The Eyes of the Cat - Arena Rex Leo

It's been ages since I've painted an Arena Rex model, but I got the itch, and it was time to get out one of my few unpainted minis from the game.

I just love how they've handled animal design. Short (*ahem*) of some back legs that seem like they were sculpted last, and needed to fit the model on the base, the anatomy of Leo is just superb and natural. I think it has exactly the right movement and weight of a jumping/lunging lion, and manages to avoid the problem of many such models which look like they're tripping.

I'm quite happy with the texture I got on him, with the only real issue being that I had a little more depth on the mane, but it kept getting scratched off through basic handling (it's been a while since I've worked with how sharp resin edges can be) so I needed to flatten down the highlights a bit so the color would stick. I normally don't like this sort of scarring, but I think I got some nice, subtler stuff that clearly reads as scars, but not as completely fresh ones.

Hatchet Women - Arena Rex Zephyri

For those of you who read my review a little bit back, you got a preview of Frigge already (and thanks for reading!). Obviously, the emphasis was her freehand shield.

Are You Not Entertained? - Arena Rex review

So, Arena Rex has been around for a bit now, is finally available post-kickstarter and, in short, I'm quite pleased with what Red Republic Games has come up with.

Odd Couple - Mr. Tannen & Mr. Graves

So, a little bit of a delayed post, but finally posting Mr. Graves from Wyrd Miniatures's Frozen Moments competition.

Show Some Skin - Arena Rex Vargr

I'm really happy with how Vargr turned out- I think he's a really cool/dynamic model, and I got the skin looking probably the best I've ever gotten skin looking. I'm... not really sure what else to say. They were nice about sending a replacement when I complained of a miscast?

The sculpt held up to the standards of the rest of the Arena Rex line, as one of the great little boutique resin companies out there.

Some Sort of Deep-Space Potato Man? - Arena Rex's Hermes

I had a lot of fun going with a decidedly brighter and broader palate for Hermes than I'm used to.

Game Face - Arena Rex's LE Lupa

Arena Rex has some has some really strong, dynamic poses. Lupa is a strong example of this, with one of the best yelling faces I've seen on a mini, and a really nice charge and flow. While their line is a bit on the expensive side, they've got an exceptional line for such a new company.

...All the Live-Long Day - Rail Crew

I really enjoyed the variety in these models' gear, despite their somewhat static poses.

Family Man - Arena Rex, Urbicus (& activation marker)

I'm saving a full Arena Rex review for the future, so, for now, I'll need to be satisfied with saying that Urbicus took paint well.

Irregulars - More WWII Soviets (and some fun historical trivia)

Company B's GAZ-AAA was probably my favorite vehicle from this set of historical minis.

No worse for the Wear - Bolt Action Soviets with winter camo & weathering

Some more Bolt Action minis, this time with some more grime.

Blending In - Bolt Action BA-64 Armored Car

While I've done a lot of work influenced by historical armies, this is actually my first work on a historical vehicle (well, not counting poorly built model airplanes when I was a kid).

We've got Movement! A review and analysis of Arena Rex's playtest documents

A basic review

Trying out the Arena Rex playtest. This will be kind of a stream of consciousness piece, assessing things as I read them, concluding in a battle report that I'm sure will be full of errors and questions.

*Cue Morricone Score* - Blackwater Gulch, part 2 of 2

And this chapter of westerns comes to a close.

*Cue Morricone Score* - Blackwater Gulch, part 1.1 of 2

After some misscommunication, making some changes. I worked on this guy for the test, because he needed the most work and was one of my favorites.

I added a solid band close to the base color, marking the back of the base, and I lightened up and smoothed out the skin color.

Assuming this is a go, the rest of the set is ready to go.

*Cue Morricone Score* - Blackwater Gulch, part 1 of 2

There's something quite charming about Blackwater Gulch's hybrid style of miniatures that fits part-way between the detail of wargames miniatures and the character of historical ones.