Minismith's Forge

Pudding on a Base With Cthulus

2012-01-21T01:20:00.001-05:00

A strange and wonderful terrain idea I had the other night and threw together.

Nowhere near done but it's going to be pretty simple and I think pretty cool...

It's not actually pudding just some weird thick paint I don't like to use on minis that I want to use up.

Bennu and Percipiant- Minis for WarGods and Beyond

2012-01-17T23:51:00.000-05:00

A "red peacock" or Bennu for the Monsters of Ægyptus project!

It's a Forge of Ice peacock mini painted to be a not-phoenix. I was inspired by Alex's latest posted pics of a painted one of these in traditional peacock colors to finally finish my non-traditional red version...

Then something that's been sitting around unfinished for years and years. This is the Percipiant, more on the background of it elsewhere and later. The piece is the back disk-thingy from the Chronopia Stygian Priestess. It was painted up first long before I decided to do something totally different with the Priestess.

It's been sitting around for over ten years waiting to be called up for some purpose or other. I decided to base it as an objective marker or something. More info will eventually be posted over in the Duelling Scrolls blog...

The State of the Forge- January 2012

2012-01-15T14:27:00.001-05:00

The Minismith's Forge was cleaned and everything removed and reprioritized for the change in calender. Then some of the old stuff returned and some new stuff got put on it.

And still not much has gotten finished lately.

The only finished things so far this year have been a couple of figs for eBay up in the top left of the pic (check out the eBay Minis Blog http://minismithebay.blogspot.com/ to see the not-as-awesome-as-I'd-hoped Chronoscope minis in more detail). But the lag will soon change- I've got a couple of things almost ready to roll out for public view, just a few more painting hours and they'll be ready, hopefully, maybe...

So the first actual update for 2012 should come out before the end of the month. Anything you see in this picture that you want to see finished and posted drop me a line to lobby for it!

WarGods What To Paint- Episode 2

2011-10-24T12:12:00.000-04:00

WIP pics of the two minis that were voted into the painting queue-- there was a"tie" between the Priest of Ptah and the Celtos figure that will be a Priestess of Isis (aka the nekkid chick).

Not a lot of progress yet--

Color suggestions will be tolerated and possibly used.

What To Paint Next? - WarGods Edition

2011-09-21T14:10:00.000-04:00

I've done a couple of cool conversions (the 2 figs in the middle) lately but I've had trouble deciding what to paint next. Of these 4 WarGods-themed minis which one do you think should get the honor of paint next?

First is a Celtos Priestess sculpted by Kev White. I did one of these before and painted her up like Ororo (Storm) from the X-Men. This one will again be used as a Priestess of Isis and I'm going to try the Ororo look with better results...

Next up is a little Satyr Hero. This is another Kev White mini, converted with hair, a bow, and quiver. He was bleep to get together how I wanted, but I think he turned out pretty much how I saw him in my head.

Thirdly is a converted Priestess of Isis. I decided that I need to have another Mistress of Words available, so I went with a scorpion-theme and decided to call her Selket (after the scorpion goddess). She'll have some interesting writhing on the unfurled scroll that helps cover up the area where I removed the macehead.

Finally there's the Priest of Ptah (possibly a stand-in Master of Words too). Nothing done to him, sadly.
So vote for A B C or D (or 1-4 or a description). The winning mini will be finished in a few days of the final tally and put up for viewing.

This bonus picture is a comparison of the Satyr Hero and one of the actual Satyr figs (partially painted).

Warhawk Captain- with and Without Flash

2011-08-30T11:24:00.000-04:00

This guy was painted a couple of years or more back. I've been wanting to see the difference between using the flash with my lighting setup and not using it for some time. The recent request to see painted versions of it on the Wargods forums gave me the perfect opportunity to perform the experiment.

I think the no-flash method works best on some minis and the flash is good for others. Again it's been proven to me that it's a case-by-case basis. This guy looks best with the flash...

3 GenCon Buys Painted!

2011-08-16T14:55:00.001-04:00

...of course 2 of them were from GenCon 2010.

The 2 Ngoni Archers have been primed since soon after GenCon 2010, but the Cowboy was started and finished in a couple of hours (along with the Archers). All 3 are on eBay to help pay for GenCon 2011. But if they don't sell I'll be able to put them to good use. You can see individual pics at the MF Minis for eBay blog.

Minismith's Forge Edition "Priest of Aten Revealed" Conversion

2011-08-11T18:10:00.001-04:00

Those brave souls who took part in the Akhenaton Heresy WarGods World Campaign Finale at GenCon 2009 got to keep one of the "Priest of Aten Revealed" miniatures.

A little background- the Atenist warbands had Priests of the new heretic god Aten. These mysterious figures were believed to be normal humans but during the big fight at GenCon their true form was revealed. I think it was after the Old Gods' 'surgical strike team' (a Typhon Assassin, an Anubi Embalmer, and someone else I forgot because it was a long time ago- sorry) destroyed the Ark of Aten. Tons of snakes poured out of it and formed a giant writhing snake monster the Firstborn of the S'syth/Apohpis. The Priests of Aten were revealed to be S'syth agents with serpent heads.

Alex Bates, the biggest WarGods fan in Alaska, has often lamented that he didn't get one of these specially converted miniatures. He's a hardcore collector of Crocodile Games' miniatures and has at least one of almost everything released and unreleased-- except for the Priest of Aten Revealed figure that only a handful of folks have. So I taunt Alex from afar with pictures of mine from time to time.

Until now...

I decided to put my considerable conversion skills towards pacifying Alex. The result is a totally unique version of the Priest of Aten Revealed. Sure he's got a cobra head instead of the slithery generic snake head, but that just makes him even cooler.

Chris Fitzpatrick gave me a few of the cobra heads a couple of years ago to use as I would. He cast them up for his own personal use for terrain projects and stuff. I, however, have used them in a few conversions to make a cobra-headed lion, a cobra-headed mummy, some other cobra-headed thing, and this Priest of Aten Revealed. I have 3 left because I sent one to Alex along with the mini.

For the paint scheme I went with a slightly more fancy version of the original (most of the originals were finished the night before the big game). The main thing is the alternating colors on his belt.

I think he turned out pretty good and I hope Alex likes him and will use him with a smile, knowing that his is the rarest of all....

I shall avoid the temptation to do up another of these- it'll at least have a different priest body if I do.

Post-GenCon 2011 Flurry

2011-08-10T15:52:00.002-04:00

Well, maybe just a sprinkle, but there has been some progress on some stuff in the past few days.

First up we have the Aspect of the Huntress conversion that was started after GenCon 2010. Longtime MF readers may remember this post.

Now it can be revealed that the human body is indeed that of a rare Harbinger of Isis (!). Some may be upset that this figure was chopped up for this project, but she had a badly miscast foot and Fitz gave me a replacement so I didn't want to waste the bits potential.

Now she's together with stuff hiding the joint of the human body to the Huntress body. I'm not sure where the furry bit came from, but it fits nicely. To help stabilize her and make sure she stays on the base I used one of Alex Bates' sherden shields to act as a base widener for her pointy 'feet.'

On her back is a scorpion-handled sheathed knife that I also forget the source of. You can see the battle debris on the base a little better from this angle. There's the sherden shield that's broken and the Huntress has one of her feet sticking through the shield. Also, to add to the vignette, there's a spear (actually a long pole and a dagger blade glued close together to look like a spear) that's bent a little.

Then there's these bits. The mini is finished and painted, but I will hold off for a couple days to build the suspense...

Shining Chariot 3- Blazing Horizon FINISHED!

2011-08-08T15:44:00.001-04:00

Based, sealed, and ready to go. Blazing Horizon took part in the WarGods Pandora's Box World Campaign Finale at GenCon on Saturday. It didn't die right away and it looked great...

The Phoenix Banner with my unpatented 'strawsheath system' to hold it in place. The banner pole slips into the strawsheath which is over the chariot's short banner pole. This makes storage very easy and the banner can be used as an objective or something when it's in the "base-sheath."

Coming very soon, Shining Chariot 4, Sidereal Gloam. Also a little something for Alex? ;)

Sebeki Priest and Guardian of the Delta

2011-07-23T15:16:00.000-04:00

Two miniatures meant mainly for WarGods of Ægyptus usage.

First up we have "Min, Guardian of the Delta."

An old Chronopia miniature that I've rebased and touched up so he can be used as an Asar Hero- especially in the Traveller's Luminaries warband.

It's too early to tell if he will be available to the Luminaries for the Pandora's Box Finale at GenCon but this way he's ready to come right off the bench and into the fray...

And finally, after several years sitting on the painting table (and elsewhere) partially painted, the Crocodile Games 5th Anniversary Sebeki Mascot/Sebeki Priest!

He's done and I'm always mad when I remember how fun Sebeki are to paint up. I usually avoid my Sebeki backlog because I think they're going to be tedious and hard. But once I finally focus on one they're a snap.

Yes he's got an Ork pouch with 2 bullets on it on his left hip. I figured that can represent his sling or some special religious gear (like the holy hand grenade).

This guy turned out much better than expected. I want to paint another Sebeki now...

More Blazing Horizon Progress and an Alteration

2011-07-06T17:21:00.002-04:00

Just more painting progress.

I've attached the whole thing to its base now (slightly larger than a standard chariot base- 60mm x 110mm).
The base is one of the "taskboard" samples I got a few years ago from a posting on TMP.

As you may notice, I snipped off the flagpole. It was getting in the way and I realized that it was way too tall for easy storage/transport. I've got a few ideas about how to proceed so there will be an awesome banner pole, but they are still in the planning stages at the moment.

The floor of the chariot is completed and has a few coats of matte sealer to protect it from any clumsy handling. I think it has come out very well and I can't wait for the 4th Shining Chariot to do something similar...

Blazing Horizon Painting Progress

2011-06-23T15:28:00.001-04:00

Okay, the name has changed from "Burning Horizon" to "Blazing Horizon" because it sounds better. Some painting has taken place, including a nice surprise on the floor of the chariot. Enjoy...

Shining Chariot 3 “Burning Horizon”

2011-06-17T13:28:00.001-04:00

First came Dawn’s Searing Rays. An insane undertaking to make a Mage Knight chariot into something useful- a Shining Chariot for WarGods. They said it couldn't be done but it turned out pretty good. So good that my nemesis, Jordan Banisher of the Dead, decided he needed one too.

Thus Hetshepsu’s Shining Chariot was constructed. I got input from Jordan on what should be done and he approved the progress pictures I sent him, offering suggestions. I think it turned out even better than the first. I especially liked how the flagpole turned out and cursed myself for removing it from DSR...

Now we have Burning Horizon. This will be my attempt to make a Shining Chariot I won’t decide to sell on eBay in a few years because it's just not as cool as I will have hoped it could have been (sorry about the tense madness there).

Burning Horizon will be the ultimate power on the battlefields of the Antediluvian World. She shall crash through weakened units, harass the enemy’s flanks, and sieze scenario objectives with impunity. She shall truly be an awesome sight— or at least really cool.

Once again we start with a Mage Knight Charger Chariot acquired for a wonderfully cheap price at one of my FLGS’ in anticipation of another Shining Chariot (I actually picked up TWO of them so I can have a companion Shining Chariot for later). It has a single horse, but that head is not a normal horse—painted correctly it will look like a hawk-headed horse. Sure there’s only one but it’s magical so the one horse has the power of 2 lesser horses.

Wings from a plastic wedding dove replace the wheels. They've been pinned to keep them attached for good.

On the undercarriage I've attached the tail from a smaller plastic dove to help cover the plastic support. I've added two Warhammer High Elf streamer bits around the support too. And I think I may have inally discovered the best way to attach the chariot to a base-- by securing the support in a 20mm round base that will eventually be affixed to the chariot base. This will make it easier to paint the whole thing.

Finally a little more Ægyptification of the chariot by adding the top of an old Tethru Master of Words' staff as a sort of hood ornament.. The rest will just be paint, I think.

Progress as it becomes available...

Lame Terrain 3.5- More Market Bases

2011-06-07T18:56:00.001-04:00

An extension of the previous Market Bases project. I'm mostly out of the beads now, so future expansions of the market terrain will have to wait.

This time I measured the card so I'd have 2 40x40mm bases. But the gift card shape is more than 80mm long so one is actually a little bigger because I didn't want to waste it and it's only off by a few mm. Then there were the 2 short strips that I decided would be a nice addition to the whole market base set. I have no idea how big they are because I didn't measure them.

This is the 40mm square base with Memnon the Blameless.

Here we have the 2 small bases (they're probably about 40mm long and 10mm wide?) with the Priest of Aten Revealed mini from GenCon 2009. He can't believe the prices!

Finally the 43x45mm (or whatever it is) not quite square, again with Memnon.

I set up a small market scene with Memnon and the Atenist Priest vying for the Stone Age Venus Figurine by Forge of Ice.

A mini's eye view of the confrontation.

These should help break up easy avenues on the tabletop, but I think more are needed if only for variety's sake. Hopefully I'll have a battle report or two soon with these in the pictures...

Fake Battle Scene 2- Rebel Ambush

2011-06-06T16:24:00.000-04:00

This second battle used fewer figures for the Rebels (representing their losses from the 1st battle?) but they seem to have the upper hand with an ambush ready to take the Loyalists and Yiksossi completely by surprise...

I did two versions of this and another similar shot. This one lets us see the Rebels with the blurred loyalist/Yiksossi force in the background. The other version has the Loyalists in focus with these Rebels as blurry. Both are really cool and I used a similar picture (from the other side of the big head) as the "in game" picture for my entry. Here you can really see the tie-dye job on the Khanumite guy's kilt (this ties in with the Khemru as 'sand-hippies' in WarGods).

Here we get to see Assessor Scarmoth's plan ready to spring shut onto the foreign invaders. He and the Philosopher will frontally assault the Yiksossi while the other two Rebels will attack them from behind.

The three Rebels by the big head are there initially as bait and then to provide supporting long-range fire. Hopefully the Loyalist Army unit won't screw everything up for our heroes....

I really love how this picture shows Assessor Scarmoth patiently waiting for the foreign scum to get right where he wants them to be.....

This battle's outcome is completely unknown. I never bothered to figure out how it would turn out. I'm sure it'll be a victory for the Rebels but I'm not sure if they'll capture the Reiver to use in a future attack against the Loyalists or if it will manage to escape. Let your imagination go to work...

Lame Terrain Project 3- Market Bases

2011-06-04T14:52:00.002-04:00

I've gone into lame terrain mode again. This time it's some "market bases" for use in various settings to add some things to search or impede movement. These are only the first 3. I think I've learned some valuable lessons from them that will make the next batch turn out better.

The bases themselves are simply cut from an old gift card. Gift cards are always useful to make big bases for 'unimportant' stuff- never let the store keep your empty gift card!!! Of course, I didn't actually measure the first one so it's something like 33x59mm. Oh well. The other 2 used the first one as a template so at least they match each other...

The jars are simply various glass beads from a couple of cheapo packs I picked up at JoAnn's or Hobby Lobby a while back. There is some frosting on some beads from the Gorilla Superglue, but I don't think it looks too bad. Perhaps those have cold liquid in them? Right.

Instead of gluing some of my standard desert sand to these (since I'm not sure exactly where the container is hiding) I did a painted base desert-ish thing to them like with THIS guy's base. I'm still not sure if I like the results or just the idea of the technique.

The figure for scale is a WarGods of Ægyptus Horde Mummy on a 20x20mm base.

These turned out not bad. The next set of market bases will have different sized/shaped bases (40x40?) and I've got a well that's almost done too...

Fake Battle Scene 1- Yiksossi Assault on the Secret Base

2011-05-17T12:47:00.001-04:00

For Roebeast's Trash Bash 2011 one of the pictures of the finished entry needed an "in game" background shot. Since no one (not even ME) actually plays StarGods (YET!) I had to get some minis together that have been converted, for the mostly non-existent ruleset, and some others that would fit the setting.

These are a handful from the first "game" I set up. The situation is a raid by the Yiksossi/Pharaonic Loyalists Patrol under the leadership of Loyalist Assessor (not-Jedi Knight) Harakthe (the Heru one in red) and Rogue Assessor Scarmoth's band of scrappy rebels.

A closeup of the not-lightsaber duel between Scarmoth (heroic defender of Ra's Law) and Harakthe (turncoat Loyalist to the foreign Queen Akhenatia and her Yiksossi allies). In the background is the Reiver that this is all about...

The Reiver takes center stage here. It has disgorged a 4-man Raider Team (some Void minis that were surprisingly already painted to match the Reiver) led by a Yiksossi Noble (the fancy Eldar guy). At the entrance to the rebel Base is a motley defense line ready to meet the foreign invaders (L-R: Khanumite, conversion of a Khemru Slinger; Sobekite, conversion of a Sebeki; Sirian Horus Regiment Defetor, an olde Star Trek Security Officer from RAFM[?]; Rogue Ptah [Droid/Robot], conversion of a Void Syntha guy; and a Cthood Mercenary, Wargames Factory Shock Trooper with the squid-head).

On another part of the battlefield, Apprentice Nebseni charges into a Loyalist Army unit led by a Tothian Female Noble. Nebseni is supported by some other Rebels including the Philosopher Rabhicca (the Nekharu conversion guy who is meant to be a non-Jedi wizard or something).

Of course, this battle ends with a successful Rebel escape and Assessor Harakthe suffering injuries that leave him unable to take part in the next battle. Unfortunately Nebseni also suffered injuries keeping him from the next battle ("rash young Apprentice")...

My Awesome Trash Bash 2011 Entry- Yiksossi Reiver

2011-05-10T13:33:00.002-04:00

Well I didn't win, but it turned out very cool...

Here's the explanation text for the entry:
I've built a Yiksossi Reiver raiding skimmer for use with 28-30mm miniatures. The Yiksossi are interplanetary raiders/nomads with little to no manufacturing capabilities of their own. Their vehicles have passed down from antiquity and are upgraded with whatever can be found as they move from planet to planet. Thus no two Reiver skimmers are exactly the same . Most have a 3-man crew with the capacity to carry 4-6 warriors. Their main tactic is to quickly deliver warriors to the target area then circle the target area providing heavy weapon support. A Reiver can reach ground speeds up to 35 leagues an hour and up to 40 leagues over water. This Reiver is armed with an underbelly turbolaser/electrocannon turret and dual plasma projectors. With the recent Yiksossi acquisition of the Pharaonic Throne of Aegypton V Reivers have been found on patrols to root out the rebel Asessors and their followers. The Reivers’ initial success against the rebels has met with setbacks due to the rebels recruiting many of the escaped SCARAB AI defense vehicles that were slated for destruction.

Once the SCARAB is done I'll get pics of these two vehicles battling it out.

This battle-scene is one of MANY from the two "games" of StarGods that I set up. There will be more of these pics and some backstory behind what's going on. This one is my favorite, with the Assessor and his not-lightsaber ready to give the order for his band of rebels to ambush the foreign invaders. And the Space Sebeki blurry in the foreground lie we're standing behind him as part of the rebel group....

SCARAB Project- 3- Inside and Sealed

2011-05-06T13:45:00.001-04:00

The screw has been turned and the outside is ready to be painted. Before the screw was tightened and the body sealed I decided that the inside should have some surprises for future generations who might crack the hull open...

Since there IS a big hole in the bottom through which the insides might be seen by very observant/obsessive people I decided to give them a nice show. The big fluorescent reddish/pink panel is meant to represent the glow from whatever the main energy source is. The little green areas are supposed to be various sensor things. And then there's the writing and main control panel...

At the top- my hieroglyphic signature (CBP3) that may also end up somehow being the secret name of this SCARAB. To the right and left are a couple of hieroglyphic statements that are easy to do and satisfying-looking-- let's say they're prayers or spells for good luck and strength. At the bottom is the main control panel with readouts on several things and lots of data-flow hieroglyphs and a radar-type display...

A few views of the tightly closed body of the SCARAB. Now 'just' I need to figure out the best colors to use to make it look pretty good on the tabletop....

Here we've got a 'Sobekite Rebel' (Crocodile Games Sebeki converted and painted as an Ægypton V Rebel) next to the SCARAB to show how it looks with a figure...

SCARAB Project- 2- Primed

2011-05-03T12:52:00.001-04:00

The SCARAB is mostly together. It's not sealed up yet because I want to get whatever painting needs to be done on the inside done while I can easily access the inside.

The Base is a mini CD with a Lego rod stuck to it that can be inserted into a little tube that's attached to the inside upper hull of the SCARAB. Lots of debris to make the base more interesting...

I decided that less added bits would be more for it to look good since the pleasing curve of the top is VERY pleasing to the eye. The main gun is a metal ink pen refill (empty), the underbelly gun is a bit from an olde not-Transformer, and the rear gun is a little plastic tube bit.

Hopefully the final painted version will be done soon...

First Cthood (Better Pics) & Lost Ka

2011-04-10T15:17:00.001-04:00

There were pictures of this Wargames Factory Shock Trooper HERE but the lighting was really weird and the camera wasn't so good. Now we have the good camera back and a little better lighting...

And his base is still not done yet.

Next up is a Dreamblade figure that I decided to use to represent a Lost Ka monster for WarGods of Ægyptus. You can download Issue 1 of Croc Tales, that has the rules I wrote for this guy, HERE.

I tried something different with his base. Instead of using any sand or flock on it i simply painted it to look like sandy-ish ground. I'm not sure if I like it or just like the idea of it...

SCARAB Project - 1 -Raw Materials

2011-04-09T14:39:00.002-04:00

Whilst trying to figure out what to build for Roebeast's Trash Bash 2011 I came across this awesomely-shaped mouse. I've long had plans for this thing and after seeing THIS by Fitz I realized what could be done with it.

It's a cool olde Gyropoint mouse that you could pick up off the table and be several feet away from a flat surface but it would work just as well when you moved it around in the air. It was great fun to use, but it was from a time before scroll-wheels (we've all been spoiled by those!) and it stopped functioning several years ago. Unlike most other mice, it's very symmetrical. The two gyro-buttons on the sides (the grey ones) add to its potential to be a great sci-fi vehicle.

I've called it the SCARAB because of my (lame) SF version of WarGods of Ægyptus - StarGods- Rebels of Ægypton V. In the fluff the evil foreign queen Akhenatia takes over after her husband, the beloved Pharaoh, dies mysteriously. She puts all kinds of reforms in place and tries to purge the Jedi-- I mean Assessors-- but many of them survive and become rebels fighting against her and her foreign troops and those traitorous citizens of Ægypton V that support her. One of the reforms is to decommission most of the SCARAB Swarm that was the main protection for the planet.

The SCARAB Swarm was a fleet of semi-autonomous AI weapons platforms that function in all environments. They're like OGREs but smaller and Egyptian themed-- and they can fly. So this mouse is he perfect shape to be a SCARAB. Now I just have to figure out what else to put on it to make it look really cool...

A Wargames Factory Shock Trooper plastic figure to help show how big the mouse is next to a 28mm miniature. This is gonna be fun...

Blast From the Past

2011-03-31T16:07:00.001-04:00

Because of Roebeast's Trash Bash 2011 I've dug out these two Rogue Trader-era grav-attack vehicles to use for parts and inspiration.

This first one is THE first real scratchbuilding miniatures project of mine. I had no real idea what I was doing, but it was the coolest thing ever.

The 'base' is made of 2 plastic water bottle lids (I don't think they make that kind of bottled water anymore!). The main cannon has come loose and is made from a mechanical pencil refill tube and a removable pen or pencil clip. The wings and exhaust intakes are from a cheapo plastic model kit. The nose gun is from a Transformers knockoff toy and the techy bit on the back top is from a Zoids-type toy.

The paint scheme was very simple because i wasn't a very good painter at the time- my technique was to put paint on the brush and stay in the lines...

This second one was built soon after the first because the first one was so fun to do.

The base for this one is simply a bottlecap from a 2-liter pop. The wings and underbelly "pontoons" are from another cheapo model airplane kit. The main canon is from that same not-Transformer. The nose gun is a slightly modified GI Joe vehicle weapon. The antenna/sensor wing thingy is simply a tine from a plastic spork- it has amazingly stayed in place for an amazing number of years.

The paint scheme for this one matches the first one because they were meant to be used in tandem for either some Space Marines or Eldar (whichever army needed a vehicle for a battle).

It's a bit of a shame to tear off the bits, but they were mostly attached with white glue. I'm amazed more of them haven't fallen off (only the main guns on both) by now. I'm hoping to do something just as awesome as these were but with my current skill level. I'll post some progress pics after the contest is over. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do, but that's why you sit down with your bits and start holding stuff together....

Reshoots Part 2- 2 Sexy Chick Minis (AND Clarkethulu!)

2011-03-27T15:15:00.001-04:00

The RAFM 'Cult Leader Chick' with tome of forbidden knowledge. See the original pics HERE.

Better close-ups of the book pages with faked details-- AND some interesting angles for the rest of the mini too.

The "Faith and CVlarkethulu" TwinDay 2010 mini! MUCH better pics. You can see the original ones HERE.

A much better view of the awesome "Hi Kitty" backpack into the trepidatious Clarkethulu, a truly horrible otherworldly being of incalculable might... And you can see the formless tatooo Faith's left arm - my attempt to cover up the superglue spill down her arm that I didn't notice until it was too late.

Reshoots Part 1- Crocodile Games GenCon 2010 Figs

2011-03-27T14:54:00.001-04:00

The Artifex with Anvil with a different hammer) is still my favorite To-Tanem mini. Now with the Canon camera fixed I have much better pics of him. Original pics HERE.

Then we have the wonderful (and also somewhat converted) Sebeki Conventioneer. Complete with his "Saur Wars 2012" tshirt. Original pics HERE.

Here we have an excellent overhead shot so you can see the Ka-berry slushy inside the cup. Plus you can see his "GC" badge and the 'Saur Wars' logo a little better.

This shot allows you to see the goodie bag and its contents much better. You can even see the faked details on the little blister pack and the boxes!

Jokaero Group WIPs

2011-03-18T15:20:00.001-04:00

While I was in the hospital I decided to use some of the time converting the Black Cat Bases orangutan family into Jokaero (the long-lost 40K alien race). Since the pictures were taken they've been primed, so they're ready for painting-- any color suggestions are welcome...

First up is the female. One of the first weapon options I thought of for one of the Jokaero was a Predator-style shoulder cannon. So I took an olde plastic Eldar lasgun and trimmed it down for the cannon. Then I used some thin metallic wire to form the power cable/mount. I pined it in her back and then put the plastic shield bit over the area (the rivets may end up painted as blinky lights). I figured Jokaero would have some techy or cybernetic bits under their fur, so I twirled some thin metallic wire to make them look interesting and glued them up under the shield. Finally came the optical implant or monocle. I drilled into the eye and put a bit of pin in and then glued a little springy bit over the pin...

Next was the male Jokaero. The first thing for him was the monocle/optical implant. The bit for this was a shield mount from some older GW plastic skeletons. Then I did some more wire twisting to make interesting cables to hang loose from his fur. Finally came the arm mounted tube- I don't know what's launched from it, but I'm sure it's pretty impressive...

Finally came the youth. Since this one is obviously much younger than the other two he doesn't have as much in the way implants/techy bits. Some kind of techy anklet of coiled wire. Then I put a cable in his back. I didn't get a picture of him with HIS techy eye bit/monocle.

Hopefully there will be more progress pics soon...

Skull Scarabs and Professor Zlirk

2011-03-18T15:15:00.001-04:00

While I was in the hospital I had a little time to paint, and these are the results of that painting session.

Alex Bates' 40mm Skull Scarabs finally got the attention they deserved. I decided to go with a painted muddy/sandy base for them and they've been highlighted a bit so the skull look stands out on most of them....

Black Cat Bases' Alien Conjurer (or whatever the official name is) turned out pretty cool with the addition of the eyepiece. Now it sort of looks like he's manipulating a virtual somethingerother. He's been named Professor Zlirk and I've decided the other two scientist minis will make up part of Black Cat Base Science Team Theta...

Some BCB Order Progress- Bases

2011-03-04T15:52:00.001-05:00

So today (mere moments ago) I got a little time to mess around cleaning and basing some of the Black Cat Bases figs from the previous posting. I didn't get into the Orang family conversions yet (still thinking it through to be sure I have everything i need/want to make them excellent) but the other half of the order is ready for paint!

As per jpattern2's request on TMP-- here are a couple of side by side pics of the Female Scientist and the Self Experiment Scientist. She's a little shorter than him, but he IS on a little bit of an integral base, so depending on how you base them they're roughly the same height....

Then there's the little Alien Conjurer dude. He looks much better with that nasty mold line removed-- but then I realized that his right eye is a little less defined than the left one. I'm not sure if I'll handle that with paint or give him a techy monocle to cover that up...

TMP Poll Award- Black Cat Bases Order

2011-03-01T19:36:00.002-05:00

So I answered one of the polls on TMP (like I try to do at least a couple times per week) a couple weeks ago and it turns out I actually won the Daily Poll Prize! I chose the £10 Black Cat Bases certificate. I've been drooling over a few of their figures for some time now and this was a great surprise for me. I ordered just over £10 (like many a minis fanatic I love minis but I also love to save $$).

My order arrived today (woohoo!) and the first thing that struck me was the classy UK postage stamp/sticker...

Ever since they showed off the "Self-Experiment Scientist" I wanted one because he's so cool...

Then I picked this little Alien doing a psychic move-- it's unfortunate that he's got a mold line on the left side of his head but it shouldn't be too hard to remove...

One always needs a sexy Young Female Scientist...

Finally I chose the Orangutan Family because I want to do some Jokearo conversions to them because I'm a sucker for long-lost Rogue Trader aliens (I want Space Slann back!!! I never got to see the actual lead when they were available)...

Hopefully I'll have some progress on some of these guys soon, but I've really not had a good place or time to paint lately.

And finally, thanks to TMP and Black Cat Bases for some really sweet minis for me to play with.

Almost done WIP 40mm Skull Scarab Base

2011-02-18T15:26:00.001-05:00

Almost done with the first 40mm base of Skull Scarabs from Alex (thanks Alex!).

Some final touch-ups and then either paint or some flack on the base- I'm not sure which one would look best...

The Canon Digital Camera Has Been Fixed!!!

2011-01-11T15:02:00.001-05:00

So my excellent Canon S1IS Digital camera has been down for a long time. It's not too olde, but they don't make them like they used to so when it started having this horrible black screen problem I was saddened and figured "that's it for this one." A couple weeks ago I got really tired of using the ancient (but still not too bad) Kodak DS 1, or whatever it the actual number is, so I looked up Canon black screen and variations of the problem in a couple search engines. To my surprise this problem is pretty common on several Canon digital cameras (the supplier of CCDs- whatever those are- had tons of faulty ones that cause the camera to become a high-tech paperweight) and Canon was fixing them for free regardless of warranty status. I did the little test they said to do to find out if this CCD thing was the problem and passed (or failed) so that they sent a UPS shipping label and packing instructions. Less than a week later the camera came back to my eagerly waiting (and surprised) hands. I've taken some great new pics of WIP stuff and some reshoots of the Tethru Slinger Alex did for me. Enjoy the higher resolution and quality- I am....

This is a DreamBlade mini removed from its base and with the knife hands/fingers removed. It's been put on a 20mm square base to serve as a Lost Ka fig from my 'Monsters of Ægyptus' article available in an earlier issue of CrocTales. Almost done but I want to add some more highlights or something...

Here we have one of Alex Bates' 40mm Skull Scarab Swarm bases. These guys are not quite halfway done yet...

This objective marker is a combination of a base bit from a WarGods Eye of Ra objective marker, a Leviathan Dragon Elf Standard, and some large metal skull from Reaper or RAFM or somebody. It's all on a 20mm square base and it's nowhere near done....

I shall do some reshoots of more of the 'recent' miniatures soon because they will look a ton better (Faith and Clarkethulu especially!). Watch for this retro update soon!

Oh and thanks to th Kodak for standing in for the far superior Canon- now back into your hidey hole!

First fully painted Cthood! (Wargames Factory Shock Trooper)

2010-12-31T18:30:00.001-05:00

The first of my Cthulhu-head aliens from the Wargames Factory Shock Troops plastics. this guy will set the standard for the rest of the Cthood Troopers to come...

Now for something mostly different...

2010-12-27T17:34:00.002-05:00

This was a Christmas present I painted (it had been meant as a Christmas or birthday present a year or so ago, but it was only recently finished). I picked it up at a Hobby Lobby someplace because I thought it was pretty cool. It didn't turn out too bad...

Tethru Slinger 8 by Alex Bates for Me

2010-11-30T13:07:00.003-05:00

A while back (I won't say how long because I forget exactly how long) I sent Alex a couple minis to convert for me at his request. A week or so ago I got the Tethru Slinger conversion back- this makes the 8th Slinger for the converted unit (9 if you count the Captain or 10 if you count the baboon Standard Bearer) and the first done by someone other than me that I know of.

I like the 'human' body look with the 'bird' head colors. I've been wanting to do this, but since I started out the other way I didn't want to go back and change the olde figures. The conversion of the Anubi Slinger with the hair to the Tethru head is great.

And here he is in a slightly WarGods setting with an Alien Pharoah monument.

A great thanks to Alex for all the work he put into this guy. I suspect the Anubi mutant will be just as skookum when he arrives...

TwinDay MMX Mini! (And the 2K one, too!)

2010-11-11T17:23:00.004-05:00

The 6th was my and my young twin's (separated by twenty-some years) birthday. I've tried to do a miniature on each of our shared birthdays (since 1998) but I think I've only managed these two. Hopefully I can remedy that before Mychala become a teenager...

The first TwinDay mini was this slight conversion of an olde 40K Eldar Guardian. I managed to sculpt the little tentacled thing over a really bad miscast arm area. The inspiration came from a picture of me carrying Mychala around (and my actual memories of how tightly she would grab on since I was always the tallest person in the room so that helped her survey the situation).

The figure was named "Alekym & Truyb" which is basically "Mychala & Burt" backwards- I am known in some circles by my middle name.

And now for the latest TwinDay mini, a slightly converted "Kitty" from Hasslefree. I call it "Faith and Clarkethulu."

I really like how the Clarkethulu came out, and the Global Frequency logo shirt, and the jeans... I think Mychala will get a kick out of it.

Final Horrible Halloween Minis- Sebeki Conventioneer and a not-Superman Guy

2010-11-01T18:54:00.008-04:00

These should have gone up on Halloween, but they had to wait until today.

From Rezolution, this is one of the martial arts master guys. I just got him because he reminded me of a grown up version of Superman in the Christopher Reeve version where kid Superman arrives in the field and he's got this Superman colors blanket wrapped around him. Well that's what this guy's 'skirt' made me think of.
\

He's got blue skin because he's NOT human so he's gotta have some unearthly skin color and this blue looks cool on him.

Finally the jewel in the crown of Horrible Halloween Minis painting stunt-- from Crocodile Games released at GenCon 2010-- the Sebeki Conventioneer!

He's sort of a tribute to everyone's favorite Alaskan, Alex Bates. I opted for a different head so I could do the tongue gag. When he was almost done I realized he needed an Egyptian-style flase beard, so that delayed him a little more, but I think it was worth it.

With some awesome stuff in his bag and a Ka-berry slushy (you can tell by the color of his tongue) he's ready to head back into the Dealer Hall. When I first looked at the stuff in his bag I didn't realze that there was a blister pack for a mini in the front- sweet!

I'm not saying that Alex's "Saur Wars" project will come to fruition in 2012- whoever designed the tshirt is saying that. Or maybe that's when the documentary about Saur Wars will be coming out....
One little thing that's hard to make out is the "Sandfly" tattoo on his left shin. I may need to make it a different color. Also the logo on the bag isn't as prominent as I had hoped- it's waves on either side of a seated figure (possibly Horus) and a bundle of reeds tied together. I'm not sure what it would really mean but I was going for something like "Horus' Stuff Shop."

Companion Blog Launched & Finished Jedi Girls

2010-10-30T17:36:00.007-04:00

Since Webshots is WAAAY too expensive for their service and there are WAAAY too many ads on it, I've canceled my "Premium" membership there and decided to launch another blog with pics of newly painted figs for sale on ebay.

Minismith's Minis for Ebay

I've been painted figs to sell on ebay for some time now and I think it's helped my painting skills enhance some.

Also I finished (basing, sealing, etc.) and presented the Hasslefree "Not-Jedi" girls to my girls. Nothing fancy on the bases, though- I couldn't think of anything that would look worthwhile other than a big "M" that was half on one and half on the other. Kinda lame.

Horrible Halloween Minis- Birthday Secret Jedi Girls

2010-10-26T18:43:00.007-04:00

Marissa and Mychala NEVER check here unless I'm right there and say "hey, you should see this mini I put on my blog. That said I would not be surprised if they both came here before their joint birthday party and saw these. But I haven't decided what to do with the bases yet (maybe a design that matches up on them so if they're side by side they look even cooler?)- so at least that will be a surprise...

Marissa turned 16 (?!?!!?) earlier in October, so she got the older of the two Hasslefree 'not-Jedi Kids' girls. For both of them I cut off the sword and used a bit of brass pin for the lightsabers. They're so small/short that the lightsaber had to stick over the edge of the base. It looks cool but was a BLEEP! to get the length just right.

My young twin Mychala turns 12 BLEEP! on my birthday in November. It sort of fits with her having the pigtails 'not-Jedi girl' since she's youngest. Plus the mini is shouting which kinda fits Mychala well because her 'blabber is full.' She got a blue cloak and lightsaber because that's her favorite color and she always gets what she wants. ;P

I hope they like them. Now I have to find a fig that I can use as a Jedi conversion of me so we can play some Jedi duels or something!

More horrible Halloween Minis- Lots

2010-10-25T19:08:00.004-04:00

These are all up on eBay (or recently were-- seller name- minismith) but they sort of fit the Halloween theme. Enjoy!

First up an ancient mini from Heartbreaker. He's some sort of Undead warrior-king sorceror, with a swirling orb of doom, or something. He was recently touched up to make a bit more fancy-looking and rebased on a more fitting sized base.

This is the second version of this awesome early Kev White Void Militia Chick I've painted. It's similar to the first one because the first one looked pretty good...

A horrible scuttling Arakton Chick. Half-crab half-human she's ready to eat your brain...

And from the Warmachine line of figs, one of the Witches that came with that big orb of death thing.

These are all up on eBay (or recently were-- seler name- minismith) but they sort of fit the Halloween theme. Enjoy

Horrible Halloween Minis 2- Witch and Rock Muppets

2010-10-16T17:29:00.005-04:00

The next installment of scary Halloweenish minis is here! This one is from the USX line of modern minis, I forget the actual name but it's something like "...Cult Leader." I prefer to think of her as a "Modern Urban Goth Witch."

I couldn't get a good shot of the back of the book- it has mean 'living' faces on each cover (with glowing eyes). This is a pretty good shot of the inside with whatever spell she's weaving...

And as a bonus, 2 To-Tanem Spearmen conversions. The first is a plain TT warrior who has a nice hat and the second is a TT Spear Standard bearer with the standard replaced with a spear. Both the spears are from the old Warhammer plastic Skeleton box set. My To-Tanem Spears are going to be a mixed equipment unit (like most of my units) because I like the feel of a group of individuals for most of my WarGods troops...

Next Unit Contest 2- Heirakonpolis Archers- Standard and Musician

2010-10-14T16:46:00.005-04:00

This is a break from the "Horrible Halloween Minis" thing to bring you the latest figs for the Next Unit Contest 2. The Standard and Musician for the Heirakonpolis-themed Asar Archers.

I've got a handful of Warhawks (not enough for a full unit) and the musician is one of them. I figured since the Archer Unit is going to be Heirakonpolis-themed that a guy with a falcon helmet was a good idea for the musician.

For the Standard, I took the top from the female Basti MoW's staff and put it in place of the standard Asar standard (it seems a little too big to me). So now we've got a Scarab Standard for the Archers. Even though this guy looks good and fits the theme of the unit, he's probably going to be a floater once I finish an Archer chick with a standard.

This brings the unit total to 8 leaving 4 more to reach our goal! I need to go paint now...

Horrible Halloween Minis 1 - Hareball Titan Master

2010-10-02T17:55:00.003-04:00

For October I hope to have weekly updates of scary minis (or just minis that are finished!) to help set the Halloween mood, or something like that.

First up is a freaking massive Hareball from Fortress Figures. I don't think any of these were actually released, but my awesome secret contacts (thanks Roe!) smuggled one to me at GenCon in August. This guy is metal and just under 2" tall from the base to the tip of his ears. I decided to put him on a 50x50mm base so he could act as Titan Master in my non-traditional Titan Warband for WarGods of Olympus. There are some smaller Hareballs that will serve as his unit of Titan Slaves- I'm thinking of going with themed units for the Warband so this will make for a good start...

This guy is not as tall as the actual Crocodile Games Titan Masters, but he is very large compared to a standard 28mm human, as you can see here facing off against a WarGods Spartan Captain.

And here he is up against a Sebeki Warrior.

I have no idea what scary miniature will be coming up next time, but it will be a miniature of some kind.

2010 WarGods Event Mini Artifex Done!

2010-08-26T06:17:00.005-04:00

Who's this hanging out at the "Forge of the Minismith" special terrain feature? Why it's the 2010 Event Mini from Crocodile games!

It's pretty sad that this guy I picked up at GenCon a few weeks ago has been converted and painted up while the normal Artifex mini has been partially painted for over a year.

I tried to give the weapon he's working on a glowing white hot metal look. I'm not sure how good it came out but it doesn't look horrible. at least.

I toyed with the idea of putting a goofy hieroglyphic message on his apron ("kiss the artifex" or "I do it with molten metal") but I decided against it since he's kind of serious. He was really fun to paint, I think I may have to finish off the rest of my To-Tanem now (spears and the official Artifex sculpt).

Two WarGods Conversion WiPs

2010-08-23T01:24:00.005-04:00

I'm obsessed with converting minis, I can't help myself. Often it's just a stupid little change that most people won't notice but MUST be done. Like on the "Artifex Working" WarGods 2010 event miniature. I love everything about the fig but the hammer head. So I swapped it out for what I feel is a more appropriate hammer head. Simple and it makes me very happy.

Then there's the more elaborate conversion to come up with an Aspect of the Hunter mini. Even though I only have one unit of actual Typhon (the OOP Archers) I still feel the need to do a Hunter conversion since I've done a Heru Aspect of the Defender conversion. She needs a nemesis even if it's only on a shelf.

I got a box of Starship Trooper bugs at GenCon in hopes of using one of them as the main body of the conversion. After fiddling with various leg configurations I decided to go with one leg in a "preparing to strike" pose since there's not going to be a massive scorpion-like tail.

And here is the body part loosly attached to give an idea of what the final figure might look like, but I won't reveal the exact mini it is until after she's completed. I still need to do something about the torso/thorax joint- I'm thinking of sculpting some fur to cover that area and maybe adding a weapon or bow and quiver.

The Cthood Arrive- My First WF Shock Troops

2010-08-22T02:45:00.004-04:00

After drooling over pictures of them over the last few months, I picked up a box of Wargames Factory Shock Troops plastic multi-part minis at GenCon. I had no real plan for them I was just interested in the chance to customize some generic sci-fi troopers because converting is its own reward.

I finally got around to cutting some off the sprues and sticking them together the other night. I present the Cthood Scout Party- maybe the start of an entire army of squid-headed dudes or perhaps just a small mercenary force, I'm really not sure yet. All I know is that these were really fun to put together.

This first guy was pretty straight forward so I could get a feel for how all the pieces could fit together. Thanks to Brian Roe for the suggestion to put olde Warzone plastic Bauhaus packs on the Shock Troops- they fit wonderfully and look just right.

The second guy was also pretty standard, except for his sprue-bit goggles. Since there is only one Cthulu head on each sprue I tried to think of something to help make a simple variant. For some reason I thought goggles would be a good choice and I'm pretty happy with them. No pack for this guy since I've only got a few left and I want some variation among the troops.

For the third guy I got a little crazy. I studied the pointing arm but did not like how it pointed straight out to the left. After some planning I made a few cuts and reconstructed the arm so it would be pointing more to the front. I kept hearing him shout "down on the floor!" or "mine!" or something to that effect as he came together. He got a Warzone pack because with his action pose it seemed the best choice.

Since there are only six Cthulu heads in a box I decided to slow down and use one of the helmeted heads. I chose this mask variant because it looks like it could fit the tentacles inside, that's why it's wider at the bottom. So now I have a way to get a whole box full of Cthood without 'wasting' any of the bare heads.

I'm not terribly fond of the special weapon designs in the box so I looked through my vast armory and came across this plastic Ork gun. It looks pretty good as a heavy weapon so I trimmed a regular rifle arm so the big gun would fit and modified the left arm so it would be able to 'hold' the barrel. The extra ammo drum is another sprue creation (it's the virtually same size as the drum on the gun) along with his targeting monocle.

Now that they're assembled and primed hopefully they'll be painted soon so they'll be ready for a little skirmish.

Painted Minis Update EarlyAugust 2010

2010-08-18T10:37:00.009-04:00

Most of the following miniatures were painted before GenCon, I just didn't get all the pictures together until after that.
This first one is a Rezolution Hacker chick from the GenCon Paint and Take.

I try to hit the Paint and Take every GenCon. The last few years it has been stupidly crowded and the Paint Minions who are there early in the morning have a few jerks in their ranks (maybe they just didn't get enough sleep, but try to not be a when a lady with 2 kids asks a question, dude). Back to the figure, most of the time there's a bit of flash on the minis and the lighting is really not good where they have the tables, but it's a free mini and a chance to hang out and chat with painters of all levels from all over the world. Since this chick had a large piece of flash on her shoulder I decided to try a black and white color scheme on her. It came out not bad but she'll be stripped and cleaned properly sometime soon so I can have another go at her.

Next up is my entry in the GenCon painting contest. I'd finished the conversion a few months ago but painting on him stalled until the week before GenCon. It's a Crocodile Games Sebeki warrior converted into "Crocodiliopolis Jones" a special character with no official stats that I made up as a joke some time ago.

The main thing was the conversion. Since the conversion was done I figured a quick paintjob would mean a cool entry for the Crocodile Games Conversion part of the painting contest. He got Third so it was worth it- and now he's painted and ready to be used as needed...
From West Wind's 'Lucifer's War' line of miniatures, these are the Scions of Woe Archers. I've never seen the Lucifer's War rules and fluff, but I presume these guys are lost/damned souls fighting on the side of some dark angel. My plans for them are for use in WarGods of Ægyptus as either Death Cultists (the outfit with the skull "helmet" is just right and I don't have to massively convert some actual WarGods minis) or as poor Asar City Dwellers of Tanis (slaves of the evel Typhon children of Set) because they could easily fit that role as well.
They came in a blister pack of 20 for about $12 (!!!) from Noble Knight. I figured that was a great deal even if they turned out to be really bad sculpts. They aren't awesomely sculpted but they look good for my purposes. There is a pack of Scions of Woe with hand weapons that I would love to see- if they're even close to the same look as these archers I'll probably have to get some...

To add a unit of Death Cultists to my WarGods Golden Fleece Campaign warband I decided to finish up the rest of the unit. Since they're not undead I decided to give them a more uniform look than the random color schemes I use for mummies (because I think it would be rare for a unit of reanimated warriors to have a uniform look, the Necromancer is not looking for regimental order when he raids a grave here and a grave there so most of my mummies and undead in general have different colors from each other). Working off of the original 3 I assembly-lined the next 7 to finish out the unit
And here are the first 10 Scions of Woe together as a unit. They act as Death Cultists OR Slave Archers for a hypothetical Typhon warband.

Finally a WiP of the Crocodile Games Sebeki Conventioneer miniature released at GenCon 2010. I've obscured what it says on the back of the 'Saur Wars' t-shirt because it's meant as a surprise for the great Alex Bates who is working on the Saur Wars project. I switched the head for an open mouthed version so I could give him a KaBerry freeze stained tongue. His bag of goodies may end up with zebra stripes and I'm still not sure if I should go with more natural scale colors or make him an albino...
There are some other WiP figures that I hope to have finished soon. This Sebeki is near the top of that list.

Finished Androsynth Conversion and "Not-Cable"

2010-08-11T05:04:00.003-04:00

These figs were actually done over a month ago but my Canon Sureshot of 5 or more years had the viewscreen die- this makes it impossible to take any pictures. So I reverted to my ancient (1997!?) Kodak ds with special close-up lenses which I had forgotten most of the tricks for. These pics are much better than the first several while I was relearning the Kodak quirks.
I've always loved the original Void Tactical Androsynths (the ones with guns) and some of the Assault Androsynths. For years I've been meaning to do this conversion or a variation of it- giving one of the Assault Androsynths a plasma rifle to make a more characterful 'borg. Well I finally did it using this guy and just a few bits from my vast odd collection.

The first thing was to make the rifle fit in his right hand. I trimmed away the stock/grip from the rifle and a little of thumb. Then I drilled into the hand and the rifle for pinning. Next up I tried to figure out what would work best as a power cable for the rifle. I came across this really cool springy bracelet that I saved from being disposed of long ago. After drilling into the back of the rifle it was clear that 2 power cables would fit and double the coolness of curved springiness. I was originally going to leave the cables springy, but it became clear that this was not going to work well as I test-fitted them from the rifle to the holes I drilled in his back. Luckily I had some floral wire that fit just right through the hole in the cables, so with this rigid spine the cables would be strong and secure.

The cover for the power cables on his back is a small rubbery thing from my bits box that I think came from an ancient Zoids toy. I cut it in half and trimmed it so it would fit nicely over the cables and cut the notch in the bottom for the cables to fit better. Some Gorilla Super Glue and a few minutes holding the 'power pack' down and it was nicely secured. After a little gap filling that was it for the back.
I wanted to do something else to help distinguish him from other Androsynths around so since he might be used in a sci-fi Egyptian setting I decided to give him a false beard. Borgs with beards are just cooler than regular borgs. I drilled into the chin and twisted two or three of the smallest wire I have for the beard. The twisted wire beard fit in nicely. After the glue dried I gently pulled the bottom of the beard to the side to make it look a little more interesting than a straight long bronze beard looks.

Finally it was time to paint. I came up with the paint scheme after thinking about his possible role in the StarGods of Ægypton IV setting. He would be a rebel against the new foreign Pharaoh and one of the last of the Aten Guard robot warriors who protected the deceased Pharaoh. With that in mind I looked up a few hieroglyphs that might come in handy. The marking on his right kneepad is Ptah (because robots are called Ptah in the setting after the ancient craftsman who made the first robots), it's a little obscure but you can kind of make it out. On his right shoulder pad is the Aten Guard hieroglyph. He's also got rank markings on his other shoulder pad and right leg. He's also got some 'warpaint' markings on his 'chin' because I thought it would add more character to his pretty plain head.

Here's Kekhaat with the not-Cable Viridian marine conversion. the not-Cable was finally finished about the same time as Kekhaat. He was cleaned up and I added a few more details to him here and there.

Next up- recently painted minis and a couple from GenCon!!!

WarGods Golden Fleece Finale

2010-08-08T01:02:00.005-04:00

There were twelve Harbingers arrayed for battle to see which one would successfully complete the Quest for the Golden Fleece. It's late and I should sleep, so I'll just post some pics with quick comments on them...
Here Fitz dramatically introduces the first battle to enter the lair of the Hydra...

Each entrance was guarded by a different horrible monster. The one Joe (Akori) and I had to deal with was a 3-headed beastie (a goat, a lion and a dragon) that had to be killed 4 times. It was only killed once...

The final battle in the Lair of the Hydra! Fitz dramatically sets the stage....

The winner of the first battle got to bring 2 surviving characters into the Lair while the losers (we prefer the term "less successful") only got to bring one survivor. Once up on the rock the Hydra could attack you...

It soon turned into a multi-front attack on the hydra with a few side battles mostly meant to stop the Eater of the Dead from getting the fleece...

With an inadvertent assist from Tim's (Priest of Poseidon) Dark Harbinger, Bob (Dabob) managed to gain the Fleece with his Heru harbinger (having killed the most heads). Fitz, as a gleeful Horus, presents the Fleece!

This is one of the coolest monsters, they were all pretty cool. It could only be stopped by allowing it to devour 10 souls so it would fall asleep...

A final look at the fleece hanging from the Hydra's tree...

He's NOT Cable- An Updated Void Marine

2010-07-04T03:56:00.006-04:00

While messing around with the Sewta update I became obsessed with some of my old Void miniatures and thoughts of updating them as well. the first one to actually get an update is this Viridian Marine I painted up as an homage to the character Cable from the various X-Men comics. He's an homage so he wasn't meant to be an exact copy of Cable- I named him Korde to avoid any confusion.

I got some bits together that I thought would make him even more Cable-like than the simple paintjob from 2001. First came the targeting scopes for his rifle. I figured if I couldn't easily convert the gun into a massively oversized Cable-type of gun I could at least give it a couple of scopes to help bulk it up a little.

Next was the high-tech backpack. His back looked pretty bare so I added one of the original plastic 40K Space Marine techy bits as a backpack. It's got lights and vents and stuff, who knows what they do but they look impressive.

Finally came the headset. In a flash of brilliant insanity I came across the ton of Dark Eldar spiky bits that I figured I would never use and something made me put part of one on the side of his head. It looks like a high-tech headset! Now I've started putting similar bits on most of my previously painted Viridian Marines- it's become an obsession...

Next came the touch up painting here and there- darkened the pants, lightened the shirt, added stripes to the gloves, put lines on the cyber arm, added scars around his right eye...

So now he's basically finished. But since I've seen the pictures I think there are a couple more touch up things to do before he gets some matte sealer. I'm pretty happy with how his update turned out.

Next up either a finished Sewta Update or an awesome Androsynth conversion.

Project Sewta- 2 Dreadlocks Are Easier Than You Think?

2010-06-17T03:09:00.004-04:00

I didn't expect it to be a Herculean task by any means, but these wire dreadlocks were a lot easier than I expected. More dreadlock conversions are definitely coming soon.

First off I got the smallest drill bit I for my pin vise I could find and planned out where wires should go for the best coverage of Sewta's head. Before this I cleaned up the mold lines and flash and filed off her buzzcut hair. A careful series of several holes were drilled in just far enough that the wire dreads would be secure enough with a little super glue.

Next came the wire dreadlock insertion. I poured out some super glue into a glue holding container and dipped the ends of the wire in the glue before inserting them into the drill holes.

I left the wires straight for the first 24 hours or so just to make sure that they would get maximum strength from the super glue. She looked pretty cool with this Medusa-like look and has inspired some other conversion ideas.

Playing around with the dreadlock length and placement I realized there were a few gaps that needed some little wire bits on her head. These were glued into the areas to help build up the dreadlocks and cover the blank parts of her head.

Finally I bent the dreads around so they looked more natural. I gave her head an ink wash because I thought it would help show off the details.

Next up is the backpack and maybe some other little details.

Project Sewta- 1 Updating an Olde Conversion

2010-06-03T19:32:00.004-04:00

I recently sold this conversion on eBay because I wanted to try and do a more modern job of her. She was a sci-fi RPG character named Sewta Narrapan and one of my most favorite conversions of all time.

This is one of the Void Viridian Marine Sergeant sculpts by Kev White from around 1999-2000 (?). I added the dreadlocks with putty. The backpack was off a plastic soldier sprue and the bayonet was a Dark Eldar plastic bit.

Time has marched on and it's ten (TEN!?!?!) years since I came up with her. Not to toot my own horn, but I think my conversion skills (not to mention my painting skills) have progressed significantly since then. So I challenge myself to update her with modern technology, knowledge and methods.

Here we have most of the bits that I'll be using for the modernized Sewta. Several lengths of wire that I've twirled together for the dreadlocks, an assortment of metal packs to choose from (feel free to vote for which pack you think would be best) and of course the base figure herself.

I'll update as this project progresses.

Cow Boy "Apis" - Crocodile Games Minotaur

2010-05-18T06:23:00.005-04:00

I've been working on this guy off and on since early this year. At first I was a little bummed that he wasn't the other sculpt (with the big stone block chained to his right arm) so that contributed to slow painting and indecision. But over the months of doing a little bit here and there he began to grow on me.

A week or so ago I finally decided that I was gonna finish him off so that he'd at least make room on the painting table for a half a dozen more minis. I decided on the black skin and reddish hair way back when I started him. Sort of like some Greek pottery art bulls.

It wasn't until I was focusing on details that I decided to give him a tattoo of the Apis heiroglyph. I know he's from Greece, but he likes the exotic Ægyptian culture and identifies with the Apis Bull. When I was almost finished with all the painting, I decided to give him the warpaint around the eyes and on the horn. Also probably not terribly Greek, but YOU tell him that!

Here's Apis with a Typhon spearman on one of the recently completed pillar bases. And on a foam rock base with a Satyr- "C'mon lil' buddy!" I've come to really like this sculpt and can't wait to see the rules coming out for him....

Foam Rocky Outcrops DONE and Multiplied!

2010-05-13T03:43:00.005-04:00

These turned out way better than I expected. They're by no means the greatest generic rock terrain ever, but they'll do the job without bringing shame to me.

There were only going to be three of these, but because it turned out to be so easy to throw together I did two more. Now I've got five generic rocky outcroppings for all sorts of settings.

Here a Void Synth and a Warzone Bauhaus Blitzer prepare to go up against a superior force...

Here we have two Satyrs sniping at an approaching Spartan Phalanx...

Here two StarGods Assessors face off, a Rebel and a Loyalist- only one will walk away...

This is the first 'bonus' rocky outcrop. Instead of a regular sized CD this is on one of those mini CDs. Since it's a smaller base I decided the rock should be pretty big. A Starfleet Security guy and the Grymn Pirate Chick, Sola, search for an alien menace...

The other 'bonus' rocky outcrop, this one's just a variant on the earlier versions. Some Stormtroopers on patrol on some backwater world...

Well another Lame Terrain Project that hopefully showed how easy it is to have some passable terrain to spice up your gaming. Ideas for other "Lame" terrain projects are welcome.

Foam Rocky Outcrops Painted

2010-05-11T00:27:00.001-04:00

Painting the foam spongy rocks was a lot less trouble than I expected. They did take several hours to fully dry, but the results seem pretty good.

They look pretty much like rocks.

They provide blocking obstacles.

And they fit well with 28mm figures.
Next up is the basing and these will be done and ready to use in good conscience.

Lame Terrain Project 2 - Foam Rocky Outcrops

2010-05-08T03:45:00.001-04:00

After playing the Isle of the Cyclops scenario Thursday, and not having any rocky outcrop-type terrain, I realized that most of my terrain is building related - there’s not really any natural terrain. I cut my own foam trays for minis transport and always end up with some odd shaped/too small pieces of foam that aren’t good for much. If only these two dilemmas could solve each other. That’s what this Lame Terrain Project is all about. I have no idea if it will work but I’m going to give it a try.

I started out with a few of the odd pieces of foam and three CDs for bases. I cut the foam with some scissors from various angles to try and get ‘natural’ rock-like shapes.

This first one has a tall chunk, a medium chunk, and a little chunk. I’ve placed them to allow room for one model to pass through a gap so monsters and units will have to go around.

The second one is a variation on the first. Three chunks, this time all about the same size. They’re grouped together to allow one model to easily pass through while forcing anything with larger than a 20mm base to go around.

The third one only has two similar sized chunks. It’s also designed to make it hard for anything bigger than a lone man-sized model to get through.

Each CD has had the hole covered with some thin clear plastic. I used some crafter’s glue and let it dry for 24 hours or so. I think as long as rough handling is avoided the ‘rocks’ should stay attached (depending on how the painting goes and what that does to the whole piece). Painting should be interesting since the foam chunks are kind of like sponges. This could turn out to be brilliant or a total waste. Wish me luck!

Special thanks to the Typhon and Heru for posing with the unfinished rocks, they really give a sense of how a battle among these outcroppings will look.

Lame Terrain Project 1 - Pillar Bases DONE!

2010-05-08T03:37:00.001-04:00

The second Pillar base is done and ready to be used and abused on the tabletop. It’s blue-themed, so that’s different from the more reddish themed first base.

It’s not as clear as I would have liked in the pictures, but the white ring around the base of the pillars is marbled. I had planned on putting some words in greek or hieroglyphs (or both) saying something silly like “your ad here” or “no entry” or “wrong way” or any number of other messages. In the end I went with the marbling so they’d be so generic they’d fit in almost anywhere…

Here are both pillar bases side by side with a Typhon and a Heru defending their specific pillars. I still have quite a few of these pillars, so any interesting terrain ideas are encouraged - or I could just make 4 or five more of these. I hope I’ve shown how easy it is to make something as ‘lame’ as two plastic cake pillars look pretty good.

First Completed Pillar Base

2010-05-02T01:02:00.002-04:00

Well the painting and basing for one of the test Pillar Bases is done. I still need to put some sealer on it (maybe touch up the pillars a little). It's not awesome, but it's pretty not bad.

The marbling technique is something I think I learned a looong time ago from watching the Bob Ross Joy of Painting show.

These top views show off the grass growing in the cracks of the paving.

Next up should be the other Pillar Base. It's going to be a totally different color scheme than this one. Suggestions welcome...

Lame Terrain Project- Pillar Bases

2010-05-01T00:52:00.001-04:00

So I have all these wedding cake pillars that need to be used for terrain (goto the Hobby Lobby site and get the 40% off coupon when it's available and you too can stock up on pillars for cheap). I finally pushed myself into seeing what can be done with them.

Two olde CDs as bases. A little leftover 'brick' paper. Some clear plasticard and a couple pillars. Craft glue and some Gorilla Super Glue round out the supplies. With a very little amount of thought as to placement then some glue and they're halfway done...

The Nekharu conversion guy is there to help give an idea of the scale of these.

One of the pillar bases with my still unfinished Minotaur.

The other pillar base with some Heru and an Asar.

Coming very soon: the first 'finished' pillar base.

I'm Bloggin!

2010-05-01T00:27:00.001-04:00

Another venue to share my occaisionally usefyul information. I plan to share painted miniatures pictures, miniatures projects, and whatever the hell else strikes my fancy I guess.

The title "Minismith's Forge" is a goofy thing from when I first started messing around with miniatures and someone made a joke about how I was like a blacksmith but with miniatures. Thus it was that 'minismith' was born. A minismith needs a forge to shape the miniatures right? So the Minismith's Forge became a place to share pictures of my creations. I should really get one of those heavy aprons....