I made a cheap lightbox for better mini photos.

Mini photography is not something I've paid a lot of attention to. Some mini modelers also have in-home photography studios with fancy tripods and lighting setups, to better show off their efforts. But it seems silly to spend a bunch of money on photography equipment for a blog about cheap fantasy mini collecting. Luckily, thanks to this tutorial for building homemade lightboxes, I found a way that ought to dramatically improve my photographs while staying true to my cheap hobby ethos.

So what is a lightbox? As you might imagine, it's a box—in this case a shipping box recovered from an online delivery—that you shine light into. The secret is a defusing material through which light shines that fills an area with light while killing a lot of shadow and glare.

The diffusing material is a $1 white shower curtain from the dollar store. I cut holes in the top and two sides of the box, stretched the curtain over the holes, taped into place, and cut to fit.

Inside is a sheet of white poster board, less than a dollar at the dollar store. Note the curve along the bottom corner for a seamless backdrop. I know many mini photographers prefer a mottled gray background as oppose to white, so maybe I'll experiment with that. Also, note the duct tape and scrap PVC pipe for support; you could just as well find something just as cheap to support the box.

Here's the lighbox in action. The lights are just a desk lamp and a cheap shoplight shining through either side of the box.

Here's the prepainted Schleich dragon, once with the lighbox lit up, the other time with just my camera flash. Apart from cropping, neither of these shots are touched.

The same shot above with some simple digital enhancements. It looks sharp and clean with very little shadow. I could probably get rid of the remaining shadow if I added a light source above as well. I suppose this means I can control where any shadows I may want are cast, in addition to eliminating shadows entirely.

The project cost me less than $2, and construction took a little over an hour while I watched TV. I still used the same midline digital camera that I've always used, and while I still need to mess around a bit and try shooting my smaller figures, I have a good feeling about these preliminary results. Well worth the investment!

One year blogiversary!

It was a year ago today that I started this blog, and despite not having as much hobby time as I'd like, I'm proud of what I've done over the past year (plus the few months I was painting before blogging about it). I want to thank every visitor, from the one-time readers who found me via Google to all the regulars, who make blogging about this peculiar niche of a niche of a niche of a hobby completely worth it. Thanks especially to everyone who's ever left a comment, and to all the folks who follow CFM or put it on their blogroll. I've still got a ton of project ideas, so here's to another great year of Cheap Fantasy Minis!

Beasties 3x3

Some quick paintjobs for a project I'm working on. I'll reveal what it is when the time comes; your fairly useless hints are the names of the monsters, and the fact that I painted three of each. I'm not a very fast painter usually, but I got these guys done in about a week. Just some simple block colors, lots of drybrushing, and some "magic" washes. My magic wash blend could have been a little darker, but overall I like the results.

Gargoyles, and not the nice kind that fight morally ambiguous plutocrats played by Jonathan Frakes. These are Twilight Creations demons, with one headswap and one horn clipping for a bit of variety.

More Twilight Creations demons who will serve as ghouls (note the tasty hand snacks, or "finger food" as the Crypt Keeper would probably say). A simple headswap for one and a repose for another again adds variety to the figures.

Some ectoplasmically green wraiths, made principally from Caesar Miniatures undead, with a HaT Gallic Command figure loaning its body.

I've got some hobgoblins in progress made from Caesar Miniatures orcs, but they've been slow going. The gang here was pretty simple, but I think they turned out well, and it was nice to get something done quickly for once.

Twilight Creations demons as 1/72 monsters

I've mentioned these figures before. Twilight Creations, best known for their "Zombies!!!" games, put out a boardgame called Dante's Inferno, which fittingly includes a number of demonic monsters. Mike at Bunker Talk found out that they work pretty well with 1/72 figures, and Twilight Creations actually sells them separate from the core game for very cheap. I'm going to start a project with a few of these, so I thought I'd finally photograph them.

Here are all the poses. The Beelzebub figure on the far left is a bit on the large size, but there's only one of these per set. The other poses, of which there are four each per set, are a much better fit to Sven the 1/72 comparison viking. As you can see, the poses suggest all kinds of monsters: classic demons, medusas, gargoyles, and all sorts of other creeps.

Here's a closer look at the snake woman, along with a medusa archer from the Age of Mythology game and a Nuwa figure from Arcane Legions. The little imps on her arms make this a very peculiar figure, but luckily the pose makes modding easy, as I show with a simple arm swap using some Warhammer skaven bits.

The imps from the medusa can be salvaged with a bit of careful clever knife work. Here they are, along with the more classic demon figures from the set, plus some other devilish mods which I have previously discussed.

I like these figures a lot. They aren't exactly prize sculpts, but they have a lot of personality. The material is a little bendy, but much more durable than the famous zombie figures from the same company. They help to fill in a lot of monster types that would otherwise be difficult for the cheap fantasy miniaturist to find, and they are diabolically cheap (muwhahaha!). Now I just wish that the figures from Zombies!!! 12: Zombie Zoo were also separately available.

Ask the CFM: Rogues, assassins and other dishonorable skulkers

Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

It's "Ask the Cheap Fantasy Miniaturist", where I try to answer reader questions about 1/72 fantasy miniatures. In this installment, reader Eric asks:

I was wondering, have you found 1/72 rogues, thieves, assassins?

My answer [with updated comments]:

Good question! The Caesar Miniatures Adventurers set has a few figures that would make good rogues, as does Orion's English Pirates set. Valdemar has had this set of assassins in their preview gallery for months (Paul managed to get ahold of set), but there's no word on when it would ever be produced, and it would probably be expensive. [The Valdemar assassins have been in production for a little while as it happens. It's about as expensive as I feared, though.] 

I've got ahold of some D&D-scale halfling miniatures that are good as 1/72 human-scale rogues; there are a few such mins out there that I think would work [More suitable D&D minis for 1/72 rogues can be found here]. I suspect this 15mm set from Splintered Light Miniatures would be good for 1/72 halfling rogues.

As I read your comment, I got the idea of doing head swaps between these Zvezda peasants (especially the hooded ones) and, say, these Orion Vikings, for a passable rogue/assassin conversion. I've already used the Zvezda heads to begin some cultist conversions.

Reader Shintokamikaze also reminds me that just as various 1/72 pirate sets make great rogues, many 1/72 ninja sets, such as this one from Caesar Miniatures, have great hooded assassin types.

Got more questions for the Cheap Fantasy Miniaturist? Please send them along and I'll do my best to answer.

Ask the CFM: Devils and Clerics (and other folks)

Pic credit: Zigzag Journeys to Northern Lands; via Project Gutenberg.

It's "Ask the Cheap Fantasy Miniaturist", where I try to answer reader questions about 1/72 fantasy miniatures. In this installment, Raph from the 1/72 Minis Google+ group asks:

1- what about tieflings and other d&d playable races (halfeling, ferals, etc.)2 - what would be your choice for a typical d&d cleric ?

1.) Tieflings could simply be any old human figure painted red or some other exotic color, maybe with some horns made from Milliput or Kneadatite. If you're looking for something more overtly devilish, there are certainly possibilities. I've discussed some devilish conversions I made previously. You may also want to check out these demon figures from Twilight Creations; they're a pretty good match for 1/72 figures.

I could do a pretty detailed post about halfings, but I'll keep it short (heh). Turns out there are a lot of DnD halfling figures that work with 1/72 scale. I'd also consider 15mm figures, such as these guys, for 1/72 halflings. Lord of the Rings hobbit minis from Games Workshop may also be something to consider; they look a little too chunky next to 1/72 figures, but aren't bad.

A DnD halfling, Games Workshop hobbit, and Sven.

I'm not sure what you mean by "ferals." If you mean wildmen, there are lots of 1/72 barbarian sets available (these are my favorite). If you mean beastmen, there are various 20mm and 15mm metal figures that ought to work, and headswaps with animal figures are always an option.

2.) There are two images that come to mind when one thinks of a DnD cleric; the armored warpriest, and enrobed holy man. For the former, any old knight figure (such as these) should do the trick. You may also find this post helpful for finding suitable clerics of this type.

There are more 1/72 scale guys in robes than you might imagine. For Christian priests, consider these sets among many. For more generic dudes in robes, these sets may be useful.

Any more questions? Feel free to ask the Cheap Fantasy Miniaturist, and I'll do what I can.

Cheap Superhero Miniatures! (Zerboz)

I spotted these at Walmart months ago, and this post by indigo777 at the DM's Craft message boards persuaded me to try them out. Zerboz are licensed blind-packed superhero minis advertised at an inch high. Hey, that's almost 1/72 scale, the preferred scale of this blog, right? Well, it depends:

Some seem just about the right size (though Batman and Daredevil are a little bigger than they look due to their crouching positions).

Others are just a hair on the big side for the scale, though they'd probably be okay on the game table with properly 1/72 figures if you aren't picky like I am.

These fellas seem particularly apt for fantasy gaming. The Green Arrow makes a pretty good, if hyperbolically muscular, ranger. Gray Hulk would make a good freaky-strong antagonist, or maybe a golem of some kind. Zerboz also makes clear versions of all their figures, which can serve as nifty spirits and other incorporeal dudes.

I forgot to photograph Dr. Doom, who as indigo777's post shows makes a pretty good warforged (just a bit big for 1/72 unfortunately). The Thing would make a dandy rock monster, and a clear Storm in particular would be good for an air elemental (though she's also a little big for the scale).

When I was at Walmart a few weeks ago, they were still selling Zerboz on clearance for 50 cents a piece, though they had packed them all in a single display column and I had to hunt a bit to find what I wanted. I haven't tried painting them, but they're made from a slightly rubbery plastic that seems both sturdy and capable of showing a fair amount of detail. The fate of the Zerboz line seems uncertain, so if you are interested and can find them at the right price, get them while you can