Because Blogger Hates Me & The Computer I Rode In On...



So I decided to go with a Photo Blog of the miniatures that we DIPped last night.  It is a LOT of pictures so steel thyselves.
First up is the miniature I cobbled together for Joe's character Adler.  He was a Firesoul Genasi, which isn't true any longer.  The head is a Heroclix Firestorm, and the boy is made up of some Warhammer stuff.  I like the way this turned out.  However I wish I would have put some type of those power swirls on his face.

 These are four minis I painted around the same time.  First up is a re-paint of a Indy Heroclix.  I basically just repurposed it with a lot of black.  Next up is a cobbled together Thief, made out of a LOT of different Warhammer bitz.  For some reason I was really in love with the color purple during some of the time it took to paint all these.  Below him is a Lord Of The Rings miniature painted in similar purples and greens.  I wish the scale was the same rather than slightly askew.  Lastly is a Alkemy Panther Woman that I believe Zack painted.  I love the camo effect he put on the pants, but I wish the eyes had turned out a bit better.

 Here is another shot of the same group.  I think you get a better look at the Thief here.  He has like an Elf head, a Skaven body, a Dark Elf set of legs, and some Empire arms.  It is a great hodge podge of stuff.  I also wish I could get some of the shine off of the miniatures post DIP.  It isn't too bad, but its annoying at times.  Overall I'm happy with this group, and they will be seeing some action in the 2nd Group, most likely either as Pirates or as Mercenaries in one port or another.  Who knows they may even show up in 3rd Group as they traverse the depths of the Underdark.

 Next up is a pair of Beastmen who both came from the game Descent.  I grabbed these off Auggies Miniatures, google it, for next to nothing.  I really do like these miniatures and still have a few more to paint.  They need a good soap and water wash before priming, and you need to thin your paint out a bit before getting after it.  However for the cheap price you can't beat them.  They are great additions to Beastman forces.  Now I just need to get the rest of my assorted odds and ends of Beastmen done so they can be an actual force in one of my games.

This is Bernadette, Christina's Dwarven Rogue, Brutal Scoundrel build if you care, from the first 4E D&D Group I ran.  I miss playing with Mary & Christina but once Mary was pregnant with Mason that made free time for imaginary worlds obsolete.  This is one of the first minis we ever painted.  I think Cassandra did the majority of the work on this on, and it shows.  The DIP really highlighted a lot of the great lines in the sculpt and honestly hid a lot of deficiences in our painting skills at that early level in our progress.  Overall it is a damn fine looking mini.

I didn't paint this bad boy, actually El Bobert-O did.  It was the first and to my knowledge ONLY mini he has ever painted.  It is also one of my favorite miniatures I currently own.  I was very skeptical on the metallic colors over the dark red, however when you see how it turns out it just POPS!  The DIP really gives depth to the muscles, brings out the scales, and makes that head far more menacing.  Bob did a great, clean job on painting this.  I hope by seeing this it motivates him to take another stab at painting, because the results don't lie.  This thing is gorgeous.



 Here's a group of raiders.  They are made up of some Warhammer Fantasy stuff, mainly Empire I think, as well as some Wargames Factory stuff.  I believe it was some Persian sprues and some Vikings.  Wargames Factory is a great place to stretch your dollar when it comes to quantity versus quality.  I like to use them as Borni Raiders.  One thing I've noticed is MAN did I love to give everyone two weapons.  I wish you could see the guy in the front right better, stupid flash.  If I had to do it over again I'd change that.  These miniatures turned out pretty good.

 Here is another shot of the same group.  I'm not sure why I took two pictures of this group, but you do get a slightly better view of bearded axe guy as he lunges forward.  The guy in the front, who is now all hazy turned out excellent.  His eyes lack that crazy look my wife and I are so famous for putting on EVERYTHING.  This group as a whole has a good less is more vibe, as I didn't get too fancy or crazy with the colors.  I have noticed while looking at these guys that I really need to remember to put eyebrows on my minis, everyone looks like they had theirs burned off in a cooking accident.

 I'm not sure where I picked up this Mordheim Chaos miniature, but I dig that crazy mask thing on his face.  I spent a long time trying to figure out what I wanted to do with this guy, and then I got in my 'purple & bronze' phase and he got completed.  He turned out pretty well.  Its not as cool as it could have been, but it isn't that bad considering he was painted about a year ago.Again the DIP worked its magic and really gave depth to the nooks and crannies in his armor.  I'm thinking this guy might see some time in the 3rd Group as a minor antagonist.

Here's a group shot with our above friend in it.  This is full of Cultists, and Chaos type warriors.  Again you can note how much purple was my go to color there for awhile.  It really makes the guy with the top knot pop more with his green pants surrounded by the purple.  If I go through my miniatures I've noticed I can put together a pretty significantly sized group of Chaos guys, and the thing is I still have a pile that are half painted or just primed.  Same thing goes for Cultists.  I'm hoping I can get in a flow and knock a bunch of them out soon.

 Here's a single shot of old green pants.  I really like the way this miniature turned out.  There is the faintest hints of metallic blue on the runes in the sword.  I think the green, brown, and bronze work well together.  The orange hair gives him a solid look with his skin tone which was I think like a 'Mink' from some hobby paint I picked up on the cheap from Michael's.  Honestly, that's where I get 90% of my paints now.  It is far more cost effective for me and I don't think the results are that much different from the more expensive miniature paints.

 CULTISTS!  If you've seen any of my other photo blogs of my mediocre painting you'll notice that I LOVE(s) me some Cultists.  So here are two that had sat half painted for some time.  The guy on the left is pretty basic, although the DIP really gave him a lot of texture in the face and on the back end of his tattered clothes.  I think the guy on the right really shines though.  That crazy squid headed shield, his flaming head, the purple (OH THE PURPLE!), and the use of the short goblin arm with the nasty blade really gives him an individual feel.  Perhaps a Cult Leader feel, if not, maybe a head underling.

 I've been using Dark Elf and Elf parts from Warhammer Fantasy to craft my own Drow.  There has been numerous problems in doing this.  The big on is the scale, as they are about a head taller than any DDM Drow.  The other is the color of the skin.  I'm going with a dark purple, lightly dry brushed with a lighter purple, and STILL I feel its too dark.  The other thing that drives me nuts is the lack of color in the DDM Drow.  So I've started putting in purples, gold, bronze, and even this light berry color.  The gal on the left looks solid in hand, but the picture really highlights that she has one messed up eye.  I have a pile of these guys in various stages of prime and painting. 

 I did NOT paint this guy.  He is a pre-paint Goblin King from The Hobbit Heroclix line.  I loved the miniature, hated the lack of shading.  I want to use him in 2nd Group as the Ghoul Pope.  So I hit him up with the DIP.  In some ways he looks WAY better, because you can now see all those nooks and crannies.  However I HATE that I can see brush marks, HATE IT!  It doesn't ruin it though, I just think for future reference I would use a black wash first and a lighter DIP to seal.  It works for the Ghoul Pope though to look filthy.

 Here is a shot of my Redcaps.  In my home game these guys are Goblins from the Feywild.  The guy on the far left would be a Goblin who has devoted himself to Torog, and in the middle is a wonderfully hideous Goblin lady of the night.  I'm trying to switch up the skin tone on the Goblins as I go to give them each a different feel.  I'm also trying to mix up the reds to make them look slightly different and less mono in color tone.  I think its worked out rather well.  I have a bunch more of these guys to do as well, big shocker I know.  I really like this group though.

 Here is my Green Knight.  He's made up of Empire arms, Chaos torso and legs, and a Bretonnian knight head.  He's a mish mash of stuff.  And that doesn't even cover the stuff behind him that I took a picture of.  The thing that sucks about this mini is his HORRIBLE forward lean.  This was WAY before I started using green stuff so when I modded it simply turned out the way it turned out.  I like the color and feel this miniature has.  The DIP turned out pretty good, and added a lot of shadow to all those raised armor parts.

 Here's a shot of some random heroic types.  On the far left is a Warhammer miniature.  Next over is another Alkemy miniature, who looks great, but the eyes were a PAIN to get on.  In the front middle is another Lord Of The Rings miniature.  His sword broke so I shaved it down and now it looks like has a bastard Sword.  I wish I would have done a better job on the cross on his chest.  In the back is a miniature from the old Dark World board game.  And on the right is a Dwarf that Edgar painted and then I went in and touched up.  He has a banner of Pelor.  Edgar did a BANG UP job on the Dwarves he painted last time.  Much like Bob it was his first foray into painting, but you'd never know by the quality of what he turned out. 

 This is the back of the Green Knight.  As you can see the DIP got slightly thick on his back guard thingy, which I just realized was meant to be a shield.  Oh well.  There is a book, a skull, and some candles behind him.  I think they turned out marvelously.  You can't see the big old symbol on the other page of the book, but take my word for it I did a good job.  I have NO idea why I added all this stuff to this miniature when I glued it together, but it looks decent, and adds a lot of flavor to him.  I think if I ever get to make a new PC I might use this as my model, perhaps a Sword Mage with a Knightly bend.

 This is Reaper's 'King Kong' like miniature.  This thing is in Lead and feels like you could kill a man if you hit him with it.  It is truly heavy metal.  Lady Christy painted this bad boy and did a good job.  I went in and dry brushed the silver onto the back, which was significantly muted much to my chagrin by the DIP.  I also painted in the toe and finger nails with a buttery white, dry brushed the teeth, and repainted the tongue.  I love the way this turned out and have already been thinking about how to fit this beast into 2nd Group, and I think I have the perfect way to do it.

 This is a DCM 'Natural' miniature, which is basically their un-painted line.  They are a great small company and you should support them with your money(s).  This was an easy paint, EXCEPT for the eyes which almost drove Cassandra to drink.  I think she painted them like four times.  The area for them is slightly large and if you are at our level of eye painting then when you get in there they turn out buggy.  She eventually figured it out and I think this one looks pretty good.  I'm going to try and knock out a bunch of town folk soon, she was a good start.

 This is the very first miniature I ever painted.  This is a TERRIBLE angle for the photo, but it was the only one where I didn't get a severe glare.  Being able to look back and see where I started and how far I've come I'm actually quite happy with how this turned out.  The fact needs work, and I've gotten far better at that aspect.  I don't paint blood on weapons anymore.  Otherwise though he isn't too bad.  The DIP really made the muscles and movement in the fur and pouches pop out.  Not too shabby for my first foray.

 This is another Dark World miniature, this time painted by Lady Christy.  The only thing I do not like about this miniature is its blue tongue.  It is so damn goofy!  That being said the brightness of this miniature was really muted and the shadows drawn out by the DIP.  It took a miniature that I thought was only ok and really gives it life.  But that blue tongue, I will never love that damn blue tongue. 

 This is another Descent miniature.  I tried really hard to get it to match the skin tone of the Ogres from DDM, and I think I was reasonably successful.  Again Auggies Miniatures is a great place to grab miniatures like this on the SUPER cheap.  I thought that prior to DIP the colors were too vibrant and gaudy, but the dark tone of the DIP really made a HUGE difference.  In addition it really popped the chain mail, and the fiddly bits in the weapons.  He's a fine addition to my DDM Ogres.

 I know you can't see it in this picture, but this might be the best damn miniature I've ever painted.  From the Yellow Sign in the book and on it's cover, to the frosted eye glasses, to the sheen of the different metallic hues on her necklace.  This miniature was a joy to paint and turned out better than I could have ever hoped.  I went with the black and gold motif, which appeared a lot in this gaggle of minis.  She would work perfectly as a lead Cultist, or as a madame, or as a matron mother, or any number of other things in any game.  I'm very proud of this miniature.

 Here is my first Orc group shot.  In my home games these guys are going to be Tanarukk, who are fiendish blooded Orcs.  They are mostly Warhammer Orcs, with a smattering of Orcs from a Russian company.  I'm trying to make sure to change up the skin tone as often as possible to give them variation.  I'm hoping to use these as Pirates in 2nd Group.  I think the Savage in the front ended up fantastic.  The other Orc in the forground also looks decent, especially with that berry colored streak in his blonde top knot. 

 This is Orc group shot number two.  You get a better look at those Russian minis as they are the two in the right background.  The archer was painted by Zack who did a bang up job, I especially like the war paint he put on him.  I'm not sure you can see it but the bowman in the front has a sweet gold tooth.  I really like the guy in the crazy helm in the background.  That sculpt and helmet are fantastic.  They bronze, silver, and bone white really work well with the muddy green flesh.  And look at how different it is than the savage in the front with the pale green tone.  I need to get a few more green variations and keep changing my Orcs up.

 Here is another shot of some Orcs.  This guy in front is missing an eye, and Cassandra did a great job giving that some depth with a black wash.  I know they can look sort of goofy, but I really dig the Warhammer Orks.  The big, burly, stooped posture just makes them stand out.  I'm trying to give these guys all garish miss matched outfits and colors to give the feel that everything they have they've raided from other people and places.  I can't wait to get some of the more obvious Pirate Orcs done.  I think they'll be a hoot to Role Play.

 One last Orc shot.  I think in the bow weilder you can really get a feel for how the DIP adds to the miniatures.  Look at all the lines in the face, and in the clothes.  They look shadowed, the have depth, and they cause that garish orange to have a muted and much neater hue. 

 These are four of the original five miniatures we painted.  They have been sealed with a spray sealer, but just got DIPped.  They were all P-65 Reaper miniatures, a line that has been discontinued and replaced with Bones.  I know these aren't as good as some of the stuff we've done since, but they will always hold a soft spot in my heart, and with the DIP I think they've gotten a second lease on gaming life.

 Remember earlier when I said my old woman in yellow and black was the best thing I've ever painted?  Well that's still true, HOWEVER this Ogre Pirate gives her a run for her money if for no other reason than the crazy tattooing I put on his arm, shoulder, and head.  He otherwise was basically a four color miniature with some highlights.  He looked ok before the tattoo work, he looked better with it, and then we DIPed him and BAM!  Now he looks fantastic.  I just need to paint up a Pirate Captain so he can first mate for him or her.

 Speaking of Pirates, here is a shot at four of them.  The three men are all made up of Warhammer Fantasy bitz of some type or another.  Honestly I really love all three of them, and could see them being used as Mercenaries in any of my games.  The woman in the middle is a repainted Ravager Heroclix.  She has a bandana that only gives her one open eye, which I thought was very cool.  You can't really see it in the picture and all my other attempts had to much glare.  She'll make a good Mercenary Captain or Pirate Captain.  Oh and guy in the back has ROCKIN' pants.

 After I painted yellow and black old lady I loved the color scheme so much that I started using it on a retinue for a night I'd painted.  These are just a handful of the miniatures from that group.  The front two are Lord Of The Rings miniatures, the bow man and crossbow man are both from the Battle Masters game, and the Halberd soldier is from the Lionheart boardgame.  I added a military blue to the color mix to give me a third color and break up the extremes between the bright yellow and the harsh black.  I really like these miniatures and can't wait for their fellows and thier Knight leader to be done!

 Here is Sequilium, who was Mary's character in my first 4E D&D game.  She was an Eladrin Warrior, and one of the most blood thirsty characters I've ever had at a table, which is VASTLY different from the kind and motherly woman I know outside the game.  This made the sessions one part horrifying and two parts hilarious.  This is in that first group of miniatures we ever painted, and this one was primarily done by Cassandra that's why it looks so good.  I couldn't get a good face shot, but I instead gave you some cleavage.  The DIP really brings that out, which annoys my wife, but honestly looks sort of cool.  On a side note it's strange to see the purple and bronze was getting love even way back in our early painting, go figure...

 And that brings us to the Mighty Steev, who was played by Mike in that 1st ever group.  This is a massive miniature, and honestly looked pretty dang good with just the paint and sealant on it.  I was worried that the DIP wouldn't do much for it.  I WAS WRONG!  Steev looks far better now than he ever did before.  I really miss Mike playing this character, he had so many cool lines, talked in the third person, and really flexed his leadership muscles in that group.  It was and remains one of my favorite characters in any D&D game.  Oh and the name, the name comes from drunkenly watching a Italian Fantasy movie from the early 90's, thank you Michael!

 This bad boy is all Cassandra.  I'm not sure at all where I got this miniature, but she really wanted to paint him.  I had ZERO interest in him, she had a motif in mind and ran with it.  I was blown away when it was done.  The DIP took some of the greyish dry brushing she did and lessened its effectiveness, but its still there if you look hard enough.  The eyes are goofy, but effective.  I've got to find a way to use this miniature, because my lovely wife painted the HELL out of it.

 This is another P-65 line miniature and has a huge casting flaw in his helm on the right side.  I struggled for about a year trying to figure out what to do with it and him.  In the end I clipped it, sanded it down the best I could and then went with the purple and bronze combo.  Later I added in the berry color in some smaller places.  I like this miniature, its a nice heavily armored bad guy without being overly Games Workshop Chaos.  He's going to get some run in 3rd Group.

 This is the first collaborative miniature Cassandra and I ever worked on.  I did the broad strokes of him and got very frustrated.  I think this was the second miniature I ever worked on, and honestly it was beyond my skill level.  Enter Cassandra!  She came in and spent literally hours touching things up and doing that crazy cape effect.  She really MADE this miniature something special.  Add to that the DIP and you get something that really looks fantastic.  It is one of my favorite miniatures in my entire collection now.

 I don't think the photo does this Cultist Of The Yellow Sign justice.  I think this is a Black Orc miniature, and he was a joy to paint.  You don't get a chance to see the putrid color of his cape on the back.  The black of his outfit doesn't really give you a very good feel for the details that are there.  The DIP really highlighted the folds and wrinkles on his outfit, but again I blame the camera for not making them more apparent.  Or the camera man, which was me, and I'm pretty bad at taking pictures.

Last, but not least in this GIANT Photo Blog is a Lady Christy & Ginger Giant collaboration.  Any time Christy comes over and pants she immediately goes after the biggest and most difficult miniatures and ROCKS them out.  Here she took this giant Yuan-Ti Abomination, from what line I have no idea, and went orange, metallic blue armor, and gold.  It looked pretty striking, however I felt that it could use something else, enter the black and white rings, and the orange red dry brushing.  The DIP really made the scales standout and I think took a miniature that I already thought was rock solid even better.  If I have any complaints its that I did a piss poor job on the eyes.  Seriously, TERRIBLE!

Well there you have it, 65 miniatures DIPped, with anothe 40 plus needing eyes and then the DIP.  All the while I have a table in the basement full of stuff in progress, and BUCKETS of Bones to get after.  I hope to get a CHIKARA & Painting Miniatures night in VERY soon.  I hoped you enjoyed seeing the work.