Harlequin Solitaire

Here's a solitaire that I got to paint up just a little while ago. He goes with one of a couple forces of Harlequins that I've painted up in small batches- starting from before they had a codex of their very own.

 Each of the other Harlequins in the troupe have strong black and white patterns with one bold color added. This Harlequin has each of the other colors incorporated into it (sort of a sign of his position).

 

Cake topper gonna take out some zombies

Most of the cake toppers I do are posed back to back. Some of the brides and grooms I work with like to have something a little more dynamic to their poses.

 Here's a topper I made recently of a couple that really wanted to look like they were in the thick of it. Something feels right about using blades meant for whacking foliage on the zombies (machetes and a scythe).

 I don't know why it is, but those weapons just seem so badass to me.

 

Super Cake Topper

The wedding cake toppers that I make are all made to order. While a lot of my clients take the images from our galleries as a starting point, some of them really go out on a limb and have me make completely different toppers.

 Here's a topper I made for a couple that asked for something completely different. They wanted a pair of costumed heroes on their wedding cake, and I was more than happy to create it for them.

 

Arena Rex Medusa

I feel like there have been many renditions of Medusa in miniatures. She's even become a species according to some of the older Dungeons and Dragons stuff I have around here. They even had pictures of child medusas (and it isn't like I wouldn't paint a cute little Medusa, you know?)

 Well, Arena Rex has some brilliant artwork and sculpting behind their line, so I was very happy to get to paint up their wonderful Medusa. The client really let me make the decisions on this one, so I got to create the pallet as I see her.

 

Wedding Cake Toppers for Actual Ninjas

Here are a few cake toppers for brides who truly love their ninja.

 I'm a little surprised that no one has had me make the bride into the ninja yet- but I suppose it is hard to resist the lure of having me match the beautiful wedding dress.

 



 And here's a different sort of topper. While most of the toppers I've made have been for weddings, some have been for anniversaries or other occasions. Here is a topper I made for an actual ninja master's birthday. He teaches the arts of Bujinkan Ninjutsu at his dojo, and decided to have this topper made for his birthday cake:

 

Kasaro To- Super Dungeon Explore Oni

Way back when Relic Knights was being Kickstarted, Sodapop miniatures introduced crossover characters for their already successful Super Dungeon Explore.

I painted this guy up just a little while ago, but now, with the release of Ninja All Stars, I think he would fit nicely into a Ninja Themed Super Dungeon game.

I went with a very controlled color pallet- keep a strong sense of light and dark among the purple, with a strongly contrasting NMM gold.  I think the pallet worked well on him.



 

Romantic Zombie Wedding Cake Topper

Here's a cake topper I made for a couple that clearly believe strongly in "Forever and No Matter What." It is really great to have found someone who will always love you, no matter what side of the zombie apocalypse you both end up on.

 A little while ago, I made a similar topper to this one- but from the other side, the couple were still alive. I believe the cake they put them on was half white and half chocolate, and they thought it was a great idea to have the couple be zombies from one side but not the other.

 This couple went fully undead. I really liked matching the tattoos especially.

 

Bette Noir, but with red and yellow

When I'm choosing a color scheme for my own minis, I generally shy away from the official color schemes from artwork or studio paintjobs.

 I'm not totally sure why I do this. You can paint a mini great in studio colors (and I often do that as well). But I really like to re-imagine the character in a very different light- and you can often fundamentally change a character simply by choosing different colors.

 Well, here's Bette Noir- there's a clear color scheme suggested in that name. But my client chose a color scheme that was very far from the official one:

 

Romantic Halo Cake Topper

Now, this isn't the first cake topper I've made for fans of the Halo franchise. In the past, I've had several brides and grooms ask me to make them into spartans.

 But, this is the first cake topper that I've made to feature the franchise' favorite protagonist- John 117, the Master Chief. Well, here's a romantic cake topper that features him with his true love:

 

 

Knight Cerastus x2

Just a little while ago, I got to paint up a few Knight Cerasti with a relatively simple color scheme (give the amount of freehand I often do on knights like these). 

Here are some pictures: 

Cthulhu and Mermaid Wedding Cake Topper

I get lots of different kinds of projects for Wedding Cake Toppers- themes range from Zombies, videogames, swordfighting, fantasy roleplaying, comic fandom and beyond.

 This couple had a very specific idea of the couple they wanted- that's not so unusual actually. Since I'm making all of the toppers myself, I can create a lot of things that no one has ever thought of before.

 They wanted a Cthulhu groom carrying his Mermaid Bride- all done with a much creepier style than what I normally make for cake toppers. In fact, I actually considered a number of ways to make the scales and transitions on the mermaid herself, but they wanted something very specific.

 And I really love how it came out. I get to work with the best people.

 

Rabid Squirrels for Super Dungeon Explore

Well, I don't have quite everything painted from my Forgotten King set. I know, there are Ninjas about to descend upon us, and I'm about to be buried underneath some of that Kickstarter craziness.

I've discovered that the money for Kickstarters isn't an issue in the least as long as I only get in on Kickstarters in as much as I can finish painting the minis.

And that puts me in a place where I really can't get in on very many of them.

 Anyway, I'm excited (and a little intimidated) so see the next set of SDE and Ninja All Stars show up, so it is good to have a few more creeps done:

 

Doctor Who TARDIS Wedding Cake Toppers

I have had a lot of requests for some interesting cake toppers. Here are two sets that I created- both of the couples independently decided that they'd like to see Doctor Who's TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension In Space) on their wedding cakes.

 First- here's what the TARDIS looked like all by itself:

 

 The first couple wanted to be running into the TARDIS (with the door a little open). I think it is the vehicles that's taking them on their honeymoon. I like how they wanted her to seem just a little more eager to get in there than he is:

 

The last ones wanted their clothing to show off some of their other fandoms. For some reason, I feel like crossovers with Doctor Who just work really well- I always imagine that he can arrive in any place/time/dimension that the TARDIS takes him to:

 

Harlequins are a really interesting bunch to paint. Mostly, you get to paint a whole bunch of freehand that you really don't get to do on most minis.

 They can be tricky- especially if you want the minis to still look like a cohesive force, and still have that sense of individuality that the Harlequin minis want so much.

 I painted up these Skyweavers to go with a force that I had painted up quite a few infantry for. For this force, the harlequins were each painted in black and white with one bold color each.

 Altogether, I felt like they came out rather well.

 
 

M4 Carbine Wedding Cake Toppers

Max Brooks, in his Zombie Survival Guide explains how he favors the AK-47 and assault rifles like it over the M series weapons. I've heard this sentiment before, and figured that these people probably had some point.

Then- I got to shoot an M4- and I must admit that I was impressed. The weapon is light- which works well for survivors on the move, and more over, it was the easiest to handle firearm that I have ever held. It fires accurately with very little kick.

 It was almost like shooting a very good .22 rimfire weapon- low kick, good accuracy. But then the holes in the target were significantly larger.

 Now, I didn't have to clean or disassemble the thing, but in a situation where the only shots that count are head shots, I'd definitely go with an M4 over something with more kick and less accuracy. Anyway, I am now completely on board with the most popular assault rifle used by wedding cake toppers.

 Here are two couples who decided that the M4 was the best way to dispatch the zombie horde.



 

And here are a few of the zombies that I've made to invade wedding cakes.

 

Khanjira the World Breaker

During Reaper's Bones Kickstarter, it became apparent to everyone that one of the best uses for Bones Plastic material is to create massive minis that are relatively inexpensive.

 It is great for the slightly large monsters (I'd rather spend less on ogres and bugbears) but it is particularly great for some of the absolutely massive minis that in the past have put me back hundreds.

 Here is Khanjira the World Breaker- a fantastic monster that resembles the Pathfinder Terrasque. To me, he looks just right to be the Iron Kingdoms Chimera- an insane dragon whose shape keeps changing.

 To go with this interpretation, I used a sort of "Everblight" composition for him- light colored skin with dark colored armor plating.

 Overall, I feel this approach worked quite well. Have a look:

 

Cosplay Candy and Rin Farrah

Here are a couple minis from Relic Knights that I painted up.

 I really enjoyed mixing up the skin tones on my forces- I find that a large variety of skin tones gives you a lot more freedom as you go. So far, none of the characters I've painted for the faction have the exact same skin tone, and that's been working well for them.

 Anyway, here they are:

 

Armed to the teeth Wedding Cake Toppers

get to do a whole lot of interesting wedding cake toppers. While I do quite a number of different ones, the most popular concepts for them remain the Zombie Survivor couples.

 I've made quite a number of different weaponry for brides and grooms. Here are a few sets that all decided to use firearms against the zombie horde.

 

Science Fiction Gamer Cake Topper

Here is a couple that really needed to have some strong science fiction styled body armor for their wedding cake topper. They're definitely set to fight some pretty fierce aliens.

 I've got to admit that I heartily approve. Here they are:

 

Arena Rex Gaius Pallidus

Here is a mini from Arena Rex that I had the chance to paint up a little while ago.

 The miniatures for this game are terrific- superbly detailed and well cast, they take paint like a dream and really deserve some wonderful paintjobs.

 This one was done for a client. I don't have any of my own Arena Rex stuff yet, but I've had several clients ask me to paint them (so they'll likely get their own gallery before too long).

 The character, as I understand it, was a war hero from Brittania who was saved from death by a druid- hence, he is now part tree.