Big Tree and the Big D

See, I told you I'd pick up the blogging pace. Two posts in one month; it's an Easter-liturgical-season miracle! I've a couple new minis to share, plus some fellow mini bloggers I'd like to spotlight at the end. Read this entire post, I say!

Let's start with this bloke:

It's a Reaper Bones "Spirit of the Forest." The poor fellow remained untouched except as a repository for unused brown paint for too long; I actually think this is less dignified that mouldering in the "lead mountain of shame" (or in my case, the "plastic tor of chagrin"). He deserves much more respect than that.

A closeup of some details. A lot of the really great paintjobs of this figure feature charming red toadstools, but I thought that sort of thing looked a little too cute. I went with more natural earth tones and greens for a more naturalistic look, at least as naturalistic as a pile of animate vegetation can be.

From the back. Lots of details adorn this figure, and I'd have gone mad trying to distinguish all of them. I focused on fungi, leaves, and vines, and let drybrushing do the rest.

Comparison with Sven, who remember is one inch tall. Reaper's larger minis always seem like they are looking down on my 1/72 figures, which I like a lot. A subtle effect is that the treeman's head and fists are a lighter shade of brown than the rest of him; it's the same color that you see on the vine around his right foot. I think it helps those features pop a bit without looking like they were deliberately highlighted.

Now the next surprise project. Remember this fellow?

He's ready.

It's a big demon from the World of Warcraft boardgame, with a trident borrowed from a Mines of Moria troll. What was holding me back was all the detailing on his armor. "Sure," I thought to myself, "how hard can it be to paint the raised areas a different color?" Ugh. After the initial rough highlighting months ago, it probably took me two hours of futzing with red paint, then gray to cover mistakes, then red to cover the mistakes I made trying to cover the mistakes I made before, in a maddening circle of persnicketiness (By the way, Autocorrect thinks "persnicketiness" is a totally legit word, but has reservations about "boardgame."). Eventually I had to choose between settling and going insane; I think I made the right choice.

Here's a closeup show the extent of the detail work. It also shows how my "magic" blackwash, while good enough for the tabletop, isn't going to win me any prizes. I've done something I thought I'd never do, which is buy some actual quality hobby paint, in this case a dropper of flat black from Vallejo. I'm hoping it makes my washes a little smoother and less splotchy.

Here's the comparison shot with Sven.

Worst prom photo ever.

And here he is with the treeman, for some reason.

Caption contest.

I mentioned blog sharing, which I wanted to spotlight as I've recently updated my blogroll. Most of those guys don't need me to promote them,  but a few stand out as special friends here at Cheap Fantasy Minis. First is Sceavus' 1/72 blog. Sceavus contacted me a few weeks ago to share some very cool fantasy conversions he's done, and I thought he should blog about them. Do check them out! Here's an example:

Next is Automato's Stroke of Meh blog. He's got some great D&D boardgame minis painted up, among other projects. Despite his self-deprecation, he's a great painter; much better than I!

Finally, here's Umpapa's blog. Umpapa does more modern/scifi stuff and less fantasy than I, but we're both interested in finding non-historical options for 1/72-20mm scale. Plus he's a pretty good modeler too!

These are folks who I think deserve some special attention, but everyone in my blogroll is great, and folks like Sam, Paul, and Kris have been really supportive. Really, everyone who has ever commented here or at one of my posts elsewhere, or who's bought something from me, or sent an email, or linked here: it's great to know that my ideas are interesting to a few people! You all really do make hobby blogging worthwhile. More stuff coming soon, I hope!