St. Patrick's Day Bae

 

Happy St. Patrick's day! This is a little something different for my blog, a holiday mini with a very different vibe. Normally I  avoid "cheesecake" type minis, but after years of painting monsters and undead I thought it would be fresh to shake things up and try something a little .....softer. I wont make NSFW content a regular habit, but it was more fun than I expected - I really had to focus on skin tones and painting makeup on a tiny little face. Making a mini clean, bright, and cute is definitely a different sort of challenge for me. despite being pretty rusty with humans, I think she turned out pretty nice. 

Ill definitely be adding in more themed minis from time to time, to break things up, but the wont (always) be so risqué.  

This piece is from Vae Victis minis - their "Bae" minis are a regular part of their monthly releases, and often keep things a bit lighthearted, with both male and female thirst traps available on the regular. 

How about that beer, though?! It's making me thirsty myself.....

Wishing you some Irish luck. 

 

Large Snow Golem

This big fellow is clearly a threat. The cute grins of the small snow golems and the oafish maws of the medium snow golems have shifted to a grimace of cold malevolence. The spines, crown and tusks of ice and slush, along with sheer size clearly mark him as as leadership. Given how scary the normal sort are, this thing looks to be a TPK in the shape of a snowdrift. A perfect post for a winter day.

 

The progression of this series from Schlossbauer is fantastic; the pieces are simple but gradually ratchet up the interest level.

 

This model was painted similar to the others, but has some semi-transparent effects. The method needs work, but that's the hobby! 

 

Snow Golems (2)

These brutes are the big brothers of the Small Snow Golems I posted last week. While they are "medium" sized they represent a significant increase in mass relative to the small versions. Their considerable bulk overhangs even a 32mm base - much bigger than your average snowman. The stat blocks on these monsters are pretty threatening, with heat sources being their only real vulnerability, and their frosty fists capable of pulverizing even experienced snowboarders. 

They were painted as before, only bulkier - very quick to the table with a solid end result for something with such a simple composition. I was pleased with the depth I managed - shades of white are surprisingly difficult. In retrospect I should've made at least one additional medium snow golem, if not more, as they are typically encountered in groups (drifts)? Fortunately it should be relatively straightforward to add some additional poses in the future. 

 Despite being much bigger and more dangerous than the smaller snow creatures, they are dim witted and slow to mobilize;  something else must be directing their coordinated attacks on travelers in mountainous areas......

Small Snow Golem Avalanche (12)

 

Whew, the end of one year and the star of another - it is always such a hectic time. In addition to more traditional activities, I'm always racing to complete my annual painting goals. I failed miserably as I usually do, but at least the effort propels me into the new year. 

For January I wanted to work on a complete series of winter themed models that  were very different from my standard meticulously highlighted stuff - these super cute snow golems!

 

The models are part of a series of winter critters released by Schlossbauer. They are very simple as individual creatures, but the the progression of related models really captured my imagination. Snow flock is a basing material I often use for wintery subjects, and I wanted to carry that effect through on these guys for consistencies sake. It was a delicate balance, though, because I wanted them to reflect the original artistry of the sculpts. To achieve this I spent a good deal of time painting and shading the model in an icy white palate, most of that work was then covered with a thin layer of army painter snow flock. It seemed like a waste of time at first, but a test piece reveled the added depth and tone from the process carried through to the final effect. The bluish mouth isn't very realistic, but breaking up the snow by adding a simple focal point the helps emphasize how cold they are. A lesson I learned from animators & film is that a feeling conveyed by a visual queue is often more important than realism in art. 

 

These charming powder-balls are small, and based on 20mm bases I 3D printed (without a doubt, I print more bases than anything else!). They seem harmless enough, and make me think of the hapless snow constructs from Adventure Time. In numbers, though, they might pose a noticeable threat to hardened adventurers. Well, at least they might perk their curiosity - where did they come from, and just how many are there? A foray into the deeper snow drifts might reveal additional clues....

Green Slimes (2)

Ooze monsters are always fun, and they come in many colorful hues. These were originally grey oozes made by Threat Factory, but I already have a set of gray oozes as WIPs in a different style, and I thought the ooze-on-a-wall design to fit well with the green slime aesthetic. 

I was also partially inspired to paint these by the mysterious holiday green jello that is a traditional food at my family gatherings. I'm not a fan, but I'd be bummed if it weren't there.   

These were effectively a speed paint, and the whole thing came together pretty smoothly up until the end. I use a craft high-gloss sealer on the ooze parts for a really wet look, but I applied it too thickly and I got a little cracking that needed to be patched. In the future I'll be sure to use a thinner layer of gloss. 

Specters (4)

 These models were painted over my brief  November vacation, and were completed while visiting family. Traveling with a miniatures paint project can be challenging, and I often find that I don't have every paint color or hobby supply I might need to complete the project. This year I planned ahead and brought a very simple project that would only require a few colors and their blended derivatives. It ended up being my most successful paint-cation to date.

 These specters are a continuation of my attempts to paint ghostly monsters (see: Wraith, Wraith, Banshee, Demilich) and I elected for a bright glow like effect. My previous attempt with the demilich wasn't what I was hoping for, and I wanted to further develop that technique. Ultimately, I am pretty happy with the end effect, and I plan on trying it with some different color shading on ghosts next. As an added cool feature, these models were over-painted with an invisible aqua glow-in-the-dark paint, so their ghostly silhouettes are still visible in my display cabinet at night. OOoooOOOooo!

The project wasn't without its hiccups, though! I accidentally based the set on two similar but different sized bases (2x 25mm and 2x 28mm) - Doh! I'm calling it an artistic feature.  

The models are from  "The Lion's Tower", and were the best small collection of models I could find. I particularly appreciate the mix of male and female models, which makes the set particularly useful for running "Death House." The bases are from Zabavka Workshop, and have some great detail and variety. Many of the bases feature skeletal remains, and I thought it was fitting to have the specters floating above the location of their demise (see below).