# Kris' miniature thread



## Kris

Hello all, I'm not a fantastic miniature painter or anything like that... but I thought I'd start taking photographs of some of the figures I paint (or have previously painted) and post them here - and maybe make this an ongoing thread like a few other guys have done in the past 

So I'll start with a few pic's of some basic dungeon critters...

All the ones in this photo are plastic, and I think they came from a Games Workshop 'swarms' box-set or something:






A cloaker from reaper miniatures (on a 40mm base):





A couple of stirges, again from reaper miniatures (on 20mm bases):


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## Kris

And some of the bad guys...

From left to right, a half-orc soldier, a dark elf (one of the fabled 'Dragon Helms'), and a common orc soldier (the orcs are from Black Tree Design, and the dark elf is from Games Workshop):





The half-fiend, Lord Cömadöl (a plastic Games Workshop chaos warrior):


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## Kris

Here's some plastic elves I painted recently (from Games Workshop's current LotR range).

A wood elf from the forest of Luna Silva:





High group of high elf warriors from the secret isle of Olor (_Told*olor*alf _ to give it it's full elvish name):






They are a little bit smaller than most other figure ranges... but I think that works out well for D&D elves (seeing as how your standard D&D elf is slightly smaller than your average human anyway).


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## nyrfherdr

Kris,
Your miniatures are solid.  Very clean work.
I especially like your Chaos warrior Lord Cömadöl 

Keep up the nice work.
Game ON!


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## Kris

Thanks nyrfherdr, the plastic chaos warrior mini's are quite nice figures (though it needed a bit of greenstuf to cover where the fur on the cloak joins together). They are quite large too (and suitably imposing) - this one stands head and shoulders above the wood elf mini.


Next up - a group of dwarven axemen from the halls of Steinnborg (from a Warhammer boxed set I think):





Not bad for single piece plastic figures. I got a sprue of about 10 or so of these guys off ebay, and they came complete with a unit leader, a standard bearer and musician ...which I haven't get round to painting yet


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## frankthedm

Those silvers can't be water based paint, way too smooth. What metalic paint do you use?


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## Kris

> What metalic paint do you use?



Just regular Games Workshop metallics. For example the silver on the dwarves and the dark elf was a 'boltgun metal' basecoat, highlighted with 'chainmail' and then final highlights were added with 'mithril silver'. It doesn't give that much contrast... but I was aiming for a clean look to the metal parts on these... allowing the actual metallic paint to do some of the work reflecting the light (well that was the plan anyway).

I tried a similar thing on these too...

Baron Garmann's men (plastic GW bretonians):




Though I wasn't brave enough to try and paint the baron's emblem on their shields:


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## Kris

I'm a huge Tolkien fan and so my campaign world generally reflects this a little (it's just how I prefer my fantasy I'm afraid). Therefore D&D orcs and goblinoids are pretty much just different breed/strains of orc (with the term orc and goblin being interchangeable). So D&D goblins are considered 'lesser orcs', D&D hobgoblins are your 'common orcs', and D&D orcs are 'mountain orcs' (that is if/when anyone cares to make a distinction).

So that explained... here's some orcs...

A group of 'common orc' soldiers (GW's LotR uruk-hai models work well as hobgoblin-like creatures I think)





A 'lesser orc' warband (GW's LotR goblins)





Mountain orc barbarians (GW's LotR Mordor orcs)


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## Kris

I've been going through my stockpile of unpainted miniatures this past week, with the aim of getting a quick coat of paint on some of the stuff that I've got lying around.

Anyway I saw this one (an old Ral Partha troll) and thought it might make a cool Annis Hag with a little modification:
https://www.connectstores.com/ralpartha/images/02-142b.jpg

So I've added a bit of green stuff here and there, cut of the hands at the wrists and replaced them with some plastic 'genestealer' arms:






I also did a quick paint job on this figure this afternoon (a Ral Partha 'Smoke Elemental'), as I figured it might look OK as an Allip:


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## Kris

More from the unpainted stockpile (pretty mundane stuff this time):

I had to convert this pack-mule slightly as it had a rather comical looking imp-like creature sitting on top of the gear (which I really did not like):





A pack-horse (currently being sold by Ral Partha Europe - but originally Armalion?):





Going through all my mini's I realised I only have one that doesn't carry a weapon (not counting critters with natural weapons). So here's one that will probably be used as many a misc. NPC (from Black Tree Design):





And another one I painted pretty quickly just for the hell of  it ...a warthog (which will probably get used as a wild boar proxy). It too is from Ral Partha.


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## D'karr

All these look really fantastic.  Your photography is also very good.  It captures the miniatures very well, without the common graininess of miniature photography.


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## Kris

Thanks for the kind words D'karr ...the photography is probably more luck than judgement (I take about 10 pic's and then choose the best looking, least blurry, one    ).

* * *

Next up are a few more plastic wood elves that I've had lying around for some time:






Like the one before, they are from the current LotR range by Games Workshop - and I have to admit that although I like the look and the style of the miniatures, they are a pain to paint. Sometimes it's hard to tell when one piece of cloth/equipment ends and the next begins - or it's hard to try and pick out details (like the hair texture) because it simply is not there 

And like other GW stuff - the other 8 figures on the sprue are just variations of these 4 basic poses (i.e. same legs and body but with different arms and heads) - but all said and done, I still prefer them over a lot of other elf miniature ranges out there ...it's just a pity about their lack of detail/bad moulding.


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## Kris

I had some time on my hands last week, and I had purchased a bunch of NPC looking miniatures (from Black Tree Design) a month or two ago, so I figured I'd slap a bit of paint on a few of them.






Nothing special I admit - but seeing as I can cover a lot of monsters with at least a reasonable proxy mini from my D&D plastics, I thought I could probably do with a bunch of _'NPC's for all occasions' _


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## Kris

I got the Hirst Arts 'cavern accessory mould' (#85) for Christmas with the intention of creating some small terrain-type pieces to liven up the battlemat.

I've already posted these pictures over on the H.A. boards… but I figured I'd add them to this post too 

The first is just a test really - where I have used some miscast pieces to try out some colours (where I've hacked out the air-bubbles and made those areas look damaged instead). The base is just a couple of pieces from the 'flagstone floor tile' mould (#260) that I had lying around:





This one is a simple standing stone that I have carved a runic inscription into (mounted on a 40mm round base):





Next is small campsite mounted on a 50mm round base:





And finally, a dungeon (or castle) lever mechanism (the wall is from the small brick mould #250):




Reverse:


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## Silverblade The Ench

I really like the Games workshop figures like the Uruk hai!! 
what technique did you use to paint them?

my feeble versions for comparison 
http://www.silverblades-suitcase.com/minis/lotr/uruk1.jpg


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## Kris

For the Uruk's it was a pretty simple layering technique -but I didn't worry about too many layers (as I painted all these as a group and wanted them done relatively quickly). For example I think there is only 3 or four layers on the skin... which means the transition from dark to light is not very subtle - but I think they look OK as gaming pieces nonetheless


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## Angel Tarragon

WOW! Wonderful minis. Love the cloaker.


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## Silverblade The Ench

Kris,
well, they are damn nice!


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## Kris

Here's a couple more terrain/dungeon decoration pieces made from the Hirst Arts mould that I have just finished:










And an elven druid:




The dog was from a Ral Partha pack that contained a warrior-looking guy and 4 dogs, and the elf is a 'male ice elf' from Das Schwarze Auge.


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## Matrix Sorcica

I want to buy your minis, Kris. Seriously.


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## Kris

Matrix Sorcica said:
			
		

> I want to buy your minis, Kris. Seriously.



 Well, if I ever find myself short of cash, or if (shock, horror) I actually "grow up - and stop playing with silly little figures" I'll know who to contact 

Seriously though, while I know they are nothing special and not going to win any awards or anything, I'd hate to get rid of anything I've painted. I know a lot of folks do it to earn some extra cash or whatever, but once I've painted something up (no matter how good or bad the paint job) I'd be somewhat hesitant to let it go 

Sad but true.


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## Matrix Sorcica

One question: Those LotR minis, are they scaled for D&D?? Guess so, since you're using them?

Thanks.


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## Kris

Matrix Sorcica said:
			
		

> One question: Those LotR minis, are they scaled for D&D?? Guess so, since you're using them?



It depends how particular you want to be really, I mean there are some pretty big differences in the pre-painted D&D figures for similar (or even the same) types of creatures... but seeing as how they are monsters (and just tokens representing placement) I'm not too bothered (I also like my orcs to be less than 'man-high' in any case  ).

It's a terrible picture, but here's a size comparison:






From left to right; D&D Hobgoblin; Ral Partha Orc; D&D Orc; LOTR plastic Orc; D&D Hobgoblin; Black Tree Orc; D&D Orc; LOTR plastic Uruk-hai.

I hope that helps.


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## Kris

And here's one for the elves too (two D&D elves and one LOTR):


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## Matrix Sorcica

Thanks!


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## Silverblade The Ench

think games workshop minis are 28 mm scale?


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## Cergorach

Their Warhammer (40k) lines are 30mm, but their LotR line is (significantly) smaller, I suspect closer to 25mm.


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## Kris

It's been a while since I've posted anything in this thread ...but I figured I post a quick picture of what I was working on last weekend (as I just got the urge to build something out of bits & pieces that I had lying around):




It is mounted on a piece of 12" x 3" balsa wood, and the mountainside was made out of two 12" square polystyrene ceiling tiles (carved up, glued, etc. appropriately).

The dwarf figures, shields, and doors were from various GamesWorkshop bits I got off eBay a while back, and the bricks & columns are spare bits I had lying around from various Hirst Arts moulds.

I think it turned out quite well ...though I've just realised I've not really got anywhere to put it  (but I'm sure I'll find somewhere).


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## Olaf the Stout

That's some nice work Kris.  I'd be very happy if I was painting to that level.

Olaf the Stout


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## Kris

I mentioned over in another post that I've been painting a few more miniatures recently, and so I thought I'd post a few pic's of them here (and add them growing list).

First off are some 10mm miniatures (yeah these guys are really small).

Basically, I have recently got hold of the HotT (Hordes of the Things) wargame rules - as I thought it might be a simple way of resolving mass battles. And so here is the resulting HotT army (standard 24 points worth) to represent the soldiers of the Eastwold in my campaign world.

HotT hero & magician:






HotT knights & riders:






HotT 4 spear units:






HotT 2 shooter units:






whole army (sorry it's not a great pic):






...and a size comparison with a regular sized miniature:


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## Kris

Anyway, back to more 'regular' sized mini's...

Next up are a few (more) goblinoid types, which I've attempted to paint reasonably quickly (especially the grunt/mook types) - just to get some paint on them.


Captain Lórenz and his personal guard:




The largest of these is a Ral Partha 'gargantua orc' and the others are Black Tree Design 'half-orc axemen'. The Ral partha mini came with a different (fur covered) shield - but I replaced it with a spare plastic one I had lying around.


Móruw the beastmaster …and worgs:




The main figure is another Ral Partha 'gargantua orc' and the worgs are DSA wolves (also available from Ral Partha Europe)


A female non-combatant & Yánot the small:




I've searched high and low for goblinoid female figures that didn't look too cheesy or cartoony - but with little luck. In the end I've tried to make my own from a GW plastic 'skaven plague monk' body (with the feet and tail removed) and bits from a plastic GW 'gnoblar' (i.e. head, arms, and feet).
The worg-rider (which I admit is not a great figure - but it is one of the few worg-rider figures I could find that will actually fit onto a 1 inch base) is a Ral Partha 'goblin wolf rider'


Goblin & hobgoblin troops




For these grunts/mooks I have just used some plastic uruk-hai and goblins from GamesWorkshop's LotR range. Individual sprues of these can usually be got pretty cheap on e-bay - though with these particular ones I've converted the uruk pike-men by simply shortening their pikes to spears, and I've also used a simple round shield on the goblin rather than the spiky one included (note that I've also fixed the goblins to smaller bases than the ones that they are supplied with).


Terrain:




These are just a few plaster of paris pieces made from the Hirst Arts accessory mould.


Next I'm thinking about maybe creating a few more of the female figures (though I'm not sure if I'm happy with the above conversion yet), and perhaps trying to come up with some kind of swarm/mob of goblinoid youngsters.


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## Kris

This one has been lying around in my box of shame (my tub of unpainted metal) for years now - and I can't even remember where/when I got it or who the manufacturer is.

It was obviously meant to be the cerberus (or something very similar - i.e. a large three headed hound), but the miniature came in several different parts - with the three heads being separate from the body, and just not fitting together very well at all.

Anyway, after looking through some of my (3e) monster books, and realising that the D&D version of cerberus is CR20+ I thought I would combat the problem of the ill fitting heads by removing one of them and using it instead as a (somewhat lower CR) 'death dog' from the Fiend Folio. Admittedly, because of the mini's 'large' size it will have to be a 4HD version of that monster - but I thought I would have a go at converting it all the same.

So here is the result of the conversion after hacking/cutting/filing away one of the heads, re-centralising the two remaining heads, and a whole lot of green-stuff to tidy things up a little. I've also mounted it's integral base into (rather than onto) a 50mm round base:




All in all I'm quite pleased with the result …so I'm bound to mess it up when I paint it


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## Kris

This post isn't really about miniatures, but it is related to them, and so I thought I would include it here rather than starting a new thread…

Anyway...

...so far I have purchased one of each of the dungeon tile sets that WotC has put out, and on the whole I quite like them (I'm not too impressed that they added the little triangles on top of the artwork to indicate difficult ground on the latest set - though that's a minor quibble).

However, when using lots of these tiles (which range from 8x10 inches to 1x1 inch) I've found that just laying them out can be a bit fiddly at times - as one knock of the table, or accidentally bumping one tile, can result in having to realign a whole bunch of them all over again (this is especially true if you have made a fairly complex arrangement out of several of the smaller tiles).

So I have been thinking of a ways to minimise/eliminate this - and I thought I would share my attempt at a solution:









As you can see I have purchased a small magnetic white-board, and I've made a whole bunch of magnetised wall sections that hold the tiles in place.

The walls themselves are made from plaster of paris (cast from 'hirst arts' mould number 70), and (after giving them a basic paint job) I've attached a small strip of self-adhesive magnetic tape to the bottom of each:




For me the project wasn't too costly as I already own a bunch of the hirst arts moulds, though the small white-board (just over 22" x 14" of usable space) cost around £11 (inc P&P) and the magnetic tape cost less than £4 for a length of 3m (nearly 10ft).

I'm actually quite happy with the result, as it really holds the tiles in place very well (i.e. I can tilt the board nearly upright without them falling out) - but it does add considerably to the set-up time, and is probably only usable if a layout is assembled prior to a game for a specific location or two.

Anyway, I thought I would share my 'solution' here in case it is of interest to others


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## Olaf the Stout

I like the walls Kris.  The look great!  The only thing I wonder about the set-up is the size.  It looks like you only have room for 1 or 2 reasonable sized rooms on the board.

Olaf the Stout


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## Kris

Olaf the Stout said:


> It looks like you only have room for 1 or 2 reasonable sized rooms on the board.



That's true - it's only really going to be of use if it is applied to a single encounter area.

To be honest I was a little wary about buying a large magnetic white-board, as those things can get rather expensive - especially since I wasn't 100% sure how the whole thing would work out 

The original plan was to use this smaller board as a test, and then maybe buy a larger one later (which would obviously then require that I build more walls).

I'm not sure if I'm going to go ahead with that yet (as I don't really have the space to store it at the moment), though if/when I do I'll post a few pic's of the new set up


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## Kris

Apologies for the thread necromancy (as it's been quite a while since I updated this), but I figured I'd post a few pics of some of the stuff I did earlier in the year.

If you look to an earlier post (above) you will see some 10mm miniatures that I painted to represent an army in my campaign world. Well I've since decided to paint up a few 28mm miniatures in the same colour scheme ...and here they are:


First off, some miniatures from Black Tree Design:

















And some from Crusader Miniatures:

















Plus a cleric & ranger type from Ral Partha Europe (from the DSA line):












And finally, some really old miniatures from Games Workshop:


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## frankthedm

Kris said:


> I can't even remember where/when I got it or who the manufacturer is.
> 
> It was obviously meant to be the cerberus (or something very similar - i.e. a large three headed hound), but the miniature came in several different parts - with the three heads being separate from the body, and just not fitting together very well at all.



Sounds like something out of _Grim Reaper Casting_ *Nasteez* line. Looks like it too. They had some OK figs, and they focused on monsters, but the actually quality was often hit and miss. Some of the first minis i bought, cause they were often in discount bins!

Wotc commissioned the D&D Silver Anniversary minis from them. 







> D&D Silver Anniversary
> 
> The new miniatures of both monsters and characters are designed in the standard 30mm European scale, increased in size from the former industry scale of 25mm, and were previewed at the Wizards of the Coast® castle at the Gen Con Game Fair in August 1999.
> 
> The initial release comprised an assortment of 24 blisters. The selection of miniatures in the final line includes characters and monsters from some of the pinnacle publications of the Dungeons & Dragons product line.
> 
> The master metal castings and production molds for the line were made by Grim Reaper Casting, but all the production figures were cast in-house at WotC's own factory in Renton. Note that the figures are cast with integral bases - but in a range of different shapes and sizes.


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## Kris

frankthedm said:


> Sounds like something out of _Grim Reaper Casting_ *Nasteez* line. Looks like it too...



The 'Nasteez' name does ring a bell - so I think you're probably right 

Anyway, I dug out another of those 12"x12" polystyrene ceiling tiles the other day (the same thing I used to create the dwarven gate above) and I thought I would have a go at making a few small (rocky) terrain pieces:







And here's the smallest one next to a miniature for a size comparison.






Appologies for the pictures (they are a little washed out - the rocks are actually base-coated and then dry-brushed with three gradual highlights, but it doesn't really show in the photographs), and my batteries have run out in my camera to prevent me taking any more


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## Chgowiz

Kris, have you written anywhere else about using HOTT for quick and dirty D&D mass combat? I'm starting to explore HOTT/DBA as a way of having a mass combat as part of a D&D game session, instead of it being the whole session. I was curious if you'd done anything with that.


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## Kris

I'm afraid I haven't done anything with it yet (as I admit I've not run a game now for quite some time).

I did however discover this website when I was contemplating the idea:
Hordes of the Things for D20

...but that was about it really (though I do intend to try it out some day).

Anyway, sorry I couldn't be of much help.


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