Pantmonger

Temple bases!

1. I make plasticard disks, sanding them round using a washer & drawing a sketch.

2. Cut/shape them, plastic-glue them on & weather them.

3. Fill the cracks with texture paint, smoothing the excess away with a finger.

4. Add extra rubble & vines.

DoK test mini 01

I really like the colours on this... under non photo lighting it makes for quite a dark mini so I am unsure. I have a couple of other scheme ideas I might explore before committing. We will see.

Finally back on the mini wagon & finished off these 4 for Dungeons And Dragons I'm happy with how the Ogre came out, given it was a bones ettin I chopped a head off an sculpted a neck. Makes it look like its really staining its yell!

31 DnD minis left in the backlog, almost there!

Simplest hobby "build" ever. I bought a discount store shadow box $5. Took off hanging/stand elements. Removed the glass, took the MDF back off glued a thin sheet of cork onto it as a rolling surface, before gluing it back in.

Done!

1 month without painting a mini... eep!

Actually its all ok, my hobby energies atm have been focused on building a large gaming table, & making a bunch of tools/furniture for the games room +a whole lot of DnD prep from my next campaign.

But 40k is calling. Soon Aeldari... soon

A thing I have wanted to do for some time, and today I did. Added wings to my gaming table. Now coming in at a hefty 210x160cm (6.9 x 5.2ft). Built large to allow RPG players around the edge with room for maps n minis in the center.

2nd image shows 4 mats, 40k 2000pts size :P

Bulky Encumbrance. After waffling about weight tracking, reading heaps of systems, I made on a simple variant. It's not 'realistic'. It exclusively tracks only bulky objects and hand waves the light stuff. I feel it will be fit to my purpose. Testing awaits.

As we edge ever closer to the end of this edition...

I've once again updated my Dungeons And Dragons combat cheat sheet!

Never again forget what things you could be doing while fightin!

(New version removes a lot of short hand, and clarifies a couple of elements) Link to ko-fi and the free printable friendly version here

Are you a DM who sometimes feels like combat target priority is a bit arbitrary & inconsistent? I am. So I wrote some target preferences for critters based on their intelligence. Hopefully walking the line between believable & not onerous. V1.0 If you use it, let me know how it works for you. (My original not released attempt at this was 8 pages long and better suited for a video game… I must have been in a weird mindset at time)

Simple Weather Tables and Tracker! Decided I wanted one for my games, and as usual I make it public. Mostly for added flavor, but with a smattering of dramatic effects for the more extreme weather events.

And a Tenday tracker sheet. All are available for free hi-res download for free on my ko-fi here

New tiny Tutorial: Build a Sand Boat for basing! A simple cardboard scoop to make collecting your excess basing materials quick and painless.

Remember all my tutorials are available for free here https://ko-fi.com/pantmonger/gallery.

2 more speedy minis done! Mainly colour zen with a quick dry-brushing.

Both from the Wrath of Ashardalon boardgame.

The titular Ashardalon the Red Dragon itself, and a Rage Drake

35 DnD minis to go.

To zenithal with a black base or not, that is the question. (A waffle) When you paint miniatures they're subject to levels of Abstraction and Stylisation. What does this mean? Abstraction is how 'non real' you paint the thing. The more something looks 1:1 real, the less abstraction. But even things that seem on the surface like an attempt to look real contain a lot of abstraction. The artificial lighting you add, using metal paints to suggest metal, adding edge highlights and black lines to make the mini read well, even layering paint to make highlights, all are a non real, abstractions. You can see this in the classic art world with a lot of old oil works striving for realism, getting looser and more abstract with impressionism and stepping really far away with cubism. So what is stylisation? Stylisation is a kind of a catch all for a mostly deliberate/consistent form of abstraction. If you paint Boarderlands looking minis, or cell-shade or Blanchitsu, you have chosen to translate the real though a specific lens of abstraction to get a look you are after. A style.

What's this got to do with black based Zenithal? Without going heavy into the reasons, shadows are not really made up of black. They usually have colour. A mix of the materials and the ambient (a soup of reflected light from the environment and nearby objects) Using black to as the base, tends to make colours murky and desaturated in an unnatural way. This does not make it wrong. But being informed is important. If in your miniature painting you seek to make the most realistic looking models possible. This this is a blind ally. Turn back. If however you like (or are ok with for speed reasons) the look. Then this is a level of abstraction and stylisation you are comfortable with, or even actively seek. So, To zenithal with a black base or not, that is the question... The answer is: depends No if you are seeking absolute realism. Yes if its a style you are activity attempting to achieve.

My old weathered wood recipe.

With it, you too can create old rotted wood. If you don't want it to look like it has water damage, skip the optional steps.

Redcaps, murderous fay driven by the need to dye their caps with the blood of their victims. Legend tells that should they not do so every 3 days, their caps dry out, and they themselves will die.

37 DnD minis to go.