Same figure, new pose

I was looking for a specific pose for a new D&D character: A sword-and-shield fighter hunkered down behind his shield but ready to strike. It was a pose I saw in an old Roman engraving of a gladiator hunkered behind his shield; he was lightly armored in every aspect except that facing his enemy. I finally settle on a miniature I already have - Well, I bought a copy instead of ruining a nicely painted mini.

The job was easy: I used a pair of needle nose pliers to bend the shield arm back a bit. I turned the word arm forward (This was helped in that the sword arm is separate from the forearm forward.) Then, to add a bit of difference from the old figure, I took off the horns from the helmet to make a rounded off skullcap. A little greenstuff was used to cover up holes and cuts and to make some leg armor (to give that totally armored aspect as seen by the enemy.)

Reaper leaping rogue

On second look, I'm not as dissappointed with this one as I was when I finished it. It was a rushed job, I had a couple rum'n'cokes in me, and it was 2:30 in the morning.

But it looks all right. Room for improvement. Still a nice little sculpt.

Reaper leaping rogue

Found this odd, but dynamic little fellow at the store. In case you want one, he's sold by Reaper and is officially called "Hellbore the Assassin," and is numbered 2782.

I changed mine up a bit by switching out one of the knives for a sword.

I'm still trying to decide on colors. I'm leaning less toward dark assassin and more toward deadly jester- though I may find a comprise; Jesterish designs using dark assassin colors. It's still under the prime, so I have time to think about it before I get the brush wet.

Bonjour, mes amis!

Je voudrais dire bonjour au mes amis Francais!!

No babelfish here- I speak french, baby! ... I hope.
I've been noticing on my site stats that I've been receiving a lot of hits from French Web sites, so I'd like to welcome my French friends to my painting blog.

And French visitors are free to comment in French at my site. I'm not good at speaking or writing, but I can read French fairly well. I hope to hear from you all!

Barbarian

A nice, stately sculpt, this is from Rackham's Confrontation line, a ltd ed. figure called Drac Mac Syro. The shield design I based off of (but did not do an exact copy of) one used by Conan in "Conan the Barbarian." The shield was not part of the orginal sculpt; It is a Greek shield by Foundry.

Warlord

This is another figure from Rackham's Cadwallon Militia box set. For D&D, I will roll him up as a warlord. I kept the colors simple, some Reaper Dark Night/Slate and reds, and some Foundry greys. This figure also is on one of my greenstuff bases, though I've hidden a lot of detail with some overgrown (static) grass (GW).

Shield face

This is a quick step-by-step I threw together showing how to paint a basic face on a shield. This technique can also be used to paint human-faced moons and suns on banners and such.

The colors don't matter, only that they are of the same palette, i.e., all reds or all blues with appropriate shades and highlights- though experimentation is always a choice.

Another one makes it off the project shelf

Elf ranger. More specifically, Elven sniper from Reaper's Warlord line. I've clipped the old bow and made a new one from brass wire and sewing thread. The back hand was well-suited for holding an arrow, but I didn't want to deal with the fiddly thread nor hide the face too much.

Some more greenstuff work

Been building up a D&D party. This is a swashbuckler converted from a Rackham Cadwallon assassin. I custom-built him a rapier. I built the base from two layers of sculpted greenstuff. I also added a rat on the street next to the curb. I hope it looks okay after being painted. I wasn't all that fond of this mini, so it became a piece I could experiment with.

I don't paint just minis

Sometimes I need a break from painting minis or building terrain. So I'll go out on the town and paint some terrain. This is a local hangout. Welch Avenue Station is a bar occupying the lower level of this building, and Pizza Pit occupies the upper level. This is a photograp (I was too lazy to dig out the scanner) of a watercolor sketch I did on a Sunday afternoon.

minor update

Nothing new to see yet. I have a few things at various stages. I'm waiting for a couple figures in the mail before I launch into another small paint blitz. I'm also practicing my flagstone engraving. Gonna look up some patterns to try out. I'm also gonna tool around and discover what other fun I'm able to sculpt from green stuff.

Rackham militiaman finished

And here's the militiaman finished. I didn't take step-by-step photos, but I DO have details on the colors used. If you're interested, then keep reading. Otherwise, enjoy the pics.

Colors are listed in order from darkest to lightest (which is the order I applied them, as per the "Foundry" system.)

Letter code: Rpr = Reaper Pro Paint, Fdy = Foundry

Padded jerkin: Rpr Night Sky, Rpr Slate, Rpr Slate+Rpr Ice blue

Jerkin trim: Rpr Ice blue+A touch of Fdy Arctic Grey 33A

Blouse (under the jerkin): Fdy Charcoal Black 34C+Rpr Ice blue, Continue adding Ice blue as you add highlight layers.

Tannery (the leathers): Rpr Aged Brick, Fdy Spearshaft 13A, Fdy Spearshaft 13A+ Fdy Base sand 10C, Continue adding Base sand for a couple more layers.

Shield: Spearshaft 13A, Spearshaft 13A+Rpr Rust, Add more Rust for a couple layers, Rpr Rust+Rpr Bright Orange, Add Bright orange for a couple layers, then add some Fdy Buff leather 7C to the Rust/Bright Orange mix. The white decor is Fdy Arctic grey 33A, B, and C straight up.

The hair also is Fdy Arctic grey 33A, B and C

The skin is Fdy Flesh 5A, B and C with intermediate mixes between each color.