Ordinary Bat

A tiny "ordinary bat" miniature on a 15mm base. This unassuming creature marks a return to one of my favorite subjects - non-fictional animals! Despite their bad reputation, I love bats. While most people associate them with the fall, I look forward to our small friends first arriving at the end of long summer nights. Watching them flutter over the fire pit in the back yard is a favorite pastime with the fam. 

 

The "ordinary bat" title is a joking homage to how they are named in the AD&D MMII. Evidently the fantastical creatures are so abundant in some fantasy worlds that natural ones need to be specifically called out as "ordinary." This convention applies to other ordinary critters which are sure to wander onto my painting table in the coming year. 

 

This itty bitty miniature is from the reaper Bones familiar pack. Thankfully, it is a light enough material that I was able to attach it by the wingtip to a branch with a small pin, and it has proven sturdy enough to survive several falls and even a rampaging house cat over years of play. I think the added height is needed to capture the character of this little flying fellow. 

Giant Mushrooms (2)

 

Mushrooms are one of my favorite Fall features. They are also a staple of fantasy exploration tropes, even appearing on the cover of the first B series module "In Search of the Unknown." the concept has been revisited in many iconic scenes since, and I am always a fan. In Antimatter games' Shadowsea, vast fungal forests are a staple feature of the underdark ecosystem. These giant mushrooms, the size of small trees, were made for that game system, and are now sold by Darksword Minitaures. They are formally titled " Thin Stalk Mushroom," and "Death’s Crown Mushroom," and are part of a larger Fungal Pack set, all of which I painted many years ago. Despite being such a specific and fantastical environmental feature they are one of the best represented types of terrain in my entire collection.  The idea of swords and sorcery amongst the stalks of huge fungal trees tickles the right part of my brain. 

Giant Four-Armed Gargoyle

 

Gargoyles are a fantasy staple; if you don't have gargoyles, you're doing it wrong! While standard gargoyles are a recognizable classic, this mountain of living, flying, rock with four arms and loads of animosity isn't what most people picture. It is a classic for the lich Acererak, though, and his opinion holds some weight around here. This model will make a nice leader / centerpiece for a clan of gargoyles I have been working on at the same time, but are just a little behind this fellow in terms of progress.

This very nice model is made by Threat Factory, who have earned an increasing share of my time at the paint table.  Their sculpts really appeal to me because of sheer paintability. This model was completed just in time for TF's paint contest. I don't expect to place, but I love to participate for the brief moments of community the events foster. I am a fussy painter, and models tend to slow down the closer they are to being done. I always want to touch up this-bit or that-bit, and I take twice as long to finish the last 10% as the preceding 90%. A paint contest and its deadline give me a good reason to just say "it's done" and just move it to the display cabinet. Heck, I should do more contests for that reason alone - a similar outcome for a fraction of the effort by forcefully bypassing my own indecision and procrastination. 

 While I personally love painting heaps of rock, I imagine it isn't super thrilling for others. The pop of orange eye-glow gives it that little bit of visual interest / focal point the model needs.  Normally I avoid the glowing eye trope, but it really fits for a gargoyle mauler. 

 

Dretch Demon Horde! (20)

 Demons! The perfect seasonal post.

Even dretch can be a threat in numbers, and any demon invasion needs its front-line minions. Unfortunately, it can be hard to find enough unique models to really fill out a big horde of weaker creatures. To compensate for that, I have gotten in the habit of rigging models and reposing them. This set of models was my test case for that approach. I started with Schlossbauer's excellent dretch model (center above, top left below), which had a nice neutral pose and rigged it up in Blender to practice all sorts of poses. I ended up having to do some sculpting opening the mouth so I could get a better variety of facial positions; It was a hack job, but at scale it works. I gave several of the dretch dog like poses, as I thought that would fit their personality well. Once I had made that many, well, it'd be a shame not to print and paint them all!

With so many models, I broke these paint jobs up over ...years, lol. They went through many iterations, and the current paint is nothing like the quick dip I had been planning on originally. I am not much of an army painter, so this was a big batch for me to take on all at once. They were fairly simple, so that helped, but painting the spots on the back ended up being a a much harder exercise in persistence than I had expected.  Still, I really like the end result.

These are an awesome addition to my AD&D MMII collection. Lots more demons to come. Maybe even more dretch, of a different sort. 

Ghouls (3)

 

 

These are the first of my sizeable ghoul pack. They are sculpted by the ghoul master himself, Paul Muller. This pack was originally produced by Otherworld miniatures, but now appears to be sold by Crooked Dice games. The nice sinewy texture Paul puts on these makes them a snap to paint with a few light washes and highlights. The primary painting goal with these guys was to keep them simple. I have a large number of them, which is often called for with ghoul encounters, and I wanted to be able to reproduce the paint scheme easily as I added more members. I kept them gritty, somewhat mirroring a painter I knew from many years ago that did everything in this palate.

Because ghouls are so common in published adventures, these guys are an important addition to my collection. Ill follow with more of the pack in coming months.

Pixie Tricksters (3)

 I love these little guys - they were made with so much whimsy! I have had these minis in my collection since...well.....since Confrontation was a thing. I cant say I remember much about my original process way back then, but they have always been a high quality addition to my collection. The bases are a little worse for the wear, but the models have held up remarkably well. 

Actually, now that I think of it, I believe I have actually even changed the bases on these minis at some point, to ditch the old thick square ones that came in the clam-shell pack. The current basing is a little big, but it helps prevent grabbing onto the small soft models directly.  

I have been so pleased with the pumpkin pixies that I have gone on to paint several more pieces that share a theme, color palate, and style. I now have a small collection of devious but still charming harvest fey. In fact, these models may be what won me over to the fey in general. I used to think they were cheesy as monsters, but I have come to appreciate the flourish of color and brightness they bring the fantasy genre. I should gather them up and do a one shot this year....

This post definitely scratches the Halloween itch and gets me motivated to paint. Nothing like Pumpkin Orange on the brush, a cup of coffee, and a backdrop of fall leaves to make me feel comfortable. 

Will-O'-Wisp /Will-O'-The-Wisp (3)

This "string" of will-o'-wisps is a fun first October post. They are very atmospheric and mysterious creatures and really ratchet up the tension, even if only as a set piece. Their real world story and history is no less intriguing; well worth a read. 

 October is a time-of-plenty in the miniatures world and I am happy to get caught up in the moment and work on spooky projects. I'll make a point of sharing sinister models from years gone by while I paint up some new horrors & delights.

 The 'wisps were printed slightly smaller than normal - they sit on 15mm bases. I got a little creative with the bases and played around with painting over flock to give it a mossy bog-like environment that they needed. It is a sloppy approach, but gives the flock some extra variation and depth that enhances the look significantly. The sculpts were made by Crippled God Foundry, an STL company that I follow. Their catalog has great depth and, despite being finely detailed, print very well. 

I kept the paint theme classic for these tiny spirits - dancing lights in the mist of a swamp. Cloud and smoke effects can be challenging to pull off well, but the added benefit of acting as a flight stand is very convenient and worth the abstraction. I used some neon paints, and even a touch of glow-in-the-dark paint, to really give the orbs some pop when viewed with the naked eye. The green is my go-to "undead energy" color, so it made sense to start there with 'wisps, but Id like to expand into other common colors for them. There are some great wisp models that match up with these well, and I have a handful of neon/black-light/glow color pairings id like to experiment with, so they might be on the short list for speed-paint projects this month.

  

Three-headed Pyrohydra / Tryclyde

This three-headed beast was wayyy off script, but it was a really fun way to finish off my painting goal for 2024 - model number 52! I try to average at least one model a week every year, and almost always fail horribly, but in 2024 I squeaked under the deadline with this huge sized monster. I went with it because it was a great opportunity to play with the airbrush I had just gotten for xmas. With big blocks of color I was able to knock out the base coats in no time at all, even with my ham-fisted spidery airbrushing. In retrospect, red was not the best starting point for my first color palate (so tough to highlight well), but it definitely gave me confidence to bring the airbrush into my regular rotation of painting techniques. I'm a little embarrassed it took me this long to try out - it was intimidating at first, but actually pretty easy to do. The paint work isn't perfect, but, dang, it was definitely fast for a model of this size. Of all the different elements in this piece, I really like how the eyes and tongues turned out. The scales need more pop but, hey, I was on a deadline. 

The sculpt itself is great - another gem from Schlossbauer. I really appreciated the Mario-D&D crossover potential. I know a three-headed pyrohydra isn't normally a D&D thing, but that is a missed opportunity (Wizards, take note). I stayed true to the tryclyde color palate, or at least my interpretation of it, and I'm happy I did. In fact, I'd like to make some shooting fireball models so I can really geek out on the Mario style encounter. 

Hydras are a favorite monster of mine, and all too often I find myself "saving" models like that until some magical future time when I am "good enough" or "have enough time to do it justice," but I end up just keeping them in the pile-o'-shame. But, not this time! I committed to try something new, and my first hydra is done! Only like 50 to go.....

Mud Elementals / Mudmen (2)

 

These are a pair of classic Ral Partha mud elementals. They are simple to paint, and really fun on the game table. Mud elementals are among my favorite adversaries because of the interesting tactical challenges they present by merging with terrain. These were painted roughly 15 years ago (at the time of writing), when I was first experimenting with gloss effects, but I have never shared them before. 

Otyugh

 

This is a heavy metal miniature from WoTCs Chainmail line, long defunct, and painted many years ago. I tried to make the base as trash and waste filled as possible, befitting its reputation. Unfortunately, the idea was better than the execution and the final result is too low contrast. 

Other than that, aberrations are always fun to work on with their bizarre and twisted forms. The central feature, the mouth, came out suitably gross. So, while some aspects of the project were disappointing, others were satisfying.

Corpse Counters (2)

That about sums it up. Due to personal and professional challenges this year I haven't felt like posting, but I have decided to resume at a slower pace. 

These counters were made from basing bits that previously come with the Heresy Miniatures Paul Muller ghouls (OOP). A preview, as it were.  

Kobold Soldier (2)

 

These diminutive hoplites represent the apex of kobold military might. So, not that impressive. still, we are finally getting to the rank-and-file of the kobold warband that I have.

 That these are based on square bases is a clear indicator that this is one of my older projects. I have so many models based this way that I feel obligated to carry it forward, despite my preferred choice being round bases.

These were painted with a simple and fast layering of washes. It falls flat in some parts of the miniatures, but the metals end up looking nice and become the focal point.

Crazed Owlbear

 

This is a really wild model from Reaper Miniatures. It definitely doesn't look like a classical owlbear, instead it is a slim, wild-eyed and berserk mutant. while this isn't what I had in mind for my run-of-the-mill owlbear encounter, I think it works perfectly for the crazed owlbear found in Cragmaw Castle of LMoP, so it found a home in my collection. The end effect with the tiny pupils isn't perfect but it is definitely unsettling. It was nice working with the different shades of brown on this model, but it wasn't an overworked piece so the work is otherwise unremarkable. I tried to play up the crazed angle in the paint by adding details such as a frothy mouth and bloodshot eyes for a "that owlbear isn't right" effect.

Because this model is so specific, I still want to complete a regular one for the random encounter table of LMoP. I'll do another with a very different aesthetic now that I am nearing a complete LMOP set.

 

Ancients of Atalan Hunter-Killer Mech

 

Sometimes one picture tells the whole story of the paintwork. In this case, it is all about the gold metallics. I spent most of my time on this ....giant robotic stingray washing, blending and highlighting to get a nice warm gold luster. 

The model itself is for my ever-growing Deepwars collection (made by Antimatter Games / Dark Sword Miniatures) and gives the Ancients of Atalan some really heavy firepower.

 Unusual subjects are often the best to work on because of their extreme nature, and I really appreciated going to the gills with the flashy metallic gold.