Day 4: Ring, Dwarven Rogue

I'd originally bought today's mini in 2008, at the dawn of 4th edition D&D. I'd come up with the idea for a sassy, headstrong, dwarven rogue with the moniker "Ring" that ran away from her mountian home to avoid a less-than-favorable betrothal.

So I wrote up a little back story, bought this mini (Reaper's Bailey Silverbell), and waited for the new edition of D&D so I could play her.

Turns out that was a terrible combination. In an edition where optimization and mobility was pretty important dwarven rogues had no stat support, and less movement than most. So I filed away my character for another day, and tossed the mini into the bits box: Never to be painted or played.

Until my GM got a hold of 13th Age, that is.

13th Age is a bit more free-form. One of your stat bonuses comes from race, and another from class, so suddenly "Ring" was a lot more viable, and I got to painting.

The campaign went on hiatus before I finished the minis, but I thought this'd be a good opportunity to complete Ring at least.

More tomorrow.

~Muninn

Day 3: David Gore

Today's mini was a bit of a pain in the butt.

The owner of my friendly local gaming store bought Fantasy Flight's Adventurers as a present for his daughter, and wanted all of the minis painted before she got back from a road trip this week.

I told him I'd take a stab at a few of them, in exchange for a pot of Red Gore paint (I need it to paint my remaining Chaos guys & my paint pot just dried up), so he handed me a pair of minis and the character card that showed how they should be painted.

 The minis themselves are lowish quality as far as these things go. The faces are really non-descript, with almost no detail (the second mini has it way worse. I imagine you'll see her in a few days). They're just as soft and bendy as Bones, so you have to watch how you handle them too. There's also that mold line under his pointing arm. The store owner flashed most of the model & primed it so I left it alone, but now I can't stop staring at it whenever I look at the picture.

Plus this guy was wearing a while suit & pants. That's always fun while attempting to paint speedily.

 Here's the art he was based on.

I stayed true to the color scheme. Although I imagine my mini's suit is more of a light cream than white, but it still stands. The face is what got me the most though. It's all wrong to me, so I did what I could before calling it good enough for government work.

Wife & I are going to go see a show in Portland tomorrow, so the next mini might be a little late.

~Muninn

Day 2: Fenrisian Wolf

The second finished mini for the month is a Fenrisian Wolf commission for a friend's Night Wolves army. This is the 18th and final wolf from the group I did for him. This one lagged behind the others a bit because I've been taking my time in order to take photos for a tutorial.

I adapted the Zenith spray painting technique a bit in order to knock out a bunch of these wolves in a quick and easy fashion. It isn't super high-end painting, but it should catch plenty of attention to see over a dozen painted wolves hit the table.

Aside from the base and several details (eyes, teeth, paw-pads) only one paint is used. Everything else is spray paint and washes.

I'll be posting a tutorial in the next few days.

~Muninn

Day 1: Pathfinder Alchemist

I took it easy for the fist day.

This guy started as a test mini for painting freckles, but ended up pretty decent. He's actually a Reaper Bones version of the Iconic Alchemist. A few months back I wanted to try a few stippling/splattering/spraying methods for freckles, so I picked up this mini. I got it for $2, since it was on consignment, so I wasn't particularly worried about making him look good.

Well, the freckles really didn't work, and by that time I'd come to really like the color scheme I came up with for this guy so I set to painting him. I was later derailed by a shiny object, so he was never finished until now.

Like all the Bones minis I've dealt with, he's kinda bendy (particularly that arm & wand) and the details suffer a bit, like the nose. I tried to compensate with a bit of shading.  All told a decent start to my month.

More tonight as soon as I have time to post today's mini.

~Muninn

Welcome back to the Madness

For the third year in a row I'm doing my Muninn's May Mini Madness challenge.

This is a 31 day exercise where I attempt to complete a mini a day. I take some of my started, but unfinished miniatures (and occasionally ones that are just primed) and finish them off in a month-long painting exercise.

The first year was pretty easy. I had tons of models to choose from, minis set aside, prepped & ready, as well as a lot of free time outside of work. Last year I had newborn twins taking up my attention, although I was on family leave from work, so I still had some time to spare.

2012

2013

This year I have two active & inquisitive twins, a puppy, my full time job, and relatively little prepared for the month ahead. I called last year Nightmare mode.

Welcome to Hell Mode.

~Muninn

Muninn 40k!

I started this blog in July of 2012. I wanted a place to post my commissions, ideas, techniques, and all sorts of mini goodness. I genuinely enjoy sharing my work, and really like hearing the feedback.

I've been a bit busy lately, working on a large Night Wolf commission (pics coming) so I kinda missed the fact that I've recently reached over 40,000 hits on my blog. That normally isn't a significant number but hell, I play 40k, so it's significant to me.

The last 21 months have been pretty exciting. The kids are growing like weeds, so I've had to find new ways to keep my paints and swallowable minis away from them. In addition, my family recently got a puppy. Here's Pepper.

"I pooped somewhere in the house, but I'm not gonna tell you where"

The last month and a half has been dedicated to the Night Wolves. Here's one of the recently finished pieces: a Chooser of the Slain. The client furnished the mini, and wanted it to look like a neophyte. I wasn't quite able to capture a youthful appearance, but I still think it's neat.

I had some fun with Lahmian Medium to create the OSL from the candle. I'll have to try it again soon.

In future news, I may attempt my May Mini Challenge for a third year. I haven't decided yet, but I'm leaning "yes." It's a great way to finish a lot of the incomplete minis I've started, but never finished. I certainly have enough minis, but I'm not sure if I have enough time.

We shall see.

~Muninn

Wood Elves leaks: Treemen, Treemen everywhere.

I got a hold of this Week's White Dwarf weekly, and am pleased to see all the awesome Treemen they've produced. I don't play Wood Elves, but I've always had a real soft spot for the pointy-eared xenophobes. 

The one thing I've never cared for about their lineup was the Treemen. They always looked like big lumbering trees (as silly as that is to write). I wanted something more svelte, more dynamic, and boy did GW deliver.

 

 I really like how the treemen have a kind of sub-skin, and the bark-like exterior. I can see having a lot of fun painting that, considering all the different types of tree there are. My first idea would be to paint it like an Australian Bloodwood tree. The underskin could be a nice rich red, and the bark could be a earthy brown. It'd made a sharp & interesting contrast.

Here are a few more shots from the magazine too.

~Muninn