Pleasant Surprise 2015

Once again this year I participated in the Pleasant Surprise exchange over on the Warhammer Empire forum.  Every year it seems harder for me to find the time to create a nice surprise with my growing list of adult responsibilities, but I managed to paint up a figure this year nonetheless.  My recipient received his figure this past week, so I figured it was a good enough time to post some photos here.

I chose one of my favourite Empire figures from the 90's - a hero with sword and pistol.  I remember seeing him painted up in the army book when I was a kid, and I always wanted one.  Well, as a grown-up collector, I have managed to find one and even had a spare who is now with his new owner.

My recipient did not have many posted pictures of an army, so I got creative and chose this bold purple and green scheme.  I was quite happy with the results.  Every year it is a bittersweet tradition... I tend to paint figures I wanted to paint for myself, only to send them away for someone else.  I guess it is better to give than to receive, is it not?

I hope my recipient likes this figure as much as I did, and that he finds a memorable place in his collection!

Pleasantly Surprised!

So, for those wondering, I have been making progress on painting the unfinished progress on my desk.  I have photos to prove it, but won't be sharing them today.

Today is a bit more fun!  On one of the many forums (fora?) which I visit, in this case Warhammer-Empire, there is an annual miniature exchange.  In this activity you are assigned a forum member whom you will then stalk to find out their taste in miniatures.  You are supposed to choose something, paint it, and send it to the person (who will duly be 'surprised' when it arrives).

Today was the day for my surprise to arrive!  The user 'thorimm' had picked me, and he chose to paint not just one, but TEN battleforge halflings!  What a generous guy.  He also included some treats from Holland which I have been enjoying tonight.

On to the pictures!  Keep in mind, these were not painted by me for those who did not read anything written above this line.

I must say he did a smashing good job painting these guys.  In the past I have expressed reservations about Battleforge halflings (which thorimm expressed concern that I may not like the figures).  While I will continue to say that the sculpts are somewhat crude and the size differs dramatically throughout the range, with a good lick of paint they turn out quite fun and endearing!  Just the kind of thing I like.  I have seen some of these figures unpainted, and the paint really makes a difference in this case.

So, kudos to thorimm from the Netherlands!  These will fit in nicely with my Oldhammer stuff, and my boys had some great laughs unpacking the figures which were 'very funny guys'.