Some of you might know that I have a little comic using miniatures called 28mm.
Spoiler: an example of 28mm
Spoiler:
28mm has been going strong since 2020 and I've decided to branch out into a swords & sorcery setting. That new project is Big Fantasy Epic The comic isn't live yet, as I still have a lot to work on. But I've decided to share my progress in a blog in the mean time.
So where to start? How about with the protagonist. The story focuses on a mundane scribe named Asphodel the Pale who stumbles into all manner of adventures in the bustling city of Halbstadt. So I needed a model that looked like a commoner and not a warrior. So I went with the Wizards 2 boxed set from Frostgrave and a head from Wargames Atlantic Cannon-fodder 2 set. The body was perfect in that the plastic Frostgrave lady wizards aren't overly arcane looking or cheesecake-y. I chose that particular Cannon-fodder head as it was very distinctive, youthful, and I just happened to like it.
This is our heroine
The one thing I learned from doing 28mm is that there's only so much a static miniature can convey. That's why I chose that Frostgrave set with all those arm options.
Magnetized options are good to have in a main character
So for colors, I went with muted earth tones. I did this partly because of the contrast with the albino heroine but I also wanted her to look peasant-like.
That purple seal means she's a member of the Scriveners Guild.
I may have gone a little overboard on the arm options
I think this is enough for a first post. There's more to come as I'm working hard on gearing up for the launch. Feel free to comment.
Thanks for reading
@Captain Brown & Galahad: hey hey, thanks for looking and commenting!
So now that the protagonist is ready for her debut, it's time to work on the setting. I grabbed some 3D printed houses from Amazon (Ender Toys, I think?) and found some 12 inch X 12 inch printed cobblestone decals on eBay for the streets:
Four houses and a decent floor for about $46 USD ain't bad
One of the things I've noticed with non-GW terrain is that they sometimes seem too small for GW-style "heroic" 28mm scale. It's not so much the buildings themselves, but the added height of the model's base throws off the perception. My solution? Add bases to the buildings.
The doofus with the polearm is also a comedic foil brave hero
A little greenstuff makes everything better
I made some progress on the houses. They are relatively simple pieces but they paint up nice:
I need to touch up that green roof; you can see the primer through the shingle spaces
Wow, the Dakka image enhancement made this waaaay too dark.
I have a few interiors in the works, so I'll leave you with these quick teasers:
I got a painting commission and my payment was a Mantic Terrain Crate. There's been some great stuff in there for fleshing out the interiors of the buildings in BFE. I need to take more photos, but here's a glimpse:
Terrain by Mantic, Bartender by Wizkids
The terrain paints up nice, but the pre-primed bartender is coming out awful
It looks a lot better in situ with a backdrop, floor, and more models
Okay, so I got some more terrain done. Specifically, the Mantic library stuff.
Them's some good lookin' books!
The Scriveners' Office is open for business
I've also been working on costars for the comic. In some cases, it's not feasible to magnetize the model and it's easier to just get multiple models for the same character. For example, there's Faolán and his hound, Girvin.
These are courtesy of the Dark Age Irish sprue by Wargames Atlantic
Multiple models for the same character really help the comic from being stale. That's a lesson I learned from doing 28mm for multiple years. Here's some more examples to show you what I mean.
Chutzpah, don't be an idiot
He tried to warn you, jackass...
Plant monster courtesy of SPG, Chutzpah is a combination of Empire Halberdier and Mordheim Mercenaries bits (plus a Bretonian polearm)
I'm afraid I don't have much to show aside from a WIP of the man who raised & trained Asphodel:
Obviously some of the magnet connection points aren't ideal and need a little filing. Most of it just a matter of careful positioning before the photography. I also have an alternate head for use in flashbacks of him as a younger man.
The gang sadly is not all here. I've been waiting on Hasselfree since November for a major cast member. I'm also waiting on a Renedra order since January, but at least they shipped it timely and it only got to US customs a few days ago due to the UK Royal Mail hack.
I wish I had more to show, but I have a bunch of things in various stages of completion. Maybe I need to snap some pics of 'em.
Okay, I have some good news today! My Renedra order, which was held up over a month due to UK Royal Post hack, arrived today!
Time to upgrade my backdrops
I also managed to get some work done on a supporting character; Faolán and his hound, Girvin:
Nothing to see here, just a man and his dog
Since his arms were too weedy to magnetize, it was easier to just paint an alternate model
Whoops! What's this pic doing here?
Faolán was a bit of a challenge to paint. Being 60% skin and 40% cloth, there was always the issue of getting the wrong color where I didn't want it. Compound this with pastel cloth and a light skin tone for even more fun. I'm happy with the end result. Well, aside from one eye on the "at ease" version of him. On the flip side, Girvin the hound was super easy.
I'm also working with some Wargames Atlantic Boxer Rebels to use as foreign travelers. I painted up one for a friend while I try to narrow down a color scheme:
From_ash wrote: Love your scenery man. All of this looks great, but I'm really impressed with the mummies.
There's an irony in the Mummies catching your eye.I painted them ages ago and will be using them in an upcoming playtest of my homebrew dungeon crawl. Guess I'll have to make sure they pop up at least once when BFE goes live
So right now, Comic Fury (the website host/community for my miniature comics) is having their annual 30 Days of Characters challenge. So I've stepped up my game on BFE.
Here's what I've been up to:
Feel free to check the challenge link; it updates every day for the month of April.
I've been putting an awful lot of work into my entries for the 30 Days Of Characters challenge and I don't want to spoil them.
Suffice to say, there's nifty characters and some interesting new exterior shots.
So for now, here's a WIP shot of some more mercenaries I made from Warlord Games Landsknecht Pikemen.
Since Pikemen at ease do not make for interesting individual models, I've been looking for new ways to use the kit
Greatswords courtesy of the old Mordheim accessory sprue
Thanks for reading and don't forget to give the 30 Days Of Characters challenge a look
This is one of the coolest blogs I've seen on Dakka. I have seen your 28mm comics floating around the internet - didn't realise they originated from a Dakkaite!
The terrain/settings you've made are very evocative and the minis just drop right in. I'm also super impressed with how neatly you do their eyes!
I will be following along - excited to see the progress!
This is one of the coolest blogs I've seen on Dakka. I have seen your 28mm comics floating around the internet - didn't realise they originated from a Dakkaite!
I had no idea 28mm even was floating around. I thought there was my small circle of fellow ComicFury and a handful of Dakkaites.
This really brightens my day
tzurk wrote: The terrain/settings you've made are very evocative and the minis just drop right in. I'm also super impressed with how neatly you do their eyes!
I will be following along - excited to see the progress!
Thank you very much! I'm still showing off a lot of things on the 30 Days Of Characters challenge that I didn't want to spoil here first. But here's some of what's already popped up:
When BFE finally goes live, I'll be sure to leave a notification in the thread.
My Halbstadt exteriors are about to get twice as good:
Seriously, four decent sized 3D printed medieval buildings for around $35 ain't bad
Again, I raised the foundations with GW bases so the scale doesn't seem off. In the case of one building, the base extended really far past the building's footprint, so I made a little porch out of Apoxie Sculpt. I need to still sand part of it, as working with the material is like sculpting with cookie dough.
I've still been putting up an entry per day on the 30 Days Of Characters challenge. Feel free to check it out. You can comment if you like; you don't need a ComicFury account to do so.
Great work. I've wondered if miniatures could be used to make a photographic comic narrative, but of course I've never experimented with the idea. This is great stuff you're doing. Making alternate arms and poses for your main characters is genius. And it's nice to see that the Mantic furniture can paint up so well.
You're probably better off sticking with photoshopping word bubbles into your photos, but in case you're ever interested in staging something completely on the tabletop, are you aware of the miniature Heroclix word bubbles that Wizkids released with the Deadpool set? Some have Deadpool phrases pre-printed onto them, but there is also blank version, and it can usually be found second-hand inexpensively. (Game Hollow lists them for 20 cents apiece.). You could also easily cover up the pre-printed phrases with a blank sticker and type or write in your own words.
Here's a pic of one:
The obvious issue with these is that they only come in one size, limiting how much a character can "say." If you got really into it, I imagine it wouldn't be hard to design and 3-d print your own versions at whatever scale you desired.
Finally, since you're using characters in episodes taking place across multiple settings, have you considered using transparent bases to help them blend in?
I'll be following your comics with great interest. Keep up the great work!
Thank you and welcome to the party, Talking Banana!
Regarding word bubbles: it works best for those to be done in post, as it were.
In 28mm, there are occasionally these complicated dialog interplays:
Spoiler:
Also, the shopped dialog will always work in scenarios where the camera angle is tilted or if I do day-for-night lighting.
Regarding bases: I can understand the logic, but I've never liked the look of clear stands. I had started this cobblestone scheme for my D&D and fantasy models about a decade ago. So there's literally hundreds of models I'm in no mood for re-basing
But I do appreciate your comments and I thank you for the support. Glad you like Scherzo.
Keep watching this blog to find out when Big Fantasy Epic goes live later this year.
I'm still trying to knock out the next four houses, but my parrot is making things difficult. I did manage to get a few little things done (or at least started):
Keeping the peace in Halbstadt
Bless you and your townsfolk line, Reaper Miniatures!
Now let's not put the cart before the horse... again...
I bought that cart when GW was doing Warhammer Fantasy Skirmish and they re-released all the old baggage trains. However, I somehow lost the horse over the years (and the little tiny yoke piece), so it sat in a bits box for years. When Wargames Atlantic came out with non-barded horses, I had to snap them up. The new yoke was made from greenstuff sculpted over two twist-ties.
And lastly, for a bit of fun, is some Mer-May art. All my fellow comic artists are showing off their mermaid drawings for the occasion, so I thought I'd join in with a miniature. Spoilered for bare mermaid boobs...
Spoiler:
Captain Marlinspike and his faithful mermaid companion, Nerida
While I'm still working on buildings & characters in anticipation of page one, I'm also fleshing out the background of the setting. But we all know nothing kills engagement like a lore dump (especially in the beginning of a story).
However, I still want to share my world building beyond what is directly pertinent to the story as it unfolds. So I'm doing a "lore" section of the comic's site as a repository for this kind of fluff for any readers who may be so inclined.
This is the first one I've done:
Just a quick six-panel page explaining some of the other nations involved. Not too dense but enough to get the gist for someone who wants something beyond what's currently shown in the story.
I do need some input: would this work better if the page was 2 panels wide and 3 panels tall? Or does the 2 rows of 3 panels look better? The current 3 X 2 tends to shrink the panels to get everything to fit.
I still need to add a teamster that can be added to the base when needed
Why yes, that little girl does know how to use that short bow
In the earliest stages of planning, I had created a character that was fully magnetized to be modular. It was my first attempt at such a model and he was initially the protagonist before Big Fantasy Epic even had a germ of a setting. Suffice to say, I learned from my mistakes with this model before doubling down and making Asphodel.
Body, legs, & head by Mad Robot, arms by Games Workshop
He will eventually have other arms, but this is the start
He's gonna have a horse, too!
I love how the final paintjob came out
That's all for now. Still have more houses and more townsfolk in the works.
I know I haven't been posting a lot here as of late. This is due mostly to the heat but also being burnt out on work & other creative endeavors. While cleaning up the scripting for the first chapter of BFE ready, I've been plugging away at buildings
I have managed to get something done despite all the heat & humidity:
Next verse house same as the first!
I wanted to get the 2-storey ones done first so I could use them to create a skyline:
I could have done this one just by staging the buildings & skipped the digital monkeying...
A better example of what I'm trying to accomplish
When the heat subsides and I can deal better with hot lamps, I'll experiment a little more. BFE is coming but I don't want to rush it.
Thanks for reading
The kriegsknight looks like he's a professional duelist. Y'know, the type who often doubles as an assassin. Provokes his target into an unwise act so the duelist can claim his honor is offended and then "accidentally" kill the target in a duel just to first blood. A clean heart thrust is first blood after all ...
Ancestral Hamster wrote: The kriegsknight looks like he's a professional duelist. Y'know, the type who often doubles as an assassin. Provokes his target into an unwise act so the duelist can claim his honor is offended and then "accidentally" kill the target in a duel just to first blood. A clean heart thrust is first blood after all ...
Well he is a limited edition Empire Duelist. I had that model for years, agonizing over the paintscheme
Excellent work and I very much enjoyed reading! I got the film noir feel in the second panel, glad I grokked that right. "There are a hundred stories in the Free Town of Halbstadt, and this is one of them..."
Meer_Cat wrote: Excellent work and I very much enjoyed reading! I got the film noir feel in the second panel, glad I grokked that right. "There are a hundred stories in the Free Town of Halbstadt, and this is one of them..." Rock on!
I'm hoping to have a little something on Sunday. Thanks for reading
The Lore Library is a repository of background information for the story's setting done in comic strip format. It's not 100% necessary to understand the story, but it is deeper lore for anyone who wants more on the world-building for BFE.
The world of Big Fantasy Epic is not immune to spookiness
On Sunday, the next page of Big Fantasy Epic debuted and today there's a spooky addition to The Lore Library. Feel free to drop on in and see for yourself.
There is a new entry in The Lore Library concerning one of Halbstadt's neighbors, Die Grafschaft. Grab yourself a hearty ale and a warm pretzel while you read up on this newest piece of background material. Also, there will be a new Big Fantasy Epic page this Sunday.
So far it's been every other Sunday. The next page is ready to go 11/26/23. I try to post a Lore Library post on the Sundays in between so there's content every week.
So far it's been every other Sunday. The next page is ready to go 11/26/23. I try to post a Lore Library post on the Sundays in between so there's content every week.
Some of you may or may not know, I have a traditional webcomic called Tangentville. It's been a labor of love of mine for a decade now. It has an insanely diverse cast of oddball characters. But the one many readers seem love most is a reality-warping little Figment named The Madness.
(He's the red & yellow jester guy on the left)
I got it into my head that I wanted to make a miniature of him. So I sculpted one from scratch:
This week's Tangentville pages had been utilizing this little guy and culminated in this BFE crossover today:
There's a new blog post up about the development of protagonist Asphodel the Pale.
Give it a read if you want some behind-the-scenes director's commentary on the character.
tzurk wrote: Love that little jester, KidCthulhu. Glad your minis are getting to make appearances in and out of universe. Very creative and aspirational work.
Thanks for sharing!
Madness was a fun little mini to make. I may make one of The Sick Man (the little black-robed Figment) one of these days.
Thanks, Cap'n! The actual story in Big Fantasy Epic is coming along nicely. I find I can tell better stories in a fantasy setting than the sci-fi setting of 28mm. That still doesn't stop from trying, however
So I recently went through my old models and found an old Reaper miniatures Ettin that I meant to rebase & repaint.
I got busy this week and here's the fruits of my labors:
There's a 22 year gap between the first paint job and the updated paintjob
The pig on his back was much harder to paint than it should have been
A friend of mine thought the Ettin was a Clan War ogre, so I took this scale photo for him
Will this big guy make an appearance in BFE some day? Well, I wouldn't rule it out
Two things of note: First, The Lore Library has been reorganized and revamped, making it much easier for readers to enjoy. Second, the newest page of Big Fantasy Epic just went up this morning!
And now, for no reason at all, some Regno gladiators
great work mate, thank you for sharing. Love the vignettes - very impressed by the way your minis look on the backdrops. And you've built up a veritable horde of supporting characters - they look so natural all together, reminds me of the set of GoT or something.
great work mate, thank you for sharing. Love the vignettes - very impressed by the way your minis look on the backdrops. And you've built up a veritable horde of supporting characters - they look so natural all together, reminds me of the set of GoT or something.
Look forward to more!
Thank you very much! Based on your "Arooo!", I assume you're reading the comic. Have you been checking the Lore Library and blog pages too?
I've also been working on a few things in anticipation of Comic Fury's annual 30 Days Of Characters challenge.
For last year's challenge, I did a whole month of BFE reveals. I plan on more of the same in 2024
Fishmen? Living in the river and under the city? You must be mad, as no such creatures exist...
Comic Fury's 30 Days Of Characters challenge starts April 1st, so once again I'll be creating BFE characters.
That's why there hasn't been a lot of photos in this Dakka blog as of late. I'm trying to keep all the surprises under wraps Naturally I'll post a link here when it goes live.
There's a new Big Fantasy Epic page today as the plot continues to thicken.
Also, around 6:00pm 11:00pm GMT, the Comic Fury Easter Crossover Event begins. This is where various artists sign up, get a random participant's comic assigned, make a crossover comic with that comic & their own, and then all the comics get posted for all to see. Think of it as a Secret Santa but for webcomics. This year, I went in with Big Fantasy Epic and had to make a miniature of the main character from [REDACTED]. I can't wait to see who got mine!
