2025 so far

return to hobbying

    The past couple years have been dominated by Trellis, but after (a moderately disappointing) GDC this year, I came back to miniature and tabletop games as a non-commercial, narrative focused art practice, the benefits of which are years in the rearview when it comes to making indie video games. I'm hoping one day being an indie dev will have the same appeal as it used to, and Trellis is still getting finished, but I found as the year started I needed sometime that I wasn't getting from them. Specifically, I wanted to make games and tell stories without any gatekeeping, commercial motivation, or barriers to just following my creative impulses wherever they lead.

    At the same time, I felt like the rapid enshittification of the internet had reached a point where I needed to change how I interacted with it personally. I logged out of my personal Instagram account and only started using the my hobby account; this did wonders for my mental health while also bringing into sharp focus how unsuitable that platform has become for almost anything.

    Thus, a hobby blog to document projects against the day insta requires you to watch an unskippable ad in your brain to log in.

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    Iron Warrior conversion

    I've had a lot of Death Guard models kicking around for a while. They were the first faction in 40k I got really into, due in no small part to the excellent novel Lords of Silence, which characterizes them not as scenery chewing monsters but character with depth and complexity in addition to the, you know, fantastical plagues and power armor fused to their perpetually rotting bodies. I also love the proportions of their armor, specifically the big iron cauldron torso armor, which seems to only ever be on their sculpts and is usually broken up with a bunch of tentacles or a big belly mouth. 

    I don't really remember the genesis of the idea, but I started thinking about the disproportional effect that Astartes have in war and how in a feudal setting you might really only need one to accomplish your goals on a planet, and the idea for this guy was born. An expert in breaking down walls and fortifications, who like most of the 4th legion is under the delusion that he isn't corrupted by chaos, he's just using it. I cut up one of my plague marines to get the big chunky armor, filled in some gaps, and went for a very pitted, textured iron armor look. I'm quite happy with the results.

Smashbash 2025 - Mostly in the Flesh

    When I started learning to paint minis, I very studiously watched tutorials from content creators with extremely traditional styles of painting. As I return to the hobby I find that I'm a lot less interested in that sort of look and have taken more to techniques that require less precision and result in more texture. I think Totally Not Panicking is kind of a nexus in the hobby scene for this aesthetic, and his annual challenge smashbash is always full of great examples of the freak side of the hobby.

    This year's theme was "mostly in the flesh". I interpreted the theme as an answer, with the piece I would create posing the question. I printed a partially destroyed statue from the Scan the World project and a slightly scaled down figure from HeroicScale and built a simple diorama with a non-biological being discovering evidence of a long forgotten human civilization. I didn't have time to paint it fully, but I'm very happy with the mood captured with a simple zenithal highlight, and was surprised by what I was able to achieve using the manual modes in the Halide camera app.

Grimhope 2025

    Another indie hobby challenge, the prompt for Grimhope was to interpret the combination of grimdark and hopepunk into a custom mini creation. I had found a nativity scene at a junk shop that looked suspiciously close to 28mm scale, and after being inspired by Noe's excellent pastoral necrons I knew what I'd make. 

Flames of Orion - Lords of Stargrave

    One of the most useful and inspirational resources I’ve found in returning to the hobby has been the community, as exemplified by the In Rust We Trust Discord. One of its creators, Steve of the Hive Scum podcast, kickstarted a mech skirmish game earlier this year, Flames of Orion. The 6mm game calls for mechs in the same scale as Battletech, but is mini agnostic and of a more grimdark disposition.

    I created a four mech combat unit, the Lords of Stargrave, who take advantage of the chaos inherent in the setting by engaging in the time honored pursuit of piracy. One mech is a true kitbash while the others were all lightly modified prints I made on my Mars 3 Pro.

Indie Miniature Makers Community Challenge - Door

    Another nexus of the weird hobby scene is the Indie Miniature Maker’s Community, founded by Jacob of Banhus Miniatures. With a focus on sculpting, molding, and casting, I spend less time here but was excited to take part in their July challenge to create a characterful door. I was inspired by this door, created by Thomas/ImplausibleKnight, using only sprue. My door is made almost entirely of sprue and saved offcuts from other kitbashes.

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    This month, I've been exploring the possibilities of painting minis with oils, working on a warband of skaven space marines, and running a very fun game of Heart: The City Beneath. I'll probably use those as the basis for my next post.