Eternally Guarding the Portal of Space and Time

Today's post is going to feature the first cosplay model I've done for the Relic Knights line.  The cosplay minis are just what they say they are: alternate sculpts of some of the characters as anime icons.  Darkspace Fiametta is cosplayed as a sailor soldier, very reminiscent of Sailor Pluto from the anime/manga Sailor Moon:



The sculpt came out looking pretty awesome, and it is definitely a solid piece all around.  I'm really excited about how she came out that I'm having a hard time thinking of words to write, so let's just get on to the pretty pictures:






All I gotta say is WOW!  I love how everything came out...except the eyes.  They look just a little off, and I'll probably go back and redo them once I can figure out what's going wrong with them.

In my previous post I hinted that something about this piece has me wanting to go back and do more with the other pieces I've done.  What aspect is that you ask?  Her hair.  I had some great input from a fellow painter about doing more with her hair than I had originally done:



Eeeeee! I look at it now and can see why I didn't put up much of a fuss to go back and do more with it.  Usually it's difficult to pick out individual hairs, and I do a bit of a wet drybrush to pick out the highlights, but DS Fiametta obviously has long luxurious locks that just demand more attention.  So I decided to go back over them again and add a few more coats:



Already you can see that it's looking much better!  Still, it needed to shine just a little more.  So I added in some highlights, and then used a wash to help bring the colors closer to each other:



Absolutely gorgeous!  For some reason the highlights came more naturally to me while still not taking as much time to paint.  The end result is a confidence boost, and the desire to try more!

You may have noticed that DS Fiametta is on an interesting base.  From the moment I knew I was getting the miniature I kept debating over what to do for her base.  My favorite idea is one all my own:  I wanted her to stand on top of the universe.



I was very happy to have something that was all my own in an artistic sense, and the end result came out looking wonderful!  Rather than an insert I used the base itself as my canvas, which turned out exactly as wonderful as I had hoped.  Believe it or not though this is also the result of a different friend's influence.  Here's the original:



Not bad in its own right, but you can definitely see that it came a long way as well.  Artist friends are the best, and can be a great resource to draw upon.  This particular friend has a facebook page you can check out to see her amazing works! /shameless plug

What started off as simple advice turned into a late night, online, mini-painting jam of sorts.  I got some great advice on getting the shading for a spherical object (turns out planets are vaguely sphere-shaped), and a little touch that adds is the brightest star in the sky underneath her feet.

Gen Con 2013 Part 2

Continuing from my last post I plan to reveal more of my Gen Con adventures.  This post WAS supposed to go up last week, but in an attempt to feed my narcissism (and that it was free), I snagged a free hair transplant to try and ward off my thinning hair.  The result looks like it'll be good, but has left me feeling kinda of out of it in the head.  Ok, enough of that and onto the costumes!



The above pic is a group of friends dressed up as the main characters from Journey Quest.  You've probably heard me talk about it before, and I still recommend giving it a watch!  I took that pic when the group arrived at the Zombie Orpheus Entertainment booth.  Christian Doyle, the actor who plays Perf, was a bit incredulous at this would-be imposter:



Which one is which I couldn't say.  I actually caught two of them earlier one while I was standing in line for my Robotech exclusives.



Speaking of line shots I snagged a great pic of a Stormtrooper who looks like he had been pulled from Tattooine in order to do some line/aisle control.



I was stuck in line and didn't get a chance to ask him questions, but I'm betting he belongs to the 501st.

I was pretty zonked out on Saturday.  There was so much to do, and looking back I don't think I was fully aware of how overwhelmed I was.  For example this Little Bo Peep costume:



Was not actually Little Bo Peep, but Kaylee from the series Firefly in her dress from the episode, "Shindig."  I felt so bad at having missed the obvious reference, and the dress was so very well put together.

In my wanderings I headed over to the Cool Mini Or Not booth, because if I go to a gaming con I have to spend time with/around miniatures.  Word on the floor had it that there were three cosplayers for their Relic Knights line, which I helped kickstart the plastics for, but only one was there.



While I was there I decided to snap some pics of their studio paint jobs starting with the Shattered Swords faction:


Doctrine:
 

and Cercei Speed Circuit:


While wandering around the event hall I came across a terrific pair of cosplayers sporting costumes from the War Machine miniatures game!



That would be Grand Scrutator Severius and Taryn di la Rovissi you see standing there.  They were very nice, but Severius got upset when I told him that I played Khador.



I managed to flee far enough away from certain doom and damnation that I encountered a Game of Thrones cosplay for Melisandre, priestess of light:



This was a great looking costume!  All red velvet/crushed velvet, and very regal looking.  You can't see it as well in the picture because of the raised hood, but the hair was also a wine-burgundy.  I was assured that this is the book version and not the TV version.  Gotta love attention to detail.

The last costume pic I have for today is of a fierce barbarian!



I really liked this costume, and I'm glad I stopped to take a picture.  It's a cosplay of the person's barbarian character which is always awesome to see!  People put a lot of love and life into their tabletop characters, and seeing them come to life is pretty exciting.  Nearly the entire costume was homemade, and the little accents like the face paint, hair coloring, and feathered jewelry really made this one stand out.  I even managed to get a random passerby to stand still long enough to capture all that fierceness together with me.



After all that I was out of juice, and this had only been about three and a half hours!  I think that next year when I go I need to set a day aside where I can go around and take pictures, talk to the cosplayers, and learn so much more about them!

Gen Con 2013 part 1

My original intent had been to make a post shortly after getting back from Gen Con, but it turns out I needed a little more time to recuperate.

I left Friday after getting off of work, and got to Gen Con about 9pm.  Throw in getting parked and to my hotel room, and I didn't find food until 10pm.  Got to try the Steel Soul Red at the Ram, but otherwise I hadn't really broken into Gen Con by this point.

Got up early and out the door, and ended up getting to the dealers room early.  There was a set of exclusive Robotech miniatures that were being sold at the Palladium booth in limited quantities, and since people hadn't started lining up yet I decided to snag a good position.  By the time the dealers room was ready to open things had gotten pretty crowded:



From there it was a mad dash to get my exclusives.  Which I did.  I then spent the day shopping for myself and friends who couldn't attend, meeting up with friends from across the nation, and getting a look at some awesome costumes!

Here's a few highlights from the show.  The biggest one is the reaction I got from Scott C. Brown, the actor who played Flynn the Fine on The Gamers: Dorkness Rising, when I gave him the painted Pile of Dead Bards:



There is something wonderful about getting such a strong reaction from such a simple gift.  The rest of the ZOE crew were also rather impressed with the piece, and I received much glowing praise.  It was both humbly and inspiring.

I ended up meeting with Howard Taylor, author and artist for Schlock Mercenary.  It's been one of my favorite webcomics for years, and Howard has been attending Gen Con for quite some time.  Over the past several years I've gone by to pick up his latest print collection, and to get a sketch in the back.  This year I asked to be drawn in the Schlock-verse.



I was asked how I wanted him to approach the subject of my hairline, and I replied that he should be as generous or harsh as he sees fit.  While I look much older in the pic I think he made up for it by giving me a better weight profile:



There was so much to do at Gen Con that this year's priority was on friends.  As a result I didn't really get any gaming in, except for a bit of a life-sized version of Elk Fest. 



It was a fun shuffle-board romp.  The idea was to use the discs to make a path for your elk to cross, but you could also use them to knock your opponents disk (and their elk) out of place.  I didn't do very well, and my Elk got splooshed:



I had a lot of fun for the short time that I was there, and I've already started looking forward to next year!

Gen Con 2012 Part 2!

Ok, so with Friday over I'm staring down the barrel of the Master of Malifaux tournament on Saturday.  I'm at the event hall at 9am roughly, and I'm stressing out a little.  I had been asked to help judge Malifaux tournaments for Wyrd at Gen Con, and this was my primary reason for being there.  I had been going over rules, rulings, errata, clarifications, and tactica all summer.  I was definitely prepared.



As it turns out I didn't get anywhere near the amount of rules questions I thought I would.  Many of the players were very experienced, and I found myself with more time to sit and recover in between the occasional rules call and wandering the tables.  It felt kind of satisfying to know that the community is really in touch with the game as well as being good sports.  While wandering I actually saw some cool setups and paintjobs that I want to share.  First up is the model Snowstorm for the Arcanists faction



I really love how the blue turned out very frosty looking.  The white is very well done, with hints of blue for the shadows.



That's the Pig-a-pult, which is as awesome as it sounds.  What caught my eye about this piece is that the main attraction, the pig, is painted in green.  I thought it was an odd choice, but it gave the model some character.  Maybe the painter was inspired by Dr. Seuss' "Green Eggs and Ham."



Last up for Saturday is the Rail Golem.  This model was pre-released at Gen Con and doesn't come out for a few months still.  The painter had rigged up everything the base would need, grabbed the model from the dealer's room on Thursday, painted it up, and even rigged an LED in the chest to give the glowing effect you see.  It was very cool to look at.

Miniatures weren't the only thing dressed to impress.  A pair of Malifaux players decided to cosplay as Ramos and Collette from the Arcanist faction.



From what the gentleman said he actually had more to the costume, but had left it as he had been wearing it for most of the day by the time I took the picture.  Both costumes looked amazing, and it was a real treat to capture them on film.  At this point I was about ready to give in to exhaustion, and once the tournament was over I grabbed food with friends and sought refuge in my hotel room to recover from the day and the night before.

Onto Sunday, the final day.  This is the day where a majority of attendees spend a few hours in the dealers hall looking to get some deals, and then heading home.  I had the finals for Malifaux to judge.  It was an invitation only with spots being given to tournament winners from the previous three days. 



The tournament was about half the size of the others, and again the participants were really capable of handling the rules.  I had a half dozen rules calls if that.  So I spent my time going back and forth between the tables, and after the tournament wrapped up I found myself in the dealers hall picking up some last minute swag.  I also ran into one of the most amazing costumes I've seen.



The costume was of a Malifaux miniature called Collodi who is based off of the tale of Pinocchio.  The hands and face were made of real wood, and the guy behind the mask kept moving his mouth periodically which kept making a wood clacking sound.  Very creepy to hear and see.  It was incredible!  I just had to get a shot of myself with him, and he was happy to oblige.



That was probably the last pic I took at the con.  Following that I gathered up my things and headed for home.  The ride back from Gen Con is always a long one.  All the fun and excitement starts to leak out leaving you with a groggy and satisfied feeling.  It's kinda like that time after Thanksgiving dinner.  I always make sure to drive carefully, and I arrived home safe and sound.  Things were unpacked, swag sorted and piled, and then I sat down to relax and prepare for work the next day.