Thick-skinned undead

Zombie Rhinoceros
28mm scale

Animal zombies... a philosophical mystery.  We know human zombies as mindless, bloodthirsty savages, reduced to a single drive: kill the living.  But when other animals are infected, do they become the same species of generically aggressive, flesh-rending creature?  Or is some vestige of their original nature preserved?

This is another Bears Head Miniature, received as a miscast freebie in my last order.

Since somebody asked, the basing is Milliput textured with an Instant Mold stamp of the bumpy privacy glass from our bathroom door :D

The last sight of many an African zombie-hunter...

Nancy's Harbor Cafe

Gnome Barmaid
20mm

So come take a drink and drown your sorrows
And all of our fears will be gone till tomorrow
We'll have no regrets and live for the day
In Nancy's Harbour Cafe

Look out, Nancy!  Some drunken wharf rat's made a horrible mess on the floor of her tavern!  She'll have to step carefully until her scullion can clean it up.  But she's seen worse; at least it's not blood and severed limbs... this time.

Nancy is a Bear's Head Miniature.

"All right, who ordered the owlbear stew?  And Korgoth, you're paying for that chair!

Canine Conjurer

Cornelius, Golden Retriever Wizard
28mm scale

Misty morning, clouds in the sky
Without warning, the wizard walks by
Casting his shadow, weaving his spell
Funny clothes, tinkling bell

A coworker recently showed me something pretty cool: she had backed the "Animal Adventures: Tales of Dungeons and Doggies" Kickstarter!  She recently received 13 lovely fantasy adventurer dog figures in the classic character classes: wizard, monk, fighter, bard, paladin, druid and so on.  Naturally, I offered to paint one for her: this classic magic user complete with battered Gandalf-style hat and spell books.  It's a really lovely set, especially considering they're plastic figures.

"All right, calm down there Shardik.  How about a nice Cure Light Wounds spell?"

Ursus arctos horribilis

Grizzly Bear
28mm scale

The bare necessities
That's why a bear can rest at ease
With just the bare necessities of life

Philip Hynes' animal sculpts are really incredible; more wildlife art than gaming figures, really.  I got this lovely figure as a miscast in my Bears' Head Miniatures order.  I just had to fill some large bubbles on its stomach and do some dental work.  North American brown bears come in a variety of coat colours, so I had a fair bit of leeway in that regard; this reddish hue was a purely esthetic choice.

The base is an ambitious improvement on my old "Italian seasoning forest base" method... I added some fallen North American tree species and woodland flowers to liven it up a bit.  This was a really enjoyable project; expressive, beautiful, and quite a change from my usual subject matter.

Living her be(a)st life...

Galaxy Guardian

Baby Groot
180mm

"Groot, you can't.  You'll die!  Why?  Why are you doing this?
"WE are Groot."

This one's a slightly different project from my usual.  My 5yo son is a big Guardians of the Galaxy fan and I made this to decorate his room.  Groot is made from Fimo, sculpted over a wire and tinfoil armature.  I filled the pot with plaster with a bit of pea gravel to give it some heft.  I've never worked substantially with Fimo before, it was surprisingly easy and forgiving to use.  I had to make this in stages so it was baked probably 4-5 times and the first part I did (the head) shows no discoloration, cracking etc.  I added a bit of dark washing to enhance his wood grain, and a few painted details which I think make him look very similar to the recently-sprouted Baby Groot as he appears at the end of the first GotG movie.  He's about 18 cm tall and another 10 cm for the pot, so this is definitely not a small item, by my standards anyway.  Lots of fun, and hopefully my son will like having this cute guy hanging out on his dresser!

Bear Market

It's always exciting when some good mail arrives.  Of course, as an adult your only mail generally is bills, and things you ordered yourself... But an order from Philip Hynes' Bear's Head miniatures is exceptional!  This is the output of a couple of unique Kickstarters plus his regular, fantastic catalogue.

Received: 28mm "Mother of Spiders", Nancy the Gnome Barmaid, an orangutan, a fox... and Narthoks the sci-fi Beholder!

Bonus: resin miscasts which Philip sent me for free: a zombie rhino, bigfoot, bear, and bartender Narthoks!  A bit of TLC and putty should be enough to make these guys look great too!

 I'm currently finishing up an unrelated craft project, which I'll share soon, but I can't wait to get painting these. 

An offer you can't refuse

Dirty Thirties Gangsters
15mm

I painted this buncha wise guys for the same person who sent me some 10mm fantasy characters a while back.  They're Khurasan's "LC-103, Sheparton's gangster henchmen" from his eldritch horror range.  These may have spurred some light research into men's fashion, prompted by such questions as "did hats match suits?" and "who wore spats?" (in this case the two dapper goons on the right).

You came to the wrong neighborhood

Alien thugs
15mm

The streets of Dropfall are home to a wide array of unsavory and dangerous characters... these two nonhumans make a career out of violence and petty theft.

Figures are from Alternative Armies: Kardul and Oni.

"Look at humans!  Fancy pair is them... Think they took wrong turn, yes?"

"You again!"

Children of the 80's

As a kid in the 80s, I played with the classic 80's toys - especially GI Joe and Transformers - almost every day.  In the last while I've run into the blogs of a few hobbyists who are tabletop-gaming 28mm GI Joe...  It's a pretty cool idea, and presents the chance for lots of fun hobby projects.  From Katsuhiko Jinnai's "The Realm of Jinnai":

Wow... stunning work, and nostalgia overload :O  I am unsure where he gets all these amazing figures; some are clearly conversions but many seem to be custom sculpts?!

Now I've found a very cool new thing.:

For Cobraaaaa!

For Eterniaaaaa!

Like Jinnai, Doctor Merkury does a lot of converting to produce his Joes... and He-Man characters!  And my personal fave: he 3-D prints Transformers!  What?!

As a bonus, both these bloggers are fantastic photographers who use backdrops and terrain pieces to maximum effect showing off their work... which I can really appreciate :D

Hail to the chief

Barbarian War Chieftain
15 mm

OK, this is going to be the last Barbarica figure for a while.  These guys are some of the best 15 mm figures I've had the pleasure of painting, but I need a change of scenery!

Here's a group shot.  A fine looking bunch, I think!

Everybody Dance Now

Barbarian Dancers
15 mm

All alone I have cried
Silent tears full of pride
In a world made of steel
Made of stone...

Whether preparing for battle, celebrating a victory, or just hailing the end of another long winter, every barbarian feast needs some drumming and dancing.  Hopefully, the dancers' ritual will please whatever wild pagan gods their people worship, and herald another year of prosperity...

Once again, models are Copplestone's 15mm Northlander Characters, via North Star Military Figures.  Since someone mentioned it below, the skin tones and highlights on these two figures are all Army Painter Warpaints "Barbarian Flesh" mixed with white.  My previous Barbarica figures used this as well as some Vallejo Pale Flesh and GW Vomit Brown.

"Sigrid, I'm not sure I approve of her new style..."

Undersea Boat

The Nautilus
scale unknown

“I am not what you call a civilised man! I have done with society entirely, for reasons which I alone have the right of appreciating. I do not, therefore, obey its laws, and I desire you never to allude to them before me again!”

This unusual model is actually a game piece from the board game "Nemo's War", painted for a friend.  She requested I follow the box art as closely as possible, and I think the resulting deep aqua turned out quite well.  This is a small piece, under 50mm long, but with very good detail for a board game token.

Looks like fun!

Adeptus Caduceus

Space Marine Medic (1988)
25mm scale

Well, this Marine is a real blast from the past... he dates all the way back to my earliest teenage years in the hobby!  He first appeared in the 1988 Citadel catalogue alongside a horde of other charming sculpts:

Space Marines were definitely a different breed back then: a lot less like walking tanks and more like elite soldiers, and the sculpts reflected that.  More personality, fewer skulls and purity seals.  And we walked uphill to school, both ways, it was a golden age, etc.

Anyway, I bought this guy for cheap on eBay many years back, a satisfying score.  His backpack is from the remnants of the old plastic "Beakies" set I keep in my bitz box.  He might not be my best work ever, but I think I captured that old White Dwarf painting style pretty well.

"By the Emperor, I think it might be too late for this one..."

The Return of Javi

Good news, everyone! 

The sculptor and painter I once titled my "Most Loyal Reader" has returned!  After a lengthy (I feared permanent) hiatus, Javi, proprietor of Lazy Minis, has started posting again, with two vibrant and creative offerings in his own inimitable style!  Check out his blog, it's a lot of fun :)

"Beware Contrarium"

"Cool Comeback... Or Not"

Definitely a style apart from mine... but he's got talent, and a real sense of humour!  Javi, don't ever stop :D

A bloodsucker born every minute

Cyberpunk Vampire
28 mm

Before the morning can break we retire
The searing heat of the sun we avoid
Await the dark, proud Walachian fighters
Armata strigoi

I have absolutely no idea where this amazing figure is from; I found it in a bitz bin at Nexus Games in Kingston ON a few years ago.  It's cast in delicate light blue resin with a fair amount of flash, so I don't think it was from a board game:

Anyway I was very excited to finally paint it, and it didn't disappoint!  What a cool character.  He's got a mix of high-tech and medieval style armor, and he's wearing an IV that constantly feeds him blood for that all-night vampire fix...

"You must be new in town!  No wonder you haven't met Mr. Pointy..."

A sucker born every minute

"Kraken" game piece
no scale

I'm happy to say I finished the "Abyss" Kraken game piece in record time!  It helps that it's only three colours, all based on the same blue shade to tie it together... but still.  That's a lot of suckers!  I wanted a murky but richly-colored deep-sea look so I tried to avoid my usual near-white highlights here.  It's a bit shiny; I gave it a durable (I hope) satin clear coat to keep it looking good for many plays.  Fun, and a bit different :)