Tackling the Painting Pile

I've been watching a lot of mini painting technique videos on YouTube of late, and this weekend, I decided to start addressing the massive pile of unpainted minis and game tiles that have been sitting in our craft room for... let's be honest... over two years since we moved in.

Anyway, the first step was to finally get this bugbear I'd been picking at for several months to a finished point. I really used him as a prototype for experimenting with different shade variations based on the same color... in this case, I was working with browns and reds. He was already mostly finished as of this weekend, but I hadn't started any of the metal surfaces on his weapons, shield or armor.

Next, I cracked into my Dwarven Forge cavern set. These tiles are great, because you can be super sloppy with the paint and still get amazing results. I painted one tile to completion to test out my technique, and then got started on an assembly line working through a whole set one step at a time.

Then I decided to attempt a set of several Bones minis at the same time. I stuck a selection of nasty insects onto a popsicle stick, but struggled to keep it steady while base coating... then I stuck the popsicle stick to the top of an old pill bottle and had much better success. Again, I couldn't resist just finishing up one whole mini instead of working through the group... so I painted a scorpion.

My experience this weekend taught me a couple things about my technique. First, I need to load more paint on my brush while base-coating. I had much more success getting the first coat on the scarab beetle than with either of the scorpions, because I was starting with a properly full brush. It resulted in a much smoother edge when free-handing the legs on top of the model's triangular leg slab things. On a related note, I need to not be so stingy with the paint on my pallette. All my paint bottles are dropper style, so I can drip out really tiny amounts, but if it dries or gets clumpy before I finish, then any added efficiency will be lost. Lastly, I really need to thin my shade and highlight layers. The Bones line is a little obnoxious because the plastic repels anything except full-thickness paint, so the base-coat can't be thinned. But thinning the top coats really helps smooth out any blending work.

I still have a few process questions I'm still wrestling with, particularly when it comes to working with Bones. They are advertised as being paintable without priming, and indeed, that is what I did with both the hobgoblin and scorpion, but base-coating black by hand was a real pain and would have been much more quickly done with a rattle can of primer. Unfortunately, I have had some bad experiences with Bones and primer. I found that a hobgoblin similar to the one I just completed remained tacky to the touch for at least several weeks when primed with a Krylon spray can. Spray on clear coat has had a similar effect. I have two Bones candelabras that are still sticky to touch years after painting and sealing with a clear coat. I'm not sure what causes the reaction, but it is something I haven't experienced with pewter models.

The need to use undiluted paint when basecoating unprimed Bones is similarly frustrating. I feel like many of the faces I paint on Bones models wind up looking cakey, and I wonder if it is because the base coat has to be so thick.

Regardless of my outstanding questions, it felt good to make a small dent in my pile of painting. Now if I can just let myself be a relative beginner at this and not try to match the high level of expertise I see in the YouTube videos I've been watching. I may get there, but not if I'm too paralyzed to practice.

Make-it Monday: SketchUp Tiles

Using SketchUp's built-in style sets can yield some really cool looks.

I apologize for the lack of posts last week. Life got really slammed as the Wife and I scrambled to finalize our offer on the house it looks like we will be buying. All offers and counter offers have now been accepted, so we just need to finish wrapping up the mountain of paperwork that goes along with such things and we'll be on our way to home ownership! We also headed out of town late last week to go down to Oregon. I had a conference to attend, and we decided to extend our trip into a mini-vacation... without a computer.

Well, we're back. We are still busy with the house stuff, but I did have a chance to dink around in SketchUp a bit! I created a nifty little virtual version of my Dwarven Forge dungeon tiles. Each 10x10 tile is made into a component, which makes it super quick and easy to plot out a dungeon. Simply use SketchUp's [ctrl]+move and array functions to duplicate and move pieces around, and you can have a little dungeon complex up in no time. It took me about an hour to build all the tiles you see here, and set up the little example dungeon.

The whole dungeon was built from five basic block types

A top-down view

I think I'll keep tinkering with this method of SketchUp dungeon mapping. The components are simple to build, and I suspect I could come up with some pretty cool looking dungeons just using a few basic building blocks.

Make-it Monday: Painting Dwarven Forge, First Impressions

After a month of nothing but costumes, I finally got to scratch my painter's itch this weekend. Yesterday, I cracked open my Dwarven Forge Kickstarter set and decided to try my hand at the technique described in DF's official painting tutorial found here.

Waiting for the paint

Painting the tiles is a four step process when making use of the official Pokorny-brand paints that were available as an add-on to the Kickstarter. here's how it went. 

Unboxing: Dwarven Forge Kickstarter

It seems like ever since I got back into gaming as an adult, I have coveted Dwarven Forge's tile sets. Like a Geek Chic gaming table, they represented a sort of geek status symbol. A badge of gaming LEETness that, in my mind, could only be attained by nerd corporate collections or celebrities. Why? Well, just like the ol' Geek Chic stuff, Dwarven Forge's tiles are friggin' expensive! At about $120-$150 per set, you end up paying about $3 per 2x2 tile... or, in terms of actual space, $0.75 per square inch. That is actually about on par with the cost of buying an ACTUAL HOUSE in the Seattle area... if you calculate your home prices per square inch of floor space.

So, for a long time, I contented myself with lower cost options. I built up a collection of excellent half-built papercraft sets, dungeon tiles and stand-in set pieces crafted from Lego, cardboard and bits of household junk.

Then Dwarven Forge ran headlong into my Kickstarter addiction. Suddenly, I saw my destiny before me, like a watery tart distributing swords! I could have my own plastic Camelot* I opened my pocket book and let the money flow forth. Of course, because the Kickstarter wound up being so successful --earning nearly $2 million from an initial goal of $50k-- there were lots of stretch goal bonuses thrown in, which stretched the value of my not inconsiderable investment.

Of course, that initial investment happened months ago. I feel like the delay between funding and delivery actually makes Kickstarter MORE dangerous to my financial well being. If I see a cool project that I want to fund, I end up waiting months before receiving my backer rewards. When they finally arrive, the initial investment is but a foggy memory of the past until, suddenly... PACKAGE AT THE DOOR! OMG! CHRISTMAS IN [ROLL RANDOM MONTH ON 1D12]! The high of that almost unexpected package is up there with... other... REALLY awesome stuff.

That is what I came home to after my business trip last week. The unexpected Kickstarter reward. A heavy box on my doorstep. Here's what was inside...

What's in the box?
I sure hope it isn't Gwyneth Paltrow's head!

One thing about this delivery is that everything was packed in super efficiently. Within the outer box were four smaller boxes packed with meticulously aligned dungeon tiles.

There was also a set of paints that I picked up as an add-on since I opted for the cheaper, unpainted tiles. Dwarven Forge threw in a surprise set of brushes and a tote bag for free!

Of course, the first thing I did was to unpack everything and lay it out in rank and file for inspection. This is what my investment got me. The tiles alone represent over 3x what I would expect to get ordering a Dwarven Forge direct from their site. Granted, I have to paint them myself, but the DF folks have made some handy painting tutorials, and it looks like the process is actually pretty quick once you get the hang of it.

The plastic feels solid and sturdy in the hand. Having never encountered a Dwarven Forge tile in person, I wasn't sure what to expect. Overall, I am pleased so far with the quality of the product. The only downsides I can identify so far are:

1. The labor that will go into painting these (which I enjoy so is it really a negative?)
2. The small 2x2 size of the standard tiles. While this level of modularity is great for customizing layouts, I'll need to do some testing to see how tough it becomes to set things up during play.
3. One of the 6 or 8 doors that came with the set is stuck closed. When dealing with this many tiles, is having a single malfunctioning piece such a big issue? Plus, it's not like I can't still place it as a door. My poor players will just have to IMAGINE it opens.

So, yes... I have reached the next tier of geekdom. I have my first Dwarven Forge set. I look forward to getting it spiffed up for play.

Watch out! I'm coming for you next, Geek Chic!

*I wish Camelot referred to an ocelot camel hybrid!