Tag Archives: mini

Mini Monday #8: Expanding Your Toolbox

14 October 2019 Rodney Leave a comment

It’s Mini Monday, where I share customizing, scratch building, kitbashing, and miniature painting projects for your roleplaying table. This week we’ll look at expanding your literal and figurative toolboxes, so that you can achieve more with your miniature projects.

The Figurative Toolbox

As you tackle and complete more hobby projects, you’ll learn and practice skills, building your repertoire. The important thing is to keep challenging yourself and learn new things. Find better ways to paint or scratch build, find out what doesn’t work, and master useful skills. That will build your figurative toolbox, allowing you to achieve a much wider range of things with the hobby.

The Literal Toolbox

This includes all the tools you use to work with miniatures, like paint, brushes, cutting boards, files, hobby knives, glues, and everything else you use to cut, shave, sand, or paint a miniature. Collecting these tools can prove expensive, but you can build your collection of tools up over time. This gives you a chance to learn how to use those tools before you become inundated with stuff.

When I got started, I bought a Citadel Colour Paint Set (which I still use), and an extra brush. I got some hobby knives for a birthday and an old emery board (nail file) from my mom. That was enough to get me started with cleaning and painting minis. Later I got more brushes and spray cans, which stepped things up a notch. I kept collecting tools and built up the collection I now have.

Here are some of the most essential tools you’ll need to get started:

Cutting Tools

A variety of cutting tools is useful for tackling different jobs. Extra blades and a clean, tough cutting board is essential. Sharp blades make a big difference, and don’t forget to cut away from yourself.

Filing Tools

Different grits and types of sanding tools, like files and sandpaper, give you more control over how you finish a surface. You can glue sandpaper to a popsicle stick to make your own sanding sticks.

Painting Tools

Paint, brushes, and a pot for water rounds out the collection. I recommend getting a starter set unless you have a very good idea of what you’ll be painting. Even though you might never use all the colors in the set, it’s good to have a wide range of colors to pick from. Don’t worry about getting an ultra-fine brush; go for two cheap, medium-sized brushes and build your collection from there.

Citadel Colour Paints — My 20-Year-Old Paint Box

If you’re just starting out, then you’re in for a great journey. Take your time, enjoy it, and you’ll learn loads. It’s a very rewarding hobby.

Rodney Sloan
Rising Phoenix Games

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Tips and Tricks

Easy-Peasy Terrain Projects

1 October 2015 Rodney

A great looking map and some simple model terrain can go a long way towards making your games stand out. Here are three super easy projects.

A Sign (Post) of Things to Come

I made this little sign post to put alongside roads on my game map. It gives the players a visual reminder of where something is, like the big city, in relation to the combat action. I intentionally left it blank.

To make it, all you need are some small pieces of wood, cut to shape, and some modelling clay for the base. I actually used a kind of papier-mâché, which worked fine. I highly suggest painting the wood and giving it a wash to bring out the grain.

Stalagmite (of Doom)

Stalagmites and standing stones are all over every fantasy world, so having one I can plop down on the map really helps highlight those features.

A well, a sign post and... a rock. — “Some sexy models!”

This is mostly modelling clay, molded into shape and then filed to add some detail. I added chains so that it could be part of a broken bridge or a feature of a jail, surrounded by miserable prisoners.

Well, well, well. What have we here?

Again, water wells are everywhere. You know there’s something down there and you know your players want to find out.

Well ambush — “All I ask for is one empty well!”

The well was also made with modelling clay, built on top of plastic card, which I painted black. I added chains to look like they connected to the depths below. Some dry brushing really made this model pop!

Incidentally, Chris Shaeffer created an amazing map centered around a well as his entry to round 2 of RPG Super Star Season 9, go check it out.

Review

Rattle Me Bones

9 September 2013 Rodney 2 Comments

Reaper Miniature’s Bones are a great new line of cheap role-playing minis. I bought three boxes for 950 Yen (about 95 ZAR, 9.55 USD or 6.09 GBP) from Yellow Submarine in Shinjuku, which gave me a dwarf hero (Fulumbar Ironhand), an ogre chieftain and six kobolds in three different poses. Here they are in their boxes:

Reaper Bones in boxes — Bones, bones, bones!

Continue reading Rattle Me Bones →

Events

UPCON 2012 Module – Death in the Deep

23 March 2012 Rodney

I could trace the origin of this blog back to many sources, but one of the most prominent must be when I started writing modules for the convention circuit back in Gauteng South Africa, specifically for UPCON and ICON. ICON was actually the first convention I ever attended, going there for comic books (Spider-Man mostly). I came out of that convention with a box of Warhammer 40k, which eventually lead to role-playing. So I kind of think ICON was where most things began for me in a way. But enough rambling, this year again I’m submitting a Pathfinder Roleplaying Game adventure, Death in the Deep.

So, wouldn’t it be neat if players and GM’s could get additional information about the module online? Wouldn’t it be great if other interested readers could get a taste of the adventure? Well, that’s what this page is all about. I’m posting it now, but it’s sure to change as more information and downloads become available here.

#NEWS FLASH! – 30 March 2012# Just submitted the module and all the character sheets. I’m pretty proud of the outcome. I reckon this is my best work so far.

#NEWS FLASH! – 13-14 April 2012 Play Test# Our Japan group, who were a witch, wizard, fighter and stow away rouge (she only joined the fight when the Loreley split in two, managed to wound the sea serpent so badly that it ended up with a Dex of 8 and made it’s escape. The adventurers then made it to land where they sheltered for the night, uncomfortably close to a boggard camp. They then made their way on foot and by horse to Dead Mans Landing, passing the town of Gold Bridge, ruled by Duke One-Eye. They found Lantern Tower to be trapped, a store house for the 8-9-3.

Gear Up

It pays to be ready. All the following items are not required, but may prove useful to GM’s running the module.

A pirate costume, because pirates are cool, nuff said.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Combat, a great supplement for battles at sea.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: The Pathfinder Bestiary, includes all the monsters in the module.
Game Mastery’s Pirate Ship Flip Mat. We’re working on including our own ship map, but this is a super map. You can also check out these cheaper options:
Battle Map: Pirate & Ghost Ship, which includes a nice ghostly version of the same ship.
Fantastic Maps: Pirate Ship, which I think does a good job of showing where all the rigging is supposed to be.
Disposable Heroes Pirate Statix 1: I’ve never used Disposable Heroes before, but these don’t look too shabby. And it doesn’t matter if these mini’s get totally destroyed at the con.
For music check out this little Amazon widget for some ideas.

Player Characters

You can check out the player character sheets here. Please note, check the files for viruses, I can’t be held responsible if your computer crashes and burns.