People You Ought to Meet and the Games and Art They Create

KantCon 2013 is a week behind us, but I want to take one last look back at what I believe really made the convention special.  For me, it was the vendors, local artists and visionaries with passion for the games they produce and the art they create.

Last weekend I had the great pleasure of meeting some truly talented people, and if you didn't make it to KantCon this year, here's your chance to meet them too!

Sentinels of the Multiverse, all rights reserved Greater Than Games 2013

Many of you may have already played the game Sentinels of the Multiverse, a co-operative card game that pits you and up to four friends as a diverse array of original super heroes against a single arch-villain, if you haven't you've been living under one of these.  In the two years since its release the game has found a rock-solid (no pun inended) following amongst board gamers, card players, and hobbyists of all stripes.  Started up by three local boys: Christopher Badell, Adam Rebottaro, and Paul Bender, Greater than Games flagship release Sentinels has crossed the country and is now available in game stores all over the world.  

Sentinels is a fantastic game for those easing themselves into hobby-gaming, while still providing the complexity that experienced players are looking for.  A new player can easily sit down and follow the simple turn structure of "play a card, use a power, draw a card," while avid hobbyists will enjoy the incredible diversity of game play afforded by mixing and matching 18 heroes, 18 villians, and 12 environments.  To top it all off, Sentinels is a LCG (living card game) that requires no booster pack purchases, each set has exactly what you need to play included.

After playing the game for the first time at KantCon, my fiancée Harley, caught the Sentinels bug and has been having a blast thwarting evil villains with her favorite characters Absolute Zero and Tempest ever since! 

(L to R) Chris Batell, game designer, and Adam Robattero,
art director, two great guys with a fantastic game.

Chris B. and Adam B. were on hand to help guide newbies like Harley and me through a game of Sentinels at the convention, with their help we took down the evil computer A.I. Omnitron!

Black Blade Publishing sets itself apart from the RPG crowd with an array of rule sets that cater to a very niche crowd.  For those role-players wanting to recapture the magic of their games played during Advanced Dungeon & Dragon's golden years in the 70's and 80's, Black Blade Publishing has an array of rules compendiums, monster sheets, and character profiles at the ready!  As frontman Jon Hershberger put it, "Black Blade helps gamers go back to a time when role-playing was about rulings, not rules.  When dungeon masters had more freedom to build their adventures."

Black Blade not only takes a look back, but also explores what could have been with unique rule sets that represent classic AD&D had it taken another path in its evolution.  So check out Black Blade's site and take a step back in time with your next dungeon adventure to how D&D ought to be!

Jon Hershberger, co-founder and President of Black Blade Publishing.

Jon H. is a super nice guy and was a great neighbor during the convention, he even became a new customer of the Monster Lab with a commission for three painted owlbears.  Welcome to the MML family Jon!

"Air Goddess," all rights reserved Project Shiro 2013

Sara Rude deserves credit, I'm going to say that up-front, she has serious talent.  Propreitor of Project Shiro, Sara is a physicist by education who is a self-taught illustrator, doing an array of inkings, coloring, and sketches for her clients.  At the KantCon she brought convention goers' role-playing characters to life with pencil sketches and inked drawings, inspiring at least one shout of, "this is awesome!" from a pleased client.  Sara also works as the resident color wizard for the Zero's Heroes comic, a series about heroes tasked with taking down some of the... oddest villains known to mankind.

If you're looking for an original piece of fantasy/sci-fi/super hero artwork, Sara's your girl, she's both got the talent and skill to bring it to life.

Sara Rude surrounded by her fantastic work.

"Captain America" corset, a creation by Elinor Parker.

To say that the Costume Wrangler's Closet wrangles costumes is an understatement, they wrangle style.  At one point in the convention I could have been quoted as saying, "if I were a woman I think I'd be into cameos, as a guy I just think they're cool, but if I were a girl I think I would be into that sort of thing."  I settled for a handmade Star Wars coozie instead.

The woman behind the wranglin', Elinor Parker, is combining traditional concepts with nerd-inspired style in her creations.  Like the Captain America corset above (there's an Iron Man one too), and her line of steampunk necklaces and earrings made out of old gears and doo-dads.  Whatever it is, it's cool, and well crafted too.  Next time you need a piece for your costume, drop the Costume Wrangler a line, she does custom orders that are sure to please.

Elinor P. and all her gamer chic accessories.

The coozie I bought was made out of an old children's blanket.  In the 70's it was keeping a child snug at night as visions of lightsabers danced in their head, now its keeping my beer cool.  I'd say George Lucas would be proud.

That's it for this week, thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out all the great folks I featured here at their web sites!

Live from KantCon 2013 (no really, we're live, right now)

As of 8am this morning KantCon 2013 has been underway!  The gaming and hobby goodness continues until 11pm tonight at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Overland Park, KS just off of I-35 and 95th street.  So far, it's been a blast; I've gotten in a game of Sentinels over at the Greater than Games booth, and met a lot of awesome people.  The crowds are really digging all the DGS models I've been showing off for Freeblades and some of my other paints, conversions, and original sculpts.  Sweet Olive Book's Jessie A. is side-by-side with me and she's enjoying her first convention, especially as a vendor.

I'd like to show off a few minis I've painted recently for a brand new client Ron N. before I get to some shots of the convention.

Let's take a look!

This is Morgryd a level 8 dwarf fighter for Pathfinder who wields a frostbane axe.  Morgryd is a tough old nail and the grey in his beard is starting to show his years.  Ron got this model 1-day rushed to him, that's some good service!

Another member of Ron's group's raiding party is Kaidyn, an elf wizard.  Ron really wanted to showcase his character's arcane prowess with a glowing staff and some eldritch runes.

Taking inspiration from the Lord of the Rings, I put some glowing elven script at the hem of his cloak.

The last model Ron had me do so far was this Tiefling magus named Epoch.  To show Epoch's pyromantic skill I gave him glowing orange eyes.  Another add was the sword in his left hand, fabricated from green stuff and plasticard.

Epoch has the more extreme dark red skin that Tieflings may possess and the blue hair to match.  The blue hair was achieved with Valejo's German Grey and GW Hawk Turquiose (I'm slowly transitioning to dropper bottles as my paints run out).

Which brings us to this year's KantCon!

Two returning characters are Help! the gnome and the Jabbergluck, both of which were sporting enough to pose for this picture.

The Midwest Monster Lab and Sweet Olive Books booth is in the vendor hall located between the Costume Wrangler's Closet and Black Blade Publishing.

Harley and Jessie have been working hard at the booth all day, making food runs and holding down the fort while I caper off to see what's going on in the gaming area and to take these pictures.

Come down to KantCon and visit us tonight, Saturday, and Sunday!

Paints with Attitude (and something unexpected)

KantCon is only one more week away!  This is an event that is near and dear to me for a couple of reasons. First, it's local.  Some of the best events in hobby are miles away, and between travel expenses like: gas, lodging, and eating out, it puts a strain on our wallets to attend them.  For those in the KC Metro area, KantCon is just down the street (in this case that street is Interstate 35), and it has some top notch vendors and events scheduled; like the creators of this game.

That brings me to the second reason, the vendors.  A lucky series of events led to a conversation in my local game store and then a commission for me to do this year's convention sculpt, Help! the prop gnome.  Besides the amazing opportunity to do my first original humanoid sculpt, I was also given vendor space at the convention!  I'll be proudly displaying my wares and hawking services for model painting and my newest endeavor 2-D illustrations.  Since early this year I have been collaborating with Jessie A. over at Sweet Olive Books to make a line of painted journals.  They're really cool, and some are a bit unexpected...

I'm sure most everyone has heard the phrase, "sex, drug, and rock & roll", well this is a magical spin on those famous words.  I chose a snake, hearkening to Slytherin's basilisk, to add a bit of sex to this piece.  If anyone is going to take a rock-star approach to spellcasting, it would definitely be a Slytherin.

This one pretty much speaks for itself.  Press start to begin.

For all of those Dr. Who lovers out there... or should I say Dr. Who haters?

Celtic knots are really cool, they look great and are fantastic designs to add to almost anything.  These are two designs that I made completely from scratchs.  I have to say, it was really creepy (exciting too) watching the over-under over-under repition of the knot unfold perfectly within each design.  The designs do it themselves!  I had always suspected that they were made to alternate correctly, but I was wrong, it's something in the math... or maybe a higher power at work?  ha ha ha

Can you see the hidden image in the knot above?  Hint: it's a video game reference, and one for which I named my dog .

Girl on fire? Sounds pretty painful.. or awesome!  This is a Hunger Games journal for those aspiring to be like their heroine Katniss Everdeen.

Jessie and I will have a complete selection of painted journals at KantCon, so stop by and pick one up before they're gone!

I can't mention KantCon without bringing up the little guy I sculpted for the convention.  This paint was commission for the director of the event as a door prize.  In case the reference isn't clear, this should do the trick.

Help! is a perfect candidate to be a joker.  Like Heath Ledger's rendition, he has the same pants, vest, and button down shirt.

For this paint I separated Help! from his kit (he can be assembled with it on the same base as well) so that I had room to add some extra skulls.  As if killing the poor unfortunates wasn't enough, Help! had to paint big red smiles on each.

His trunk also had a bit of rogue artistry on it as well...

That's it for this week, I hope to see you at this year's KantCon!

Paint Your Minis for Dirt Cheap! (at least what I consider dirt cheap)

Hobby-gaming is time consuming stuff.  You have to put models together, construct their bases, clean mold lines, fill gaps and defects, prime, paint, wash, paint... Great hobby is an investment, and one well worth the time and money.  Life-long friendships are forged over the table top, wits are tested, and it's good clean fun.

But for some of us, we don't have the time to paint (and in some cases completely assemble) all of our miniatures.  Year after year, our prime coated or naked minis wage monochromatic war, still looking for that extra something that will make a game or campaign truly epic.  The Monster Lab can help.

Count Draigo & Grey Knight Terminators: $360

For ten years I've been an avid hobbyist.  Starting first with a force of Iron Warrior chaos marines in high school, before moving on to the enigmatic eldar and the even more strange chaos demons.  I've played 40k, Fantasy, Mordheim, and Freeblades, collecting armies, warbands, and freebands for each.  In ten years I have done A LOT of painting.

One year ago I decided that I wanted to earn my bread by painting some figs.  It's gone great, and since then I've been hired on as the studio painter for the fledgling game company DGS Games.  I get to paint minis everyday.  It's awesome. 

Changeling & Pink Horros of Tzeentch: $260

In fact, I want to paint more models and share the hobby I love with as many people as I can.  I want to paint your minis.  

Do you need your 40k army painted?  Fantasy?  Warmachine?  Hordes?  One model?  A squad?  I can paint just about anything you've got.  Like these demons above. 

Custom sculpted bases starting at $3

 I'll even go the extra mile and do custom bases for you so models can really stand out on the table top.

Eldar Swooping Hawks: $240

In my opinion, my prices are dirt cheap.  I know some painters will paint for peanuts, sometimes literal peanuts.  But besides that, my prices are as low as you can go.  Here's the breakdown:  Say you want a squad of Swooping Hawks or Striking Scorpions painted.  I'll charge you a flat $10/hour rate, factor in a few bucks for supplies like paint, green stuff, etc. and that's it.  Dirt cheap.

But what about those Hawks or Scorpions?  The swooping hawks above would take me about 3-4 hours per model (sometimes it's less), depending on size, how many colors, and conversions.  So your bill would come out to $180-$240.  Not an amount of money to sneeze at, but lookey there, you've got your models painted in record time and now all you have to do is have a fun time playing them on the table top!

Eldar Striking Scorpions: $200

Commission prices vary depending on what level of quality you want.  My standard paint is like the one I described above, three to four hours per model.  I call it "Showcase Quality," and with it you get a finely painted model with unlimited colors, fantastic basing, and the assurance that when you put it on the table top it will draw looks and complements alike.

If Showcase Quality is too rich for your blood, or you just need something basic, you can also go cheaper in the $15-20 range.  These guys won't turn heads, but they're painted with a basecoat of three main colors,  a wash, another basecoat, a highlight, and enough details picked out to call it "Table Top Quality."

I can also go nuts on your model or models, and labor on the detail, time, and layers of shading and highlights.  For $100 and up I can paint you something competition worthy (I've placed top 5 at both Golden Demons I've entered into, 2011 Diorama and 2012 40k Monster).

Questing Knight of Vidnuar: $40

But most people are looking for something that's reasonably priced and has their friends saying "wow, that looks great!"  And Showcase Quality is for them.

What if a whole army is out of your reach?  How about a painted skirmish force Warmachine/Hordes, Freeblades, Mordheim, or Blood Bowl?  Maybe you need one model as a centerpiece for your force or for you role-playing character?  Not a problem.

Morgryd the level 8 Dwarf Fighter with one-day rushed delivery: $52

Need it rushed to you?  For a few more bucks (up to 20% of your order value) I will bump your order to the front of the line and hustle to get it done by the deadline that YOU choose, it can even be as early as the next day.  That's some great service.

Falkaaran Witchcat: $30

Still, many of us like painting our own models (and luckily have the time to do so), but we want to add that something extra to the minis we paint.  If that something extra is a conversion or sculpted piece just outside your skill set, I can gladly make you anything your heart desires!  For instance the "dock" basing done for this female rogue is the perfect in-scene basing to make her model truly special.  For $10-20 (maybe less, sometimes I can do things faster than I even knew I could) I can convert a model to your exact specifications like the one below.  The more involved the conversion the higher the price, but the sky's the limit!

Dock basing: $10

Female Rogue with crafted basing: $40

A conversion can be as simple as a weapon swap or a few additions...

"Polythemus" the Undead Cyclops conversion: $30

Or as intricate as complete reposing and remodeling of a miniature.

Soul Grinder of Tzeentch conversion: $60

Extreme Ghetorix conversion: $180

Resculpted ax hand and ax for the Extreme Ghetorix

I can even take an idea you have and bring it to life from scratch!

Charon Boatman of River Styx "counts as" Black Coach: $250

"Skethar King" Skethar Alpha: $400 (given as a gift)

So, if you have a hobby project that isn't getting finished, or you need just a little help here or there, I can help!  Send me an email at midwestmonsterlab@gmail.com and I'll shoot you back a bid for your project.  And remember, it's your hobby, so I'm committed to getting it just right!

Karonnan Necromancer: $40

Questing Knight: $35