#30Days30Miniatures - Day 30

... and we are done. 

We've come a long way since that very first #30Days30Miniatures post way back on June 24th. A lot of nights painting. A lot of brush cleaning. More than three or four evenings where I was trying to wrap up a figure, but really didn't want to keep going. If you've been following along since the beginning, you know that I had four rules:

1. At the end of each day, you need to complete the painting of one miniature.
2. Basing is optional. 
3. It can be any miniature you want, from any game, from any system, from any manufacturer. 
4. Partially finished miniatures in your pile are fair game. I figure that this is about finishing miniatures, and working through those pesky figures in your vault. Why not include them?
5. Have fun!

Just as a reminder, here's what we started off with:

Now, I did have a few that were set aside for later painting, a few that were purchased along the way, and a few that were flat out casualties. Two of the WizKids mages were so frustrating to paint that I just threw them out. 

For tonight's final miniature, I felt that my last of this challenge should be a "first" from a new company: North Star Military Figures. This Snakeman Brute is from the Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago line, and I have another two dozen just waiting to be painted. The details were amazing, and it was just a couple short nights to make him really pop!

I really enjoyed doing the scales. I went with two shades of green, along with a greenish shade/ink, and some yellow, along with an assortment of other colors. But seriously, this was a great time.

All in all I exceeded my goal of 30 miniatures by 16 for a grand total of 46 miniatures!

• Reaper
• 6 Pewter Figures
• 10 Reaper Bones Figures
• 10 Reaper Bones Terrain Pieces
• 1 Plastic Wereshark
• WizKids
• 2 Figures
• 3 Terrain Pieces
• Dark Sword Miniatures
• 6 Figures
• Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition 
• 1 Figure
• Games Workshop
• 8 Figures
• North Star Military Figures
• 1 Figure

This Reaper Bones Barbarian, and the Minotaur chasing him, were two of my favorite figures of the bunch. This was my first time painting a Reaper Bones hero and I was not disappointed!  

I now have a ton of monsters to add to my collection, as well as a "Lich Lord" for some upcoming Frostgrave gaming.

These 6 completed Reaper mouselings wrap up my collection of pewter mice.

I've had these Warhammer/Mordheim miniatures form Games Workshop in my collection forever. 

My only attempt at themed basing. Sure it's just a bunch of seashells on a blue base, but it works for me.

*     *     *

So in summary this challenge helped me achieve three goals: 

First, it knocked out a whole ton of my unpainted collection. But after more miniature shopping, I now have another 50 or so figures that need to be completed, along with a crypt. But that's the thing with miniature painting: we're never truly finished. 

Second, it got me blogging again. Not just a post every month or so, but seriously blogging. These short posts were fairly easy, and I enjoyed the dialogue with all of you as you took your own journeys towards your #30Days30Miniatures challenges. I'm hoping to keep this up, both the blogging and the painting.

Third and finally, it got my mind off of a very tough time in my life. Painting gave me a goal. It gave me peace. It gave me focus. It gave me a sort of "geek zen." 

I truly hope that all of you continue to enjoy your own miniature painting challenges, whether or not you're on the goal towards completing 30 miniatures, or if you are just looking to knock our one super detailed figure. I can't wait to share more snakemen with you, but I'm taking at least a week off. Besides I need a new brush.

Until then, happy painting!

#30Days46Miniatures

#30Days30Miniatures - Day 29

I don't even know what my total miniature count is at this point. And can I count lids for sarcophagi and coffins, or are those part of the main piece? What are the rules? Why did I start this challenge in the first place?

Enough questions, time to look at this morning's work. 

Since I am busy planning my #GenCant events, I only painted for about an hour. I finished my second Warhammer Imperial crossbowman, as well as Reaper Bones coffin. Since yinz said you enjoyed yesterday's diorama, I did another today. 

Oh look, twins! 

#30Days30Miniatures - Day 28

On the 28th day of #30Days30Miniatures I got around to painting another Warhammer Fantasy mini that's been sitting unpainted in my collection for close to eighteen years. I can't remember who this guy is, or what set he's from, but I remember purchasing him for my Mordheim gaming. 

So to celebrate, I sent him home and took his "cover shot" right in the City of the Damned! I also painted a small sarcophagus, in honor of that big creepy one that just got unearthed. 

The tough part about this crossbowman is how tight he's clinging that bow to his chest. 

Less of an issue with his back though.

Even though I only finished a couple of these miniatures today, I was also working on the crossbowman's partner, a pumpkin headed dude, a coffin with a skeleton in it, and the very first of my Frostgrave Ghost Archipelago snake men. Also played around more with the Citadel Shades, an still believe that they are way too thin for my taste.

In other #30Days30Miniatures news, I can't fit anymore completed miniatures on the first display, so I had to move over to a secondary display. Winning!

Show me your miniatures! 

#30Days30Miniatures - Day 27

All hail the Bird Wizard!

This Dark Sword Miniatures Bird Wizard guy is from the Tony DiTerlizzi collection, and looks absolutely fantastic. Again, my crappy photography just doesn't do him justice. 

Not quite sure what kind of bird he is, my ornithology is kinda crappy.

I also finished another barrel of beer, because its Friday, and that's just how my week is going.

Day 27... only four days to go!

#30Days30Miniatures - Day 26

Just a quick morning painting before heading off to work. More wood. 

#30Days30Miniatures - Day 25

Another day traveling for work, back in good old Pittsburgh!

Since my mother-in-law is letting me stay at her house again, I was able to get some painting done while on the road. Granted, it's not great painting, and the pictures really don't come out that well, but they are proof of my continued adherence to the #30Day30Miniatures challenge.

For tonight's offering, I give you wood. Lots of wood. I finished a beer barrel, a regular barrel, and a box. 

Tomorrow morning I plan on painting more of the same. Super exciting!

#30Days30Miniatures - Day 24

This was the first day that the #30Days30Miniatures challenge has felt like a chore. I blame myself, however, for not setting myself up for success. I shouldn't have tried to complete two miniatures yesterday, but instead should've just wrapped up one, got one close to completion, and focused on some of my miniatures that were in process.

Finding time to paint each evening hasn't been too terribly difficult, but the goal of completing a miniature each night can be a bit of a stretch. To hit my mark, I need to go into each painting session with one of the miniatures already washed, so that I can allow proper time to dry before highlighting. But tonight I had nothing anywhere near that point. So in the middle of painting I took a half hour break, and came back to it afterwards. 

Painting miniatures became my whole evening.

For what its worth, I don't think these pictures do Veskit, Clan Eshin Executioner from Mordheim, proper justice. I was tinkering around with brighter coloring, since most of my Skaven are dark and ominous looking. Why not change things up? 

Trying something different, I went with one of Games Workshop's newer "shades" instead of the brown or black ink that I typically use for my washes. Wasn't thrilled. I have the sepia shade, and while it looked okay at first, it was just too thin for my taste. I ended up adding some brown ink and trying again.

So, adequate finish for a detail heavy skaven. I'm fine with this one. I can live with it. 

#30Days30Miniatures - Day 23

Another couple miniatures completed for the #30Days30Miniatures challenge! A Reaper Bones skeletal/lich lord and a Reaper (pewter) Mouseling Bard. These mark my 33rd and 34th offerings to date. I didn't plan to wrap up both of these tonight, but I was a lot closer than I expected, so I thought "why not?" 

The Mouseling Bard was super, super easy to paint, especially since it didn't have any eyes to worry about!

I made the last minute decision to add some orange to the edges of the bard's shirt. Glad I did, as it added a fun little tone to what was originally a drab shirt. And what bard could be wearing a drab shirt!?

The skeletal lich lord dude was a fun paint as well. He's the main villain who will face off against my barbarian painted last week, at least that's the plan. Lots of red with this one, even on the end of the mace, as I tried to give it a bit of a glowing look. 

Another fun cloak to paint.

Let's see what you've got! 

#30Days30Miniatures - Day 22

For the record, as of today I've finished 32 miniatures. BOO YAH!

Just a light painting day today for #30Days30Miniatures. I had a Road Crew event for Dungeon Crawl Classics at the Games Keep in West Chester, PA, and needed some time to prep for my event. So after making breakfast this morning, I sat down with the intention of just wrapping up a single miniature.

Since my Reaper Mouseling Pirate was so close to completion, that's the direction I went with. Just needed to do a bit of dry brushing and then detailing of his features. Unfortunately his peg leg seems so low to the ground that I didn't want to detail any of it. I may go in there at some point with a different brush and make it more obvious later. 

But for now, this is what I got!

Show me what YOU got!

#30Days30Miniatures - Day 21

Behold Thoraxis! Mightiest of barbarian warriors! Greatest swordsman who has ever set foot in the city of Felstad, bravest pirate who has ever sailed the Ghost Archipelago, and finest hero of Tristram.

When I saw this Reaper Bones miniature at Phantom Games last week, I just had to have it. For a couple years now I've been playing Diablo 3 on Xbox with my three kiddos. My character is Thoraxis the Barbarian. This miniature may not look quite like the one in the video game, but close enough. 

So much fun to paint!

The gallows is also a Reaper Bones piece of terrain. Super easy to paint, and just a great piece for the table. 

Overall a very successful painting experience this morning. I hope yours has been as well!

#30Days30Miniatures - Day 20

After last night's rather somber #30Days30Miniatures post, tonight I decided to just stick to a simple Reaper Bones donkey. 

No joke... I painted a donkey. 

Not the most exciting miniatures I've ever painted, but I figure that he'd have his use at the table. I really like all the gear he has on his back too! That's a lot of swag for a cute little guy to be carrying around.

#DonkeySwag

Aside from the donkey, I also did a bit of work on my Reaper Bones barbarian and gallows. I almost did something with my Reaper mouseling pirate, but decided to hold off. Dinner was ready.

#30Days30Miniatures - Day 19

My worst day of homesickness since our move hit me today. This Saturday will mark a month since we showed up on the other side of Pennsylvania. For the first couple of weeks we were so busy getting things unpacked, that it just felt like some kind of weird vacation. It didn't feel like we were going to be here permanently. It was just like being at one of the Disney resorts. It was Old Key West, and we were here on an extended vacation.

I think this week it hit me that I wasn't going home. 

So I painted.

I really didn't feel like finishing anything tonight. I had to work late (I always have to work late now), and the wife, kids, and grandparents went to a local park to watch a band play. I wasn't done with work emails until close to 8pm, and the family wasn't expected for a bit longer. 

I started with a pair of undead zombie wolves. I figured that they were close to being finished, so I could wrap them up fairly quickly with another few purple and magenta layers & washes, before doing a white dry brushing over the top. They turned out well, and I think they'll be great adversaries in the frozen wastes of Frostgrave.

But I still wanted to keep painting.

I painted a lich king, some mouselings, a donkey, a Skaven assassin, a pair of wizards. 

I thought a lot, during the few hours I had by myself. About my old house, my friends still back on the other side of the state, the stories we didn't get to tell. 

Our Friday friends & family Chained Coffin campaign that we weren't able to finish kept popping into my head. 

I thought about all my favorite people and places in the world, now so far away. Phantom Games for our Sunday gaming with DCCRPG Pittsburgh. 

The Norwin Game Knights... the club that our family built from the ground up over four and a half years. 

Our living room & dining room, crammed with so many friends that we could barely move. 

I thought about all the people and places that were a little bit of a drive away, but could reach so easily. 4, 6, and 8 hour drives are now 5 hours longer. 

I thought about spending hours painting in December as we mulled over the impending decision about whether to stay in Pittsburgh or move. 

That was my night. 

It's been many of the nights since I've been sitting quietly painting these last couple of weeks. Maybe by the end I'll have figured out some kind of lesson in all of this. Some kind of awesome, "zen truth." The key to the universe. 

Or maybe I'll just have finished a lot of miniatures.