A thing a week 2023, week 26

Continuing our non-banger "monsters I need for my game" we have imps and gargoyles from Blacklist Fantasy 1 kickstarter and no, I don't know which is which and yes, I am too lazy to look them up.. These are painted identically to the gargoyles from last week and probably that's all that needs to be said.

2023 finished mini counter: 133/104

A thing a week 2024, week 25

This week is a return to batch painting because I have a need for some bads in bulk for my in-person Saturday campaign. These aren't good paint jobs but they're also not great figs so I guess that matches.

These three are Grell from the Wrath of Ashardalon Boardgame. This is not a good game, these are not good figs, and these are not good paint jobs. Heck, these aren't even good monsters! They were primed, partially pained with the airbrush and then drybrushed. Final details like their brain-beaks were done with the brush. All told we're at maybe 15 minutes per fig.

These three are Gargoyles from Castle Ravenloft Boardgame. These are more of the same except that I kind of like gargoyles as monsters. They're even more simply painted with just an airbrushed basecoat and a couple drybrush coats. I spent more time painting the rings on the bases than on the dudes, but hey, they're painted and that counts for something.

This last guy is a rock elemental from the Temple of Elemental Evil Boardgame. He's painted identically to the gargoyles with the addition of some textured grit on his base. That's about it. Nothing to see here; just some high drama low effort paint jobs.

2023 finished mini counter: 123/104

A thing a week 2023, week 24

Still in mini-land this week but no real theme beyond "stuff I had on my painting table."

First up we have Romud, Cleric from Crippled God Foundry. He has a General Kenobi thing going on, probably intentionally. I like that he's got an action-y pose but don't like the amount of negative space on him. He's a nice chunky model, otherwise, and aside from his shield being too fiddly to paint, I'd say it's a solid B sculpt. I put extra effort into his hair even though it doesn't show and notably didn't start with the normal low fleshtone that I usually used. Instead, I mixed the shadow color and lightened with the light fleshtone I usually use as a highlight. Not much to say beyond that, so let's move on.

Next up we have Dwarf Female from Galaad Miniatures, one of my favorite sculptors. I wasn't entirely sure what to do with the skull looking thing on her shoulder so I decided it was metal. I also didn't realize how shiny the dark tones on her cloak were. I didn't spend a ton of time on this paint job and it shows. Her face is OK since that's where the bulk of the time went but everything else is weak. Even the base is weak and one of the many I built at the beginning of the pandemic. If I've got a recommendation for anyone who hand builds bases: it's super convenient to have a bunch in waiting. 

This guy is Glavier from the Chainmail Starter Pack. His pack-mates have shown up here a few times over the years and like them this guy is metal. I didn't super get the moldlines sorted but I got close enough to not be unhappy with it. What I am unhappy with is the size of his weapon (a stupid fantasy version of an actual weapon) and his armor (a stupid fantasy take on actual armor). I get that artists aren't historians usually. On the other hand, I really feel like we'd have better art if we thought just a tiny bit about how the armor would function if it were real.

Last up this week we have questionably-named Lady D Mace & Shield from Artisan Guild's Fighters Guild. This set is great not only because they're well-sculpted, but also because they're modular. Even though I really like their work, these sculpts have probably too many details. In particular there are too many belts, buckles, and armor filigrees. While not quite as eggregiously fantasy as our pal the Glavier, it's still pretty fantasy. I painted her hair the same way I did last week's Elf Bandit and while it pops on the table, I don't think it looks good close-up. Probably the highlights need to be tighter with darker tones elsewhere. Overall, I think this is a good result in four or five hours. 

2023 finished mini counter: 116/104

A thing a week 2023, week 23

This week we have another high-effort offering, specifically The Elf Bandit from Vae Victis Miniatures and as you may have surmised, she's a 3d print. I didn't expect to paint her to this level originally though I do like the sculpt (I mean, I bought it; that wasn't an accident). 

Starting out I had two goals: first, paint the face expressively since part of it is hidden. Second, I wanted to push the quality on the leather. The face went first and I pushed contrast more than usual and even though I don't think her eyes turned out all that well, I'm pretty happy with the result. The leather was mostly an accident because I started out with a really lousy wash from previous work and ended up hilighting up and glazing down probably a half dozen times. After the third part of the cycle, I just kept going. It doesn't 100% work but I can see how it might and I'll give it a shot again sometime soon. Also, once I settled on pushing to a high quality, I spent extra time on her hair and looking at these shots, it looks like I didn't do the highlighting as well as I'd thought. Happy but never satisfied.

2023 finished mini counter: 113/102, 7/10 high quality