group. This mini is a larger in size, has a weapon and is clothed, compared to the other trolls which are straight from the cover of the first Monster Manual. 

I painted the twanax sepia with a darkened vermillion for the eyes. 

I had plans to sculpt a Haystack creature, but I may try painting one of the Twanax in that color scheme and then just sculpt a plain haystack in a similar texture. 

The troll head and the vampirian head and hands corpse marker were done with sculpey on sculpey molds, which are not really all that effective, but I had not opened up the Equinox yet so I gave it a shot for fun. The lizard man marker was done with the Equinox silicone mold - better results and should be able to get numerous repros from it.

A 15mm fighter with them to show scale. The markers are pretty big, but all 3 of these types of monsters are larger than mansize.

Priorities for sculpting and casting in the coming days, are an owl head, a pumpkin head, and finishing up my 3rd plague doctor. 

15mm Heekin Ogre

 I've been making some molds and casts for corpse markers, mainly to try out the mold product, since I've never used it before. I also sculpted a bit, but did manage to get some painting done and finished off this Heekin miniature. It's an ogre from the 15mm fantasy line. A lot different from some of the ogre minis I have, as he is plainly dressed (no armor) and just a simple club. Good to have some variety. 

He was painted with golden hi flow acrylics.

Not much bling on this guy, but he's got some guns!

15mm vampires and other colorless creatures

 I did not get as many miniatures done in Oct as I had planned, but I will try to keep the Halloween spirit going and proceed with taking on the undead lead. I spent the minimal time I had available this weekend preshading some figs. These are Blue Moon vampire set. Great detail and character - I need to really think about what color schemes will work for these. 

There are a few more in the set that I still have to preshade. 

I also worked on some random figures I had lined up. A cave troll from Splintered Light, a vampirian from Battle Valor, and a Wyvern from Ral Partha. The vampirian still needs hands and weapons attached. Although the Ral Partha is stamped 1978 I believe it may be a more recent cast. I will have to do a bit of research. 

The 3 smaller ratmen from Splintered Light Rat personalities set. These are loaded up with small details which is usually not my preference on 15mm minis but I will see how they turn out. 

A Heekin Casting dwarf and Splintered Light badger. The badger is an Out of the Darkness special for only $1. I plan on using it as a 15mm tasmanian devil for my games. 

These lizard men are from Battle Valor. I may use the shields that come with them, but have been having thoughts of sculping some turtle shell shields. I tried a different technique for preshading them, skipping the drybrush for a wash. I don't think it works as well. 

The next minis are just the best thing I've come across in awhile. These are the Twanax horde from Blue Moon aliens category. I never would have looked in there, but I saw one of them on a blog post and thought it may work for D&D, so checked it out. Glad I did as this is really a fine set of minis. Six to a pack with 6 different poses. Slightly larger than a standard human figure, and with menacing poses these will go great in a dungeon or outdoor adventure. 

The first obvious thought is this would make a fine yeti, or some type of were creature, but I have 2 of them set aside with plans to modify them. One I want to make into an Owl bear and the other into a Bugbear similar to the 25mm Archive bugbear in the Dungeon Nasties collection. 

I will need to make some cuts on the face and do some sculpting, but I'm hoping it will be minor work to get the effect. In the mean time I need to get some color on all of these. Maybe I'll go watch Pleasantville for some inspiration. Ha!

15mm graveyard denizens

 I have primered and pre shaded the Blue Moon vampires I bought a month or so ago, and painted 2 of them this weekend. I have also been purchasing some Battle Valor miniatures, usually individually or in smaller packs. I choose them based on if I think they will fit into a 15mm dungeon crawl as a character or monster. 

The skeleton to the right is a Decian wizard from Battle Valor. The other 2 are from Blue Moon vampire pack. 

The center vampire is definitely a take off on Nosferatu, nice clean detail and great oversized hands.

The vampire to the left has some great facial detail and small round eyeballs which really helps with painting ( eyes are still a problem for me).

All these were primered in grey, washed with black wash and shaded with off white, then painted with Golden hi flow acrylics. Sealed with matte varnish. The graveyard scenery are original resin pieces from my casting days. I am going to try and do a solo graveyard adventure for the blog for Halloween, and will be painting more undead as the month of Oct progresses. 

 

Realm of the Free King Chapter 4- A True Test

 After a brief rest, to eat and repair armor, the party gears up. "I don't want to chance trying to go thru that gas in the South hallway where we killed the centipede" says Ered. "Not to mention the spider somewhere in there" says Ernan, "He was huge!".

current status

"I don't hear anything " said Bertin with his head cocked at the West door of the room. "Lets go."  Bertin pulls open the door and Ered moves thru, followed by Bertin, Ernan with the torch, and then Robern. 

An empty 30x20 room awaits them (4) with the standard scraps of wood, debris and dirt scattered throughout, but there is a closed door on the South wall, left of the door they entered. 

Ered waves them all quiet as he listens at the door. "I hear some scraping sounds".

After a thumbs up all around, Bertin opens the door and Ered looks in. 

Without a word, Ered rushes through the door directly at the back of the creature!

An ogre wheels around, and Ered catches him with a clean blow across his chest - 5 hp damage!

The ogre staggers back as the others begin to enter the room, but with a swift kick back with his right leg, he smashes the South door open, and bellows "Nakug!".

Ered and Bertin both strike at the ogre, but he ducks and parries the blows. A return swing at Ered misses, leaving him open to hits by Ered and Bertin - 5 and 7 hp damage!

The ogre slumps against the wall and yells "Nakug!" again. A wild strike with his hammer catches Bertin hard against his shield, for 6 hp damage, rendering it useless, and smashing his arm. Bertin staggers back as Ered and Robern both miss with attempted blows to the ogres head. 

Through the open doorway leaps another ogre! (Nakug). A wild swing at Ered misses, and Ered and Robern hold their ground, return strikes doing 3 hp damage each on the new foe. Although suffering damage, Nakug delivers a well placed blow to Ered resulting in 8 hp damage.

Ernan keeps the torch high to light the room and readies his sleep spell as both fighters have taken harsh hits from ogres. 

Bertin moves forward and the threesome all score decisive hits (5,6,8) on Nakug for 19 hp damage! 

Nakug collapses, and Yakug staggers around his body to try for the open door. Robern leaps over the dead ogre and delivers an overhand crown shot to finish off the fleeing ogre, which collapses in the doorway.

"Bertin, guard that closed door. Ernan, need some light here" says Ered. 

Ered and Robern peek over the ogre in the doorway into a 20x20 room. No more ogres, it appears they have used this room for sleeping and storage. 

" I don't hear anything at this door" says Bertin. "Great" replies Ered, "Let's take a look at that chest."

The party hovers over the chest with anticipation. Gold! Not a lot, but plenty of silver too! "Hey, there's a shield back here!" says Robern, reaching behind the chest. "Gimmee, gimmee" says Bertin and Robern hands it over to him. A new +1 shield, and Bertin can barely contain his glee! 

"Some kind of artsy fartsy owl statue." says Ered while scrabbling through the coins in the chest. "That's an amulet, you rube." replies Ernan and barely catches it as Ered chucks it at his head. "Hand me that book that's in there, too."

 "Get out your bags, and let's split this up." says Robern and the party begin filling each of their bags from the chest of 200 gold pieces and 800 silver pieces. 

"How's the arm?" Robern asks Bertin. "Not great, but the new shield will help."

Even though his new shield will give him 8 armor points, Bertin is down to 3 hps from 7 due to the ogre's hammer strike. The party heads back to their rope area for some sleep and to let Bertin recover. Both doors to the room are spiked shut and Ernan takes the first watch.