I’ve come to my last post depicting some of the miniatures I painted when I was younger. I’ve saved a group photo for this last post. I hope you enjoy it.
This one is a band of orcs and goblins. These are a mixture of plastic and metal cast figures. Personally I prefer to work with metal figures, but I also do not mind the resin ones. Plastic is my least favourite, they just don’t have the same feel to them and I find they tend to lack the level of detail you get on the metal cast figures. At least they did when I used to paint them many tears ago.
I wish the picture quality was better, but alas this was the best I could do with photos that were taken on film many years ago. None the less, I hope you got some satisfaction out of them and that somehow they have tweaked your creativity.
If you’re looking for some more modern Orc’s, I recommend you check out Games Workshop.
What are you’re favourite fantasy creatures? Leave a comment to let me know.
Happy Reading!
Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his bookshere.
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Here’s another post in my miniature series. Unfortunately I only have one more photo that is clear enough to put up and I will do that in a final post in this series. I have started all my previous miniature posts with a dragon, so I thought I would keep that trend going in this post.
This first photo is of a baby Green Dragon, I love how the reptilian features stand out on this one. The base was made with an old lid of a jar covered with Plaster-of-Paris. The mushrooms and chili like plant were made by carefully heating/melting the plastic frame the skeletons in the last post came in (they were plastic moulded figures that come in pieces so you can mix and match to make personalised figures). The tree was from a model railway set.
This one is a Hill Giant. You can’t really tell from the picture, but he is missing a finger on his left hand – hence the blood splatter. This one reminds me of a cross between a Muppet and Ben Grimm. Still, I wouldn’t like to bump into him in a dark valley.
This next one is another Minotaur. I really like the way this one turned out, but the quality of the picture doesn’t do it justice here… Sorry!
If you are looking at getting some miniatures yourself, why not have a browse online.
Anyway, once again I hope you’ve enjoyed the pictures. If they help stimulate your imagination at all, then it has been worth posting them.
I have one more photo for my next post, until then.
Happy Reading!
Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here.
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Here is my third post on fantasy miniatures. Again, I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures, but these are digital photos, of paper photos, of the minatures I painted many years ago.
This first one is a Red Dragon (Pretty obvious really). I like to think of this one as a nephew of Smaug. A fraction of the size, but just as mean.
This one is a Cave Giant. You probably can’t appreciate the size of him because there is no reference to gauge it against, but it is probably about 3 times the size of a human figure.
And here we have a Minotaur, fearsome guardian of the labyrinth. The strange thing about this one is he has one clawed hand and one human hand. Still a scary Mo-Fo if you ask me and I’m guessing his breath isn’t too good, but I’m sure never getting close enough to one to find out!
I like to browse through the figures in store to choose the ones I like, but you can find a great selection of miniatures and the gear you need to paint them online.
I reckon I’ve got enough photos left for one or two more posts, we’ll see. Either way, I hope you’ve enjoyed them so far and that they have kicked your imagination into gear.
Happy Reading!
Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here.
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On the back of my last post I have a few more fantasy miniatures to share with you. These can make good writing prompts if you’re a writer and if you like fantasy I think you’ll appreciate them too.
Here is a Black Dragon and the Sorceress that is controlling it.
A graveyard of undead rising up to grow their army,
And a Balrog, possibly a cousin of the one Gandalf slayed, who’s come looking for his vengeance.
Looking for your own dragon to paint? You can find some fearsome creatures online.
I hope these inspire you, whether it is a prompt for your writing or a piece of art, motivation to watch a good movie, or inspiration to pick up your next great book.
Happy Reading!
Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here.
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I thought I would do something a little different today, yet still fantasy related. A short time ago I mentioned that I used to paint miniatures and had some photos of a few buried in the back of a cupboard somewhere that I would try to dig out. Well, I found them!
The photos are not professional and these are photos of photos (Yep… the originals are the old fashioned paper kind) so please forgive the poor quality, but they are clear enough. If you are a writer you could use these images as writing prompts, and if you’re a reader, well I hope they stimulate your imagination. So for your enjoyment (I hope…), here are a few:
The first one (as shown above) is a Serpentine Dragon.
This one is a Centaur rocking a punk-rock mohawk and travelling with a band of dwarves. I’m not sure if things have changed, but when I bought these they tended to come with plain black plastic stands like the ones in the photo above.
And I believe this one was labelled as a goblin rider on boar back (but I think it looks more like an orc rider). I went the extra step with this one and made a more ornate stand. It wasn’t hard, I used a model railway tree that I stuck some green stuff on it, glued some tea leaves on the base and painted them greenish brown, then popped a home made mushroom in the background.
If you’re interested in miniatures but don’t know where to lay your hands on any, Games Workshop have a great range to choose from. You can even get whole packs to start your collection.
I hope you enjoyed these photos, I will post a few more over the coming days. Until then, Happy Reading!
Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here.
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Halloween, All-Hallows-Eve, Samhain, what ever you call it, it is almost upon us. It is a night renowned for spooky happenings, scary sights, and frightening tales. It is a time where the boundary between the spirit world and the physical world can more easily be crossed. Making it a night where ghosts are more likely to come visit. This is any true horror readers dream night to get stuck into a scary tale. So what have you chosen to read? Something a little frightening? Something a bit Gorey? or something that will plain old scare the pants off you and have you hiding under your covers all night?
If you haven’t found anything yet, why not check out one of my short horror tales listed below:
It’s no secret that my favourite fantasy author is Joe Abercrombie. I’ve said it before and no doubt I will say it again. I just love his writing style, the way he crafts his characters, the way he plots, do I need to go on? I could but I will save you from my ravings. The point is I thought I would throw the question out to you and see what comes back. So, here it is. Who is your favourite fantasy or horror author? You can let me know in the comments below.
I’ve always liked to think of myself as a bit of a cool kid. I’ve earned a black belt in a martial art, flown a plane, flown a helicopter, drifted a lotus around a skidpan, ridden in a tank, and much more. And as strange as it may seem, I was never interested in reading when I was younger either. Having said this, I’ve been having a think about the things that have influenced my writing, and the more I think about it, the more I feel like I’m actually a bit of a nerd.
When I was around 10 or 11, I’d secretly stay up late watching shows like Hammer House of Horror, Tales of the Unexpected, and The Twilight Zone. I think it’s safe to say that this was my introduction to horror. It gave me a good insight into the genre and scared the pants off me.
In secondary school I discovered I had friends who played D&D. I was blown away by the die cast figures that they had bought to use in their games. While I never really got into playing the game, I was soon spending many nights glazy eyed painting a goblin or a dwarf or some other awesome creature. I’ve always been a bit of an artist, taking pleasure in painting and drawing over the years, and I found it an easy transition to painting figures. I have some old photos of them somewhere, I’ll try to dig them out and add them to a later post.
I watched a lot of cartoons when I was young too, I still enjoy them to be honest. Tom and Jerry, Danger Mouse, Dungeons and Dragons, Arabian Nights, etc. I think it all these factors came together and led me into graphic novels.
As I moved into my late teens I started watching a lot of martial art movies (think Snake in the Eagles Shadow, Drunken Master, Crystal Fist, etc.) and one day I stumbled onto the animated movie Ninja Scroll. I loved it! I’d say this steered me towards Anime.
Some years later my brother introduced me to Magic the Gathering. I love this game and I played it daily for many years. When I moved to Australia I stopped for a while as I couldn’t find anyone else who played it. It was pure chance that about a year later I saw a few guys playing it in the canteen of the organisation I was working for. Needless to say, I introduced myself, started playing Magic with them, and we became good mates.
It was many years later that I became interested in writing and it was only natural that I leaned towards horror and fantasy. While I had read one or two novels over the years, it was actually my writing that pushed me into reading. In other words… the reason I took up reading was to improve my skills in the craft of writing. I once read a quote by J.K. Rowling that went something like this – “If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.” I’d take this a step further and say that if you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right author, and it was only a matter of time before I found Joe Abercrombie and the world of Grimdark/Dark Fantasy.
We open many doors on our journey through life, but I can’t say if it was the things I’ve experienced that have led me towards fantasy and horror, or if my interest in fantasy and horror led me towards my experiences. Maybe it is a bit of both, whichever way, I will always have an interest for the scary, the magical, and the mythical. It seems to me that as my writing progresses I may find my fantasy and horror writing blending together and sending me on the path towards Grimdark. Who knows? Only time will tell. Why not stick around and we’ll see how the journey unfolds.
It’s been a while since I posted anything more than a quote or a book review, truth is I’ve been side-tracked. After being made redundant, I took a little break overseas, I’ve dived into a double diploma, and I have been searching for a new job. Fortunately, I think the break has done me good, I’ve made a bit of a dent in my diplomas, and I have just scored a new job. So, hopefully I will be able to get back into a routine of some sort now.
As far as my writing goes, I’ve got a few short stories waiting for me to publish them. I plan to wrap these up in an anthology together with my currently published short stories. I need to get the new stories edited and find a cover for the book first though.
I’m also trying to read more. More authors – trying to find another that hits the spot like my favourite one, but that’s a tough gig – and more books on the craft of writing. The most recent craft book I’ve read was on scene and structure and I’m about to get stuck into one on building characters. I hope these will help me improve my writing and give me the inspiration to get back into writing some of the novels I’ve put aside to stew.
March is upon us. And with the new month, comes a new giveaway. That’s right. I have teamed up with even more authors for this Series Starter Giveaway. All the books here will introduce you to a new series that may turn out to be by your new favourite author. So why not check them out by clicking the image above or following this link.
