Wyrd Angelica

Here's an Arcanist showgirl of Malifaux that I painted a little while ago. She's quite a nice mini, and I rather enjoyed her. She fits in well with the metal Colette and Showgirls from Wyrd- we'll have to see what changes when they're all done in plastic.

 Anyway, here she is.

 

Fantasy RPG Gamer Cake Topper

I met my wife at a weekly D&D group, so I'm always happy to see awesome geeks find one another.

 Here is a cake topper I made for a couple just like us- I'm not sure how much it shows from the photos, but that's a character sheet that she's rolling the dice on:

 

And for a different couple, I created these two- a tribute to their favorite games together.

 

Wyrd Latigo Posse

Here are a few of the Latigo minis from Malifaux. These are all form their older metal range of miniatures, and the bases are scratch-built.

 

After the Zombie Apocalypse Wedding Cake Toppers

Here are a few couples that won't let a little thing like the Zombie Apocalypse ruin their big day- even if they've contracted the zombie plague:

 
 



 This last couple seem to have fared better than the other two:

 

Wildspace Gabe and Fleshreaper

Here is my version of the Wildspace Gabe- a Penny Arcade crossover for Relic Knights.

 I painted up the cape with a brocade pattern to practice a technique I learned from Marike Reimer. 

Anyway, here he is:

 

 Oh, and there's Merch:

 

Super Hero Wedding Cake Topper

Here is a fun little addition to our Ninja Cake Toppers Gallery that I got to make a little while ago:

 

Imperial Knight

Just a little while ago I got a chance to paint up ain Imperial Knight to go with a Praetorian Imperial Guard force.

 The base features a number of Praetorians as well- including some of the more rare casualty minis from the original Praetorian box set.

 Anyway, here he is.

 




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Half Zombie Cake Topper

Here is an interesting idea that one of my clients had. Basically, they wanted a cake topper to represent both sides of them- the more formal side that wants an elegant topper and the side of them that loves all things zombie related.

 So, they wanted a topper that when viewed from one side was a sweet, elegant cake topper:

 

Isn't that sweet? But then, when you go to the other side of the cake, you'll see that the zombie apocalypse didn't go so well for them...

 

Greyscale Inquisition

A little while ago, I did a commission for some Inquisition allies done in greyscale (with just a tinge of color). Honestly, I really relished the opportunities to make most of the contrast on the minis in value. I've posted a few of these before, but since they're really a group, here they all are:

 

















And a Land Raider to transport the whole group.

 

Zombie Cake Topper Combat

So, a little while ago, I got to create and absolute horde of Zombies for a few different cakes. I couldn't resist getting a shot of them all together:

 

Naturally, since we've aggroed a horde like that, we'll need to follow up with a the survivor couples to take them on.

 

 

Ninja Kickstarter and Wurm Claw Exemplar

Ok, so the big news in Chibi miniatures right now is that there is we're experiencing the latest Kickstarter from Sodapop Miniatures: Ninja All Stars.

 The game features some oustanding sculpts of chibi ninjas, and alltogether looks fantastic. And even if you're not interested in playing the Ninja All Stars game, you might still want to check out the Kickstarter simply for the Super Dungeon Explore crossover stuff- basically, you get a Warband box (double spawn point, mini boss and two hero cards) along with some variation so that it will fit any of the all stars ninja clans. 

To celebrate this event, here is my latest work from Super Dungeon Explore. I got this guy at Gencon last year, so he's the resin version of the Wyrm Claw Exemplar. Also, he's on foot, because the version where he rides a dragon isn't out just yet.

 

Dark Angel Space Marine Cake Topper

So, I paint miniatures and make cake toppers. While there's definitely some crossover in that audience, they're more often separate.

 Here is a Space Marine made to go on top of a cake. It is modeled after the cosplay costume of the best man (the bride and groom were wearing outfits from different settings).

 Anyway, here he is, the largest Space Marine that I've ever painted:

 

Vidoegame Inspired Cake Toppers

Here are a few other characters inspired by fantasy settings from their favorite vidoegames. While I'm pretty sure that neither couple actually cosplayed at their wedding, the toppers were loads of fun to create and I think came out quite nicely. Here are the two of them, from very different fantasy

settings:

 

Bear Riders of Awesome!

My Iron Kingdoms RPG group sometimes can't hold back. When we saw that Borka: Vengeance of the Rimshaws was riding a polar bear... well, we had to figure out how that might work for us. 

Luckily, we have a very good GM who is willing to make up some rules in the name of Awesome.

 And then it fell to me to create some awesome minis featuring our heroes riding bears. I grabbed a couple bears from Scibor (they're very large) and put a couple of Reaper Bones minis on them- then did a lot of sculpting. Here are the results:

 First off- the Gobber Man-at-Arms/Duelist/Horseman:

 



And here's our Trollkin Alchemist:

 

MMORPG Cake Topper

Here is a cake topper for a couple who wanted to look like fantasy characters from an MMO. These are some of the most complex works I create- especially since the groom here is non-human (and barely humanoid). Here are two angles on the happy couple:

 

Avatar of Imagination

Here is a Dreamer Avatar that I got to paint a little while ago. All together, I think he came out rather well- the detail on the mini is really neat, and the concept is simply outstanding.

 Honestly, this mini was terrific to paint, and my only complaint about it is that Wyrd discontinued it (along with the other Avatar minis). I'd really love for them to have their 'classic' minis available for some of us. While I can see him being used as the Neverborn Emissary, I honestly think he'd work quite well simply proxying the part of Lord Chompy bits on the table.

 
 

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Sanguinius, Primarch of the Blood Angels

Perhaps more than any other primarch, Sanguinius lightened up the imaginations of many hobbyists. I've seen a tremendous number of conversion of the Blood Angel's primarch, and a good number of original sculpts as well.

 This is a mini that I got to paint just a little while ago that I was to make look like Sanguinius. The sculpt fits the bill nicely and worked well with the golden and red armor Sanguinius is known for.


 Anyway, here he is:

 

Zenithal Lighting

When I first started painting miniatures, lighting wasn't a thing that people did with miniatures. OSL hadn't bee invented yet, fire was painted with the deepest red at the center, and people didn't consider a light source when they highlighted their minis. Miniatures were only painted to emphasize their shape- recesses are shaded, and highlighting goes on the outermost areas, rather than the top most. It was actually a pretty effective method for emphasizing details. However, if you look through pictures of current top painters, you'll find that they pretty much always paint everything with at least one source of light in mind (some painters will have several different colored lights shining on the mini from somewhere off stage). And it makes a big difference. Doing this for the first time is about training your brain to know where shadows go. One method Rhonda Bender told me is to imagine your mini in the rain. The areas that get most wet are the lightest, the areas that would end up staying kind of dry are your shadows. Here is an example: As you can see, the light is coming from above her, and just a little to the front (I picked a direction that would help me emphasize her face. I think it is most obvious on her legs that about half of her is in the shadows. Another thing to note is that the turtle is keeping light off of a lot of the plants underneath her. I base coated and shaded those areas, but I didn't add in any of my highlighting to them, and this creates an interesting difference where the light is able to catch on some of the edges of the plants. I find that it is simplest if you base coat your mini in mid-tones, then shade first and highlight up second. This method creates a clear line between what goes in the shadows and what goes in the highlights. The first few times you do this, you will feel like you're leaving the mini half finished. Again, the biggest trick here is re-training your brain to just leave something alone when it is shaded and done. And ultimately, it really adds a sense that your mini is in a place, and tells a great deal more story than before.

Dragon Slaying Cake Topper In Action

One of my clients shared this picture of how their wedding cake turned out with the two characters and dragon that I made for them.

 I think these two had a totally awesome cake, so I really wanted to show it to everyone.

 

Wedding Cake Toppers with Firearms

The most popular theme for the wedding cake toppers that I make are still zombie survivors. Often, my clients come up with some really strange assortments of weaponry, but you really can't go wrong with the classics.

 Here are a few that have chosen to go with guns. We'll start out with the one dressed for the battlefield: