I'm creating this post to separate my DM ramblings from my creative ideas, creations and paints. This post will contain most of my creations, reconstructed mini pics and images.
So tonight, I got some simple white rocks. I wanted something to add to my cold climate and snow areas. I thought I could do something with these, and they could work great for ice and snow terrain. So, I started playing around with them...............
They started like this (which was fine, but I needed an "ICIER" feel:
My 1st step was to add some silver shading to make them "shimmer".
Next, ice has a light blue shimmer, so I added a very faint blue to each.
Then, I added the first gloss coat to make them look shiny and "cold"
And now with gloss and a bit more color......
After, drying I subdued some of the gloss. Yes, I know they don't look as good as above but it's a process....
This is where I am with the watery rocks. I'm thinking of adding some silvery highlights to them next.
A couple of pics of minis I bought and repainted to look better. These are both gargantuan sized minis with a couple of medium and one large floating around in the bottom pic.
This idea may turn out to be a BIG nothing, but I thought I'd give it a try as I had these stress balls which were going in the garbage. I thought maybe I can do something with them. They are orange and pink so that's a garish start. So, the first thing I did was base them and here is the pic. Look nice as an enemy, don't they! 😁
Next, I painted them a base black as from there you can go in many different paint directions. They look blotchy but that will be gone when dry and worked on.
Here is one dry. You can see the difference. The slight imperfections are irrelevant at this point as there will be more paint added to the orbs. What that is, is yet undecided?
So, here I add some color.
The process continues. Yes, the color looks garish and bright, but it will get where I want it (blood like so I made the paint very thick),
First was my continued obsession with buying, painting and reconfiguring minis. I have a horde of minis on my desk from heroclix and other sources outside of D&D and Pathfinder. many of these minis need a bit of touch up for them to be acceptable. This could be slicing off guns and lazers and repalcing them with medieval weapons, repainting because the original paint was horrid or even slicing off a head and replacing it with some thing else. I've even added arms, wings, horns or other things to spice up a mini which just wasn't worthy for out table-top.
More important than the first was my need to relook at Desicus's stat sheet and update where necessary. He continues to gain xp's as you do and maybe at a faster pace with him doing the work for his beloved and betrothed. Hmmmm?
I then worked on some already prepared future missions which are planned but I continue to adapt and modify them as time goes on. These could be personal creations or published modules but I'm leaning heavily towards published modules moving forward. You may have had enough of the DM's dastardly offerings for now.
Looked over the next "Game" that you players will compete in. It's been done for many, many months but I'm waiting to start it when I feel the urge. For now, it's waiting and as time goes on, I have fun reading it over and modifying it for what I hope is the better.
I hope you know how important the boards are to me and my enjoyment with the game. I love seeing and reading your posts. Really gives me insight into your thoughts as players and characters. With that being said I also hope you enjoy reading my ramblings and if you do here are 2,000 xp's if you text, email or say to me in game "DM Ramblings"!
My mini collection continues to grow to an enormous record setting level amongst collectors. Remember these are yours if ya' want when I'm gone but Justin gets first dibs 😂. As of today, I have 6495 distinct minis. However, as I've said before I have many of these minis in multiples of 30, 20, 15, 10 or numbers in between.
So, I'd say at a low estimate I have 20,000 minis and at a high around 27,000. My calculations always come out different and in truth how accurate this # guess is I'll never know. However, my mini collection is certainly w/o question in the 5 digits!
It is really somewhat insane but quite fun nonetheless!
At times I have various "bits" from pervious mini work or simply sprues from buying minis. This is garbage but I like to see what I can do and transform it into something which might work. Many times, it doesn't, but sometimes it does. I think this scrap of junk could work for something (some slime or ooze I guess)?
This post is not about being creative but doing the tiresome chore of putting away the minis that were used for the Night Crawler Estate adventure. There were quite a few but I'm, happy to say they are all away with none missing!
The next BIG CHORE is pulling out the minis for the next BIG adventure which has way more minis than the Night Crawler Estate adventure. I'll get to that tomorrow I hope but, in the meantime, there are other adventures that may need your attention first.
Amazon gave us the day off tomorrow with pay! Amazing. They are doing maintenance in the building so for the first time in 3 years I got a free day off gifted by Amazon! WOW! Anyways with my day off I decided to work on a mission dealing with the Underdark. Some of you may love this location while others may hate it. Regardless I promise you it will enlighten all of your adventurous needs.
Personally, I love the Underdark and it's been so long since I've had a group adventure in it for an extended period of time. I also remember that there will only be 2 at the game next week! Well, I have something special in store for the two of you! Good or bad is undetermined although I'll be honest, I usually sway the good for a small player game at about 80% in your favor.
And just for the hell of it here are some plastic toy butterflies which I painted to make much more (both front and back). I think they're quite pretty so must be harmless!
They're original look was something like these spiders (below - which will be painted and upgraded). However, they were plain white plastic unlike these black. I forgot to take a picture at the start but at least this gives you an idea of what the plastic toys look like when bought! One color plastic.
Which of the 3 Butterfly paints you like best for 500 XP? Left, Center, Right?
I've mentioned here on the boards that I've been working on a colossal mission. Tonight, it has finally been completed with its final read. When I say colossal, I mean that literally in # of pages. The mission and monster stat sheets together equal 173 pages! It includes 98 different monsters/NPC's which totals about 400 minis. I certainly went overboard writing this, but it was fun and captivating, so it just kept going.
Tremendous diversity is needed in this mission using various skills. As you can see by the # of minis there are hundreds of potential battles ranging from easy to exceptionally dangerous and epic!
I'm a bit overwhelmed at the thought of pulling the minis as it will be a full night of work. When pulled there is NO WAY to avoid this journey 🤣! This is one that will be railroaded after all this work; however, I know you will enjoy it.
Besides the numerous creatures there are many lost relics and magic to be found. Creatures you've never seen or battled before will present themselves offering different challenges and mystery. This is the most comprehensive mission/adventure I've ever written. It could be an actual game world supplement if I worked for WotC as it is an entire world beneath the waves.
Here are a couple of pictures of the pages printed just as I ran out of ink! The first pic is the mission and monster stats stacked together. The 2nd picture is the monster stats. It is larger than the actual adventure write-up!
And here are some paints from mini purchases. I wanted some ghosts in numbers so bought these. My first step in painting was to simply add a gray overcoat.
Next, I added a dark wash to enter the crevices.
That's where I am as of now..................to be continued. Bed Time!
I've had one of a few next possible missions set for quite some time (besides minis pulled). However, one is pretty epic and massive. I've mentioned this before but wanted to say that I continue to explore ideas and add to its flavor. Tonight, I decided that this vast "area" would have some items of need. In other words, besides exploring, uncovering secrets, finding treasure, engaging in mysteries, battling wondrous monsters and much more I decided to add a "Need".
Exploration in of itself is awesome as long as the area is fun and interesting. However, adding a need and purpose adds so much more.
I totally agree, need, desire and purpose, are vital especially when trying to get the characters to move in that direction. Plus, they make that area have a such a great story or a mystery to have so much more depth.
In the process of making some plastic insect toys into something amazing and needed for the game. They've been based and now it is painting them to an acceptable standard. I've started on a few but there is a long way to go. Each was a one-color plastic toy but when done will be multi-colored as to their need with details, shading and eyes!
Here are some pics of things I picked up at Hobby Lobby this week. They just opened one on SI, so I was there in an instant! I think these scorpions look awesome and are as good if not better than D&D and Pathfinder minis. They weren't that cheap at $5.49 each but compared to a huge mini cost that is pretty good. Of course, I have to base them so that adds a cost but neither D&D nor Pathfinder have scorpion minis of this size. I added a medium mini in the pic for size comparison.
I also got a couple of other things. First is a bag full of cheap plastic insects. Pathfinder and D&D do not have a great insect diversity with minis, so I need to make my own oversized monstrous ones. This cheap bag will make some nice insect dangers when rebased and painted.
And finally, I bought these awesome looking dead, dry logs to add to terrain when needed.
Oh, on another note I bought these wooden blocks simply because I thought they were cool and figured I could do something with them painted. You have any ideas of color or shades they could be painted and what they could be used for? I love these so much I am tempted to buy 10 more sets if I can see a good reason!
They offered me some of my most enjoyable role playing, and they will be encountered again. I will wait for the right time and am very patient, but I never forget prominent NPC's like these. Do you recall what they are called or where they are from? Their name starts with an "S"! 🤓
First to guess right and post here on the boards gains 5,000 xp's as this may not be easy.
What the heck are these large disgusting looking things I bought and painted. A bit oversized on a large base but way too small for a huge. I think they look quite creepy for insects.
These things were really a garbage purchase. They were horrible pieces of rubbery junk. I informed the seller of my dissatisfaction and I'll see what happens.
They offered me a $2 refund. Better than nothing, I guess. I also realized grasshoppers often have black eyes, so I repainted them black. They are FAR from done as I need them to look much better for plastic rubbery toys. There will be some mutilation to the mini like slicing off some leg parts and repositioning the severed appendage to look right.
I've been working on a specific module to run for the last couple of weeks. The fun is it involves an old school prominent NPC that may need help. Additionally, it's a classic module rated the BEST EVER on many boards and gaming sites. I also think it is the BEST module ever written! This mission, if and when accepted is one that has an exceptionally high potential for a TPK. It includes an enemy that I do not want ever defeated unless I have no choice due to your actions. Some have expressed a great interest in this adventure and in time it will come to fruition. The group will have a choice to decline, but I doubt you will do to the mission, the individual involved and the one asking you to undertake it!
Of course who knows if this even hapens as you run your adventuring career!
sounds exciting you know the one sure hook for this group ... greed, greed is good especially for pirates and dwarves ... the paladin just hint that there is some evil at play ...lol
I received a bunch of unpainted minis today and started to work on a few. These arrived as gray plastic (color of the base) and the sculpt certainly looked like an earth elemental. However, I have enough earth elemental minis of all sizes, so I decided to make these Lava Stone Elementals. Now, that interests me!
Click on an image to enlarge it to see the details of what I'm speaking about on each step.
First, they're primed gray (priming is putting a paint coat on the mini so that the next paint steps adhere to the mini without flaking or chipping off down the line - an unprimed mini will eventually chip and flake).After primed a simple diluted red paint was applied (I dilute to about 30% paint to 70% water - it varies, and many people have different opinions on how diluted a paint should be - it's a personal painting preference).
I'm waiting for them to dry now and will add other details and shading afterwards. This type of creature doesn't need many paint steps (compared to a human or humanoid which have all sorts of little items, trinkets and weapons on them), but more than the first paint wash is without question needed. I'll update when the next steps are completed.
Next, you take any paint that has pooled on the base of the mini and spread it around so that you don't have any paint "clumps" on it. It's simply spreading the paint on the base. Keep in mind this color will not be the base color but when painting the mini itself a great deal of paint may drip on the base. You want to keep the base free from any paint clumps, so this is why this step is important and very, very easy.
This may not matter to many but to me it does. I need my mini base to be black not only on top but on the bottom as well. So here I painted the bottom gray bases black. Ah, the relief! The top base doesn't get painted black until the mini is completely painted.
EDIT: I LEFT OUT A CRITICAL PICTURE STEP - The addition of Black Thinned Paint (Wet Wash)! This is so important as it adds depth to all the crevices of the mini adding shadow. You simply take black paint, thin it to a watery consistency and then spread it accross the entire mini.
So, lets add some detail - TEETH! It's rare to ever use pure white for teeth on minis. A yellowed white is always best especially for monsters. For humans, elves, gnomes and dwarves you will certainly go with a much whiter coloration, but monsters and humanoids always look better with a slightly yellowed color. You can see that below.
This detail is almost always done in the end but sometimes I do it before that. The eyes! The first step is to put in a background eye color (sclera). Yes, typically it is white but for monsters I often use a variety of different colors. Here I've decided an off-red.
And here are the tiny black pupils added (hard to see thus the minor significance of this step for most minis besides unique ones). Black is most always used unless it is a humanoid or a monster you really want to add some detail to (a unique one - not a mass group). Otherwise, it's NOT worth the effort when you're painting minis for table-top game use.
For fun (isn't that what this is all about) I added some color to their fingernails. Maybe they're primadonnas!
When I feel pretty confident in the mini, I paint the base black. Shiny as they are not dry yet.
What? You thought it was done? No way. There is more and one thing is the "dry brush" after the mini is completely dry. Dry brushing is taking a fan brush and dipping it in white paint. After you must wipe the brush vigorously against a paper towel to get 90% of the paint off. You then very gently (this takes practice) brush the entire minis with the fan brush and white paint. This is a critical step as too much dry brushing will destroy the mini and your paint job. Start off so lightly as if you're barely touching the mini. Slowly continue to brush the fan brush across the entire mini until you feel it has the shading and look you want.
And my last step.............spray gloss. Some people don't do this as it adds a slight gloss to the mini which some people don't like. However, I DO LIKE IT. The importance is the gloss level. There various gloss levels available and after a bit of testing I found the one that works perfect with a gloss that is not too significant but adds some shine to the mini without it be glaring.
And here are the Lava Stone Elementals DONE! When I look at these little buggers on my desk, I think they can be fun in game!
Creative Juice Post #1
Who bought these cacti? I think John but please correct me if I'm wrong. I LOVE them.
They are great, and I think I painted them up nicely.
Creative Post #68
So tonight, I got some simple white rocks. I wanted something to add to my cold climate and snow areas. I thought I could do something with these, and they could work great for ice and snow terrain. So, I started playing around with them...............
They started like this (which was fine, but I needed an "ICIER" feel:
My 1st step was to add some silver shading to make them "shimmer".
Next, ice has a light blue shimmer, so I added a very faint blue to each.
Then, I added the first gloss coat to make them look shiny and "cold"
And now with gloss and a bit more color......
After, drying I subdued some of the gloss. Yes, I know they don't look as good as above but it's a process....
This is where I am with the watery rocks. I'm thinking of adding some silvery highlights to them next.
Creative Post #67
A couple of pics of minis I bought and repainted to look better. These are both gargantuan sized minis with a couple of medium and one large floating around in the bottom pic.
Creative Post #66
This idea may turn out to be a BIG nothing, but I thought I'd give it a try as I had these stress balls which were going in the garbage. I thought maybe I can do something with them. They are orange and pink so that's a garish start. So, the first thing I did was base them and here is the pic. Look nice as an enemy, don't they! 😁
Next, I painted them a base black as from there you can go in many different paint directions. They look blotchy but that will be gone when dry and worked on.
Here is one dry. You can see the difference. The slight imperfections are irrelevant at this point as there will be more paint added to the orbs. What that is, is yet undecided?
So, here I add some color.
The process continues. Yes, the color looks garish and bright, but it will get where I want it (blood like so I made the paint very thick),
Creative Post #65
Tonight, I continued a few projects.
First was my continued obsession with buying, painting and reconfiguring minis. I have a horde of minis on my desk from heroclix and other sources outside of D&D and Pathfinder. many of these minis need a bit of touch up for them to be acceptable. This could be slicing off guns and lazers and repalcing them with medieval weapons, repainting because the original paint was horrid or even slicing off a head and replacing it with some thing else. I've even added arms, wings, horns or other things to spice up a mini which just wasn't worthy for out table-top.
More important than the first was my need to relook at Desicus's stat sheet and update where necessary. He continues to gain xp's as you do and maybe at a faster pace with him doing the work for his beloved and betrothed. Hmmmm?
I then worked on some already prepared future missions which are planned but I continue to adapt and modify them as time goes on. These could be personal creations or published modules but I'm leaning heavily towards published modules moving forward. You may have had enough of the DM's dastardly offerings for now.
Looked over the next "Game" that you players will compete in. It's been done for many, many months but I'm waiting to start it when I feel the urge. For now, it's waiting and as time goes on, I have fun reading it over and modifying it for what I hope is the better.
I hope you know how important the boards are to me and my enjoyment with the game. I love seeing and reading your posts. Really gives me insight into your thoughts as players and characters. With that being said I also hope you enjoy reading my ramblings and if you do here are 2,000 xp's if you text, email or say to me in game "DM Ramblings"!
Creative Post #64
My mini collection continues to grow to an enormous record setting level amongst collectors. Remember these are yours if ya' want when I'm gone but Justin gets first dibs 😂. As of today, I have 6495 distinct minis. However, as I've said before I have many of these minis in multiples of 30, 20, 15, 10 or numbers in between.
So, I'd say at a low estimate I have 20,000 minis and at a high around 27,000. My calculations always come out different and in truth how accurate this # guess is I'll never know. However, my mini collection is certainly w/o question in the 5 digits!
It is really somewhat insane but quite fun nonetheless!
Creative Post #63
At times I have various "bits" from pervious mini work or simply sprues from buying minis. This is garbage but I like to see what I can do and transform it into something which might work. Many times, it doesn't, but sometimes it does. I think this scrap of junk could work for something (some slime or ooze I guess)?
Creative Post #62
This post is not about being creative but doing the tiresome chore of putting away the minis that were used for the Night Crawler Estate adventure. There were quite a few but I'm, happy to say they are all away with none missing!
The next BIG CHORE is pulling out the minis for the next BIG adventure which has way more minis than the Night Crawler Estate adventure. I'll get to that tomorrow I hope but, in the meantime, there are other adventures that may need your attention first.
Creative Post #61
Amazon gave us the day off tomorrow with pay! Amazing. They are doing maintenance in the building so for the first time in 3 years I got a free day off gifted by Amazon! WOW! Anyways with my day off I decided to work on a mission dealing with the Underdark. Some of you may love this location while others may hate it. Regardless I promise you it will enlighten all of your adventurous needs.
Personally, I love the Underdark and it's been so long since I've had a group adventure in it for an extended period of time. I also remember that there will only be 2 at the game next week! Well, I have something special in store for the two of you! Good or bad is undetermined although I'll be honest, I usually sway the good for a small player game at about 80% in your favor.
And just for the hell of it here are some plastic toy butterflies which I painted to make much more (both front and back). I think they're quite pretty so must be harmless!
They're original look was something like these spiders (below - which will be painted and upgraded). However, they were plain white plastic unlike these black. I forgot to take a picture at the start but at least this gives you an idea of what the plastic toys look like when bought! One color plastic.
Which of the 3 Butterfly paints you like best for 500 XP? Left, Center, Right?
Creative Post #60
I've mentioned here on the boards that I've been working on a colossal mission. Tonight, it has finally been completed with its final read. When I say colossal, I mean that literally in # of pages. The mission and monster stat sheets together equal 173 pages! It includes 98 different monsters/NPC's which totals about 400 minis. I certainly went overboard writing this, but it was fun and captivating, so it just kept going.
Tremendous diversity is needed in this mission using various skills. As you can see by the # of minis there are hundreds of potential battles ranging from easy to exceptionally dangerous and epic!
I'm a bit overwhelmed at the thought of pulling the minis as it will be a full night of work. When pulled there is NO WAY to avoid this journey 🤣! This is one that will be railroaded after all this work; however, I know you will enjoy it.
Besides the numerous creatures there are many lost relics and magic to be found. Creatures you've never seen or battled before will present themselves offering different challenges and mystery. This is the most comprehensive mission/adventure I've ever written. It could be an actual game world supplement if I worked for WotC as it is an entire world beneath the waves.
Here are a couple of pictures of the pages printed just as I ran out of ink! The first pic is the mission and monster stats stacked together. The 2nd picture is the monster stats. It is larger than the actual adventure write-up!
Creative Post #59
And here are some paints from mini purchases. I wanted some ghosts in numbers so bought these. My first step in painting was to simply add a gray overcoat.
Next, I added a dark wash to enter the crevices.
That's where I am as of now..................to be continued. Bed Time!
Creative Post #58
I've had one of a few next possible missions set for quite some time (besides minis pulled). However, one is pretty epic and massive. I've mentioned this before but wanted to say that I continue to explore ideas and add to its flavor. Tonight, I decided that this vast "area" would have some items of need. In other words, besides exploring, uncovering secrets, finding treasure, engaging in mysteries, battling wondrous monsters and much more I decided to add a "Need".
Exploration in of itself is awesome as long as the area is fun and interesting. However, adding a need and purpose adds so much more.
These will be amazing once you put your creative flair on them
Creative Post #57
In the process of making some plastic insect toys into something amazing and needed for the game. They've been based and now it is painting them to an acceptable standard. I've started on a few but there is a long way to go. Each was a one-color plastic toy but when done will be multi-colored as to their need with details, shading and eyes!
Creative Post #56
Here are some pics of things I picked up at Hobby Lobby this week. They just opened one on SI, so I was there in an instant! I think these scorpions look awesome and are as good if not better than D&D and Pathfinder minis. They weren't that cheap at $5.49 each but compared to a huge mini cost that is pretty good. Of course, I have to base them so that adds a cost but neither D&D nor Pathfinder have scorpion minis of this size. I added a medium mini in the pic for size comparison.
I also got a couple of other things. First is a bag full of cheap plastic insects. Pathfinder and D&D do not have a great insect diversity with minis, so I need to make my own oversized monstrous ones. This cheap bag will make some nice insect dangers when rebased and painted.
And finally, I bought these awesome looking dead, dry logs to add to terrain when needed.
Oh, on another note I bought these wooden blocks simply because I thought they were cool and figured I could do something with them painted. You have any ideas of color or shades they could be painted and what they could be used for? I love these so much I am tempted to buy 10 more sets if I can see a good reason!
Creative Post #55
Anybody remember these two "fellows"?
They offered me some of my most enjoyable role playing, and they will be encountered again. I will wait for the right time and am very patient, but I never forget prominent NPC's like these. Do you recall what they are called or where they are from? Their name starts with an "S"! 🤓
First to guess right and post here on the boards gains 5,000 xp's as this may not be easy.
Creative Post #54
What the heck are these large disgusting looking things I bought and painted. A bit oversized on a large base but way too small for a huge. I think they look quite creepy for insects.
Creative Post #53
I've been working on a specific module to run for the last couple of weeks. The fun is it involves an old school prominent NPC that may need help. Additionally, it's a classic module rated the BEST EVER on many boards and gaming sites. I also think it is the BEST module ever written! This mission, if and when accepted is one that has an exceptionally high potential for a TPK. It includes an enemy that I do not want ever defeated unless I have no choice due to your actions. Some have expressed a great interest in this adventure and in time it will come to fruition. The group will have a choice to decline, but I doubt you will do to the mission, the individual involved and the one asking you to undertake it!
Of course who knows if this even hapens as you run your adventuring career!
Creative Post #52
And here is a general pic of my desk during a "work night"!
What can you see sneaking into the game shortly when painted and done?
Creative Post #51
I received a bunch of unpainted minis today and started to work on a few. These arrived as gray plastic (color of the base) and the sculpt certainly looked like an earth elemental. However, I have enough earth elemental minis of all sizes, so I decided to make these Lava Stone Elementals. Now, that interests me!
Click on an image to enlarge it to see the details of what I'm speaking about on each step.
First, they're primed gray (priming is putting a paint coat on the mini so that the next paint steps adhere to the mini without flaking or chipping off down the line - an unprimed mini will eventually chip and flake). After primed a simple diluted red paint was applied (I dilute to about 30% paint to 70% water - it varies, and many people have different opinions on how diluted a paint should be - it's a personal painting preference).
I'm waiting for them to dry now and will add other details and shading afterwards. This type of creature doesn't need many paint steps (compared to a human or humanoid which have all sorts of little items, trinkets and weapons on them), but more than the first paint wash is without question needed. I'll update when the next steps are completed.
Next, you take any paint that has pooled on the base of the mini and spread it around so that you don't have any paint "clumps" on it. It's simply spreading the paint on the base. Keep in mind this color will not be the base color but when painting the mini itself a great deal of paint may drip on the base. You want to keep the base free from any paint clumps, so this is why this step is important and very, very easy.
This may not matter to many but to me it does. I need my mini base to be black not only on top but on the bottom as well. So here I painted the bottom gray bases black. Ah, the relief! The top base doesn't get painted black until the mini is completely painted.
EDIT: I LEFT OUT A CRITICAL PICTURE STEP - The addition of Black Thinned Paint (Wet Wash)! This is so important as it adds depth to all the crevices of the mini adding shadow. You simply take black paint, thin it to a watery consistency and then spread it accross the entire mini.
So, lets add some detail - TEETH! It's rare to ever use pure white for teeth on minis. A yellowed white is always best especially for monsters. For humans, elves, gnomes and dwarves you will certainly go with a much whiter coloration, but monsters and humanoids always look better with a slightly yellowed color. You can see that below.
This detail is almost always done in the end but sometimes I do it before that. The eyes! The first step is to put in a background eye color (sclera). Yes, typically it is white but for monsters I often use a variety of different colors. Here I've decided an off-red.
And here are the tiny black pupils added (hard to see thus the minor significance of this step for most minis besides unique ones). Black is most always used unless it is a humanoid or a monster you really want to add some detail to (a unique one - not a mass group). Otherwise, it's NOT worth the effort when you're painting minis for table-top game use.
For fun (isn't that what this is all about) I added some color to their fingernails. Maybe they're primadonnas!
When I feel pretty confident in the mini, I paint the base black. Shiny as they are not dry yet.
What? You thought it was done? No way. There is more and one thing is the "dry brush" after the mini is completely dry. Dry brushing is taking a fan brush and dipping it in white paint. After you must wipe the brush vigorously against a paper towel to get 90% of the paint off. You then very gently (this takes practice) brush the entire minis with the fan brush and white paint. This is a critical step as too much dry brushing will destroy the mini and your paint job. Start off so lightly as if you're barely touching the mini. Slowly continue to brush the fan brush across the entire mini until you feel it has the shading and look you want.
And my last step.............spray gloss. Some people don't do this as it adds a slight gloss to the mini which some people don't like. However, I DO LIKE IT. The importance is the gloss level. There various gloss levels available and after a bit of testing I found the one that works perfect with a gloss that is not too significant but adds some shine to the mini without it be glaring.
And here are the Lava Stone Elementals DONE! When I look at these little buggers on my desk, I think they can be fun in game!