The Dwarf

Gimli
6 mm

"Welcome Gimli, son of Gloin! It is long indeed since we saw one of Durin's folk in Caras Galadhon. But today we have broken our long law. May it be a sign that though the world is now dark better days are at hand, and that friendship shall be renewed between our peoples."
- Celeborn, The Fellowship of the Ring

The King

Aragorn/Strider
10 mm

"I see," laughed Strider. "I look foul and feel fair. Is that it? All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost."
- Aragorn, The Fellowship of the Ring

The Wizard

Gandalf the Grey
10 mm

"A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."
- Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring

Latest WIPs

Yeah... slow month. This is mostly what I'm working on right now.

Sleuthin'

Country Sleuth
28 mm



Every small English village needs one of these - that apparently utterly normal lady who somehow seems to find out everything that's happening, and delve to the heart of any nefarious goings-on. While not a physical threat to murderers-most-foul, her sharp mind and dogged determination will bring all to light, by the end of the second-last chapter.

Figure by Copplestone.

Canvas

The Dance
8"x10"



I painted this canvas as a birthday gift for my girlfriend. It's based on a photo of some traditional Korean dancers, but I obviously took many liberties with the source. I sort of imagine the scene as an struggle or contest occurring in ancient legend, with an otherworldly audience* observing. To keep the tone light, one of the smaller beings has brought some refreshments. No it doesn't make much sense, to be honest... but I hope she likes it! [EDIT: She likes it :)]

* audience members borrowed from "Spirited Away"!

"Crom, I have never prayed to you before..."

...I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad. Why we fought, and why we died. All that matters is that today, two stood against many. Valor pleases you, so grant me this one request. Grant me revenge! And if you do not listen, the HELL with you!
- "Conan the Barbarian", 1982

I was feeling uninspired by my current project so I quickly painted up another tiny mini:

Barbarian Hero
10 mm

Transparent

I picked up a couple of these clear plastic boxes at Michael's Crafts the other day. Dirt cheap of course, thanks to overseas sweatshop labour and lax environmental controls :(





As you can see they make pretty decent single-miniature display boxes. A couple of sheets of foamcore were used to raise the mini's base, all held together with double-sided tape.

Banzai!

I was originally going to paint my helicopter chick here up with a big British flag on her battle knickers, it seemed fitting for a steampunk character. But the general anime style of her pose and hair changed my mind, so I redirected her nationality a bit. Later in the process she'll have a rising sun motif on her torso. I wish I'd given her a katana though...



Oh, and I can already tell the helicopter is going to be a pain in the ass to paint.

Eine Symphonie des Grauens! GRAUENS! Hahahahaha!

Count Orlok
28 mm





Finished! And I'm really happy with how he turned out, he looks truly cruel and menacing. He's posted on CMON here.

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On a slightly tangential note,
I'd just like to take this opportunity to pay a little tribute to my girlfriend, who on more than one occasion has had to eat dinner with me at my coffee table, because my dining table looked like this:



And she's never complained. Thanks, baby, you're the best!

In Progress

  

I think Count Orlok himself is essentially done. The castle arch is made from three layers of black foamcore board, faced with stone-wall-patterned polystyrene sheet. The inside of the arch is covered in greenstuff epoxy, and I'll add the arch stones and the ground texture with epoxy as well.

In Progress

Smooth transitions on black or grey are hard - the human eye notices very subtle changes in brightness without colour to distract it. But I think I've done okay so far.

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Steampunk Flyer
28 mm



This mini should have wings. But I didn't like them much. I think she looks better with a few modifications... Including some retro-technological stylings.

Wee man

Dwarf
6 mm



This guy and a few other extras came with my "Fellowship" set. I painted him up just for fun this evening, while doing laundry.

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Mini Exchange #11

I just received this "Archangel Sergeant" from Rev in the UK. I might replace her wings with rotors or something and go for a "Steampunk" look.

A whole new kind of "small"

I just picked these up from Copplestone Castings. The set is called "Heroes and Halflings", but they are pretty obviously the Fellowship of the Ring. The humans are a whopping 10 mm tall, the hobbits are more like 6 mm!



My Nosferatu vampire (see below) hasn't gone anywhere yet, but I'm thinking he should be done in greyscale/B&W to fit his cinematic appearance.

Nosferatu

Count Orlok
28 mm



Another great, cheap Mega Miniature - the Count from F.W. Murnau's 1922 film "Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror" (he's also appeared in "Spongebob Squarepants").

Feeling of Accomplishment

"Buger thyss, I'm goinge home!"
28 mm



Well he's done, I mounted him on this little wooden base to make him a little more gift-worthy. The dead grass is bristles from a cheap paintbrush. My dad will have to wait a little longer for his gift though, I can't bring myself to put this guy in the mail...

Just in time too, there's another Mini Exchange underway. "Thoth the Keeper of Scrolls" is on his way to dougaderly in New Hampshire.

Lazy bum

(That'd be me... almost no painting for weeks. Didn't help I was sick TWICE.)

OK so I really have to finish this gift for my dad. Here's what's done so far:



I'm thinking a freehand-painted patterned border on the tunic, and maybe some tufts of dead winter grass poking out of the snow would make him more visually interesting. And he needs rosy cheeks since it's winter.

"The Empire will compensate you if he dies."

Boba Fett
25 mm



"You like to hurt folk."
"Part of the job."
"That's why you TOOK the job."
- River Tam and bounty hunter Jubal Early, "Firefly"

Well, he's done. I think he looks fantastic too, the saturated colours give him a comic book vividness which doesn't really match his appearance in the films, but works well on this scale. The figure is kind of small (for a miniature, even) so this helps to make the details more distinct as well.

Again, thanks to treide for this great figure.

Gift for my Pop

"Buger thyss, I'm goinge home"
28 mm



This is a belated birthday gift for my father. I imagine this fellow being a warrior who has just decided that he doesn't want to fight on the battlefield anymore, and is heading back to his family instead. It's a crisp, characterful sculpt, available from Discount Hobby for a whopping $1. Dad always taught me to be frugal :)

Progress

Amid the post-holiday work blitz, I'm getting a bit of painting done... I like how the high-contrast look is turning out on Boba here.

For England!

Universal Carrier
35 mm long



Just another WW2 mini, Allied this time. Not an amazing paint job, I'll admit. Though this is meant to be a British or Canadian vehicle, the "American" white star was a common Allied air-recognition marking, used to reduce friendly* aircraft attacks on ground vehicles. The cartoon is presumably from a training manual, this was NOT a "tank" by any means and using it as such probably got a few soldiers killed.

* military saying: "friendly fire... isn't"

Ho ho ho...

It being the holiday season, I've been busy with some less metallic, more.... edible crafts:

"Nightmare Before Christmas" gingerbread house
~22 cm





I'll be back to the painting soon... since I have a few more days off :)

"What if he doesn't survive? He's worth a lot to me."

Boba Fett
25 mm



I just started another mini sent to me by "treide". This is a West End Games "Star Wars" (obviously) figure from the 80's, probably quite rare :) And it's everyone's favorite bounty hunter, no less! I think I'm going to try the same high-contrast style on him as on my last mini, I like how it turned out, even on a simple subject (below).

"We've lost contact with the colony on LV-426."

Facehugger Attack!
25mm




Well, he's finished. Poor bastard, he thought he'd be getting a huge bonus from the company for his "discovery". I think this mini turned out looking decent, I tried to produce a dramatic, high-contrast paint job rather than flawless blending. The sculpt itself was rather lacking, specifically it had problems with some of the clothing details being indistinct or poorly-rendered. This is typical of many sculpts from the late 80's, however.

The eggs are plaster casts of some ones that came with my Alien Queen, a probably-rare set I bought WAY back when (c. 1991 in fact).

No piccy, no clicky :(

My girlfriend has borrowed my camera this week, so no updates even if I do get painting done. In lieu, anyone who reads Painting Agency is encouraged to check out the following:

OXFAM Unwrapped

Doctors Without Borders

Child's Play

This is clearly an important species we're dealing with...

Facehugger Attack!
28 mm



The colonists who made their homes on LV-426 had no idea why the company had really sent them to this inhospitable rock. But they found out. Kids, hugs are NOT better than drugs.

Frankly, this miniature is not that well-sculpted, at least by today's standards. But I still think it'll be fun to paint.

Finished... finally

After a long hiatus from posting, or indeed painting much at all:

Imperial Hot Water Heater Repairman
(Adeptus Thermaquaticus)
28mm



Well he's finally done (and just in time, a new mini exchange is underway!) I'm pleased with how this guy turned out, even if my output rate was terrible. He's very grungy, corroded and downtrodden, which is exactly how I imagined him.

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Mini Exchange 10!

Sent to "toxc" in Germany:



1. Reaper “Anhurian Cavalryman” (regifted...)
2. Morgan Keith Studios' “Tallah the Warmaid”.
3. Mega Miniatures' Vampire and Priest.
4. Eureka Miniatures' “Stargate Warrior" (not shown, now really rare due to licensing issues, namely not being licensed at all!)

Received from "treide" in Arizona:

  

Jabba the Hutt (late-80's-vintage rare), Boba Fett (also rare) and an old "Aliens" mini of "colonist attacked by facehugger" (again, rare). Also a yummy-looking bottle of jalapeno jelly and postcards from AZ! I think I will start the painting with Fett, he's just too cool.

WIP - The Monk

He's not much to look at yet... I'm trying for a look on the boiler like it's painted white but rusting through.

Meow Mix

Chutney and Mango
7 mm




All done! The sculpts are not great likenesses but they'll do. The sunflower head is sculpted from putty, the stalk and leaves are wire and bag ties. I really enjoyed this project, though painting mini-Mango made me kind of melancholy...

Trade deficit

My two or three readers may have noticed it's been weeks since I posted... well not much painting is getting done, I'm sorry to say. It's just a mental state of un-creativity, and probably laziness. Very annoying and utterly my fault. Of course in the meantime, more unpainted metal has arrived:



80's-vintage Space Marines from eBay - a real find. Cast in 100% pure LEAD, they sure don't make em out of that anymore.



Prizes from the Pirates contest... more pirates! (and, fortunately, a $20 gift certificate to buy non-pirates.)

A winner!

Well, I'm pleased to say my figure "Esmeralda the Green Velvet Pirate" took first prize in the "Wenches" category in the Exodus Road Hobbies Pirates painting contest!

Pirate
32 mm



I'm really happy with how this turned out, especially the face, velvet effect, and metals. All the contest entries are posted here.

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Chutney and Mango
7 mm



A little tribute to two lovely cats, one of whom has recently passed on. We miss you, Mango :(

Figures are from Mega Miniatures. I haven't decided what to put on the base yet, perhaps some plants and grass.

Something New

It's "Talk Like a Pirate Day"! My secret pirate is done and emailed off to Exodus Road so in 1 week maybe I will win me some BOOTY!

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Imperial Hot Water Heater Repairman
28mm



I'm starting one of the minis received from tidoco2222 in the Mini Exchange. I'm not sure what exactly he's supposed to be, or what that huge thing he's carrying really is. So he's now a member of the Adeptus Thermaquaticus, cyborg monks responsible for maintaining the hot water heaters in Imperial buildings and spacecraft. An important duty, as a Space Marine who has had a cold shower in the morning is a dangerous creature.

(This is a resin mini, converted a little by me. Green bits are putty, and the protruding "faucet" is a bent plastic rod)

Received!

Received from Tidoco2222 for Miniature Exchange #9:



Confrontation "Metatron" and GW "Dark Elf of some sort".



GW "power-armoured Orc" and Scibor Miniatures' "robed cyborg".

I'll probably paint the cyborg guy first, he looks intriguing. Personal issues have stalled my painting lately but my Mystery Pirate is about 2/3 done...