144artist paints Mantic’s Terrain Crate

Although not part of the Kickstart rewards I had to pick up the Market Place set as soon as Mantic released it because they would work well for many of the games I play and I love painting produce. Actually, I picked up two sets because I want to combine them with my MicroArts Market Stalls to cover a lot of the table with an open market.

The gallery is the various pieces as I finished them and the set came together. The individual pictures are of the finished complete set.  The wares and tables were a joy to paint but the awnings suffer from the same “too thin and bendy” problem as the parts of the cart. I’ve had to warm and bend them several times as well as store them carefully to minimize warping. Overall, I love them none the less.

Been painting tables, benches, and some random details.  Still have to work on some chairs and stools.  I also opened up the bag of Dungeon Saga terrain that was part of the rewards from their distant Kickstart campaign so they will be showing up here soon.  Started on the Tavern pieces as well so this post is a bit of a mix.

After a long delay, with much distraction from work and other projects, I have begun to tackle the huge pile of plastic I call the Mantic Terrain Crate Rewards.  My minis are going to need a place to sleep as well as train for future adventures so I broke out one of the “Barracks” sets.  Another quick to paint but looks good sets that help to jump back into the world of painting furniture.  reminds me a lot of building the pieces for my sister’s doll house when I was a kid.  I’ve got some tables, market stalls, and tiny details almost finished as well but those will be part of the next posting.

I thought the stack of books was a small mini and then I painted the 28mm rat.  This stuff is very small but still detailed and I can’t believe how much I love the itty bitty sack of coins.  I’m heading into the Barracks set next but these pieces represent the last bits from one Treasure Room set and one Scatter Terrain set. I am really enjoying not only the process of painting these but all the thinking about how I might best use them as well.

Many thanks to Ben and the rest of the Beast of War team for highlighting my Terrain Crate pieces.  I’m having a great time painting them so am especially flattered that folks like how they are coming out.  I will be painting up more of them shortly so should have some blog updates soon.  Until then I’m just going to show off this wonderful Golden Button.  Thanks again, guys, it keeps me bringing my A-game.

Going to a game convention this weekend and my buddy (@necron099) is running a Blood and Plunder scenario that needs some treasures.  Since I have a decent collection of them in my Terrain Crate I decided to start with those.  I painted the two big one, the two medium ones, and both small ones.  The tiniest pieces (like the pillow holding a crown) I saved for later.  They will come in handy in other games.

I started with a dark gold base, painted some details dark steel.  These would highlight up to Mithril Silver. I painted wood parts one of three different browns and the gems in red, blue, or green.  Then everything got a wash of Agrax Earthshade or Gryphion Sepia.  I drybrushed the gold with a lighter version of the metal finished with a very light dusting of silver. The wood was hightlighted with lighter browns. The gems all received white highlights on the edges of the facets.  All in all they will look quite enticing on the table.

Since I had painted some of the material to be hauled in the cart I felt the Horse and Cart needed to be tackled next. Being a simple sculpt with basic details it painted up quickly. Mantic has designed several different pieces to fit as cargo depending on the needs of the Game Master. It’s a great idea and makes the pieces even more versatile. While I must admit to being a fan of Mantic overall and really enjoying most of what arrived in my Terrain Crates rewards I have to say this model is my least favorite and most frustrating in the collection. It all comes down to poor planning.  When using soft plastic some details should be thickened especially wheels that hold up the weight.  No matter how often I heat and re-bend parts, the wheels and the sides of the cart warp and bend just sitting still (I included a picture of said warping).  I am very disappointed in Mantic’s design team on this one but since just about every other piece is quite nice I probably shouldn’t complain too much.

Going for more pieces I could easily use right away I painted up the stack of crates, some barrels, a small rubble pile, and a box.  The crates look like they have some paperwork or other pack forms laying on them (possible objectives) while one of the barrels offer an opening for hiding clues.  Whatever rationalization I use they will look nice on the table either as cover for fighters or climbing opportunities for my Wolsung heroes.  They should also prove handy as photo props.

So far I have really liked the pieces from this Kickstart campaign. Fun pieces to paint that will enliven my battlefields.

I have now completed one Library set. The Kickstart rewards actually comes with twice this amount but I’m not done with all of it yet and this is, I believe, one set as sold so I am presenting my progress.  Such great little details to really set the mood whether role-playing or running through a skirmish game.  I’m looking forward to finishing the rest as well as the Wizard’s Study for a themed skirmish board. So many potentials for objectives the mind boggles.

Hmmm, looks like I have to fix the cart wheels again but that is for another post.

First of two desks ready for sealant as well as a stack of books.  In addition to RPG setups, I think these will look wonderful in my blasted Frostgrave buildings. The stack of books will make a great objective.

One of the reasons I was determined to finish painting all my dungeon tiles quickly is that I had a plethora of pieces arriving with my rewards from the Mantic Terrain Crate Kickstart.  I have always loved details and scatter terrain so when the campaign launched I knew I would want a lot of it so will have quite a bit to paint.  Since I’m not giving myself a deadline this could take quite a while.  I’m approaching these much as I do the pile of Reaper Bones I’ve amassed, always have a couple on the table to work on and they will eventually get finished.

I’m impressed with these overall. Nice sculpts with fun little details and decent castings.  Being a softer plastic some of the pieces have arrived bent or warped, the cart was especially messed up.  Warm water usually takes care of these issues easily enough though the cart had multiple places that needed addressing (the wheels are a little thin).  In the end I got it sorted and I started my painting with the wares intended to fit in the wagon as well as some of the book shelves.

Pretty clear this is going to be another project of many simple paint jobs.  This will be helped by the fact that the details and textures are clean and easy to pick out.  Not to say I don’t plan on indulging in a little trompe l’oeil or “fool the eye” as that is half the fun with these sorts of things.  The apples were a perfect place for this while the book shelves are better kept Impressionistic.