Let's connect on Instagram

I have been unhappy with the Blogger platform for many years, and am always searching for better ways for hobbyists to engage with one another. Instagram is far, far from ideal, but it and FB seem to be where the critical mass of us are, and so I'm giving Instagram an honest effort.

Been sharing a lot last few weeks and lots more where that game from. I'm username warlockofleadmountain. Let's connect!


Plan to keep this blog up and may occasionally post something that can't be said in the short form Instagram format.

Wars of the Roses

Sharing another WIP project here.  When my local historical club embarked on a group Wars of the Roses project last summer, I threw in. I'd already had figures for it and I'd never done a big group project before.

 Just time for an off-the-cuff post here.

Here's a force I played recently.

And here they are in the field. This may not have been the same night.

This week I'm finally finishing off the foliage on all the figures, so they'll be ready for their glamor shots. In the meantime, here are some WIP shots from a bit earlier than the above.

 Front Rank archers in blue and murray and Old Glory gallowglass.

Did a bunch of head swaps on the gallowglass (there are five sculpts). Does it show?

Dungeon Degenerates WIP

Here's what I'm up to at the moment. Dungeon Degenerates!

I am working to have them literally glow under black light.

Here are some of the paints I'm using. The fluorescent Vallejo colors can be airbrushed successfully (except the blue kind of sucked), and I paint them with a brush, but there they are much more of a glaze, and need to be on a solid, bright foundation.



Got out the airbrush for the first time in a long time:

Before that happened, and actually before the Vallejo colors had arrived, I had started the two that had appropriate paints for already:

I spared no expense to get the white base very white, and the colors to glow. No tricks on any of these photos. Here you can see what a difference in style from my usual:

Here's where I am as of yesterday. L-R in order of most complete:

Two shown are done, and after I took the pics I finished the corpse burner and the next two just need a few tweaks to the base. Another push or two!

And I'll leave you with:

Till next time!

Unknown Painter: Ral Partha AD&D Chimera

I use the Unknown Painter tag on posts of figures in my collection I'd like to share with you, but didn't paint myself. I'm always on the lookout for offerings of figures that meet my standard and fit my style, figure needs, and budget, but they seem as rare as hens' teeth. I might come across one or a group from the same seller every three to five years. This chimera was one such I gladly plunked down for, though, even though I have one of my own to paint one day (that I've had since adolescence), as well as three more from Reaper. I wasn't disappointed.

Ral Partha AD&D 11-414 Chimera

I did take the liberty to make a few modifications. I replaced the base with an ellipse base to fit with the rest of my D&D collection. I would have preferred to do a dungeon style base rather than outdoors, but this figure has one foot resting on a bush and I didn't feel like going in with cutters and Dremel or modeling dungeon debris over it. I also modified the mane, which was the same color as the rest of the fur. I glazed it with richer honey tones and dark tones after some photos of lions found online.

Overall, I really admire the painting. Note the details such as the purple dots in the wings, the eyes and mouths, the treatment of the horns and the highlights on the blacks. Also the nice balance of the black top of the wing and goat head against the red underside of the wing and dragon head.

I was lucky enough to win a few more figures painted by this painter including a sabertooth cat, some cavemen and a group of fantasy pygmies with stone idol, all by Reaper. I'll aim to get pics of them to share as well.

Talisman: The Orc

Got another orc done for Orctober.

Talisman Orc

I painted him in the bright style of my other Talisman figures, with bright yellow-green flesh and yellow gold. A shield from the nineties plastic orc boyz kit matched the illustration perfectly. At first I wasn't crazy with the shield design I chose or the execution, but I guess it's fine.I tried to match the fur of the illustration closely with mauve and light gray, and like the result.

Orctober: Avatars of War Orc Shaman

I ♡ orcs, but this is the first year I've managed to sync up and get one painted to show before the month ran out. Look at me, I'm participating! 😆 Here's a bit of a departure from my usual figure preferences, an orc shaman by Felix Paniagua for his Avatars of War range.

Avatars of War Orc Shaman

It's funny to me that I consider this a "new school" figure, even though it was released circa 2004 (if memory serves)! If you can believe it, I bought the figure when it was newly released and started painting it right away, and it's another figure I finally finished after well over a decade of life on the workbench. 😮

What's to say about the paintjob? I used a variety of browns, some more yellow base and some more red-base. The flesh was painted straight dark to light and I don't think I used any glazes.

The OSL magic-effect is the obvious focal point, and something I think the figure demands (but surprisingly, when I did a Google image search nearly all I saw didn't go for it). Back in 2004, the OSL potential was the main reason I went for it to include in my portfolio, and one of only a few remaining items cover when I returned to it last week. It's a bit of a hasty job but does the trick.

I like the great variety of materials and items and downplayed most of them, but added a few key details like the treatment of the potion, and the wood grain on the staff-idol.

I bought the figure to create my initial portfolio back when I was starting commission painting, and was busy with actual commissions before I finished, and they pay a lot better than random figures put up on ebay. He doesn't fit well into any of my too-numerous fantasy milieus, another key reason he never got down.

This is a rare example of the style of orc Brian Nelson popularized done well. I tend to like this style of face but loathe the gorilla anatomy that usually goes with it (the plastic GW orcs from the late nineties being the most cringe-worthy, IMO). GW seems to be taking baby steps away from that anatomy with orc (and ork) releases in recent years, but IMO the whole orc range should be superceded the way the primaris marines did the old marines. Meanwhile, this guy here could be added to either an iron jaws AOS band or one made from Gamezone orcs.

Talisman: Rogue, Hobgoblin and Troll

My Talisman project continues to coast along at an easy pace. In addition to what I show here I've got three more almost ready to show after these, just finished cleaning and basing another seven, and I just won a lot on ebay that completed my Timescape set, which will likely follow in 2019. Today, though, you get the Rogue, Hobgoblin and Troll.

The Rogue

Talisman Rogue

Talisman Rogue Illustration

The rogue here is one of my favorites. The illustrated figure has a malign, liquor-infused expression, enhanced by the shadowy rendering and mangy head. The miniature is one of the most faithful to the art.

An obvious personal touch I made was to add hair and beard made from static grass. I took a risk and did this with super glue and tweezers. Would not have been hard to go overboard or slip and get glue where it didn't belong.

I happy with the rendering of the browns, which were built up with scratchy, transparent highlights, dotted with black show wear and lend the pen-and-ink quality, and washed and glazed to bring the right saturation. Love me some Windsor & Newton inks, especially Peat Brown and Sunshine Yellow. Also, glazes made from the classic GW Snakebite Leather.

The Hobgoblin

Talisman Hobgoblin

Talisman Hobgoblin Illustration

The hobgoblin is another favorite illustration of mine, coming at you like an enraged muppet. I like the green and orange palette the texture in the green.

Everything is just right about the miniature, except the face, while fine in its own right, is a significant departure. I resisted the urge to re-sculpt it.

Top objectives in the painting were to get the texture of the green cloth and brown pteruges right, the horns right, the sunny orange skin color right, and add a touch of interest with a a gloss coat on the black of the helmet.

The Troll

Talisman Troll

Talisman Troll Illustration

The illustration of the troll shows a hunched, hulking creature with a huge club that has survived many a beat-down, while the figure has more of a lanky quality, and the club is a tree branch with the bark still on it, so comes off as an improvised weapon. I accepted the difference in body-shape but took action on the club. A good club is made of heartwood. I drilled the end and put a wire sticking out of it, and then enlarged the club with green stuff and worked in many knobs.

The rocks are ceramic. Long ago I had access to a kiln, and made these rocks by rolling out a sheet of bisk with a rolling pin, breaking it up when dried, before firing.

Many green paint and ink pots were opened by the time I was done, and not a few yellows. A little black lining under the warts was a good move on my part.