Well, you know, I thought I wouldn't be posting again until I got back from out of country, but I couldn't wait that long to post this sheer awesomeness:
Dread Maps has created a very, very detailed map of the Goddard Estate. It's just stunning (and you can really see how just much hard work went into it...)
Theme Enchiridion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8NkG3bhIxU
Welcome 148 Barovian Castle https://tabletopaudio.com/
Previously On Scott Buckley Legionnaire https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uIYYEM45b4
Part 3b Kevin Macleod Unnatural Situation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsjSb9oFLZI
Dramatis RPG SOUNDS “Realization”
Some FX: https://www.zapsplat.com
Cross Promo Partners: The Rolled Standard & Damsels in Dicetress
and, ... I wanted to say that there will be a delay in issuing shownotes for eps 57-61 as I'll be out of the country and won't be able handle that while I'm away. Actual episode releases are set to happen automatically, however.
I already announced it on social media, and I put a special message into tomorrow's episode (56) too, so I hope I am not overdoing it in my excitement, but... TOTM finally hit the half million downloads mark. This is a huge milestone for me and it definitely fuels my engines.. I am so grateful to all the listeners, boosters, actors, musicians and other talents who have helped build the show. Thank you so much!!
One of the things that I didn't expect to be a challenge was the photography part... but wow, this was actually much harder than I expected, especially as I had to do quite a bit of it after sundown and electric lights don't produce as good results as daylight (unless you have proper equipment, I suppose...). Still and all, I did my best. Here's the back half of my kit-bashing run:
Day 7
Ruined pillars made with dollar store clay, pressed inside a ring of crayons, dried and then hit with a hammer.
Day 8
These zombies were my first project and the reason I got interested in kit bashing in the first place. I had ordered a bag-o-knights from amazon for ten or 15 bucks and got like, a hundred minis. Great deal, right? Well, the scale was off... I joked with my D&D buddies that I had bought an army of halflings. Since I had so many, I figured I could try an experiment and 'stretch' them, cutting off their limbs and cutting the waist, then adding a bit of hot glue in the gap. These would deform them, sure, but... that could make for cool zombies. I think it worked alright.
Day 9
Got this idea from The Dungeon Minister, who suggested buying Xmas model trees and using caulking to make snow. I combined that Idea with Professor Dungeon Master's 'Dungeon Pizza' and, voila!
Day 10
Giant Frogs. Is this even kit-bash? I glued kitty litter onto some toy frogs' backs, glued the rubbery ones to a base, used a dude from the bag-o-halflings as a tasty treat, then a uniform paintjob. This one was super easy and looks quite good.
Day 11
For Day 11, I was, to be honest, getting worried that I wouldn't actually be able to finish on time. It took me all day and I shot the photos at night, but in the end, I managed to get a cool looking scene together with some fairly simple dungeon dressing bits. This is true mixed medium. The stairs are jenga blocks and foam; the crates are wooden blocks with cardboard details. The trapdoor is just cardboard with a bent wire pull. The altar (I'm quite proud of it) is clay with a fimo skull earring casting as a detail. The sarcophagus is clay with a foam lid. Tower round, curved stairs and wall are all clay. I hand made a texture roller with 3-D paint on a bottle that worked a charm for the floor pattern. (I'd highly recommend making one of these. I liked it so much, I made another.)
Day 12
The only way I was able to get all 12 done was by doing a few each day. In a way, these were the most successful, though I kind of ruined them by sealing the finished models with Mod Podge. [Turns out, spray varnish (which I used on the dwarves) is better. Mod Podge dries too thick and I lost some hard-won detail, especially in the skulls/faces.] Still, the wire armature coated with 3D paint, fimo or soldered ribcages, and the fimo skulls worked well. Weapons and shields are from the endless bag-o-knights, mostly. The archer is the worst of the lot - an experiment on using a twist tie armature and not stripping off the plastic (it shows). Cultists are fimo with soldered hands and faces cast from a real mini.
As a teacher, I often have quite a bit of down time during the holiday season and as a retired teacher, I have gobs of it. To kill the time in a fun way, I decided to issue myself the "The 12 Days of Kit-Bash" challenge, which was to make my own minis by kitbash, hand sculpt, or... whatever I could manage. I learned a TON along the way and I have new respect for the artists who do this and post their work on Instagram.
By comparison, my stuff is ugly and childish, but I don't really care - I had a grand old time trying new things and learning a new craft. Here's what I made:
Day 1
Day 2
A pair of hydras made with a plastic dino, a fimo snake body and a bunch of hot glue snake heads I made by casting a plastic snake in clay.
Day 3
3 Trolls made with paper clip wire armature, '3D' fabric paint and some odds and sods. I messed up the scale on the small ones (too small).
Day 4
I made 4 elementals, one of each type. Hot glue, epoxy, a skull earring cast and then rendered in fimo and some actual rocks crazy glued together are among the media here.
Day 5
Epoxy slimes. Literally anything cand be made into a slime. The bubbles in the top two were done by using disposable contact lens cases.
Day 6
Dwarves. Now these were real kitbash. I used bits of other figurines (you'll see them in many of my builds... a big ole bag of mixed knights). Also a lot of handcrafting here using various beads, stars and random shapes. Black beans for bodies and popcorn kernals for some heads. 2 of the heads were cast from a real dwarf mini I bought. The other four have drinking straw helmets.
OK, I'll post the other 6 days tomorrow. This was such a good time, I kind of think I might try it all again next year...
Theme Enchiridion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8NkG3bhIxU
Welcome 148 Barovian Castle https://tabletopaudio.com/
Previously On Scott Buckley Legionnaire https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uIYYEM45b4
Part 2 Tabletop Audio - Defiled Temple https://tabletopaudio.com/blog/2020/11/18/defiled-temple/
Dramatis RPG SOUNDS “Realization”
Some FX: https://www.zapsplat.com
Cross Promo Partners: No Quest for the Wicked & Damsels in Dicetress
