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Kimera Models – Lokaris II

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Its been another busy week hobby-wise and there lots to talk about including a few things I promised to discuss so I won’t waste any time. I continued to work on Lokaris and worked on his many belts. While they certainly look cool, it reminds me of a lot of anime and Final Fantasy characters like Lulu below.

Regardless, so far, I’ve been enjoying working on this miniature as I’ve been painting stuff that I’m pretty familiar with like gold and leather. It will get more challenging from here and I will be trying some new things outside of my comfort zone.

Something that I am proud of with this project and didn’t discuss yet is that I’ve already had to jettison my original plan for this mini. My initial idea was to have him look more like a barbarian with a different color palette. I even found what I thought was a pretty good piece of art for inspiration that I unfortunately can’t easily share because of the image’s file format. When I realized that the original idea wasn’t going to work, I gave it some thought and figured out a different way to go that will still look cool and different than the other painted examples I’ve seen. I’ll delve into this more when Lokaris is closer to being finished.

I can’t say for sure that I’ll keep working on this project this week however. My brushes are pretty “tired” and missing a lot of their bristles and while I tried to order new ones over a week ago, I learned a hard lesson about how Michigan Toy Soldier works. They seem to be constantly reordering Rosemary and Co. brushes, which take 2-3 weeks to arrive each time they sell out. I thought if I waited until they were in stock and then placed my order, I’d be able to get them faster. I think the opposite might end up being true and when they get them back in stock, most of the brushes are quickly spoken for. So I’m currently waiting for the next batch to arrive from the UK while my brushes continue to wear down. Sadly, I don’t know exactly when I’ll be getting those new brushes which is obviously problematic. I broke down and got a new Winsor and Newton one on Amazon that will get here tomorrow and hopefully it won’t be defective like the last one… If it is, I may be stuck doing gaming stuff for a week or two. All in all, I’m learning a lesson the hard way with paintbrush supply and demand. I may need to start looking for other options as this isn’t something I want to deal with again anytime soon.

Next up, I tested out the Monsterpocalypse buildings that I currently have with the other miniatures I own to see how they might look in a diorama to try to pin down what size display base I need so I can grab one in the near future. I actually haven’t looked at the pictures I took a couple of weeks ago until now because I forgot to and so I’m looking at them with fresh eyes as I write this. Here’s a look at what a 10×10 base looks like.

While I’ve heard its a good idea to go smaller and more compact with your dioramas, I can see some pros and cons to this size. The emphasis is definitely on the two fighters which is nice but there is limited room for any other city stuff. I also won’t be able to incorporate many monsters in it because its so compact. I also tend to think that Hondo and the enemy kaiju are too close together to be realistic considering Hondo’s rocket truck.

Here is 12 x 12 with some monsters included. Obviously there’s a lot more open space to be filled, some of which is needed for streets and cars, but there is definitely room for some of the smaller creatures at this size and maybe some other surprises as well. Before I looked at these, I was leaning towards 10 x 10 but now I think I prefer 12 x 12. Seeing these two layouts reminds me that I need to buy some more stuff for this diorama as well so I better get on that. Of course, if you have any thoughts, advice, or opinions, I’m happy to hear it too!

Moving into a bit of belated hobby news, I’m glad to see that there is going to be a Starcraft Miniatures game coming from Archon Studios. I’ve said before that certain types of video games would be a great fit in our hobby and RTS games are very high on that list! I prefer Warcraft to Starcraft by a slight margin so I don’t think this is a game that I would get into though I’m happy to see it getting released. However, I have it on good authority that John@JustNeedsVarnish (who is getting a shout-out two straight weeks no less!) is a Starcraft fan which surprised me because its a pretty hardcore game. Needless to say, if nothing else, we’re all collectively a bunch of enablers, and so I would be remiss if I didn’t say that I think he should absolutely get into the Starcraft game! If you know John, as many of you do, feel free to apply pressure in the comments as well! I don’t dare guess which faction is John’s favorite but it looks like Marines, Zerg, and Protoss will be there. What more could any avid Starcraft player want!?

And finally, I promised another friend of the site, Spalanz, that I’d talk a bit about something I’m doing relating to comic books and card collecting. While I said I was going to collect Dune cards on this very website, I got distracted by Upper Deck’s release of Skybox Batman Metal. Its a cool looking set that I’ll talk more about later on when I’ve got something interesting to show off. This might surprise you, but I’ve barely read any Batman comics up until recently. I tried a few of the commonly recommended books like The Long Halloween and Hush but nothing hooked me. I’ve also kind of been in denial that I like Batman for many years. Maybe its because the character is so popular but I’ve never thought of myself as liking Batman all that much. The Nolan Trilogy of movies challenged that and the Arkham Asylum video games really won me over but I still never read Batman comics for whatever reason. Since I decided to start collecting Batman cards, I’ve finally accepted that I DO like Batman quite a bit and it has left me with a fun challenge. How do I start reading Batman, one of the most popular and heavily published characters of all time? It can be a daunting task, to be sure!

Well, for me, the path was pretty easy to find. I’m going to collect cards for certain characters and so I’m starting my reading journey by following a character that I’m interested in and seeing where it takes me. I’m starting with Harvey Dent/Two-Face and will talk more about him and what I’ve discovered once I’ve done more reading but I found it has been pretty easy to find recommendations online for things to read by just Googling “best” or “great two face comics” and digging into the results a little bit. So far, I rediscovered my love for The Long Halloween and found some other pretty cool comics this way. I still have quite a bit more to read before I can say that I’ve read a lot of Two-Face stories but I’m certainly well on my way to feeling like I know the character and Batman much better.

This is not the only good way to find comics to read (I recommend good ones from time-to-time after all!) but if you can narrow down things a bit, it can really help you find stuff that you might like. For popular Marvel and DC characters, there’s so much content out there and if you don’t know many writers and artists, it is overwhelming. But fortunately, there is a lot internet content, including Youtube, designed to help people find something to read so definitely get out there and do some research and you can’t go too far wrong. Marvel and DC both have affordable subscription services that let you read unlimited digital comics, except for really new issues so there is a treasure trove of stuff at your fingertips nowadays, particularly if you have access to a decent tablet. I hope this helps Spalanz get inspired and if you ever find yourself wanting to check out superhero comics, this is one approach you might take to find success. The main thing is not to be intimidated by how much is out there or feel like you don’t know enough to read books about a particular character or set of characters. You also do not need to start at the first issue of Batman or Superman (which are really, really old now) and read everything in chronological order. Chances are, if you do, you’ll give up out of boredom well before you get to the more modern era of comics.

26 thoughts on “Kimera Models – Lokaris II”

    1. Cheers! I know I sounded a bit disinterested but I think I’m in to paint a couple of these just for the fun of it. You don’t easily forget characters like Jim Raynor and Kerrigan!

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  2. Fantastic progress Jeff, but can imagine this being one of your long term projects.

    With the diorama you are going to need some ruined buildings, and might have to make ruble piles around the monsters, as Hondo takes up more than a street width infront of the Empire State building, it will also be easier to work out what base works best with the total composition.

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    1. Thanks, Dave! This mini is going to eat up February and go into March, I’d guess unless I improve my painting rate. I might see if I can squeeze in something else alongside this mini in the name of your challenge.

      You’re right! I somehow forgot about making rubble. I need to make some allowance for that too. I’m pretty sure that I need to go bigger (12 x 12) based on this. I want to pack a lot of details in this diorama and if I don’t give myself plenty of room, I won’t be able to accomplish it. I’m only doing this once (as far as I know) so I might as well do it right. Thanks for your feedback, as always!

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  3. Much as though I like Starcraft, and the figures look really nice, I won’t be delving into it unless I can get some bits that might fit into my 20mm VSF project (which is probably unlikely as they’ll end up coming out in boxed sets). But thank you for the mention!

    As far as basic maths goes, a 12″ x 12″ diorama has 44% more area than a 10″ x 10″ one, meaning you need almost half as much stuff again to cover the area. If it’s mostly rubble that’s maybe not too bad though!

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    1. I suspected that it wasn’t a project you’d be taking on so I tried to apply as much peer pressure as I could haha! I know that you’ve got plenty of projects on the go at the moment too. I’m curious if a mutual friend of ours who happens to be French has anything to say about this. I suspect he too has played and enjoyed Starcraft but we shall see! In all seriousness, I’m guessing Starcraft will be a bigger “army” game and it will be pricey to collect compared to historicals. I am curious though, who do you like best in Starcraft/who did you play with the most? I liked the Terrans and Protoss much better than the Zerg, personally!

      Your perspective on the diorama is very useful! I’m not a “maths” guy and am much better with the written word so thinking about that extra 44% is a very useful exercise ! 🙂

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      1. Jeff, it is years since I played Starcraft! I think I went mostly Terran (or at least started off as Terran) but I did play as all of the races! I liked the Zergs that you could bury like mines that waited to ambush any intruders!

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      2. This has turned into a “You’re getting old” moment for me because I realized that its been a long time for me too… I tried to install Starcraft II on my computer today and I have the physical disc for it but computers don’t have disc drives anymore. Another sign that life is starting to pass me by! 😉

        I prefer Terrans overall too. The ability for Zerg to burrow is sneaky and almost too good!

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  4. Thanks for the shout out! I have been poised on the brink since, what, September, for getting back into DC. It certainly is a minefield! Still, glad you’re getting somewhere with it, I think I shall have to try that approach too, see what I can turn up…

    And… a StarCraft miniatures game? I’m not really a fan, but years ago I remember watching a lot of Day9 on YouTube, and kinda picked up bits by osmosis really. I suppose it’s interesting, but I need to stay away from more new games!! 🤣

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    1. There are a lot different ways to tackle superhero comics but finding some kind of focus will help as there’s so much out there. One other thing I’ll do is check how good a series or individual volume is on Goodreads. If you don’t have Goodreads then I suppose you could try something like Amazon though it probably isn’t effective because people write lower quality reviews on there.

      Finally! We found a game you’re not open to 😉 In all seriousness, I can see where a video game inspired miniature game isn’t a great fit for you. I think this is another one where playing the video game would really help strengthen its appeal. If I were to be critical, Starcraft has pretty derivative factions so you could just play Warhammer instead. Space marines = Terrans, Zerg = Tyranids, and Protoss = Eldar. Its not exactly 1:1 but they’re pretty darn similar in many ways!

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      1. I am indeed on the Goodreads, yeah, so that’s another useful option! My wife disapproves of me logging the comics I read on there, so I don’t always think about it when it comes to comics!

        🤣 Yes, there was bound to be one, eventually! Yeah, I’m probably going to just stick to 40k, when you put it like that…

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      2. She sounds like a book purist! She would hate my account where I have something like 800 comics rated and the vast majority of them reviewed as well 😀

        I didn’t think it was possible but we finally managed to convince you NOT to play a game 🙂

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  5. Ugh, I feel your pain with the brushes! I remember pretty much always getting a good series 7 brush, and then every brush I’ve ordered for the last few years has been terrible. The Rosemary and Co brushes are fantastic, but man, they are SO hard to find!

    Two Face is my absolute favorite Batman villain, followed closely by Maxie Zeus and Scarecrow. The old Arkham Asylum book from the late ’80s really gets into those guys and I love it!

    Funny how you say we’re all hobby enablers, because I’m pretty sure your Fallout pics might have “enabled” me into opening a couple of long-neglected boxes, hahah!

    Great work as always, can’t wait to see that dio come together!

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    1. As seems to happen to me, if I complain, the problem gets fixed! The new brushes are shipped out and should be here soonish. I’ve heard that quality control with Winsor and Newton has really gone down in the last couple of years. I like the “thickness” of the bristles on their brushes best so its been a hard change that I’ve been forced to make. I can’t speak for anywhere else but Rosemary and Co brushes are really tough to get in the US. I’ve only heard of two retailers that have them and one of those only accepts orders by email or phone call which is hard to believe in this day and age!

      Two-Face is going to end up being up there on my list too, I think. I have been appreciating Scarecrow more and more as he’s popped up in some of the things I’ve been reading. I’ll have to add Arkham Asylum to my list as well!

      Ooh, well that’s good to hear. I’m always glad to enable that sort of thing 😀 I’ll be curious to see what you have to paint!

      Thanks for the kind words as well!

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  8. Nice progress on everything!

    Thinking about your diorama, as always, take what I say with a grain of salt. Two questions that come to mind; where are you going to display it and what will be the point of view? Right now you are looking at it from above, you need to look at it from where you want people to look at it and compose it accordingly. Maybe use force perspective and everything doesn’t need to be the same size. Just food for thought.

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    1. Well, its good to know you’ve survived the Super Bowl victory! And here you were complaining not too long ago that Seattle never wins anything! You’re spoiled compared to a Cincinnati sports fan like myself haha.

      I think you’re raising some great questions and they are also on my mind. I didn’t try to take any photos from an eye-level since nothing is glued down but I’ve been thinking about how to create a nice city-scape from that angle while not blocking the main participants in the battle. Its a tricky thing to balance. I will keep thinking about this and probably go ahead and get the base soon so it will be even easier to visualize all of this when I have it in-hand.

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      2. Never assume and I’m glad you mentioned it as it reminds me how important it is. I was glad they won as I’m no fan of the Patriots going back to the Brady/Belichick era…

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  9. Wow, what a great start to a great post – I have spent a lot of time playing that version of Final Fantasy (X, I think?) and enjoying both of those wizard characters. I initially thought that you’d even found a 3d print of Lulu to paint up and were using the art for inspiration. Lokaris is looking very cool even at this really early stage.

    For your diorama, I wouldn’t worry about the realistic range of a rocket truck being thrown by a giant super-gorilla into a squid monster. If you think it looks cooler with tem close together then you should try that way.

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    1. You got it! It is Final Fantasy X. I played it and X-2 both. Those were some of the last Final Fantasy games I was really into, sadly. I’m glad you like Lokaris so far as well. He’s slow going but looking good which is the most important thing I’d guess.

      I’ll keep your advice in mind with the diorama too. There’s a TON of things I can add to it and I do want it to look really impressive in the end so we’ll see what I end up with in the end.

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  10. Nice progress on that belt (and the rest of the model 😉 ).
    Brushes has been a bit of a battle here as well, similar problem to you I suppose as they are mostly made in the UK and need to travel a long way to get to us. I’ve been using Rosemary and Co for the last year or so but I still have some old Windsor and Newton that have survived despite my best efforts. Unfortunately the W&N became very expensive a few years back and I had to start looking for alternatives.

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    1. Thanks, Nic! This one is certainly belt-tastic 😀

      That is a shame that W&N is hard to get there too. I hear their quality control has gone down which makes buying them even riskier, considering their price It seems like we could use some competition in the “high-end” brush market because even brands like Artis Opus, which were very easy to find a couple of years ago are hard to source.

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