It was a wild week outside of the hobby for me. Work was crazy busy this week when its been less than busy most of this year. The newish CEO unveiled a new policy where people who live within an hour of an office have to work there two days a week. The company has been remote since the pandemic started so this is definitely a shift. The new policy isn’t particularly punitive or a big surprise but when you consider how many remote employees are in the company, it makes little sense. I’m on a team of 10 people and only two people would have to be in office (one of those being me) so its not exactly going to increase collaboration as they’re saying it will. During the meeting where this policy was described and defended, the newish CEO went so far as to call a fellow member of leadership who just got COVID, “COVID Boy”. The person in question called into said meeting and while he seemed fairly healthy, I was taken aback by this behavior. I’m not a very uppity person but I thought the comment was insensitive and unbecoming of a leader. I mean a few people died from COVID since 2019, right? How would you feel if a loved one had that happen to them and your company’s leader acted like that? So that’s the kind of week I had.
Hobbywise, I got to start up on my next display project and my first 75mm miniature. I purchased Minerva from Kimera Models (the same people who make Anubis, in case you are curious) and I picked her because she’s Roman, mythological, and the miniature seems like its fairly straightforward to assemble and paint. That doesn’t mean she’ll be boring to paint though at the same time. For example, her skin ended up being an interesting experiment. I normally use typical flesh colors (Kislev and Cadian Fleshtones from GW) and then I’ll glaze in purple for the shadows. This time, I decided to go with a more reddish color and I think the results look good and lifelike even if the pictures are a bit dark looking. Here’s a peek.
First thing that I should note is that a lot of WIP pictures coming up will look like this with mini on the Citadel handle. Its a bit of a pain to remove it from all that Blu-Tak so I’m not going to bother very often. As far as the painting experience has gone, I’ve learned some things and averted a few problems thus far. The first thing I learned is that with bigger surfaces, comes an increased need to have smoothly applied paint. I always aim for this but any unevenness is really noticeable on a miniature like this. I’ve noticed people often use an airbrush for basecoating and I can certainly see why. The paint will look smooth and it will save you time. You also need to be ready to glaze as larger surfaces always need glazing to appear smoothly blended to the naked eye. In that sense, these larger scale miniatures are great for people want to really go crazy with details and enjoy taking their time on a project.
Working on the face was perhaps the most interesting thing so far. The eyes are certainly bigger than what most of us paint but they aren’t as big as a bust where you can paint the pupil, iris, and reflections either. Instead, I had to tinker with the eyes a bit and ended up painting reflections in the eyes which looks fairly nice. I’m sure I can do even better with eyes in the future but I appreciate the extra bit of realism and I liked working on these eyes more than smaller miniatures which honestly, feel like a crapshoot getting right sometimes. It is a part of display painting 28mm-32mm minis that I’m tired of, if I’m honest.
So that’s how Minerva looks now, I suspect it will take a fair bit of time to finish her but I’m going to try and do things in chunks and paint large sections at a time so I don’t forget how I did a particular surface (skin, metal, cloth, etc.) like I’ve nearly done in the past. With the holidays coming up, I’m sure I’ll have to take some breaks here and there so this approach should help with that too.
In Comics Corner, I wanted to briefly plug something I reread this week that I think will be of interest to some of you. There haven’t been any interesting comic sales on Comixology so I decided to grab Marvel Unlimited which lets you read as many Marvel comics as you want/can from their catalog for a flat monthly fee. I used to own a copy of this book and wanted to revisit it to see if it was as good as I remembered.
That’s right, I read Wizard of Oz, which is beautifully drawn by Skottie Young. His art style is really unique and perfectly suited for this story. What’s more, every panel in this book is rich with detail. You can tell he really put his heart and soul into it. Here’s some interior art so you can see what I mean.
If you’ve only seen Wizard of Oz, the movie, and not the book, then I think you’ll find the comic both surprising and interesting. Its been forever since I’ve seen the movie now but I’m pretty sure there are things in the book and comic that were removed from the movie. Dorothy has silver slippers and not ruby ones. The Wicked Witch of the West doesn’t really hunt her down like in the movie either. Instead, Oz makes Dorothy and the others go kill the Witch to earn a trip back to Kansas. There are other characters and scenes that make for stunning visuals that are not in the movie either. All in all, the book is a visual feast and the plot is more of an epic quest than I had remembered. I find the final cover of Wizard of Oz to be incredibly beautiful and moving for some reason. Dorothy really had to earn her trip back to Kansas in the graphic novel and as someone who lived in Kansas for two years, it isn’t nearly as beautiful as this cover makes it out to be.
So if you have any fondness for Oz, I’d certainly recommend this one. You’ll be spoiled by the art and entertained by a familiar and satisfying adventure. Marvel gave similar treatment quite a few other Oz books that Frank L. Baum wrote and I look forward to reading those in the future and sharing my thoughts when I get around to them. One of these days, I’d like to paint up a Wizard of Oz inspired mini or two. Maybe something like this…
Kuribo's Painting 
The skin looks fantastic so far, really keen to see how you go with this!
I’ve just gone on a leadership/management course for work and I can tell you those comments would not fly where I work, definitely a poor reflection on that person.
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Thanks, Nic! It was a happy accident to be sure. I’ve worked for this company for five years and it never would have been acceptable in the past. I’m not generally someone who demands an apology but I think he should give one in this case and work on being kinder and more thoughtful. My suspicion is that this CEO is wearing his welcome out very quickly and it will be interesting to see where things go from here.
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Nice work on the mini so far Jeff! 🙂 The face and eyes look really good to me and I find that more difficult to achieve with a partially hidden face (due to the helmet).
I agree with Nic on the work stuff, that sort of behaviour wouldn’t be condoned these days in where I work. I work from home now and that works well enough – most of the rest of the team I’m in are between 100 to 300 miles away from me, but we don’t seem to have any collaboration or efficiency issues (I think that’s a reflection on our boss and the team members to be honest).
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Thank you, John! A helmet can definitely make painting eyes harder. It also makes judging whether the eyes are “straight” or not harder too.
As I said to Nic, that type of comment would have never been accepted before in the five years I’ve worked for this company. I think a lot of people in the company are disappointed by the CEO’s behavior and patience for him is wearing thin already. We have employee satisfaction surveys and I intend to score him as low as possible and call out his terrible behavior. It won’t do a lot, I don’t imagine but it is good to stand on your principals at the same time.
When I started this job, it was hybrid before many companies were doing hybrid work which was pretty cool at the time. Almost everybody on the team lived in Chicago and so we all were in the office various days during the week. I think the people on that team got along better with each other and worked together better generally. We have some more difficult personalities on the team now and nearly everyone is remote and there is almost no team chemistry so its been an interesting shift to say the least.
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I see the new CEO is trying to flex his corporate muscles, and failing miserably, as for the comment it’s insensitive and wrong on so many levels, if he want’s respect he needs to earn it, not think his position will give it to him.
Awesome start on the big scale model Jeff, the blends look awesome, don’t forget to include some green undertones to balance out the purple, should be a stunning piece when finished.
sounds like I really need to read the book or the comics, as I’ve only ever seen the two movies, and that vignette is a painters dream (or nightmare depending on your perspective ! LOL)
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The new CEO is probably around 50 and has tried to come across as the strict Dad which is a strange schtick. I think his sarcastic humor and lack of light touch when it comes to presenting information is not going over well. As I said to Nic and John, I don’t see how he’s going to last a long time because I think he’s mostly succeeded in turning people against him thus far. If anything, the previous CEO coddled employees too much (until the layoffs happened anyway) and was too nice so this is a real culture shift in 2023.
I’ll have to give some thought on how to work in some green, Dave. The purples are going to be quite a bit different than they look now so we’ll see what you think as it develops too.
In regards to Oz, I think its well worth checking out the book or graphic novel to see how it varies from the movie. I have been surprised by that both times I’ve read it. If only that vignette wasn’t $200 to get a copy here in the States. Sometimes you Europeans don’t know how good you have it! 🙂
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Just to echo what others have said, sounds like your newish CEO is not a good leader. Where I work we have a new CEO and upper management team, and they are pushing for everyone on the C-level to be in Michigan – even the site manager for 4 facilities here in North Carolina! I’m not impressed.
I love the large scale figure! Airbrushing is definitely a good investment. Oh and that last figure set, wow just wow, that looks like a blast to paint!
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I agree with you, Eric. Personality does matter in a manager and this guy’s personality just isn’t conducive to the role. I don’t know how you feel about this being from Philly and all but this guy is from New Jersey and he strikes me as being pretty “East Coast”. That definitely is rubbing a lot of the Midwesterners that work here the wrong way, including myself! Not that all of you are bad by any means 🙂
Thanks for the kind words as well. An airbrush is certainly something I will be considering in the coming months. If I can scrape together about $200, I might just get that Oz vignette, if it doesn’t sell out before then!
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I take no offense, us Mid-Atlantic folks can be hard to get, we have a bit of an attitude and can be abrasive! Honestly, it’s what I miss the most living in the Bible belt, but someday I will retire to Pennsylvania or maybe even Northern New England!
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Abrasive is exactly how I would describe the CEO. I’m polite and friendly but distant until I know enough about someone to decide whether I’d like them to know more about me. That goes over much better with the Midwest crowd even if they find me frustrating at times 🙂
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Yup. No-one in the south gets my sarcasm! Chin-up, bad CEO’s don’t seem to last very long these days, I’m on my 2nd in three years!
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Yeah, I don’t care for Southern culture or customs either. I don’t fit in there any better than you I imagine. I’ve got my fingers crossed for change at the top. I might even contribute to a plane ticket to send him back to Jersey for good!
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Where did you find that Oz vignette?
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Here’s a link for you: https://mindworkgames.net/en-us/collections/signature-series-gabriele-dellotto/products/oz-gabriele-dell-otto
It was in stock a couple of days ago and is not currently. I don’t know if that means it has been sold out or not. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
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Looks like it was a limited edition – only 600 schooled to be made.
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It is and with them not having it in stock, supply will at best be limited going forward, unfortunately…
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I have family and friends who are being “recalled” to work in the office several days a week. Everyone of them work on remote teams so it seems they go in just to do zoom meetings from the office – ain’t life grand. They are all doing hot desking also, so that just adds to their fun. One brings in her own keyboard for her piece of mind.
Your mentioning Oz reminds me to read the original, it seems we are aware of but read and watch adaptions. I just watched the 1959 version of the Mummy and noticed the similarities between it and the Brendan Fraser version but have no idea what the original story is.
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That is exactly what I’ll be doing if I have to go to the office again. My manager is against the requirement but he could certainly be overruled. We also have a reserve an open desk for each day system since we all went remote. I have no idea if that will stick with this new policy or not. I kind of hope not as people should have a predictable spot near other people they work with.
Wizard of Oz has to be one of the first movies where the adaption is far more popular than the originals. I think its well worth reading either the book or the graphic novel. In some ways it reminds me a little bit of the creativity in Alice In Wonderland but its much less off the walls, which is a good thing in my book!
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Great selection on the new mini mate. Minerva is a brilliant subject. Go Rome!
In the Late 90’s I was an auto insurance adjuster for GEICO and I worked remotely. It took some getting used to and required self discipline but I found it a great way to work and considerably more efficient for the company… with the correct employees. I thought corporations would learn this from forced remote working thanks to Covid but obviously not. And it is not just in the USA. A big mistake in my opinion.
Being an over 50 barking Drill Sergeant Dad type of leader myself I know how poorly that is received these days in many workplaces. And the “Covid boy” comment is the kind of thing that irks my inner former Union Rep sensibility (yes, I have been a lot of things in my life… I am easily bored)….a “toxic workplace” complaint and possible settlement in the offing. Covid boy= cancer kid… I can see an arbitration panel siding with the employee quite easily on that. Hopefully it is fully witnessed and documented. Save it for a later day as insurance or take it to Human Resources in absence of a union rep and try to get it resolved for the betterment of the employee, the boss and the company.
I love Oz, the movie is a classic. I still need to have Mrs. GG and Little GG see it. However I have not read the book. That Oz vignette is screaming “Kuribo paint me!”
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Really glad to hear you like the mini choice, mate!
That is interesting to hear your experiences working remotely. There is a lot of speculation amongst people who are pro remote work that companies don’t want to pay for empty offices and that is why they’re forcing people back. I agree that there are some people who just can’t do remote work. There was someone I used to work with who was that way and was basically forced out because he wasn’t doing his job, especially when he wasn’t in the office…
The meeting where Covid Boy was uttered was recorded so there won’t be any covering it up. I’m curious if there will be any kind of an apology issued but with each passing day it becomes less and less meaningful. We’ll see what happens.
I think there should definitely be an Oz showing in your humble abode then. Its a classic and I think Little GG is a great age to watch it. I’d love to get the vignette, but it is a pricey one. We’ll see what I can do…
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Without a clear and specific complaint there is small chance of any follow up by management regarding that inappropriate comment. Ah… I used to cause such a fuss back in my union rep days. 🙂
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I can imagine you were quite the handful 😀
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I recall being called “high maintenance” as well as “something of a loose cannon” by bosses.
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Those are just other ways of saying passionate and cares deeply 🙂
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I like your choice of mini and so far it’s looking fantastic. The skin tone is really nice (especially for red) and the lips look great. Since I’ve never bought one of these minis, I’m curious if the cleanup chores and/or material is any better than cheaper minis?
New CEO…unfortunately I’ve gone through this before and in academia those types of leaders seem to stick around longer. It’s easy for someone to come
In and play tyrant, because power is so decentralized here. I myself should be able to work five days a week from home (being in IT), but have only managed to persuade them to let me have two remote days. Which I’m annoyed with, as there are people who have never come back since lockdown. We also just got a new leader who wants to push everyone to come back, because that will help to ‘save the city’. As long as people are doing their jobs when remote and can be reached, I don’t see the issue.
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Glad to hear it, Brian! I agree that the lips came out well. I was really pleased with them. Your question is a good one. The bust I bought had almost no prep work needed other than assembling it and scraping off a few really small mold lines (that were faint to be honest). Minerva is also resin but wasn’t quite as easy. There are some mold lines but there are also parts where the resin surfaces are uneven which can be aggravating to fix. Finecast has those to a worse degree but there are a couple of spots that I couldn’t completely fix. Hopefully they aren’t too noticeable in the final product.
I’m sorry to hear that you’re also struggling with leadership and have to be in the office a couple days a week. I think the world is going to have to adapt to remote work more and there will be some things that suffer. Business real estate may not be such a sure thing anymore, for example. I’m not sue that we should feel sorry for them either. It certainly isn’t our duty to bail businesses out when they can’t adapt to a changing market.
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Minerva is coming along great – would love to see more progress but I know that you’ll share.
Thanks for sharing the Oz comic stuff, very interesting. I have been deep into “Ozz” but referring to the inspiration (Ozz is a different world than Oz) is always helpful. Would definitley LOVE seeing that big mini painted up by you.
As for toxic work environment – sorry you’re in one. I had my share, and am so glad I’m out and retired – but take the good days and forget the bad.
Nice post!
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I’m glad to hear you like Minerva, Mark. I was contemplating doing a book review instead of another update on her but I might push it off for another Minerva update. We shall see!
I was hoping the Oz comic info would be interesting to you, considering your work on Ozz. I’d love to paint the big Oz project as well.
I appreciate your advice on work as well. I do what I can to let work stay at work and that does seem to help. I may be 38 but that doesn’t mean I’m not already eagerly awaiting retirement too haha.
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Minerva looks superb so far, the skin tones are stunning. Beautiful painting and I’m looking forward to seeing your progress.
Yeah, your CEO sounds like a cock. I can’t imagine going back into an office after leaving office-based work in 2020. “Come back to the office culture!” when the office culture is grey carpet, grey cubicles and grey days. Yuck.
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Cheers, Matt! Glad to hear you like the new project thus far. We don’t have cubicles (thankfully!) and have a pretty nice office but your assessment of the CEO is spot-on. I haven’t been impressed since he took over and it only seems to get worse with time, I’m sorry to say.
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How are you enjoying the difference between the 28mm and 75mm scale so far? It must be a joy to an artist of your talent to have such a large and detailed ‘canvas’ to work on. I’m so impressed with the warm skin tones of Minerva, but won’t it be a bit of a pain to have a smooth continuation of the paint when you add her arms?
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That’s a great question, mate! I like 75mm thus far. The mini I chose still has plenty of detail but I think the size makes it eye catching from further away. I’m also finding you can do a bit more and use more colors on the larger surfaces. The cloak is a good example of that. On a Warhammer sized mini, I wouldn’t be able to go from dark purple to pink basically but it wasn’t difficult here.
In regards to your second question, I don’t think I’ll have a problem with the arms because armor will break up the skin as you’ll see eventually. If the arms were bare skin, then yes, it would be much more of a pain to make that work. The main reason I didn’t attach the arms yet is because doing so would make painting the stuff underneath nearly impossible truthfully.
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