Tribbles, Trouble & Trolls!

There was an episode of Star Trek entitled "The Trouble with Tribbles" that became one of the more re-watched episodes of the series... well, if you play Orcs in Blood Bowl, you are going to have Trouble with Trolls!  They are 'always hungry' and are subject to being 'really stupid' and just might eat your goblin right before they 'throw team-mate' which are a few of the reasons that make them so fun to play!  This guy has been in my collection for quite some time, and was near complete--so I just whipped out a few more colors, slapped'em on and finished him up!  This one consistently gets positive comments for being a really Cool Mini!

 

This model is the GW Blood Bowl Troll Star Player, Ripper Bolgrot which I use as the troll on my Orc team.  Chris, one of the other coaches in the league inspired me to capture some collegiate teams, and so I borrowed the color scheme and mascot from the Florida Gators... (not a fan, just liked the how the color scheme worked!)

(Tim "The Superman" Tebow running with the ball!)

 

 

The team is named the "Bittersand Swamp Gators"

Here are a few more team members who will be fielded during this next season of Blood Bowl in pursuit of the Dungeonbowl Trophy!

(click the pic to enlarge)

A Patriotic Post for Thanksgiving!

Please forgive me for not getting this up yesterday (I desperately wanted to!), but as luck would have it, my path was crossed with someone who had nothing, asked for nothing, but needed everything... I spent a large portion of my time yesterday doing what any of us would do when finding someone in need.  I was able to sleep well knowing that he had something to eat, clean clothes and a warm place to sleep as the temperature dropped down to 14 degrees! *Burrrr!*

So... count this for yesterday's as I had something special planned for my Father today (more on that later! ;D)

As Thanksgiving is typically hailed as one of our major holidays filled with food, family, football, fun and giving thanks, I thought "what would be more patriotic than a troll slayer in patriotic striped pants?!" Well, here ya go! Meet the Ironrock Hammers!

I finished these guys a while back, and just haven't put them up yet on my blog!

(click here to vote on the Troll Slayers at Cool Mini or Not!)

 

I wanted something  in "Red, White, and Blue" and loved painting these patriotic pants on the Troll Slayer! LOL

 

(click any of the pics to enlarge)

 

Here are those nasty, hard-hitting blitzers!

(vote on these Blitzers at Cool Mini or Not!)

 

Some short, stumpy, white bearded runners...

(these Runners are also at Cool Mini or Not!)

 

Star Player Boomer Eziasson, with the Coach Mini used for a turn marker...

(Boomer and Coach are at Cool Mini or Not!)

Here is the whoooole team lined up for ya, complete with their "Hammers" logo emblazoned on each of the right shoulder pads with those wearing armor! :D

(click to enlarge)

(this click will take you to Entire Team at Cool Mini or Not!)

 

Well, I trust that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you enjoy your festivities! I will (in all likely-hood) post some additional things here today for my dad! Happy Feasting!

WIP: Dynamic Diorama!

I have been stating for a while now, that I have several projects that I am working on in addition to my commission work... this is one of them: this WIP (Work in Progress), is nearing completion and it is going to be incredibly cool when it is done! So, I thought I would share... It is a diorama for a Hobby Store Window that I was commissioned to do! (Kind of a miniature painter's dream-come-true!)

 (click any pic to enlarge)

Here are some of the Orcs, and Space Marines I am working on to put in the window...

 

Because the window is so long (12 feet x 12 inches), I had to build the diorama in two parts in order to get it in the window, this is the first half... 

 

This is the other half, which is a 'beach assault' that will be occurring with the Orcs and Gretchen.  A while back I posted an Orc Warboss as well as some 'beach assault' grots that were in preparation for this monstrous undertaking! (See the little gretchin?)

 

Here are some pics of the ship: 1) a back-up view of the Orc Pirate Ship, 2) A Gretchin taking aim in the crows nest! 3) The Botsun' near the Anchor overseeing the launch of the skiff, 4) The First mate (with nothing to do) since the boat is anchored, so he is salivating wanting in on the assault!

 

This store is not just a "Gaming" or "Hobby" store... it also sells other merchandise, including OOP vintage games and puzzles.  In order to incorporate this, I used an 'under the sea' puzzle for the ocean and poored polyurethane over the top of it to give it a 'glossy-watery' look.  Some of the spare puzzle pieces were used to create waves. 

(see the little shark? :D)

 

Here is the whole thing fitted in.  I had to get an idea of how it was coming along, and what was left to do in order to plug in visual gaps... very helpful I think; obvious there is still more to do! *sigh*

 

The Ship in the corner...

 

Orcs and grots assaulting the beach... Gonna be a challenging filling in the gap between the two slabs with putty from behind the diorama... he he!

 

Space Marines 'busting' out of the 40K box to coincide with the store marketing point, which is "An Adventure Awaits inside!" (whether in the store, or in a box, or in YOU, there is an adventure awaiting inside!) Pretty nifty idea I think...

 

Well, I will keep you posted over the next two days on this as it has to be finished for Black Friday!  There have been some other "how to" requests that I have received which I have been cataloging during this massive undertaking, which I will be sharing with you as well! Make it a great day!

Tenacious Tentacles!

I can honestly say I am not a fan of Chaos anything in gaming; Chaos armies (Fantasy or 40K), Chaos teams for Blood Bowl, the Chaos Iconography and background stories, etc., and all that goes along with it! That being said... I can be open to pure talent, and insightful ideas when it comes to minis, sculpting and the like in this miniature world we put ourselves in (for those of us who choose to!)

With a recent commission job winding down on a Chaos Blood Bowl team, I thought I would share this rare sculpt of a star player, Lewdgrip Whiparm--I think this is the only sculpt out there of this particular star player--at least if there is, I have never seen one!

 

 I tried to give him that 'rusty brass' look as I think the tentacle arm is just disgusting, and it reminds me of sea creatures; so naturally he would be all rusted and corroded from that salty sea water! LOL!!
 

Here some additional side and back shots with the main one in the middle...
('click the pic' to enlarge him at Cool Mini or Not!)

 I also had to pick a color that would tie him into the existing Chaos Team he will be playing for... that putrid, light green I used worked well for this, and the base was just another way to tie him into said team as well.

 

A very well fabricated mini from concept, to sculpt from Willy Miniatures!

Thanks for giving us another phenomenal miniature to add to the growing Blood Bowl line of star players! :D

 

Funnin' with Fezglitch the Fanatic!

With my handy-dandy digital camera back in hand, I was able to download photos of work this past week. (Yay!)  So, I am now playing a little 'catch-up' on some recent events... one of those was a new-join into our Blood Bowl league.  It is always a good thing to have new blood.  It was evident from the get-go that he was wanting to play something rather devious, nefarious, and wicked fast, so there was really only one way to go... Skaven!  Unfortunately, these poor cheese lovers often end up dead due to low armor values.  Wanting to give this 'noob' coach a little incentive to play with some nice inducements (and wanting to encourage him to get his team painted), I dove into my bits box and built this guy from a GW Skaven clan rat pack, and some Dark Angel force-weapon bits... and we get, Fezclitch, the Skaven Fanatic! 

(click the pic to enlarge)

 

The "ball and chain" that fanatics use in the game I felt needed to be something more 'plague rat'ish... taking some Dark Angel force weapon bits, I was able to assemble them together for a nice impromptu censor 'ball & chain'!

(vote for him at Cool Mini or Not)

 

The censor ball with the skull attached, and the progressive chain-links with smaller censors, really had a much better skaven-clan-rat feel than the traditional ball & chain goblin fanatic that we see on the pitch.  Additionally, this star player has "foul appearance" (opposing players can only hit him on a 2+) and "disturbing presence" (any player within 3 spaces are at a -1 to catch, pass, or hand-off the football) wanting to create something more intimidating to represent these stats, I think the final product really fits the bill! A very fun little project! :D

Dedicated to Chris's Kilmora!

Okay, so due to the fact that: 1) I left my digital camera at a Blood Bowl match yesterday (finished very late!), 2) since All of the pics I have taken of the work I have completed over the last week are on it (so I can't download them for a post this morning), 3) as I have been wanting to 'nudge' my good friend Chris into sharing more of his outstanding work... I am 'showcasing' him here today!  (Truth be told--been wanting to do this for a looooooong time!)

Let me be clear that the painted mini pic I am showing is NOT MY WORK! It belongs to a very adept, patient, detailed, and talented painter whom I personally know; this is a custom mini that was completed for a Blood Bowl Tournament "Bash'N'Dash Classic" in Raleigh North Carolina about a year ago.  You can 'clic the painted pic' below which will take you to his site (which I highly encourage), and be prepared to be inspired by some of his work you will find over there, as it is very well done! I can honestly say that he certainly is an inspiration to me!

(click the pic to enlarge)

Here is the mini 'static' or unpainted:

 

Here is Chris's vision of what Kilmora the Deft should look like... Awesome!

(Chris's Board and Brush)

 

Here are her character stats in case any of you want to add her to your dwarf team, just keep in mind that you will have to work her into your house-rules as she is not LRB CR 6.0 approved:

 

I might add that Chris is not the only painter in my league that inspires me!  Our "Commissioner Rick" is an amazing painter as well, and he just recently returned home from a tournament with a "best painted" trophy (no surprise), and I would love to see him blog his work up as well as he has a lot to offer!  It would be something if these two were it! Jay is another who does nice work... and there are yet others still who are very adept!

 

I am quite sure that many of you know someone who is very talented in this vein of mini painting, and love seeing their latest piece.  Next time you get together with them, ask if they won't share a little technique they use, and then try it out to see if it will improve your own work... you might be surprised what they have to share! :D

 

I know for myself it has been very rewarding growing with the hobby of mini-painting, and am glad that I can now do it professionally (on top of everything else I do!)  It is always fun when I am learning new techniques and connecting with other people through it... I hope you don't mind me showcasing you Chris!

Bacon-Wrapped Blood Bowl!

Here a some pics of the SPR Bacon-Wrapped Blood Bowl Tournament that I promised!  This first pic is a massive Chaos Minotaur that my second opponent was using as his "coach" mini (a farce since this guy is like eight inches tall!) I think this guy forgot the definition of "mini" LOL!

 

Here are some shots of guys and gals just getting in their matches... there were well over thirty participants! ;D

(click any pic to enlarge)

 

 

Here are some pics from some of my matches that I played with the Norse team that I took!  The Norse lining up for a bash against Chaos!  (you can see what a difference it makes playing with painted minis!)

 

 

Here are these poor Norse trying to find a way in around three St4 Chaos Warriors! Ugh!!!

 

This is a River Troll on a goblin team I faced off against... looks like this guy vomited right into my lineman's face, knocking him on his keister! LOL (Again, notice the difference painted minis make... such a neat effect!)

 

Here is my catcher waaaaay down the field with my other players setting up some loose dodge traps for the gobbos so I can score!

 





Overall, a great turn-out with great gaming, good fun, good company, and good eats!  Hats off to Jeremiah aka "The Grillmaster" and Mike the commissioner of the Stony Point Refugees, and FTW Games for hosting the event! Great day guys! :D

Harlequin Twins... the Final Chapter!

This Harlequin mini (accompanied with the "how to" posts I have shared) has been rather enjoyable!  I hope you have gleaned an insight, or two, from it; I know I have 'relearned' a couple of things during the process of completing it. At long last, here are the shots from various angles of these two Harlequin 'Before & After' Twins!  Hope you will go to Cool Mini or Not and let me know what you think! ;D

(Any pic you can 'click' to enlarge)
 

 

 

 

 



 

Voila!!!

(Vote on me at Cool Mini or Not! :D)

 (You can click this link to learn about these mythical Eldar Harlequins)

Hairnet to Steel Grating!

With this Harlequin project nearing an end, I thought I would show everyone a cool idea I picked up as a young blood (can't remember where I learned it), but as I was strolling down the street one day I remember this gem of a basing technique when I found this piece of hairnet blowing around on the sidewalk, hmmmm...

 

Wanting to 'pull the eye' on the Harlequin's diamond patterns, as well as unifying the jewels on the left shoulder, I thought "...this would do well for some steel grating on the base!" I was very excited!

 

Here I am 'pre-cutting' the hairnet to make sure it fits properly, and now I am going to take some PVA glue (standard Elmer's craft glue) and glue it down, using a que-tip to 'press down' the net and let the excess squish out to overlap and dry for a nice hard surface.

 

Diving into my 'bits bag' (everyone should have one!) of spare pieces and parts left-over from countless mini-projects, I fished out an Orc boma'stik and began hacking the shaft into small circular pieces for rivets.

 

I then cut a small strip off of a spare business card I had laying around to have some metal framework for the rivets, and started carefully placing them on the dabs of super-glue I put down with the tip of my X-acto knife.

 

 

I then hacked up the remaining pieces of the Ork Stik (with accompanying arms) and made pieces of rubble to glue to the base, adding some sand texture to really give the base some grit!

 

Getting rather excited to finish for this post, along with the late hour last night, coupled with wanting to slap down the paint... I held the mini up to my work light to speed up the glue drying process! LOL!!  Next, I base-coated with three layers of black and began dry-brushing the silver into place!

Using a brass wash with some black added in, I put some 'rust' spots on the base where the grating, framework, and rivets would probably be rusted.  Then I dry-brushed some white over spots with a few white 'highlights' strategically place, and... Voila'! I think the finished product looks great! The diamond pattern on the grating will pull in elements of the diamond pattern on his leg, and the riveted framework will pull in themed elements from the line of jewels on his shoulder!  Let me know what you think! :D

('click the pic' to enlarge)