Some time back after completing some larger projects I painted a Wizard from Reaper Miniatures as a little break for myself. Well, inevitably it spawned a larger project. In between other things I’ve been steadily adding to this forest-themed band of misfits, and enjoying them immensely.
All of the miniatures in this collection are from Reaper, but some have been extensively kitbashed. When the project first expanded I had vague thoughts about playing Frostgrave with them, but they’ve definitely expanded beyond the boundaries of that game (still might though, Frostgrave is great!).
After painting the wizard I decided to sculpt a rocky forest base using Milliput and Greenstuff. This was my first time using the combined epoxy putties, and the hype is definitely justified. It was considerably easier to work with than either putty on its own, and the results were just what I pictured in my head.
Instead of jumping into painting another mini, I took the time to kitbash and sculpt bases for a few other miniatures. This knight based on “Justin the Green” from Reaper got built but I still haven’t painted it. Oops! I’m really happy with the modelling job though. Maybe I’m saving it as a treat? Yeah, we’ll go with that.
I decided early on that I only wanted to use Reaper miniatures for the bodies of my little band, and that I wanted to build on my druidic-looking wizard’s theme and create a slightly fey, foresty troupe. To that end, the next miniature I finished painting was The Autumn Knight, a supernatural knight called to defend the forest as an avatar of autumn.
I’m reasonably happy with the non-metallic metal effect on this knight, but it definitely inspired me to practice the technique and get better with it. The sword and helm decoration were replaced from the Sir Justin the Blue miniature, which also has a very strange backward-leaning pose. Rocks were added under the knight’s rear foot to keep the mini from looking like it’s being blown over by the wind.
The next miniature to be painted was a miniature mushroom person. This charming little guy was a nice easy time to paint, and I loved how easily I could create an evocative and cheerful base for him. Much as I love grimdark miniatures, I consciously avoided figures and colors that leaned in that direction for this project. It’s all much more inspired by things like Moonshard Miniatures which have a slight touch of whimsy.
I’ll talk more about this project in a future post, but if you’d like to see all of the currently painted miniatures in this project you can check them out right now in the Gallery.
See you next time!