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Wonderful news! Well done, well deserved and congratulations!

A truly unique piece, not just for the skill level in construction and paint, but for the highly imaginative concept behind the theme.

Rock on!

Congratulations Ezki! I think all of us are less surprised than you are.

What an awesome idea and brilliant execution of the piece! Kudos

looking at this blog further, consider me a TILAAJA - thx!

Fantastic work on the diorama! A joy to behold.

Congratulations Ezki.

Exalted, for the commentary as much as the figures and diorama.

Cheers,

CB

Congrats Ezki, thoroughly well deserved and perfect for the theme. Great seeing the old minis take centre stage as it were. It was cool seeing the (rapid) development of the piece, really excellent work

I echo your sentiments on the community here in the P&M corner of dakka. A lovely and inspiring bunch.

Well, well, well...

Three cheers! Congratulations, Ezki! And great appreciation for the kind words and introspection. A lot to love in that post.

First of all: sorry it took me a while to get back.
Been hard to find the time to write and I did not want to post without some new pictures!

Meer_Cat wrote:Wonderful news! Well done, well deserved and congratulations!

A truly unique piece, not just for the skill level in construction and paint, but for the highly imaginative concept behind the theme.

Rock on!

Thank you Meer_Cat! Got a bit lucky with the idea, as I rarely figure out anything that's unique haha.

Syro_ wrote:Congratulations Ezki! I think all of us are less surprised than you are.

Thanks Syro! If I'm being honest, the "theme price" was a bit expected, as there were little to no themed works. But the first price still baffles me

tauist wrote:What an awesome idea and brilliant execution of the piece! Kudos

looking at this blog further, consider me a TILAAJA - thx!

Kiitos paljon! Glad you liked the idea

bbb wrote:Fantastic work on the diorama! A joy to behold.

Thank you bbb!

Captain Brown wrote:Congratulations Ezki.

Exalted, for the commentary as much as the figures and diorama.

Cheers,

CB

Highly appreciated, Captain!

gobert wrote:Congrats Ezki, thoroughly well deserved and perfect for the theme. Great seeing the old minis take centre stage as it were. It was cool seeing the (rapid) development of the piece, really excellent work

I echo your sentiments on the community here in the P&M corner of dakka. A lovely and inspiring bunch.

Thank you very much gobert! The old minis definitely deserved a better place than the "trash pile" that is my hobby cabinet.
It was quite rapid indeed. Made a promise to myself that I would not try to build a similar thing in such a tight schedule in the future.
It will be left to be seen if I'll manage to hold that promise!

youwashock wrote:Well, well, well...

Three cheers! Congratulations, Ezki! And great appreciation for the kind words and introspection. A lot to love in that post.

Thank you very much youwashock!



Since building the diorama, I have managed to paint only one model.
Before we go to that, I wanted to post a new picture of the Canoness Veridyan with the new base, which I built sometime in the summer.

Looks quite small due to the lack of cropping, so I advice checking it in the gallery.

It's a bit more detailed than last time. And a lot more skulls. Gotta have skulls.


Then to the main event.
I found this lovely "Flower Beholder" miniature some time ago from Myminifactory. It is sculpted by Galaad Miniatures.
As I love Beholders and all the different variations (not forgetting spectators!), I immediately had to have the model.
Bought the STL and had a friend print it to me. Then it gathered dust for almost a year.

During the Ropecon event I had the opportunity to test Scale75 paints, which I ended up liking quite a bit.
I bought a dozen or so of them to test them out some more. I thought that a colorful creature like this would be a great test subject.

Without further delay, here it is:



The brown body is painted with Citadel paints, as I had worked a bit on this before the event.
Everything else is painted using Scale75 fantasy range. All tones are mixed from different colors, except black and white of course.

Made a couple of Greenstuff mushrooms for the base. Without sculpting tools it was a bit harder than I would have imagined haha.
The flight stand was covered with a "shrubbery".


I also played with water effects a bit.


Sculpted a small indentation to the ground, which was filled with UV resin.
I colored the resin with a drop of blue ink, but after pouring it I realized it was way too saturated. Should have gone a lot easier with the color.
The "current" is done with Greenstuff world's "Splash Gel".

All in all it was a really fun project! Now I just have to write a small D&D adventure to run this in an encounter!

After painting the Beholder I was full of "painting energy" and different ideas, but for some reason that did not last long.
I tried to psyche myself up to practice NMM on a dwarf paladin model, but three white lines was all I managed in a week.

Decided to clear my hobby desk of "queued" projects and instead followed my erratic mind to all new and shiny things.
So couple of days ago, I went full on to build mode!
More on that a bit later.

Thanks for looking!

A shrubbery! It is a good shrubbery, but The Knights who ‘til recently said ‘Ni’ will be demanding another!

Excellent work on the beholder, those are some pretty flowers and a lovely bark. I think the blue on the stream just enhances its depth. Looking forward to seeing what you have on the building table

And not too expensive...

Stupendous model and paintjob. Reminds me of some of the Fightin' Fungi minis.

The Canoness is looking good on her spiffed-up base.

Really nice work Ezki.

Cheers,

CB

Fantastic work on the beholder, looks as such a great mini to paint too. The base is spot on.

Thanks guys!

gobert wrote:A shrubbery! It is a good shrubbery, but The Knights who ‘til recently said ‘Ni’ will be demanding another!

Excellent work on the beholder, those are some pretty flowers and a lovely bark. I think the blue on the stream just enhances its depth. Looking forward to seeing what you have on the building table

"Then, you must place it here beside this shrubbery only slightly higher so the two form a path..."
Thank you gobert! Now that my eyes have used to the blue for a while, I think I agree.

youwashock wrote:And not too expensive...

Stupendous model and paintjob. Reminds me of some of the Fightin' Fungi minis.

The Canoness is looking good on her spiffed-up base.

Never heard of Fightin' Fungi. Had to check them out and now I want some.
Thank you!


It has become a habit of mine to take rather long between posts. Decided not to fret about it too much, besides better late than never.


Anyway, I mentioned I was doing some miniature building. That I indeed have done.
Some of you might remember, how I've talked about getting some Battle Sisters at some point.
I have dreamt of a small force since I started 40k, but the metallic models were way out of my budget back then.
And when they released the plastic range, I had too many other projects going on. Well today, I still do have too many projects going on, but I thought "heck it I really want a box".
So I bought one.

Again, sorry in advance for the Instagram style vertical photos. I shall repent.

Here's the bunch. It's not visible from the mass of grey, but I experimented with Escher heads on a couple of them.


They were surprisingly laborious to build. So many small bits and details, but quite a bit of variation between the models.
I of course had to do some converting! Not sure if I'm going to build a small playable army yet, but I want to at least paint a small force for display purposes.

I'm aware that a sister squad cannot have a sniper. But I thought that I needed one.


Stole the flamer bits from the Escher kit and made this one have a bit more attitude!


I got inspired by all the Escher bits I used, so built an Escher guardswoman. The parts are not glued on yet.
This is a concept build for a little project I have in mind, that involves Escher and the "new" Rogal Dorn Battle Tank.



Then... Then I heard something in the back of my mind. A faint, ever so inviting voice whispered to me.
I tried to ignore it, yet it grew stronger and stronger the more I avoided it. The sweet sweet voice of chaos was planting it's ideas in my head.
Forgive me Emperor, for I have committed the cardinal sin.





Two variations for you my Dark Prince.
Considering the bolter. Don't want to let the false emperor's filth too close after all.
However, the hand looks cool and would allow to hear the screams better...


Ahem, where was I. Ah yeas, sisters.

Here's a concept for the paint scheme.


I pondered whether I should do the classical black armor, or go with a white one. I really like both of them, especially in the artworks.
Veered towards the latter, as I don't yet have any white colored armies and It would prove a nice challenge.
Regarding the loincloth, I'm not sure if the magenta should be on the outside or the inside. Will have to experiment a bit.


For the last two months I have not painted much for two reasons.
First of all, I got so pumped and inspired after the Role Playing Convention and painting the Beholder, that I started hoarding projects. Then I felt a bit overwhelmed.
I tried to "force myself" to practice NMM on a miniature I did not feel like painting. Huge mistake.

The other reason is Baldur's Gate 3. Darn you why do you have to be sooo goooood.

My table started to look like this.
I admit it's not bad per se, but all of these were the projects that "I'm going to paint two weeks ago".


Most keen eyed of you will notice, that I got some of the Bloodborne boardgame miniatures and the ever so lovely "Belladonna" miniature from Forge World.
More on those sometime in the future.

I had to clear my desk a bit and get back to it with baby steps. Decided to try the "slapchop" technique.
In short it means you prime the models black, dry brush some greys and whites and slap some contrast paints on them.
Tried this during a long and boring remote meeting and got something done. Felt like a small victory after a long break.

This is nothing new. Happens every year at some point. Usually after the said convention.
Not sure how this translates in English, but it's all part of the "pain of creation" ("luomisen tuska").

I don't have pictures of the finished "Slapchopped" models yet, as I have some of them at home and some at our summer cabin due to recent D&D games.
Here's a little teaser taken during one of the remote meetings:



Quite a bit of stuff for this post.
I'll get back with the slapchopped models hopefully sooner rather than later.

Thank you for reading and see you again!

Slapchop...

Hate the name, love the results. Glad you are liking it, because it can really help you turn out minis fast that still look quite cool.

Quite a post. Love the Sisters, especially the sniper and the ones with Escher bits. I still have to build the one box I bought to keep Noctis company. I will have to keep the Escher in mind.

youwashock wrote:Slapchop...

Hate the name, love the results. Glad you are liking it, because it can really help you turn out minis fast that still look quite cool.

Quite a post. Love the Sisters, especially the sniper and the ones with Escher bits. I still have to build the one box I bought to keep Noctis company. I will have to keep the Escher in mind.

Agreed, the term is does not sound very appealing. Just something I stole from certain content creators.
The results however are quite nice. Thanks for the kind words!


Wrapping up a few more things I've been doing over the last two weeks:

Here's the D&D minis I promised to show.
The tieflings on the right and the wizard were painted pretty much only using contrast paints over "dry brushed zenithal basecoat".
The purple and green tones were mixed, as I don't own the paints.


One of the tieflin's is still missing a base.


The Paladin on the left and the Mimic were enchanced with some highlights and othe shenanigans a bit.


I'm a bit late to the bandwagon, but I'm really starting to like these contrast paints.
Getting these done rather quickly gave me a feeling of accomplishing something and a new boost to this whole painting thing.
Using the newfound motivation, I packed up some of my stuff and headed to the family summer cabin for a small hobby / wood chopping related "getaway".

The weather was nice and the surroundings were atmospheric. Although the wooden bench did allow only a couple of hours of painting before a break.



Being the "spooky season" and all, I decided to finally paint one of the classic minis I bought for Mordheim back in the day: Heinrich Kemmler.

Still a bit in the works, but getting there.



What, two posts within a few days?
Hopefully the pictures were not too big on those reading on mobile devices. Not sure how they are scaled nowadays.

Thanks for looking!

The figures are fantastic- always a pleasure to look in and ee what new thing there is to see.

If have to admit, the detail and coloring on the dog in the outdoorsy diorama are so incredible- almost life-like!

Rock on!

Beautiful minis and a beautiful work space. I'm very envious.

Back with a bang Ezki! Love the Dark Sister, the hand is definitely cooler, but a Bolter would be more effective. The slapchopped minis look great, if it gets minis painted quickly and effectively I can get over the name! . Was Heinrich chopped too?

Meer_Cat wrote:The figures are fantastic- always a pleasure to look in and ee what new thing there is to see.

If have to admit, the detail and coloring on the dog in the outdoorsy diorama are so incredible- almost life-like!

Rock on!

Thank you for the kind words Meer_cat!

Dry brushing helps with the dog's fur

Tommygun1918 wrote:Beautiful minis and a beautiful work space. I'm very envious.

Thank you! The workspace at the cottage looks cool for sure, but is not very good for the neck haha.

gobert wrote:Back with a bang Ezki! Love the Dark Sister, the hand is definitely cooler, but a Bolter would be more effective. The slapchopped minis look great, if it gets minis painted quickly and effectively I can get over the name! . Was Heinrich chopped too?

Cheers gobert! I agree, whatever gets minis on the table.
Heinrich was not "chopped", but I used a lot of stippling to get some texture on the clothes.


Got Heinrich finished just before the painting challenge!




And in his natural habitat.


He was a lot of fun to paint.
Usually I dislike painting fully black clothes, as I sometimes find the highlight process tedious. Stippling made that a lot more manageable.
Not using pure black helps too.


I refused to admit that the Spooktober was over, so I started working on a witch miniature from Darksword Miniatures.
I enjoyed the stippling technique so much, that I applied it to her clothes as well.

Hat not glued on yet.


The downside is that this a metal miniature.
I had forgotten how horrible it is to build them.


Until next time!

The Lichemaster looks fantastic. Excellent old mini. I am liking the new witch, too. Your painting getaway looks positively idyllic.

Thanks youwashock!


The Witch is finally done!

Painting the model was a lot of fun, but building it not so much.
During the process I remembered why I dislike metal miniatures so much.

While removing her from the temporary base, I bent one of the legs a bit and chipped away some paint.
Another small dents also appeared during the final steps. Had to take a break or two before throwing the whole thing out of the window


Here she is:


Thanks for looking!

Nicely done! That's a cool little vignette. Glad you weathered the metal woes.

Is the witch about to murder that Jack O'Lantern dude?

You did some great work on the model. I really like the hair. Regarding metal models: I started on metals, and I still prefer metal over resin.

Great work on Heinrich, the texture for the stippling looks amazing. The witch looks great too, really cool little diorama… also I was wondering what happened to her flat head in the first pic until I saw your comment! . The damaged bit seem to have recovered well too

youwashock wrote:Nicely done! That's a cool little vignette. Glad you weathered the metal woes.

Thanks youwashock! Really fell in love with the model when I saw it in the webstore.

JoshInJapan wrote:Is the witch about to murder that Jack O'Lantern dude?

You did some great work on the model. I really like the hair. Regarding metal models: I started on metals, and I still prefer metal over resin.

Oh no no, I think she just admires her work after carving the face and giving it "life"

I can respect that. There are definite downsides to resin. I think me disliking metal minis relates mostly to the lack of experience and wrong techniques.

gobert wrote:Great work on Heinrich, the texture for the stippling looks amazing. The witch looks great too, really cool little diorama… also I was wondering what happened to her flat head in the first pic until I saw your comment! . The damaged bit seem to have recovered well too

Thank you gobert. Glad the stippling effect worked well enough.
Haha, she indeed looked a bit funny without the hat!

Ezki,

Nice work on the witch and Heinrich.

Cheers,

CB

Thank you Captain!


I've been playing Baldur's Gate 3 over the last few months quite a bit. So much in fact, that the game has infiltrated my painting desk.

I asked a friend to print me a cool Karlach miniature. I found the STL in Cults3D after seeing a painted version of the same model in Reddit.

Got it two days ago. Fresh from the printer with a bunch of supports still attached.


This is my first larger scale miniature (~54mm), so I was too excited to start working on it and don't have many progress pictures between then and now.
At first I was a bit afraid of all the large surfaces. Still am a bit. But you cannot learn new things without stepping out of your comfort zone.

I decided to base coat the skin and clothes using an airbrush.
Did some basic highlights for the skin, even though most of the chest will be covered with the chest armor.
The chest and armor was painted separately, as the armor is rather easy to remove and attach. Makes painting all the details a lot easier.

Here's the head.
The hair is not finished and the face itself needs just a bit more contrast.
The eyes took a long time and half a dozen retries. Had to take a break in between to cool off a bit haha.




And the rest of the model from last night. Still needs some work.

First image is NSFW and in spoilers, as it shows the bare chest.


With the armor on.



Trying to get it done for this month's dakka challenge, but not sure if I manage before the deadline. No pressure though, it'll be done when it's done.
Anyway, having a lot of fun with this!


In other news, I took part in the "Miniature Painting Open 2023" online contest: https://miniaturepaintingopen.co.uk/
Submitted five entries to different categories under the "Standard" format

Many cool pieces in the online gallery!
My entries can be found easiest by searching "Tarkamo". They are all my old works, which I have posted here and in the Dakka gallery as well

Thanks for looking!

Wow. She's looking great. Awesome model. Good luck finishing and good luck in the other comp!

Thanks youwashock!


Bam, she is finished.
It was quite the run, but managed to get her done before the deadline (both the dakka monthly challenge and MPO 2023).




This project definitely had it's challenges, even if the usual problems with resin prints are not counted (breaking pieces, smoothing out the textures etc.).
The large even surfaces for example felt very scary at first. The sheer amount of detail and different textures provided additional challenges to overcome.

I also struggled with the eyes quite a bit. Just when I thought I got them about right, my girlfriend offered her harsh judgment: "they look weird" or "now they look too uneven".
After maybe the 8th attempt they were "hmm, guess they are alright" and I decided to call it before stacking too many layers of paint
She rarely sugar coats when I ask for feedback, which is quite helpful. But as she is not very "art oriented" and more "logical", I take her feedback with a grain of salt haha.
As a huge fan of the original character, she was however happy with the end result.

When it comes to practicing NMM, I'm still not very familiar how the light works with metallic objects. For example the axe's edge was clear enough, but especially the middle part proved a bit difficult. One can watch hundreds of reference pictures, but still not find the exact same shape. After consulting a few fellow painters at the Finnish mini painting discord and watching Vince Venturella's "Non-metallic metal axes" I got the most important tip: "don't sweat it too much" and decided to wing it.

There are a few things that could be fixed a bit of course, but regardless I'm actually really happy how this turned out.
Especially the axe and the weathered leather turned out quite well. NMM was something that felt too overwhelming, but I think I'm slowly getting the hang of it.
It's still slow as heck to paint, so not going to do that for tabletop miniatures.

In addition to this being the first large model, it's the first actual step towards display painting.
This does not mean that I will venture away from tabletop miniatures or start painting purely display pieces, but I will definitely broaden my horizons in the future!

Thank you for looking!

Wow! Beautiful painting, so many great textures, including her wonderful skin, face and hair. Props to the sculptor as well, this is the best Karlach STL I've seen, really well done.

Good luck in your contests! I'm sending a lot of love coming her way