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Second coats on the brigand.

Second coats of yellow and red speed paint on the brigand’s tunic.

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First coats on the brigand.

Yellow speed paint on the brigand’s under-tunic, red speed paint on the brigand’s tunic.

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Second coat on the ranger.

The second coat of speed paint on the ranger’s cloak.

First coat on the ranger.

First coat of green speed paint on the ranger’s cloak.

I was gonna do a full length video and speed it up in post, but the red marker made a liar out of me. Fully primed in about 48 seconds.

The initial priming of the marker isn’t fast. I cut this vid at 60 seconds to be sure it would upload.

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I’ve got a couple WizKids minis lying around to use for this. (Had a minor break on my main project so I’m not messing with that while the super glue sets.) I don’t trust the priming out of the box, so I hit these with a quick coat of Vallejo Surface Primer in 79.627 Skeleton Bone.

Primed but unpainted miniatures of a ranger (a female archer with a billowing cloak) and a brigand (wielding a sword and a dagger).

Eric Kolb @erickolb.me · 15/09/2025

I’ve never painted one of these ill-tempered spacemen from #Warhammer40K before. Another take-home mini started at one of the Games Workshop Hang Out and Hobby events at #GenCon. I finished it up with proper decals to give the classic faction representation in my display case. #MiniaturePainting

A painted miniature of a Space Marine from Warhammer 40,000. This one is wearing the familiar blue of the Ultramarines chapter. He is carrying a flamer at the ready and stands legs akimbo atop shattered asphalt.

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Eric Kolb @erickolb.me · 15/09/2025

An #AgeOfSigmar Liberator, liberating liberally. #MiniaturePainting One of the projects I carried home with me from the Games Workshop Hang Out and Hobby events at #GenCon.

A painted miniature of a Stormcast Liberator from Games Workshop’s Age of Sigmar. It is a soldier in mostly golden armor that covers its entire body. The armor has been riveted into the flesh underneath. The shield is deep blue with gold trim. It features a device with a golden face with a red gem in the forehead that is surrounded by white thunderbolts radiating outward from it. The pauldrons of the armor are a deep blue. One is adorned with a golden thunderbolt. The other features a smaller version of the device on the shoulder. The soldier has a gladius sword sheathed on its hip. He is wielding a large dark metal war hammer with a red gem in the center of the head on either side. It stands amid the rocky ruins of some great temple, with meager burnt and faded grasses peeking up from the ground.

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Eric Kolb @erickolb.me · 09/09/2025

Assigning a guy named Rico to cover a racketeering story seems too convenient not to be lazy.

The lede of a news story about a GA judge tossing out racketeering charges against Cop City protesters, with a byline from R.J. Rico.

Eric Kolb @erickolb.me · 31/08/2025

A promo of @atomicmassgames.bsky.social’s mascot Atom from the #MiniaturePainting hangout event at #GenCon. I initially made a hatchet job of the base coat because I was hasty and didn’t undercoat the yellow. It was… yikes. But after I got it home, I gave it some love and got it looking presentable.

A cartoon robot. Its figure is that of a very skinny person, the lengths of its limbs and the trunk of its torso in gleaming silver metal and the rest of its head and body a glossy plasticine yellow. It has its right foot up on a brownish rock as it brandishes a red laser pistol in the air.

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Eric Kolb @erickolb.me · 15/08/2025

Here’s mine. What I haven’t got is a good way to transport paint. The water bottle is actually for distilled water so my wet palette doesn’t turn into a Petri dish of local microfauna.

A small, reinforced shell backpack used for my mobile painting kit. A small metal water bottle is clipped to it. There is a pin on the bag that is a blue skull holding a paintbrush in its mouth that says “PAINT” on it.

The contents of the bag from the previous photo: a wet palette with an orange elastic band to hold it shut, a lumecube LED light bank, +1.5x magnifier reading glasses, a Citadel painting holder, a Game Envy collapsing paint cup with scrub insert, a small folio for brushes, a metal bottle for distilled water, and a wine-colored Field Notes notebook with mechanical pencil.

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Next up from #GenCon is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stuff for cross-universe dueler Unmatched from @restorationgames.bsky.social. Their mini sculpts out of the box are all excellent and this set looks to pull out the stops.

A display showing the board of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Unmatched and the Extra Toppings minis.

A close up of the Donatello and Krang minis.

A closer look at the TMNT Unmatched and Extra Toppings minis.

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Okay got a couple exhibits from #GenCon to share, in case you missed it. First, this “Gundam” thing might be catching on. Gundam Assemble is the mini wargame based on the anime / indomitable modeling hobby. I gather this was something of a coup if you managed to score any of this at the con.

A diorama of several small-scale Gundam mobile suit figures from the wargame Gundam Assemble in action.

A more abstract depiction of a Gundam Assemble, showing hex tiles of various elevation (Battletech-style) rather than the measure-distance Warhammer-style of the previous photo.

A series of grey plastic sprues showing several unbuilt Gundam Assemble minis.

A display showing several Gundam Assemble paint schemes, with paints being sold by Bandai.

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And this is my reward for capping off a fulsome #GenCon. If you haven’t had the huge tacos from Agave & Rye, you’re missing out. It’s become a must-stop for me since two years ago! www.agaveandrye.com/locations/ag...

Two overstuffed double shell tacos - one beef and one chicken - in the foreground. A glass of a black manhattan with a large ice cube in the background.

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Another humble paint job but I’m pretty proud of this one. This was from @steamforgedgames.bsky.social’s P3 speed #MiniaturePainting competition at #GenCon. Speed painting is NOT my forte so getting something like this finished in an hour was real growth for me!

A somewhat haphazardly painted miniature of a serpent ghost creature whose body is mostly smoky flames. It’s painted in a purple-blue motif.

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Participated in Wyrd Games’s Iron Brush #MiniaturePainting competition at #GenCon this morning. Using only whatever brushes and paints are left at the end of the con and confronted with mischief like needing to paint off-handed having your palette stolen, do your damndest.

A haphazardly painted miniature of a large-bodied robot with a large bayoneted machine instead of a normal right arm.

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Eric Kolb @erickolb.me · 28/07/2025

Terrible hotel room photos of two of my theee #GenCon #MiniaturePainting competition entries. I didn’t get the third because I need to reglue units to their bases when I get home!

A painted Age of Sigmar miniature on a pedestal, posed over its contest ribbon for Bronze rank. A Gen Con badge in the background.

A painted large size Minotaur miniature, posed over its contest ribbon for Merit rank. A Gen Con badge in the background.

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There is a time-bound mute capability for keywords under Settings > Moderation. I don’t know of one for users. Very useful for just this scenario!

BlueSky’s moderation screen (under Settings > Moderation) showing time based options for Forever, 24 hours, 7 days, and 30 days.

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Eric Kolb @erickolb.me · 26/07/2025

Sike. Here’s the real new logo.

The words GAMES WORKSHOP, in garish blue Comic Sans font with a cheap 90’s style fire effect.

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Eric Kolb @erickolb.me · 13/07/2025

I’ve finished up a customized AoS Druanti the Arch-Revenant (Sylvaneth) to serve as a boss creature in a D&D campaign. First major completion since the house got all fixed up and my hobby table unblocked. #MiniaturePainting #AgeOfSigmar

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Eric Kolb @erickolb.me · 12/07/2025

Finished reading Blood Sweat & Chrome, an oral history from @kylebuchanan.bsky.social about the making of Mad Max: Fury Road last night, completing my annual reading goal of 35 books. 🎉 This was a fun read, and an fascinating way to look back at the unexpected sensational film

The book cover for Blood Sweat & Chrome: the Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road by Kyle Buchanan.

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Eric Kolb @erickolb.me · 22/05/2025

The Empress of Shades from Return to Dark Tower, and Darth Vader (who needs no introduction). The Empress was the first time I used Black 3.0 on a mini.

Painted figure of the Empress of Shades from Return to Dark tower, her torso a featureless darkness.

A painted miniature of Darth Vader, the light of his light saber reflecting on his helmet.

Eric Kolb @erickolb.me · 10/05/2025

Book themed wedding. The tables were named for some of our favorite authors and marked with book art. Including a table named for @brandonsanderson.com, which had a high geek concentration assigned.

A book sitting on a table with its pages folded so the edges spell out “Sanderson.”

Eric Kolb @erickolb.me · 03/05/2025

I’ve been in an involuntary hobby hiatus. Three weeks ago, the supply line inside the bathroom vanity ruptured and caused fairly extensive damage to the house. Got lucky because none of our stuff was ruined but mitigation and repairs are ongoing. Physically kept me away from the hobby bench.

Water pouring into the family room from above. It’s run into the insulation around a flexible air duct which has sagged through the ceiling. Water drips into buckets and soaks a blue carpet on the floor. Drywall dust and muck and fallen pieces of ceiling add to the mess.

The same room after water damage mitigation. All the furniture has been removed, the flooring taken up, and sections of the ceiling drywall removed. The recessed lights hang from their wires. In the background, the furniture from the foreground room is all pushed into the space.

Eric Kolb @erickolb.me · 14/03/2025

“Hey there, it’s me. Jeff Mandalorian. You know, I may not be THE Mandalorian, but I am A Mandalorian. Nobody gets my name wrong at the Starbucks counter, and I’m just glad to meetcha.” #StarWars #StarWarsShatterpoint #MiniaturePainting

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Eric Kolb @erickolb.me · 10/02/2025

I had an unpainted arcanaloth mini flying around from the sibriex encounter in #DescentIntoAvernus. I decided to paint him just to practice speed painting. Turns out, not my thing. 5h 10m to paint not including the base. Turns out I can’t suppress careful and deliberate. #MiniaturePainting #DnD

A painted miniature of a jackal-like arcanaloth standing on a rubble-strewn wasteland. His fur is brown and his eyes black with glowing red pupils. He is wearing a red robe with yellow, orange, and black accents. He’s holding a crumbled scroll in his right hand and wears a satchel on his back with several more scrolls.

An alternative view of the same miniature.

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Eric Kolb @erickolb.me · 04/02/2025

Finished up Zellion, from #BrandonSanderson’s The Sunlit Man. #MiniaturePainting

A painted miniature of a shardbearer from Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series in heavy plate in a dynamic pose. The plate is a dark red/purple colorshift, with bright red light leaking from spidering cracks in the armor and the helm. He is wielding a bright metal shard blade, extended behind him. He is standing on. Dry, cracked, ashen land.

An alternative angle of the same miniature.

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Eric Kolb @erickolb.me · 03/02/2025

That’s $60 in new premium paintbrushes sitting in solvent because the art supply company wrapped each one in an ultra sticky bar code. #MiniaturePainting

Four kolinsky sable paint brushes sitting brush end up in a glass of solvent to deal with the residual glue from the barcodes wrapped around each.

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Eric Kolb @erickolb.me · 02/02/2025

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is an unexpectedly delightful romp through Amblin nostalgia with enough fascist- and Nazi-punching to shake a stick at. Great performances from Tony Todd and Troy Baker. Definitely recommended.

Screenshot from the Xbox app showing the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle title card indicating 1000/1000 gamer score and 45/45 achievements unlocked.

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Eric Kolb @erickolb.me · 13/01/2025

#MonumentValley3, like its predecessors, is a feast for the eyes.

A woman in purple holding a staff with a lantern stands at the end of a winding path before a giant glowing bloom. Vibrant flowers line the path to either side.