I painted some Bones 3 miniatures

Although I did recently get my shipment of Bones 4 miniatures, these are from the Bones 3 Kickstarter, which I pledged for back in 2015. 

I kind of accidentally painted a lot of guys red last time, so I decided to just do batches with predominant colors.  This time it's orange's turn; maybe yellow in the next batch.  I figure I can gradually cycle through the color wheel and beyond.

Orange can be a noisy, jarring color, but it can also be the color of some marvelous beers.  I couldn't resist drafting (sorry) this orange-garbed dwarven brewmaster civilian into an orange-themed adventuring party.  Or maybe he's hauling a keg of healing potion.

Orange is a great color for fire, and what wizard doesn't know about throwing fire at enemies.  So why not dress this wizard in a stately fire-inspired orange robe, with a glowing orange gem on his staff.
Once you get to front-line fighters, you want to dress to distract, and this orange-garbed sorceror seems to be enchanting a blade with an arc of magical flames.

Up next is a dashing halfling rogue, charismatically dressed in more orange.

And leading the pack is a woman wielding dual swords, grabbing our attention with more orange.
Not too much orange on the monsters, certainly not on the giant ticks pestering our adventurers.  I've never met a giant tick, but I can tell you that I already hate it more than almost any other monster.

Once we get past the ticks, we have some serious monsters.  The whitish column is an air elemental.  The photo doesn't do it justice, but it's actually translucent.  I used dullcote for a primer, and laid down some washes to hopefully simulate smoke and dust picked up by this creature of solid air as it moves around; I was inspired by images of LA smog.  According to the monster books, air elementals are actually invisible, but that makes for a boring paint job.  This air elemental seems to have a head in its shape, so I decided to paint on some glowing eyes.  Artistic license; and hopefully it makes this air elemental more memorable as a monster than a mere description of an invisible pain cloud.

Continuing with the theme of air, we have a blue dragon.  Blue dragons hang out in high places and breathe lightning at their victims.  Notice that this dragon is perched on a broken statue; I imagine a temple high on a mountain, and then this blue dragon decided to show the humans how feeble their gods are by destroying the temple and scaring off the human attendants, before moving in.

Last but certainly not least we have a beautiful lady sphinx.  This sphinx has nice clothing and jewelry; I imagine that this sphinx may be less of a "monster" and more of a "large esteemed citizen."  I gave her tan skin to make her look somewhat Egyptian (as Egypt is known for its sphinxes), and dressed her in royal purple.  I was also inspired by the friendly sphinx in the webcomic Subnormality.

Exotic Soda Pops Review

I visited Minnesota's Largest Candy Store, and it was amazing.  I didn't buy any candy, but I did buy some bottles of soda pop which looked exotic and/or tasty.

Here you can see the bottles of soda pop, photographed with and without flash in order to portray their color and clarity under varying lighting.  The dark one on the left is actually an extremely dark blue, as you will see below.

Most of these reviews will not have much depth to them, because honestly I didn't perceive much depth or layers of rich flavor to most of the beverages.  I poured each beverage into a glass with several ice cubes in it, so I could taste the beverage at full strength, and then slightly diluted as the ice melted away.

Name: Flying Cauldron Butterscotch Beer
How much/how fattening: 12 ounces, 120 calories
Notable ingredients: GMO free; Stevia Rebaudiana leaf extract; Cane sugar, not high fructose corn syrup
From: Reed's, Maybe now made by Virgil's?
"Butterscotch cream soda"
Appearance: Beige 'ginger ale' color, clear
Observations: I like shiny gold foil and purple on the label; it really makes it look special.  The many typefaces are cheesy, but so is the art direction in the Harry Potter movies.
The taste is very butterscotchy!  Just like classic amber butterscotch candies.  EXTREMELY sweet and syrupy.
The label says 'cream soda'.  In America, 'cream soda' is (in my experience) a clear beige vanilla-flavored beverage; but in Canada 'cream soda' tastes like grenadine.  As a muggle, I don't know what 'cream soda' tastes like in the mythical Scottish neverland where Harry Potter's fictional alma mater Hogwarts is described.  Regardless, I am not a fan of American-style vanilla cream soda, and I am relieved that I did not notice any unpleasant amount of vanilla cream soda flavor.
No doubt good for Harry Potter fans, maybe appropriate for a Harry Potter-themed birthday party?  I can imagine getting someone dressed like an owl to deliver invitations or something.

Name: Cool Mountain Peach Fountain Classic
How much/how fattening: 12 ounces, 160 calories
Notable ingredients: Cane sugar, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate
From: Cool Mountain Beverages Inc., Des Plaines IL 60016
Appearance: Red-orange color, intense, clear.
Observations: I like a nice ripe peach, and I like peach candy; a peach soda pop sounds delightful.
It's mild flavor doesn't really taste like peaches.  Tastes kind of like wax, somehow.  I was disappointed by, and didn't really enjoy, this soda pop.

Name: Filbert's Blueberry Soda

How much/how fattening: 12 ounces, 150 calories
Notable ingredients: Corn syrup, sodium benzoate
From: www.filbertsrootbeer.com
Appearance: Very blue!  Clear, but dark.
Observations: Minnesota adopted the blueberry muffin as the official State Muffin in 1988.  My wife and I love blueberries, blueberry jam, blueberry syrup, and blueberry baked goods, and I had high hopes for this soda pop.
Mild, fruity flavor.  Tastes nice.  Maybe not like real blueberries, but nice.
I told you how bluish it is.  It turns your stools bluish, too.  WOW.

Name: Lester's Fixins Pumpkin Pie Soda
How much/how fattening: 12 ounces, 170 calories
Notable ingredients: Sugar (Pure Cane Sugar?), sodium benzoate
From: Rocket Fizz Soda Pop and Candy Shops LLC, PO Box 3663, Camarilla CA  93011[]
Appearance: Deep red-orange color, cloudy
Observations: Pumpkin Pie is my favorite pie, and I had high hopes for this soda pop.  I was a little put off by the fact that Lester's Fixins is also known for bacon soda, buffalo wing soda, and mustard soda; all of which sound horrible.  Would Lester's Fixins treat the great, beloved taste of Pumpkin Pie with respect?
On opening the bottle, I could smell the nutmeg.  Nice.
On tasting, I tasted the nutmeg, and also strong cinnamon flavors.  Very nice.
As I progressed through the bottle, I was treated to these strong spice flavors.  If there were other spices (like allspice or clove), then I could not isolate them specifically for sure.
Finally, I think there was some kind of fruity taste lurking between these assertive spices, but I couldn't quite place it.  I'm not complaining, though.
This soda pop is definitely the winner out of the four I purchased.  Complex, fun and strong classic spice flavors show that the creators worked hard on this and didn't skimp.
If you like Pumpkin Spice lattes, treat yourself to a Lester's Fixins Pumpkin Pie Soda.

I Painted Some More Bones 4 Miniatures

Hey, I painted some more Bones 4 miniatures.

From left to right:

I'm not fond of vampires, but I do like Goths.  I was finally inspired to paint the Vampire bride like a seductive Marceline the Vampire Queen.  Unfortunately, the lacquer on her went haywire and I caused a disaster while trying to fix it; I will explain this below.

The big bug man is a Burrowing Behemoth (by Kevin Williams) inspired by the classic D&D Umber Hulk monster.  Accordingly, I painted this guy in shades of Raw Umber and Burnt Umber.  Sometimes it's convenient to get color hints from source material.

These snake people are Nagendra, inspired by D&D Yuan-Ti monstrous humanoids.  I wanted these characters to look like they had an exotic and developed culture, so I painted them flamboyantly with lots of scarlet and bronze, and purple leather.  More about this red later.

The pointy character with tentacles is a Stone Lurker (by Jason Wiebe), inspired by the D&D Roper monster.  This monster pulls its tentacles inside and pretends to be a cave stalagmite, sometimes whispering beckoning words in an echoey cave to an unsuspecting human ("Hello?  Is someone there?  Please help me!"), until the poor guy gets within tentacle range.

Lukesia D'Vandra (by Bobby Jackson) is a vision in blue (denim?).  I suspect that she shovels really well.

Juliana the Herbalist (by Bobby Jackson) has 2 hedgehogs for familiars.  I asked my wife: what color should I paint the hedgehogs?  "Blue!"

And finally there is a wizard with an orb.  I recall that I mixed up some red paint for his wizard's robe, and then I had all this red paint left over, so I put it on the Vampire bride ('Why not red?  Marceline loves red!'), and then the snake people ('Why not red?  It looks expensive and exotic!'), and the herbalist ('Why not red?  Seriously, why not?')...

Not-So Protective Lacquer

I used Games Workshop's "Purity Seal" protective lacquer on this batch of miniatures on a rainy rainy day, and half of the miniatures got exhibited the "frosted" effect.  I think this happens because the "Purity Seal" lacquer isn't sticking to the mini so well, and the gap between the lacquer and the model creates a cloudy appearance.

I got some acetone nail polish remover, cotton swabs, and cotton balls.  This was kind of a mistake.

My best results came from using cotton balls, by gently dabbing and saturating the surface of the mini with the acetone, apparently re-dissolving the Purity Seal lacquer, and allowing it to re-adhere to the surface of the mini.  This worked for several of the snake people.

My big mistake came from using cotton swabs to try to "brush" the mini.  The acetone is a much more powerful solvent than I expected; it dissolved the lacquer, the polyurethane varnish, the paint, the primer, and it made the plastic gummy; the swab scrubbed my painting efforts right off and mushed the plastic model, as a result.  I severely compromised the details of my vampire bride model.  I tried to (gently) wipe the remaining paint off the model with cotton swabs and the acetone, but there was a lot of paint left in wrinkles and tight corners, obscuring detail.  Her nose is severely flattened, and the headstone's carvings are eroded away.  I tried to repaint it.  The resulting mini is smoothed out as a result, like a rough wall that's got several coats of paint on it.  I probably should have soaked it in "Simple Green" overnight, and started over from scratch, but I thought I could wipe off the lacquer and leave the paint behind.  Live and learn!

Nonetheless, it's very frustrating.  Many other users have complained about "Purity Seal," and one theory is that this "frosted" effect is caused by high humidity; another theory is that the spray just goes bad in the can with age.  It was certainly humid when I used it, but the can is old, too.  I assume the matte surface is generated by microscopic particles which deform the surface of the drying lacquer; maybe these particles get concentrated if the user doesn't shake the spray can long enough prior to use, and you wind up with the wrong proportions of particles-to-lacquer.  Whatever the case, I plan to switch to other sprays with future models.

I painted some Bones 4 Minis

I finally got my Reaper Miniatures Bones 4 Kickstarter pledge rewards, and I could hardly wait to start painting them.  The Kickstarter ended at the beginning of September 2017, and my rewards arrived in mid-April 2019, so I'd been waiting over 19 months for these--pretty much according to schedule, but still a delight when it happens.  Others have referred to these events as "Reapermas."

I was a little surprised to discover that the Bones 4 Miniatures are made of "Bones Black," a more rigid (and brittle) plastic material than the rubbery vinyl-like material of previous Bones Kickstarters, but I am not disappointed; in almost every regard it has proven to be a superior material for miniatures.  These Bones Black miniatures were easily realigned with my Wagner Heat Tool, the plastic accepted Games Workshop's Skull White (primer) spray, and cyanoacrylate glue sticks them together well.

My previous batch was adventurer-heavy, so this batch of miniatures is almost all monsters.

 

From left to right, we have 3 "Hell Hounds," a parrot/lizard/mantis monster ("Gloom Stalker"), a tentacled lobster monster ("Tidal Lurker"), an Owlbear, a Flail Snail, 3 giant bats, and 2 catfolk warriors.

I saw the cracks and rifts in the Hell Hounds, and I was reminded of the cracks in stone.  I imagined that these Hell Hounds might be full of molten lava, so I painted them to look like basalt and lava rocks I've seen in Duluth and Hawaii (respectively); with the cracks painted fluorescent orange, revealing the glowing lava inside.

Because I already immortalized my black Maine Coon cats as sabertooth tigers, I painted the catfolk to represent my Bengal kitten.

Making Mini Terrain

I was so excited when I got my Bones 4 Kickstarter rewards from Reaper Miniatures; so many amazing miniatures!  I picked out 12 miniatures for a batch run, but when I made plans to attach them to a pedestal, I realized that several of these miniatures did not come with a base attached.  The Bones 4 package included some simple plastic bases, and I glued these minis to the plastic discs, but the minis looked out of place on the flat featureless disc, like they're sitting on someone's kitchen countertop rather than a dungeon.

It's possible to buy various styles of cast resin miniature bases, or laser-cut plywood miniature bases.  They look good, but they are pricey, I'm kind of cheap, and I don't want the base to be so nice that it distracts from the miniature.

Tiny Piece of Terrain

I decided to look into how to make a tiny scrap of terrain surface for the base.  I've tried gluing sand to the base after attaching the mini, but it doesn't work so well; the tiny feet get swallowed in the layer of sand and glue.  You gotta put the terrain down first.  Terrain is typically somewhat chaotic and amorphous, and this stuff needs to stick to the base and the mini. 

Don't fight forces, use them.

-- Richard Buckminster Fuller

If you've ever used Gorilla Glue, you've probaly made a mess with it.  Gorilla Glue is kind of a cross between varnish and expanding foam.  Like a good varnish, it's main ingredient is tough polyurethane; but it cures using airborne moisture and it turns into a foam, bulking up like a foam blob until it is several times its original size, thereby expanding into the gap you're gluing.  It goes on looking like maple syrup, but it foams into hard yellow spittle and makes a mess. 

It occurs to me that the randomness of this glue could provide me with the randomness I need to make convincing terrain.  But how random is it?  How big will it foam up?  I decided to experiment with white Gorilla Glue, sand, and gravel. 

Experiments

I thoroughly washed an old food package lid, drew 1-inch circles on the back with a Sharpie, and numbered them 1 through 7. 
In each circle, I put a drop of white Gorilla Glue. 
In circle 1, I left the drop in the center of the circle.
In circles 2 through 7, I smeared the drop around to basically cover the whole circle.
In circle 3, I sprinkled sand on the glue.  The sand came out of a 50-pound bag I bought at a hardware store, and it has some tiny bits of gravel mixed in. 
In circle 4, I sprinkled gravel on the glue.
In circle 5, I sprinkled gravel on the glue, then poured on sand to fill the gaps.
In circle 6, I let the glue foam up, then I mixed sand into the sticky glue to form a gritty paste.
In circle 7, I let the glue foam up, then I mixed gravel into the sticky glue.
I devised some of these experiments to prevent something I call the "chocolate chip cookie" effect, wherein glue foams around pieces of gravel, resembling the way cookie dough rises around chocolate chips; this is unlike the way rocks appear on the ground, poking up through dirt which washes away from the rock. 

Here I let the glue cure overnight, and shook the excess sand and gravel off it.  In circle 1, you can see the glue in circle 1 hardened on the outside, then foamed and expanded through a hole, kind of like a volcanic ejection.  In most of the other circles, you can see the glue has neatly foamed to resemble white spittle, where it is not mixed with sand.

Here I sprayed white primer on the terrain.  #4 and #7 have a little of the chocolate chip cookie effect.  Honestly, though, all of them (except for #1) look like believable terrain.

Here I painted #2 through #7 with dirt- and rock-colored paint.  They mostly look believable, but #3 looks the nicest; you can see there is only a little gravel on #3, so I suspect that a few pieces of "accent" gravel provide decent contrast with the appearance of dirt and sand from the other experiments.  It could also be a psychological effect wherein my mind doesn't like the more gravelly sections because they look too rocky and irregular to walk on without twisting my ankle. 

Conclusions

A little gravel goes a long way, but in general the sand on the glue works pretty well. 

But even if you wind up with terrain that REALLY looks like a chocolate chip cookie, there's at least 1 monster for whom you have the perfect terrain!

He doesn't want to eat your adventurers, he wants their rations.

Latest batch of Miniatures

I got burned out on miniatures...for about a year.  I paint miniatures in batches of 12 at a time, and I just stopped right in the middle of a batch, and let them sit in the corner, gathering dust.  I don't know why I didn't get back to them.  Video games were definitely one distraction.

Then I got my Bones 4 Kickstarter rewards, and I had a lot of awesome miniatures to paint!  That got me to finish my current batch in a hurry. 

Only one monster!

It's adventurer vs. adventurer!

Most of these are Reaper Bones, some are metal miniatures from various manufacturers, and 1 of them is sculpted my me out of Green Stuff epoxy putty. 

Farewell, Google+

I don't WANT to go to Twitter, but where else should I go to post brief status updates?  I'll never go back to those F***ing B***ards at that other social network site.