tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34557709317934819512024-03-14T03:02:55.516-05:00Monster Lab MiniaturesAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08033683359542231327noreply@blogger.comBlogger142125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455770931793481951.post-54373111234245326182016-02-25T18:19:00.000-06:002016-02-25T18:19:16.650-06:00The Big-Ass Winter 2016 Wrap Up!It's been a few months, so I present to you this week's mega post that catches you up on all the hobby that has been going on at the lab in the last 75 days. Let's take a look!<br />
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I've got some great news in the form of my career status. Since late last summer I've been working with the founders of Punch-It Entertainment, Jesse and John, on helping them to develop their first offering - Battle for Sularia! First some visuals...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W0SgvVlHMo4/Vs99dXLtmsI/AAAAAAAABf8/Cy2tbiiM3rA/s1600/Animus%2BVox_Alt%2BArt_wLogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W0SgvVlHMo4/Vs99dXLtmsI/AAAAAAAABf8/Cy2tbiiM3rA/s320/Animus%2BVox_Alt%2BArt_wLogo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/548f623ae4b0567b501b51e2/54aeb388e4b084338ad9eaea/559c1b99e4b0c25a8fb1451b/1453963339308/" target="_blank">Animus Vox</a> | Art by Chunli Thien Nguyen</td></tr>
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This is the Synthien machine empire, lead by the cunning cyborg Animus Vox, self-proclaimed lords of the Western Wastes, and forebears of the red eye.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m-I5T3GHLtE/Vs994mSYvuI/AAAAAAAABgE/_nwwHyCdyoc/s1600/Feedback_wStamp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m-I5T3GHLtE/Vs994mSYvuI/AAAAAAAABgE/_nwwHyCdyoc/s320/Feedback_wStamp.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/548f623ae4b0567b501b51e2/54aeb4dfe4b0ca139fa7e1fa/559c1f3fe4b030f9dfefd03c/1453963824429/" target="_blank">Feedback</a> | Art by Wizyakuza</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dwqEppwdDTo/Vs99zGoMfhI/AAAAAAAABgA/JRa__z98qE4/s1600/Furtim%2BBraccae_wLogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dwqEppwdDTo/Vs99zGoMfhI/AAAAAAAABgA/JRa__z98qE4/s320/Furtim%2BBraccae_wLogo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/548f623ae4b0567b501b51e2/54aeb388e4b084338ad9eaea/56a9b8cabfe8735d041d8a39/1453963759397/Synthien+Card_Furtim+Braccae_Screen+Demo.png" target="_blank">Furtim Braccae</a> | Art by Tots</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UhM7gZpT87k/Vs9-4z3I7uI/AAAAAAAABgc/dNFgn54WsNs/s1600/Hekaton%2BWarhulk_wLogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UhM7gZpT87k/Vs9-4z3I7uI/AAAAAAAABgc/dNFgn54WsNs/s320/Hekaton%2BWarhulk_wLogo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/548f623ae4b0567b501b51e2/54aeb388e4b084338ad9eaea/559c1993e4b018930fb7051a/1453963959173/" target="_blank">Hekaton Warhulk</a> | Art by Filip Dudek</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PZrHeSdn0DY/Vs9-LExAi0I/AAAAAAAABgM/2Aw4I_GfUzw/s1600/MasterMiningProgram_wLogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PZrHeSdn0DY/Vs9-LExAi0I/AAAAAAAABgM/2Aw4I_GfUzw/s320/MasterMiningProgram_wLogo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/548f623ae4b0567b501b51e2/54aeb4dfe4b0ca139fa7e1fa/559c2003e4b05d13839ccc09/1453963844712/" target="_blank">Master Mining Program</a> | Garrett Post</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D3FVK2xdTgg/Vs997fUGBtI/AAAAAAAABgI/BAxhe-ctuZU/s1600/Perimeter%2BAlert%2BSystem_logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D3FVK2xdTgg/Vs997fUGBtI/AAAAAAAABgI/BAxhe-ctuZU/s320/Perimeter%2BAlert%2BSystem_logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/548f623ae4b0567b501b51e2/54aeb46ce4b047b6aaa0ce48/559c1d2be4b0b2802268d8fe/1453963262403/" target="_blank">Perimeter Alert System</a> | Art by Filip Dudek</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JjM2D0hRIP4/Vs9-LIAeFgI/AAAAAAAABgQ/I4TtMkK0gX8/s1600/Art%2Bof%2BWar_wStamp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JjM2D0hRIP4/Vs9-LIAeFgI/AAAAAAAABgQ/I4TtMkK0gX8/s320/Art%2Bof%2BWar_wStamp.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/548f623ae4b0567b501b51e2/549a0151e4b050fe392574b4/559c161be4b00228d056a01b/1453964105340/" target="_blank">Art of War</a> | Art by Ascary Lazos</td></tr>
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And their arch-rivals, creators, Norse-inspired genetically enhanced super-warriors, and self-proclaimed inheritors of the planet Sularia - the Jotune.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-huIVpnaqJVU/Vs9-eekYTNI/AAAAAAAABgY/bDYN-s-fJ7k/s1600/CloudFortress_Final_wLogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-huIVpnaqJVU/Vs9-eekYTNI/AAAAAAAABgY/bDYN-s-fJ7k/s320/CloudFortress_Final_wLogo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/548f623ae4b0567b501b51e2/549897d5e4b0ba0bff5e0a12/569d5bdabe7b96bf773cd884/1453964208257/Jotune+Card_Cloud+Fortress_NEW_Screen+Demo.png" target="_blank">Cloud Fortress</a> | Art by Garrett Post</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-COcyo1LKE20/Vs9-gNZcXWI/AAAAAAAABgU/4Bd0jObyE0c/s1600/Lord%2BFenris_Alt%2BArt_wLogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-COcyo1LKE20/Vs9-gNZcXWI/AAAAAAAABgU/4Bd0jObyE0c/s320/Lord%2BFenris_Alt%2BArt_wLogo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/548f623ae4b0567b501b51e2/54973d0ee4b0efb497e84371/55e48d8ee4b0fd055b7cb66f/1453964378505/Jotune+Card_Lord+Fenris_NEW_Screen+Demo.png" target="_blank">Lord Fenris "the Wolf"</a> | Art by Chunli Thien Nguyen</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WutBWHjAjT8/Vs9_kDRXQOI/AAAAAAAABgo/cjGeIii-mHA/s1600/Lord%2BOathki_wLogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WutBWHjAjT8/Vs9_kDRXQOI/AAAAAAAABgo/cjGeIii-mHA/s320/Lord%2BOathki_wLogo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/548f623ae4b0567b501b51e2/54973d0ee4b0efb497e84371/55e48bc6e4b0f3589b2aed6b/1453964442935/Jotune+Card_Lord+Oathki_NEW_Screen+Demo.png" target="_blank">Lord Oathki "the Hawk"</a> | Art by Tots</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-amE-W3IDvbc/Vs9_XOxnWBI/AAAAAAAABgg/Jx7mtHGqsyA/s1600/Security%2BPost_wLogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-amE-W3IDvbc/Vs9_XOxnWBI/AAAAAAAABgg/Jx7mtHGqsyA/s320/Security%2BPost_wLogo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/548f623ae4b0567b501b51e2/549897d5e4b0ba0bff5e0a12/5632c77de4b032dcbca87f46/1453964246019/" target="_blank">Security Post</a> | Art by Filip Dudek</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pSRdKiXjwA8/Vs-AbkapyUI/AAAAAAAABgs/4Zds9_AX14c/s1600/Spoils%2Bof%2BWar_wLogo_small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pSRdKiXjwA8/Vs-AbkapyUI/AAAAAAAABgs/4Zds9_AX14c/s320/Spoils%2Bof%2BWar_wLogo_small.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/548f623ae4b0567b501b51e2/549a0151e4b050fe392574b4/559c1708e4b05d22b1eb74ac/1453964127714/" target="_blank">Spoils of War</a> | Art by Ascary Lazos</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BDEsNYoVISg/Vs-Av1F_JpI/AAAAAAAABgw/COhoP-mKqP0/s1600/It%25E2%2580%2599s%2Ba%2BTrap_wLogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BDEsNYoVISg/Vs-Av1F_JpI/AAAAAAAABgw/COhoP-mKqP0/s320/It%25E2%2580%2599s%2Ba%2BTrap_wLogo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/548f623ae4b0567b501b51e2/549a19cfe4b0027e6361cba2/559c2230e4b0ee9660cb9573/1453964066451/" target="_blank">It's a Trap</a> | Art by Ascary Lazos</td></tr>
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Not everyone is a Synthien or Jotune on Sulaira, in fact, we have two yet to be released factions coming down the pipeline. If the Syntien are big stuff stompy + burn, and the Jotune are agro to mid-range threats, the two upcoming factions are control and swarm agro.</div>
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Don't forget about the mercenaries though! Mercenary elements can be used with any faction (the others don't play nicely together), but mercs fight for coin. And they do a darn good job of it.</div>
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Which brings us to the cards...</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8-5Ywbf-JBo/Vs-Pbr3GphI/AAAAAAAABhA/1EBs0cuPf8w/s1600/1_Main_Card%252BHeader.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8-5Ywbf-JBo/Vs-Pbr3GphI/AAAAAAAABhA/1EBs0cuPf8w/s320/1_Main_Card%252BHeader.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I'll hold comments on the complete rundown on how the game works and instead direct you to these nifty <a href="http://www.sularia.com/blog/2015/12/6/parts-of-a-card" target="_blank">introductory articles I wrote</a>!</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mSsFCBtA11k/Vs-Pd9rj3pI/AAAAAAAABhE/Hd_kFxtcfAE/s1600/2_Tactics%2B%2526%2BConditions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mSsFCBtA11k/Vs-Pd9rj3pI/AAAAAAAABhE/Hd_kFxtcfAE/s320/2_Tactics%2B%2526%2BConditions.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8dWBg95oN-s/Vs-PgBdWLhI/AAAAAAAABhM/UGZ_PP9scio/s1600/4_Combatants.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8dWBg95oN-s/Vs-PgBdWLhI/AAAAAAAABhM/UGZ_PP9scio/s320/4_Combatants.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Like what you see and want more info? Visit our <a href="http://www.sularia.com/" target="_blank">website</a>, follow us on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/battleforsularia/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/SulariaBCG" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/sulariabcg/" target="_blank">Instagram</a>! If you're a die-hard tabletop gamer, don't dismiss this one out of hand. The strategic combat, attacking enemy sites, all have a dynamic feel of maneuvering on the tabletop. As an avid miniature hobbyist for well over 13 years, Battle for Sularia really scratched my tabletop itch in an easy to play format and was the reason I offered to pitch in and help the founders. I'm also proud to say that I write the <a href="http://www.sularia.com/blog?category=Fiction" target="_blank">fiction</a>!</div>
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I'm also pleased to display the miniatures of a good friend, Danny J. Danny has really progressed in his skills since I've known him and is doing a lot of great work.</div>
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He even did a commission for a mutual friend's <a href="http://store.guildball.com/" target="_blank">Guild Ball</a> team. Pat's playing the alchemists and I really dig the steampunk look of these guys.</div>
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A robot butler with healing and mana potions? Why not?</div>
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Danny works for a very fair price, so don't hesitate to shoot him an email at <a href="mailto:dtjohansen1989@gmail.com">dtjohansen1989@gmail.com</a> and ask him to quote your next project!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08033683359542231327noreply@blogger.com45tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455770931793481951.post-31991812190788437712015-12-15T12:01:00.000-06:002015-12-15T12:01:03.578-06:00Rumblings of War - DissentHey guys, I'm writing the fiction behind the game <a href="http://www.sularia.com/" target="_blank">Battle for Sularia</a>, and I'm thrilled about the world we're building. So far we've <a href="http://www.sularia.com/blog/2015/9/11/dissent" target="_blank">seen through the eyes of the cyborg Novum Spero</a> as he struggles with his newfound sentience and his place in Jotune society and we've <a href="http://www.sularia.com/blog/2015/11/29/long-from-home" target="_blank">descended into the seedy underbelly</a> of Sularia's outland ruins with Solomon Fayde, a wanderer who is searching for a purpose greater than survival.<br />
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If you're looking for a sci-fi read in a post-apocalyptic world of robots vs. machines, <a href="http://www.sularia.com/blog/2015/12/14/pursuit" target="_blank">check out this week's post</a>!<br />
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<a href="http://www.sularia.com/blog/2015/12/14/pursuit" target="_blank"><img alt="www.sularia.com/blog/2015/12/14/pursuit" border="0" height="122" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Xgy30e5FpZE/VnBQNf4-x0I/AAAAAAAABfk/HgqMEv8uWTA/s320/Articles%2BImages_Fiction4%2BBanner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08033683359542231327noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455770931793481951.post-70057822732170122642015-11-30T12:22:00.002-06:002015-11-30T12:24:08.865-06:00Cyber Monday Special!Only one thing can make an epic sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, dystopian, robots vs genetically modified super soldiers game better. <br />
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Lazer beams? <br />
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That's a given. <br />
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Stunning visuals?<br />
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Check.<br />
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Free stuff??<br />
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You got it.<br />
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Don't miss your opportunity to <a href="http://www.sularia.com/shop" target="_blank">pick up the breakout game of 2016</a> and get an exclusive alternate art promo card today when you order at sularia.com! The battle begins 2016, get ready!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08033683359542231327noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455770931793481951.post-62965956734048351952015-11-24T18:51:00.004-06:002015-11-24T19:01:19.930-06:00Introducing Rumblings of War<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It has been centuries since the cataclysm of the Fracture ravaged Sularia, and now the self-proclaimed Lords of the world, the Jotune, and the rising machine empire known as the Synthien, are locked in an epic struggle to determine the fate of a waning world. They aren't alone either. Mercenary companies play opportunistic middle-men in the conflict, bartering blood for coin, weapons, or worse... and there are others lurking on the periphery, ready, waiting for their moment to strike.</div>
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Dive headfirst into the sci-fi fiction adventure with the <a href="http://www.sularia.com/blog/2015/9/11/dissent" target="_blank">first installment of Rumblings of War</a>, a semi-weekly novelette that brings this heroic cast of characters to light and sees who will rise triumphant in the only conflict that matters - the battle for survival.</div>
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Check out the articles homepage <a href="http://www.sularia.com/blog-landing-page/">http://www.sularia.com/blog-landing-page/</a> and get the latest from the post-apocalyptic world teetering on the edge of total annihilation!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08033683359542231327noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455770931793481951.post-61090123901491417012015-11-23T12:00:00.000-06:002015-11-23T12:00:04.531-06:00A Sneak Peek at Battle For Sularia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZqIam9buZco/VlMLQ9Z2ySI/AAAAAAAABec/WxHHRu5YAP4/s1600/Copy%2Bof%2BTeaser%2B02_Twitter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="395" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZqIam9buZco/VlMLQ9Z2ySI/AAAAAAAABec/WxHHRu5YAP4/s640/Copy%2Bof%2BTeaser%2B02_Twitter.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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A brand new strategy card game landed on the Monster Lab desk, and we're psyched to debut it! Launching January 22, 2016, the game is <a href="http://www.sularia.com/shop/" target="_blank">available for pre-order</a>. Check out the <a href="http://www.sularia.com/battle-kit-battle-begins/" target="_blank">world of Sularia</a>, <a href="http://www.sularia.com/about/" target="_blank">the game</a>, and <a href="http://www.sularia.com/card-gallery-1/#designing-battle-for-sularia-2" target="_blank">their card image gallery</a>, where epic heroes are depicted by some of the best established and up-and-coming artists! Dive right into the post-apocalyptic sci-fi dystopian world and check out the <a href="http://www.sularia.com/blog-landing-page/" target="_blank">daily articles</a> section!<br />
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More to come soon! Heed the call and join the battle today!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08033683359542231327noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455770931793481951.post-55702204610259314462015-10-14T23:19:00.001-05:002015-10-15T09:48:13.487-05:00DLBlog 6: Tara Finished & Build BingeHello again! This week I've got another completed crew to show, Tara's Herald of Obliteration crew. As mentioned last week, this is the special edition transparent 'smoke' plastic set that Wyrd first sold at GenCon a few years back (one which I didn't attend) and some holiday specials since. As this was my first time working with this type of material I did research and testing on my own on how to best approach it. Plastic cement unfortunately doesn't work. Superglue does, but it fogs the clear plastic. The best adhesive was said to be clear canopy glue mainly used for windows on scale model planes and cars. I picked up a bottle to test out, but the instructions said to tape the pieces in place and then wait 3 hours... I'm not that patient and that had me questioning the durability of the bond for gaming pieces. So I just used superglue to stick everything together. It did indeed fog around the application area, but since I planned on green-stuffing and painting over the seams anyway, it was acceptable for my purposes.<br />
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I wanted to leave large portions of the Nothing Beast and Void Wretches transparent to reflect their otherworldliness. I started with a thin layer of rattle can matte varnish over the bare plastic. This would act as a sort of primer for the areas I wanted to paint traditionally as nothing was going to stick to the bare super slick surface. It also gives a neat frosted effect. Most of the models have hollow cavities inside which aren't attractive to look at and there were surface scratches from scraping off the mold lines (which are really hard to find on clear plastic, by the way). The matte coat conveniently hides all of these imperfections and gives more depth to the surface.</div>
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The Void Wretches were done up in much the same way as the Beast. I had seen others use a wash on clear plastic for depth so I tried that on the middle Wretch's legs. But the combination of matte coat and wash all but eliminated the transparent look. I did try a wash on the bare plastic before the varnish as well, but nothing stuck and I just ended up with nasty looking pools in the recesses. They must have used a much clearer varnish to give the wash some tooth to grab on to.<br />
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Tara and Karina had much less surface area I wanted to leave unpainted and thus mask off with tape. Tara's monster arm and sword were good candidates but I wanted to fully paint Karina. I went through a couple of basing options for these two. I started out with Micro Art Studio 'Chaos' bases for the whole crew, but wasn't happy with how they painted up. My initial plan was to have an OSL effect coming from between the cracks in the rocks, but the glow on the models would have covered up the transparency. I stuck with the chaos bases for the Wretches, but for the humanoids I switched over to custom bases of floating stone inspired by other's work posted in Wyrd's forums.</div>
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The rocks are just small pieces of cork board superglued together with chunks of the edges torn off with pliers to blend the horizontal slabs of cork together.<br />
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After painting up the minis I gave them each a light airbrush of green from below as a quick glow effect, leaving masking on the pieces I wanted to stay clear, as I imagine ethereal bits wouldn't reflect light all that well.<br />
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Beyond completing Tara's crew. I've been on an assembly binge. I put together and based my remaining Outcast minis and also decided on basing for my already assembled Yan Lo crew. Outcasts got a simple rocks+sand scheme (with some post-painting bushes/grass to follow), whereas Yan Lo got fancier treatment with Micro Art Studio 'Ancient' bases.</div>
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All were then zenithal primed: black primer all over with a top-down spray of white, out to about 45 degrees.<br />
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Batch 1: assorted Outcast mercs. 3 Desperate Mercenaries (1 metal, 2 plastic), 3 Convict Gunslingers (1 metal, 2 plastic), and a Malifaux Child (metal).<br />
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Batch 2: plastic Friekorps models. Librarian, Trapper, Specialist, and 2 Freikorpsmann.<br />
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Batch 3: Yan Lo and a Lone Swordsman. I had already assembled Yan Lo's crew box (with superglue rather than plastic cement unfortunately, so I had to green stuff some seams), but hadn't yet based or primed them.<br />
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Finished up with assembly of Jack Daw's crew and a pair of Hanged who got my remaining 'Ancient' bases, but have not yet been primed. <br />
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That's all for this update. Just want to wrap up by saying how awesome plastic cement is! Back when I started hobbying all I used as superglue. After dealing with the fragility and messiness (always had scales of glue to pick off of my fingertips) I finally switched over to the good stuff. Aside from the rock-solid bond between the parts, it nearly eliminates the need for any green stuffing to hide joints, something I loath doing. Simply squish the melted plastic into the crevice and scrape any excess of with a knife after it dries for a perfect, clean seam.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680508470173091688noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455770931793481951.post-29238079176348307272015-09-30T20:06:00.001-05:002015-10-06T14:02:10.725-05:00DLBlog 5: Blood and Rust<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Hello again! It's been a very productive couple of weeks of painting. With a total of 16 models I can now call complete and a good amount of work done on a handful more there's a lot of pics below</div>
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First up is a group shot of the newly painted Malifaux Outcasts. Most are thematically from Leveticus' crew: Rusty Alyce, 2x Desolation Engines, 3x Hollow Waif, and 8x Abominations. Also, returning from the last post is Vanessa. And finally there's the mercenary grenade-launching robot Lazarus.</div>
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Lots of the same techniques were used on most of the models: gratuitous amounts of blood splatter and rusty steel. My blood splatter formula is Tamiya Clear Red mixed with a bit of Agrax Earthshade to darken and thicken it up. Suck up a bit in the end of a plastic pipette, squeeze it a few times to blow out the big chunks, and then spray the remaining little drops onto a model. For the rusty metal I start with a base coat of dark red-brown, heavy drybrush a dark steel metallic, dab on Citadel dry rust paint in random crevices, wash with Agrax Earthshade and then a light drybrush of a bright steel paint. Both are nice quick techniques that give a great result for the time investment.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6j4VvZueLlM/Vgvifyx2-0I/AAAAAAAABKg/q7qBKz3dK0o/s1600/20150929_211305-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6j4VvZueLlM/Vgvifyx2-0I/AAAAAAAABKg/q7qBKz3dK0o/s320/20150929_211305-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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First up are the master/henchwoman pair Leveticus and Rusty Alyce. Leveticus was previously painted as part of the diorama that was mentioned a few posts back so he simply got a gameplay-legal base. He's just pinned to this new base so he can live on the diorama while on display but be shifted to the 30mm base when he's ready to mix it up. I do need to do a bit more detail work on the gaming base, as Leveticus has some green underglow that makes sense on the diorama, but needs some light source on the small base. Luckily he's standing above a grate so glow can easily be added there.<br />
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Rusty Alyce is a straightforward paint job with brighter colored coat and a rusty mechanical arm made for clocking chumps in the face. Her eye looks huge from this low angle, whereas it looks more normal from a typical gaming angle. I have been running into this problem lately and think I'm getting too much white paint on the underside of the eye socket which is only visible when seen from below.<br />
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Next are the Hollow Waifs; Leveticus' totems. Fluff wise these girls are soulless shells which, if Leveticus is killed which happens quite often, he can burst out of one of these 'horcruxes' to be reborn. Not quite sure how that works in practice, but whatever. To reflect their soulless nature I left the skin in white tones. I cheated pretty hard on the skin tone as it is simply the original black/white zenithal priming with a few highlights, but it gives much smoother transitions than I have the patience to paint! The dress colors were done to match their box artwork. My favorite Waif is the lady in red; the mini's pose, face, and subtle dress highlights turned out the best IMO.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tWuvXJGvgOg/VgvigqnKehI/AAAAAAAABKs/POODmGERMBs/s1600/20150929_211601-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tWuvXJGvgOg/VgvigqnKehI/AAAAAAAABKs/POODmGERMBs/s320/20150929_211601-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here are the two different sculpts for the massive Desolation Engines. On the left is the new plastic version; old metal version on the right. Although I think these minis should have been scaled a good bit larger to reflect their high in-game cost and abilities, I really like how they turned out. The plastic sculpt has quite of bit of seams that needed to be green stuffed and the head didn't fit onto the body very well, but I got everything smoothed out in the end. Metal sculpt is like two pieces, so no issues there.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LmZukW6onMs/VgvigmycbnI/AAAAAAAABKw/i1etueRv9O4/s1600/20150929_211700-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LmZukW6onMs/VgvigmycbnI/AAAAAAAABKw/i1etueRv9O4/s320/20150929_211700-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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These are the Abominations. First set of four are older metal sculpts, rest are the new plastic minis. I really like the aesthetic of the models and how different each of them are. The same steps were followed for painting these in assembly line fashion. Airbrush dark then light skin tones all over, followed by some brush highlights and red and purple shades for the shadows and to pick out the scars. After painting the rusty metal as described above, that's the majority of the surface area of these models: skin and metal. Then details were picked out with one or two highlights for each: bone, clothing, gore, and tubes.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e2WylRYhZC4/Vgvig4mpFkI/AAAAAAAABK0/4Su27kqrwyM/s1600/20150929_211920-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="139" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e2WylRYhZC4/Vgvig4mpFkI/AAAAAAAABK0/4Su27kqrwyM/s320/20150929_211920-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DS0VsLkODjQ/VgvihUjUMwI/AAAAAAAABK4/PXmI_bwILK4/s1600/20150929_212035-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="162" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DS0VsLkODjQ/VgvihUjUMwI/AAAAAAAABK4/PXmI_bwILK4/s320/20150929_212035-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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That wraps up the rusty, bloody mess that is Leveticus's crew. The next two are models that were ongoing works in progress. Vanessa, as seen last week as an unfinished member of the Viktoria's crew, is now finished this week. I really like how the strong glow effect turned out, it really brings life to the otherwise generic brown-trenchcoated woman. The glow effect was a simple airbrush spray of blue from below after the model was painted normally, and I then finished painting the magic cloud itself.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yN7tfQ8T0DY/VgvihX_OXYI/AAAAAAAABLA/ZWBE-E0Qnzw/s1600/20150929_212124-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yN7tfQ8T0DY/VgvihX_OXYI/AAAAAAAABLA/ZWBE-E0Qnzw/s320/20150929_212124-1.jpg" width="231" /></a></div>
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Finally there is Lazarus. He's a model who's been based for a long time and I've tried several color schemes on him, none of which I was happy with. And being a pretty goofy looking model to begin with (Wyrd's only posable mini, albeit not posable enough to get it out of a Baymax pose) I just wanted to wrap it up. Lore-wise he's powered by the trapped soul of a Guild Guardsman who was murdered during a science experiment, and sensibly now hates the Guild. So I gave him a heavily weather red paint scheme. The scratches in the armor don't have enough contrast for my liking, so I may go back and line the edges of the gouges to give it more depth.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aOca0GYJTyA/Vgvihl0vlVI/AAAAAAAABLM/Y8vF6Ev5Pm4/s1600/20150929_212146-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aOca0GYJTyA/Vgvihl0vlVI/AAAAAAAABLM/Y8vF6Ev5Pm4/s320/20150929_212146-1.jpg" width="313" /></a></div>
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And that's about it! Now I've moved onto working on the Herald of Obliteration special transparent box set. I plan on painting the top surfaces and leaving the lower portion transparent with a light wash to better define the surfaces.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bsvGrnqOcFs/VgviiKCPKkI/AAAAAAAABLs/u4sCHT0rqYo/s1600/20150929_213733-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bsvGrnqOcFs/VgviiKCPKkI/AAAAAAAABLs/u4sCHT0rqYo/s320/20150929_213733-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The 'scrap' bases used above and the 'chaos' bases below that I'll be using for the new crew are from Micro Arts Studio. This is the first time I've used them and they're very nice and easy to use. Since I paint the lips of my bases to match the mini's faction it's super easy to paint them separately and them glue the insert in at the end. However, they are difficult to magnetize. With the normal slotted bases and even resin bases (drill a well in the solid bottom) I could insert a magnet for use with my metal transportation box. There's no recess in the bottoms of these bases and not much meat to drill into. Thankfully, since I've shifted my hobby more away from actually gaming and more toward painting that's not a big deal for just placing them in the display case.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680508470173091688noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455770931793481951.post-30490569474702637372015-09-21T22:23:00.002-05:002015-09-30T13:47:58.812-05:00Charity Paint: "Adventure Ho!"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Word's gotten around the office that I have a creative side (I admit I don't go to great lengths to hide it) and when the recent <a href="https://www.facebook.com/givingSOLO?fref=ts" target="_blank">GivingSOLO </a>charity auction came up, a coworker asked if I would like to contribute a work of art. With 24 hours to complete my piece I knew exactly what I wanted to make!</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HGDM0l192U0/VgC2W8XGhtI/AAAAAAAABdY/wmSuheJnhZg/s1600/20150911_080910.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HGDM0l192U0/VgC2W8XGhtI/AAAAAAAABdY/wmSuheJnhZg/s320/20150911_080910.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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It's been awhile since I did purely illustrative piece, but I found myself struck by a bolt of creative inspiration, and without hesitation I raced to my nearest <a href="http://www.hobbylobby.com/" target="_blank">Hobby Lobby</a> to purchase a new set of brushes, a couple of canvases (only $5.50 for two!) and acrylic paints.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W-zGvDOU4AU/VgC2ahv6HMI/AAAAAAAABdg/jKhvO_vV2Ng/s1600/20150910_174729.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W-zGvDOU4AU/VgC2ahv6HMI/AAAAAAAABdg/jKhvO_vV2Ng/s320/20150910_174729.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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Being under a strict deadline, I opted for a quick, but effective sky/sea blocking, not stressing over even paint distribution to the canvas's edge, but keeping with a messy look that would help further the whimsical image of a child's daydream.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HBdINZLYkxw/VgC2cjIzjbI/AAAAAAAABdo/nyl4EwGJdpg/s1600/20150910_231039.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HBdINZLYkxw/VgC2cjIzjbI/AAAAAAAABdo/nyl4EwGJdpg/s320/20150910_231039.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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Since this is a charity that benefits sick children and childhood cancer, I wanted to create a piece that showed off the wonder and innocence of being a kid, and how even in the most difficult of circumstances those qualities don't diminish one bit. In fact, they probably grow! </div>
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I imagine this to be the spitting image of a child's idle thoughts when they're stuck inside looking out on the adventure waiting just outside on a summer day.</div>
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I was pretty happy with it, but something was missing...</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HGDM0l192U0/VgC2W8XGhtI/AAAAAAAABdc/XTS1SfnahSk/s1600/20150911_080910.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HGDM0l192U0/VgC2W8XGhtI/AAAAAAAABdc/XTS1SfnahSk/s320/20150911_080910.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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How about daydreams for the daydream! A simple silver marker treatment added nine ephemeral illusions to the piece, which include: a rocket launch, dragon (never forget the dragon!), faerie, tiger, spelunker, slalom skier, treasure chest, north wind, and Loch Ness Monster!</div>
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<img height="320" src="https://scontent-dfw1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/l/t1.0-9/10366203_892554854115558_534037899428192235_n.jpg?oh=fff5b4ff9fb6194a299167ac63bbd47a&oe=5699A534" width="256" /></div>
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My piece was sold at auction during the first GivingSOLO exhibition and I'm truly grateful to have had the opportunity to contribute. If you're in the KC, MO area on Friday October 2nd at 5-9pm, the second installment of the art exhibit will be hosted at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/19Below" target="_blank">19 Below</a>, so stop by, pick up some fun local art, and have a great time for a wonderful cause!</div>
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Altruism aside, I want to switch gears to a subject that is so pitilessly unphilathropic, that it would make Donald Trump blush. I'm talking about the conflict that brews on a seemingly peaceful hexagonal paradise, where resources are plentiful, and on a good day you can hear the echoing cries of, "I've got wood for sheep!" Yes, I'm talking about Catan.<br />
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This was one of those hilarious game night moments with your friends when the cosmic-forces-that-be decide they're going to have a little bit of fun...<br />
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It all started when Donny and his girlfriend came over to play a few games with me and mine on one of our regular Friday nights.<br />
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After I won an exciting round of <a href="http://brotherwisegames.com/" target="_blank">Boss Monster</a> through a masterful display of dominant dungeon building and shrewd skill. Donovan decided he had to take a shot at the champ and casually suggested we play a game, one that he had undoubtedly studied as extensively as a doctoral student;,employing the help of: tutorials, youtube videos, and shadow playing for what could only be 50+ hours.</div>
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"Why don't we play Catan?" He asked, feigning nonchalance. </div>
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I wasn't buying any of it, so I flashed him a thin smile that didn't quite reach my eyes, though I opened the Settlers box with matched forced disinterest.</div>
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"Sure. Why not?" I said. And that was my fatal error.</div>
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All began well as we built our first settlements and collected resources on the peaceful island nation. Though I suspected something was amiss, I admit I was taken unawares by the jackal lurking in our midst...</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KCi276jD5e0/VgC2jSkhRII/AAAAAAAABd4/u6qKVUiKdKU/s1600/20150905_222351.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KCi276jD5e0/VgC2jSkhRII/AAAAAAAABd4/u6qKVUiKdKU/s320/20150905_222351.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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That's the brigand himself, with the self-contented Cheshire grin of a man who has rolled ten 7's. Ten!! Ten I say!</div>
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And played four knights (the fifth is still turned over in front of him waiting to spring its trap). </div>
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For all of you not versed in the game play of Catan, when you roll a seven or play a knight card you get to move the grey thief pawn onto a hex and steal a random resource from a player who borders that tile. Needless to say, Donovan aimed each and every looting at me, plundering my hand and using the ill-gotten gains to trounce us all handily.</div>
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Balderdash! </div>
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So there you have it. No good deed goes unpunished, and when you play Donovan in Catan and he breaks out his "special dice," you best beware!</div>
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See you next time for more tales of gaming and hobby goodness! Have a great week!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08033683359542231327noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455770931793481951.post-82430086391053305432015-09-16T19:01:00.000-05:002015-10-06T14:00:44.233-05:00DLBlog 4: Swordswoman Doppelgangers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SKQzzSthm7o/Vfn7qWU2WaI/AAAAAAAABHA/hs5vTePg52I/s1600/20150903_192756.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SKQzzSthm7o/Vfn7qWU2WaI/AAAAAAAABHA/hs5vTePg52I/s320/20150903_192756.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
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Continuing from last week where I was in the process of staining the wood pieces of this display case, here's the finished result. Looks a lot better than the light, unstained color of the thing when I bought it. However, the wood was in pretty rough shape, so I may replace it in the future.<br />
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And here it is all filled up with minis. It just barely holds all of my painted Malifaux stuff. With only about 1/3 of my horde painted, I'm going to need a few more of these if I plan on storing them all the same way. Thankfully, the display case looks like it was homemade to begin with; just acrylic and wood. Should be simple to replicate and even customize a bit to better contain minis.<br />
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Here is my finished batch of miniatures for my Viktoria crew. From left to right: Student of Conflict, Viktoria of Blood, Viktoria of Ashes, and Hans (proxy from Warmachine). I initially planned on spending a good amount of time detailing the metal pieces, but ended up with fairly simple paint jobs as during the process I started to lose interest and wanted to just get them finished up.<br />
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Nothing particularly interesting to say about the painting process. For the skin tones I'm sticking with the midtone base coat, highlight up then shade down that I first used last week. It's given me good results so far and is much quicker than starting with a shadow base color and needing lots of highlight layers.<br />
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The skirt of the Student of Conflict was a very quick paint. These model were zenithal primed, with a black base primer and white preshading from above. Just a thin coat of purple and thin highlight and that's all that needed to be done with very good results for the time invested. I'm going to try and use this technique much more in the future on those model that I don't to the base coat with the airbrush, as you can't have any stray color on the painting surface.<br />
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Vik of Blood was my favorite model to paint, as I love any model that I get to splatter blood all over. I use a mix of Tamiya Clear Red acrylic paint mixed with a bit of Agrax Earthshade to darken and thicken it up a tad. I either flick the mixture off the bristles of a stiff brush for a fine spray or splatter larger drops out of a pipette. The paint mix thickens up quickly and you can brush on the gummy leftovers for chunky bits of gore.<br />
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This Warmachine Kara Sloan mini is my proxy for the Malifaux's Hans. It was chosen to stick with the 'sister' theme of the Viks. The sniper rifle position was modified from being held straight up the the air to being held at the ready in both hands. Not sure that the pink hair jives with the rest of her paint job, but it definitely stands out and goes with the purple hair of the Viks.<br />
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I haven't finished up Vanessa yet, as I'm not sure of the color scheme and how much OSL I want to do with the magic staff. I'm leaning more toward a very strong light source where most of the front of her will be lit blue, but I want to do some testing first (and paint something other than brown/black clothes...).<br />
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Inspired by the blood, I've prepped and started painting my Leveticus crew. With plenty rusty, bloody models such as the Abominations and Desolation Engines I'll get to flick red paint to my heart's content once these are painted up.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680508470173091688noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455770931793481951.post-45919041132418832752015-09-14T00:23:00.000-05:002015-09-15T08:55:43.718-05:00A GenCon Tale Part 5: Return of the GeeksFor those of you who have been traveling along with us on our journey to GenCon 2015 <a href="http://midwestmonsterlab.blogspot.com/2015/08/there-and-back-again-gencon-tale-part-1.html" target="_blank">over</a> the <a href="http://midwestmonsterlab.blogspot.com/2015/08/part-2-wrath-of-con.html" target="_blank">past</a> <a href="http://midwestmonsterlab.blogspot.com/2015/08/a-gencon-tale-part-3-vendor-hall.html" target="_blank">month</a> a <a href="http://midwestmonsterlab.blogspot.com/2015/08/a-gencon-tale-part-4-game-of-tones.html" target="_blank">half</a>, it's finally time to pack up the paints, put away the cards, and load up all the minis and loot spirited away through the press of bodies in the vendor hall. There were late nights of gaming, brews enjoyed at local pubs, and much slinging of spells; but now, sadly, it's time to return to the mundane world of nine to five employment, taxes, and an ultimate death of old age.<br />
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But not yet! There's still one more day to enjoy the con (and the ripe old age of 120 is many many years away), so let's take one final look at all the awesome you can possibly pack into five days, one convention center, and a bunch of downtown bars.</div>
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Before we get started, I want to acknowledge the fun I've been having with the names of each of the five parts of the GenCon post (There and Back Again - A GenCon Tale, Wrath of the Con, The Convention Strikes Back, A Game of Tones, and The Return of the Geeks). </div>
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For added awesomeness, guess the name of the book/movie/etc. that inspired the name of each post, and look for the answers where they will be posted at the bottom of the page! (a special prize awaits)</div>
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As for convention pic farewell tour, let's pick back up with those that were only just good enough for the b-side of the greatest hits record, and we'll start with one of the first sights that greeted Donovan and I upon reaching the convention hall...</div>
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which would be the plight of bronze life-sized statues everywhere, and by which I mean a gaggle of drunk, middling aged men who have a penchant for molesting these vulnerable works of art. This statue in the adjoining courtyard was no exception, simply minding its own business, the siren song of its captive nature and lack of foreseeable repercussions, led to its imagined crotch being massaged in a very unbrotherly like manner. Bravo gentlemen, you just joined an elite club of scholarly intellectuals who pride themselves on their unique brand of insightful humor that inspires as much as it impresses. *Cue slow clap*</div>
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Miscellaneous shot of vendor hall booth area (it is, in fact, the Plaid Hat booth, but yeah). Bonus points if you can find and name the celebrity in the background!</div>
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GenCon is epitomized by waiting in line. I am 99.99% more willing to wait in line for something as awesome as a game demo/purchase or a chance at miniature painting glory. Donny, I believe, feels the same..</div>
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I competed in three Magic tournaments throughout the weekend. This one lasted until well after 2am, where I placed third. Legacy reanimator for life!! If you're going to play powerful spells they might as well be <a href="http://magiccards.info/avr/en/106.html" target="_blank">roided out demons</a>, <a href="http://magiccards.info/zen/en/13.html" target="_blank">massive angelic protectors</a>, and <a href="http://magiccards.info/nph/en/9.html" target="_blank">minions whose affections are disproportionately two-sided</a>.</div>
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Losing to Omni-tell... <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/thesaltisreal" target="_blank">#thesaltisreal</a></div>
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Bee Coffee Roasters across Capitol Street from the Convention Center stayed open 24 hours to ensnare the business of gamers ending their late nights of dungeon crawling. Beware the turkey wraps that have dissolved in their own juices and gone the way of homogeneous goo, and plastic forks that WILL <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NdMMDQfY3q0/VdEU4dMRMfI/AAAAAAAABQs/gMM6GDRIPsc/s1600/20150801_023404.jpg" target="_blank">attempt to slay you</a>.</div>
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Wandering back to our car we came upon this sign. "They sells beans, home office furniture, and sugar?" I asked incredulously. Of course they do, Matt, nothing quite goes with a comfy chair like copious amounts of carbohydrates and delicious simple sugars.</div>
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Wizards of the Coast is putting out a pre-painted strategy board game! Woo-hoo!</div>
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Cell-shaded Borderlands cosplay. Both subtle and impressive.</div>
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Delicious Korean tacos! The BBQ steak was delicious and the spicy mayo was further enhanced by lots of <a href="http://theoatmeal.com/comics/sriracha" target="_blank">Siracha sauce</a>!</div>
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Another delicious meal at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Faroutfreds" target="_blank">Far Out Freds</a>, featuring fried risoto balls and and open faced "Human Torch" sandwich which included a delicious beef patty cooked medium-well, gooey mozzarella cheese, and yet even more Siracha mayo! Siracha ftw.</div>
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Ahhh.. convention booty. I purchased a ton of art prints, fun fantasy jewelry for the lady friend, limited edition Boss Monster (which includes promo foils!), original art Jason Engle Magic tokens, and some nice <a href="http://www.gamesandgears.co.uk/Ichibanbrushset.aspx" target="_blank">Games and Gears Ichiban Pro paint brushes</a>.</div>
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When I started this tale I knew I wanted to finish with the image of a polite young lad who kindly ferried our MHE entries from the display case to the check-out table. It was the end of our Indy odyssey and a fitting end to the blog series as well. </div>
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I will admit that I couldn't help imagining him dressed like this the entire time he stood at attention...</div>
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Jolly good!</div>
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And as for the answers to the challenges posed above, they are:</div>
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+1 point - Part 1: There and Back Again - A GenCon Tale (There and Back Again a Hobbit's Tale) </div>
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+1 point - Part 2: Wrath of the Con (Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan)</div>
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+1 point - Part 3: The Convention Strikes Back (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back)</div>
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+1 point - Part 4: A Game of Tones (A Game of Thrones, i.e. a Song of Fire and Ice for all the super fans out there)</div>
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+1 point - Part 5: Return of the Geeks (The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King)</div>
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+1 point - The celebrity in the background of the Plaid Hat Booth - Wil Wheaton!</div>
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If you guessed all five names correct, nice job! Here's your <a href="https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=637&q=gold+star&oq=gold+star&gs_l=img.3...754.1950.0.2117.9.7.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..9.0.0.MM3LMZRLKEA" target="_blank">prize</a>! If you got the bonus question correct, here's your very special <a href="http://images.techtimes.com/data/images/full/66749/wil-wheaton.jpg?w=600" target="_blank">prize</a>!<br />
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See you next time!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08033683359542231327noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455770931793481951.post-55745087582511128522015-09-02T12:00:00.000-05:002015-09-02T12:38:39.082-05:00DLBlog 3: Drug Addicts & Laser Burns<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><u>On The Bench</u></b></div>
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This past weekend I put in the time to complete a handful of Malifaux models to finish up the thematic group for the master Jakob Lynch, the drug-pushing gambler enslaved by the mind-controlling horror that lives in his casino's basement.</div>
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First up are the Depleted, the unfortunate patrons addicted to the drug Brilliance who have been nearly sucked dry of their life force to feed the beast's hunger.<br />
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In the past I have always used Reaper paints, but used Scale 75 paints for the first time when painting these guys. I'd heard good reviews about this relatively new line of paints and seen some impressive results, so I picked up a few of their paint sets. They have a super matte finish, which I find perfect for skin tones. The paint also has a very fine pigment which is great for thin glazes, although it takes quite a few coats to get an even base coat.<br />
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This is also the first time I've tried starting with a midtone basecoat and glazing in the shadows, rather than my typical method of dark base coat, wash, and several highlights. I think it turned out very well, especially with the dark red hue to make the skin look bruised and feverish. I especially like how the faces on the two shorter minis turned out.<br />
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Next up is an Illuminated. Those newly addicted to Brilliance undergo 'beneficial' mutations well-suited for combat. Their new-found power of short-lived, however. Over time their condition deteriorates until they are in the same state as the lowly Depleted, only to be wholly consumed by the Darkness.<br />
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This model is a kit bash: body from the Malifaux Female multi part kit and arms from an actual Illuminated. Jakob Lynch's box set comes with three Illuminated models. Two I have already painted, but the third wasn't to my liking, so I stole its arms and glued/green stuffed them to this chick.<br />
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I didn't use the Scale 75 paints for this model's flesh (as I was a bit frustrated at first trying to base coat the Depleted) and I reverted back to using Reaper medium and pale flesh tones. I'm not quite as happy with this model. After looking at the picture the highlighting, especially on the claws, could use some more work.<br />
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Finally there is the Hungering Darkness himself, an ancient Spirit of Malifaux that feeds off of the Brilliance-addicted patrons of Lynch's casino.<br />
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Figuring out a suitable color scheme for this guy had me stumped for quite a while. This sculpt isn't terribly liked in the Malifaux community. Affectionately nicknamed 'Huggy', it is a pretty goofy model to begin with and, depending on the paintjob, can get much more so. I wanted to stick with a simple paint scheme to avoid a mishmash of colors over the large surface area, so color of the main body parts is the turquoise scheme common throughout my Lynch crew. I wanted to keep the focus on the central portion of the model and away from the tiny slug tail and large protrusions on the side of the head, so for the rest of the body I applied a mix of black and iridescent medium. In the fluff Huggy is a spirit composed of the ethereal drug Brilliance, so I thought the glossy sparkle would be appropriate, and it came out better than I expected.<br />
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And here's the Jakob Lynch family photo.<br />
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And the paint streaked hand that signifies a good day of painting.<br />
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Next up in the paint queue are the Viktorias and their sisters in battle. You may remember seeing Matt's excellently painted versions in a previous post; these Viks are some older metal sculpts that I prefer the look of so they'll have a bit different aesthetic. I've had these ladies primed and based for a while and it's about time I give them the attention they deserve. I'll be trying out the Scale 75 metallic paints on their armor plates.</div>
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<b><u>Hobby Storage</u></b></div>
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In the past couple of weeks I've picked up a few new ways to store all of my hobby toys. The first is a pair of paint racks from Burn In Designs. They are laser cut vertical paint storage racks specifically made for dropped bottles. With my collection of Reaper and Scale 75 bottles they were perfect for me. Each row holds up to 11 bottles; with 8 rows that's a bunch of paint stored in each rack. The top of even has a tray to hold misc items, like Citadel/P3 pots or other tools.</div>
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The pieces fit together very nicely. They recommend wood glue to hold it together securely, but only the the top lips and bottom legs require it, the rest firmly slots together.</div>
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I was previously using a very large nail polish rack which only held a little more than a single Burn In Design rack. Upgrading to the vertical racks is much more space efficient and aesthetically pleasing.</div>
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My second storage acquisition is a nice little display case. While in the Lake of the Ozarks last weekend I happened across this gem at a shop's going out of business sale. With 12 compartments perfect for storing Malifaux-sized Crews I snapped it up. It even has a mount on the bottom that allows you to spin it around to easily access all sides. </div>
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The only downside was that the light wood color wasn't too my liking. After a quick tear down and sanding I applied a darker stain which is drying as I type this. In the next update I'll have pictures of it back together and filled with minis.<br />
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Thanks for reading. See you next week!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680508470173091688noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455770931793481951.post-43159934545846370432015-08-30T01:36:00.000-05:002015-09-14T00:24:00.355-05:00A GenCon Tale Part 4: A Game of Tones<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Is that the clarion call of brass trumpets? The rattling <i>rat-ta-tat-tat</i> of drums and the marching stride of legions, all advancing onto the painting battlefield, ready to bleed their hues for a chance at miniature glory?! </div>
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Yes it is! And as the dust settles on the GenCon painting competition Saturday morning, we begin to see how the battle shook out the night before. The judges have deliberated over nearly a hundred entries Friday night, and as the morning sun rises, the promise of their verdict looms in the air. But who will be crowned the King or Queen of the seven painting categories that make up GenCon's miniature hobby events? Only time will tell, so read on! </div>
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Saturday and day four of the Con! What a day, and as we pick up where we left off in <a href="http://midwestmonsterlab.blogspot.com/2015/08/a-gencon-tale-part-3-vendor-hall.html" target="_blank">Part 3 of our GenCon</a> series, the promise made for more miniature goodness will not go unfulfilled. </div>
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In Donovan's post he wrote last Wednesday, he mentioned that we failed to secure a spot in most of the events we wanted to attend. What he failed to mention was that we did make it into one event, and it was one I was looking forward to with great anticipation. Despite all odds we both secured a spot in the non-metallic metal course, hosted by none other than...</div>
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Miniature hobby's very own painting goddess, Marike Reimer! </div>
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For all of you who are not familiar with her work, take a moment to browse <a href="http://www.destroyerminis.com/" target="_blank">her site</a> or make a quick <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=marike+reimer&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS487US487&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=681&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMI85fih_TPxwIVyaCACh1LCgOZ" target="_blank">google search</a>. Yeah, she's really that good. Other than creating painted miniatures, she can even pull of <a href="http://www.sequentialtart.com/images/0906/gencon_2.jpg" target="_blank">pleather halter tops</a>... so we knew we were certainly in for one awesome painting class! </div>
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And in that we were not disappointed.</div>
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Donovan, myself, and about a dozen others clustered around a pair of tables to eagerly soak up the wisdom being offered from one of the industry's best. The whole scene <a href="http://images.alphacoders.com/180/180493.jpg" target="_blank">reminded me of this</a> (though thankfully no one was crucified the next day).</div>
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The class was to teach us the fundamentals of light theory and how it interacts with reflective metal surfaces. In short:</div>
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For those looking for a synopsis of the technique we learned, I hate to disappoint, but that's a story for another day. The experience of the class itself is tale enough, and all we have time for in this week's post. And what an experience it was!</div>
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Marike maps out her projects in a scrapbook journal, testing the color palettes she would like to use, all of this done before even one drop of paint ever touches the miniature. Flipping through her journal felt like flipping through a wizard's grimoire, filled with arcane knowledge and painting power!</div>
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She also passed around some of the iconic pieces that have become her trademarks. Seeing these exquisite miniatures up close is a real treat.</div>
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The fading of the sheer fabric to where it bunches at this miniature's ankles is incredible, combine that with subtle embroidery and this truly is an amazing piece.</div>
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Do you paint individual hairs complete with their own highlights on your mounts? Yeah... </div>
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There is so much on this miniature to enjoy: the freehand on her cloak, the masterful shading; it's proof positive why Marike is amongst the masters of the craft. The patience alone to put that many hours into a mini is formidable.</div>
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Of course, we were treated to personal instruction from Marike herself, while she worked on a primed white mini. She discussed at length how to build from dark hues to the highest highlight that made up the metal plate's shine painted pale sand (see the process pics near the top).</div>
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Along with her journal and actual minis, she also had photo copies of some of her pieces on hand and explained how light sources, both ambient and source, reflect on the metal and affect its coloration. The quote of the day was, "does gold reflect blue light? Of course it does! It reflects whatever light that shines on it. Whoever says otherwise is full of phooey!" (Phooey may or may not been the word of choice, one month on and my memory is a bit hazy about these details)</div>
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All in all, the NMM class with Marike was informative, inspiring, and a little disheartening. Seeing such amazing work up close puts it in perspective and it appears more attainable, but when you take another look, you find yourself saying things like, "my god, that blend is so smooth," or "how did she make that detail so small, so precise." </div>
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All kidding aside, it was an excellent class and $20 well spent. A very big thank you to Marike for teaching the class and sharing some of her great knowledge and talent with us!</div>
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With the NMM class under our belts it was time to stretch our legs, roam the halls, and check up on a couple of GenCon staples that grow over the weekend... and both of which are destined for destruction by Saturday night. Muhahahaha!<br />
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I'm speaking of Cardhala and the balloon monster of course. You might remember the challenge I posed in <a href="http://midwestmonsterlab.blogspot.com/2015/08/there-and-back-again-gencon-tale-part-1.html" target="_blank">part 1</a>, to guess what the balloon monster would ultimately become. When I first saw it, I went with elder horror (a safe guess for a jumble of ambiguous appendages, but a rather poor one as last year's monster was Cthulhu itself).</div>
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Hey Donny, pose in front of Cardhalla, <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--w6wVjk1lwg/VB9RLJVKaRI/AAAAAAAAAqE/NfYgMHFcDOs/s1600/20140816_213334%2B(1)%2Bcopy.jpg" target="_blank">it's tradition</a>! <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DhUvQAQNld8/VeKQhWvoZcI/AAAAAAAABVs/Zc5LRbjl95s/s1600/20150801_100129.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DhUvQAQNld8/VeKQhWvoZcI/AAAAAAAABVs/Zc5LRbjl95s/s320/20150801_100129.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The monster turned out to be a giant octopus! Sushi was served later that night when both the balloon monster and Cardhalla were summarily destroyed (proof positive that at the heart of every gamer there indeed lies a dark seed of bloodletting and destruction).</div>
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Oh hey, a band! Neato!</div>
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Oh hey, Boba Fett! Even better! </div>
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Even more costumed individuals... that must mean...</div>
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It's time for the GenCon cosplay parade!</div>
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We would be remiss not to mention the obligatory dalek..</div>
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Jedi school is out for the summer, so a whole flock of padiwans were in attendance, waving their sabers in an appallingly unsafe display of intergalactic theatrics...</div>
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And then there was this interesting post-apocalyptic wolf-thing, which would tap on its wrist and then a pleasing female voice would sally forth with a witticism or greeting from its voice box.</div>
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Even a mighty Grey Knight was in attendance with adeptus mechanicus and vindicare assassin backup!</div>
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Don't... look... him... in the eye...</div>
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For when you need your target dead-dead, a gun the size of your body should do the trick.</div>
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For the sure feeling that I will offend someone, I'm just not even going to go there... pass...</div>
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Escaping the tide of costumed congoers, Donovan returned to the miniature painting room to throw down his speed painting gauntlet in the 45 minute challenge.</div>
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Though playing nice now, those running the competition take it upon themselves to heckle and cajole participants with shouts of, "paint faster!" and, "I want to see lighting effects!!" They really are cruel overlords.</div>
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And from the fray, Donovan arose victorious, taking second place!</div>
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That's too jovial, Donny! Act serious!</div>
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Much better...</div>
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About this time the MHE results were posted, so with baited breath, Donovan and I headed over to take a look. Now, granted that I spent only a couple of weekends to paint my entry, I didn't have high hopes, so when I saw my name listed at seventh place I was pretty pleased!</div>
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Next up was Donovan's results...<br />
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Donovan picked up a tenth place finish! Not too shabby for grabbing a diorama off his shelf five minutes before we left...</div>
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We'll fast forward to Sunday as Donovan competes in the final of the Wyrd speed paint he qualified for with his second place finish the day prior.</div>
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Just look at the concentration! The skill!</div>
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And he was rewarded with a third place finish, owing to his tactical use of blue fire and tasteful application of painted daisies on the base. Nice work Donovan!</div>
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Gaining two $35 models, paints, and accessories for his troubles, Donovan summed it up succinctly when it was all over, "not bad walking away with over $100 worth of stuff for two generic tickets [$4]." True that, Donny, true that.</div>
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That wraps up Saturday at GenCon, where we benefited from the instruction of a living legend in the industry, saw a slew of amazing cosplayers, and took home some hobby hardware. We wrap things up next time with <a href="http://midwestmonsterlab.blogspot.com/2015/09/a-gencon-tale-part-5-return-of-geeks.html" target="_blank">Part 5: Return of the Geeks</a>!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08033683359542231327noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455770931793481951.post-69097965564436795642015-08-26T12:00:00.000-05:002015-08-26T12:00:00.931-05:00DLBlog 2: GenCon 2015 The Other StoryMy first trip to GenCon was last year with Matt. We finally made the decision to attend late into summer, and by that time any event that didn't accommodate hundreds of people (none of which I was interested in) was completely booked. So most of my time was spend in the vendor hall, which was a perfectly good experience for me. I had only recently gotten into the miniatures and board gaming hobby and everything I saw was new, interesting, and shiny; it was a total blast. On the drive home from Indianapolis we had already decided to attend the next year.<br />
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Flash forward to 2015. We procrastinated with our hotel reservations so we didn't get a room within walking distance of the main event, but we were ready at our computers when it came time to sign up for events. We each had about a half dozen events on our wishlists and clicked 'Submit' the second it let us. About 45 minutes later, after entering the line about 4000 spots back, I ended up getting just one of the events I was excited about attending.<br />
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Well, that was disappointing. Down 3 of the 4 painting tutorial classes I was most excited about (airbrush class with Angel Giraldez, freehand class by Marike Reimer, and a true metallic metal class) and the True Dungeon Matt and I wanted to try, I was in the same situation as last year through no fault of my own. No worries, I'd hang out around the vendor hall again where I had so much fun last time.<br />
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This year I also brought along one of my miniature dioramas. It wasn't specifically built for GenCon (but for an online contest earlier in the year) but it was decent enough that I wasn't ashamed to enter it into a big contest.<br />
It ended up placing in the Bronze category, which I was pretty pleased with considering my time invested.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DqCiFXBfunA/Vd0kXs65QJI/AAAAAAAAA64/PnegOppJQRk/s1600/FinalSubmission2-min.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="326" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DqCiFXBfunA/Vd0kXs65QJI/AAAAAAAAA64/PnegOppJQRk/s400/FinalSubmission2-min.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Professional' pic of my entry</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entry in the final Bronze category. Got me a pin!</td></tr>
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After entering in the painting contest, I had all the time in the world to explore the Con; Three entire days to wander the halls. With just the single painting event and not being one to nose my way into open gameplay scattered throughout the con, the vendor hall was my spot. But, different than last year, I wasn't a newbie to the scene and wasn't going into this wide eyed and inexperienced. I frequently watch preview videos and reviews of new games and keep up with gaming news. I knew what I was interested in and where to find it so I quickly picked up the games and miniatures I wanted and skipped by those that didn't interest me. A few games I was on the fence about and wanted to try them out, but hovering around demo tables for up to an hour while the current group wrapped up wasn't my idea of a fun time. So back to wandering it was.<br />
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After about a day and a half I had seen all I initially wanted to see. Luckily, after meeting up with Matt between his MtG events, we spent time in Artist's Alley where I had never paid much interest before. There is some really amazing artwork to be had and I picked up a few pieces by NEN which are by far my favorite buys from the con.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NEN's booth</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amazing Harley Quinn and Daenerys Targaryen watercolors by NEN</td></tr>
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The rest of my time was spent between looking for gifts for others, lounging in the auction hall (where I bid on some Harry Potter memorabilia that quickly shot out of my price range) and some last minute entries into speed painting competitions.<br />
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This was my first time entering any kind of speed painting event. if you're not familiar with the concept, you typically have 45 minutes to paint a surprise mini to the best of your abilities with just a crappy brush and a limited range of paint colors. This is where I had the most fun of the entire con, in part due to being not placing too shabbily in most of them.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dark Sword, Wyrd part 1, and Wyrd finalist speed painting minis</td></tr>
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The first mini is from a Dark Sword competition. I didn't place in that one but did come away with a pretty cool mini. Second is a Wyrd Rail Golem. A $35 mini, not bad for the $2 entry fee. This is a huge model, so it was a challenge to base coat the whole thing evenly, let alone focus on details. Went for a bronze color with oxidation effects, red glow from the boiler vents (disappointed in how those turned out) and a blue base, as I paint the rim on all my Malifaux minis according to their faction (much to the chagrin of Matt). Painting the base last also leads to the judges getting their grubby mitts also over it, hence the terrible splotchy look. I placed 2nd with this mini which qualified me for the Wyrd championships.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dark Sword judging</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wyrd round 1 judging</td></tr>
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The third mini is an alternate sculpt of Kaeris, also from the Malifaux line. This was a limited edition mini, another $35 freebie, this time for no entry fee! Same brass w/ oxidation for the wings, and a purple cloak and brown pants. To make it hopefully stand out from the rest of the pack I did a blue fire effect rather than red/orange, pink streaks in the hair, and some color splotches on the base that look like grass and flowers if you squint hard enough. Got third place and scored a Games & Gears brush set and some Wyrd plastic lampposts. Quite a haul for the measly entry fees and quite a boost to my painting self esteem as well. I considered stripping the models down and painting them a bit better, I decided to keep them as is to commemorate the experience.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wyrd finalist lineup</td></tr>
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At the end of the con I came home with an armful of Malifaux stuff (my preferred skirmish game and miniatures-for-painting line), some art pieces, the speed painting haul, and Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn (excellent card game I was able to demo).<br />
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Overall I had a great time at the Con, but I'm not sure if I'd like to attend again. Not getting into my preferred events left a bad taste in my mouth right off the bat. When 60,000+ attend this thing its understandable, but its grown a bit too large for what I'm most interested in doing. By keeping up with board game releases throughout the year the vendor hall isn't as exciting as it used to be. With the speed painting events being by far my favorite thing I've done at the con, and my hobby interests shifting more from playing to painting, I plan on looking into different conventions that focus more on the hobby aspect. Adepticon or ReaperCon may be on my radar for next year.<br />
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Bonus! Things I forgot to talk about during my first memory dump:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-69vua5IPR60/Vd0kTW-UcTI/AAAAAAAAA5s/Q_3cSMYE5MQ/s1600/20150731_115700.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-69vua5IPR60/Vd0kTW-UcTI/AAAAAAAAA5s/Q_3cSMYE5MQ/s400/20150731_115700.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fantasy Flight In-Flight Report. Sweet to be the first in the know about their new releases!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dice Tower Live Podcast</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E88DCtPcsKQ/Vd0kVkVkZaI/AAAAAAAAA6Y/LldQHrCcCxs/s1600/20150801_150818.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E88DCtPcsKQ/Vd0kVkVkZaI/AAAAAAAAA6Y/LldQHrCcCxs/s400/20150801_150818.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My favorite of the cosplay parade. Guy dressed up as the buff 'Shame!' nun from Game of Thrones. Ringing his bell and shouting "Shame!' the entire time. Brilliant!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some shiny uncut Magic cards. Always cool to see.</td></tr>
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Stay tuned for next time (shooting for every Wed) where I'll chat about what's on my painting bench, some laser cut wood hobby organizers I've begun using, and a cool pickup I scored while at the Lake of the Ozarks!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680508470173091688noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455770931793481951.post-12194671081744733302015-08-23T15:00:00.000-05:002015-08-25T21:40:52.859-05:00DLBlog 1: An Intro with Too Much MtGOkay! Let's try writing a blog post. Bear with me if it doesn't flow too well; this is the first time I've tried writing anything coherent outside of work emails since college.<br />
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I'll start off with my history with the gaming hobby. I started out as a casual Magic: the Gathering player sometime in 1995, when Fifth Edition was the latest and greatest. While wandering around during recess I found a stray Kjeldoran Dead half-buried in the dirt near some old metal picnic tables. I suppose some kids from an earlier recess were playing, declined to regenerate the poor skeleton, and it found its way into the dust, destined to hook another poor kid on the cardboard crack.<br />
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The next time I was at Toys"R"Us I picked up a Portal starter set and played some games here and there with a few friends. That hobby waxed and waned over time until I had graduated college 15 years later and found myself in Kansas to start my career. I didn't know anyone in the area and after a few weeks I saw a hobby shop just down the road had this thing called Friday Night Magic. I still had my random assortment of cards from over the years so I threw some together and made he journey up to the shop. I quickly found out that none of my stuff was legal for the standard format, so I just creepily hovered around and watched other people play for a bit before heading out.<br />
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The next week was a prerelease event for Rise of the Eldrazi, I joined in, and proceeded to get sucked into the Standard format. Every week or so I would find myself ordering the cards for an entirely new jank deck (Polymorph, Death's Shadow, Kiln Fiend, junk like that). I eventually progressed to modified net decks and was a fairly competent player (Level 0 judge) and started placing pretty high up in the rankings. I caught Matt's eye after thoroughly trouncing him with my Unburial Rites deck and we quickly became friends after that.<br />
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Standard became too much of an expense compared to the time I played each week, so I drifted into the realm of EDH and that's where I remain to this day. I have a handful of EDH decks and I'm gradually trading off the miscellaneous card for pimped out cards for those decks.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HmhgYX5HPWo/VdFBk6K4EPI/AAAAAAAAA38/0JrOnk-4Qxo/s1600/20150816_202124%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HmhgYX5HPWo/VdFBk6K4EPI/AAAAAAAAA38/0JrOnk-4Qxo/s320/20150816_202124%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="249" /></a></div>
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That was a longer MTG story than I had planned for, so I'll just skim over the intro to the more interesting parts of the hobby. The local game store also had a board game night which Matt talked me into going to. Combine that with my Lovecraft kick at the time and I immediately picked up Arkham Horror and its billion expansions. And logically that lead to this:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y5SQjYs6ORo/VdFBmmKHqEI/AAAAAAAAA4Y/VSvKfO6oxKY/s1600/20150816_202336%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y5SQjYs6ORo/VdFBmmKHqEI/AAAAAAAAA4Y/VSvKfO6oxKY/s400/20150816_202336%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="182" /></a></div>
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I'll go ahead and blame my intro into the miniatures hobby on Matt, too. After board games led to X-Wing miniatures my collecting habits led to owning multiples of the Millennium Falcon and Slave 1. I couldn't have identical looking unique ships, so I commissioned Matt to give them a custom paint job for me.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b7bUVpKyQ1o/VdFBknwFEsI/AAAAAAAAA3k/BtrzCpEJlh8/s1600/20150813_195830.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b7bUVpKyQ1o/VdFBknwFEsI/AAAAAAAAA3k/BtrzCpEJlh8/s320/20150813_195830.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S99Obo87Vp0/VdFBkmNzwnI/AAAAAAAAA3w/s4frOe9exVY/s1600/20150813_195420.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S99Obo87Vp0/VdFBkmNzwnI/AAAAAAAAA3w/s4frOe9exVY/s320/20150813_195420.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
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After he saw that I was interested in some Malifaux minis the shop had recently gotten in he convinced me to take up a paintbrush and try my hand at one of the finer sides of the hobby. Here's the result of day 1 of "Lessons with Matt":<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-601gkB3aedU/VdFBm_Kr-cI/AAAAAAAAA4U/6DG2Ul0-KF8/s1600/20150816_210042.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-601gkB3aedU/VdFBm_Kr-cI/AAAAAAAAA4U/6DG2Ul0-KF8/s320/20150816_210042.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
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Which again, of course, led to this:<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D9E6vWG45Sw/VdFBlh9LQRI/AAAAAAAAA30/QSJjV60-B20/s1600/20150816_202304%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="436" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D9E6vWG45Sw/VdFBlh9LQRI/AAAAAAAAA30/QSJjV60-B20/s640/20150816_202304%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0fkcQlj23Ok/VdFBmLcSILI/AAAAAAAAA4I/aOJO2oyINTg/s1600/20150816_202318%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0fkcQlj23Ok/VdFBmLcSILI/AAAAAAAAA4I/aOJO2oyINTg/s400/20150816_202318%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gOjNnK0CZHA/VdFBmZJVoRI/AAAAAAAAA4M/Ubnrufmn_fQ/s1600/20150816_202326%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gOjNnK0CZHA/VdFBmZJVoRI/AAAAAAAAA4M/Ubnrufmn_fQ/s400/20150816_202326%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Anyway, mini painting is now the primary focus of my hobby time and I expect it to be the main focus of my blog content; detailing new techniques I'm trying out, new minis I've bought and assembled, stuff like that. There might also be some board game happenings and occasional MtG stuff as well.<br />
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I'll cut this off here and jump into my experiences at GenCon next time to complements Matt's mini-series. Thanks for reading!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04680508470173091688noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455770931793481951.post-35826466577285124002015-08-16T20:20:00.001-05:002015-08-30T01:40:35.948-05:00A GenCon Tale Part 3: The Vendor Hall Strikes Back<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Friday Friday Friday! Today I woke early, ate a hearty breakfast, slung my pack over my shoulders, and resolved that this would be the day I tackled the vendor hall in earnest. There would be dangers (Cthulhu chief amongst them), there would be adventure, and at the end of it all I would attempt to escape the 240,000 square foot dungeon with as much booty and plunder as I could manage to carry and with my life intact, sanity as well, if I were truly lucky.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tFz6i9U2vTA/VdDOoM8DZsI/AAAAAAAABK0/6kUqceCJGMo/s1600/20150731_104359.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tFz6i9U2vTA/VdDOoM8DZsI/AAAAAAAABK0/6kUqceCJGMo/s320/20150731_104359.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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60,000+ attendees flocked to this year's convention, and though there is plenty to see and do inside the rest of the convention center and in the eight surrounding satellite hotels which host everything from indie films to symposiums, and open gaming; a huge number of the con's total attendance pack the vendor hall for all four days it is open.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QPtR7RPEluk/VdDOOz4inmI/AAAAAAAABKU/qTjIVmYtsTQ/s1600/20150730_121541.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QPtR7RPEluk/VdDOOz4inmI/AAAAAAAABKU/qTjIVmYtsTQ/s320/20150730_121541.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Merely navigating the hall is not enough to pass the trials that await, however. No no, my friend. To achieve greatness and secure some of the most sought after first releases and exclusives, one must approach the austere guardians who safehold the integrity of the lines they guard.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-euB1PLdz1ow/VdDOJ8zVF5I/AAAAAAAABKI/Ig3M8cTG1yg/s1600/20150730_122300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-euB1PLdz1ow/VdDOJ8zVF5I/AAAAAAAABKI/Ig3M8cTG1yg/s320/20150730_122300.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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These relentless custodians are where the trial of waiting truly begins. And after witnessing the legendary length of the lines, many retreat in horror right then and there, not possessing the fortitude of patience it takes to wait for up to an hour. Just thinking of it makes my stomach turn... </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kuGXPfsgJig/VdDOJjwHBzI/AAAAAAAABKE/WYXjAK-IKDY/s1600/20150730_122317.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kuGXPfsgJig/VdDOJjwHBzI/AAAAAAAABKE/WYXjAK-IKDY/s320/20150730_122317.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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Fantasy Flight had not one warden guarding their hallowed waiting line...</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OuvxK_febQk/VdDOS91dfKI/AAAAAAAABKk/QSUVEt9fC7M/s1600/20150730_122409.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OuvxK_febQk/VdDOS91dfKI/AAAAAAAABKk/QSUVEt9fC7M/s320/20150730_122409.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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But two! ...all the better to devour the souls of the unworthy faster! Muhahahaha!</div>
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Paizo's line was so epic that it started outside even the vendor hall (as seen here in the main entry to the convention center). It appears that many a wary adventurer chose to conserve their energy, deciding to sit down while attempting to pas their patience checks. Wise choice indeed.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-s1G1-kYDegI/VdDOVKwjzGI/AAAAAAAABKs/YEnBBGBuxpI/s1600/20150731_102409.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-s1G1-kYDegI/VdDOVKwjzGI/AAAAAAAABKs/YEnBBGBuxpI/s320/20150731_102409.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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The line wardens were not restricted only to the vendor hall. No, sir. The convention itself had its own host of gatekeepers patrolling the registration lines, keeping a watchful gaze and ensuring swift flow of movement. This one yelled, "follow me quickly... quickly! STOP!"</div>
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All silliness aside, this really did make getting badges, tickets, and coupon books a much more stress-free and smooth experience. So, good job GenCon!!</div>
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Even so, this is a post about the vendor hall and its 1,001 delights, not organizational excellent. Back to the vendor hall and the miniature goodness that awaits!</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xh-mfSYthIU/VdDXmeWARNI/AAAAAAAABLY/bZbVAOssFy8/s1600/20150730_133646.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xh-mfSYthIU/VdDXmeWARNI/AAAAAAAABLY/bZbVAOssFy8/s320/20150730_133646.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Walking the aisles booth upon booth of beautifully painted miniatures pull your attention this way and that. It really is a challenge not to be overwhelmed by the vast array of awesomeness on display! </div>
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Check out these gorgeous <a href="http://dark-age.com/" target="_blank">Dark Age</a> minis..</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HapDjzpMAOY/VdDXkmwDbWI/AAAAAAAABLM/t7JlwVVsOtk/s1600/20150730_133758.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HapDjzpMAOY/VdDXkmwDbWI/AAAAAAAABLM/t7JlwVVsOtk/s320/20150730_133758.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JkIWE6vZvAw/VdDYTzc5gSI/AAAAAAAABMk/2Ds3zmioX9o/s1600/20150801_104402.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JkIWE6vZvAw/VdDYTzc5gSI/AAAAAAAABMk/2Ds3zmioX9o/s320/20150801_104402.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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Never a disappointment are the minis at the <a href="http://www.darkswordminiatures.com/" target="_blank">Dark Sword</a> booth. Look at all that breathtaking blending and fine detail work!</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K3QJpor1OEw/VdDYBRnftCI/AAAAAAAABL8/c01DzQVNmnE/s1600/20150731_131714.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K3QJpor1OEw/VdDYBRnftCI/AAAAAAAABL8/c01DzQVNmnE/s320/20150731_131714.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8eBQK0F_cco/VdDYw2MIDLI/AAAAAAAABNE/cADz9LZcu2c/s1600/20150801_134934.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8eBQK0F_cco/VdDYw2MIDLI/AAAAAAAABNE/cADz9LZcu2c/s320/20150801_134934.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XsS7cvPKDgw/VdDYyWK5yAI/AAAAAAAABNU/BPvVI766kQ0/s1600/20150801_135137.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XsS7cvPKDgw/VdDYyWK5yAI/AAAAAAAABNU/BPvVI766kQ0/s320/20150801_135137.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://privateerpress.com/" target="_blank">Privateer Press</a> has long since taken their own painting competition in-house and has a ton of expertly painted minis on display from independent hobbyists.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2bBSRaKAzFE/VdDYDcPO89I/AAAAAAAABME/c1NUy_gEMk8/s1600/20150731_132558.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2bBSRaKAzFE/VdDYDcPO89I/AAAAAAAABME/c1NUy_gEMk8/s320/20150731_132558.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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If you love chipped paint and battle scarring across metal plating, Warmachine is the game for you!</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PgQ2lCwkbWY/VdDYEzzf7bI/AAAAAAAABMM/5bSqzexsKqU/s1600/20150731_132615.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PgQ2lCwkbWY/VdDYEzzf7bI/AAAAAAAABMM/5bSqzexsKqU/s320/20150731_132615.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.games-workshop.com/Home;jsessionid=F25E5A3C13FB40D680284A60F27B287E?_requestid=8422588" target="_blank">Games Workshop</a> even showed up with their new fantasy miniature line on display. They are continuing to do some truly fantastic work with their new multi-part plastics.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ijG2i5hcZPA/VdDYS3ep_dI/AAAAAAAABMU/AgSsayNiV5w/s1600/20150731_133235.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ijG2i5hcZPA/VdDYS3ep_dI/AAAAAAAABMU/AgSsayNiV5w/s320/20150731_133235.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Unfortunately, I can't credit this pic as I'm unsure which line these miniatures belong to, but sweet boats nonetheless!<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PoDkVDf3SAE/VdDYhtYHJ5I/AAAAAAAABMs/344HRG8Dpfs/s1600/20150801_104633.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PoDkVDf3SAE/VdDYhtYHJ5I/AAAAAAAABMs/344HRG8Dpfs/s320/20150801_104633.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I spent a good deal of time at the <a href="http://www.bushido-thegame.com/" target="_blank">Bushido </a>booth, but sadly did not take many pictures (none actually, as all the miniature pics come courtesy of Donovan). Their line hosts a bevy of fantastic traditional Japanese mythological creatures and martial arts masters!</div>
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Next stop was artist's alley, where you can find everyone from the legends behind many of the iconic pieces of fantasy illustration you love like: <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=steve+prescott&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS487US487&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=681&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAmoVChMI47mI176uxwIVQcyACh3YSgLz#tbm=isch&q=steve+argyle+playmat&imgrc=_" target="_blank">Steve Argyle</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=steve+prescott&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS487US487&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=681&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAmoVChMI47mI176uxwIVQcyACh3YSgLz#tbm=isch&q=steve+prescott+pathfinder" target="_blank">Steve Prescott</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=steve+prescott&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS487US487&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=681&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAmoVChMI47mI176uxwIVQcyACh3YSgLz#tbm=isch&q=tony+diterlizzi" target="_blank">Tony DiTerlizzi</a>, and <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=peter+mohrbacher&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS487US487&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=681&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMIkejvub2uxwIVRYYNCh0-dQzN" target="_blank">Peter Mohrbacher</a>, and <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=steve+prescott&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS487US487&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=681&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAmoVChMI47mI176uxwIVQcyACh3YSgLz#tbm=isch&q=jason+engle&imgrc=_" target="_blank">Jason Engle</a> and also exciting up and coming talent!</div>
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I did a good deal of sketch illustration when I was in high school and even though I ultimately moved towards sculpture and miniature painting, I have maintained a love for 2-D art, a passion that ensures my walls are always covered in fantastical beasts, beautiful babes, and heroes of renown (and a landscape or two).</div>
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A booth that really caught both Donovan and my eye was <a href="http://iscariotic.deviantart.com/" target="_blank">Nen's</a>. Sticking to a traditional watercolor technique, her pieces have the ephemeral quality that other methods struggle to imitatate. She was also hilarious and a true pleasure to talk to and had some very interesting insights into fantasy depictions of women.</div>
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Donovan picked up a Harley Quinn and Daenerys by Nen. He got to the Daenerys print before I did, and yes, because I am special and unique I couldn't get the same piece... there can only be one highlander and there can only be one dragon mother amongst friends!</div>
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Sneaking into the frame, but near and dear to my art buying experience was <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=klsteeleart&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS487US487&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAkQ_AUoA2oVChMIhe_Cu8SuxwIVQtCACh1cJQMD&biw=1366&bih=681#imgrc=_" target="_blank">Kathryn Lee Steele's</a> work. Her female characters are absolutely gorgeous and I found myself having to actively restrain myself from taking out a second mortgage to purchase each piece of art from her booth. There was a particularly lovely Persephone print done on a canvas mounting which you can see on the far left of the frame below and then again on the right side of the art book at the bottom of the frame. Exceptional work, and I will definitely be keeping her bookmarked for future art purchases!</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wOcAjv0fWfE/VdD6id8X_CI/AAAAAAAABNw/1LvE8x0xfkk/s1600/20150730_153051.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wOcAjv0fWfE/VdD6id8X_CI/AAAAAAAABNw/1LvE8x0xfkk/s320/20150730_153051.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Another great conversation was one had with <a href="http://tommyarnoldart.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Tommy Arnold</a>, who discussed with me at length about perspective theory and color resolution at his booth. The talk that I had with him and all the other artists were the highlights of my weekend. It's one thing to see the talent and craft of a great piece of artwork, but to then have the opportunity to discuss the composition with the artist, their methods and inspiration, for me is a dream come true. When I'm having those conversations, in my mind this is <a href="http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/images/paintings/pc/large/va_pc_2006be8817_large.jpg" target="_blank">where I am</a>. </div>
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Tommy had only a limited amount of his work with him, and I was psyched to see that he's done book covers and work for card games, so be sure to check out the rest at <a href="http://tommyarnoldart.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">this link</a>!!</div>
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Here is the haul of artwork that I took in at the end of one day (more was purchased later...), I want to highlight two more artists that I failed to get up close pics of their work.</div>
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Jessi J is the first, and the piece she created was a surreal dragon seen bottom left below, along with two elegant bookmarks that I and my girlfriend will be using in our future reads! Be sure to check out more of her work <a href="http://www.jessij.com/" target="_blank">at her site</a>, I'm definitely going to be picking up the "Herald of the Queen" piece sometime in the future; I love her take on merfolk as part fish, part jellyfish!</div>
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Last is <a href="http://acornsam.deviantart.com/" target="_blank">Sam Greenwell</a>, who you might know in connection with the new <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cze/ghostbusters-the-board-game" target="_blank">Ghostbusters board game</a> (he did the digital sculpts of the minis) and the 20+ years he's spent in the comic book industry. Sam does Z-brush digital sculpts and then ports them into Photoshop, adding color and texture to create his illustrations. You can see his print on the far right hiding behind Kathryn's gray-tone female elf. I hadn't seen 2-D work done this way and was pretty blown away. Thanks, Sam for opening my eyes to a new way to do illustrations! Sam also has a <a href="https://www.patreon.com/samgreenwell?ty=h" target="_blank">funding drive</a> going, so if you like his work, donate!</div>
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There's tons of demo games to be had in the vendor hall from established companies like Fantasy Flight and Plaid Hat Games, debuting their much anticipated new releases, but what I find most exciting are the diamonds in the rough, the new kids on block, the start-ups who are just getting off the ground with a brand new product for the first time.</div>
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I was lucky enough to run into just one such company called Punch-It Entertainment, who is launching a brand new expandable card game called <a href="http://www.sularia.com/#ks-the-battle-begins" target="_blank">Battle for Sularia</a>. Being a competitive Magic: the Gathering player, a new card game has to wow me to get me to invest my hobby dollars in it and find a place on my shelf. It also should inhabit a different space than Magic, which already occupies the collectible card game hole in my life. </div>
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Co-founder Jesse B. grabbed my attention when he was making his pitch, explaining that, "what we wanted to do was create a game that had the feel of a classic real time strategy computer game. You construct a base, build an army, and attack your opponent." I spent hours playing Warcraft 3 and Starcraft as a kid, and the chance to incorporate that experience into a cared game format had me wanting to see more.</div>
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Intrigued I eagerly sat down and played a demo game, commanding the Jotune faction, which employs an aggressive quality threat strategy against the resource-efficient Synthien, who create stealthy threats and throw huge amounts of damage at your face!</div>
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Just check out the stunning artwork they already have for their first wave of cards!</div>
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The game plays super smooth, with no chunky rules to slow you down as you pass through phases, and no oppressive mechanics that "lock" one player out of the game. Due to the nature of site combat (attacking an enemy's base) which does blast damage to the controlling player when a building is destroyedr, the board stalls very rarely and the pace of action stays hot.</div>
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I would say the average game lasts 10-20 minutes and the amount of strategy that a great "Battle Commander" can employ makes each game an action packed puzzle. I looked dead to rights in one of my games, but the right combination of timely card draws and deployment of evasive effects allowed me to sneak through enemy lines and take down my opponent's base just in time to secure victory. It's nice that games can be swingy like this, and keep both players on the edge of their seats.</div>
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Jesse and the rest of the crew were on hand to teach demo games, here he is pitting the Jotune against their arch-rivals the Synthien. </div>
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Below are the godfathers of the game Jesse B. (left) and John K. (right).</div>
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Jesse and John are doing great with their first game and are two really great guys (we met up later and got a beer at Scotty's later in the weekend, which is one of the coolest parts of GenCon, not just playing the games, but hanging with their creators as well). </div>
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I'm excited to get my copy of the game, as I had the good fortune to be one of the initial Kickstarter backers before it successfully funded. The Sularia guys are looking forward to a release around December and are getting geared up to hit the ground running by then, so be sure to follow their press releases on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/battleforsularia" target="_blank">Facebook</a> to learn about how you can order your copy of the game (they will be doing pre-sales from <a href="http://www.sularia.com/#ks-the-battle-begins" target="_blank">their site</a>) and I will definitely be posting updates here on the lab blog as well!</div>
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Whew, what a day Friday was! And that wasn't even mentioning the giant pigs I encountered...</div>
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The Magic: the Gathering Legacy tournament I placed top four in...</div>
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The Plastic Fork of DOOM that attempted to slay me at 3am...</div>
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Or the infamous hallway of muralized butts...</div>
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But we made it and survived another amazing day at GenCon, and still have an epic Saturday to share with you where: the painting competition results are announced, Donovan dukes it out in the Wyrd speed painting competition, we gain masterclass instruction from none other than painting goddess Marieke Reimer, the GenCon halls are overrun with hundreds of cosplayers, and we revisit what has become a GenCon tradition! Come back next time for <a href="http://midwestmonsterlab.blogspot.com/2015/08/a-gencon-tale-part-4-game-of-tones.html" target="_blank">Part 4: A Game of Tones</a>!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08033683359542231327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455770931793481951.post-16773692444431046342015-08-09T16:47:00.000-05:002015-08-16T20:21:29.985-05:00A GenCon Tale Part 2: The Wrath of the Con<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Ahhh.. day two! Picking up where we left off on <a href="http://midwestmonsterlab.blogspot.com/2015/08/there-and-back-again-gencon-tale-part-1.html" target="_blank">Wednesday</a>, Thursday marks when GenCon comes alive and all the events are in full swing! Today I would be entering my single miniature into the painting competition, exploring the vendor hall, and playing in my first Magic tournament. It would be a day of making one's way through the massing crowds of gamers in search of demo games and promos. But before we got there we had to go through this...</div>
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I was once told that, "beggars can't be choosers," and after arriving in downtown Indy this sentiment had never proved the wiser. In past years, we drove in Thursday evening and never dealt with Thursday morning parking, so you can imagine our surprise when we discovered that by 10:30am each and every parking garage was at capacity and sold out. Undeterred, we turned our attention towards the industrial outskirts, where many a vacant lot is used for just such a purpose. In no time we spotted three very enthusiastic flag wavers and were hooked by the promise of $15 a day parking (compared to the $24+ it would have cost in a garage). It seemed like a pretty grass-roots operation, but the people appeared honest, and the price was right. We were sold.</div>
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No sooner had we paid and received our four-day pass and were driving towards the next eager flag waver that three-and-a-half tons of vehicular doom came barreling our way. The gravel driveways lining the lot were quite narrow and studded with lonely somewhat disheveled looking homes. It was out from behind one of the houses that a city garbage truck came careening, spitting gravel from beneath its churning pneumatic tires. </div>
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Donovan had taken the wheel for the drive in as I wished to hold my mini to prevent any further paint rub while in transport, so I had a front-row seat for "dieinna alley," (I recommend saying it like <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=diagon+alley&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS487US487&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=681&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CDcQsARqFQoTCOCHo5nbmccCFcHtgAodmrkI6A#imgrc=_" target="_blank">Diagon Alley</a> from Harry Potter for added fun flavor) and was the first to utter a cry of warning, which came out as a hybrid mixture of words and gutteral noises, which sounded something like, "stopohhhgawdshitgod!" There was a moment when both Donovan and the city worker seemed unsure as how to proceed. I imagine by the quick succession of braking and accelerations that Donovan made, he was thinking, "holy s*** I gotta stop, no, I gotta get us outta here!" And by the way the trash truck didn't make any move to slow or alter its course, I imagine its driver as thinking, "the world is filled with trash... so much trash... so much and so little time.. muhahahaha!!"</div>
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Ultimately, Donovan slammed on the brakes and the truck's wheels locked, veering it in a rock chewing slide to the right. The adrenaline jitters were still working their way through our fingers and toes after we brought our car to a stop at its final resting place. "Almost dying on day one of the con... Off to a good start," I remember saying. "Yeah, that guy came out of nowhere," Donovan laughed. And I did too.</div>
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The miniature in my hand reminded me there was still a painting competition to enter, so we laughed it off, and headed towards our first true day of GenCon.</div>
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At 11:00am miniatures events were already in full-swing, with take-and-paint's going all day long and speed paint competitions firing every hour or so. </div>
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The main painting competition is hosted in six large display cases, where: single mini, large mini, diorama, squad, vehicle, original sculpt, and young bloods all vie for top honors. By Thursday morning there were only a few entries in the case, but by Friday afternoon the competition was already getting stiff.</div>
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About 40 entries were submitted in time for voting by Friday night in the single mini category I entered. This is how the case looked on Friday afternoon...</div>
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My high elf (green sash and purple cape) was amongst great company, and though I didn't expect to win top honors while working on him in the previous weeks, now I began to dream!</div>
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There are many fewer minis entered each year into the large model and diorama categories, but already some impressive busts and intricate scenes were being added to the competition.</div>
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In the vehicle category there we substantially fewer "classic" tank entries and more unique pieces from techno-mech lines like <a href="http://infinitythegame.com/" target="_blank">Infinity</a>.</div>
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I thought these space marines looked great, the green blending was especially well done.</div>
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There would be only three entries made to the original sculpt category, which is always an interesting proposition. Either all the <a href="https://www.reapermini.com/" target="_blank">Reaper </a>sculptors turn out and absolutely kill the category, or the competition is as light as it was this year. That's the interesting thing about these competitions, that the level of competition seems to have a regular and discernible rotations from year to year (except single mini, which is always fiercely contested).</div>
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Who knows, maybe I'll do a sculpt for next time...</div>
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By Friday Donovan was ready to submit his diorama. There's a bit to do with registration paperwork, and the cost of entry is one general ticket ($2). They handle the whole process with the utmost professionalism, and it's greatly appreciated by all who enter.</div>
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Donovan's entry can be seen in the back middle below. It's an original composition, and I love how he positioned the zombies to be crawling out of some hellishly lit plague pit!</div>
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At this point, it was anyone's contest and both Donovan and I could feel an air of excitement. Besides competing for a prize, it was exciting simply to look at all the awesome pieces being submitted. The talent in the GenCon crowd is definitely up there!<br />
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With our entries submitted, it was time to hit the food trucks and grab some grub!</div>
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I stopped at the Soul Shine Market where they had a cleverly named Game of Thrones menu. The food was so good I stopped by twice, first getting the "Trial by Combat," which was Korean BBQ chicken with Kim Chi (cabbage slathered in spices and Siracha sauce) and then again for the aptly named "King Slayer," a decadently crispy pork belly sandwich with yummy hoisin sauce.</div>
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Trial complete!</div>
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While I was feeding the dragon, Donovan decided to begin perusing the vendor hall. It would be no large task to find him, right?<br />
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Wrong!</div>
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And so began our game of text tag, that goes something like this:</div>
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11:21am - Me: "Where ya at?"</div>
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11:22am - Donovan: "Plaid hat area" </div>
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11:33am - Me: "Where is that? I'm at Wyrd." </div>
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12:42pm - Me: "Dood wer r u?"</div>
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Eventually I stumbled into the Plaid Hat Games demo zone and found this...</div>
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Donny was trying out the new card game, Ashes, which, as far as I can tell, is kind of like Magic in that it is a game of dueling wizards and uses mana, but beyond that the difference diverge significantly.</div>
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The game system has built-in multiplayer opportunities and at the beginning of each turn you and your opponent get to roll a literal fistful of dice. Who doesn't love that?! If you ask me, there's nothing better than tumbling six sided cubes of chaos onto the gaming area, one which is already filled with meticulously positioned cards, tokens, and any manner of counters, life points, and your hopes and dreams of having a civilized and coherent gaming experience. Is your opponent winning the game or otherwise being an ill-tempered brigand? Let's just see how much mana I generate this turn good sir... <i>ca-chunk ca-chunk ca-chunk, SLAM! </i>Oh no! I appears my mana generation was a bit too enthusiastic this round...</div>
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Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to play the game and all my comments are particularly ill-informed hearsay at best, so it's best not to consider my words as an actual review. Donovan, however, really liked the game, and ended up purchasing a copy before our adventures in the vendor hall continued...</div>
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But that's another story for <a href="http://midwestmonsterlab.blogspot.com/2015/08/a-gencon-tale-part-3-vendor-hall.html" target="_blank">Part 3: The Vendor Hall Strikes Back</a>! which will be featured in the days to come.</div>
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This is also an excellent time to introduce <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--w6wVjk1lwg/VB9RLJVKaRI/AAAAAAAAAqE/NfYgMHFcDOs/s1600/20140816_213334%2B(1)%2Bcopy.jpg" target="_blank">Donovan</a> as a permanent fixture to the Lab Blog. Donny has been been mentioned here and made guest appearances in many a post for some time now, and is a great friend and talented hobbyist, so I'm really excited to have him join the team (now not just a one-man wolf pack) and share his work first-hand. I think you all are going to enjoy seeing the Malifaux projects he's been working on lately as much as I have.</div>
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Congrats, Donovan and welcome! Now get to writing more blog posts! *Pulls out evil editor's whip* <i>whoosh CRACK! </i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08033683359542231327noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455770931793481951.post-46116136492018988562015-08-05T20:31:00.000-05:002015-08-10T07:07:30.555-05:00There and Back Again: a GenCon Tale - Part 1This year marked my third trip to Indy for GenCon, and I have to admit, I was out of my mind with excitement. For those who have never gone to a major game/comic/miniature/hobby convention (let alone GenCon, seriously where have you been!), I could best summarize my advice to you like this: GO. Go once, with no agenda, make a huge mess of it, and then plan to go back. As funny as it sounds, each year you attend a con as big as this one, the better the next year is likely to be. There really is that much to see, do, and experience.<br />
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So after stripping myself of my GenCon virginity two years previously like a hometown kid gone off to a division 1 NCAA party school, and then resolving to make it right by seeing more the con had to offer that wasn't limited to vendor hall spending binges and over-priced beer at questionable joints like the <a href="https://www.google.com/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=681&q=tilted+kilt&oq=tilted+kilt&gs_l=img.3..0l10.83.2182.0.2348.11.11.0.0.0.0.164.1343.0j10.10.0..3..0...1.1.64.img..1.10.1342.zZjaaF8U_m0" target="_blank">Tilted Kilt</a> (which are invariably tinged with sadness), year two still fell somewhat short (there was a minor fiasco with a gamer drink mixology class run by a man in a corset that spectacularly failed to launch when he and his cronies secured $20 worth of booze from $400 worth of funding and declared, "yes, you really can make a ton of drinks out of one alcohol and one mixer!" No Mr. Corset Man, you really can't, but A- for the effort I guess.).</div>
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Yes, like a more world wise junior entering their third year of college (I understand I may be stretching this whole metaphor to its limit, but you make due with the tools God gives you), I was ready to do it right! With three whole weekends to paint my single miniature entry, and having registered in three card tournaments, things were going to be great. No, more than great. AWESOME.</div>
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And they were.</div>
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This is the tale of how five fun filled days culminated in dreams coming true, new friends being made, and two geeks surviving the stinkiest hotel stairwell in the history of the universe and one run-away trash truck to tell the tale. This is the story of GenCon 2015.</div>
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Like Bilbo's journey to the mountain, there was a lot of monotonous travelling to be had in-between. Eight hours to be exact. But we were not without sights to see...</div>
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Obviously everyone was getting into the GenCon spirit. This car hauler for instance, and its Leia themed loin cloth which flapped tantalizingly in the wind, revealing a tasteful amount of license plate. I was appalled to see it do the full Monty at least once before we passed. Somewhere an ewok cried, you can be sure of that.</div>
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Instead of goblins and giant spiders to avoid, and the Eye of Sauron at Mount Doom patiently watching over all, we had Jesus. He's kind of like Sauron, except he conquers the world with love and compassion and is entirely nothing like Sauron, so that's cool.</div>
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Hey a giant cross!</div>
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We were travelling across what most consider bible belt country. I would consider it more like bible suspender country, as no mere belt could hold the mighty waists we witnessed..</div>
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There was no shortage of roadside rests, and I guess Donovan got tired of taking pictures of car haulers and the "world's biggest" whatevers, so he took a picture of this this quaint stop.</div>
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Put the camera down, Donny! Onwards to Indy! Huzzah!</div>
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And we made it! For all appearances it was a decent hotel. That illusion would hold out only so long, precisely until we took our first step down one of its many humidity saturated hallways, which stank of something bordering on a mix of cloying and repellent. Little did I know that the hallways would appear tame in comparison to whatever died in our stairwell and then had 10 gallons of Febreeze dumped on it. I held my breath when I passed through that stairwell without exception after my first encounter with its unearthly Lovecraftian stench. No pictures were taken of it for your safety and ours (plus it was a stairwell, how boring).</div>
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So check out this pool!</div>
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It's not a good sign when your pool is covered at the height of summer. What lurked under that cover I dared not contemplate. But hey, once again Jesus was nearby, so I didn't worry about it too much.</div>
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With our bags finally unpacked we made all haste to the promised land of downtown Indy with hope in our hearts and a starry look in our eyes. GenCon here we come!</div>
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Ahhh.. Cardhalla and the old balloon monster, both true staples of the con and still in their infancy. </div>
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At this early stage I wasn't sure what the giant balloon creature was to become, but can you tell? My guess was an elder horror. To be fair, most things at this point in their creation look a bit like a many tentacled freak from outer space, so it was anyone's guess.</div>
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Being only Wednesday night there were only a few folks traveling the halls of the Indy Convention Center, so we decided to go see what was happening out of Delaware Street..</div>
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Quite a lot as it turns out!</div>
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Sun King Brewery was busy dispensing beer to the throngs of eager convention goers..</div>
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Myself included. Just look at the concentration and the intensity, under such circumstances only the highest dedication to securing a brew will do. And like a jackal who steals a piece of a larger animal's kill, I slunk off to slurp my hard won beer and people watch from a suitable vantage point.</div>
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Remember kids, get your front-row seats early. </div>
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When a romantic horse drawn carriage isn't enough to excite your significant other, I highly recommend this <i>horse with blinged out glitter hooves drawn carriage. </i>My heart fluttered just at the sight of it, so I knew it was time to get more beer in me before I became a love-struck fool.</div>
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It was on to Scotty's! Three blocks east of the convention center and past this Hard Rock Cafe, it was a bit of a walk in the high humidity, but entirely worth it.</div>
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When we arrived all the TV's were playing Star Trek and they had special GenCon brews on tap, in bottles and cans! </div>
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I enjoyed the Ghost Goblin Ale, Klingon Warnog, and Steamjack Orange Cream Soda (not alcoholic, but delicious and Donovan's absolute favorite as I believe he had at least three in one sitting).</div>
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We were even treated to the sounds of "Five Year Mission" on the patio, where ample couch seating makes for a truly great evening dining experience.</div>
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So, so classy.</div>
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Ohh, bean bags! (cornhole to some) I love drinking games in all their many forms. Fuck the Dealer, Presidents & Assholes, Beer Pong, Washers, Beanbags... now I was really in Nerdvana.</div>
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We began challenging random people to beanbags and ended up playing with some nice folks. Beer has since wiped their names from my memory, but that special moment will always be ours.. when Donovan and I crushed you... and then lost to your girlfriends.</div>
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If you take a pass on the food trucks that line Delaware Street you will be sorely remiss. This one was called Pi and had a brie burger that will put a look on your face like this...</div>
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Mmmm... delicious.</div>
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We were nearing the end of our first night at the convention center, and after opting to wait for the line that was roughly 200 people a few hours before to die down, we decided to return and get our badges at 1am when things would be a bit more calm...</div>
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Only to find that the line contained approximately 1 billion people and stretched to the horizon.</div>
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Behold and despair.</div>
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In a surprisingly short time (I think it was less than an hour) we made it to the front, secured our badges, and made all due haste for our smelly accommodations in anticipation of the first true day of the convention... and that is where our story will pick up next time in <a href="http://midwestmonsterlab.blogspot.com/2015/08/part-2-wrath-of-con.html" target="_blank">Part 2: The Wrath of the Con!</a></div>
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If you found Donovan conspicuously absent on day one in the pictures, never fear, he was the only one to have the good sense to snap photos and will make a triumphant return on day two in the next post!</div>
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Missing GenCon as much as we are? Share some of your favorite moments down below in the comment section! Or sit in the corner and greedily keep them to yourself, whatever floats your boat.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08033683359542231327noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455770931793481951.post-1283800584149665042015-05-11T21:31:00.000-05:002015-05-11T21:31:22.045-05:00Introducing Cedric the KantCon Dragon!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
First off, full disclosure, without KantCon approval I have shamelessly dubbed this year's convention miniature "Cedric." I didn't ask permission to name him, I just did. There, I have that off my chest and now my conscience is clear. Plus the organizers have begun to use the name, so I think that's as good a blessing as any!</div>
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In all honesty, as the coil of scaly gray putty slowly began to resemble the dragon it was destined to become, I felt like it was sorely missing an identity. A quick conference with my girlfriend, Kristen, and he was soon officially/unofficially Cedric the Dragon.</div>
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Don't let the cutesy name fool you, Cedric is one tough reptile who has managed to pillage a hoard of coins, a shattered longsword, and even a d6!</div>
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The idea to have a d6 at the top of the coin pile came on the fly as I was translating the concept art into the miniature. What was a shield I mistook for a d20 and decided it would be cool to make the mini a stand for a prized d6. The organizers liked the idea, and there you have it. </div>
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I like the idea of each hobbyist placing their lucky d6 on the miniature, plucking it from underneath Cedric's tail when they're ready to unleash its good luck!</div>
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The mini comes in five pieces: two horns, one sword, and the proximate end of the tail. All the extra bits come on a piece of flash and how the tail is positioned offers a little bit of personalization.</div>
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I'm thoroughly pleased that the KantCon folks decided to go with a dragon miniature this year. Making monsters is what I originally signed up for when I opened the Monster Lab (the name pretty much says it all) four years ago and it felt great to finally do my first dragon sculpt. </div>
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Already in its seventh year, <a href="http://www.kantcon.com/" target="_blank">KantCon</a> and the great people who run it have really put together something special. I hope you get to visit the con this July 24-26th at the Overland Park Convention Center for three straight days of card games, role-playing, board games, and table top goodness. They're not doing a kickstarter this year as they want to fund the entire event solely on badge purchases, merch, and ad revenue. So, if you're not going, <a href="http://www.kantcon.com/#!merchandise/cclu" target="_blank">buy some stuff</a>!</div>
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Like last year, I'll have a booth. Unlike last year I ran some painting and sculpting clinics. This time around I'll just be hanging out, having a good time and playing games, so stop by the Monster Lab table to check out some of my work up close, sling some spells, and roll some dice!</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08033683359542231327noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455770931793481951.post-47628395962296774692015-04-19T23:53:00.000-05:002015-04-20T08:27:21.296-05:00The Joker, Nightcrawler, a Game with Deadly Animals, and a KantCon Dragon!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I'm back with another mega-post update and leading off with some of my latest projects. This one is the Killing Joke, an iconic scene in the DC universe where Robin dies and the Joker gets his face ripped off. Dark stuff and one cool mini to paint. This mini is quite a bit larger than your ordinary 30mm scale miniature, and is based on a 50mm base. I added some extra scenery with Procreate, sculpting rubble and stone city-center sidewalkage to give him a strong sense of place.</div>
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Taking inspiration from Heath Ledger's Joker, I wanted the vest/shirt and sloppy lipstick to mirror the movie version. If you look closely, you'll notice that his blue eyes are bloodshot!</div>
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Killing is dirty business and a unhealthy amount of blood has been lost by unfortunate victims (probably from Robin himself).</div>
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Thanks to Jason S. for the miniature, hope you and bro enjoy it!</div>
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Next is a mini that I <a href="http://midwestmonsterlab.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-bands-back-together-and-theres-some.html" target="_blank">never get tired of painting</a>. It's a fantastic tiefling model, and just like the one I did before, this one came with a request for a custom blade. As you can probably tell, this is no ordinary tiefling, but an original concept brewed up by John S. named Stix. He's a warlock who has entered into a binding pact with Flixnar, a sentient scimitar. Taking his inspiration from Marvel Comic's Nightcrawler, right away John was stepping out of the box with unusual choice of blue skin-tone, things got really interesting when Flixnar was thrown into the mix...</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uZyv_Ybv36w/VTR2wRv9f0I/AAAAAAAAA3I/qcjiXLhGHcI/s1600/20150209_113023_LLS%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uZyv_Ybv36w/VTR2wRv9f0I/AAAAAAAAA3I/qcjiXLhGHcI/s1600/20150209_113023_LLS%2Bcopy.jpg" height="206" width="320" /></a></div>
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John's request was for a blade with a mind of its own, and other than a little light art direction given about the blade style it was up to me to portray its waking consciousness. I knew right away that an eyeball and some menacing looking tentacles were going to be the route I wanted to take. The idea that the creepy eye would be keeping tabs on its wielder, and the wandering tentacles (equally likely to wrap themselves about Stix's wrist as they were to do anything else) were the perfect combination I was looking for!</div>
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Stix even has some glowing embroidery on his coat!</div>
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I've even managed to sneak in a few games of Malifaux here and there with good friends Donovan B. and Tyler W. In our latest match I ran the deadly Viktoria sisters...</div>
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Tyler piloted Yan Lo and some of his shambling undead...</div>
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Donovan had a motley crew led by Lucas McCabe...</div>
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And in the middle of it all was a... polar bear? Playing at the <a href="http://www.geekery.biz/" target="_blank">Geekery</a> in Shawnee, we made use of some of their interesting extra terrain, which are the same plastic animals you probably played with when you were a kid, right along with your Tonka trucks... oddly enough it worked! </div>
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Donovan is kind of a dangerous terrain freak (he will find any excuse or means to introduce it into a game) and suggested that the two polar bears, and two penguins on the board be treated as such. It was actually pretty hilarious, and I managed to pull out a last second win when I smacked his last remaining model into a polar bear with a swing from Taelor's relic hammer... not to mention the penguin that did work earlier in the match by beating down one of my sisters...</div>
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For future games with dangerous animal terrain, I suggested the ability to attack and kill the animals in order to ensure they don't maul you. The catch is, that if your attack doesn't kill them, they'll attack you back and charge you if necessary!</div>
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It's getting close to KantCon time here in Kansas City, and the fine folks at the convention have reached out to me yet again to make this year's miniature. They mentioned one word and I jumped at the chance to be the one to sculpt it- Dragon!<br />
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This year's mini is a serpentine dragon coiled around a pile of loot which cradles one of the convention's dice. I'm really excited to not only be sculpting my favorite mythical beast, but to be doing my first true multi-part sculpted piece (horns, tail, and weapons bits will be separated on a secondary piece of flash).</div>
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Finally a couple of arms, legs, and a head and he starts coming together!</div>
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For those who are not 30mm minded.. a finger for scale.</div>
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The last section of his tail will be a separate piece.</div>
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One eye is just starting to open... if it's a good idea to let sleeping does lie, then I think that goes tenfold for a slumbering dragon!</div>
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That's it for now. Thanks for stopping by and checking out my latest projects. Check back next time for the completed KantCon dragon miniature and more projects from the Lab!</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08033683359542231327noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455770931793481951.post-43433985099939964142015-02-01T15:49:00.001-06:002015-02-01T15:55:54.831-06:00When Exploring Golarion Don't Forget Your Map!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Aptly stated, and in a world devoid of google maps (Apple maps are garbage even by medieval standards) someone needs to be toting a little piece of parchment that will guide the way. </div>
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The fiery rogue, Bianca, has hers and judging by the deliberate placement of her index finger, she knows where she's headed. I reckon a woman who wears garb as loud as she is wont to have her mind made up.</div>
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There's another fiery red-head (and that hair is RED-DDD) in the group. This one is Lyanalis, a dead-eye elf archer from Sovyrain, one not to be trifled with.</div>
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Check out that intricate elven breast plate!</div>
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Here's both Bianca and Lyanalis hanging with some of my assorted display minis before being handed off to their owner Ron N.</div>
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But there's more! Where would a group be without its fearless leader? Meet the half elf-celestial Aeron.</div>
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Wielding a ethereal blade and heavy armor, this guy is one bad mama-jama. When he calls down a righteous reckoning upon his enemies they're going to be reaching deeeeep into the pain locker for their big boy shorts. </div>
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Then there's the mad monk Kahmal Khali, riding a flying carpet and slinging... a weighted chain? Whatever he's doing I wouldn't want to be in the way, I just don't trust that sinister grin plastered on his face.</div>
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If you're looking for a pint-sized-spell-slinging-loud-mouth, Gwendle is your man! I think him and Bianca get their duds from the same clothier, and I'd put a gold coin down on their both being prodigious drinkers (Gwendle by halfling standards).</div>
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Heck, with a few trusty spell tomes he can look any adversary square in the eyes!</div>
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Did I mention Moloch? Oh that would be Gwendle's summoned dragon-kin who likes to chop heads with a wickedly rusty chakram.</div>
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Most of the time Moloch's adversaries don't even see him coming, be it in the dead of night or charging from behind the sun. The expression of shocked disbelief is still hanging on their face as their heads roll in the dirt - <i>schink!!</i></div>
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Ravasura is a rakshasa.. in Hindu myth that's a cat-demon. The only thing demonic about this cat, devoted to the goddess Isis, is his fighting skill. He also casts his patron's approved spells from a solid gold cobra staff!</div>
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Last, there's Cerulianus a fighter of great renown and greater skill. He prefers medium armor and a nimble shortsword with which to dispatch his foes. His pose says it all, "hold it guys, I've got this."</div>
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And that's it, thanks for stopping by to check out my latest project!</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08033683359542231327noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455770931793481951.post-3717754615083143762014-11-10T22:02:00.001-06:002014-11-10T22:06:20.793-06:00Marcus and a Pack of Wild Animals (Plus Myranda): a Malifaux Showcase<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's time to unleash the big beasties!! This week is all about raw muscle power, fangs, and claws. Who better to lead a horde of enraged monsters, than the beast caller himself? Marcus is truly a master to be feared in the Malifaux universe.. and his minions look freakin badass!</div>
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Let's take a closer look into the jaws of the beast..</div>
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I love the mythical Cerberus from Greek legend, and though I was skeptical about a sabertooth take on the mythical beast (in absolute retro grouch fashion, of course), I've been won over by this model's subtle charm and ferocity.</div>
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The sabertooth cerberus leers with a perfect predatory glare... absolutely fantastic.</div>
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As a child I played Magic: the Gathering and only built dragon decks. In fact, I have one of each Magic dragon (minus one of course) ever printed, lovingly tucked away in my collection to this day! Child Matt would have gobbed over this model and Modern-Day Matt thinks it's most excellent too.</div>
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The dawn serpent's cherubic arms and legs are kind of hilarious.. and a touch precious too. Thank goodness for the winds of magic, because those little baby feet kicking mildly in the breeze wouldn't be getting him anywhere!</div>
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Cojo was 100% my least favorite model by a longshot before I painted him. Now he's definitely hanging with the best of them (ape pun intended). Check out that great expression and how his fur coat really shines!</div>
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A little blood goes a long way. No damn dirty ape should be without a bit of gore unceremoniously splattered about his person if he can help it. </div>
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Marcus hates all things civilized.. just look at all those human skins stitched into a skirt!</div>
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No doubt they were from scholarly types, venturing out into the Malifaux wilds on some academic foray... perhaps just hapless gunslingers looking to cash in a bounty on the notorious rogue's head..</div>
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An absolute favorite of mine (there are many in the Malifaux range), Myranda looks exquisitely feline crouched upon the rocks that come stock with her model. I considered modelling her on a lateral tree branch, suspended an inch or two of so off the base, but decided to revel in the awesomeness Wyrd provided. Matt approves.</div>
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They'll never expect the Jackalope!! With +2 dmg on the charge and a 7" leap this little rabbit would make even Tim cower in fear. "Just look at its fangs!"</div>
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Donovan B. and I decided to put the beasts to the test. Picking his new favorite of cadre of zombies and guild hounds marshaled by Lucas McCabe, Donovan was perfectly situated to take advantage of the reconnoiter strategy and protect territory scheme.</div>
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Lucas made the keen decision to skirt the outside of the encounter breaking behind my lines to plant a few scheme markers in my deployment zone for "protect territory" (thanks for protecting my territory, Donovan, what a great guy), and mitigating my revealed "deliver a message." Both the Jackalope and Cerberus are perfect at dropping in from a 7" leap and delivering it in one fell swoop!</div>
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A running drama between the rattler and a pack of hounds (made significant by Luna) took up the western flank. Unsurprisingly the snake did serious damage to their ranks, but what wasn't so expected was...</div>
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That the lone jackalope was the one to chase down and dispatch a hound looking to breach my line and plant even more victory points in Donovan's pocket!</div>
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A keen eye to the mission and sound tactical play led Donovan's finesse force to overcome my brute one and ultimately win the day with a thumping in victory points. It was fun to be bashy with my models this time, but I'll probably be reserving this force for when the mission rolls "make them suffer" in the future!</div>
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You can see the whole crew for yourself at 31st Century games in Olathe, KS!!</div>
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Until next time, make bad things happen!</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08033683359542231327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455770931793481951.post-69233444022777521962014-09-21T18:45:00.002-05:002014-09-21T18:45:39.134-05:00Summer Wrap-Up... M-m-mmmega Post!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
There's a whole lot of things that come with the passing of Labor Day.. pools close, sno cone operations start packing it in, women stop wearing white pants (I personally think white pants are fashionable anytime of the year) - truly it is the beginning of the end of the summer. A lot of great things have been going on here at the Monster Lab during that time and now I present them to you in one grand blog post full of fond memories and favorite projects from the ending days of the season.</div>
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Let's take a look!</div>
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This female inquisitor conversion was done for new customer Jay C. He wanted a subtle conversion that would take an old grumpy puritan guy and turn it into a nice busty babe. A goal of mine was to do something cool with the flaming tip of the inferno pistol, and make it a neat contrast point. I'm really pleased how the whole piece turned out.</div>
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July 11, 12 & 13 this year was the sixth annual KantCon! The convention started as a meeting for a group of friends and has quickly grown over the years to occupy the Overland Park Convention Center, featuring role-playing, table top gaming, card gaming, and board games. I count myself lucky to have been a part of the fun for the last two years, hosting a vendor booth and even doing a couple of painting and modeling clinics this year.</div>
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Here is a class of my favorite students, eager to learn and quick studies too! You guys were great!</div>
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Donovan Baker, of facebook group <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/265785616929097/" target="_blank">Malifaux KC</a> fame and creator of the best Malifaux app you'll probably never see (really, it's awesome), hosting Malifaux demo games at KantCon. Donovan and I (Donovan has done all the heavy lifting really) have really taken up the mantle of this great game, demoing it, and spreading the joy of "making bad things happen" whenever and wherever we can. Malifaux hosts some the coolest, best rendered sculpts I've seen.. and has an awesome action packed rulenset to boot.</div>
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What a spread, nice work Donovan!</div>
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It's not a complete convention without taking an embarrassing pic with a cardboard cutout. Thanks to Jon at <a href="http://www.black-blade-publishing.com/" target="_blank">Black Blade Publishing</a> for bringing the one and only Hugh the Barbarian to the con!</div>
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One short month later and we were heading off to GenCon! It's mind-numbing how much STUFF there is. Vendor booths, demos, fan flicks, parties, artist signings.. the list just goes on and on. Of course the Malifaux booth was a major attraction for Donovan and I. The Whiskey Golem was even so good as to spot me a drink!</div>
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Wyrd Miniatures are famous for the valuable promos and GenCon exclusives they have on offer, and there a ton of people who show up for the raffle at the end of the weekend (you get one raffle ticket for each $25 you spend).</div>
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Wyrd had each and every mini they make on display, some for Malifaux and some for their new game. Here's a look at the female creations you can make with the Through the Breach roleplaying game starter set.</div>
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After a long day of carousing the vendor hall it was time to kick back and relax... I think Scotty's Brewhouse will do!</div>
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It's safe to say that Scotty's is the new official restaurant/bar for GenCon (sorry, The Ram). Check out the fantastic patio view! You can also dine inside and enjoy the Star Wars marathon playing all weekend.</div>
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There was still plenty to see on Day 2 in the vendor hall, including some cool minis from Cool Mini or Not. Funny how that works out.</div>
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I'm not 100% sure who was hosting all this gorgeous Infinity terrain, but good god damn! Just look at it!</div>
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There was terrain for every season: jungle, winter, desert, urban, underground bunker; you name it.</div>
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Cardhalla is big attraction, growing over the weekend in anticipation for its ultimate demise on Saturday night. Donovan was impressed.. you can see it on his face.</div>
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When GenCon was over it was time to head back to America's Heartland and get back to making hobby goodness. James H. wanted to take a Dream Forge Pleasure Demon and turn her into a female bloodthirster. I said, "ok." (I like to make Tenacious D reference whenever possible)</div>
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Probably my favorite part of the model is something that James did himself, Khorne pasties!!!</div>
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The game plan was to give her a humongous-biznatch-slaying axe and bone whip. </div>
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It's a demon axe, so naturally there's some spooky faces peeking out. There was more nasty Khorne goodness to come...</div>
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A big ass demon skull with elongated jaw should do!</div>
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The whip was individual vertebra with some nasty barbs.. definitely not something you want a lashing from!</div>
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James was psyched about his conversion, and sent me back some pics of the completed piece. Check out Xiomara over on his <a href="http://s842.photobucket.com/user/Soulcrusher6669/media/Bloodthirster%20Bloodbath/Xiomara0018_zpsea796b8d.jpg.html" target="_blank">photobucket</a>!</div>
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And that's it for now. It was a great summer and I'm excited for what's to come next year! Stay tuned, there's more great projects coming!</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08033683359542231327noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455770931793481951.post-39221355411875610802014-07-27T14:43:00.004-05:002014-07-27T14:43:39.107-05:00Showcase: Dark Eldar Titan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I'm coming back with a bang this month, showing off a Dark Eldar titan commissioned by Chris E. Chris was looking for a centerpiece for his DE army and this titan is the perfect choice; it's big, flashy, and a damn cool model.</div>
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Let's take an up-close look!</div>
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A couple of years ago I assembled a titan with sonic lances, but never got around to painting it. With that build I modeled it charging around an Eldar warp gate and knew that was exactly what I wanted to do with this one as well.</div>
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A few sheets up plasticard cut and glued together made an excellent warp gate, and with a little procreate to make two wraithbone bubbles, and foam putty to texture the base I was off to the races and ready to paint.</div>
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We decided on a dark "Incubi Darkness" base highlighting to ice blue that I really liked. Tons of red accent tattoos and German grey ghost tattoos really rounded out the model.</div>
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The two warriors hanging on true raider-style put the piece over the top. The handles they're clinging to were made from a tube of plastistruct cut in half and filed to fit.</div>
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My favorite warrior, I love how she's really hanging on for dear life!</div>
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A fun little Easter egg on the base is the fact that the titan landed on a rock formation in-stride and the rock is springing up, shattering under the titan's weight!</div>
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If you see this, I think you run... and then hope for best.</div>
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And that's it! Thanks for stopping by and checking out my latest project!</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08033683359542231327noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455770931793481951.post-92017331373398080792014-06-16T10:29:00.000-05:002014-06-16T10:29:01.787-05:00Blogflash: DGS Kuzaarik Kickstarter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The DGS guys are at it again, this time releasing a new adventuring group called the Kuzaarik. In fantasy terms, the Kuzaarik race are what we all know and love as dwarves. The <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dgsgames/kuzaarik-forgers-freeblades-fantasy-miniatures" target="_blank">kickstarter </a>is ending in only 38 hours, and they're just shy of their $10,000 stretch goal, so drop by now and decide if you want to pitch in!<br />
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They're also offering loot markers made by yours truly as a $6 add on. You get six markers: two map/dagger, two treasure chests, and two money bags.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yoDw6LCjOVE/U58MzPrTbUI/AAAAAAAAAks/9J0_Rj2n4rg/s1600/DGS+Counter+Set.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yoDw6LCjOVE/U58MzPrTbUI/AAAAAAAAAks/9J0_Rj2n4rg/s1600/DGS+Counter+Set.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Good luck to the DGS guys!</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08033683359542231327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3455770931793481951.post-29596427822529144442014-06-01T13:49:00.002-05:002014-06-01T13:49:53.243-05:00Crabby the Soul Grinder: a Battle Ready Chaos Showcase<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It's high time that Crabby got a paint job <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hRTsDSPxL_w/ULP_ihLlSjI/AAAAAAAAC7o/_45RpltDIxg/s1600/GEDC2863.jpg" target="_blank">to do him justice</a>. Painting reds is one of my favorite color palettes right now, and I especially like dipping into the <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jiPfvgmvPJ8/Utlz42wUnZI/AAAAAAAAB8Q/1u3zBBn3zdI/s1600/GEDC2656+copy.jpg" target="_blank">maroon end of the spectrum</a>. For Crabby I wanted to start at maroon for the undertones and work my way up to a nice bright blood red. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lDqCBz_TSpQ/U4txoC6wwyI/AAAAAAAAAjo/8oSnw-PKKck/s1600/GEDC2565+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lDqCBz_TSpQ/U4txoC6wwyI/AAAAAAAAAjo/8oSnw-PKKck/s1600/GEDC2565+copy.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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With an airbrush this was fairly economic, first laying down a dark base for the shadows before layering successive lighter tones.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YqzBeULVoYo/U4txoQXml2I/AAAAAAAAAjs/VJvQsMbLaAE/s1600/GEDC2569+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YqzBeULVoYo/U4txoQXml2I/AAAAAAAAAjs/VJvQsMbLaAE/s1600/GEDC2569+copy.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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My favorite part of the model are all the eyes that have sprung up across his body!</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l3c63ljXpY4/U4txwcbd6NI/AAAAAAAAAj8/cMRvoqDLYS4/s1600/CrabbyTheSoulGrinderIII.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l3c63ljXpY4/U4txwcbd6NI/AAAAAAAAAj8/cMRvoqDLYS4/s1600/CrabbyTheSoulGrinderIII.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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A true demon engine, energy glows from Crabby's mouth, eyes, and exhaust points.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_kD2NOdklHg/U4txwZjClUI/AAAAAAAAAkE/tAbtY1yfXw4/s1600/CrabbyTheSoulGrinderIV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_kD2NOdklHg/U4txwZjClUI/AAAAAAAAAkE/tAbtY1yfXw4/s1600/CrabbyTheSoulGrinderIV.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ke2Bw1Sd098/U4txwRPWIqI/AAAAAAAAAj4/HONyvHEfC8I/s1600/CrabbyTheSoulGrinderV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ke2Bw1Sd098/U4txwRPWIqI/AAAAAAAAAj4/HONyvHEfC8I/s1600/CrabbyTheSoulGrinderV.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Crabby is a Battle Ready piece I am offering through the <a href="http://www.monsterlabminis.com/shop" target="_blank">Monster Lab Web Store</a>. You can pick him up today for only $150! For a custom convereted and painted soul grinder, that ain't half bad. There's also plenty of other painted and un-painted models for purchase in the store, so if you need an addition to your force grab them now before they're gone!</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08033683359542231327noreply@blogger.com0