Dr Who Picture Frame Diorama

I made this picture frame diorama for a dear friend of mine for their 40th birthday.

Long time readers of this blog will notice I've been more in the habit of making gifts for people recently, its been something I've really enjoyed.

I'd wanted to paint the Dr Who minis made by Heresy Miniatures for a long time, so picking some up for this gift was the perfect opportunity. 

I asked my friend in as subtle a way as possible which Dr was their favourite to know which one to pick.

You can find them here if you want to get them for yourself

They do a great range of minis and are a one man shop so well worth supporting.

Painting the eyes on small miniatures has always been something I struggle with

I added a little sleeping cat made by Bad Squido games you can find it here if you are interested. My friend is a huge Red Dwarf fan so my intention is that the red paintwork of the walls plus this cat representing Frankistien perhaps? Maybe the squid face alien thing is a Polymorph? Thats the idea anyway!

I tried out using a fluorescent bright pink with the tentacles, I found it a bit difficult to work with as it really doesn't coat well.  This beast or alien is the head of a Warmachine and horde warbeast called Proteous

I had a lot of fun adding the little details like the dripping rust patches, tiny yellow spider and bright green mushrooms on the pipe.

If you know, you know...

Classic 80's style green computer readout. This wasn't even a choice! I knew I'd paint it this way for sure.

What do you think of this picture frame diorama? 

I'm really pleased with how it turned out and my friend was pleased to receive it. 

What do you think I should make as my next diorama? 

Something Discworld related is a thought, or perhaps Warmachine or Star Wars?

If you want to support my content consider taking a look at my Kofi here. I don't put any finished content behind a paywall but I do offer rewards to people who support me in ways like getting to vote on what content I work on in the future.

Even if it's just $1 it really helps me out!

See you all next time!

Monstrous Spider Painted

My Monstrous Spider by Heresy Miniatures is finally done! 
It's to my shame that it's taken me five years to get around to painting it. I got it during Heresy Miniatures kickstarter.
I looked at the models when they arrived back then, on this blog, you can find the unboxing here.

I actually got reminded to paint it due to them having a sale on and I looked through their site and was reminded...
On that note their sale is on until the 1st Sept its 25% off. I am not affiliated with them at all, I just really like their minis and have bought from them a few times over the years.

This spider can be found on their site here and is currently only £9!

I painted the base and its rocks a few weeks ago when I painted similar basing on a different model. (My batch painting ways never leave me)
I painted up the spider in one session this Sat night while I was GMing the IKRPG online. 
I streamed it on twitch and had my painting cam on (the painting cam was a viewer request once people learnt I was painting while GMing) I'm still getting used to keeping the model I'm painting under the camera though...

You can find my twitch channel here I stream IKRPG every Sat evening (8pm UK time) and randomly do painting streams and live games as and when I can.

If there is one part of the paint job I'm less happy with its the eyes, they aren't my best work but I'm happy enough. I was mainly pleased to have it finished in a single session so I guess I'm ok to just overlook it.

I'm really happy with how the spines and vein looking ridges turned out though.

The black paint is an old GW starter set black which always looks glossy so I haven't used it much over the years. I save it for projects like this where the glossy look is desired.

I made the rocks out of multiple layers of cork sheet. I tried to make the layers varied and look as if it could be natural formations. Painting it was simple, just dark grey then dry brushed light grey.

Having multiple layers of rock allowed me to pose the spider in a more organic way, with each of its legs being on a different height of rock it makes it have a sense of motion as if the spider is climbing across the rocks.

Adding patches of dirt to other levels of the rocks as well as the bottom layer helps to give it a more realistic look I think.

And here is a scale shot with Professor Pendrake (30mm human)
It really is a large model for its mass, the thin legs really make it take up more space. 
I'm looking forward to pitting my players against it some day!

It really was a fun and easy model to paint!

If you want to support my content consider taking a look at my Patreon which you can find here. I don't put any content behind a paywall but I do offer rewards to people who support me in ways like getting to vote on what content I work on in the future or outright just picking the next subject of an article.

See you all next time!

Terror Grub and Giant Slugs Painted

I got this lot ages ago from Heresy Minatures, they had been sat wip for a very long time, I saw one that someone else painted a day or so ago on Twitter which prompted me to finish mine!

I actually painted the inside of the mouth before I attached the part with all the teeth. Its really hard to see inside to notice so it was mainly for my own feeling of satisfaction!

I really enjoyed painting the yellow pustules blending them into the green of the skin.

The bone spikes poking out of its body all over make me think that I might make it have some defensive rules when I use it in RPG's

I have 6 Giant Slugs 2 of each sculpt, here they are front and back. These guys painted up nice and easy.

I plan to use them as Millasaurs for Necromunda and as random monsters for Iron Kingdoms RPG

What do you think of these guys? 

If you want them now is a great time to pick them up as they are currently on sale, you can find them here

Heresy Miniatures Kickstarter models arrived!

About a year ago I backed Heresy Miniatures kickstarter, since then they slayed the Dragon that had caused the owner so much grief. If you have the time check out the blog post Andy wrote after casting the last dragon. Really puts it into perspective how much time and effort go into running a miniature making company.

Blog post here

This turned up in the post this morning! I really wasn't expecting to get these models yet and it was a real treat. I had a "no rush" attitude to the kickstarter. The models were great to get but I was happy to be a part of turning around the dragon saga (even if only in a small way)

The terror grub, this guy will be used as a large style bad guy in both Necromunda and Iron kingdoms games, The mouth part is the internal teeth there is a outer set that will be attached so I will paint this part first before gluing that on and painting the rest of the model.

The outer mouth part! 

These little guys are called Hellmites, They are a great addition to my collection of monsters. Apparently the old metal versions of these had separate legs, well I'm glad the new resin ones don't!

Lovely detail on these guys

This lot will be my Millasaurs in Necromunda games, a great stand in. The official old GW models are nice but trying to find them on ebay at a not insane price is impossible.  

Really impressed with this giant spider. It looks like it will be tricky to assemble (will be pinning it for certain) but should look ace once its done and stalking gangers across the underhive!

A group shot with my Ratskin scout for scale

Once I have given them all a wash to get rid of any mold release agent that might be hanging around I can get to painting them up!

Its come at a great time as I now have mdf sheets for making my own board... terrain making and fingers crossed playing Necromunda await!

Heresy Miniatures Kickstarter

Heresy Miniature's launched their first kickstarter last week to great success! It is to redo all their large monsters into resin (Most of the models have been OOP for some time due to the rising price of metal).
I will be backing this as soon as I get paid...

Link to kickstarter

I'm don't play anything fantasy myself but I like these models a lot.
Anyone who has read my blog before knows I love Necromunda so whenever I see models I think about what they can be used for in my favorite game...

 Milliasaurs anyone? The official models for them go for stupid amounts on ebay these days. I personally think this is a better sculpt for them anyway, and you get 6!!!

I want to use this guy as a thing from the sump, or any other underhive gribbly that is large!

Giant sump spider!!! It says CD sized leg span so it will be truly imposing in Necromunda!

I hope you at least check out the kickstarter, there is so much on offer it really needs to be seen.

I can't say nice enough things about Heresy Miniatures, they make great models and I can't wait til payday!

Link again to kickstarter