More Gravestones

I've finished up a few more bits of graveyard scenery.

All are painted and finished the same as in my previous gravestones post.  I'm very happy with how they came out!

I also finished up a few Reaper miniatures in order to spice things up while working on the gravestone pieces. 

The first one is Reaper's Skinsaw Man (60033), sculpted by Chris Fitzpatrick (of Crocodile Games fame).  I went with some bold colours to fit the clothing worn by this vampire.  The base is from Fenris Games.

I really like this creepy fella - Reaper's Sinspawn (60007).  I started with a light grey basecoat and then gave him a purple-ish wash, then dry-brushed with light gray and purple.  I like how the eyes turned out.  The base is also from Fenris.

Diabolist and Office Decor

I've got a mixed bag today - one miniature from Reaper and some office furniture from Copplestone Castings.

I've been on vacation all this week and was able to get a lot of painting done.  I saw the Diabolist miniature on the Reaper website (60130) and liked the evil appearance of it and the flaming skull in her hands was a great touch.

I picked up some desks, filing cabinets and safes from Copplestone many, many years ago.  I finally got around to painting them up.




I can't find the desks and filing cabinets on the website, but the safes are there.  When I picked the blister up it contained everything together in one pack.

I have a lot of miniatures on the go, pretty much all from Reaper.  Also I have some more gravestone scenery almost done too.  Hopefully I'll have another post up in a few days.

Gravestones

I mentioned in a previous post how I was on a terrain kick.  I picked up a Renedra Gravestone Set in the summer and was lately inspired by The Man Cave's posting of his graveyard - so I thought I'd give them a go!

The base is 0.40" plasticard, with clipped edges which were then sanded to make them smooth.  I used white putty for the base groundwork and added some mixed sand for the "grey" areas.  The flock is superglued on and drybrushed with brown and tan paint (the flock was tan to begin with).  I threw on some Antenociti's leaf litter and some Army Painter Highland Tufts to top it off.  I'm happy with how they turned out and have a new batch in the mix.

On a different note, I watched Outpost: Black Sun the other night when the wife was out.  I heard about it on The Lead Adventure Forum and was a HUGE fan of the original, so I immediately went on to Amazon.ca and picked up a copy!

I really liked it, but the "machine" near the ending wasn't really to my liking and to fanciful.  But considering it's a movie with semi-unkillable Nazi zombies, I'll let it slide!  Check it out if you enjoyed the original or like Nazi zombies.  I picked up the Blu-Ray version and it looks fantastic.

Coffins and a Ghost

I've been working on a lot of terrain recently.  I finished up a few of Fenris Games' coffins - they're resin and were very easy to work with.  I also completed working on a ghost - Reaper's Gauren, Necropolis Hero (14168). 

I like the look of the ghost's eyes in this shot, although he is a bit out of focus.  I shaved off the dagger that he was holding in his left hand - I didn't really like it.  :-)

I've got some tombstones completed as well - I just have to give them a blast of dullcote and I'll post them here.

Runestones

I've been in a bit of a miniatures painting slump, but have been craving making some terrain!  I picked up a few resin runestones from Fenris Games a while ago and thought I'd give them a go.

I based them on some plasticard I had and put some white putty on the bottom, added a bit of sand and some grass and leaves and that's it!  They were quite easy to do, the runestones themselves only needing a drybrush. 

The miniature is from Artizan's Thrilling Tales range (PLP041 - Dr Bell), and was easy to paint. 

The base is from Model Display Products, and the leaf litter is from Antenociti's Workshop. 

Two Ellies

Sorry for the lack of updates - real life gets in the way sometimes.  I've been taking an accounting course at the local college and that's been sucking up a lot of my spare time.

Anyway, I have two Harwood Hobbies miniatures for you.  Quickly painted, I know they're not my best - damn these photos for showing me all of my painting mistakes!!!  :-)

These two will be used in a gothic horror setting - with Evil Ellie as a vampire or lesser werewolf.

I also watched a few movies that I discovered lately.  Both are based on the M.R. James story "Oh Whistle and I'll Come to You My Lad".  Both are called Whistle and I'll Come to You - the newer one stars John Hurt.

The 1968 version was by far the best version, but I didn't like the main character's eccentricity and thought the movie could have been better laid out.  I don't know if the person who wrote the screenplay wanted the protagonist to seem crazy in order to make you doubt if the ghostly occurances really did happen...

The special effects are not too bad, remembering that this is an old film!  I liked the spookiness with the bedsheets at the end the best, which is taken well from the short story.

The 2010 remake had its spooky moments, but is BARELY based off of the story.  Meh.

Dapper Gentleman and Gamekeeper

I've got a few investigators painted and ready to look into strange happenings.  Both are from Artizan Designs Thrilling Tales range. 

First is the "Dapper Gentleman" as I've been calling him - actually Artizan's PLP063 Gaspar Toucan. 

Next is the Gamekeeper, a great Scottish-looking fellow with a double-barrel shotgun (Artizan's PLP166 - O'Hanlon the Gamekeeper).  The wood planked base is a resin one from Fat Spider.

This miniature was great to paint, and will provide some much-needed firepower to the investigative team.  The base is from Model Display Products.  I really like the Model Display Product bases - give them a try!

Werewolves!

I have always had a hard time finding "good" werewolf miniatures.  I've seen all of the versions produced out there and thought...meh!  That is, until Blue Moon came out with a set.  I really liked them, especially the big ferocious-looking one!  I've finally finished painting up the pack.  I hope you like them....

Audible: Carmilla

To continue my Halloween listenings/readings, I listened to Carmilla by J.S. Le Fanu.  Available at Audible, it's a short one at only 3 hours, but as a classic vampire tale it's worth it!  The narrator was good, and kept the story flowing.  My favourite character was the General - I can't help but remember Peter Cushing in the role in The Vampire Lovers.  As a result, I watched the movie a day after I finished it! 

Lemax Spooky Town Coffins

During a recent trip to the local Michaels I found something good in their Lemax Spooky Town collection.  Usually every year there is something good out that I pick up from Lemax - this year is coffins!

I can't remember the price of these, but with one of the usual 40-50% off coupons you can't lose!  I think they were already discounted 40% on the rack.  Here's a comparison next to an Artizan Thrilling Tales 28mm miniature:

Audible: Ghost Stories of an Antiquary

For all of October I will be listening to ghost/horror stories from Audible.  Recently I finished listening to Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, which features stories by M.R. James.  One of the main reasons why I picked this one to listen to on my commute (aside from the fact that it's M.R. JAMES!!!) is that most of the stories are read by one of my favourite narrators, David Timson.  He really brings the characters to life with different voices and accents.  Highly recommended for Halloween!!!

Investigators in Egypt

Recently I finished painting a few tomb raider-type characters:

The above is Dan McDermott, Archaeologist (50087).  He was quite easy to paint and I thought I pulled off the flame effect on the torch quite well!  I didn't expect him to come out looking quite so pissed...   :-)  The base is from Fat Spider.

Lastly is a miniature created by the Lead Adventure Forum.  It's LAF-01 Prof. Witchheimer.  I forgot to take a picture of the back of this one, which has a tentacle and some relics poking out of his backpack.  I bought two of this figure when it was originally released and only available through Battlefield Berlin.  I still have the other figure, and don't really have any plans for him yet.  You never know when you could use another investigator!!!

Audible: Conqueror Series by Conn Iggulden

I recently got through listening to the Conqueror series by Conn Iggulden.  I listened to the four book that are available on Audible (the final book "The Conqueror" not being available) one after the other in a Genghis Khan marathon!  Overall, the books were quite good and I enjoyed them very much at the time as I was looking to "read" something different than usual. 

Book number one is "Wolf of the Plains":

Of all the books, I like this one the best.  I have always liked the "rise to power" type of stories, and I found that the later books seemed quite similar and not as exciting.  The narrator was good and there was an interview with the narrator and Conn Iggulden at the end of the book.

Lords of the Bow looks at Genghis conquering the Asians to the East.  This book was good in that the "conquering" story was unique - this got old to me very fast in the next two books. 

I think I liked this book the least, which focuses on conquering a part of the Middle East.

Empire of Silver was pretty good, having intrigue and betrayal as well as the usual conquering.  It ended a bit suddenly and I would have liked to listen to the final book about Kublai Khan, but Audible does not have it right now.

Nosferatu and Ghouls

I finally found a Nosferatu I really like - Reaper's Matthias the Twisted (02867):

I see him creeping around crypts and other forgotten places with his rats swarming everywhere.  I like how he's a bit haggard looking, like he doesn't care about his appearance.  The little rats were a neat touch by the sculptor! 

What's a Nosferatu without some ghouls?  Aside from the Heresy ghouls, the only other ones I care for are the Mantic ones:

I'm not a huge fan of plastics, but I really like these!

Mummy Madness!

The latest off of my painting table is a couple of Reaper mummies.  I really like these two models, especially the one with the headdress. 

Up first is Sokar's Prophet, Nefsokar Cleric (14242):

I enjoyed painting the head of the model the most, being able to bring some colour to a potentially drab mummy.  I was happy with how the eyes came out, and it took me ages to decide on how to paint the canopic jar - I think the black and green came out well, but not enough to draw attention away from those hypnotic eyes....
The base is from Fat Spider.

I also painted Nefsokar Awakened (14399), but with a more unitone colour scheme.  Still, I think he came out quite well!

Voodoo Practitioners

This week I have two Reaper miniatures for you, both of them specialists in the art of Voodoo! 

First up is Dr. VooDoo Super Villain (50121) - he was very easy to paint.  I wasn't sure what colour to paint the skull on his cane, so I thought I'd go with something a little garish to make it stand out.  I added a little blood on the base to make it seem like the chicken was just sacrificed in a voodoo ritual.  The base is from Fat Spider.

Lastly is Rhasia, Zombie Master (14512).  I must say I was a bit intimidated to paint her, but once I got started she practically painted herself.  I was a bit surprised when I read that she was sculpted by Julie Guthrie - it doesn't really look like her style to me.  I'm pleasantly surprised with how way the skin came out.  The base is just a lipped base filled in with White Putty and the tufts are Highland Tuft by Army Painter.

Crazy Cat Lady

I'm finally feeling back to normal after being sick for a few weeks.  Today I have Reaper's Edny, Crazy Cat Lady:

When I first saw this miniature, I thought she would make a great witch!  And of course, she has her feline familiars accompanying her.  The base is from Fat Spider, static grass from Woodland Scenics and leaf litter from Antenociti's Workshop.  She was very easy to paint, and it gave me time to try out some more garish colours.

Sick

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I was out of action all last week with a nasty virus that took away most of my energy and my voice!!! 

I am on "staycation" all next week, so I'll get some pictures up soon!

Audible Review: The Relic

I just finished listening to The Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, two of my favourite authors.  I haven't "read" this book in ages and it was great to listen to it this time instead of reading it.  The narrator was great, throwing in a lot of different voices (I don't know how he jumped back and forth between the accents!) and really kept my interest. 

I forgot how great this book is!  It has the first appearance of Pendergast, which has become their (in my opinion) best character.  I can't say I was too fond of some of the later books that deal with him against his brother, but I have enjoyed most of the later Pendergast books (especially Fever Dream). 

I haven't seen the movie in a long time and may have to watch it again soon.  I remember it being so-so, but I thought the monster looked cool.

I really liked the monster in The Relic.  It was a breath of fresh air how well they blended in the science and came up with something fresh!  I won't spoil it if you haven't read the book yet, so I'll leave it at that.

The Kothoga monster from the movie is available in a 1/12 scale kit by Pegasus.  I think it's 16" long, which is probably a bit too big for using with 28mm miniatures, but I may pick it up for the cool factor alone.