A few weeks back I was asked if I was able to paint up a small set of figures from Bad Squiddo Games, and I was happy to accept. Initially I had another commission lined-up, but while that was being confirmed, I had some time spare to squeeze them in. Of course, it's always a pleasure to paint anything from Badsquiddo; as well as having a nice range of genres their models have plenty of character to them, making it a breeze to let your painting creativity loose - I've long been a fan of Badsquiddo's Action Heroines duo; simple figures but brilliantly blank canvases!   Anyway. I recieved a pack of Zombie Shieldmaidens and Amazon Elite guard. Nice extremes. Grand and Grim.   Nothing too over-the-top for the Amazons; sticking to a bronze with a muted patina for the armor and plain colours for the tunics. I did, however, want to break-up that bronze a little, so made some of the details on the shin-guards and belt into turquoise gems.   The zombies were more of a chall...

  A new year and - in a couple of ways - a new way of assessing and doing things for me. In a personal sense its been the end of my first completely full year of being sober. It's not been pleseant or easy, but the want for alcohol in general as well as while painting is slowly waining. Part of its effect was how far behind it put me with painting both stuff to go on my shop and completing commissions. I found it way too easy to accept them, but became overwhelmed by them as I fell further and further behind. But, with a slightly clearer mind, I've been working on speeding up my painting and processing, without (hopefully) dropping the general quality of the work. This brings me nicely onto what I've been doing of late. As usual, I haven't been updating the blog as regularly as I should have - although I have been posting stuff on both my Instagram and Facebook pages, so I've not been fully off-radar.  Regarding stuff done , I painted and scratch-built a selection...

A selection of finished figures ... From Hasslefree Miniatures and Bad Squiddo Games, I did some very lightweight conversions to all of them. The main model is the beautiful Lilith sculpt by Kev White at Hasslefree; £15 but well worth it. I made a basic base for her using a few pieces of burnt coal from the garden and used some DAS clay for the lava. A few scattered bones added to the ominous setting for her and, as it turned out, I received a freebie skull with my Bad Squiddo order, and added that as an additional detail. Speaking of Squiddo, as well as purchasing a pack of Feudal Japan Widows, I got another pack of my favourite Bad Squiddo sets - Modern Action Heronines. Love these two, and, having painted a few set of them, wanted to do something a little different with them, so gave one a hair-cut and removed the top off the other - I know, I know ... but, in my defense, I had intended to just lengthen her hair, but couldn't find any spare Greenstuff putty, so fell back on taki...

I’m done with making promises about posting here. I never seem to be able to stay on point with writing anything that maybe of interest to anyone who might stumble on it. But, given such oddly shitty times, I’m posting something. A long process (long from delays of my own creation) of completing a couple of commissions has been compounded by the muddy waters that the Covid virus has been causing. Again, not an excuse, but a far ole chunk of the blame. Regardless, I have been reasonably pleased with how most of them have been turning out. The toughest part of painting commissions – for me anyway – tends to be repetition. Sometimes having to paint the same or very similar figures back-to-back can get tedious. And while I’ve tried a few methods for elevating the problem, I found that simply sticking to one figure at a time helps. Not the ideal solution, maybe, but not bad. Luckily though, I’m currently working through a selection of figures with some beautiful variation: A few ...

I have finished models to show and some old projects that have - in best zombie traditions, given the time of year - risen from the grave. Or, in this case, risen from the back of the painting desk and nearby shelves. To start with, I finished a second set of SAGA Shield-maidens and Villagers from Stronghold Terrain, plus one of two Frost Giants from the Conan boardgame by Monolith. The Giants are part of the expansion set, Nordheim. As you can see from the photos, both are the same, but I decided to make them differ, giving one an obvious Celtic feel and the other a more traditional cooler, frostier scheme. The SAGA Shield-maidens and Villagers will soon be joined by a selection of character figures - also from Stronghold Terrain. The two I've nearly done are Harald and Halfdan, but I'll be making a start on a number of others soon ... The Wanderer, Ivan, Ubbe Ragnarsson. As well as the above, I have had a tidy-up of the painting desk and its surroun...