At Little Wars!

Hi all!

Well, we are sitting in our hotel outside of Chicago at Little Wars, after our second day at the convention with Minuteman Miniatures!

I have to say... what a BEAUTIFUL convention!  The hotel (the Westin Lombard Yorktown Center) it is held in is a real first class hotel... clean, gleaming, fantastic light, carpeted floors... it's a bit of a stunner.

Even better has been the staff!  Everyone has been just so helpful and welcoming; it has been a wonderful convention so far!  I mean... come on... they actually pushed around a cart with free cold drinks for the vendors.  Give me a break:)

It seems that people are really enjoying the miniatures... we got so many people scanned it was a bit unbelievable!  And the HARD hard lessons we learned from Cold Wars are paying off... the purchase of a new monster computer has cut the total scan times to about two minutes, realizing that we were scanning with a wrong setting will cut the production time by HUNDREDS of hours, the using of Square on the iPad has automated the entire ordering and invoicing process... it is just SUCH a smoother process.

The new Dark Ages line has DEFINITELY been a hit... we have two Scots available, as well as our Viking and our final miniature in the line... the Norman knight!  They are only available right now for Little Wars customers, but as soon as we get them all printed out and mailed we will make them available to everyone... and THIS time, we are skipping the damn post office (which not only refused us because we were shipping too much, but then lost a full QUARTER of the orders!) and going right to UPS.

On a personal note, I was SO so thrilled to get to meet up with one of my true blogging idols, Scott MacPhee from MacPhees Miniature Men!  We got to pal around a bit, looking at miniatures while I reminded him how jealous I was of his ability!  I also got the pleasure of meeting Glenn, the gentleman who Scott has painted a great many miniatures for (I joked that Glenn is like Scott's patron, like a modern Medici) and even see the minis themselves in a truly jaw dropping Waterloo game.  Scott picked up a few miniatures of himself, and so did Glenn, so my guess is those will turn up painted better than I could hope to do soon enough!:)

This was me, at about 6:30 after the last customer left.  I think I ate about four bites of food all day, and holy cow, I was absolutely destroyed.  A Chik Fil A sandwich and some waffle fries helped.  

All in all, it's been a WONDERFUL experience so far... you couldn't ask for a nicer venue, the vendors are fantastic, the staff is as genuinely kind and warm and supportive as anyone could be, the Flea Market has some of the nicest miniatures I've ever seen at a Flea Market, the games have been BEAUTIFUL (a MASSIVE 40mm Pelannor Fields game, Glenn's Waterloo game, and a great LOTR game using Battle Valour miniatures were three of the coolest I saw) and all in all it's been a great experience!

If you are here at Little Wars, please do come by and visit us on Sunday at the Vendor's Hall!

Some interesting tanks!

Hey all!

Thought people like to get a glimpse at a rather interesting tank order we got recently... anyone recognize that big beast on the right?:)

Some of our newest models... for Little Wars!

Hey all!

Well, excited to say that Minuteman Miniatures will be at Little Wars!

We will be scanning and selling, and we will be taking in-person orders for figures from our next line... The Dark Ages!  This line is three figures; a Viking warlord, a Scottish warlord, and a mounted Norman!

Here are two photos to whet your appetite!  If you are in Chicago, please come on by and say hi!

Painted Luke Skywalker, Speeder Bikes, and an AT-RT for Legion

Hey all!

Well, some more from the Star Wars: Legion coreset is all painted up!

Namely, the two speeder bikes, the AT-RT, and Luke Skywalker!

The bikes were a bit of a pain... I made the mistake of glueing the riders to the bikes and then undercoating the whole thing black... foolish me!  Still, they turned out pretty nicely:)

Here is the rebel AT-RT!  I went SUPER simple with it... just grays and metallics for the walker itself.  I considered doing a few details in color, but I think I really like the monochromatic look.

And here is Luke himself!  I am not thrilled with how he turned out... not sure why, but something doesn't sit right.  Maybe his face needs a bit more highlighting?

As always, the basing didn't disappoint; love how busy and wild these bases are:)

So one last bit to go (the last Stormtrooper squad) and then I'm done with the core set.  Thanks for coming by and looking!

Only a day or so left on my Blood Bowl auction!

Hey all!

Only a day or so left on the auction for my Blood Bowl team... so grab it cheap while you can!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Blood-Bowl-Human-Team-Pro-Painted/123063126256?hash=item1ca72248f0:g:nV8AAOSwv~lax~M1

Painted Stormtroopers from Star Wars: Legion

Hey all!

Well, I got my first squad of Stormtroopers painted up for Legion!

(Well, not totally painted... just realized I didn't black out the darn bases!  But I'm too lazy to rephotograph them:) )

I did them undercoated white, with a pinwash of Agrax earthshade, and then another highlight of pure white.  It was a bit tedious, but it looks REALLY sharp in person!

Based them like my rebels, with the dense jungle theme.

Overall they turned out pretty great.  They really don't photograph well... they are bulky and dangerous looking, but in the photos I find that they look a bit silly, especially around the helmets.

A Minuteman Miniatures contest!

Hey all!

Well, we are having our first contest over at Minuteman Miniatures!

Head over to the Minuteman Miniatures Facebook page and post a picture of your painted up YOU and a selfie to enter the contest.  Then, one winner will win one of EACH of the our next wave... THE DARK AGES!  So... one Viking you, one Norman you, and one Highlander you... all free!

Some come by and enter!

My Human Blood Bowl Team... for sale!

Hey all!

Well, I thought I would FINALLY post some photos of my human Blood Bowl team, as I hadn't yet... and because I am now selling it!:)

Now, I knew I wanted to do a Blood Bowl team, and that I wanted to do some sort of display carrying-board for them, so this is what I came up with.  The Tallagrad Titans, complete with benches and the like!

I went really dirty and a mess with these guys... chipped armor all over, mud... just a mess.  I like them to look worn:)

Here are my two throwers.  I did a few conversions through the team, and the QB with the hood is one of those.

Here are the two blitzers.  Again, I did a head swap for my blitzer "Sarge" and gave him a BUNCH of tattoos, because... well, because tattoos are cool!

My catchers.  Again, a simple headswap makes for one DASHING-looking receiver!

The Bash Brothers... two big-ass linemen with big-ass shields!

Some more of the line.  Again, I went with grubby and bloody and chipped and dirty.

My ogre.  I mean, the team needs some beef, right?:)  This is one of the old school guys, repainted.  Honestly I LOVE how he turned out.

And here are the extras!

Anyway... this team IS for sale right now, on eBay, so if you want... go give it a look!

THIS TEAM ON EBAY!

Legion's Darth Vader, painted!

Well, the Legion run continues with the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader!

I ended up going with gloss on his armored pieces... I am not entirely sure if it works.  Thoughts?

Painted Rebels from Star Wars: Legion

Hey all!

Well, I got my hands on Star Wars: Legion and got a few miniatures painted up!

I wanted this group to look a bit different... so I went with a pea dot camo that was used in World War 2... fairly unique, I think!

I also did a few simple modifications... just some head swaps, for the most part.

I also made up a twi'lek soldier by just adding some tentacles.

Obviously I wanted to go a bit crazy with the basing... I wanted something lush and jungle.  So I did rocky outcroppings out of cork, a few bush types, some grass tufts, and some bamboo.

Overall I am happy with how they turned out (although it is SO hard to get a decent photo, and I have no idea why!).  Next up is the Stormtroopers; I am NOT looking forward to all that white and armor!

A Japanese scene for a friend...

Hey all!

Well, it's been a WHILE since I posted anything new... since Cold Wars, in fact!

But I HAVE been doing some work in between doing invoicing and such, so I thought I would share.

This is the first thing... a little scene of a figure for my old college roommate.

When we were in college, my roommate and I messed around doing a little comic book together.  The main good guy was "Wok Man", this wandering peasant-monk.  Rather than have the traditional straw hat, he actually wore this big wok as his hat, and the screw-in handle was his staff.  So, I thought I would create that!

This is based on a figure from the Bandits and Brigands pack from Test of Honor.  I had to make the wok and add it, chop out the current staff, get rid of the sword, extend out the robes a bit, and add the bag and rice balls over his back.

The basing in particular was something I really cared about... I tired to make it all lush and jungle looking, with some tall bamboo to give it some height.

Overall I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!  Just waiting on the plaque for the front, and I'll send it out to him!

Anyway... more stuff on the way:)