warhammer – ToadChapel

Still a Mini Painting Blog!

I like to incorporate lots of my interests and creative output on ToadChapel, and sometimes I take a kind of unintended hiatus from one aspect of the site or another. I still love mini painting, though, and I’ve now got some time on my hands to dip back into some longer term projects that have daunted me for a while.

I’m going to try to buckle down and finish off this little bust from Lukáš Žaba. I started him a while ago but sort of lost steam. I think I succumbed to the paralysis that visits us when we fixate on how good, and how much better, every detail ought to be. I think I’m ready to just dive in, do my best, and move on the the next thing. If I have fun painting and learn a thing or two (which I already have), then he’ll be a success.

And since I’ve got nothing else to do, I’ve also got another 40k Kill Team project started!

Weathering a Spaceship Interior Using Hairspray & Salt

Our pal g0rb is back with a smashing tutorial on the scratchbuilding and weathering of a space hulk-themed display platform for your miniatures. Chris is an ultra-creative and unorthodox hobbyist who always has something new to show us.

In this article I am going to show you the steps I took in scratchbuilding a weathered spaceship corridor interior. I used this kind of technique for the space ship corridor in my Space Hulk diorama.

Instead of a diorama base, I will be building a display platform. This platform can be used as a photography backdrop or to display finished models on. The steps used in construction and weathering can of course be applied to anything else that needs weathering.

Here is what I ended up with:

10Ball’s Nifty Rust Technique: a Quick Guide on Weathering Metals

ToadChapel’s friend and regular contributer Lee Hebblethwaite returns to introduce another fun and effective technique to spice up your mini painting. Though 10Ball is better known for his outstanding NMM, he also knows a thing or two about gorgeous true metallic metals. Read on to learn how Lee makes use of liquid mask to lend character to his corrosion!

Miniature Mushroom Tutorial

Spend any time around ToadChapel and you know I’m plum crazy about the fungus. I like the way mushrooms look and I like learning about them, so I photograph them, I draw them, and I use them extensively in my miniature projects. I’ve developed techniques for creating a variety of mushroom shapes suitable for 28mm, 54mm, or larger scale mini scenes, and I’m happy to share my approach with you. Depending upon how you paint these, you could produce many actual mushroom species and an unlimited number of fictional fungi.

These mushrooms are sturdy and small enough to use on gaming bases, especially if you place them intelligently, but they’re delicate enough to add a lot of dazzling detail to display pieces. Read on to learn how to work some minuscule mushrooms into your next modeling project.

Another Base without a Face

I’ve found time here and there to complete another little vignette. This one features a dead tree, which I haven’t done in a while. As usual, this one is a kind of lesson to be applied in basing minis, as well as a little imaginative refuge in its own right.

A detaile base featuring a forest scene without a miniature.

The base is 1.5″ square. I like the challenge of telling a story or creating a scene dense in interesting details on a very small scale. Continue reading “Another Base without a Face”

Against Burnout

I’ve been off the blog for a little while as I visited my parents and spent some time in the woods. I’ve got some nice pictures from my little adventure for you to enjoy.

I chose not to bring any hobby projects with me, though it’s a good place to paint & concentrate. Pushing myself hard this Summer both in my painting and in my efforts to create a more exciting website left me a little lacking in direction as I finished up the painting phase of Yarry. Many people believe that you simply have to paint all the time in order to improve, but I’m not certain that’s true.

Sometimes it’s best for me just to recapture the desire to paint and the desire to better yourself as an artist before you get creatively burnt out.

Continue reading “Against Burnout”

Disaster Strikes!

The squad of marines, fearless heroes all, moved among the crumbling walls and dilapidated mausolea of the hive cemetery. The only sounds were whispered battle chatter across the vox lines and the clank of boots on the metal pathways of what had once been a thriving Imperial city.

According to reports, strange warp activity had been detected in this area. Chaos? They were taking no chances.

Then, as if from nowhere, the enemy were among them, swinging cruel blades and discharging blasts of freezing flame. As the Astartes fanned out to create a defensive net, the blur of dark and horrible shapes engulfed them.

It’s time for another Kill Team battle report. Past time! Sorry for the wait.

But imagine how I feel. I preordered Elites, and didn’t play a game with the new rules until tonight!

You can imagine how excited I was to get some of the new units I’d painted on the board, bold Space Marines as yet unblooded on field of battle… Continue reading “Disaster Strikes!”