Saturday 31 January 2009

Vampire Counts Crypt Ghouls

I have just completed these Games Workshop Warhammer miniatures. They are multi-part plastic figures that I assembled, removed mold-lines, filled in gaps/joins with modeling putty, primed, painted, based and varnished. I decided to keep away from the traditional green or purple ghouls that I have seen elsewhere and tried to create a more organic feeling with browns and yellows, and gave them fluorescent green eyes. Base detail was added to create a mud effect.



I was surprised by just how many bits went into each figure - legs, torso, right arm, left arm, head, making it a long process to separate parts from the sprues and remove their mold-lines. It was fun to mix and match them and try to get the most unique looking figures. Once assembled there was quite a lot of areas that needed filling with "green stuff" to create a more complete miniature.

I have just added individual photographs of these ghouls to a new Warhammer gallery.

These figures are NOW SOLD. I am happy to paint these on a commission basis and I can tailor the colour scheme or figure types to suit your needs. I am also able to paint other Games Workshop miniatures by commission.

Sunday 25 January 2009

Painted Discworld Figures and Other Miniatures I Have Finished

I have had a busy couple of weeks preparing, assembling, painting and varnishing a batch of the first five released Discworld miniatures. Some were for commission and some I have up for sale on Ebay at the moment (look for tstarfall). I painted them according to the colour scheme on the MicroArt Studio website (see my earlier blog) and they look like this:






I am accepting commissions for these figures and the other three that have now been released by MicroArt Studios. I can paint them according to any colour scheme you have in mind, just drop me an email. Higher quality pictures of these figures can be seen in the new Discworld gallery.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog I have finished painting the gretchins for the Space Crusade board game (Milton Bradley, now long out of print):


also finished the Orks:




and the remaining androids:


Individual pictures of these miniatures can be seen in the Space Crusade gallery.

I have also added pictures of the hydra and thief that I completed to the Mostly Metal gallery:




Next up on the painting table are those Games Workshop figures I have had for a while and I hope to purchase the three new Discworld figures.

Friday 23 January 2009

Three New Discworld Miniatures

MicroArt Studios are now selling a further three Discworld miniatures. These unpainted, metal miniatures in 30mm scale are of The Luggage, Susan Sto Helit and Nobby Nobbs.

Here are the pictures from the MicroArt Studios web site:








As with the other five Discworld miniatures (Death, Sam Vimes, Nanny Ogg, Esme Weatherwax and Rincewind) I will be happy to paint these figures for commission, either in the same style as this or to your specification.

Thursday 15 January 2009

Painting Update

I have finished the seven remaining Orks from Space Crusade (Milton Bradley Board Game long out of print), and the old metal miniature thief-type character with an almost spent torch.

The first batch of Discworld figures (MicroArt Studios) arrived Monday! I have already cleaned off the mold-lines and flash, assembled and primed them. The painting process in now under way. Once they are finished I will post more details and update my galleries with the latest stuff.

Must dash - Death is calling!

Friday 9 January 2009

Painting Progress

I have finished up the thirteen remaining Gretchins and three remaining Androids from Space Crusade, (Milton Bradley Board Game long out of print) will be working on the Orks today. Also finished the old metal hydra. Photographs of these will be coming soon.

Have ordered my first batch of Discworld figures (MicroArt Studios) - I cannot wait for them to arrive!

Tuesday 6 January 2009

Happy New Year!

I cannot believe it is 2009 - where do the years go?

I had a lovely Christmas spent lots of time with my family and friends and caught the obligatory cold. Still suffering as CFS makes minor illnesses into major ones, but staying happy playing with all my Xmas presents :o)

Carcassonne Box Image

The latest board game to add to my collection is CARCASSONNE, no miniatures with this one, just little wooden men called "meeples" by those on the BGG. The edition I received includes the River Expansion. It is great fun, really easy to learn and quick to pick up and play, although it can become quite complex depending on the strategies and tactics you develop. Average playing time (2-player) is 45-60 minutes. It plays extremely well 2-player but is also a game for all the family (2-5 players, age 8 up), the 4-player game we had was fun for all and required different tactics than 2-player. As it has been such a hit (even with those people I can rarely convince to play games) I expect I will be obtaining some of the other expansions/versions of this great game in the future.

Planescape Torment Box Art

The latest computer game to add to my collection was the old cult classic PLANESCAPE TORMENT. I have been after this game for years since I missed purchasing it when it was first released. I am not sure how my boyfriend managed it, but he got me an unopened original two-disc edition that was in a dual pack with SOULBRINGER, I think it might of been the American release. Planescape is loaded up and runs fine, sure the graphics are a bit dated compared to the latest RPGs but the depth of the story and the dialog are amazing. The game uses the BioWare Infinity Engine - the same one used in Baldur's Gate (one of my all time favourite RPGs) and it has a similar look and feel. It uses the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons system (which I am very familiar with as it was the version of D&D I played the most in my youth) set in TSR's Planescape campaign setting. Character generation is quite different though - you are the "Nameless One" and you can set your starting stats but you do not choose a class, instead you start as a fighter and develop your characters class and alignment by your actions and dialog throughout the game. As your character is human he can be any single class at a time, but can change between fighter, thief and mage according to the multi-classing rules of AD&D but with the twist that he can keep changing between them if he talks to the right people. This gives the game great depth, as you can become a thief and do a quest the sneaky way, then change into a mage to suit a quest that requires magic to solve. Great for indecisive players or those who like to try everything! I am having a blast with it at the moment, not sure how large it is (I am avoiding finding out too much about the game on-line until I have completed it) but it seems pretty big as I have been playing for quite a while and there seems to be lots to do - I have not even joined a faction yet.

I got lots of other great stuff including some DVDs and a Rubik's cube (remember them!), so a great big thank you goes out to everyone :o)

I hope that you all had lovely Xmas and New Year celebrations and wish you all the best for 2009.