Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread • Page 72 • Collecting General • The Acaeum

The Acaeum Forums • Collecting General

Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread
	Page 72 of 173 • 1 2 3 ... 69, 70, 71, 72, 73 ... 171 172 173

Author

benjoshua
Long-Winded Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 3718
Joined: May 30, 2007
Last Visit: Aug 04, 2026
Location: USA Georgia

Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2018 9:52 am

We came out O.K. We lost electricity about 2:00 AM and there was one medium branch that almost hit the house. There were pine cones all over the year, but nothing bad. My mom down in Americus had at least three trees that almost hit her house, but she never lost electricity!

Thanks for all the prayers and well-wishes.

Truth is worth finding and life is too short to work for money.

grodog
Grandstanding Collector

Posts: 5923
Joined: Nov 16, 2002
Last Visit: Jul 31, 2026
Location: Wichita, KS, USA

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2018 1:00 am

benjoshua wrote in Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread:We came out O.K. We lost electricity about 2:00 AM and there was one medium branch that almost hit the house. There were pine cones all over the year, but nothing bad. My mom down in Americus had at least three trees that almost hit her house, but she never lost electricity! Thanks for all the prayers and well-wishes.

I'm glad to hear everything turned out well, Chris!

Allan.

Allan Grohe (grodog@gmail.com)
Greyhawk, grodog Style

Editor and Project Manager, Black Blade Publishing
https://www.facebook.com/BlackBladePublishing/

Mister Yuk
Prolific Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 675
Joined: Apr 01, 2017
Last Visit: Mar 24, 2026
Location: Missouri

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2018 3:55 pm

Sad to hear

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

bclarkie
Grandstanding Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 6600
Joined: Dec 13, 2004
Last Visit: Aug 06, 2026

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2018 6:25 pm

Mister Yuk wrote in Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread:Sad to hear

That really sucks. He had a Q&A thread here for awhile

Q&A with Greg Stafford

Seemed like a genuinely nice guy.

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." -Neitzche

benjoshua
Long-Winded Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 3718
Joined: May 30, 2007
Last Visit: Aug 04, 2026
Location: USA Georgia

Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 10:23 pm

I know this group doesn't get into miniatures much, but I finally finished painting a miniature I've been working on for months. It's a Reaper model of Tiamat, or what some people call "Tianot", and is officially called "Ma'al Drakar the Dragon Tyrant." I'm not the best painter, but I like it. I have decided to not paint anything this large again. It began as sixteen pieces. Here are the photos of the finished miniature.

And here it is in the display case I bought for it. It is proudly displayed on my TV cabinet in my man cave.

Truth is worth finding and life is too short to work for money.

Thor
Prolific Collector

Posts: 122
Joined: Jun 16, 2015
Last Visit: May 22, 2026

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 9:50 am

benjoshua wrote in Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread:I know this group doesn't get into miniatures much, but I finally finished painting a miniature I've been working on for months. It's a Reaper model of Tiamat, or what some people call "Tianot", and is officially called "Ma'al Drakar the Dragon Tyrant." I'm not the best painter, but I like it. I have decided to not paint anything this large again. It began as sixteen pieces. Here are the photos of the finished miniature.

Thats very nice looking!

--Thor

Skullhammer
Prolific Collector

Posts: 394
Joined: May 10, 2017
Last Visit: Jun 14, 2026
Location: New England

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 9:59 am

That glass/plastic casing is a fantastic idea! Ral Partha's Takhisis would also look really nice displayed that way.

SimperingToad
Verbose Collector

Posts: 1382
Joined: Nov 03, 2008
Last Visit: Apr 07, 2026
Location: My Pad

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 6:11 pm

Ya know, this actually reinforces a conclusion I came to a while back. Modern miniatures are meant to be little works of art. Once painted, they are to be displayed and not (or seldom) used. Old minis are meant to be used in games. Form over function.

There certainly seems to be a complete change in attitudes of sculptors. Granted, many of the old guard didn't quite have the standard of skill the peeps today possess (and it didn't matter), but even those that had mad skillz back then (Julie Guthrie, Tom Meier, Bob Olley, etc.) didn't rely too much on excess frills and weapons only Superman could actually wield. Most figs for PCs/NPCs today just don't look like adventurers, but rather like anime cosplayers that would not survive an encounter with a six-pack of standard 1E kobolds. There are certainly some diamonds in the rough, though.

I do thank at least the folks at Otherworld and the Perry brothers (two that instantly come to my addled mind) for making their sanity checks and keeping things real.

[/rant] :mrgreen:

Art of dragons doing what dragons do. Site of a friend. Dragonstuff

benjoshua
Long-Winded Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 3718
Joined: May 30, 2007
Last Visit: Aug 04, 2026
Location: USA Georgia

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 8:04 pm

I agree with you! The way minis are sculpted these days, it's often totally unrealistic. The older 25MM mini sculpts are often much better about keeping figures more realistic. Weapons and clothes appear functional. Women aren't always half-naked.

Not only that, if you look at some of the paint jobs on many web-sites today, some minis look like they just came out of an anime movie. Don't get me wrong, I am jealous of painting skills like that and respect it, but I like my minis to look a little more realistic. Dirt on boots and blood on swords works for me. Even some rust in places is good. I understand a five-headed dragon is not realistic, but I suspect you understand what I'm trying to communicate.

As to whether minis are used for games or used for display, I am much more in the function over form camp, but this sculpt was so amazing, I decided to add it to my collection and display it. This mini was part of a Kickstarter campaign and after selling everything else off, the bottom line was that I was able to secure this for only $20.00. I had to pay much more than that for the display case. :roll:

Truth is worth finding and life is too short to work for money.

Sir Kill Alot
Verbose Collector
Acaeum Donor
Valuation Board

Posts: 1238
Joined: Nov 26, 2002
Last Visit: Jul 20, 2026

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 8:19 pm

Nice work. Sticking with it for months is extremely difficult. I would say harder than the actual painting. Very jealous of your 'man cave'. I have yet to figure out how to get one of those.

-SKA

SimperingToad
Verbose Collector

Posts: 1382
Joined: Nov 03, 2008
Last Visit: Apr 07, 2026
Location: My Pad

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 11:03 am

benjoshua wrote in Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread:Don't get me wrong, I am jealous of painting skills like that and respect it, but I like my minis to look a little more realistic. Dirt on boots and blood on swords works for me. Even some rust in places is good. I understand a five-headed dragon is not realistic, but I suspect you understand what I'm trying to communicate.

Absolutely. The sculptors these days are fantastic in terms of ability, and some of the painters and kit-bashers simply blow the mind. To me, it's a case of the 'Art' taking precedence over the purpose. I suspect that's a reason the scales have tipped in favor of 28/30+mm over 25mm. Maybe someone involved in the making can shed a little light there.

Art of dragons doing what dragons do. Site of a friend. Dragonstuff

stratochamp
Sage Collector

Posts: 2024
Joined: Feb 12, 2005
Last Visit: Jul 04, 2026

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 11:35 am

I had always assumed it was just a case of metal envy. My 28mm figure is bigger than your 25mm figure. And the escalation began.

Shrink is not a condition

benjoshua
Long-Winded Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 3718
Joined: May 30, 2007
Last Visit: Aug 04, 2026
Location: USA Georgia

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 12:48 pm

From what I understand, the answer to this question is complicated, and I'm not sure anyone knows, or could clearly state, the exact answer. Size creep in role-playing is a source of great frustration, especially to those who collected from the beginning. Remember, many a Chainmail game used 15mm minis, and frankly, this scale works better for large battles when you have hundreds, or thousands, of troops. So, even the scale creep issue has been creeping.

The change from 25mm to 28mm was partially a function of design, partially a way for manufacturers to make more money, partially a function of the larger degree of unpredictability in mold contraction and expansion, partially a function of sculptor preferences, and maybe even carelessness. Maybe metal envy was a factor too. When Reaper came out with its Bones (plastic) line of minis, the larger scale made detail easier, so they continued with that trend. Since most manufacturers now use 28mm as a standard scale, I think they'll keep it that way for a while.

Maybe we need to move this topic to its own thread....

Truth is worth finding and life is too short to work for money.

stratochamp
Sage Collector

Posts: 2024
Joined: Feb 12, 2005
Last Visit: Jul 04, 2026

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 1:40 pm

Games Workshop started making their figures a little bigger than 25mm back in the late 1980's at least. Other factors may have played a part, but I think the overriding reason was to make their figures look more imposing compared to the rest of the industry.

Shrink is not a condition

mrmanowar
Prolific Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 256
Joined: May 15, 2012
Last Visit: Aug 21, 2025
Location: Wisconsin

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2018 6:51 pm

While I don't know much about the history of miniature heights, I do have thousands of minis from pre-painted plastic ones to resin ones to metal ones. I like the size variation in accordance to the sizes listed in the Monster Manual(s). I want a Tiamat to be large and imposing over minuscule PC miniatures. As D&D has progressed editions and identified size scales, I like that the minis correspond to that. I do like using minis and my kids like them too. I don't get super technical about the grid and square bit, but I think the visuals are nice. I've been collecting minis for about a decade now, mostly tapered off on that collection though. I just keep an eye out for minis of things I don't have yet.

Either way, great paint job Chris! Looks nice on display.

Agent Cooper
Prolific Collector

Posts: 541
Joined: Oct 26, 2005
Last Visit: Jun 02, 2026

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 1:49 pm

Speaking of miniatures, I was at my local game con a few weeks ago and the DM running our D&D game had a very cool collection of props for the battle mat. He told us they were from Dwarven Forge. There were torches that lit up, etc. I was pretty impressed and I took a few pics. Actually, his setup was so eye-catching that people from other tables were coming by to snap some pics too.

Take a look:

The owls are not what they seem...

benjoshua
Long-Winded Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 3718
Joined: May 30, 2007
Last Visit: Aug 04, 2026
Location: USA Georgia

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 2:05 pm

Nice!

This kind of set-up works better than Dwarven Forge because, A) you don't have to stand up to see what's going on, B) it takes less time to set up and tear down, C) it's much less expensive, and D) you don't need a truck cart to move everything from your car to the gaming room and back. I'll admit the Dwarven Forge looks nice, but the advantages don't outweigh the disadvantages IMO.

Truth is worth finding and life is too short to work for money.

muaddib5
Verbose Collector
Acaeum Donor

Posts: 1200
Joined: Nov 07, 2003
Last Visit: Aug 03, 2024
Location: Wisconsin

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 4:30 pm

benjoshua wrote in Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread:I know this group doesn't get into miniatures much, but I finally finished painting a miniature I've been working on for months. It's a Reaper model of Tiamat, or what some people call "Tianot", and is officially called "Ma'al Drakar the Dragon Tyrant." I'm not the best painter, but I like it. I have decided to not paint anything this large again. It began as sixteen pieces. Here are the photos of the finished miniature.

[ Image ]

[ Image ]

[ Image ]

[ Image ]

[ Image ]

[ Image ]

[ Image ]
And here it is in the display case I bought for it. It is proudly displayed on my TV cabinet in my man cave.

Very Nice!

Home - Gen Con Wisconsin 1968 2002

The Acaeum Forums • Collecting General

Page 72 of 173 • 1 2 3 ... 69, 70, 71, 72, 73 ... 171 172 173