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I was super sad by recent events, and wanted to help. I can help by doing uplifting art, right? So I biked to the local hobby shop, got a new base, prepped this figure, and did ALL of the painting in one day (Sunday last week). He is meant to be an honor to communities in need. After all, Black Panther, T'challa, is pretty much the most honorable and wise of the main Avengers cast. Love Captain America, but he totally should have been a nurse And Iron Man? Crass. Thor? Bro. T'challa is all good things in a person: smart, strong, and compassionate. The figure is being raffled for charity on my FB page. Not looking to spark political fights - I painted the figure for the sake of kindness.

The Gotham Butcher for my Court of Owls list for the Batman miniature game. He was pretty tough to photo due to the pose. I'm working on the rest of the list, and picked a quick easy scheme to get them done fast. The first of 9.

About five or six years ago I received the Knight Models 75mm Boromir as a Christmas gift. I started to assemble the pieces and became intimidated by what I needed to do to 1) finish assembly and 2) actually paint him. Last year I finally worked up the nerve to start painting, got some base colors and his face started, then again lost my nerve and drive. A couple of months ago I at last took Boromir off my shelf-of-unlimited-opportunity and started working. I finally finished him. Front view: Back view: Three-quarter view: Does this lighting wash me out? (Some day I'm going to work out my photography settings and workflow.) Each model is a learning experience and I learned quite a bit on Boromir: how to deal with large expanses of space, a method of highlighting black, keeping colors (somewhat) in balance on a large figure, and the importance of securing the weight of a big hunk of white metal. All and all, I enjoyed painting Boromir and I'm no longer afraid of taking on larger sizes.

This thing is massive. That's a 60mm base that I had to trick out to get it to even fit. It's solid pewter and weighs about 1lb. It was probably the worst cast model I have ever encountered. Every undercut was filled with metal and had to be scooped out. It took forever to paint. For-ever. I'm glad it's over.

Here are two shots of a recently painted Batman from Knight Models. The model was a pain to put together and are a bit thin for my liking. Not sure they will stand up to lots of playing. This was a very simple paint to get me out of a bit of a painting lull after doing some gladiators. I have the Joker and some henchmen to do for this and then I may try out the rules. Not sure I will buy a lot more although the Hulk model is very nice and so is the Hulk Buster Iron Man. It's a shame they are so damn expensive. As always comments welcome.

Thought I'd go ahead and share the latest from my painting desk. Working on the Incredible Hulk miniature from Knight Models: Yeah, he's nearly done and will likely be finished up quite easily during my next painting session, but I'm definitely quite happy with how it's progressing. Just need to paint the shirt, the chunk of wall, and the ground/base - but I have his opponent lined up to paint in the Hulkbuster Armor. And then I'll need to come up with a ruleset to play them with... The most interesting part about this model is a new technique that I heard about combining super glue and baking soda to fill in gaps which I've found works extremely well. Certainly easier to work with than Greenstuff or Liquid Greenstuff, but still not a perfect solution.

I was totally impressed by the Impudent Mortal Kickstarter, but seeing as the buildings on offer didn't appeal as much as older stock they had I ordered directly (and boy was it FAST). Because I wanted to get an idea of what I was doing before I tried building my fancy new things, I took advantage of a FLGS gift card to buy a Knight Models SWAT truck for the Batman game. Here are some product pics behind the spoiler The truck/van is mostly done except for touch-ups and sealing... but I'll still be posting process pics that I took along the way. I mistakenly thought it would be faster than a miniature (and I guess it was at my current pace)... but not really. The other ones I'll be posting as I go (I'm planning on using fancy Japanese paper offcuts as wallpaper, so it'll probably be slow).

Alright this WIP will contain more than a few mins. Most of the time I work on one or two specific projects that have a solid deadline. I started to find that I would get burnt out doing that so I am planning on doing something different this time. While a few of these could be competition entries and a couple are gifts, I plan on working on each a little at a time so I can keep my interest renewed. So on to the victims. Starting with the top left, we have a Gotham Policeman from Knight Models. He is a present for my Dad who is a retired police officer and will be painted in a tan uniform that was worn by San Diego PD until the early 90's. It is the uniform my Dad wore on patrol up until he joined their New Technologies Unit. He has no idea that I am doing this for him and I hope I can do it justice. Next up is Reaper's Vampire Noble (3042) whom I am just painting for fun and vampire skin practice. If I get him done he might be entered in the Halloween contest. If anyone knows what the critter by his legs is, please speak up because I have no idea. The little guy next to him is Hasslefree's Albert, a cute little tyke who, like the vampire, I am painting for fun. In the next row we have Stonehaven's half-lion who is a commission for a friend. Next her is Sayna from Draconia and her base. I may do some water effect on her base but I have not decided yet. She may be my entry for the fantasy large category on our next con, if I finish in time. Lastly at the bottom, we have Reaper's Kristiana (77223) and Troll Slayer Sophie (77370). These are commissions for another friend. And finally we had the Lovers from Dark Sword. These are going to part of a small vignette that is for my parents as a late anniversary present. I apologize for the wall of text and lack of paint on the minis. I wanted to get this started before I got too far into working on them.

Latest couple of minis finished, and a little bit different from my usual fantasy fare Recently tried the Batman Mini game at my local games centre, and enjoyed it enough to pick up a couple of characters for it. I ended up choosing Batgirl and Huntress They're not based yet, as Im not actually sure how to go about it. Usually I use a mix of sand, static grass, leaves etc, which works for fantasy, but not so much for Gotham City, so any suggestions there would be welcome. I was thinking potentially miliput? I'm not that confident with using it, so I'm not sure how well it would create a street effect