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I actually finished this some time ago, but frankly wanted to get it over to Ma and Pa Strawhat's ASAP as we knew that Ma wouldn't be around too much longer. As such, I didn't have the option to get pictures (as soon as I finished sealing it, I went to bed, then boxed it up the next evening as soon as I got home from work and ran it out there). I grabbed Ma's phone one afternoon while I was over there waiting for hospice to arrive and took a few pictures. I had hoped that Ma would post them so I could grab them, but she didn't. The pictures are a little dark (I'm not real good at using other phones), but I think the idea comes across.

This one was started back in Nov, but obviously got back logged. I got through most of them and just lost steam. Here's how most of it came out. Still finishing the manger and one wise man. The three in most pleased with are baby Jesus, herding boy, and the donkey.

Just curious, is the Nativity set only going to be available around Christmas, or is the plan to make it generally available year round (realizing of course that supplies might be limited).?

With minutes to spare, I finished the base for the nativity and got the figures I managed to get painted this year for my Moms Xmas gift. The pics are not the best, I had to take them quickly so we could get over to her house for Xmas brunch but you get the gist of it. :-)

This is likely to become a very long and slow thread since I only have the main Nativity Set and one Wise man yet... Anyway, onto the wood 'stable'... Since I just got the Vallejo Old & New wood effect paint set, I decided to use that. (Actually, I got the set for this mini) First I primed it with IDF Israeli Sand Primer: Then I coated with 71.131 Concrete. The star is based with Reaper's Palomino Gold, of course. Then Sand Grey happened... A wash of Model Wash 76.517 Dark Grey, highlights of RAL1001 Elfenbein 71.075, and some Reaper Bones Dragon Gold on the star. I think it's mostly ready now, just need a bit of cleanup here and there, some varnish, and a base... Yeah, I gotta think about that... (It needs to be able to hold all the Nativity minis after all) Also, because of the instructions, I think that paint set is worth the price, and with a bit more experience with it I should be able to produce some really nice results. (I used a crappy #1 synthetic for everything but the star, where I used a crappy #0. None of the woodwork requires a good brush, really.)

Painting The Nativity up for my Mom. This year she will get the Holy family, the lamb and the donkey. Next year she'll get the rest. I'll make up the base for them with room to add the rest next year. A couple things of note. The figure of Mary was fairly well cast, I wish I could say the same for Jesus and Joseph. Josephs face is jacked up with googlie uneven eyes and Jesus had huge mold lines and very soft details. I did the best I could I guess. I'm not talented enough to fix the huge issues with these two figures. They look well enough from far away so I guess it's fine.

I have painted up the Nativity Set as a gift for my girlfriend's parents. They will get it close to the holidays. I added the sheperd with sheep, the donkey and a cow. All Reaper miniatures: https://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/nativity/latest/01430 https://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/nativity/latest/01433 https://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/nativity/latest/01439 https://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/cow/sku-down/03719 I put the whole set under a dome. And made some barn soil with putty. WIP here: http://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/69198-nativity-scene-as-a-gift-by-xherman1964/ Only after all was glued together I noticed a small bit of yellow brown on the sheperd's clothing, oh well, let's assume he got a bit dirty dealing with the animals... I hope they will like the gift..

It's time to start looking at working on my Nativity if there's to be any hope of getting it done by Christmas 2016. (And if I can't get it done then I need to find another gift idea for my mom.) I've looked at a lot of other examples and I've got some ideas but I need to formulate a definite plan. The goal is to make a series of three dioramas: angel, shepherds and sheep; wise men with camel; Mary, Joseph, Jesus and stable. The idea is that then they can easily be arranged in different configurations with reduced risk of damage. (If there are 10 little people somewhere then guaranteed a child will try to play with them.) It is likely that they'll get put on either a fireplace mantle or the wide windowsill. Have I mentioned that this will be my first diorama? Nothing like jumping in with both feet! I plan to do the core piece first, and I actually bought the base nativity set last year during the 12 Days of Reaper. Unfortunately this is the part where I'm not quite sure about the composition. I've bought a bunch of wooden plaques and I've got a couple of possible candidates. So the choice comes down to round or rectangle. I'm hoping to include the donkey, which is why it's there. Obviously the barn/baby/Mary/Joseph bit has a traditional presentation. I've been pondering what else I should add to fill out the scene without making it too busy. This is more important with the round one since it feels a bit too large. I'm fine with purchasing more stuff like the farm animals but I don't want to add more people because I want this to be the quiet moment before everyone else shows up. I'll probably go with the classic approach and try and sculpt some extra hay to tie everything together. Feedback very welcome!

I want to give my girlfriend's parents a little gift this X-mas ( well a bit before that). So I decided to make a little vignette of the Nativity Set. I found this nice dome for 5 euros.. I had to skip the idea of the three Kings. But my girl explained to me that they visited later, so it wouldn't be a problem to just use the Nativity set itself, a sheperd and a few animals. Else it would get too crowded on the little wooden plate. The Donkey and Oxen are supposed to keep Baby Jesus warm with their breath. So that's why they stand so close. The Cow will be mutilated converted into an Oxen. Here is the set up. I might have to move them a little more forward to close the gap. **** But Herman December is a long time away! Why start now?**** *** Have you noticed how slow I paint?***

Finally! I finished it! The weather was horrible, so I had to use a brush-on sealer. Still needs a dullcoat, but mom will probably claim to love it no matter what. Mom's are just awesome like that! No metallic paints were harmed in the making of this nativity. I sculpted the base from Sculpey. I need the rest of the wisemen, a donkey and some cattle for the next several years, hint hint! I've got an extra sheep just waiting for friends! Merry Christmas to All!

To whom it may concern: I have noted, along with many of your other customers, that you did not release your splendid and very desirable Nativity Set all at once. Apparently, for reasons of which I am not aware, you chose to release it piecemeal -- a shepherd here, a Wise Man there, a Baby Jesus here, and suddenly a donkey. This is fine. This is OK. I am not going to tell you all how to do your business. However, this particular business model has caused me some headaches, and I feel compelled to let you all know about it. Y'see, at the cost of bein' a tad verbose, I am currently workin' on a second wife. No, not that way, getcher minds out of the gutter. I mean to say that I am involved with a lovely woman who, as opposed to lookin' over my shoulder on the Reaper website and sayin' "You don't need those. Don't you have enough already? You haven't painted half of what's on your bench," in the manner of my FIRST wife, THIS one is much more apt to say, "Oh, wait, go back... go back... yeah, THAT one! Do you have that one? Could you paint it up for me? Do we need to get another one? Oh, and what's in new releases? What? They're delaying due to the Kickstarter? Did you go in on the Kickstarter? Is it here yet?" In short, my personal home situation is certainly looking up in many ways, not the least of which is miniatures. Anyway, on one of these over the shoulder shopping situations, she noted that Reaper produced a Nativity Set, and promptly lost her mind and pushed me out of the way and commandeered my shopping cart to obtain the Baby Jesus, the manger, Joseph and Mary, and the barn front with the star on it. Seems her mother is quite fond of such things, and upon seeing this on the website, she immediately decided that we were going to get it and I was going to paint it up for her mom. I had no objections to this. Solved the problem of what I should get 'er mom, and provided an excellent excuse to sneak Jason Wiebe's latest Santa Dwarf into the order, although my beloved made it quite clear that said dwarf was not going to be offering his tree to the Baby Jesus; her mom is rather conservative, and might not take this the right way, if you follow my meaning. I took this to mean that her mom wasn't one of those who'd put a plastic injection molded Santa in the front yard near the mockup manger, and solemnly decided that the Wiebe Santa would not occupy the same side of the workbench as Jesus and family. So be it. And when the products arrived in a timely fashion, they were promptly painted up and given (except Santa Dwarf, of course) to my mother in law, who was quite impressed, and absolutely loved 'em. Handpainted nativity set! And so small and compact! And my status as "questionable new in-law" softened to "well, at least he's the same religion we are." And all was well. The following year, more Nativity goodies were produced, though. My dear one found out about them while raking over the Reaper site to examine the Christmas figures that were offered last year, and promptly ordered the Shepherd, with sheep. A Wise Man was available, but she did not order him, for some reason. This did not bother me; I painted up the Shepherd and his extremely small flock of sheep, and the Mother In Law was pleased, and doted upon them, and missed no opportunity to point out that they were not only made in the USA, but handpainted. By an American. Like I said, I was gettin' the impression that she was rather conservative. ...which brings us to this year. Y'see, my baby lost it a little over the Halloween Bonesylvanians, and I found myself painting more than a few of these for her. Thing is, she also decided to add the donkey and the two currently available Wise Men to the order, to kick it high enough for free shipping and a Halloween goodie bag. Which meant that in addition to Bonesylvanians, I had some livestock and well dressed Middle Eastern gentlemen I had to get ready for Christmas. ...which was fine... until it was announced that Mama would be joining us for Thanksgiving. "Honey," my darlin' said to me in that particular inflection of that particular word that invariably means the toilet is clogged, the dog has pooped on the hall carpet, or perhaps there is a spider the size of a small dog in the bathtub, "Y'think we could get those figures painted up so Mama can take them back home with her after Thanksgiving?" Well, again, this did not bother me much. The figures in question are simple enough, and I figured I could do a one day speed paint, and then go back the following weekend and add all the details and gold trim and stuff, and exactly what color is a donkey? Open up Google Image and find me a donkey... And so I set to work, and the figures fell together well enough.... until I realized that we had kind of a problem here. I think I may have mentioned that my Mother In Law is ... a tad on the conservative side. This was no great issue, though; the figures are certainly traditional enough, none of that nonsense about Rock and Roll Wise Men or Vulcan Jesus or anything... no, the Reaper Nativity is certainly as traditional and historically accurate as anything you'd find in the Vatican. Except for one detail. Y'see... I was shy a Wise Man. The Bible, as well as every Christmas special or movie about the life of Christ specifies three wise men. Not one, not four, and not two, excepting that thou shalt then proceed to three, and five is right out. Regrettably, this did not occur to me until the inlaws were already in the house. Did I point out that this was the first time I'd ever actually MET Mama? I was a tad nervous. After all, I've been living with her daughter for several years now, a thing which I am told that conservative sorts frown upon. That, and the lady is from Nebraska, and resides there now, and Nebraska is well known as a rather conservative place; I am told that to reside in Nebraska, you have to pass a test and then have your sense of humor surgically removed so's you don't rile up the neighbors. And here I was about to hand her TWO wise men... and a donkey. How was that going to look? What was I gonna do? And so... I made a command decision. I did a quick glance over the wall full of shadow boxes in the hobby room. Did I have ANYTHING that could pass for an extra Wise Man? Hey, there's one in robes... no, no, he's an Evil Vizier, and I'm pretty sure that among the gifts the Baby Jesus got, a lamp full of purple fire wasn't one of them. How about that one... no, that's Chumley's wizard character, and I'll never be able to get that freehand right a SECOND time... THAT guy? No, he's a Cthulhu cultist, and I'm pretty sure that's sacrilegious on some level... no, not the one that's summoning something... no, that one's a Bathalian... no, that one's a zombie... and that one's female, better not risk it... wait, what about THAT one? Perfect. I grabbed it off the shadow box, added it to the others, and ran downstairs. ...where my baby presented them to Mama with all due ceremony, and Mama was delighted. "Did I tell you about these little metal figures Doc paints?" said Mama to the assemblage of her immediate descendants and grandchildren. "They're all part of this metal nativity set, and he's been painting them up for me as they come out. And they're made in the USA!" The collection of Nebraskans looked at Mama's treasures. Then they looked at me. And they sagely and solemnly nodded their acceptance. Nativity sets were good. Not like that satanic Dee Un Dee stuff. And you just can't go wrong with American Made. And my heart swelled with pride... and my blood suddenly ran cold... as I realized that one of the Wise Men was NOT like the other. I'd grabbed the wrong figure, somehow; instead of grabbing a berobed wizard or cleric, I'd grabbed the figure NEXT to it, and it was most certainly not a berobed ANYTHING, and as soon as anyone took a close look at the figures, I was SO sunk... About then, my dearest began to bring out the hot dishes, and a distraction was in order; as the green bean casserole hit the table, I began to ponder the possibility of dropping a tray of rolls or something and snatching the errant figurine while everyone's attention was diverted... did I dare? Or did I want her to see a very ODD Wise Man, and be deeply offended, either because I was "funnin' her," or, worse, makin' fun of the Nativity? And while I was pondering, she suddenly stopped talking, and looked at the Wise Men. She reached over and picked up the exact Wise Man I did not want her to notice. All conversation at the table stopped. Everyone put down their silverware and craned their necks to staaaaare at the thing in Mama's hand. And my stomach took the express elevator DOWN. Oh, jeez.... She looked at her errant Wise Man for a moment, then looked at me and said, "Is this supposed to be the Two Wise Men and their brother Billy?" And then she burst out laughing. Her eldest son reached over, took the figure, and pushed his glasses down to look over them at it. After a moment, he remarked, "Meshach, Shadrach, and... Bubba?" And the whole table exploded in laughter. I blinked twice. Well, it hadn't been the reaction I had been expecting. On the other hand, it beat everyone suddenly leaping to their feet, pointing at me, and screaming "Heretic! Unclean!" or whatever they do in Nebraska. Perhaps my preconceived notions had been somewhat erroneous... I explained that the figures had been on my workbench, (true enough), and that perhaps I had grabbed them overhastily (true again), and that Reaper had not yet produced the third Wise Man (true as of this writing), and that I seemed to have made a mistake (true, albeit a colossal understatement). And rather than being offended or thinking I was pulling some sort of trick on them, everyone had a huge laugh and Mama announced that Bubba was going to take a trip to Nebraska in order to attend the annual Nativity event atop her piano, at least until a third Wise Man followed the Christmas Star to central Nebraska, albeit tardily. I also got the impression that this is going to be one of those stories that gets told again and again around the table at Thanksgiving and Christmas, which I am not sure I'm all that wild about, but it sure beats gettin' burned at the stake or whatever... Which brings me at last to the point of this letter: Again, not to tell you all your business... but do you suppose you could, y'know, put a rush on that third Wise Man? It may be the only way I'm ever gonna get my Redneck Zombie Hunter back. And now I'm REAL glad I didn't include the bloodstains on his baseball bat. And while I'm at it, Mama wants this year's Santa Dwarf, too...

I painted this set for my daughter. The magnetized figures can be removed from the base, so she can arrange them separately however she likes. I wish all of you and your families a very peaceful and blessed Christmas!

Okay, so a brief respite away from my standard fantasy Bones stuff to get a small portion of my mother's Christmas gift done. She collects nativities, so this made a lot of sense to finally order and paint up. Group shot, then close ups follow... The big/little guy was the hardest, by far. There isn't a lot of room for detail, being a baby, and painting it where it doesn't exist is difficult for me. Went for a closed eye look, hopefully it comes across that way...

Is it just me or does he look sad? He looks like his mom's making him hand over his collection of baseball cards or something...