Benji's Procrastination Pile

[benjaminography]

Hey y'all.

AN INTRODUCTION
I've been lurking around these parts for a while now - and have been dedicating most of my disposable income (and overdraft) to miniatures since 1996.

My creative space is shared as both a comic artist/illustrator but also with the endeavour of completing various miniature projects that go all the way back to the 90s when I was a kid. Only in more recent years have I capitalised more boldly with warhammery influences in my other work.

I started an instagram account (https://www.instagram.com/the.procrastination.pile/) not so long ago (and keep meaning to start a blog too) to capture some more inconsistent recent progress.

Many of you around here are massive influences for me and I've bookmarked many of your blogs - it'll be really nice to share here in a bit more depth - and connect with the OLDHAMMER community a bit more directly.

Anyway - watch this space - and I'd love to hear from you!

 

[twisted moon]

well that is very nice. as is your banner.

 

[Sleepysod]

well that is very nice. as is your banner.

Seconded. really nice display background

 

[Caradepato]

Very nice diorama, and very nicely painted figures.

As an aside, the way you painted the background and the composition of the piece is giving me serious Baur and Bonner vibes, I think its brilliant.

 

[epicsatsuma]

That's a cracking first post!

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[benjaminography]

Thanks for the nice comments! The diorama was an attempt to embed the miniatures in some sort of context when trying to figure out colour palettes (all part of my current painting identity crisis.) Do you ever try and include TOO much in a miniature? It's there to kind of anchor that.

Which leads to this next step in the narrative...

I got a colour changing LED strip to top light the diorama (one of those things boy racers get) to add some more atmosphere when the time comes. When photographing it's side lit with a white LED strip to the right.

The pure yellow light when photographed is a bit weird - as it won't come up in the photograph, yet radically changes the colours.

It was totally unexpected - and I love the results. To the extent that I'd rather be painting figures in these colours instead! Much more atmospheric. Not really sure how to go about it yet - the paints I've accumulated thus far really favour much warmer yellowish tones and purples as oppose to teals and verdigris.

This creeping progress is to try and nail some colour confidence before dealing with this pile...

If you've been trying to buy Bob Olley beastmen from ebay since March we may have indirectly crossed paths. I'm about 28/30 of the way through the series although I've got alot of spares (including numerous damaged goat boys).

To bulk out the ranks with something more readily available I thought I'd try some pig orcs from otherworld. They scale well with the olley beastmen (as does this ad&d gnoll) - so if you don't mind mixing your meats I'd recommend grabbing some spearmen.

 

[The Fat Git]

Very nice work mate. There are some great visual effects using the leds. I must steal that idea.

 

[Geroak II]

Nice painting and the setting you build for diorama is very atmospheric. Love how well the miniatures blend in it.

Another alternative for beastmen with old school vibe are those Olley sculpted for Hobby Products, nowadays available from Midlam miniatures.
I have two boar men and they mix nicely with old Citadel counterparts:

 

[l'amour]

Excellent stuff. Really love your art work too. Cant wait to see more!

 

[Orjetax]

I love it. And look forward to seeing the beastmen project, I might be a person you’ve crossed paths with unknowingly in trying to get a hold of these. They’re such great models.


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[benjaminography]

Nice painting and the setting you build for diorama is very atmospheric. Love how well the miniatures blend in it.

Another alternative for beastmen with old school vibe are those Olley sculpted for Hobby Products, nowadays available from Midlam miniatures.
I have two boar men and they mix nicely with old Citadel counterparts:

I've got a few of the goatmen - but that boarman looks like a much better match for the scale (shame there's no magical way of just scaling up a mould) Thanks for the photo - that sort of thing is SO helpful! He did a few for Ral Partha - but they're so flat by comparison. Would love to get some of his old Hobby Products dwarfs!

I might be a person you’ve crossed paths with unknowingly in trying to get a hold of these.

I genuinely apologise! It's become a bit of a habit constantly looking for them (maybe that was part of the thrill)! I don't know about you but getting damaged vintage figures is always a real gift as you can convert them guilt free?

Next up on the hobby roster is something a little different...

Do you ever find an old rhino and not know what to do with it? This was just one of those 'surplus' bits that came with a larger ebay haul. Those early rhino conversions in WD were really fun and fresh so thought I'd try my hand at one. The card I ended up using was a tad thick - so some improvisation to balance out the proportions took place (raising the central body makes SUCH a difference). There's three oldhammer 40k projects on the go that it could fit with (Imperial Fists, Mechanicus & a personal chapter) - not sure which team will get it in the end.

 

[Sleepysod]

The Rhino looks a lot like a WW1 Whippet tank - nice work

 

[benjaminography]

Oh man - just googled that! Why didn't I think of making it reverse drive! That would have been great.

 

[Geroak II]

I've got a few of the goatmen - but that boarman looks like a much better match for the scale (shame there's no magical way of just scaling up a mould) Thanks for the photo - that sort of thing is SO helpful! He did a few for Ral Partha - but they're so flat by comparison. Would love to get some of his old Hobby Products dwarfs!

No problem.
Good to know how Ral Partha ones are, I was going to add some of them in my next order but now think I’ll pass.
And yes, Hobby Products dwarfs are great. I’m still kicking myself for not buying more (all!) of them while they were sold by Mega Miniatures. Some are still available from Armorcast but I wonder where majority of the moulds ended up.

 

[benjaminography]

Good to know how Ral Partha ones are, I was going to add some of them in my next order but now think I’ll pass.
And yes, Hobby Products dwarfs are great. I’m still kicking myself for not buying more (all!) of them while they were sold by Mega Miniatures. Some are still available from Armorcast but I wonder where majority of the moulds ended up.

Ohh, I'd feel bad if I influenced your choice. I think some people like them - they're just a bit skinny. I did end up decapitating the ral partha ones to then attach them to frostgrave gnoll bodies (have yet to do more than that though...)

This may help -

The Ral Partha ones have huge metal bases.

 

[Geroak II]

Ohh, I'd feel bad if I influenced your choice. I think some people like them - they're just a bit skinny. I did end up decapitating the ral partha ones to then attach them to frostgrave gnoll bodies (have yet to do more than that though...)

Cheers for the pic. I find flatness way more disturbing than slight difference in height, but they don’t seem quite as bad as I thought they might.
Maybe I’ll give them a chance and get one or two to see them in flesh.

 

[benjaminography]

Trying that cooler palette out. Also trying to frontlight a bit more in photographs (although I think the varnish reflected a bit!). I think I might have made the dark/light a bit harsh with the highlights - but overall I quite like the grey/teal/rust colours over having too much yellow (which now disqualifies half my paints!)

If you haven't already blown your disposable income on them yet - Essex Miniatures are like the ultimate untapped miniature resource for Bob Olley awesomeness. Look for any Q-code miniatures. Some people say it's a mixed bag - it's not. It's all a good bag.

 

[twisted moon]

Do you ever find an old rhino and not know what to do with it?

that's some great work.