Kobold Archers (2)

In the interests of keeping things moving along, here are two more diminutive representatives of my kobold warband (see the "kobold" label for more). Despite being some of my oldest pieces, they still hold up pretty well. In fact,  I am considering adding to them in the near future to round out the force and make sure I have enough to run "The Sinless Citadel" module.  

 

These archers tend to be just behind the magic-users in terms of the threat they pose within the warband. Small, crafty, and fast, with the ability to pump out damage at impressive range, they are far more dangerous than they might seem at first. The kobolds are a unique and fun gaming option  because of how differently they play from other warbands; they are individually weak, but coordinated attacks and sacrificial plays can draw the opponent into an overwhelming kill-box. More often than not, it is these archers who end up playing a key role in those tactics.

 

 

 

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. 

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.

 

Evil Mage / Red Wizard of Thay

 

All those zombies need an evil necromancer to lead them! This is my stand-in for Hamun Kost from LMoP. Sure, Sure, he doesn't fit the description, and he doesn't even have that classic Red Wizard of Thay robe look, but in my mind the mini was a perfect fit. This piece is an old Reaper Miniatures Bones model - back from when they were all bendy. Despite the cast looking a bit soft upon selection, the painted model came out really crisp. The model itself was sculpted by Werner Klocke, who never disappoints, and has a nice compliment of embroidery details and belts with buckles. I was pleasantly surprised with my results - definitely exceeding my expectations for this project. In particular, I was really happy with the rich reds I achieved (always a challenge).

Zombies (4) #3

 The final installment of human zombies in my current series; whew! Not the best picture, but I'll stick with it for now. They are rotting, after all. These are metal models from Reaper Miniatures and are a nice collection of zombies in different poses. The color palate in this batch is a little too narrow - in retrospect I should've mixed the sets up more for presentation purposes. I still have more zombies to show (and make) - the low level adventures are undead heavy - but I look forward to some different varieties moving forward.

Zombies (4) #1

 

 Every adventure needs undead, and zombies are endlessly useful.

 Zombies are pretty sloppy monsters, so it was more important that I linked their color palates while giving each some unique elements rather than making each one a masterpiece - The herd is where they make their impact. They were painted at different times over a relatively long interval, so they aren't perfectly consistent, but I think that actually benefits them.  It is much easier to photograph them a few at a time, so I've decided to post small groups over a few weeks. Despite the simple paint jobs, I really appreciate that each is totally unique stylistically.

This first pack of zombies were made by Reaper Miniatures (two of them are plastic bones material, and two are metal). 

As can always be expected with zombies, more to come!

Kobold Adept (2)

 

This pair of kobold casters make nice minions for the sorcerer I posted previously. Despite appearances, even an apprentice kobold can be a serious threat! It seems I have committed to posting my kobold warband; looking forward to the group shot.

Kobold Sorcerer

 

 My kobolds were the first really large warband I did where I completed a large variety of character types, from goons all the way to apex threats like this fellow here. They had seen a ton of use because of that, to the point of overuse, so I have taken an extended break from them. That is, until I received a fresh batch from Reaper! I was pleasantly surprised to find that the new models meshed really well with the Ben Siens classics, so I'll give them some reinforcements over the next year. Between them, and my goblins, I am getting close to completing the models needed for one of my favorite 3.5 edition modules "The Sunless Citadel," so I'll need to make a push for that sooner than later.

Goblin Reinforcements / Bloodbite Goblins (2)

 I've decided to do some Paint Club stuff, so while I work on a new project I thought I'd play some catch up on existing factions I have going. These two handsome fellows are additions to my Ogres and Goblins warband from years gone by. They are slightly bigger than the originals, but also sculpted by the great Bobby Jackson in the same style. They bring a bit of muscle and chaff to my goblins, giving me nearly enough to run some of the encounters in published RPG modules, but still not quite the numbers needed to make a goblins-only battle group. I have some additional "command" models and I recently acquired a large number of new goblin recruits from the same range, so I  expect I'll be adding more to their number in the near future. 

Wight, Monk / Dreadmere Wight

 

My painting has been sluggish with a slew of spring projects to tackle, so while I work on something new here is a piece from the display cabinet that I have never previously shared. This rotten fellow is from the Reaper Bones 4 Kickstarter, and was the first piece I painted when the loot came in. I was feeling inspired and knocked him out as fast as I could as a speed-paint. 

It is a nice standalone piece, and I really appreciate that it is an undead with some character! The living dead are often stripped down to rags, or just bones, so an undead with some personality, or at least personal history, is much appreciated. It is also one of the few robed undead I own - the old manuals are stacked with robed corpses and the concept is nostalgic for me, but they are surprising hard to find as miniatures.

This wight remained unshared for so long mostly owing to how difficult it was to photograph - it has a forward lean which throws much of the model into shadow under natural light. I'm happy with these shots, after a few prior failed attempts, which I achieved by using a vertical light source.

I really enjoy painting the dead; they are one of the few times I allow myself really let loose with a gritty style and "ugly" models, with lots of haphazard washes. Of course, that is a self imposed concept. At one point I remember finding a miniature artist who did everything like that, in a limited unusual color palate to really great effect. I envied the stylistic commitment which I could never fully push myself to adopt.

Wolf Eel Familiar

 Another tiny sea creature from Reaper. I modeled this paint scheme after one of my favorite local species, the wolf eel. Not a true eel, but so cool! They get really big, so this would be a smaller specimen. 

I had a lot of fun with the stippling on this piece. Its a technique used commonly in canvas painting, but rarely gets used by miniatures artists. 

The toothy smile is really fun and not unlike the real thing.

 This may be my favorite of the set, so far.

 

 

Bull Ray Familiar

 

 

Another model from Reapers aquatic themed familiar pack VII. I did some light re-sulpting of this model; It was a faithful rendition of living rays, but had a cartoonish mouth with sharp teeth unlike the actual critters. I prefer my animal models on the realistic side, so I filed off that area and did a little work with greenstuff to give it a mouth more fitting a real ray. They have funny little mouths and I think the model is more realistic and a lot cuter!

I based my paint-job on a real species, the common eagle ray/bullray.  Sadly, while the bull ray was once "common" it is now a critically endangered species.

Green Dragon and Maiden / "Cat and Mouse"

 

I'm taking the lazy way out this week with a straight re-post of a previous miniature. Is quite old, though, so risks being lost to the dusty corners of the internet otherwise. It is one of my personal favorite pieces in my collection, so it definitely deserves a blog post. This mini diorama / miniature set dates back to 2013 and is probably the last true "competition" miniatures that I ever attempted to paint. It was done for an annual paint competition on the reaper forums: "There Be Dragons." To my recollection it won the category it was in, but the old forums are long gone so I'm not positive what the details of the contest were. In any case, I was pleased with the outcome. I do remember being time constrained on this project, but I definitely had inspiration and I worked fanatically on it up until the deadline. I must admit I am a bit curious how well I could do on a piece like this now - I consider myself a much better ( and far more efficient) painter. The time commitment for this type of thing is brutal, though, and these days my hobby focus is far more on the completion of "sets" of miniatures in the context of my whole collection rather than single showstopper pieces. 

Other than gratuitous use of gem effects, I really love the mini diorama aspect of this miniature. It can either be a vignette, or the maiden can be removed to act as a playable piece; It makes for a nice game play encounter. The bases were hand sculpted in an era before the rise of 3D printing, the dragon model is from Reapers Pathfinder line and the maiden is modified from an old Privateer Press miniature.

 

Small Shark / Shark Familiar

 

This little guy is a slight change of pace, but on theme. It is from the aquatic familiar pack VII, by Reaper Miniatures, one of my favorite collections of small models. Sharks are a super popular topic with my kids, so this simple piece is much loved. It is a nice addition to my collection of animals and, though it is not representative of some specific species, I did my best to base the paint on real world images of sharks.  After a long hiatus it is nice to get back to a non-fantasy creature.

Giant Centipede (3)

These giant centipedes were a nice quick speedpaint of some slightly modified miniatures from Reaper Miniatures. while these tiny little sculpts aren't particularly impressive they fill an important role in my collection - they were painted to round out the baddies I need to run "A Most Potent Brew" (see "inferno spider" posted previously). I love running that module as a starter adventure for nearly any campaign, so I expect they will be among my most used models. I might still add an NPC for that module in the future, before I put a fork in it.

 I was pretty happy I was able to manage three pretty distinct poses from the base model, which would've bothered me otherwise. The ruddy brown color with a hint of orange that I achieved on these guys was great, and I definitely plan on using it for their (bigger?) cousins. 

Speaking of which, I always thought the use of "giant" in monster descriptions was unsatisfactory. These creepy crawlies are on 20mm bases and are probably the size of the biggest living real-world centipedes, whereas a "giant spider" is the size of a horse!

Violet fungus (2)

These fungal monsters pair nicely with the shriekers in my previous post, and were part of the same set from Reaper Miniatures. They were cast in transparent purple, and initially I tried painting them with some transparent painting techniques I had seen elsewhere. somewhere along the line I decided my attempt had failed, so I went with a more contemporary approach (though, they are still slightly transparent). My failed initial approach left these somewhere in between and as a result I wasn't entirely happy with the end result. Ah well, Ill try again! There is always room to grow as an artist, and transparents are definitely a technique / subject I need to research more before my next attempt. 
 

Shrieker (3)

 A set of shriekers by Reaper Miniatures. These were really fun to paint and I enjoy the variety of color combinations I was able to play with on this set, where each model is clearly unique. This is both practical from a game-play perspective and a pleasure to paint. These fungi are smaller than the photos suggest - each is mounted on a 20mm base. while I painted these a few years ago, I have been itching to revisit a mushroom theme so I can really play with fun colors and shapes.

Banshee

 

Harumph.

I said it. This may be my least favorite piece in my collection at the moment. I finished it as a speedpaint in 2020 with the idea that I would make it as monochromatic as possible. It made the queue for a few reasons: it was a good subject for a (nearly) monochromatic study, it was convenient to just grab a Bones model, and I desperately needed a banshee for LMoP. That it wasn't a great cast was an upside - no pressure. In particular, the hands weren't my favorite  and it suffered from the missing nose syndrome that many of the earlier Bones models had. I went with it and gave her a rotted-off skull-face nose, which actually ups the creepiness a bit. 

Anyhow, she does the job and even though I am now flush with ghost lady STLs I doubt I'll replace her any time soon. 

Rust Monster / Oxidation Beast

 

A classic foe, but I wanted to do something more original with its paint. To get some extra color in I played on the oxidation concept with  bronze/ golden metal and a blue-green rust effect along the antennae and back. The colors work well together and I think the result is recognizable but much brighter than the standard rust-all-over color.

Painted in 2017.