Miniature Monday – Small Heroes
You don’t have to be big and strong to be a hero, and from literature we know that especially the small ones can be the greatest of them all. This time we have rather unusual examples of these races, a druid with voodoo-dolls and a hobbit in armor! Or is it the norm? Let’s see…
(posting by Dirk)
Sorry for the slightly belated posting, this weekend has been busy. But we were not alone, all our painters had problems getting the small ones finished; this is one of those weeks… but in the end we got even six entries!
I want to use my halfling as a ranger, so he got classical colors:
I painted the armor as leather scales, the only extravaganza are the gold buttons on the cloak. The gnome druid I want to use as a halfling in the dark sun setting, so she got not metal but flintstone weapons and beetle chitin armor as well as a desert base. Definitely she is a long way from home (these halflings life in far-off jungles)… I liked the the minis because of all the details, especialy the tiny voodoo dolls!
Antonia used some very unusual colors:
The Gnome was painted with celtic/irish myths in mind, hence the red hair and green clothes. Perhaps she is some kind of leprechaun-ish witch or something?
The Halfling was painted with a grey, almost ghoulish or zombie-ish skin, Antonia called him/her (?) the horror-hobbit. I like the sinister look, this hobbit is far more scary than mine. (Antonia: “I didn’t really know what to do with the mini, but I liked the idea of a creepy version. The cloak is red with many darker stains, which are obviusly blood, since this is a killer halfling, maybe a ghoul or some murderous thing which is normally kept in chains. I mean, who knows? Definitely not a standart halfling.”)
Arjen just finished the halfling, but got no time for the base:
He also chose red for the coat, and a leather armor, like me. I like the variations of brown and the lighter color of the gloves which makes them pop out a bit. Arjen, you wrote that the differences between front and back picture are due to lighting, which version is closer to the real colors, in your opinion?
Jim managed to finish both minis:
I like the combination of blue and earth colors on this hobbit/halfling. It sets him apart from standard hobbits, such as mine. The leafs on the bases are a nice touch – how did you make them? Real plant bits (like birch seeds) are often used, but also laser cut pieces or even herbs (majoram for example!)
What did Jim like on this models? He says: “both minis were very well cast and the details were nice and crisp. Relatively easy to paint, after all!”
Michael also managed to paint both of them:
Not all halflings live in the woods, I suppose, as you see this little fellow. I like the regal colors on this one. Michael says:
“I liked these little minis. I decided to go with a more official looking color scheme, like he’s a royal warden. The gnome druid is decidedly woodsy, though. I didn’t want to match the Pathfinder art, though it was subconsciously there, I’m sure. I really like how the leather armor turned out. Also, her base was perfect for practicing base decorations.”
William sent us a great piece which is not exactly “small” anymore:
Really an awesome model. This is a halfling you don’t cross. William says:
“I painted the ranger as my pathfinder character, a halfling druid. I deliberately stayed away from the traditional green, and painted him in warm brown tones, with contrasting blue-purple metal. But of course I spent more time on his gryphon mount, whose color scheme is based on a combination of an ocelot and a peregrine falcon. The saddle and the stump were sculpted in a combination of sculpey and green stuff.”
Antonia: “I also like the base a lot, did you use real rocks? The stump is a great idea to “hold the base together” in a visual sense. Now I have even more inspiration to paint the griffin in next time’s Catch-Up Monday!”
He also made a spinning animation again:
https://gfycat.com/CriminalBogusHanumanmonkey
This week’s gallery:
Coming next:
09/25/17 Catch-Up Monday: Monday Minis that you missed last time! Bones I & II. Antonia e.g. will do the Bones I Griffin, Dirk maybe the Bones II Samurai which he didn’t finish last time.
Need Inspiration? Just browse through all the blog posts and pick the mini you always thought “Awww, if I’d just managed to paint that one…” and have fun! 😀
10/09/17 Start with Bones III! Pack Donkey (Bones 3 Core Set)
10/23/17 Bones III Aglanda, Herald of Razmir (B3 Core)
11/06/17 Bones II Strange Monsters: Mind Eater and/or Chthon (B2 Core)
11/20/17 Bones III Vagorg, Half Orc Sorcerer (B3 Core)
12/04/17 Bones III Death Dog (B3 Core)
12/18/17 Bones II Friar Stone, Monk (B2 Core)
Caffeineforge 
Hi all. The back of my mini is actually closer to the color under daylight conditions. I have an improvised light box with two lamps, one daylight lamp and one normal and depending on how I shove them around the color changes.
What I find most striking is the difference between Dirk’s photo and Michaels. Dirk uses a white background that blinds the camera, while Michael uses dark grey. Dirk, try it out, dark grey, you will be surprised. You, Antonia And Jim did nice paint jobs but I can hardly appreciate them because your mini is a dark blob in the photo. You can fix a bit by using color adjustment in photoshop (I use paint shop pro) but it will not beat an actual good photo and you will never get a good photo with a white background. Also, shove your mini to the back of your light box, it will mean more light on the front of your mini. Play around and compare. I used to blame my camera, but it is really more about lighting and background.
Hi Arjen, thanks for your comment.
In our case, it’s an combination of insufficient light and a very old camera, I’m afraid. We already use a (medium) grey background, but the overall pic is so dark that the color adjustment function in Photoshop bleaches it to near white.
I gues we’ll just have to invest in a proper lightbox with its own light source, because in this time of the year the light from outside is already too weak.
Nevertheless I have to admit that I think real daylight from an overcast sky does by far the best job in showing the true colors of a mini – daylight bulbs are too blue and standard one way too yellow. Maybe I can find a solution for this one day.
(And fyi, Dirk’s Halflings do have dark skin, so they are not just underexposed 😉 I take the blame for this one, I should have used a better angle to show the faces)
Yours,
Antonia
Absolutely correct about lighting and background: They can make all the difference. My pic was shot outside, but a cloud came by and messed up my lighting! Due to time constraints, I never got a chance to try again or even shoot indoors.
Hello everyone, I fixed the link for William’s rotating animation, it should work now. Go and have a look, it’s a great mini from every angle 😀
Dirk: The halfling ranger is nicely done, but the druid really stands out. The light-dark contrast of the white eyes against her dark skin, and the varied use of colors really pops.
Antonia: You always manage to pull off a totally unexpected color scheme. In this case, both of them turned out really creepy.
Also, thanks for the comments. The rocks are actually made of bark! Bark makes even better rock than real rocks at this scale, the layers make it look interesting and striated. The stump also holds the base together in a literal sense. Looking forward to seeing your take on the gryphon.
Right, I am viewing on my laptop now and that gives better images than my tablet, so now I can actually see your minis (if you could see my tablet you could understand my frustration). Jim’s gnome is brilliant, I like the less-is-more approach of using browns and black. The green amulet pops out nicely.
Antonia’s undead version is unnerving, especially as this is normally such a cute, hop-skip-to-it halfling [bonus points if you know who I am referring to].
Regarding light boxes. I may send the Vogels an picture of my set-up. Apart from one daylight light bulb, it is as cheap as you can imagine-a small cardboard box with some holes in it covered by paper. The magic word is small, because with a large box, the light has to travel more distance from the bulb to your mini, which means less light on your mini. Your eye will not see the difference, but the camera will.
Dirk – Yes, the leaves are birch seeds. I got mine from Secret Weapon Miniatures, but they can be found in many places. The ground cover is my ever changing mix of ground foam, static grass, kitchen herbs, etc. There is a company in Spain(?) called Green Stuff World that makes neat little leaf punches, but I have yet to order. My gnome’s skin, eye and hair color are based on a friend from college. I even managed whites, irises AND pupils as the eyes were so prominent! I like your Dark Sun Gnome! Bold colors that still seem to go together.
Antonia – Leprechauns and killer halflings! What is the world coming to?! Seriously, though, I like both of them.
Arjen – I love the color choices, especially the blood red coat. I have to mention that my Gnome’s boots and bracers are actually a very dark brown, so there is only a tiny touch of color on an otherwise brown and tan mini.
Michael – One traditional, one atypical! Very nice and a good pic, too!
William – A very well done halfling but an amazing ocelot/falcon gryphon. I really need to get a copy of that creature! And of course, well done on the base.