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Sunday, September 22, 2024

Happy little trees

Bob Ross

28mm

"There's nothing wrong with having a tree as a friend."

"Everyone sees nature through different eyes."


The almighty Bob Ross; TV painter heir to Bill Alexander and the man who taught millions of viewers that art should be enjoyable, and that there are no mistakes, only happy accidents.

I put Bob Ross videos on very often when I'm painting. His calm, soothing, encouraging presence helps me overcome anxieties I have of my own creations, and keeps reminding me that I should be having fun, not stressing about details.

Bob was one of those people who epitomized kindness and compassion. His interest in helping foster animals was one of those things that epitomized this. "Peapod the pocket squirrel" showed up in season 22, but he introduced us to so many little birds and creatures on his show.

This figure is a resin 3D print made from a HeroForge STL I put together.


Sunday, September 01, 2024

Rural horrors

Karl Greever was in town a while back, talking about some meteor that fell out on his property. Said he bet it was full of gold an' diamonds and he was going to get rich.  We laughed, 'cause he was always full of big ideas that went nowhere.  Nobody saw him around for a while then, so Pastor sent his boy up there with some food.  He ran back saying old Greever looked green an' half-rotten, an' attacked him with a shovel!  Even left his bicycle, but nobody wanted to go fetch it...



Heaven only knows what Cindy Jane got herself into.  Maybe she touched somethin' unsavory out in the back woods, and got 'fected.  Or maybe she got to readin' one of her great-grandpa's queer old books up in the attic.  Whatever it was, she just ain't herself lately. Used to be such a chatterbox, an' now all she seems to do is gurgle.  An' that arm of hers - never seen anything like it.  Hope I never do again.


Both of these ghastly individuals are 28 mm "Mansions of Madness" figures.



Thursday, June 20, 2024

Lovecraftian Creepers and Crawlers

Chthonian and Mi-Go

28mm scale

Drain you of your sanity
Face the thing that should not be

These two Mansions of Madness game figures depict a few of the sanity-draining horrors of the Lovecraftian mythos.  

Chthonians are huge creatures that live deep in the Earth's crust, burrowing through rock and communicating telepathically.  When they (rarely) emerge above ground, they resemble thick segmented worms with squid-like tentacled heads.  They can control humans and other beings telepathically.


Mi-Go are fungal-insectoid alien beings, interstellar travelers that have established a base on the planet Pluto (which they call Yuggoth) to explore our solar system.  They are scientifically advanced and are expert bioengineers and surgeons.  The Mi-Go abduct and transport humans through space by removing their brain and placing it into a "brain cylinder", a device that maintains its life and consciousness and can be attached to sensors to allow sight, hearing and speech.


Cthulhu Swamp Cult Party Shack

15mm scale

I got me a car, it's as big as a Shoggoth
And we're headin' on down to the Cthulhu shack!
I got me a Chrysler, it can carry a ton
So hurry up and bring your Great Old One!



What are those tentacled weirdos up to in their sinister wetlands hideout? A dimensional portal? A colour out of space? They're chanting up a storm!


Time to crash this party!


The Party Shack is made of coffee stir sticks and corrugated cardboard (and a spare LED)... great results!  All miniatures are from Khurasan.


Monday, April 01, 2024

Life and Death on the Nekroplanet

"Nekroplanet Grob" is an incredible, spooky, and grimly whimsical sci-fi setting created by Ana Polanšćak, also known as Gardens of Hecate.  It's a tomb world of red sand and mysterious ruins, protected by terrifying skeletal automatons and bizarre phenomena.  Nevertheless, raiders travel from off-planet to risk everything in search of the treasures of the long-ago tomb-builders...

Tomb Raider 

28mm

Raiders arrive on the necroplanet with heavy weaponry, power armor, and advanced scanners, in the hopes of uncovering mysterious and valuable artifacts, and detecting the planet's defenders before they arrive.  It's always a deadly game of chance, as weapons and sensor technologies you don't always work the way you expect, and the planet has defenses that even the most skilled adventurers have never encountered before...

An EM4 miniature.


Traveling Hexahedron and Hedral Pillars  


Traveling Hexahedrons are black cubes of unknown composition and apparent indestructible nature, which slide across the planet's surface seemingly at random.  As they move, they will indiscriminately crush any creatures in their path.

Hedral Pillars exist in sporadic clusters on the planet's surface. They seem to attract traveling hexahedrons, but a space in between at least three pillars is the only place on the surface a creature cannot be crushed by the Hexahedrons' movements.

(The Traveling Hexahedron concept is created by Ana Polanšćak.  The Pillars are my idea.  Both are created from cheap puzzle toys.)


Nekroplanet Blitzer



The Nekroplanet's Grobnik infantry are lethal and resilient in their own regard, but their heavier support can be truly terrifying.  Although Annihilators are more heavily armed, Blitzers move across the treacherous nekrolith at high speed, seeking intruders on their own or rapidly arriving to reinforce Grobniks in battle.

The Blitzer is made from a dollar store Halloween decoration and the wheels for a toy car.  And it's definitely inspired by the band Megadeth's mascot "Vic Rattlehead"...


Thursday, March 28, 2024

Hunting Party

Bounty Hunter and Enhanced Raptor

28mm

Artemisia Kian doesn't use unnecessary violence. But she did choose a career where a lot of violence is usually necessary. Hunting down the scum of the solar system on the run from the law, or their creditors, is just violent work. Fortunately, she doesn't have to do it alone. Her cybernetically-augmented neoraptor partner Belinda is fully equipped both naturally and technologically to track down the most evasive prey.


Artemisia is a Starfinder figure, Belinda is a converted D&D figure.

Monday, March 18, 2024

Two Murder Hobos

D&D Bard and Fighter

28mm


So a friend of mine is running a D&D game, or will be as soon as we can fit five adult schedules together 😄.  We had a session zero to start our character creation and background, and I decided to play a bard.  I've offered to source and even paint figures for anyone who wants, and I've had one taker so far.

Gedly of Lamneth is a bard of the College of Lore, who plays the bass lute.  He has secret demonic heritage which allows him to cast the Fireball cantrip as well as his regular complement of bardic magic.


Thorin is a human fighter, and acolyte of Tyr the god of valor and war.  Tall, fair haired, and lean, he wields a silvered sword.

Both of these figures were lightly converted, which is so much easier with the D&D plastic minis!  For Gedly I removed a hat and added long hair and glasses, and modified his sword blade and lute. For Thorin, I covered up elf ears with more hair, and removed a falcon from his outstretched hand.

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

World of Cats

Nine Lives

28mm scale

Even the smallest feline is a masterpiece of nature.





In the overgrown ruins of a long-abandoned human city, a colony of cats are living their best lives...

Most of the cat miniatures are from Bad Squiddo Games.  The diorama base is made from thin plywood and foamcore board, coated with polyfilla.  This piece was inspired by playing the video game "Stray", as well as a couple of stunning dioramas by Roman Lappat: