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Archive for the ‘Miniatures’ Category
Gifts for a miniature hobbyist
December 11, 2015
It’s December 11th and Christmas is less than two weeks away. I assume that in many homes two things are happening:
- A miniature hobbyist is wishing for a present related their hobby, knowing that they’ll almost certainly not get one.
- A miniature hobbyist’s significant other, parent or sibling is desperately wanting to give said hobbyist a hobby related present, but doesn’t have a clue where to start.
So I figured I’d write up a little something to help potential gift givers, so all you hobbyists can just nonchalantly leave this blog post visible. Of course, this isn’t in any way a hint to anyone I know…
Do note, that this isn’t too serious a post. You don’t need to get anything for Christmas. But hey, for those interested here goes.
First of all, if you don’t know what the whole miniature hobby is about, buying presents related to it can be a chore. It’s obviously a dear activity to someone close to you, so you want to get it right. Then again, if you’re not familiar with the various aspects of the hobby, the amount of stuff on offer can be overwhelming. Here are some general guidelines:
Miniatures
I think this is the most risky choice. Most miniature enthusiasts, especially if they’ve been doing their thing for years, have more than enough miniatures filling their cupboards, closets, garages and so on. Adding random miniatures to the “lead pile” (as it’s affectionately known as) might actually cause extra stress. If they’re playing fantasy and scifi games, getting them a few Napoleonic soldiers may give them Present Face:
Even if you do know what they’re gaming, there’s still the question of factions. If they’re collecting the Dark Brethren of the Axe then the Shadowy Brethren of the Sword miniatures you bought them…oh well. If they collect historicals, it’s worse, believe me.
One way to get around this is to just buy something that you like and ask them to paint it. There are plenty of hobbyists who buy miniatures simply because they look nice. Enter “wargaming miniatures” or “roleplaying miniatures” into Google and off you go!
There are also a lot of miniatures out there that draw inspiration from books, films and so on, so if you know their favourites, go for it. It’s easy too, just type “[favourite fiction] miniatures” into Google and go crazy. You’ll likely end up with forum discussions in the search results, so just check the first few links to see what people have thought to be best fits. If you’re in luck, there are official, licensed miniatures available.
While miniatures are indeed a risky choice, they do send a loving message: you not only approve of the lead pile, but are willing to contribute to it. This really isn’t something to underestimate.
Terrain
Much easier than miniatures, and hobbyists always need more so this is a safe choice. Just check the general style and size of whatever they’re currently working on, and buy something that more or less fits. You’re even safer with generic things like walls, rivers, rocky outcrops, ruins and the like. Size/scale is the most important thing, but even that’s not a huge issue with rivers and such.
Tools and supplies
Another very safe choice, and easily acquired. Hobbyists need a lot of things, and hoard a lot that they obviously might need in the next ten years or so. Paints, brushes, fake grass and the like are nearly always welcome. These keep for years, so even if there’s not an acute need, they’re still useful. There are also plenty of tools that get worn with use, so drills and craft knife blades and the like are quite handy as well. You can also just buy something like sculpting clay or putty such as Fimo, ProCreate or Kneadatite, wooden craft sticks or the like from the local craft or hardware store, as the recipient will surely find a use for them eventually.
Books
Another fairly safe choice, and one that overlaps with non-hobby gifts as well. Art books and films’ “making of” books especially are often very useful for hobbyists as visual guides. If there’s a favourite subject that you know of, you can just pop over to a book store either physically or online, and look for “The art of [movie title]” or something similar. You’ll find things like this or this, for example. Historical books are also often useful, and as there’s a huge variety, there’s probably plenty that haven’t been read yet by the recipient. Just make sure to check the bookcase first! If you’re looking online, Osprey Publishing has a huge selection.
Vouchers
The safest and the most boring choice. Stores often offer different gift cards, and hobby stores are no exception. If you want to play it safe but get something hobby related, this is the way to go. As many miniature stores are mainly online affairs, this is especially useful for last minute gifts.
Now, these suggestions might seem like strict instructions, buth they’re not. Gifts should be a thing expressing love and appreciation for the other person, not just a way to get stuff we want for free – something especially important to remember around Christmas time. While wargamers and miniature hobbyists love stuff, from my own experience I can tell that we love our hobby and our craft even more. Showing respect and genuine interest in the things we build and paint and even offering help every now and then is often more important than any physical thing you can get. It’s often said that with presents it’s the idea that counts, and while we hobbyists may be a nitpicky lot, it holds especially true in this case.
Pirate haven
December 6, 2015While my pirate ship isn’t finished yet, my pirates need a place to live in. That’s why I started building them a town. This has given me plenty of fun things to work on, and I figured I’d show you what I’ve been up to. Sadly I haven’t been documenting the process that much, so you’ll have to take my word for some of it.
The Board
I happened to have some square pieces of blue insulation pieces lying around, waiting for a good long while to get turned into terrain boards. A part of this whole project is to give me a reason to put to use a lot of the assorted junk that tends to pile up in a modeller’s home. Sometimes the material itself will drive you to design decisions.
I covered the rough edges of the board with masking tape to prevent chipping and tearing. Next I covered the board with acrylic sealant (caulking). While it smells god-awful when wet, it’s really cheap, sticks well, doesn’t shrink when drying, is easy to spread and texture and is semi-elastic, so the resulting surface is not as destructive to miniatures as a board covered in sand for example. The elasticity also keeps it from chipping. As an added bonus, it’s white and takes paint well. I love the stuff, even if it takes a good while to dry completely.
Before painting on all of the sealant, I noticed that I had some Fimo – an oven baked modelling clay – tucked away in my supply stash. I decided to make the board a little more interesting by adding a half buried town square. I used a rolling pin to make thin discs of the Fimo and sculpted in a cobblestone pattern. The technique was already familiar as I’d used it before on some monster bases. Once I’d baked the Fimo, I cut it into smaller pieces and glued it to the board with PVA.
After spreading the sealant on the board and making sure to cover parts of the cobblestone, I added texture using a shower sponge, and got to painting. In hindsight, I should’ve waited longer for the sealant to dry, as it resulted in some stickiness which is disappearing now, several days after painting. For painting I used cheap craft store acrylics and various sized stippling sponges. I wanted a generic Hollywood pirate island, so I went for a wind-blown, sandy look with patches of green. In my mind the town is a former bustling British market town somewhere in the Caribbean, that has fallen to ruin and been overrun with pirates. I’m really happy with the end result!
Early stages of painting
The finished product
The Fountain
Every town needs a fountain. While there are plenty of commercial ones available, I was impatient and wanted to see if I could build one out of rubbish. So, out of plasticard, bathroom mosaic tiles, the end of a poster cardboard tube, a cut up cap of a Vallejo paint bottle and a resin barrel by Ainsty came this:
Click for a larger version
While definitely not as fancy as some of the stuff on offer in various stores, I think once painted it will look the part and cost me next to nothing.
Market stalls
I figured market stalls would fit a ramshackle pirate town quite well, and going over some photos, I figured they’d be fairly easy to make. Sure enough, after some work with barbecue skewers, plasticard, matchsticks and coffee stirrers I had these two:
Click for a larger version
I added some tarp as added detailing. It’s pieces of a worn dishcloth soaked in a mix of water and PVA. It sticks wonderfully and is rock solid when dry. I added some Ainsty supplies to demonstrate the final look of one of the stalls, while the other one will likely get some fruits and vegetables. Happy with these too, and after the painstaking neatness that went into the ship, intentionally building something to look shabby was really fun!
So here are the beginnings of my so far unnamed pirate town. I already have some buildings too, but I’m saving those for a later post. Comments welcome as always!
From the painting desk #38 – Living pirate, dead pirate
November 23, 2015Two more miniatures for my pirate project, and very different ones at that. The first one is a merchant sailor by Galloping Major Wargames, mercilessly press ganged into service as a pirate:
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A simple paintjob on a lovely miniature, he adds some firepower to my group. I really like the Galloping Major minis, as they’re neat sculpts and very chunky. They’re also very tall, but fit in nicely with the rest of my ranges.
Click for a larger version
The other miniature is an undead pirate by Black Scorpion Miniatures. I absolutely love this range – the undead pirates are really characterful and evocative of the whole “cursed to wander the seven seas” vibe. I painted the model using a different style than with my living pirates, using plenty of heavy drybrushing to make him more worn and weathered. I used black decorating sand mixed with pizza herbs to create a sort of afterlife base, drawing inspiration from Terry Pratchett’s depiction of The Desert, an afterlife of greyish-black sand, and adding some withered plants for a more maritime feel. I threw in an old GW metal skull for additional effect. I think the end result is quite pleasing, and creates a lovely contrast with the living pirates and their bases of almost white sand, as you can see in the photo below.
Click for a larger version
That’s 33 miniatures painted this year, and the pirate project moving along nicely! I’m looking to build a small band of undead pirates as well, because…they’re undead pirates, that’s why.
From the painting desk #37 – 18th century townsfolk
November 13, 2015With the Halloween game behind me, I figured I’d show off some of the miniatures used in more detail. An excellent thing about the whole Halloween game with a set deadline is that it really made me paint more than in a good long while, and now I have a solid group of townsfolk to fight off not only rampaging monsters, but pirates as well. I showed off the willage workers in an earlier post, here are some of the more well-off individuals. They were all quick paintjobs, but I’m reasonably happy with each and every one!
The Priest
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I love this model from Front Rank Figurines. He looks really stern, and is more priestly than the average Rick. He was very easy to paint, too! I’m not too fond of painting black, so pretty happy with how his clothes turned out.
The Young Man
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A Redoubt FIW miniature. Very, very simple paintjob with grey pants and a white shirt. I like the pose and the lack of vest, as he looks like he’s been forced to pick up the musket at a moment’s notice.
The Old Man
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Another Redoubt mini, I love this one’s face. He has an impressive nose, and overall looks almost like a Native American. I like the pose, he looks very alert and ready for action.
The Black Lady
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This is one of my favourites of the lot and another one by Redoubt. In my opinion the model’s face didn’t look Caucasian, so I decided to try something different. I’m really pleased with the end result, as both the skintone and the overall paint scheme turned out well. It also gave me a good chance to look into the history of black people.
The Redcoat
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I love painting red, and this mini was no exception. I think the red coat turned out fine and all in all I like the combination of colours. Can’t go wrong with a combination of bone white, muted red and khaki.
These minis as well as another villager bring my painting tally up to 31 for this year. Comments welcome! As I’ve recently been fiddling with the photo setup, I was wondering whether I should keep the pure white background or go back to a coloured one. Opinions?
Halloween fun
November 1, 2015So, Halloween is behind us, and it was a blast! We had a few friends over for gaming, too much food and a movie, and while sadly a couple of guests had to give it a miss due to a flu, the evening was a success. The movie of the evening was Elvira: Mistress of the Dark. I was seriously suspicious at first, but the movie was an absolutely brilliant 80s horror comedy that I had somehow missed until now. We ate, ate and ate some more, here are some pictures of what was on offer:
Photo by Emmi Lounela
Photo by Emmi Lounela
I did a lot of prep for the game, which in my mind was the main event of the evening (although the food and sweets most likely were it, actually), painting the last minis until 6AM Saturday morning. Even with that I wasn’t able to finish everything on time, so the priest mini you’ll see in the photos had to go on the field unbased. In the end I had most of the minis finished – pictures will follow in later posts – so we got to play the game with fully painted minis. Plenty of pictures to follow, just click on any of them for larger versions.
The game featured an unlucky town somewhere around New England in the 18th century. Every year this town gets attacked by monsters on Halloween. It’s not that big of a deal, some towns have to deal with drought, some with Indians, some with monsters, and at least the monsters attack only once a year. The scenario was very simple, with an endless stream of villagers streaming towards the village church from the edges of the board, monsters trying to catch then and five villagers armed with muskets trying to drive the monsters away. There were some bonfires scattered around the table, making life more difficult for the monsters and weakening them in combat if they got too close, with the church and the priest having a similar effect. The game lasted for 12 rounds, or the twelve tolls of the church bell on witching hour. The system we used was a simplified and streamlined version of Ganesha Games’ Fear and Faith, utilising the Song of Blades and Heroes engine.
The monsters were a werewolf, a vampire and a group of zombies. Each had their own strengths and weaknesses: the werewolf was the strongest in combat, but if he killed anyone, he had to stop for a while to savage and eat the body. The zombies were slow, but all but impervious to shooting and they added anyone they killed to their ranks. The vampire was the weakest one in combat, but usually had more actions than the others. He was also unable to go too near the bonfires and the church grounds. The villagers couldn’t kill the monsters, only drive them away momentarily by shooting – after all, the monsters were the stars of the show. The players were running the monsters, trying to gather as many points as possible by eliminating the villagers.
What followed was a riot. I don’t have a detailed report of the game, so I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. We saw the vampire and the werewolf rampaging around, the zombies milling around in confusion, plenty of villagers die and the monsters getting driven off several times by well-placed shots. During the entire game, only three villagers made it to the church alive, with the vampire proving to be the most efficient killer despite the werewolf collecting big points by catching the priest on the final round. Everyone really enjoyed the game, especially my girlfriend playing said vampire and trying miniature games for the first time. And NO, the game wasn’t biased…
First off, the monsters:
The zombies (Photo by Joonas Laakso)
The werewolf (Photo by Emmi Lounela)
The vampire (Photo by Emmi Lounela)
And then the game itself (photos by Emmi Lounela):
In the darkness of night, the church offers sanctuary
A villager’s eye view of the church. It’s far away and there’s a vampire waiting
The werewolf catches sight of two villagers
Will the musket be enough?
The bonfire offers meagre protection
In the woods the vampire attacks a villager
Photos by Mia Meri:
The werewolf goes after the priest and a villager
“Where is your God now?”
This lady took down two zombies – it wasn’t enough
The town’s previous priest is a little under the weather
The gentleman lines up his sights
The priest by a bonfire proved to be a tough nut to crack
Safety looms but the vampire is close behind
Divine light
…for the night is dark and full of terrors
This is what it’s all about!
Cthulhu hovers outside reality
So that’s it! We had so much fun, I definitely recommend themed games and plenty of sugar for everyone. I’ll leave you with one more horror, happy Halloween everyone!
From the painting desk #36 – Gentleman
October 29, 2015The Halloween game draws closer, and I’m frantically painting stuff for it. My latest effort is this 18th century gentleman firing his pistol and carrying a musket. The model is from Redoubt’s French and Indian War range, which by the way is excellent!
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I gave the paintjob more attention than on the villagers of the previous post, but tried to keep it simple and quick. Quite happy with how he turned out! I wish him a happy life before a monster tears him to pieces. This is another model that will be used in pirate games as well, and he is this year’s 25th model.
Innocent bystanders
October 27, 2015A few weeks back I had a great idea: I want to run a themed game for Halloween! Thus began a small project I’ve dubbed “Bump in the Night”. It’s a quick participation game I’m running for friends next Saturday. As a few of them have no experience with miniature gaming, I’m doing the game using the SoBH engine and its Fear and Faith mod. I haven’t abandoned my pirate project, as the Halloween game uses 18th century minis as well, so its two birds with one stone. The scenario is a tongue in cheek competition with monsters (a vampire, a werewolf, a zombie mob, a hellhound and the headless horseman) trying to cut down as many civilians as they can while the civilians try to make their way to the village church. It all takes place somewhere in New England, possibly.
I have most of the minis I need for the scenario, but they need painting. First up are these innocent villagers. They’re actually English Civil War civilians by Redoubt Enterprises, so historically they’re off by a century or so. However…I don’t really care. I’ll just say it’s a really rural colony, and some of its people are very traditional. I originally bought the miniatures to add to my Warhammer Fantasy Empire army, and they’ve been sitting in the cupboard for ten years or so, I think. I was really happy to give them an airing and finally slap some paint on.
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They were pretty quick paintjobs, hence the groupshot that handily hides some mould lines and rough painting. I especially need to single out two minis, however, and they’re the disheveled lady in the back row and the red coated gentleman in the middle. Both were painted by my girlfriend, and they’re her first and third mini, respectively, with the first one painted a long while back. I based the minis with a mixture of green and brown flock, with assorted pizza herbs thrown in. I think they make for a nice autumn look, and are generic enough to be used in different settings. The minis themselves are actually quite nice, with separate weapons and heads on some. They’ll work nicely as village farmers and woodcutters not only in the Halloween game, but in fantasy and pirate games as well.
I still have a bunch of 18th century miniatures to do, so better get to it. I’ll hopefully post new pics later in the week! Comments welcome, as always.
The ones painted by me bring my painting count up to 24.
From the painting desk #35 – Flamboyant George
October 4, 2015Reinforcing my pirates is a colourful individual I named Flamboyant George. He’s loosely inspired by Robert de Niro in the movie Stardust (and this scene especially). After the previous pirate’s toned-down palette, I wanted to paint something with a bit more colour, and found the idea of a pirate with a penchant for matching accessories delightful. He’s prepared to mercilessly cut down anyone for their hat or boots. The miniature is from Foundry.
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The mini was also a chance to use purple, which I rarely do for some reason. I painted his hat, belt and boots as matching and threw in red details in the form of the band around his hat, the eyepatch and his socks. The yellow scarf works well with the purple shirt in my opinion – unsurprising as they are opposite colours. I like how the overall colours turned out and how the pirate still manages to look fairly menacing. While the concept stems mostly from just me wanting to have some fun, it’s not without historical merit, as pirates sometimes used the fancy clothes and the like that they stole or bought.
Flamboyant George is this year’s 20th painted miniature.
Zest-it brush cleaner – a review
August 13, 2015I have a confession to make: I’m rubbish at cleaning my brushes. I never wash them with anything more than water and if they start drying up, I’m quick to relegate them to drybrushing, basecoating or glue spreading. I’m sure I’m not the only guilty one – you probably have a few of those brushes that you really, really used to like, but which are all but useless as they’re clogged up with old paint. Every now and then (once every six years or so) I get the idea of trying to revive my old brushes, dunk them in turpentine for very little result, gag at the stench and eventually chuck the old brushes in the bin.
On one forum or another I ran into a product called Zest-it. It was labeled “Acrylic Brush Cleaner and Reviver”, and piqued my interest, especially as a lot of positive things were said about it. Why not, I thought, and put in an order for a small, 125ml bottle.
In a week or so, a plastic bottle filled with clear, yellowish liquid arrived, and a trip to our summer cottage (hence the phone camera photos) provided me with some extra time to try it out. I chose an em-4 synthetic brush, that I had been using for a year or two, subjecting it to some pretty harsh conditions as it has been my go-to brush for basecoating, inking/washing large surfaces and painting sandy bases. As a result of this loving treatment, the brush was clogged with dry paint from the ferrule up, leaving only a few millimetres at the very end pliable. In other words, it had one foot in the brush grave already.
I poured out some Zest-it into a glass jar, and was surprised with its fairly pleasant odour. Zest-it is made out of orange terpenes, making it basically a sort of orange turpentine. While it’s not something you’d want to spread around your room as a refresher, it’s far more pleasant than turpentine or mineral spirits.
I started by simply sloshing the brush around in the liquid for a while. Sadly, this did nothing – either more time was needed or I’d bought something completely useless. Hoping for the former, I built a high-tech brush cleaning setup from masking tape, allowing me to submerge the whole of the bristles in Zest-it without crushing them against the bottom of the jar:
An hour or so later, I removed the brush and wiped it on a piece of tissue paper. I was happily surprised to see streaks of black paint left behind, so proceeded to wash the brush with shampoo and warm water. There was significant progress, as half of the brush had gone from stiff-dry to soft and pliable. Encouraged by this, I left it in Zest-it overnight. Here’s the result:
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As you can see, the difference is huge. While any semblance of a sharp tip is long lost, 24 hours ago this was a brush on the verge of being thrown out, basically a lump of dry paint, and now it looks like it will serve for another year or two. Based on this small sample, I can say with conviction that Zest-it works and is well worth its price, especially if you have a lot of old dead and nearly dead brushes. As a disclaimer, I haven’t yet tried it on non-synthetic brushes, and will amend this review if there’s a big difference.
I bought mine through Amazon UK, and the 125ml bottle which should last me a while was a little under £7. Larger quantities are much cheaper per litre, but I wanted a small bottle to test the product. Do note that there are several different Zest-it products, so be sure to choose the one for acrylic paints.
Overall verdict: Zest-it Acrylic Brush Cleaner and Reviver is very useful for the miniature painter and you get good value for your money. It revived a brush that I thought was long gone, and I assume it will save me plenty of money in the future in terms of getting more service out of my brushes.
For more information, you can visit the manufacturer’s site.
Dawn of the Lead 