# [Painted Minis] My wife's minis.



## Jeremy (Sep 17, 2002)

Unfortunately my photograpy and graphical editing skills are not equal to her skill.  Here's the butchered results of my trying to photograph her hard work.

Comments welcome.


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## Jeremy (Sep 17, 2002)

Next up, a very excellently painted Aragorn.  Yeah, yeah, I should have turned off the flash.  I learned.


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## Jeremy (Sep 17, 2002)

You should see the gold enameling on this knight's shield or the fierce heraldric lion that stands out in gold on the knight's pennant, or all the detail along the flanks of the destrier...  Alas, my digital camera has nowhere near the resolution needed to pick these out, much less focus on them.


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## Jeremy (Sep 17, 2002)

And here is the fearsome black minotaur Azmodon complete with his glowing magical tatoos and acid/frost battle axes.


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## Jeremy (Sep 17, 2002)

Next we have...


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## Magic Rub (Sep 17, 2002)

Cool!


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## Jeremy (Sep 17, 2002)

Agh!!  Of all the mini's not to come out correctly!!  Elrond is so magnificent, that is, when he's in focus and the light doesn't make his mouth look like a gaping maw.  I apologize for the poor picture.


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## Jeremy (Sep 17, 2002)

I love this mini.  If this mini is on the map, there's about to be some fireworks!


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## Jeremy (Sep 17, 2002)

This is one of my favorites (minis, not picture), from the armor above and below the tunic, to the amazing tooling of his back up sword's scabbard to the tiny face work within the helm, this mini is awe inspiring...


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## Jeremy (Sep 17, 2002)

Gandalf's coloring seems a little off in this light and I can't show off the elven runes traced delicately onto the brim of his had or along the hem of his cloak, but this mini took 2nd place in the regional competition for the Lord of the Rings competition here in HEB.


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## Jeremy (Sep 17, 2002)

Leslie had great fun doing the mud this dwarven bomber is sludging through as well as all the little brass goblin head ornaments.


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## Jeremy (Sep 17, 2002)

Heh.  Leslie glued little bits of red and black dipped styrofoam to the axe of this mini before painting him.  When she finished, they looked like little chunks of skull split over the axe with sticky chewy bits here and there.  FEAR THE ORCS!


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## Jeremy (Sep 17, 2002)

Sadly this mini is a little chipped from use, but it's only because we love him so much.  This Legolas mini took first place at the regional HEB Lord of the Rings miniature painting competition and went on to be runner up in the state of Texas at the state level.  The genius of this mini is Leslie's facial study of the actor Orlando Bloom who played Legolas and her fine detail in making the mini closely resemble him.  Woo hoo!


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## Jeremy (Sep 17, 2002)

Yes well, there aren't too many good Kensai mini's out there so this is the best I could supply her with.  The paint job is terrific, the mini just leaves a little to be desired.  The camera did at least pick up a little of the kanji at the hem of his robes but it also picked up his Andre the Giant expression.


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## Jeremy (Sep 17, 2002)

Rawr!  I absolutely LOVE this mini!  For druids, barbarians, or savage shamans there just is no other mini I'd use.  And the camera did a good job with this one, so all the more joy!  Here ya go!


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## Jeremy (Sep 17, 2002)

Well that's quite enough for today...

Depending on the response I'll try to get some more up here some other time.

Thanks for the praise Magic Rub.


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## JoeGKushner (Sep 17, 2002)

Lots of different styles.

Which companies do you buy from the most? Seems GW gets a fair share of the dollar here.


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## Elder-Basilisk (Sep 17, 2002)

Well, you seem so eager for praise for the minis in this thread, it almost makes me reluctant to give it. On the other hand, I would like to see more so here I am posting. 

The photography definitely gets better as the pictures progress. I'd like to see some of these pictures take with a really good camera to see how good the minis really are. (Most of the ideas I'd want to steal are in the details--like what do the tattoos on the minotaur look like? I can see that they're there in the picture, but I can't see what they look like).

Your wife seems to be a big fan of static grass on bases. Has she experimented with other basing techniques? I've found basing to be one of the most important things to do for a miniature to make it look good and I try to vary my bases and add interest to them but all of my techniques are rather time consuming. I'd love to hear/see what other people do for that.


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## Jeremy (Sep 17, 2002)

Reaper, GW, WotC, she has no preference to company, she just looks at the minis available.

Unfortunately, both Lone Stars, GenX Comics, and Wizards of the Coast around here sell one and only one type of flock and they are generally out of it.  So grass it is.    Oh well, gets us to look at the minis!


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## Malessa (Sep 17, 2002)

Wow, those do look great!  Just having the patience to sit down and do that, and do it well, I must applaud her!

Hope my hubby don't see this thread, he'll wonder why I don't sit down and do that for him, lol.....


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## Jeremy (Sep 17, 2002)

LOL

She was always asking us why we played with such boring mini's.  One of us jokingly mentioned that she was welcome to paint them and she said that'd be fun.  She got all excited about it and now she's got a full set up with a magnifying glass/halogen desk lamp (I think for use with circuitboards), an art desk devoted to it, and lord knows how much acrylic paint.

She gets in the mood every now and then and just sits over there merrily for hours painting away on the little guys.  Our battle maps have never been so colorful.


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## Malessa (Sep 17, 2002)

Lol, like I said, hope my hubby doesn't see this thread, I'm already doing his campaign sketches, and now we started on a D20 book, which I'm illustrating...He set me up with an online art gallary and fixed up a 2nd computer for me, hoping I might gain some commissions, lol..  My eyes are bad as it is, can't see me sitting down with those mini's and trying to paint, lol. My glasses are a bit magnifying, so to have a magnifying glass to boot, I'd look like a loony toon, lol............


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## Jeremy (Sep 17, 2002)




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## Sinistar (Sep 17, 2002)

WOW!
I am very impressed. I love miniatures, but I am not talented when it comes to painting them. 
Please keep posting pictures if you can.

I am glad now I did not get the hubris to bring my "best efforts" to that LOTR competition at Lone Star! It saved my pride for a little while!

Great job!


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## Green Knight (Sep 17, 2002)

NIIIICCCEEEE! 

BTW: Does anyone recognize that mounted knight and the guy in full plate? I wouldn't mind owning those miniatures, but I have no idea what they're called or who makes them.


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## Jeremy (Sep 17, 2002)

The mounted knight is this little dinky plastic hollow mini that for some reason Leslie picked to paint.  There was no detail to it, she liked the broad open spaces to improvise.  But the horse was this dull gray cheap plastic and the rider was a normal mini that came with it I believe, if that helps you or someone else track it down.

The armored knight with the sword upraised I couldn't tell you anything about.  

Thanks for the comments everyone!  I'll try to get Leslie on to comment.  Look for more pictures Thursday.


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## Jeremy (Sep 18, 2002)

Hi, this is Jeremy's wife Leslie.  Thanks for all the great comments!  I have had lots of fun painting them.


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## Ace (Sep 18, 2002)

Nice Work!

If you aren't doing it already you could easily pick up a bit of extra cash painting Minis

THe market in some areas is intense heck I know of one person who makes it his day job and from what I am able to tell from the photos your work is as good.


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## Calim (Sep 18, 2002)

*the knight*

he is a warhammer boxed set mini he is the metal knight out of a box that had like 12 other knights in it and a bunch of orcs and archers and such but there were only 2 metal figures him sitting on the plastic horse and him standing


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## Mark (Sep 18, 2002)

Kicking some major butt with the paint brush, Leslie! 

(Thanks for posting them, Jeremy!)


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## LostSoul (Sep 18, 2002)

Holy Caligula's crap, those are good!


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## Jeremy (Sep 19, 2002)

Leslie says, "Thanks guys!"

Ace, any suggestions for how to go about selling the painted mini's?  How does your friend do it?

No new minis yet, hopefully tomorrow sometime.

In the mean time, check out some of her character artwork I've scanned in.  It's over here...

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24911


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## Malessa (Sep 19, 2002)

Ok Leslie, I'm offically jealous! Saw your character sketches...I love your dragon!  grumble, grumble.....enough said!


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## Jeremy (Sep 19, 2002)

*More minis!*

Here's her version of one of the WotC monks..


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## Jeremy (Sep 19, 2002)

Our gaming group has amassed around 200-250 minis from all kinds of different places over 5 or 6 years.  Leslie went through them and picked some that looked fun, and for some reason this ugly guy jumped out at her, who knows where he came from.  

Fomorian Giant


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## Jeremy (Sep 19, 2002)

One thing Leslie really likes doing is working off reference work to get something to turn out precisely the way the person she's doing it for wants.  She about kicked me when I remembered that there is a picture of Kerwyn in the PHB.  AFTER she had finished the mini.  Oops.

Kerwyn


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## Jeremy (Sep 19, 2002)

If any of you have kept a whole lot of minis with no place to store or transport them besides shoe boxes you know terrible things happen to those with long appendages or pieces that stick way out.  Consider that a lesson learned here.  

Herald


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## Jeremy (Sep 19, 2002)

Heh.  We've got like 5 of these huge treant figures.  Leslie had fun with this one.  He's just evil looking!


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## Jeremy (Sep 19, 2002)

You want to play a WHAT?

Half Water Elemental Unicorn.

Well, it is a 13th level game...  I suppose...

Good.    One more question, will your wife paint her for me?

Are you kidding?  She loves unicorns.  Give it fairy wings and it'll be done today.


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## Jeremy (Sep 19, 2002)

Heh.  Real dwarf's dwarf here.  Dunlop has risen all the way through the ranks and is now the reigning King of his own Dwarven Citadel.  My best memory of him is him with his 8 dex trying to tumble away from a dragon with his -10 armor check penalty.  Even though he fell flat on his face, the dragon got nothing but armor spikes.  He came up spitting dirt telling us that was the way dwarves tumbled.


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## Jeremy (Sep 19, 2002)

Leslie had tons of fun with this one.  He had this head attached to his belt and she decided it was a brand new addition, so he's got blood and bits running down his leg and the head is still fleshy looking with it's horrible expression.

One too many slasher flicks for my innocent sweet angel.


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## Jeremy (Sep 19, 2002)

Nice big bugbear mini..


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## Jeremy (Sep 19, 2002)

When you've got 7 people buying minis in one group you end up over time with some duplicates.

We've got like 3 of this Elminster mini.  I told her to do him like Gandalf from the hobbit to set him apart.  Little did I know there was going to be a Lord of the Rings movie that would be so amazing released that it got it's own miniature line and that she would actually end up painting Gandalf.

So here's a mini that's both a duplicate Gandalf, AND one of many Elminsters.


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## Jeremy (Sep 19, 2002)

Now if we could only get people to play with the painted minis instead of the non painted ones.

They look so much better out on the hex map, but it always seems that the character concepts always fit some other mini better.


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## Vadicus (Sep 20, 2002)

*MINIS*

Well, I would love to use the painted ones.  Maybe I can give her a few of mine and tell her what I'd like.  *shrug*


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## reapersaurus (Sep 20, 2002)

my wife did something similar.

but we play with the minis she paints - it's tough to find the right one, but it makes a lot of difference.

Great job, some are especially good.
Treant, Dwarf of Dwarf, and the Formian Giant!
Rock on - I wish I could get pics of my wife's - do you use a bright light, a white backdrop, and good resolution ca,mera?
(we have 2 of those 3 elements)


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## Jeremy (Sep 20, 2002)

We have a digital camera (Cannon Powershot S100---2.1 megapixel), played around with it's settings until it'd focus really close (macrovision) and then set it's quality setting to max (Super Fine/Large) and took the pictures outside.

We put the mini on a dry erase board we normally use for inits and I held about 10 sheets of printer paper behind the mini as a backdrop.

The camera was sitting on the board as well to steady it, about 4 inches away from the mini.

Taking the photo's inside, no matter how much light we used was too dark.

Amazing how much light the sun gives off.


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## S'mon (Sep 28, 2002)

Have you considered taking your minis pics on dungeon floorplans rather than against a white background?  It might give them more life & depth - I'm no photographer myself but 2 of my players are and they do great work with my crudely painted minis!  I agree that natural sunlight always seems to give the absolute best effects.


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## Jeremy (Sep 29, 2002)

I don't think we have anything that would suit...


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## S'mon (Sep 29, 2002)

Jeremy said:
			
		

> *I don't think we have anything that would suit... *




That's a shame - the paint jobs are fantastic but the lighting & background are a bit dull.  Maybe you could try taking them outside and photographing them on some ground?


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## Jeremy (Sep 30, 2002)

Problem with that is two fold, first is the simplest, contrast, and the second is more the camera's fault.  The camera focuses on the biggest thing in view.  I'd end up with sharp grass and blurry mini's.  

I'll try and get some pics up at some point of a bunch of them mid-game on the battle map.  The lighting will likely be funky, but it'll add some of the atmosphere the white backgrounds steal.


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## Velenne (Oct 4, 2002)

Where's the rest of em?!  Gah!


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## Drakmar (Oct 15, 2002)

to be honest.. the first few pics.. I was unsure about.. then when you worked out how to use the camera and get the mini looking right.. that's when I saw just how good these minatures have been painted.  It is good to see somebody else out there who likes to have their minatures look realistic.  I tilt my cap to you!!

O.. as for something else for the bases instead of that flock.. is small pebbles.  or sand (that one is good for your desert barbarians).. or paddlepop sticks like a ships deck.

and.. as for painter for hire stuff.. just ask your local gaming store /minature store if you can put up some examples and a little sign posting how much you will paint..

ie.. single minature.. um..$20.. single large mini... $30..etc.

you just need to figure out the base costs of the materials.. and how much your time is worth.. and if you are going to offer to paint the mini's to differing levels.


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## Velenne (Oct 16, 2002)

Drakmar said:
			
		

> *
> and.. as for painter for hire stuff.. just ask your local gaming store /minature store if you can put up some examples and a little sign posting how much you will paint..
> 
> ie.. single minature.. um..$20.. single large mini... $30..etc.
> ...




Heeeey there's an idea!  But I'll wager the store will want something for helping advertise.


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## Jeremy (Oct 18, 2002)

Heh.  And in our particular case since the minis being painted come from a stash of hundreds bought over years by 5 different people, the person who paid for the mini might be a mite miffed at the sale of one of their minis.    But yeah, Leslie is constantly asking me, "Can we put this one up on Ebay?".

Given extenuating circumstances, I'd just as soon have the minis she paints in play on the table.


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## Drakmar (Nov 2, 2002)

True.. but all you do is put up examples of your own.. and the Client provides the minature for painting.  So.. your minatures don't get sold.


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## Breakstone (Nov 16, 2002)

Wow! These are Amazing!

Keep posting them as she paints them, Jeremy!


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## Velenne (Nov 22, 2002)

I happen to know that she has some amazing dragons painted by now as well as many other minis.  I think Jer's getting lazy on us.


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