an Update from the Great El Noumo

My master plan is now in motion... MWUAHAHAHAH!


To whom it may concern...


Mini's ordered. Hobby Stone ordered. Molds Ready. MiniGrinder is pooping bricks this week...


So next weekend is the first session of the new campaign that I am co-producing. My brother and Head Designer of our d20 system Valentia Role Playing System, will be directing as GM. I will be handling set design and post production work. I am really excited to start this project. There is so much to do, and yet so little time to do it.

The plan is to produce a weekly short video out of our sessions. Unlike what I've done with Archivo Deorum, we will not be broadcasting this campaign live. This will allow me to throw in all the bells and whistles after the fact. I am even going to experiment with using a green screen to add in animated backgrounds and other special effects.

This campaign will take place primarily in a city. Up until now, I was using papercrafting to build all my structures. That's all about to change. I will now be using molds from Hirst Arts to help the tabletop's dimension of the third kind. I will be constructing these buildings from molds, and painting them. The objective here is to build these buildings in the most modular way possible. Stay tuned to my MiniGrinder Paints Live series on my youtube channel for sneak peeks of what I am working on for this campaign.



For each encounter, I would like to produce an original piece of art depicting the scene, or maybe where the scene takes place. Other original artwork will include stuff like maps and images of special items, graphic overlays and character profiles.



Much of the tabletop will be captured in still frames and broken down into layers, allowing me to "animate" the still images using a parallaxing technique. The old 720p webcam I use for everything now, will be used primarily for capturing an overhead view of the tabletop.



When it is all edited down and polished, what we will have is something akin to an animated graphic novel. However, as we all know the story will be written dynamically through the dice rolls. Because that's how tabletop RPG's work damn it! So now you can see why I am so excited about this project! Its going to be the ultimate tabletop fantasy!

Now all I need to do is learn how to do half the stuff I mentioned... I'm only one person. Do not expect to see a finished product for months after we film the adventure. Once I have a trailer for the series put together I will probably put together a Kickstarter campaign to help turn this project up to eleven! I have been funding this all by painting miniatures and putting them up on ebay. If you would like to donate to this project. You can start by visiting my ebay profile page. Any miniature you purchase will help me put together the best god damned fantasy tabletop rpg adventure..... ever.... Well, we'll see...

Ebay Store

My Cure for Undeath

I did it!  With the flick of my wet brush, I finished my Undead Collection. Finally.  If numerating them matters to you, there are 6 Skeletal Spearman, 3 skeletal Swordsman, 3 Skeletal Bowman, 3 Zombies, a Wraith Harvester, a Spirit, a Night Spectre, Arrius the Skeletal Champion, the Ghost King, Malek the Necromancer, a Colossal Skeleton and Nethyrmaul, the Undying.  all of these miniatures are produced by Reaper Miniatures.  They've got a really wide selection in general, so when I set out to start up my Undead Project, it was a clear choice.

The only pieces missing are that which I have yet to even purchase, and a Grave Wraith I sold on ebay.  That's right, I sold part of my precious Undead Collection.  The same Collection which has all matching basing and paint schemes!  I did this not because I'm psychotic, but because my gracious patrons may be!  If they are willing to spend good hard earned cash, backed by the full faith and credit of the United States of Wastes-A-Lot-Of-Money, on my lovely mini's; then they deserve to have things like matching bases and consistent paint schemes.

I would use phrases like, "a tad anal" to describe myself if I didn't think that would be the only thing the internet remembers me by.  I can't only blame my loyal pledgers.  May be its a trait of geeks to be fanatical and "a tad anal" when it comes to tabletop projects.  I think I've stated this before, but I go the extra mile to make my work consistent because it just looks better that way.

I use to not go the extra mile.  I also use to paint minis just for cigarettes and gas money!  How else would I make it to the game on Sunday!  I never really ever had miniatures of my own until I started doing commission work and selling them on ebay.  Everytime I sell a miniature, I am growing my consistent ever-evolving collection properly based miniatures.  Whats a broke ass hobbyist to do?

I'm gonna keep painting these ripping little minis.  I will always be adding to and updating my Undead Collection, unless of course my new sugar daddy (preferably mommy) buys the lot of them.  My next collection of minis to work on is almost as terrifying as these creepers.  NPC's and town guard! OH NO!  I desperately need to get started on them before the next Campaign gets going!

Showing Off, September Minis

So I have been doing quite a bit of character miniatures recently.  Mostly touching up old paint jobs or finishing mostly finished pieces.  I'm very proud of the work I have done on them, I just thought I'd share it with you.

First up is Reaper's Marius Burrowell, Gnome Thief.  I painted him as a Gnomish Sharpshooter.  The Monocle screamed sharpshooter to me, and I listened.  This was an old paint job of mine from almost 3 years back.  I touched him up.  He was painted in a bit of a rush before.  He looks much more stunning now!

Next up is my viking princess, Reaper's Aina the Valkyrie.  I love this miniature.  Anyone who knows me would understand.  I painted her in my favorite color combinations.  Greens and Golds.  It just makes me think of money I think.  Then I'm reminded that I don't have any...   Anywho, this is a miniature that has been almost finished for about 2 or 3 months now.  That doesn't often happen to me.  When you paint as fast as me, there is no reason not to finish the damn spear!  Alas, when I picked her up again I also gave her some touch ups.

Last up is our weaselly friend, Toreth painted as fancy elf fighter.  Look how fancy..  Mr. Fancy-Pants he is.  Toreth comes from Reaper's discontinued P-65 line of miniatures.  It's a fine miniature and the modeler made it very easy to paint him.  When painting his eyes,  I messed up and gave him a lazy eye.  I ended up fixing the other eye to match the lazy eye.  This gave Toreth Fancy-Pants character.  

Did I mention how broke I am?  Well you can buy all these miniatures and others on Ebay! I would like to start building terrain and buildings from plaster molds.  Unfortunately that cost's money.  When I flip some mini's, I can't wait to start that project up.

Flocking a Miniature with Ashen Land

If you paint miniatures and you don't flock about, you are half assing it.  Flock is relatively cheap.  There is usually a reasonable upfront cost, but you can flock a mini for pennies when you've aquired some.  There is no reason to not flock for flocks sake!

If you haven't noticed, I have OCD.  Not in a bad way really.  I like to put things in order.  sometimes by category.  For example, I would prefer that ALL of my undead miniatures have a similar basing/flocking scheme.  It just looks better when I'm draining the will to live from the heroic PC types.  For that particular scheme I chose an Ashen Land, which is basically grassy land with ash on it.  Yea, I'm that good at naming things.

Below here is a special episode of MiniGrinder Paints Live!, where I show how I flock it up!  Here's what you'll need:

• A strong conviction to do more with your life!
• Grass, Ash and Snow Flock
• Get yourself some Gorilla Glue.  I have both the blue (original) and green (gel) top.
• uh...  a miniature, preferably based, painted and sealed....

Basing a Miniature with Metal Washers

Believe it or not, basing a miniature properly is a new hobby of mine.  At first, I sought out what most people use.  Plastic Bases.  I prefer round bases.  You walk into one of the two gaming stores you know of 50 miles of your home, and they never have exactly what you need.  Not too mention what they do have is usually a rip off.  A pack of 6, 40mm bases, "5 bucks please."  I soon realized that, if you are crafty, you can save a ton of money.  

Here's what you'll need to base a miniature with a metal washer.

• metal washers (incase you weren't paying attention earlier)
• epoxy putty (the crap they sell to bond a muffler to your car)
• time
• money

Metal washers are cheap.  They usually let them go for less than two dimes for the largest, and about a dime for the smallest.  Be smart and go for the washers made with the cheap metals.  They are thin so your miniatures sit right flush with the table.  Their weight also lowers the miniatures center of gravity, giving the miniature balance.  Metal washers make perfect bases for plastic and resin miniatures.

The only con I have with using washers is; They don't make them big enough.  It's hard to find any washer bigger than two inches in diameter.  Your best chance there is a factory supply store.  Not too many of those around.  Long story short, This won't work for miniatures bigger than Ogre.

I went ahead and made a video showing the process.  

Checkerout!

Don't forget to like my video please!  It would mean the world to me!

MiniGrinder Commission Mission

What can I say, but "I have no shame."  I'm not sure why I feel guilty asking people for money to paint them miniatures. Alas, I do.  In our world (probably all worlds), everything is tradeable.  I would love to trade you my hard work for your hard work.  I would like to be able to paint minis all the time.  This is impossible without paying for them somehow.  

When it comes to painting miniatures for monetary compensation, I have two outlets.  Ebay and commissions.  

For the most part, my Ebay sales have pretty much funded the whole sha-bang.  It allows me to buy new minis for painting, and production hardware and software for my youtube channel.  The downside is, I'm selling my personal collection.  It is constantly (but not often enough) rotating and changing.  The upside is, I've never had the chance to paint this many miniatures for myself.  Because I sell miniatures from my personal collection, I price them for what they are worth to me.  That may seem steep at times, but ebay needs their cut for the posting as well!

When it comes to commissions, I have a little more wiggle room on prices.  In this situation, I have to ask for a price that makes it worth it for you.  I love doing commission jobs.  Now that I have the MiniGrinder Paints Live series rolling, you can actually watch me paint your commissioned job live! 

Pricing a commission can be a bit tricky.  Quoting a commission on the other hand is a bit easier.  Below is my pricings.  Please keep in mind that these prices are not set in stone.  Some miniatures are much easier to paint than others.  

• 15mm to 25mm miniatures with low details (like the skeletons above). $5-$15 per
• 15mm to 28mm miniatures with moderate to high details. $20-$40 per
• 28mm-40mm miniatures with low details. $25-$50
• 40mm+ miniatures $50+
• Basing for some miniatures may be extra, depending upon the miniature.
• At the moment, I do not do custom modeling jobs.  This is something I would like to work on, but I need cash to fund such an enterprise!
• I like using paypal and money orders for transactions
• Rush jobs are possible.  I paint fast, so turn around can be quick if you are first in line.

If you would like to commission a piece, feel free to contact me! elnoumo@gmail.com

Dynamic Ogrish Skin

It seems as though there is an untold number of ways in which to interpret that which is fantasy.  Consider the skin of an ogre.  Is it tan?  Is it Green?  I personally am in the Blue/Gray camp.  Why?  I like it that way.  It to me is a culmination of the more popular choices for Ogrish skin.  Let me explain.

First, If you are a painter of mini's and you do not use a palette to mix your paints; you are not getting the most from your painting experience!  You can only get away with mixing paint by building up it up in thin dry brushed layers for so long.  Your other option is to spend tons of cash on 100's of paints. 

 My palette is my ever evolving friend.  After every paint job, he changes.  I also don't get out much...  

Now that we got that out of the way...  

Ogrish Skin, by MiniGrinder.  :p

tl;dw.  Changing the names of the colors to more generic nomenclature. 

• dark dark brown primer 
• dark brown dry brushed base layer
• mix of bluish gray, and gray as a thin drybrushed layer
• (optional) for more bluish tone, add another thin drybrushed layer of your bluish gray color
• highlight with a very thin layer of leather/Tan

The great thing about this paint scheme is that it can be used for other goblinoid style races too.  Adding more bluish gray and more leather/tan color will make the skin appear more green.  This color play between just three colors offers a high dynamic range for all things Ogrish.  I highly suggest you give it a shot,