Reaper Resin vs Reaper Bones

I love Reaper Miniatures. Great miniatures, great company, great customer service, and an outstanding community. For player characters, there is something for everyone. Our last party was all Reaper, and our new party is once again all Reaper. And the selection of creatures covers pretty much everything in the Monster Manual and then some, so the question is usually how much should I spend?

Some folks don't like to mix scales, but that's not a problem for me. True, some of my venerable 25mm Ral Partha orcs look downright tiny compared to a Reaper DHL 28mm adventurer, and many of the old Heritage and Grenadier sculpts lack the same level of detail as contemporary minis, but I don't look at my collection like that. I buy what I need and I buy what I like, scale and sculpting differences be damned.

To date, I have resisted the siren call of Reaper Bones. I didn't participate in any of the Bones Kickstarters, and did not consider buying any individual Bones minis. While I am a huge fan of how incredibly affordable Bones are, I still prefer the feel and heft of a solid chunk of metal. Another plus for Bones is the light weight. I'm sure I could haul around a lot more Bones than metal minis and still have to carry less overall weight. Finally, Bones get high marks for potential durability. How many weapons and limbs have snapped off a metal mini due to an unfortunate fall off the table or from the ham-fisted handling of my fellow gamers? A lot.

Which brings me to the other day. I was looking for new giants, and I saw the Bones Frost Giant King. That pretty much melted my resolve (no Will save allowed) so I went ahead and bought him. And while I was at it, why not buy another frost giant? Ned (my DM) knows my philosophy is "you can never have too many giants" so I also picked up Boerogg Blackrime in all his resin glory. While both the eBay listing and the Reaper website state Boerogg is resin with metal accessories, my NIB copy is resin with resin accessories. Just an observation, not a criticism.

He followed me home, honest!

Standard Reaper packaging vs Bones

I have been reading up on Bones over the years, mostly on the Reaper forums, but also on various blogs. The first-hand accounts of my fellow painters have been very enlightening with regards to Bones, from priming (to prime or not to prime? That is the question), hardening (some substances can cause Bones minis to stiffen up to varying degrees), and converting (easy, given the soft nature of the plastic). The reason I looked at ways to harden Bones is because I'm NOT a fan of how soft and bendy the king's sword is. If I cannot get it to retain a nice straight form, then I'll have to consider lopping it off and replacing it with a resin or metal blade.

The various bits, side-by-side.

Boerogg Blackrime

Frost Giant King

You can see how much bigger the King is.

So I have removed the giants from their packaging, cleaned them with dish soap, a toothbrush, and cold water, and let them dry. Next step will be to assemble them, clean up any imperfections, and get busy painting! I will leave that for next time, one article for the Bones giant and one for the resin giant. If any of you folks have advice you'd like to share, your input is much appreciated. Thanks!

New FR Campaign = New Characters to Paint!

In my last post, we wrapped up our long-running FR campaign. A brand-new FR campaign is spooling up, which means I get to pick and paint a new batch of characters for us to field against the DM's never-ending hordes of monsters. Once again, I'm going with Reaper minis to represent our band of intrepid explorers. Our new adventuring party consists of a druid, fighter, cleric, sorcerer, and a rogue. Here's some WIP pics, and my apologies for the quality. They are quick snaps from my phone.

with flash

no flash

My druid is the first 3E/3.5 tree-hugger since we started playing this ruleset. I can't recall the last time anyone played a druid, so I'm pretty sure we're talking way back in our 2E days. I'm really looking forward to this! At first I was going with 03484 Karlov Diedrich, Wizard because he just looks like a druid to me. I ended up choosing 03201 Damian Helthorne, Bandit because my druid serves Mielikki, and her druids are allowed to use the same weapons and armor available to rangers. So yeah, he looks more like a ranger than a druid, but that's my aim. Oh, and he's Aasimar, just to be different.

Dino is playing a human fighter, so I picked 03317 Kale Nolan, Heroic Warrior for him. He's been sitting on the lead pile, based and primed, because I knew I would use him sooner or later. His skin is too yellowish right now, but I'll work on that. Don't want him to look like a pirate with scurvy!

Matt is the medic this time, and 03365 Argonnite, Elf Cleric will be his half-drow cleric. I love the fact that Argonnite came with a weapons sprue so you could choose from a sword, mace, or bow. Maybe I'll stick a small spider on the base, just to remind him Lolth is not happy about a male half-drow cleric running around.

Steve wins the Best Prepared Dude Award for this campaign. Not only did he pick out and purchase 03381 Satheras, Elf Warlock on his own, he even told me he wants me to paint his sorcerer in a more neutral palette. That foiled my plans to paint him up in lovely shades of lavender and salmon.

The rogue pictured is 03062 Darnath, Male Elf Thief. That was before Craig decided his rogue is going to be a gnome, so I narrowed my choices down to 02959 Marius Burrowell, Gnome Thief or 03099 Klaus Copperthumb, Dwarf Thief. Klaus just arrived in the mail yesterday, so he'll be getting based and primed this weekend.

Oh, and I'm also working on some critters for Ned! Don't want the DM to feel left out. I'll post those WIPs next time.

Reaper Marsh Troll (2609) by Bob Olley

This Reaper Marsh Troll is another great example of why I love painting Reaper minis. There are  always a couple of details that reach out and grab you, even if at first glance it looks somewhat pedestrian. Let me explain: OK, we have a troll moving through a swamp. He's not running, attacking, roaring, or anything dynamic. He looks like he's moving with a purpose, looking ahead, and not necessarily looking for trouble.

But check out the fish he's carrying! When I first saw it, I pictured a large, colorful Asian-style carp, and pretty much knew that would be my chance to add some color to a mini that has a decidedly monochrome look about it. The troll's claws/nails are brighter than the rest of his body, pretty much the only contrast on the troll. So I went with vibrant reds, oranges, and purple on the carp. There's even a bit of gold on it that doesn't really show up in the pictures, but it's there. And I used some nice light greens on the base to add a bit more color as well.

Here's a closeup of his face. I thought about giving him some black hair, or even bright green, but in the end decided against it, if only to stay consistent with his overall look.

Have a great weekend!

Happy New Year!

So 2014 is almost done and I'm totally ready to dive into 2015. The year ended on a bit of a high note for once, as I squeezed in a fun-filled FR campaign session (recap pending), my birthday, and I finished two giants and entered them in the Reaper Miniatures Forum's Year of The Giants painting contest. Whew!

You can see the two threads by following these links:

Reaper Giants

Non-Reaper Giants

My entries are under TollHouseGolem. The cyclops is just a very nice piece of old school lead. It was my first serious attempt at NMM, as I was going for an aged bronze look. The end product looks more like worn leather, to be honest. I don't think it is orange-y enough. Oh well, it still came out pretty nice overall, and I am pleased.

My Reaper entry is an Ettin by Jason Wiebe (DHL 02479). This is a super fun and super busy mini! The overall sculpt is very nice, and I really like the way the right head is thrown back - it gives the pose a little oomph in my opinion. And there are just so many freaking details, it really gave me fits. Piercings (both metallic and bone), a piggie, and a child's doll just add to the overall flavor of this beast. I missed a major mold line that ran up his left side, but oh well, this is for the gaming table and not a display case. And my friends think it is all that and a bag of chips.

So there you go, proof of finished minis! I have no expectations on how my entries will fare in the contest, because it was really more about finishing them and getting them entered than any potential prizes.

I hope everyone has a very Happy New Year and a great 2015. Thanks for stopping by this past year.

Tom

A Giant Painting Contest!

Oh snap, how on earth did I ever miss this one? I just now read about the 2014 Year of the Giants painting contest over on the Reaper forums. It was posted way back in February, so I managed to overlook this one for about 9 months. Sweet.

Anyhow, all is not lost. I have about 6 weeks to complete at least one giant mini and enter it in the contest. If I'm feeling really ambitious, I'll complete two entries, one for the Reaper category and one for the non-Reaper category. I'm not going to even think about the Diorama category.

This is just what I needed to light a fire under me and apply some paint to some lead on my favorite category of minis!

Reaper Paint Caddy 1, Vallejo Paints 0

I've slowly but surely been organizing my workbench this year, finding clear storage boxes for my tools and supplies, and generally trying to reign in the wicked beast that is hobby desk clutter. To that end, one final push was to do something about all my paints. I have mostly Vallejo and Citadel, for what it is worth.

My solution? Hey, that Reaper Paint Caddy looks just about perfect for my Vallejo paints! So I went ahead and picked one up recently. It arrived, and after sitting around for a day or two, I got around to filling it up with my paints. Notice above how I called it "just about perfect" for Vallejo paints? Bugger. It is close. It is almost. It is just about. It is not quite. Vallejo paints are TOO FREAKING TALL for the Reaper Paint Caddy!!! By a matter of a couple of millimeters.

It is a good-looking box overall. My only complaint (other than the fracking height!) is that some of the inner walls are slightly warped - kind of wavy-looking - but nothing serious.

Oh well, I'll keep it anyway. It can sit on my desk, almost closed. My paints are now organized and stored, just not exactly how I envisioned it. I suppose I could always buy a bunch of Reaper paints...

Anyone know of any sturdy, clear storage solutions for Vallejo paints?

Bargains in Lead & TheTwelve Days of Reaper

My friends over at FRP Games typically have great sales this time of year, and 2013 was no exception. I picked up Reaper's Cadirith, Colossal Demonic Spider for a whopping $10.00, along with my first two Red Box minis (Rotbreath and Gnasher) for a mere $1.50 each. Cadirith is the P65 version, but you can't pick it up for less than $35 on eBay, so I'm very happy with my haul.

If Reaper minis are your cup of tea, you better head on over to their website and partake in their Twelve Days of Reaper festivities. Spend $35 and get the free miniature of the day. Runs 12/6 through 12/17. I'd like to get on Sophie's naughty list! Ho...ho...ho.

Here Be Dragons! (Reaper painting challenge)

I stopped by Reaper's forums the other day and noticed there is a new painting challenge up and running. This is my kind of challenge - you have a whole year to complete it! Of course, I'm a notorious procrastinator, so this could also be one of those double-edge sword scenarios if I don't stay on top of things.

There's a black dragon by the name of Ebonwrath sitting on my bench, languishing in miniature hell, partially pinned and assembled, just begging to be finished! And I also have one of those neat old DragonTooth dragons who needs some paint as well, so one or both of those will be my entries.

I'll be posting my progress here from time to time, and hope that I can actually finish this challenge.

Reaper's P-65 Frost Wyrm - Some Assembly Required...

I took advantage of the holiday clearance sale over at FRP Games and picked up almost $90 worth of minis for only $30 including shipping. My order consisted of Reaper's Stone Lurker (roper), Vulture Demon (vrock), and a P-65 Frost Wyrm (remorhaz). Oh, I also bought my first Star Wars 30mm mini by Knight Models - Count Dooku. I paid roughly $4.35 for the roper, $6.23 for the vrock, and $10.50 for the remorhaz, which retails for $35. Count Dooku was a steal at $2.50!

They arrived yesterday, and I had a chance to open the package this morning. Everything looks great, but I just had to open up the frost wyrm. It's heavy (8.6 ounces) and consists of 22 pieces! There's the lower body (base), torso/neck/lower jaw, armor plates (behind the head), head/beak, frill x2, tail, legs/claws x 7, spines x7, and right mandible (the left mandible is molded in place).

Here's a picture of all the parts. Lots of nasty, pointy spines and claws! I'm still planning on an assembly write-up as well to see how everything comes together.

Now I just need to get the Ral Partha and Center Stage versions, and I'll have a killer trio for my DM to play with.

Look at the Reaper Bones!

Thanks to a post on scottz's blog, I am now in the loop on Reaper's new Bones line of ready-to-paint (and if your heart so desires, modify) miniatures. Check out the video and first wave of minis over on the Reaper site. The prices are dirt cheap for minis, and I'll have to reserve judgement on quality until I've had the chance to hack apart and paint a couple.

Scott also notes that there is a new Lone Ranger movie in the works, with Johnny Depp as Tonto. Looks promising, so we'll have to see how this iteration looks when it hits the theaters. I'm glad Scott is on the ball, because I'm dragging today.

When I get around to actually posting some new stuff, I owe you guys a new LMR, some pics of recently painted giants, and a session recap from our weekend romp in Faerun. Until then, stay frosty, people.

Fantasy Modeling magazine & other recent additions

Fantasy Modeling magazine was first published in the fall of 1980 by Fantasy Modeling Inc. and lasted just six issues. I'm pretty sure I saw ads for them in old issues of the Dragon magazine back in the day, and it was one of those things that caught my eye in a "gee I'd love to have a look at that!" sort of way. It appeared that all my favorite things were covered - miniatures, models, dioramas, and kitbashing - what's not to love about FM?

Fast-forward to today, where I finally have the first three issues in my hands! They are excellent reads, and chock full of pictures and ads too. The interview in Issue #3 with Tom Loback of DragonTooth Miniatures is great - Tom talks about his sculpting techniques, the miniatures industry, and even looks into the future when asked "What about the possibility of plastic figures?" Good stuff.

You can read the first four issues in PDF form over at Roebeast's Magical House of Sunshine. I have the PDFs (thanks Roebeast!), but I'm also a sucker for print copies, so that's why I snagged these three issues when I had the chance.

I also picked up some blue label Reaper miniatures. Four of them are mouslings (1371 Mousling Priest, 1376 Mousling Musketeer, 1277 Mousling Wench, and 1378 Mousling Mom), who must be the inspiration behind the current generation of Reaper Mouslings. So now I have some blue label Reaper minis to go along with my lone red label (baggied) mini, 1223 Hell Hound.

And finally, I added three new giants to the family! Two are from Grenadier's Fantasy Lords line (second series), the Titan (009) and the Battle Troll (062). The Titan set me back $2.02, and the Battle Troll was $1.25 - giants on the cheap, what could be better? The third giant was $12.99, but she's a shiny and pretty Reaper sculpt by Derek Schubert: 3431 Frost Giant Princess from the Dark Heaven Legends line.


Grenadier Fantasy Lords 009 Titan


Grenadier Fantasy Lords 062 Battle Troll


Reaper DHL 3431 Frost Giant Princess

I found it interesting she is cast in three pieces, with the bulk of her body and the front of her hair one piece, and the back of her hair and her fur cloak and right arm the other. The third piece is her massive spear, held by her left hand. Looking forward to adding all three to the finished pile this year.

A Remorhaz by any other name...

The good peeps over at Center Stage Miniatures are now accepting pre-orders for the long-awaited Glacial Wyrm! According to the CSM store, it will be in stock on or around January 31st, so get those pre-orders in ASAP. This huge Jason Wiebe sculpt should look totally killer all painted up and eating characters on the gaming table. Pre-order price is $29.95 and the retail price is $39.95 (I had this incorrectly listed at $34.95).

For comparison, there is Reaper's Frost Wyrm and Ral Partha's 11-504 Remorhaz. The Frost Wyrm is readily available, and roughly the same price (if not slightly higher) through various sources. The RP Remorhaz is quite rare, and commands prices in the $75+ neighborhood.

What I'd really like to see is a side-by-side-by-side comparison of all three models listed above. Anyone?

Congrats to Matt and the CSM crew.

The Many Faces of Drizzt Do'Urden

In just about every fantasy setting, you have your basic run-of-the-mill characters. Next we move up to iconic characters, and then finally at the very top of the pecking order are the titans of their respective domains. In D&D/AD&D, the list of famous names is long and star-studded: Bigby. Vecna. Tenser. Mordenkainen. Otiluke. Cuthbert. And I've always been fond of Emirikol the Chaotic, because without Trampier's illustration, he would be just another faceless evil mage, even though he doesn't have the same depth of background as the ones listed before him.

In the Forgotten Realms, you could field a couple of all-star football (soccer) squads with names of the rich, famous, and powerful. But for sheer star power, you pretty much have to give it up to the dark elf with a heart of gold, Mr. Drizzt Do'Urden. Books featuring Drizzt have been on the New York Times Best Seller list pretty much every time, I think. He's been featured in numerous AD&D, 3/3.5E, and 4th Edition products. His plastic minis appear to command above-average prices (in particular the one from Archfiends).


Will the real Drizzt Do'Urden please stand up?

Ral Partha has produced three different versions in metal: Forgotten Realms Heroes 10-550, Forgotten Realms Drow Elves of Menzoberranzan 10-551, and blister 11-068. Out of those three, I would pick the one from 11-068 as the one that best captures Drizzt in both look and spirit. The 10-551 version captures the look and feel from the books (at least when he was in the Underdark). I like how the 10-550 version depicts him when he is doing his ranger thing on the surface of Faerun, but his face and pose don't do it for me.


Ral Partha 11-068


Ral Partha 10-551


Ral Partha 10-550

If I was going to paint up a Drizzt to make an appearance in our FR campaign, I would choose Reaper's 2681 Half Elf Thief. Yes, I know he's 28mm, and not everyone out there is cool with mixing and matching 25/28mm minis. Except for not looking more elven (maybe a thinner face and slighter frame), I think this guy is a great choice for a metal Drizzt mini.


Reaper DHL 2681

Who would you choose to be your Drizzt? One of the four minis listed above, or something else? If you have other options, please share.

I'll be profiling more FR characters and personalities in the coming year, now that I've kicked things off with Drizzt.

New Arrivals and some WIPs

Check out what I got in the mail the other day:

That's right, an OGRE! As in Mk. VI, and not as in Shrek. I believe it is an OGRE Mk. VI by Steve Jackson Games. When I first spotted it, I knew that it was an OGRE. What I didn't know was the type or manufacturer. A little detective work sorted that out.

The pic on the left is the Mk. VI (hull pieces sitting on treads, no guns or tower attached). The pic on the right shows scale: OGRE Mk. VI (approx. 3.5" long); Superior Models MAATAC Terran Federation Cyclops Medium Tank (1:285); GHQ T-72 (1:285).

I've been on the lookout for a Mk. V and/or Mk. III for a while now, so I had to snap up the Mk. VI when I saw it. I'm thinking it is going to require a high-visibility "look upon me and fear my armored wrath" sort of color scheme.

Next up are some minis to reassure my DM that our stable of D&D critters is indeed getting some love. Lots of unfinished love at the moment, but hopefully that will see a turnaround in the coming weeks and months.



Here's a gaggle of giants. That purple Reaper frost giantess will eventually look like the Ral Partha frost giant. The purple is the base color, gradually lightened up so that the purple is barely visible. At least that's the look I'm shooting for. And the green Superior cyclops in brown armor is going to be my first attempt at bronze NMM, so wish me luck on that!



That's Reaper's Boneflail and a Superior ogre that I'm thinking looks a bit more like an ogre-mage with the poleaxe and pantaloons.



Lastly we have a GW Mordheim vampire (sans sword) in some classic vampire colors. His face is totally washed out, so hopefully when it's done I'll take a better pic that shows off his pale, gaunt features.

That's it for now. Time to stop reading and start painting!

Be Prepared, the Derek Schubert way

"Be Prepared" is, of course, the motto for the Boy Scouts of America. I was a Cub Scout, Webelo, and Boy Scout back in the day. I finished my time in Scouts as a Life Scout, one merit badge and one community service project short of Eagle Scout. Painfully close, but that's how thing panned out.

I had a great time in Scouts, right up until the end. After our troop's long-time Scoutmaster (a truly wonderful man) stepped down, the new one took over. He was a dour, taciturn, no-nonsense sort of fellow. One night he pulled me aside and told me in so many words that he thought I was having too much fun, and not taking my role as a member of the Leadership Corps seriously. WTF? I thought you were supposed to have fun in Scouts...anyhow, I strenuously objected and quit on the spot. My brother Mikey, who came over to see what was going on, quit as well. So the troop lost two leaders, two experienced Scouts, two guys who liked to have fun, two brothers who did indeed take Scouting seriously.

Mikey went on to earn his Eagle Scout rank. I think I was too shaken by the events that transpired, and lost my heart to continue in my new troop. For me, it just wasn't the same feeling. Still, I look back on all the campouts, the hikes, the adventures, the friendships, and would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

Anyhow, when I came across this project by Derek Schubert on the Reaper forums, it made me smile. Derek is truly a master artist and craftsman, as well as a good egg. He will post constructive criticism and feedback that is actually helpful to painters of all skill levels.

Hot Elf Chicks, Lead Dragon Style!

OK, so I'm a little late to the whole "Hot Elf Chick" thing, but better late than never, eh?








All images are property of Reaper Miniatures and/or Hobby-Q, Inc.

Reaper minis rock!

The Grateful (To Be Finished) Dead

It's been a long couple of months since I actually finished painting a mini. I'd start something, set it aside to work on something else, stop painting altogether for a couple of days or a week, and then resume the cycle. With a D&D session looming this weekend, I'll be damned if I'm going to show up empty-handed, so I resolved to finish my three Reaper Barrow Wardens. Anything else I finish beyond that will be gravy, so let's set the main course, shall we?

Now these guys are a cool-looking trio of skellies! Compared to my other Reaper skeletons, the new ones look like they kick ass and take names, while the older pair looks like they should be hanging in my junior-high science classroom.

The Barrow Warden Keeper (left, with the black sword of doom) could easily double as a Death Knight. I like the gray armor and blue highlights, but at first wasn't sure about the tabard. I think the faded maroon works pretty good, in hindsight. And he just had to have a black sword! I think I could have done better making the runes pop, but didn't want to spend too much time fiddling with them.

The Barrow Wardens (Mario, with axe and Luigi, with sword) are an imposing pair. I like Mario's big ass axe. Luigi's lunging pose doesn't quite do it for me - I think something more on the order of an overhead strike would work better. But that's just nitpicking at this point. I knew from the start they would both sport black armor, but I just had to give them a splash of color somehow. I think the shields alone would not have been enough, so the shoulder pads were a natural choice to highlight.

All said, it was a fun project to work on from the base on up (I used spackle on the Keeper's base and tried to make my flagstones blend with those on the OEM base). It feels good to finish a project, ya know? Knowing my DM, they'll see action on the tabletop in short order.