Category Archives: Miniatures

Someone actually cares what I think.

At least one guy, anyway. I was recently interviewed by The Crimson Hound himself, Bruno Galan, over on The Bruno Galan Talk Show, one of his YouTube Channels. Bruno asked me to be his guest to talk about miniatures, games, and hobby stuff. And we did, for about an hour, starting at 3 AM my time. (Curse him and crush him!)

Bruno is a friend I met on Instagram several years back. He’s the creator of The Crimson Hound, and he came up with an idea that is pure genius. He invited some really talented gamemasters to run games for him, where he would play his character, The Crimson Hound, kind of a cross between Batman and Blade the Vampire Hunter, but more pulpy. It was up to the individual GM which rules system they would use, and what their individual serials would be. He recorded all the sessions and posted them to YouTube on one of his other channels “The Chronicles of The Crimson Hound“. I tease Bruno that he only did that to ensure he got to play games. He doesn’t deny it.

(Readers of this blog may recognize The Crimson Hound, as I have done several parody posts about him seeking employment with the Justice League, the Avengers and the Fantastic Four; made a miniature of him and ran him through some fun games of Super Mission Force. The Crimson Hound killed Santa, and then had to deal with the consequences two years later, for fuck’s sake. Don’t any of you remember that??!)

Anyway, Bruno was always a good sport about me screwing with his character, and he once was part of a playtest group for a Call of Cthulhu scenario I was working on a few years ago, so I owe the guy. He’s asked before but I politely declined because I don’t want to be on YouTube. He told me I don’t have to be on camera, but I still declined, wondering who would give a shit about what I had to say. It’s not like I’m famous, after all. But Bruno is a good dude (despite being a damn, dirty Canadian), and a friend, and he asked again. I’d be kind of an asshole to say no at this point, so I didn’t; but I am still unconvinced anyone cares about my opinions on (and history with) miniatures and gaming (other than Bruno; and, I guess, you guys, since you read this blog).

As I said, we talked for about an hour, and if you’re interested, you can see the video here. You’ll get to see Bruno, but you’ll only get to hear me, as I am far too handsome for YouTube and I didn’t want to make poor Bruno look like my consolation-prize wingman. You’ll also get to see three RPGs I really like, and three RPGs I really want to run or play, but haven’t yet, along with commentary, of course.

By the way, one of the first things Bruno asked me about was Forgotten Heroes. I told him it wasn’t my challenge but it’s my favorite challenge, and gave a shout out to the Carrion Crow.

If you like this interview, be sure to like the video by clicking the thumbs-up sign. If you really like it, subscribe to the channel. Bruno talks to other game designers, comic creators, authors and MMA guys (I know, weird spread). He’s trying to get more visibility for his channels and every bit helps. I’m sure that an interview with a hobbyist of my standing–the esteemed Angry Piper– can only result in a deluge of subscribers for him. Happy to do my part.

Thanks in advance. If you have any comments, leave them on Bruno’s video, or leave them here. I’ll see them either way.

Hobby Block

Hi. Been a while.

I haven’t posted in a bit, in part because my country is a fucking shitshow right now where everything–most notably democracy–is on the line, and TBH, I’m scared that the future of my country may be orange. And to the asshole who said he “couldn’t help me” and would never come here again after this post, fuck off again. I didn’t need your help then, and I sure as fuck don’t now. I was right. (Still like your hobby stuff, though, even though you’re a fucking ass-hat.)

Anyway, the other part is hobby block. That thing where you can’t find the motivation to do anything at all, and when you do, you second-guess everything from color choices to which miniature I should paint next to whether or not you should be doing anything else, like doom-scrolling or playing endless video games or ignoring your family or just drinking like a fish, or all of the above, as is the case with me.

First, to my friend Dave Stone, I’m sorry I failed your Season of Scenery challenge this year because I painted exactly zero pieces of scenery. I planned to take part, but see above.

Second, to everyone whose blogs I visit, sorry for disappearing. I did manage to chide Carrion Crow for not posting enough beer videos, but that was about it. (If you haven’t watched Jeremy drink beer on video, you should check out his YouTube channel. As a bonus, I got to hear his real voice, so I know now he doesn’t sound like Lenny McLean after all. A bittersweet moment. You shattered my dreams, Jez.)

The last two months have been extremely unproductive for me, hobby-wise. Yet I still managed to paint the miniatures from the board game Alien: Fate of the Nostromo. I actually got to PLAY this game, too; with three of my oldest friends. It’s a good game. Sadly, I painted the miniatures after playing the game, so my friends couldn’t ooh and ahh over my painting genius.

Here’s the crew all together.

Lambert.

Parker.

Dallas.

Brett.

Ripley.

And the Alien.

It’s pretty clear I need some eye clean-up, but I can’t see shit these days.

Now, you may be wondering, what about Kane? What about Ash? What about that fucking cat. Jonesy?

Kane is dead, because The Alien burst out of his chest, so you don’t get to play him in the game for obvious reasons. Ash and Jonesy ARE in the game, but not as playable characters, hence no miniatures. Both of them fuck with you to make your life harder by undoing your progress and stressing you out, respectively.

The game is a lot of fun. It’s cooperative. The players work together to escape the Nostromo before getting killed. We played 3 games and lost 2 of them. It gets more challenging if you play with Ash, but we didn’t do that. I highly recommend it, and not just because it’s the only board game among the dozens I bought during the pandemic that I’ve actually had a chance to play.

I hope to be back to form soon, but who knows. My mental health has never been a concern for me, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t unusually anxious about the state of my country and the world right now. It’s tough to focus on anything.

And I still have a dragon to paint before the end of the year…

Forgotten Heroes 2024: Bee-Man!!!!

This book is a boon for Forgotten Heroes enthusiasts. The heroes contained herein are indeed forgotten, and usually for good reason. This book gave me the impetus to construct Rainbow Boy a couple of years ago, and it delivered again this year.

May I present: Bee-Man! Never heard of Bee-Man? Me neither! That’s because he lasted a total of 2 issues, printed before my time, in 1966. That’s it. He’s probably in the public domain, because I can’t imagine anyone giving a shit about Bee-Man.

Barry E. Eames (clever, right?) sabotages a rocket ship that is landing after being out in space, collecting cosmic samples, Eames hopes to make a quick buck by selling whatever’s inside. What’s inside turns out to be angry space bees, who drag him back into space after stinging him a lot.

Bee- Man returns to Earth, intent on resuming his criminal ways, now armed with the advanced technology of the space bees. He has a huge, beehive-shaped “secret lair”, from which he hatches his criminal plans to steal gold, radium and honey. Really. But in the second issue, Bee-Man allies himself with the FBI, to fight against the space bees’ plans to enslave humanity.

There was no third issue.

To make Bee-Man, I used these two Heroclix miniatures, a Para-Demon and the Wasp. I removed the Para-Demon’s jetpack and axe, and replaced the jetpack with the Wasp’s wings. I sculpted his bee-helmet, but there was no way I was gonna do his antennae. Too small, and beyond my skill.

Then, it was just a matter of repainting him to look like Bee-Man. And that’s what I did.

Looks not bad, right?

I managed to get this one in in the late hours of Forgotten Heroes this year. Looking forward to the Season of Scenery!

Forgotten Heroes 2024: Grendel

Grendel, created by Matt Wagner, is a complicated character with a rich comic history. Rumor has it they recently filmed most of a Netflix series only to pull the plug last minute (which is a dick move).

There have been many people to assume the mantle of Grendel, starting with billionaire author-turned-bored-guy-turned-assassin-turned-criminal-kingpin Hunter Rose. Rose is unquestionably not a hero. He’s more of a sociopath who does things for no apparent reason–like take over the criminal underworld or adopt a child–simply because he can. He’s able to use much more of his mental capacity than most normal humans, and he’s an extremely skilled combatant and acrobat whose favored weapon is a two-tined fork of his own design.

To make the Hunter Rose version of Grendel, I was at a bit of a loss, as Rose is pretty lightly-built, and most superheroes are jacked. Since I knew I couldn’t very well sculpt one from scratch, I chose this version of Daredevil, mainly for the pose but also because I thought I could work with it best. I rebased him first, then covered the DD on the chest and his lips with some Vallejo White Stone landscape paste, filed down the horns, clipped off the billy-club holster, and completely repositioned his arm. I tried to make his clothes look more loose-fitting with some green stuff. I made the fork from plasticard (once again, my old health insurance card) and the handle of a Mantic dwarf warhammer. Then I painted him up.

Here he is. Like I said, he’s a lot beefier than Hunter Rose, but he’s unmistakably Grendel.

You can still see the DD on the chest if you look hard enough, but otherwise, I’m ok with him.

I added the head-ties too. Forgot about that.

I have one more submission for Forgotten Heroes planned, but no idea whether I will get to it in time or not. I’m definitely doing it, though; even if it has to come in early July. With six days to go, I should be ok.

Forgotten Heroes 2024: Judomaster

My first Forgotten Heroes submission this year is none other than:

I was going through my comics the other day and was surprised to find this, as I don’t remember buying it. I’m a sucker for kung-fu comics, so I guess I’m not surprised after all. This is the only Judomaster comic I own and I’ve never heard of the character, so that’s “Forgotten Heroes” enough for me.

I looked up his story: Judomaster was a sergeant in WWII in the Pacific theatre. At some point, he saved a girl. The father of the girl he saved taught him judo as thanks. That’s it.

The character was originally a Charlton comics character, and most of those ended up owned by DC comics. DC never did very much with Judomaster before killing him off in the Infinite Crisis storyline by having Bane break his back. Judomaster is no Batman, so he died.

You figure he’d be tougher, since he’s apparently REALLY good at judo:

They don’t give costumes like that to just anyone, after all.

To make Judomaster I used Iron Fist as a base miniature. Can’t really do better than this.

Rebased and repainted, he looks like this.

I somehow overlooked the fact that Judomaster wears a black belt (of course he does), and I didn’t want to sculpt one after I painted him, so I just painted the belt on.

I hope to do at least one more miniature this year, possibly two. I do so love this challenge!

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Before diving into Forgotten Heroes, I thought I’d post an update on the TSR Indiana Jones miniatures I started back in April. I’ve finally completed the set, having painted all the characters from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. I’m actually quite proud of that, as completed projects are a rarity in the Angry Piper’s basement.

Let’s start with the bad guys. L-R: a Thugee cultist, Mola Ram, Chattar Lal and the Mine Guard.

Kind of a lame bunch. Chattar Lal was the quickest miniature to paint in the entire set, for obvious reasons.

I’m pretty happy with Mola Ram, the cultist and the guard. Chattar Lal I could take or leave. He’s a pretty shitty miniature.

Onto the heroes: Indiana Jones (painted back in April), Short Round and the insufferable Willie Scott.

I hate the Willie Scott miniature, and not just because I hate Willie Scott. It’s a terrible facial sculpt. I’m certainly not happy with the paint job, but underneath the paint that’s her face. It looks every bit as puffy and misshapen bare as it does with paint on it. This miniature was by far the miniature that took longest to paint, mostly because she sat on my desk untouched for weeks, but also because I kept trying to fix her face until I realized I can’t; and I hate the miniature anyway, so why bother anymore?

Short Round’s jacket is painted navy blue, but it looks black here. Weird. Anyway, he was a quick paint job.

I’ll likely never play with these miniatures, but I figure there aren’t too many people who have a fully painted TSR Indiana Jones miniature set, and I’m one.

Now, onto Forgotten Heroes. I am scrapping my original idea and moving on to something else. Now I just need to comb the ‘clix boxes to see if I can find a suitable base miniature.

Monster May(hem) 2024: The Wrap-Up (and The Red Terror)

Monster May(hem) 2024 draws to a close, and if you’ve been keeping up with the blogroll, you’ve seen some pretty great submissions from everyone who participated. I planned on doing three separate monsters this year, but fate (a.k.a. the “Honey-Do” List) has conspired to make that impossible. But, as the immortal Meatloaf reminds us, two out of three ain’t bad.

For my second (and final) submission, I painted a Tyranid miniature I didn’t even know I owned: The Red Terror! I got this miniature in a big bag o’ bitz I purchased from some guy off Craigslist. Turns out it had all the parts necessary to make this miniature, so…score, I guess.

Since he’s so…red…I wanted to have a bit of contrast between the model and the base. I think I achieved that, but I also hate the way it looks. I’m considering removing the Tyranid bits from the base and just going with a more traditional base. What do you think?

I painted the Red Terror to look like the rest of my Tyranid army, which is straight out of the 1990’s (which is the last time I actually played them, I think). Not a great photo, but I’m not setting up the army again to take a new one.

Here’s the list of this year’s participants and their submissions. Keep in mind there may be some late ones trickling in over the next few days (there always are), so I’ll keep this updated as I become aware of any.

  • Simon, from Fantorical, is working on some big Laputian Robot Troopers;
  • Dave Stone, from Wargames Terrain Workshop, completed a Balrog, a Mumakil, and scratch-built the man-eating plant from Little Shop of Horrors (he also did a ton of other, non-Monster May(hem) stuff this month, all of it awesome!); and because he’s THE Dave Stone, he also submitted a last-minute MM entry:at the 11th Hour: a wooden dragon gifted to him by his children some 20 years ago. It looks wonderful, and fulfills both the Monster May(hem) AND Year of the Dragon challenge in one fell swoop! Swoop, Dave! Swoop!
  • Jon, from Jon’s Hobby Desk, did a bunch of Japanese-themed Yokai miniatures from the Cool Mini or Not game, Rising Sun. I’m a huge fan of Yokai, ,and I have to say my favorite miniature Jon’s has to be the River Dragon, followed by the Yurei. Jon did a dragon, so he met the criteria for the Year of the Dragon challenge, too. Way to go, Jon! Check out all his miniatures at his blog!
  • Snapfit, from Da Green Horde, did an awesome and terrifying Brutgoth (a big monster that orcs ride);
  • Matt, from PM Painting, painted a female daemon of Nurgle, called “The Cultivator”.

And these folks from Instagram:

  • Tom, @The_Goodground, did some miniatures for Legion Imperialis: a Tzeench Lord of Change and a kitbashed miniature, “The Phoenician” (sorry, Tom, I know nothing about LI, but the minis look great!);
  • Malcolm, @mdcampbell_dunwichcreatives, has completed a Gloranthan Dragonsnail and a Tidal Lurker, and also waxed philosophical about one of the first miniatures he painted, the dreaded Mimic;
  • James, @spoontasticminis did a pair of Tyranid Carnifexes, including an old-school, all-metal screamer-killer, and they look friggin’ fantastic;
  • and finally, Sabrina, @Uthwulfsminis. not only rose to the Monster May(hem) challenge, but also the Year of the Dragon challenge by painting THE Dragon: Vermithrax from the film Dragonslayer! Way to bring your A Game on your first MM, Sabrina!!!

Be sure to check out everyone’s blog/website/account and lend them your support! Thanks to everyone who took part. I am always inspired by everyone’s creativity, which is one of the reasons I host this challenge every year!

So, what’s next? Well, June is traditionally the month for Forgotten Heroes, hosted by the legendary Carrion Crow; but one has seen nary a feather from our avian friend here on the blogosphere for quite some time. Most likely, he is on Barsoom again, bounding across the red dunes towards a willowy Martian princess (or possibly two, we all know the Crow has appetites), wearing only a sword belt and slippers, his thick, bronzed thews glistening in the Martian sun. Could it be he has forgotten about Forgotten Heroes? If so, will anyone pick up the torch and host the challenge? I, for one, will be carrying on in spirit!

Monster May(hem) 2024: Wampas!

Or is it Wampi? Wampae? Who cares.

I figured Monster May(hem) is as good a time as any to return to my Imperial Assault project, which, like many of my projects, I seem to have forgotten about for a while. To be honest, I’ve been playing a lot of Star Wars video games lately (Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi:Survivor), so I have the galaxy far, far away on the brain. Time to paint another boxed set, and I chose Return to Hoth, because t contains Wampas.

Sadly, these two Wampas are the only two “monsters’ in the box, so the rest will have to wait for some paint for a bit.

Now, I could have chose to paint the Jabba’s Realm box instead, as it contains the Rancor, but I couldn’t bring myself to paint the sets out of order. Because I’m sick like that.

Anyway, 11 days in, and this is all I’ve painted so far. In that time, Dave Stone has already painted a Balrog and a frikkin’ Mumakil, and both look amazing, as per usual for Dave. Check out everyone else’s blog/IG account and lend them your support!

This year’s participants are:

And these folks from Instagram:

I have at least two more entries planned, one being a Games Workshop miniature I didn’t realize I owned, and another a miniature I sought out on the secondary market purely for its name. Stay tuned!

Let the May(hem) Commence!

It’s May 1st, which makes it officially Monster May(hem)!!! Gentlefolk, paint your monsters!

Griffon, from the first ever Monster May(hem), 2018

This year’s participants, as of today, May 1st (or as you Brits would incorrectly say, 1st May) are as follows:

Also, some friends from Instagram have returned for another year:

And, for joining MM for the first time, some Instagram friends who previously participated in Forgotten Heroes:

Don’t see your name here? That’s because you haven’t told me you want to participate this year. It’s certainly not too late (it never really is), so if you want in, let me know in the comments below, drop me an an email at angrypiper@angrypiper.com, or PM me on Instagram @angrypiper. I will add your name and website/IG account (if applicable) to the blogroll forthwith! If you don’t have either of those and still want to take part, no problem! I’ll host your images here on this very site.

My Discord server has been a bit barren lately since I stopped running RPGs, but I plan on making every effort to be in The Paint Pit this month while I work on my monsters. That’s usually between the hours of 5:30-7:30 PM (EST) on weekdays here in the States, and anytime I can get to myself on the weekends when I don’t have errands to run or surprise plans or projects that aren’t my projects suddenly becoming my projects (IYKYK). Can’t promise I’ll be there every day, but if I’m not, feel free to hang out and meet some of the other participants, if so inclined. Don’t have an invitation to my Discord server and want one? Read this first, and then contact me.

Now what the hell are you waiting for? Go paint some monsters! There’s only 30 .5 days left (less if you’re in Europe)!

Lo! Monster May(hem) 2024 Doth Approach!

Venom Troll from Monster May(hem) 2022

It’s only a few more days to the start of my sixth annual Monster May(hem) Painting Challenge! Do you have your monsters picked out yet?

Does the Alien Queen count as a monster? You bet!

What is Monster May(hem)? Why, it’s the month you paint monsters, of course. Any monster will do, although it should be a proper MONSTER, something big and mean. I mean something truly beastly; like a cockatrice or a byakhee or a giant, mutated zombie bear. Your monster(s) doesn’t have to be strictly a fantasy miniature, and it may be any scale and from any manufacturer. I will link to your stuff throughout the month, and (if it’s not there already) add your blog/website/social media to the blogroll on the side! If you don’t have a site of your own and still want to participate, I’ll happily host your pictures here and ensure you get proper attribution!

How many monsters you paint is up to you. The minimum is one, of course; but feel free to do as many as you like. The only caveat is that they get painted sometime in May.

Blacksting the Wyvern, from Monster May(hem) 2021

But wait! There’s more! 2024 is also the Year of the Dragon, and in celebration of my nonexistent Chinese heritage I am hosting yet ANOTHER painting challenge all year long. You guessed it! It involves painting at least one dragon over the course of the year. Dragons are monsters, so if you paint a dragon miniature in May, it counts for BOTH challenges!!

So, who is down for some Monster May(hem)???