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"Born with an innate love of music, (stringed instruments, in particular), Gunnar spent his formative years aspiring to be the greatest bard the realm had ever seen. Sadly, his Dwarven heritage left him with thick, stubby fingers that were more suitable for crafting and battle than they were for making music. For years, Gunnar was told to forget his dream of plucking strings and focus instead on the joy of metalwork or the fury of combat. But few things are more tenacious than a determined dwarf with a dream. Always one to keep his ears open, Gunnar soon heard rumors of a mystical instrument that could be expertly wielded by anyone brave and lucky enough to find it. After years of searching and struggling, Gunnar was finally rewarded with the object of his quest high above a misty mountain. Now, he churns out an endless stream of heavy metal to amp up his companions in battle and terrify their enemies!" I got this set of bulk minis from Path Miniatures on Amazon (it's a great set, btw). It contained four identical dwarf clerics with warhammers. It's a great sculpt, but certainly not the kind of thing I needed four of. One had a hammer that was too warped to reshape, so I carefully cut it away with the plan to add some other dwarf-like weapon at some point. THEN, I got this Starlink figure at Dollar Tree (named "Razor Lemay"). She had an electric guitar strapped to her back, which inspired me. I cut it off, was pleased to find that it fit nicely in the dwarf's hands, and Gunnar Thunderaxe was born! I also added some spikes to his armor to make him more metal. Enjoy!

Tor Skullcrusher, dwarven tattooed monk A Custom Miniature developed on Hero Forge and 3D printed by a friend WIP As mentioned in the Work In Progress, this is a character of mine from an existing campaign. The character has died once and was raised from the dead suffering a drop in his already low Charisma score as a result. His caved-in skull didn't heal properly and the concussion and time in limbo have left him "off" personality wise. So, with damaged head and tattoos adorning his arms and the opposite side of his skull, I present the embodiment of his family surname, Tor Skullcrusher. These were taken with a single strip light source so I may come back to this and take some more pics with two background lights. As always, feel free to leave notes and praise as warranted. Thanks for looking. Enjoy and Stay safe.

Tor Skullcrusher, dwarven tattooed monk A Thrym Project :: A Custom Miniature developed on Hero Forge and 3D printed by a friend. Started working on character of mine who is a Dwarven Tattooed Monk. As I mentioned, I created him using Hero Forge, downloaded the .STL, and had him printed elsewhere. I enjoy using the interface on Hero Forge so far. I have designed and purchased 3 STLs and 2 minis. Once I received the print, I made a manual adjustment to his skull. An ironic happenstance, given the character's name. Tor, being a dwarf and confident in his skills against ogres was going toe-to-toe with a rather large ogre with a great club. This is not something unusual so far. The party had been exploring an ogre controlled encampment searching for an item and information for a tribe of centaurs nearby. Unfortunately, Tor suffered a critical hit from the Ogre Champion's club and took a lot of damage when he was already near unconsciousness. He effectively had his namesake applied to his own noggin. So I removed a large segment of his skull by the patch to approximate the results of his disfigurement once the party ... eventually ... managed to raise him from the dead. His demeanor and appearance was never pleasing to begin with and now it's even worse. I painted on a primer coat first so I could see where I was removing plastic better. The majority of the work was done with a rounded mini-file as well as a small gouge chisel. I cleaned up the space with a small sanding twig. For a color scheme, his pallid skin is Reaper's Fair Skin. The coat is Army Painter's D&D Vampire Garments with Army Painter D&D Mouldy Wash. I put the wash over his skin and his hand wraps as well. The coat's trim is just the Vampire Garments again. For the tans I used Reaper's Desert Sand, Desert Stone, Desert Tan, and Woodland Brown; or some combination thereof. The eye patch, the lining of the coat and the belt are Army Painter's D&D Wraith Black as well as the tattoos on his right and left forearms and the side of his head. His boots started out as Reaper's Coal Black but I need to reshake the bottle before going back to it. Yes, I know the pics and the paint wash are a little dark, but the next set of pics will be better lit. I am planning on layering his highlights up to brighter points. More work to come soon. Stay Tuned and Safe. Enjoy.

So, I've been working on this one for far too long. A customized Medusa made from two D&D Minis, A Fiendish Snake and one of the medusa minis from the line. I used Pro-Create to make the tattered skirt so I didn't have to try to sculpt her butt! :P GF

So I'm branching out from typical miniatures and trying something new. My son has really been into Hotwheels lately, and it turns out that there's an entire Hotwheels Customization culture out there much like the minis we like to paint. I put two and two together and figured why not try it out? So, here's the WIP (some of it at least) of the Fairlady 2000 I'm currently working on. Besides, if it ends up horribly, Hotwheels are only .94 cents at Wally World Unfortunately, I got the bright idea to WIP after I was pretty much done painting as much as I'm going to on the first go-round. However, here's the comparison between the Yellow "stock" Datsun and the Orangy one I've painted. Also, the various components of the build that I've worked on. Finally, the installing of new axles and Red Rider wheels found on the more "premium" versions of Hotwheels. I may use the donor truck as a future "distressed" diorama if I feel froggy enough. The floorboard is also painted a metal shade as you can kind of see it in the interior if you bother to try to see it. I just finished gluing the axles and wheels in about five minutes ago, so it'll have to sit for a bit to dry. If all goes well, I'll have completed my first custom Hotwheel. I'll be able to zoom across the table in a one of a kind upgrade. WHHHEEEEEEEEE!!!! I'll post final pics after everything's dry and fitted. Thank you for checking it out! -K P.S.: Thos pics are tiny! I'll post larger ones in the Show Off when it's done. I apologize for the oversight

For a painting competition entry I had to find a 20 year old miniature to work with. Digging through my old boxes of minis (mostly Games Workshop) I found a "Kharn the Betrayer" chaos space marine from 96 (I think was the date on his tab). Decided I wanted to give him a fun base, something more than just the general skull pile he's usually on. So, started scratchbuilding a symbol of Khorne for him to stand on, here's two pics of the understructure. (Bottom of the actual base is the black, white cap is just for handling.) This (although small) is the most involved basing project Ive done to date, and I'm already learning lots on how to do things better, and a lot of what not to do. Anyway, will be updating as I progress further on him. - Added some more detailing to the base, and started laying ground for skulls. - More skulls and playing around with details on the symbol, have added a removed a few things that didnt turn out how I liked. - And some more skulls, also added paper cut of potential plating on the symbol on top right portion. Think I like it and will add to the rest of them for next update (which wont be til next week, as out of town til then.)

In my campaign world, I've long had mention of a mythical monster known as Verigana the Tormentor, who is figured prominently in the epic planar war that took place in the misty past. Servant of the goddess of Pain, she slew a champion of the goddess of Mercy. I've had her in mind for quite a while, and often had a winged marilith in mind when I've envisioned her. But, now that I'm running a campaign set during that long-ago time period, I wanted Verigana to appear and be truly intimidating, and a marilith by herself just wouldn't cut it. The idea of her being a Hecatoncheires was very, very attractive. In Pathfinder, those beasties are a bit more than I really wanted, but the idea of a scaled-down version would be nice. However, miniatures of such hundred-handed monsters aren't exactly flooding the market. I decided to get on a famous auction site and search for the term just by itself, and I came across a miniature of Final Fantasy XIII's Hecatoncheires figure. So, I picked one up, got one of Reaper's 77393 Avukavali models, and went to work modifying the creature. I cut off the hands of each of the principle arms, dug through my bits bin and found all the spare goblin arms I had from a box of GW's Warhammer Fantasy figures, and then did a bunch of weapon swaps to put weapons into the left hands. I managed to wear my hands out drilling pins and gluing together, and cut my finger on a new X-Acto blade due to general clumsiness, but overall, I'm pretty satisfied with how she came about after I got her finished. The only nudity in the miniature is from a Reaper mini, but posting rules indicate I should link her instead of posting her. Obviously, this may be NSFW. Enjoy. Deviant Art Gallery Image 1 Image 2 Image 3 Image 4 Image 5 Image 6 Image 7 Image 8 Image 9

(Though I've only painted one)

So I did a thing! Latching onto other post of similar title - most notable being @Willen's "Homemade Paint Shaker" - I wanted to create one myself. The objective was to be fast, easy and easy to manage while being multi-functional (it can still be used as a jigsaw). I caught the jigsaw on sale for $10 at Harbor Freight... The Aluminum piece is a sample for some of our material we use here at work. I've seen similar shaped piece at Home Depot. You would have to cut them down and drill the holes for it. I use it cause it was free. The great thing about this is the paint bottle rests against the bolt at the bottom, the Velcro holds it in place horizontally and the rubber band holds it in place vertically. Now I will warn you it is not silent... but well worth it. I did a test on a paint i had not used in over a year: 1-Right out of the bottle, 2-Hand shaken, 3-Jigsaw Shaken. And I can tell you what, that jigsaw shaken bottle was FAR better than I thought it ever was. I mean I really shake them well when i do it with my hands but not nearly as well as that Jigsaw. Hope this helps someone. Please feel free to ask question or anything. If you have any other homemade paint shaker links feel free to post them in here too so we keep them all connected. Removed the hardware (shiny bits) from the jig saw. Using the an allen wrench. Bent the guide rail up and out of the way. It's useless anyway for the jigsaw. I would cut it off if I had the tool. Took Angled aluminum with pre-drilled holes and screw in in place over the existing blade clamp on the jigsaw. ON TOP not under where the blade clamps in. Adhesive Velcro: Cut a length and doubled it over leaving one end ope to stick to the aluminum piece. Cut Velcro section (opposing side) and stuck to aluminum piece Placed bottle onto new apparatus & used rubber band to secure vertical movement. (rubber band doubles as wire management when not in use)

Custom Legend of Zelda, Breath of the Wild inspired Paint scheme on elf warrior. The model is a 3D printed model and was brought to me by a customer She requested a Legend of Zelda inspired paint scheme based on a photo she provided of her character from the game. I really enjoyed doing this and translating the original art on to the model and I cant wait for a customer to bring me another challenge like this again. As allways if you liked this I post more pictures like this on my FB Page. Facebook.com/TabletopGlory

I was asked to make a custom Water bending miniature for a customer of mine who is running a Marvel Superhero game at out local Gaming club. I used the Reaper Bones Water Weird (77310) and the Drowned Spirit (03727) to create a custom kit bashed miniature. The players favorite color is Blue so I was asked to fit as many shades of the color into the model as possible. If you have any questions on how I made this feel free to ask here or on my FB page. (facebook.com/TabletopGlory) I have many more that I will be doing for his campaign one of witch will be made from the Virina, Female Demon (03084) where ill be hand painting cloths onto the miniature. (I'll be making a small video to explain all the modifications for this one.)

Need somewhere to keep my dwarf army. Thought to build LED underground small garrison fort/outpost. Will have 4 floors Magnetized bottom floor for large models And will try to stuff as much detail as I can. Began with a wooden simple frame, and 2" PinkFoam. Was debating to build up all details and then paint it at once, or paint it in pieces and install them into the box as I go. Do to the nature of the LED lighting, and much uncertainties with LED lighting, I decided to craft it piece by piece instead of all at once. Also, I do not have a good way to cover very large, hard to get to, very detailed area with coats of paint very efficiently, thus will take slower path. Have some plans how to dress up the outside but want to leave that part for last.

And now, by request, I present a lich with a flaming skull. Flavor Text: After the cultists opened the rift, and were promptly eaten, all manner of strange beast came though. Most fearsome were the Liches, commanders of the undead. The fed from the fresh battlegrounds and quickly the Rebels and Redcoats formed an easy peace to take on this new threat.

Hi everyone, I wanted to show you all my latest sculpt and get your feedback. I am trying to *redacted* miniatures. Maybe some day *redacted*. Right now Gen. Brookwater is in the last stages before *redacted*. Still need to nail down the casting method and the material. But, hopefully, in the fall of 2016 or so *redacted*. But now is your chance to let me know what you like, what you don't like, what you'd prefer to see. Because, for the time being, changes can still be made! I'll be posting updates as time goes on and soon will have a youtube video up so you can really see him. Thank you!

A buddy of mine decided to get into painting miniatures and checked with me about it. He wasn't sure what to get and since I have over 500 miniatures I said I'll send you ten or so miniatures. He spent a whole week going on about it. I showed him the Bones listings on Reaper's Store and then he asked for a minotaur to represent a character of his so I bought him the Reaper Bones Minotaur. He wanted the minotaur to have a maul. With no real thought put forth, I figured, I could make a maul and put it in the minotaur's hand(s). I pulled out my minotaur and looked him over... Two weapons to one two-handed weapon. Piece of cake. I pulled out some Sculpey clay and made the very simple maul head and baked it. I dragged some tools over it to carve out some raised wood grain and dug out a split in the wood in the front of the maul head. I wanted it to look used. I then spent some time thinking about how to brace a maul head for use as a weapon and decided on a sort of t-strap for it. I drew this just now to illustrate... Here's the initial pieces I assembled and the results after I removed the axe and the cleaver. I put a heavy flower wire through his hands. Which required that I pop his left arm free. That maul head is about as basic as it gets before sanding and "carving." Then after drilling a hole through the maul head I created the wood grain and dry fit it all for a look at how he's holding it. The old axe handle is at the end of the haft for the maul but I wasn't sure I would keep it or if it was too long. There's a major split in the head from whacking some tough critter hides. But I still had a lot of detail to add to the maul head and I needed to wrap the haft with green stuff to make it more hefty. First Strap with a knurl pattern. Second strap around the back of the maul head. It's a bit damaged from big back swings. A little sanding on the wire allowed easy application of green stuff and the creation of a spike at the end. Sanding and more sanding on the haft and the head got even better results. So I then pushed to add the wood flaring from getting beat up and adding the decorative pieces over the weld points on the maul head straps. Some proper photos taken in the studio: A little more sanding took place after the photos above. Mainly on the maul head but a little more on the handle. The next step will be to add some ballast to the base to match the integral base and prime it for my buddy before shipping it all to Iowa. Really the primer step isn't necessary except for my own sake. I just want to see if I need to clean anything up. A fun project since I created the maul from scratch and got to try some techniques out.

I posted another one of Heroforge's custom ordered 3D printed minis the other day, and I just finished another one. This one didn't have the texture issues that the other three I've painted did - the only place I really notice rough texture is on the back side of the shield, which is fine. This particular character is the Paladin in the party I DM for (5th Edition, homebrew campaign). The symbol on his shield represents his deity (goddess of light, sunburst symbol) and the dwarven homeland he's far from (mountains). He recently joined an in-game faction called the Queensguard, so their symbol & colors are painted on his right pauldron.

I painted this commission tonight. The model is from Heroforge and the customer had it custom printed to match her D&D character. The texture of Heroforge models is always a bit bumpy due to the printing process, and I smoothed out what I could with a scraper, brush, and water rinse. it's kind of rough to catch all of it when the material is fragile hard plastic that isn't the easiest to whittle down in some areas, so there are some spots on her face that I'm not entirely happy with. Still, not bad for being able to custom build your character.

http://file770.com/?p=26177 People have occasionally talked of taking a toy van and customizing it as the Mystery Machine. Someone on Long Island did it in real life.

Well, I decided to finally throw my hat in here, and use this forum to help me get serious about this work. When CAV KS fulfilled core set, I got 2 partial kits, that reaper was awesome about replacing with complete ones...however, this left me me with some spare parts. This is what I have to work with so far: All I got so far is to dismantle the little arm, take the gun portion to add to the body of the unit elsewhere, and the pentagon type piece to bulk up the underside of the torso. It will likely still be a chicken-walker style, but a little beefier...not sure where else I'm going from there. SO! Blindly forward!

Since I got a pretty good response from the figure I made of Frog from Chrono Trigger and from my Fullmetal Alchemist modified figures, I went on to my next challenge. I want to make a decent figure for Guts, the main character from the Berserk Manga and Anime. Now anyone who is a fan knows that finding an actual mini of him can be difficult, and I'm gonna use it for my next D&D character, so I wanted something special for it. Now I ordered 4 different reaper mini's as candidates, not sure which I'll use yet, as each has something to offer, but none are perfect. Probably will end up a mix of at least 2 figures, but the real challenge is creating Gut's sword, the Dragonslayer. So I've started with that. This is is a 2$ metal file from a local hardwares store bargain bin tool rack. As you notice, part of it is cut off the tip... This is after an hour or two with a dremmel tool, and a little grinding. I drilled a small hole at the end and used a small nail with both ends cut to make the handle. The "guard" I guess you'd call it is just a piece of cardboard, glue coated to give it a plasticy quality, cut and wrapped around the end. This is my Gnoll Figure Kabal next to it to give a size perspective of what I am making. Used some chord to make the wrap for the handle, and handled it a bunch to give it a dirtier look. Sorry for the photo quality, But these are cell phone pics. Some of the later onces I use a magnifying glass to focus the details a little clearer. Put the standard D20 there for a size comparison. With a little black paint, the cuts of the file give the rough Iron look to the weapon. It's not done yet, still some details to work out, but I'll keep posting as it goes along.

Well here is my completed Guts from the Berserk Anime and Manga. I used 02962: Killian, Bounty Hunter Not perfect, but I'm pretty happy with the results. If you like to see how I got there, here is my works in progress posts, which lists the things I mainly tried to do but failed, but I may attempt this again and better at a later date. It was quite the learning experience.

This is a personal favorite I did. Started with figure P02467A: Gnoll: with axe, and turned him into one of my favorite characters from my old D and D days, Kabal Bloodcleaver. His blade is El-Ravagers Hackmaster, and I couldn't find one big enought to match it's might, so It's actually a dollhouse prop I found online and used for this purpose. In game terms, is a +12, 1D100 dmg weapon, and only the Mighty Kabal is worthy to wield it.

Here's an individual WIP of an idea I had, upon realizing I had excess Blasters for my Mechadrome mechs. The original Superfortress looks gnarly but is heavily outfitted for anti-vehicle firepower. Most 28mm combat is more about infantry, or at most, many infantry and a handful of vehicles. I recalled having another, and set about making an anti-infantry version that visually blended the Mechadrome and original LOS aesthetics; as a bonus this leaves me with a BFG laser to stick on, say, a Rhino, in order to have an in-theme IFV/APC. I stuck the legs on with huge amounts of automotive epoxy putty and some superglue; the bottom detailing is hollow, which you really never see on the table, and the legs fit up into the body cavity. (Huge amounts = two small blobs). Then I Devcon'd his feet to this Basix MDF base, just to be sure. Here he is near a fully assembled, based, shaded, but incompletely painted twin. As you can see, I have, with a combo of big pins, Devcon, and aforementioned putty, plus some superglue to make sure the putty grabbed, mounted one of the BFGs in place of the disposable 2-shot missile pack of the standard variant. (Like the standard variant, I have lost this guy's chin gun.)

as a bit of a warm up for the bones CAVs I painted up a pair of metal CAVs. A nightshade and a custom built off the arms and torso of a spitfire with tomahawk legs.