Hello everyone, my apologies for the absence. It was an unexpected and unwanted sabbatical unfortunately. Almost a month ago, the electricity went out in my apartment and apparently it knocked out the motherboard in my computer too. In a further twist of bad luck, Chicago was hit with rioting like many other cities in the United States and the best computer store we have (Micro Center) was hit by looting prior to my computer breaking and it took them way longer than I expected to repair my computer as a result. I’m also out some money that would have probably been earmarked for hobbying in addition to the time but oh well. Its great to be back.
I can’t tell you how much I missed writing on this site, commenting on many others, and just being part of the miniature community. Stew, of a Terrible Loss of Lead and Wealth, said it much better than I could so I’ll just refer you to his article on the joys of being a wargamer blogger. I can tell you that I’m almost positive I went through every stage of grieving at least twice over the past month. This hobby just isn’t the same when you can’t share it with others.
As you can imagine, I’ve been busy painting (especially with one less thing to do) and so I should have plenty to share in the coming weeks since I’ve had a month off from posting. Today’s post is action packed because I not only finished the Scibor Dwarf I was working on but also have another display painting project in the works. Let’s take a look at how the dwarf lord came out.
And here he is on his base. That is the other cool thing about Scibor, he makes some really cool bases. Nobody uses verticality with basing as well as that Polish bloke and if you slap a commander on top of one of these bases, you’ll know right away who is in charge. While I can make the argument that his base is actually slightly too big for this size miniature, I wanted to create a little “display base” where a dwarf lord looks like he is defending his ancestor’s land. It may have seen better days but he will not let his forefather’s land be desecrated further. I think I brought that vision to life with this piece and I’m proud of it overall. It is definitely a great start into painting more display pieces. Here is a look at how he stacks up size-wise to Galadriel from MESBG to give you an idea of scale.
I’m going to do something that I haven’t done in a long time and I am going to submit this one for ratings on Cool Mini or Not and see what score he gets. I could probably write an article about my experiences submitting things I’ve painted for (mostly) strangers to rate but my hope is that this guy will do pretty well and I can build up my gallery there into something much more impressive than it is currently. I’ve always dreamed of becoming a top X painter on there too. Even to be in the top 1,000 painters on that site would be a real accomplishment I’d say so we’ll see if that is a goal that is actually attainable or not.
Next week I’ll share some of the Fallout stuff I’ve completed but I want to keep a display painting theme and show you something I’ve been working on for nearly two weeks now that might surprise you.
That’s right. It is actually something from Warhammer 40k. It has been a year or maybe longer since I painted anything from Warhammer but I’m back with this guy. You might think it has something to do with the launch of the new edition but honestly, it was just because I happened to see this sculpt and really like it. It is quite possibly the first Primaris marine that really caught my eye. I like the realistic proportions and the redesigned chest armor has been really fun to paint and looks cool as well. Despite working on him for two weeks, there is a long, long way to go but hopefully he’ll end up topping the Scibor Dwarf when all is said and done. That is part of the reason why I’m painting him but also because I want to earn the respect of more people for my painting skills. It is funny to say that here because I really enjoy and appreciate the support each of you give me in my hobby endeavors but outside of this website and my posts on The One Ring, I feel that I’ve never come close to getting the respect I get compared to peers. This can and probably will be the subject of a much longer post (most likely the next time I show progress on this guy) but for now, I think that gives you a sense of why I’m doing it. I’ve been having fun with it thus far and am really happy with early results. It is very much a work in progress and many parts of the mini are rough but hopefully in the coming weeks, we’ll see him come together.
I need to catch up on what everyone else has been working on and I look forward to getting the chance to do that. It really is great to be back and I look forward talking to all of you again regularly for the foreseeable future š
Kuribo's Painting 
Nice to see you getting stuff painted, and very nicely too! š Marine looks good so far and I really like the green armour! But the dwarf really does look impressive on that base – brilliant!
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Thanks, John. I really appreciate it š
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Glad to hear you are ok mate! I was wondering if something had happened to you. Strange times we live in. I understand how you feel and empathize with you!
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I really appreciate it! š With everything going on, having an escape like we do in our hobby really is invaluable.
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Nice job on the Scibor dwarf and fan-freakin-tastic start on the primaris. NMM gold looks really nice in particular. Canāt wait to see that one completed!
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Cheers, Toad! I’m really glad to hear you like both of these minis. I’ll be working hard on the marine for the next couple of weeks and you may see me back in the WIP on CMON if I can find the time soon as well š
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Nice work! The NMM looks spectacular.
You sound very positive, despite some unfortunate circumstances. I’m happy to see you’re doing well. š
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I was miserable for most of the time away so any positivity is mostly from being back š I’m looking forward to seeing your next battle report when you get around to it. I know you’ve had a steep hobby hill to climb to get there but I have a feeling it will be worth it in the end š
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I was worried about you. I am heartily glad that you are OK. These are strange and trying times and when you suddenly went offline I knew something must of happened. Welcome back. š
I was not prepared for the EPICness of that base. It really could be a piece of terrain by itself. Looks amazing to me and I hope it does well on cool mini or not. Maybe post a link so people who follow you here can vote.
Thanks for linking to my blog and Iām glad you enjoyed the post. Iām enjoying our online friendship. š
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I thought about posting something saying that I’d be away for a bit but I honestly kept thinking, this computer repair won’t take much longer, until it did! Next time, I will probably do things differently and let everyone know what is going on.
Many thanks for the kind words! It took longer to paint than I thought it would due to that epicness too! I can definitely post a link to the mini when I get it in the gallery. I may even hold off until next weekend to put it in the gallery so I can just throw the link into my next update. Thanks for the suggestion!
You’re very welcome! I had the ulterior motive of laziness. You said it better than I could without some serious work, so why not just refer people to you instead š I’m glad you’re doing well and staying safe and will be looking forward to seeing more hobby mischief out of you in the near future š
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Welcome back, add me to the list of worriers.
While not a fan of big bases, they do work for display models. I especially like the one you are using, might have to take a look at Scibor .
Your new wip looks interesting, rather odd to see a gas pump nozzle/handle on a figure :-). Agree with others, your green is great looking! I’m interested in your technique, when you start a model do you look to see how others have done it or just start out on your own? I usually have to look at others to make sure I don’t miss a detail.
Again, welcome back!
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Thanks and my apologies for worrying you as well! Scibor makes some terrain pieces and to be honest, I had always thought of doing Moria or Balin’s Tomb relying on some of them as I think the movie version of Balin’s Tomb is a bit boring and lacking a little something. I do think one day I’d like to do some kind of a LOTR scene using some of his statues/terrain. I’d love to see what you can do with it as well since you are more skilled with terrain than I.
Haha, he is very much half-built as I want to be able to reach all of the different parts of the model without blocking anything off.
In terms of painting process, I would say I usually look to see what others have done as I often like to come up with my own color scheme if I can. Sometimes with LOTR, I’ll use reference images from the movie to guide how I paint something but those 360 degree images of minis on Games Workshop’s site are invaluable when it comes to figuring out what the little bits are, especially the ones on the back or the sides of the mini.
I could probably write an article describing my painting process on different kinds of minis if that is something that would interest people. I think it might put some to sleep or just make them think painting is really hard but I might be being a bit too harsh in saying that š
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Good to hear that you guys avoided the worst of the riots, though being without your PC for that long wouldn’t have been any fun at all! š¦
The Scibor dwarf looks great though – if that’s any (belated) consolation! Love the directional lighting incorporated into his NMM shield especially! š
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Thanks, mate! I learned a lot on that guy and the shield was a fun and interesting challenge but I think it is probably the best part of it overall so I’m really glad to hear you like it too š
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