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Sculptor: Bob Ridolfi I fished this cute girl out of the Box o' Goodwill from the Reaper forums, so it's only right that she make her way back to another forum member as an exchange mini for Secret Sophie 2016. Tricksay wanted to receive "open to anything"; I love when people pick that, because I can just paint whatever I feel like. Thanks to Bonwirn for giving me a bunch of Hirst Arts blocks to make the diorama out of. After I took these pictures I realized: OMG, you can't even see the rear half that I spent so much time on. Despite the chance of ruining the mini, I carefully drilled a magnet hole through the bottom of the base so she can be removed. I threw in a gaming base as well for picture taking purposes, and just in case Tricksay ever wants to use her in a game. I was joking with my friends at paint day that "no, those are her adventuring clothes; convenient necklace, weird skirt-thong and all."

Well, awhile ago I started making some terrain for my Frostgrave Dark Alchemy solo mini campaign. Longish story....Then squirrels happened. I then decided not to wait to finish my terrain, and just go with what I had made and not painted. I'll nether confirm nor deny that I also used Lincoln Logs to make wall to fill out that first board (and there are no picture left to prove it). That round went well. I then managed to finish up building the hirst arts wizard tower in a ruined form. Next round went way worse... TPK. You take 4 character and your wizard or apprentice. They all got taken out by a series of bad dice rolls. The bad dice roll continued and I failed all my survival rolls for the characters in that mission. Well I decided I really wanted to finish this piece so here is a thread showing the before painting it. Here is some shots of built with my now deceased WIzard, who is roughly the same size as Sir Forscale.

Hello all! Here are a few pics of my second official terrain project. It's a castle/boss chamber, I suppose. I didn't really have anything in mind when I started building it; I was just fooling around with my new molds, tinkering with dry stacking. This eventually emerged. I built it using Hirst Arts molds and bits from both Reaper and Mini Monsters. The Reaper parts are Large Sarcophagus (77540) and parts from Magic Treasures II and III. I made the flags from salad container plastic and various bits; one of these days I would like to go back and paint more detailed flags and replace these. I see so much amazing freehand banner work and I have artist envy...! Happy painting, Laura

Used mold #344 from Hirst Arts to craft walls for my Zombicide: Black Plague game to take my game 3D. Going to try it tomorrow night after we meet friends to decorate Christmas cookies with the kids.

Well, I had started Hirst Arts ruined field stone tower in an attempt to build terrain for Frostgrave. After building some of the wall section, I had a bit of a Cat-trastophy with them. My cat decided those pieces would look better on a cement floor... in pieces. Since I posted in the September goals thread that I want to try and finish the building of the tower this month I thought I would post where I was in my progress. Be warned, my skill are very lacking, as there are several uneven level, but it is a ruined tower. There are going to be three level inside the tower that are being pressed in an attempt to keep them level. Here is a shot of the pieces apart. I'll be more than happy to take any advice.

I ended up with a bunch of extra crates from one of my Hirst Arts molds, and decided to experiment with wood the other night. So here you go! In case anyone's curious about the recipe, here's what I did. Everything but the wash is done with dollar-store craft paints, that don't have great coverage, so this might not be the best plan to try to recreate with good paints (at least without testing it out first)... Basecoat with Burnt Umber Heavy drybrush with Bright Orange Light drybrush with Cashmere Tan Very light drybrush with Antique White (a sort of yellow-tinted off-white colour) Wash with Citadel's Agrax Earthshade The chest's metal bits were done with Blackened Steel, highlights picked out with Honed Steel, and then a few shadows established with Reaper Pure Black.

Here is what I've been working on since the end of June. It's the Hirstarts Corridor set (Space Hulk). Got the first game on it today, as well (a loss to my step son). https://goo.gl/photos/LZkoeDSVBAUPzXBL7

Hi, I made my first HS project, bricks are really great and its fun to build with them.

Here are photo I thought I'd post of more minor projects I finished up. The one on the left is a Hirst Arts crate beside the bones 2 crates. I probably could have defined the bones ones more but they were all quick paints. They both have different feels. So I think they are both useful for variety. Thanks for looking.

OK, I haven't been posting a lot of miniatures lately. Mostly because I haven't been finishing much. But I also haven't had access to the camera I was using and my cell phone camera stopped working. So I broke out my camera I tried to get working before and could never take decent photo's. So here I go trying to get it to work again. Here are some barrels a painted in between working on other projects. One is the small barrel from bones 2. The next is a barrel I got from somewhere sometime ago. The last is a hirst arts barrel from one of the molds. All Painted with the same colors. And here is a Hirst Arts chest from the same mold.

The Breach The last year has had its ups and down for the Gnomes of the Stonehavens. The Wyrmgear Initiative (as it has become know) has been very successful, and Wyrmgear and his later created brethren rule the skies. This has kept the Goblinoid hordes in check. On the down side, repeated attempts at formal alliances with the Dwarves (be they the nearby Dwarves of Stonehaven, the distant Scrunts of the territory of Olley, or the mighty clans of the Oathsworn Dwarves) have thus far lead to little more than non-aggression pacts. But unknown to the Gnomes, the Goblins have been much more successful in finding allies. For deep within Goblin lands they have uncovered an ancient Maul of Legend, known as Stonecrusher. Legends say it was forged and wielded long ago by a Demon Prince in his war against Hirst the Builder. The Goblins have gifted this great weapon to Skorg Ironskull, King of the Fire Giants. In return Skorg has mobilized the might of Thulgarast to lay waste these puny Gnomes. And he has brought with him his ally Kyra, riding the mighty Lavarath, to take back the skies. The plan is simple, but effective. The Goblin army has attacked a key village near the Gnomish stronghold of Blackstone. The Gnomish air forces have quickly mobilized to engage the Goblins. Which leaves the stronghold itself vulnerable to attack, especially to an attack that can blast straight through the walls… ************************************************************************************* Skorg despises the waiting. But still, the Goblins’ plan is surprisingly clever. They will need to be watched more closely… At last, the cursed winged mechanical monstrosities are away. Time to alter the plan. “Vanja, hold the troops here. I shall go with just Fomohr and Drokos. If this weapon works as the legends say we will be more than enough to rid this hill of its pathetic vermin,†With that Skorg strode from cover, casually marching towards the walls of Blackstone. Fomohr, as always, quickly took the lead, placing himself between any danger and his King. Drokos strode beside his King, thoughtfully weighing the massive maul in his hands. A sudden cry could be heard from the walls as they were spotted, followed by a strange, alien whine. Moments later a blast of searing light flashes past Skorg, detonating a trough in the ground well behind him. “Blasted Gnomes and their infernal creations!â€, he snarls, and waves his sword forward in a planned gesture. As the three Fire Giants break into a jog, Kyra and Lavarath streak into view. The strange device on the battlements fires off several haphazard blasts as its crew tries to get a bearing on the mighty dragon, to no avail. Lavarath crashes to a stop atop the tower, smashing and mangling the device and its crew. Now at the wall, Drokos glances at his King once then steps forward. Hefting the might maul, he delivers a single swing with all his might. The wall in front of him vanishes, blown into the keep with incredible force. Fomohr immediately charges through the breach. Skorg can’t help but laugh, this power the Goblins have freely given…. “Bring it all down, Drokos!†He commands, as he charges forward. And I'd like to thank my wife for taking time out of a very busy day (our guests should be here any minute....) to take these wonderful pictures. They are much better than the ones I took on my phone...

I'd posted a few pics in my combined WIP as I was figuring things out, but now that I'm (finally) gearing up to really start working on my diorama for the 2014 Year of the Giants contest, I guess it's time to start a new WIP. The idea I'm working with for this diorama is set in the same (loosely defined) world as my Wyrmgear diorama from last year. A slightly steampunky fantasy world. So far we have seen the Gnomes (specifically the Stonehaven ones) as a faction, obviously technologically advanced enough to create automatons and even Wyrmgear. Now we get to see one of the forces they must battle, Fire Giants and their allies. So, my idea is a Gnomish fortress being breached by what is likely the vanguard of a much larger army (perhaps lesser giants, orcs, things like that). 4 (or maybe 3, not sure yet) Fire Giants, have smashed through the wall (the Fire Giant in the back will have his sword swapped for a large, obviously magical maul/hammer) while Kyra and Lavarath cleared the tower of any defenders. There will likely be a few Gnomish casualties and possibly some shattered steampunky weapons to help tie it all together. This pic is a mock up of what I think needs to be there. I'm trying to plan out a base size so I can get something cut and start doing the actual block assembly and other terrain planning. I've taped off what I think will work as a base, 12x14 inches. The walls will of course extend to the edges of the diorama. The walls, where damaged, will be filled with gravel and stone, and where undamaged will have stone across the top and crenelations and such. The tower will likely have an arch passing through from the wall top or something similar and maybe some arrow slots. I'm undecided if the interior of the keep will be flagstones or dirt. The exterior will be dirt, grass, possibly with the edge of a moat or something showing. Maybe raise the whole thing on 2 inches of Styrofoam to allow some variable terrain....hmm, I like that. Will help with craters too.... Anyway, thoughts, suggestions, etc are always welcome and appreciated. Looks like I'm going to be busy over the next 4 months...

Bonwirn was kind enough to send my husband and I some furniture and accessories from his Hirst Arts molds. So I'm painting them up now Doing basic wood coloring right now. None of these are done yet

I have been a bit busy the past few weeks and sadly got side-tracked from getting a project in for Starship Superstar. I have been playing with plaster Lego aka Hirst Arts. The plus side is my Reaper Minis have a new home to play in. Well home isn't the right word...let's call it a domicile. More pictures on my blog for those interested.

This was my Summer Exchange figure I did for Kharsin. He received it on Friday but said it might be a while before he could post pictures, so if I had any to go ahead and post them. These pictures were taken fairly quickly more as reassembly insurance, in case anything came apart during shipping, so no fancy backgrounds or anything. Kharsin suggested "something pretty" and that he liked display bases. If you look at my usual work you know "pretty" usually isn't part of it, but I gave it a go. I picked out Gabriella as she's a nice feminine fig, but in full plate, so I wouldn't have to do TOO much flesh tones, as human flesh tones aren't something I've worked with a lot, especially female human flesh tones. Orc or goblin, not prob, but human? I'm pretty happy with how she came out. More detail and blending than I normally do, but I think it was definitely worth it. While trying to come up with a base, I kept picturing her on a flight of stairs. Not sure why, but I went with it. The result might be a bit big to be called a display base though....

Update 12/16: Check the latest post for pics of Dwarves, Sheep, and Pack Mules. So tiny! So, I'm not so good at updating things, but here's a thread for my random progress reports as I feel the need to post them. What got me started on this is my recent acquisition of some 6mm figures (from Baccus 6mm in the UK). Here's a pic of some of them primed, sitting on one of my many HA in-progress pieces. The 6mm figs are from the Dwarves line by Baccus, the lower large figure is Reaper's Mad Scientist (Female), the upper large figure is Darksword's Female Mage on Stairs (they are included for scale comparison). Further updates eventually. -Dave

So, Bonwirn and I get together every so often to play with our Hirst Arts molds, and generally hang about. We'd like to open up to rest of the community, and so I am offering up my place for a Southeastern Meetup/Casting Party. It's a glassblowing studio outside of Athens, GA, so if you're nearby*, you should come on out! This isn't necessarily limited to HA stuff; if you want to paint you should come too! If you just want to come and hang out, that's also cool. We're planning on one of the first two weekends in August, but have not set a firm date. Is anyone around interested in joining us? -Dave *nearby = Tennessee, the Carolinas, Georgia, possibly other states, if you feel like driving

Not sure if this fits the show off section so I posted it here instead. I have been making a farm board for my two sons for a few months and it has coincided with painting some Bones so I thought I would show off the creation here. Defending the house from untold nasties. The people inside the house. Sleeping quarters And a full overview complete with a car!

So I was bored last night and nobody was posting on the boards fast enough to stave off my boredom, so I decided to peruse the List of Craig. Normally I look at the free stuff and go "oh a piano" or "3 tonnes of field stone". But as I said I was bored, so I started looking on other categories: Tools, Farm Equipment, Arts and Craft. And what do I spy posted on Saturday? Hirst Arts molds!! What is this?! Could it really be?! 10 molds for less than half their retail cost? They shall be mine. I pick them up after work tomorrow. Oh the things I shall build.

Prior to my move (in February) I'd stalled out on my last terrain project, a modular space ship built from Hirst Arts blocks that I'm making for a friend. Since then, I've got no mojo for that project, and rather than waste the relatively good weather we've been having, I've been using the time to cast fantasy blocks, particularly from some of the newer molds that i've picked up. The move (from an apartment to a house) means that I've finally got some real space to store terrain projects after they've been built. In addition to building myself a modular fantasy set of cavern and dungeon pieces (a la Dwarven Forge), I've also had a number of building projects that I've wanted to work on. Foremost among those is a wizard's tower for the archmage in my D&D campaign. She is one of only two players who have played the entire 6+ year campaign with the same character. Early on in their career, I used a pre-gen called "An Evening's Entertainment" to introduce a small inn on a trade route. It was close to Halloween, and the adventure was a bit of a suspense/thriller in which a hive of death scarab beetles find their way into the inn through the mushroom caves attached to the back. They slaughter everyone, and leave behind a gory, gruesome scene that the players discover only a short time later. It was one of the most suspense-filled, tension-driven adventures in the campaign, and it left a mark on the players. So much so, that after they'd eradicated the bugs and cleaned up the mess, they installed a family of refugees as the new inn owners, and made it a regular stop in their travels. The wizard was heavily involved in this process, and has talked about using this location for her tower. So, this wizard tower is actually a two-part project. The first will be building the tower; the second will be building the nearby Sign of the Mushroom inn. This will give the rest of the characters a place to stay when visiting her. It also provide me an opportunity to build some underground secret passages that connect the two together, as a secondary means of entrance and egress from the tower. To start, I'm using the 4" and 8" Round Tower molds (#52 and #64 respectively, from Hirst), as well as the Ruined Tower mold (#65). The 8" Round Tower will provide the bulk of the structural blocks for the first few floors of the tower. Between the 4" and the Ruined Tower molds, I get the flooring I want to not have to make a custom floor for the tower. The 4" Round will provide some internal structure on the first floor, and will form the core of the top level of the tower, also granting access to the roof. I will use the decorative pieces (arches and columns) off of the Ruined Tower to provide additional internal structure on the lower levels while still maintining a more open feeling, and open up the top level to create a balcony feeling. The tower will also include a basement. I've decided to go with fieldstone blocks from the Fieldstone Wall and Accessory molds (#70 and #71 respectively) for the walls, and the Flagstone Floor Tile mold (#260) for the floors and ceilings (I'll explain this later). I've opted for a 5"x5" area for the basement with a 1/2" border around it; walls sitting on that border will effectively make this a 6"x6" area. This will create the slightest bit of overhang relative to the tower above it (6"x6" on the hypotenuse = roughly 8.5") but nothing that can't be hidden relatively easily. The basement (and most levels of the tower, for that matter) will be 3" tall. As the floor blocks are only a 1/4" thick, and my walls that stand on them are 2 1/2" tall, I plan to use a 6"x6" grid of Flagstone Floor Tile blocks face down on top of the basement. These will be attached to the first floor of the tower, which will also act as a keyed mechanism for setting the first floor of the tower in place correctly. In addition, the basement will also feature a working secret door, in which a section of the wall will swing out to reveal a passagewar. This passageway will be 2" wide, with a 1/2" border for the walls. It will be the same height, and use inverted Flagstone Floor Tiles for a removeable ceiling for game play. I've cast enough parts from all the mold in question to at least start the project (and perhaps even finish it; we'll see if additional casting is required). I dry-fit peices for the basement yesterday and started glueing up wall sections today. Once they are dry, I'll get some pics added to the thread. ~v

So, I've started making a new display case for my mini's, a 16"x20"x1.25" shadow box, with a display shelf made out of HA blocks. This is still very much a WIP, but I'm eager about it. Questions, comments, criticisms, et cetera welcome. Yes, I know that one column is messed up.... I will be fixing that, and hopefully making another row tonight. -Dave

Hey folks, sometime in the near future i plan to make a series of shrines for the major gods in the D&D universe(my experience is limited to 4th ed lore). Each shrine will be around 2*2 to 4*4 squares large and primarily feature a statue in the likeness of said god. By divine guidance, I have already selected and aquired most of the miniatures from Reaper and I have msot of the building blocks I think i need from Hirst Arts. My question to the Council of Brushlords and Brushladies would be regarding the look of these statues. Im looking to get a reasonable variety in the look of the sculptures, anything from limestone to fel crystal. So far i can pull off a drybrushed grey stone look, but it would be terribly dull to repeat this 12 or so times - What tips or sites would you recommend for neat looking statues? - Do you have recommendations for the materials I should use for a particular deity?(eg- Erathis painted to look like marble) I plan to start a WIP thread when I can clear my slate to focus on this project, but here are the minis i have so far in no particular order: Bahamut: (2x) 03600: Praying Paladin, 65025: Praying Paladin Erathis: 50001: Sascha Dubois, Time Chaser Pelor: 02803: Brother Vincent Avandra: 60059: Harrower Corellon: 14450: Larnach, Grey Elf Mage Lolth: 02990: Crypt of the Vampiress Sehanine: 03352: Children of the Zodiac: Virgo Ioun: 03291: Heinz Stargazer Kord: 03309: Kord the Destroyer, Barbarian Moradin : None yet The Raven Queen: 60088: Cleric of Urgathoa Melora: 14274: Clarissa Banshee,Razig Mage Zehir: None yet

So, if you don't follow the HA forum, Bruce has just completed 4 new molds to decorate all those awesome building you make. Check out the thread at http://hirstarts.yuku.com/topic/5076/The-Inn-Market-Accessory-Mold-Thread (3 molds, bars, tables, chairs, bottles, buckets, ohemgee a lot) http://hirstarts.yuku.com/topic/6077/1-square-wood-floor-mold (4th mold, floor tiles) Pages 21, 24, and 26 have pictures of most of what goes in to the molds (first link, second link is only three pages). I cannot wait to get my hands on these. -Dave