Kingdom Death

I've been out feverishly sick for the last three days.  I was hoping to do some great painting during that time, but alas, the universe had other plans for me. I've gone through an entire box of tissue and things have come out of my nose that no human being should ever see. However, during that time I discovered Kingdom Death miniatures thanks to my friend and fellow painting enthusiast Cash Wiley. Cash enables the hoarder in me and posted about the Flower Witch miniature, which is now Out of Stock. Supposedly they all sold out in about 6 hours! Understandably, since she's a stunning figure:

Image references from the Kingdom Death store website

I admit I spent what was left of my Christmas budget on a few of their miniatures. I mean, c'mon, everyone sets aside a little something for themselves during all that holiday shopping... right? So I bought the Pinups of Death Hard Plastic Collection which contains: 

“A collection of the first 8 pinups released by Kingdom Death remastered and tooled in hard plastic. The flagship pinups previously only released in resin are the perfect introduction to Kingdom Death hard plastic. The set is packaged in a deluxe kraft wrapped with original artwork by Lokman Lam. Each box makes 8 miniatures and contains:

•Pinup White Speaker
•Pinup Forsaker
•Pinup Savior
•Pinup Great Game Hunter
•Pinup Survivor
•Pinup Preacher
•Pinup Twilight Knight
•Pinup Architect
•8 2-part Kingdom Death 30mm round bases
•A stylish black envelope containing 8 art cards, one for each pinup.
•PROMO Optional Kingdom Death Monster settlement event. A special event that can occur in your settlement.
•PROMO Optional Kingdom Death Monster gear. A unique piece of survivor armor gear to commemorate the pinup release.”

While they're not the usual resin miniatures that you find in their individually-sold figures, I think that for the price, the hard plastic versions are a good value.

Now before we fall into the obvious trap arguing about the finer details of sexism, let me first say that, from my perspective as a woman, I think the majority Kingdom Death miniatures are beautiful. They're detailed, expressive, stunning examples of stylized miniature sculpture. If Marcel Duchamp could deem a urinal "art", then we can agree that the concept of art is linked to our varying personal and individual perceptions. Some are much more suggestive (or have a cape made of male genetalia), and those kinda creep me out, so I don't buy them-- not on moral grounds, only because they just wouldn't be as fun for me to paint.

Bonjour Sweet Love Patisserie

Since I value keeping things positive and respectful, I will say this: I would not necessarily choose to display the original concept art in prominent areas of my home. However, I do think Lockman Lam's concept art is dynamic, wonderfully rendered, and sure, "sexy". We all know the difference between realistic and stylized artistic choices-- we all have imaginations and I know that men don't actually look like the animated characters in "Bonjour Sweet Love Patisserie". Seriously, when each of the male characters are introduced in this pastry-chef-themed anime, they sparkle. And that's after the opening song where they fly around on fancy pastries in space. Just saying, the whole thing is pretty ridiculous. Still, some part of my brain is amused by this stuff, just like I'm amused by the busty bombshells in evocative poses from the Kingdom Death Pinup line-- it's not meant to be real. It's meant to be someone's artistic craft enjoyed by either many or few. 

Life is too short to waste on petty fears and the critical judgement of ourselves or others. None of us should be so self-important as to look down upon one another for what we collect & enjoy (unless it's collecting human ears or something. That's just gross.) At the end of the day, we all have a personal choice whether or not to purchase these types of commodities. Bearing that in mind, I will continue to grin and watch "Bonjour Sweet Love Patisserie" & collect and paint Kingdom Death miniatures. 

Christmas D&D Gaming

Hope everyone is having a lovely holiday season! Just for fun, I want to share the audio recording (broken into three parts) of the holiday-themed Dungeons & Dragons we played recently. It's one of our new Christmas traditions where we come up with crazy 4th level characters in a single-session adventure set up by our DM (or "Dungeon Master", a.k.a. "Game Master"). This is only the second time we've played 5th edition and so far, I think it's a lot of fun and allows for a lot more improv freedom than previous D&D editions. In our "one-off" games, we play our way through a seasonal story filled with goofy puns and familiar pop culture characters in a single-session. We don't get too bogged down in the rules so it's accessible to those who haven't played the game before, and 4th level characters are interesting, but not too complicated for less-experienced players. In fact, "Ugg" is played by our friend who has never before played a tabletop role-playing game like D&D-- so happy that he had such a good time! We've hosted similar games this past Halloween and Easter, and I can't wait to help plan the next one! In the recordings, you'll get to meet each of our player-characters the three of us created (in addition to the many other personalities brought to life by our DM):

Ugg (It's short for "Ugg") - Human Barbarian
Throzen Stoneheart (a.k.a. "Stockwood") - Dwarf, er, um, Fairy-something? 
Catnip "Kitty" Silverbells - Gnome Bard

Dungeons & Dragons is the game that introduced me into the world of miniature painting and I have a special place in my heart for it. It's something I want to play with my friends, my family, and one day when I have offspring of my own, I want to share it with them. It's imaginative, it's spontaneous, and if I ever meet someone who says, "Oh I played D&D, it wasn't any fun", I'll smile & tell them "Well, then you're doing it wrong" invite them to one of our seasonal one-off games. Hope you enjoy sharing in our fun! 

My Favorite Miniature Things

I've accumulated a lot of stuff over the years, most of it stemming from my passion for collecting miniatures & related paraphernalia. After having a certain holiday song stuck in my head, I decided to write about a few of my favorite things related to miniature painting.

First off, I fully-admit I have too many bottles of paint. I've long-admired the organizational systems of those who custom-craft works of wood. However, these plastic paint bins make my life much easier as they prop up and can be easily accessed on my table. I have three-- one with neutrals and browns, another with muted colors, and the third with bright colors organized by hue & value. 

Paint Caddy 

In addition to my paint organization, I hold my Optivisor near & dear to my heart... or rather, my eyes-- not only mine, but the eyes I paint on miniatures. At first, I was wholly uninterested in bulky, magnifying lenses that claimed to lend itself well to the art of miniature painting. However, these were given to me as a gift, and after getting used to them, I have to say: they really do make a positive difference! I find that my eyes are strained less and it's much easier to use since they're essentially strapped to your head. They conform to the very angle of your vision and, despite looking pretty goofy, are indispensable when it comes to detail work!

Optivisor

My last two favorites are the micro clippers and my files. I use these immediately after I free the miniature from its packaging. I use the clippers to trim the flash (a.k.a. "sprue") and the files to banish & smooth mold lines. With these tools, I set myself up for success before I even begin to paint! You're doing yourself a huge favor if you take your time during these steps! (Trust me, I've seen the results when you skip these steps and they're not pretty). 

Mirco Clippers 

Micro Files

In the meantime, I'm uploading the audio files from our Sunday D&D session, tangents & all. Fair warning: adult language and cheesy puns are involved so please listen at your own risk :)

Holiday D&D · Part 1 of 3

The other two audio files are in progress!