Workbench of a Madman

2012-06-25 22.26.35, a photo by The Gonk on Flickr.

It has been a whirlwind summer so far. The wife and kids left for Germany even before school was out-- but no rest for the wicked, as days later, I was off to Las Vegas for a work-related convention.

Guest Star: Dragon

DSCN0261, a photo by The Gonk on Flickr.

I went with Reaper's Young Swamp Dragon for Black Fang. He was about the right size and shape. I didn't really try to follow the module concept art for this, I just painted him black.

Supporting Cast: Reefclaw

DSCN0251, a photo by The Gonk on Flickr.

As I've mentioned before, I had to custom convert a miniature for the adventure's Reefclaw. I started with a Reaper moray eel familiar, and added claws from the Creature Components pack, bulked out with a little sculpting putty. If I'd had more time and energy, I might have added the antennae and such, but as it, it's an acceptable figure, I think.

Supporting Cast: Spider

DSCN0259, a photo by The Gonk on Flickr.

Here's the Reaper figure I painted up for the spider in the Beginner Box adventure. He's just a little guy for a giant spider, so I went with a realistic paint scheme on him based on some stock picture I found on the Internet. I was pleased with how he turned out.

Pathfinder Iconic Character: Valeros

DSCN0233, a photo by The Gonk on Flickr.

My version of the Pathfinder iconic fighter, Valeros. I wanted to make his stone mug a touristy one for Faerun, but it was pretty darn small and decided against it! I'm not very satisfied with his eyes-- but I'm done!

Iconic Pathfinder Character: Kyra

DSCN0225, a photo by The Gonk on Flickr.

My paint up of the Pathfinder iconic Cleric, Kyra. The eyes are a little sloppy in the magnified pictures, but in real life, her eyes are spot on for the artwork, it's really nice. Again, I totally missed that red sash. Someday-- maybe-- I'll fix it.

Iconic Pathfinder Character: Merisiel

DSCN0217, a photo by The Gonk on Flickr.

My paint up of the iconic Pathfinder rogue Merisiel, a.k.a. Patrish, a.k.a. Kaijitsu.

Iconic Pathfinder Character: Ezren

DSCN0212, a photo by The Gonk on Flickr.

Here is my work up of Ezren, a.k.a. Slate in our game! Already picking up some wear on his casting index finger...Number Two Son, almost four, likes to take HIS turn playing with Daddy's little men. Below is the reference picture and more angles on the miniature. I'm pleased with him, although the color balance is pretty bad in these pictures...dammit Internet, I'm a painter, not a photographer!

The First Time is Always the Best

1st Character, a photo by The Gonk on Flickr.

So Number One Son wasn't really fooling about creating his first character. I came in last night with the Pathfinder Bestiary, as our local semi-FLGS, Nord's Games, is going out of business and blowing out their stock at 40% off. As soon as I walk in the door, he launches into a torrent about his character.

"He's got an 18 Strength and a 16 Dexterity!"

"Wow!"

"And I found some armor that gave me +9 so I have an Armor Class of 19!"

"Really! You were able to afford that with your starting money?"

Big grin. "Weeeeeeeellll..."

Pathfinder Complete, Part Three

DSCN0205, a photo by The Gonk on Flickr.

The third half of the first day of our Pathfinder fun (part one, part two). We played this last Sunday, and it went well, although not quite as smoothly for a variety reasons, mostly my fault. We had time on Sunday, and I had been monstrously busy at work, and figured this was about the only time I would have for at least another week, and I wanted to get the game finished. However, I had also just bought Number One Daughter the Hunger Games. She is a voracious, obsessive reader, and she made it clear in no uncertain terms that should would rather be reading!! I made it clear that I would really rather come and play with us, and I won. However, she was a little sulky. Mistake first of many, I suppose.

Pathfinder Complete, Part Two

DSCN0205, a photo by The Gonk on Flickr.

The second half of the first day of our Pathfinder fun, but only the first half of the second game, so the second half will be in a third part. Whew! I asked Number One Daughter, twelve, to join us for the module included in the Pathfinder Beginner Box. She is not a gamer. She has fun when she plays games with us, but she rarely will initiatie or even express desire to participate in any games we play, unlike her brother. She wasn't opposed, just somewhat apathetic. She does enjoy drama a lot, though, so I talked about the story aspect, about how it wasn't a game in the traditional sense, but there were some rules to help people stay in their character's abilities. I also discussed the similarities with improvisational acting, and she became mildly intrigued. She noted how she was familiar with XPs and levels from Pokemon, and I told her how all that had originated with D&D.

Pathfinder Complete, Part One

DSCN0205, a photo by The Gonk on Flickr.

Today was Number One Son's birthday. As I have been mentioning here, he got the Pathfinder Beginner Box. However, he also got the friggin' LEGO Batcave, so after opening presents, he immediately retired to his room to start assembling that! I peeked in a couple of times over the next hour or so, and he didn't even crack the seal on the Pathfinder box! However, before too long he came asking if we could play it. That actually threw me for a bit of a loop, as I had planned to play in the afternoon, when Number One Daughter would be available to play as well. So, I had to put my improv hat on.

Time Keeps On Tickin'

Pathfinder iconic characters, a photo by The Gonk on Flickr.

Holy Schnikes!! It seems like just a week ago I had two weeks to get the Pathfinder figures done. According to my calendar, I'm down to just one week now, as Number One Son's birthday is just next Sunday! Fortunately, I was able to bang out two more characters this weekend-- Merisiel and Kyra, the two ladies of the pregenerated characters. So I have the female-friendly angle down, and hopefully can get Number One Daughter, 12 years old, to participate with us. She is not big on gaming, but she seems to be able to feign enjoyment when I force her-- but, she does love acting, so I will be emphasizing role playing as "improvisational theater" to to hopefully pique her interest.

Ezren versus Reefclaw

Ezren vs. Reefclaw, a photo by The Gonk on Flickr.

I mentioned painting up some Pathfinder figures for Number One Son. Here's the first of the four pregen characters, the "iconic" wizard Ezren. I have looked through the beginner module that comes with the set, and bought what figures I didn't have. I already had goblins and skeletons, and I picked up a small spider and a small dragon. However, I did not have and could not find a miniature for one unique Pathfinder monster they will encounter-- a reefclaw. It "resembles a lobster in the front and an eel in the back," so I decided to take a Reaper moray eel familiar I already had and give it some claws from the Reaper monster parts pack. Here you can see my start on it.

Skullcracker Bird

Skullcracker Bird, a photo by The Gonk on Flickr.

I just finished up my ShadowSea Skullcracker Bird. Technically a fantasy model, he'll probably serve as a pseudo-historical albeit anachronistic Terror Bird in some prehistoric games with Number One Son. It's a nice resin model, and to stabilize it I mounted it on some plasticard (a For Sale sign from the local hardware store). It's surprisingly light, although thick enough everywhere that it seems durable. The paint scheme is loosely based on the snake eating Roadrunner, but I turned his flaring crown feathers into a display. Speaking of resin models, I spent the weekend in Memphis with my wife for our sixteenth wedding anniversary. My mom watched the kids in the evenings so that my wife and I could celebrate, but during the day I took Number One Son to the Games Workshop Battle Bunker.

Blu-Tack holds the hobby together

DSCN0058, a photo by The Gonk on Flickr.

An amusing little snapshot of my workspace. I got the urge to put a few things together, which required a fair amount of epoxying. In the process of curing, I propped all the guys into position as best I could using one of my main stay hobby tools-- Blu-Tack. I wanted Orangatango as soon as I saw him. Super apes are fun, I already have handfuls, and one more is always appreciated. Still, as Orangutan-based super apes go, I still think Harangutan is my favorite, just for the pun. Reaper's mummy pharaoh Khalith is waiting some finishing touches that don't require any Blue-Tac-- although I used that craft paint bottle topped with Blue-Tac as a handle while painting him. I also have handfuls of Reaper Egyptian figures. They hit the table about as often as the super apes...which is to say, not very often... Speaking of super apes, or their mechanically augmented cousins, I recently stumbled across Ammon Miniatures's Cyber Monkey and couldn't let that pass by. Now he was a chore, lots of fiddly gluing and soft resin in an awkward pose-- can't wait to drop him and ruin him! Which I'm sure will happen eventually! And, speaking of resin, with Blue-Tac holding up his atrophied little wings, I assembled my ShadowSea Skullcracker Bird. I picked him up at Fall-In! and he will presumably be fighting my Neanderthals at some point as an only slightly anachronistic Terror Bird.

The kids are painting well

I've been painting a fair bit with the kids lately. Here is a bunch of long out-of-print Harlequin Nightlings we've been painting. Once they're done, it's hard for me to tell which ones I've painted and which they have. As I've mentioned, we've used what I call the Velas Technique: stain painting over white primer, followed by a dip. It's very forgiving to beginning painters, and the GW Devlin Mud wash makes a non-toxic, water clean up dip that even the kids can apply. We still have several Nightlings to paint, although right now my son and I are painting Primaeval Designs Woolly Mammoths and Neanderthals. He's very much into prehistory, which is largely why I purchased them, and has repeatedly begged to paint for free, but I force him to take wages! "Son, if somebody offers you money to do something you really want to do, you say YES!"

Painting With the Kids

Back before Fall-In!, I painted a little with the kids again. We haven't done it in a while and it was nice to get back into it. We've been painting up a bunch of old Harlequin Nightlings I got on closeout somewhere along the ages. We've painted 27 foot and 4 mounted now, and they really look great. I need to run a game with them for the kids. We choose a painting style really great for inexperienced painters (what I've dubbed the Velas technique after the Velas brothers who used it to great effect as a speed painting technique)-- I prime white, then the kids stain paint with thinned paint. I go back and wash the figures with Games Workshop's Devlin Mud (an easier to clean, non-toxic version of the Miracle Dip) and then flock the bases. I've seen worse looking figures at conventions! I'd be proud to run a game with the figures my kids have painted.

Reaper 03125: Bailey Silverbell, Dwarf

Not sure what I did wrong with these pictures, but they are really not doing the subjects justice. This sweet little girl may be my best female face ever. I will definitely have to take another shot at photographing her at some point. I thought her clothes colors turned out really well, and the large gold armor looks good enough. That's something I could work on, definitely. Not too crazy about the blade, either. It just seems like it needs a little something more. The cape also looks like it was quickly drybrushed instead of having more time spent on it-- I wonder why? Overall, though, I'm very pleased with this figure, one of my better ones. Now, it's back to 15mm WW2, when and if ever I get more painting time...

Reaper 03227: Garrett, Adventuring Cleric

Just another couple of distractions, I swear! I have my Flames of War 88 battery primed and rigged up to glue. It just takes a few nights for the rubber cement to dry, prime, etc... And, I have had a few primed fantasy figures on the table now for several months. I finally picked one up and starting slopping paint on it. I was pretty concerned about the colors on this guy, but went and picked up a bunch of Reaper Master series paints, including that Weathered Blues triad. I really liked it, it actually looks much better in person than in this photo. I wasn't really pleased with these photos, but just couldn't be bothered working too hard on it. It was a long weekend.