iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Stephen Lea Sheppard @stephenls.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

To everyone on the Internet worried/complaining that the new Necromunda kit "replaces" the existing Goliath and Escher starter gangs, you have misunderstood what the new plastic kits are. Here's a chart. #Necromunda

031

Stephen Lea Sheppard @stephenls.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

The replacement arrived and is unbroken.

132

Stephen Lea Sheppard @stephenls.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Farewell, Corning Visions 4.5 L vintage glass stock pot I ordered off eBay that “arrived” today. You were too good for this world. Or so the shipper who only gave you one layer of bubble wrap in the box clearly thought. At least he processed the refund promptly.

A shipping box full of ineffective bubble wrap and brown glass shards.

191

Stephen Lea Sheppard @stephenls.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

I very much enjoy how this skeet appears to me.

An image of the above skeet, but I can’t see what it’s quote-skeeting because I have the original poster blocked.

040

Stephen Lea Sheppard @stephenls.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Are we doing that “ten anime to understand me as a person” thing?

-Serial Experiments Lain (formative, best single anime to watch if you want to get me as a person)
-Vampire Princess Miyu (OAV, not TV series: covers Weird Horror in general)
-Millennium Actress (likely favorite movie period, not just favorite anime movie or favorite animated movie)
-Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (favorite Miyazaki movie)
-Eminence In Shadow (covers trash isekai; Slime Datta Ken may be a more honest fit for this slot)
-Ghost in the Shell (Oshii movies and SAC/2nd Gig; covers sci-fi tastes)
-Record of Lodoss War (OAV and TV series: covers fantasy tastes and preference for its era)
-Bubblegum Crisis (original and 2040; covers less intellectual cyberpunk)
-Macross Plus (more sci-fi and shows with music by Yoko Kanno, plus preferential giant robot anime)
-Apothecary Diaries (covers modern anime: kinda tied with Frieren; To Your Eternity would be another potential choice for this slot)

110

Stephen Lea Sheppard @stephenls.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

The only angle I’m not happy with is the roof, ironically the most visible angle. It’s kinda boring. Also included a view of the bottom because I think it’s funny how much I half-assed it. #SpaceMarines #RavenGuard #HorusHeresy #warmongers #miniaturepainting #WarhammerCommunity

A Deimos-pattern Space Marine Rhino APC, painted in the black and white colors and heraldry of the Raven Guard, and in the style of semi-realistic military modeling, viewed from the top. It is somewhat less interesting from this angle than from the sides, as there is less opportunity from the top to incorporate mud discoloration and the roof would realistically suffer the least paint chipping; plus, as Space Marines (and Raven Guard especially) are an orbitally-delivered rapid assault force, their vehicles would logically spend a lot of time in the hangars of spaceships where they would not accumulate much dust-, oil-, or water-staining, Further thought and work will have to be done on the roofs of future vehicles to make them more interesting than this one.

131

Stephen Lea Sheppard @stephenls.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

This is the first vehicle of this scale I’ve ever painted, although I developed this color scheme using the Legions Imperialis vehicles back when that game launched. #SpaceMarines #RavenGuard #HorusHeresy #warmongers #miniaturepainting #WarhammerCommunity

141

Stephen Lea Sheppard @stephenls.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

I’ve decided not to do anything else with my Raven Guard infantry until GW releases the full suite of refreshed armor marks, so in the meantime, I painted a rhino. #SpaceMarines #RavenGuard #HorusHeresy #warmongers #miniaturepainting #WarhammerCommunity

1216

Stephen Lea Sheppard @stephenls.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

So I painted some Kingdom Death minis. I pretty much just followed Sorastro’s YouTube tutorial. Not entirely happy with how they turned out, but I think they’re the best I can do for now. I plan to come back and strip and repaint them eventually but not until I’ve gotten a lot better.

The four starting survivor miniatures from the board game Kingdom Death: Monster, viewed from the front. From right to left: Zachary, with lantern held low and stone shard raised to strike; Lucy, with lantern raised and stone shard held back; Allister, standing straight with lantern and stone shard lowered, and Ezra, with with lantern held low and stone shard raises defensively. They stand on bases representing the plain of upward-facing stone faces in which the game is set. All wear white loincloths, and black ink cakes their eyes. Zachary has brown hair; Lucy, black; Allister, grey-white; and Ezra, red. They are painted with strong object source lighting, the yellow light of their lanterns illuminating the areas of the models they’re closest to while areas further away fall into blue-purple shadows. The models are placed on a green gridded work mat atop a desk with drawers full of hobby materials visible in the background. Each model is the approximate size of a Lego minifig. The paint job is not immaculate; the gradients are marred by occasional visible brush stroke, some of the object-source lighting is imperfectly applied, and the application of the ink around their eyes is kind of wonky.

The four starting survivor miniatures from the board game Kingdom Death: Monster, viewed from the left. From right to left: Zachary, with lantern held low and stone shard raised to strike; Lucy, with lantern raised and stone shard held back; Allister, standing straight with lantern and stone shard lowered, and Ezra, with with lantern held low and stone shard raises defensively. They stand on bases representing the plain of upward-facing stone faces in which the game is set. All wear white loincloths, and black ink cakes their eyes. Zachary has brown hair; Lucy, black; Allister, grey-white; and Ezra, red. They are painted with strong object source lighting, the yellow light of their lanterns illuminating the areas of the models they’re closest to while areas further away fall into blue-purple shadows. The models are placed on a green gridded work mat atop a desk with drawers full of hobby materials visible in the background. Each model is the approximate size of a Lego minifig. The paint job is not immaculate; the gradients are marred by occasional visible brush stroke, some of the object-source lighting is imperfectly applied, and the application of the ink around their eyes is kind of wonky.

The four starting survivor miniatures from the board game Kingdom Death: Monster, viewed from the rear. From right to left: Zachary, with lantern held low and stone shard raised to strike; Lucy, with lantern raised and stone shard held back; Allister, standing straight with lantern and stone shard lowered, and Ezra, with with lantern held low and stone shard raises defensively. They stand on bases representing the plain of upward-facing stone faces in which the game is set. All wear white loincloths, and black ink cakes their eyes. Zachary has brown hair; Lucy, black; Allister, grey-white; and Ezra, red. They are painted with strong object source lighting, the yellow light of their lanterns illuminating the areas of the models they’re closest to while areas further away fall into blue-purple shadows. The models are placed on a green gridded work mat atop a desk with drawers full of hobby materials visible in the background. Each model is the approximate size of a Lego minifig. The paint job is not immaculate; the gradients are marred by occasional visible brush stroke, some of the object-source lighting is imperfectly applied, and the application of the ink around their eyes is kind of wonky.

The four starting survivor miniatures from the board game Kingdom Death: Monster, viewed from the right. From right to left: Zachary, with lantern held low and stone shard raised to strike; Lucy, with lantern raised and stone shard held back; Allister, standing straight with lantern and stone shard lowered, and Ezra, with with lantern held low and stone shard raises defensively. They stand on bases representing the plain of upward-facing stone faces in which the game is set. All wear white loincloths, and black ink cakes their eyes. Zachary has brown hair; Lucy, black; Allister, grey-white; and Ezra, red. They are painted with strong object source lighting, the yellow light of their lanterns illuminating the areas of the models they’re closest to while areas further away fall into blue-purple shadows. The models are placed on a green gridded work mat atop a desk with drawers full of hobby materials visible in the background. Each model is the approximate size of a Lego minifig. The paint job is not immaculate; the gradients are marred by occasional visible brush stroke, some of the object-source lighting is imperfectly applied, and the application of the ink around their eyes is kind of wonky.

230

Stephen Lea Sheppard @stephenls.bsky.social · 08/11/2024

And it looks like these guys are done, minus the final varnish phase which will have to wait until the metallic wax and streaking grime fully cure. The one on the far right was my initial test model and the rest are the five subsequent tests. I think I’ve found a scheme I can execute consistently.

Six Horus Heresy Mechanicum Adsecularis Tech-Thralls lined up on a self-healing cutting mat, painted in the bone, steel, and glowing red lenses color scheme of Xana II / House Malinax.

050

Stephen Lea Sheppard @stephenls.bsky.social · 07/11/2024

The other nice thing about eating an orange almost every day is eventually you get really good at peeling and separating them and you can have nice Mandarin-orange-like separated segments without having to cut them up into those awful wedges that get juice all over your fingers.

Uncut, neatly separated orange segments in a white bowl, on a desk otherwise somewhat cluttered with miniature painting materials.

000

Stephen Lea Sheppard @stephenls.bsky.social · 11/02/2024

Edited an entry in my parcel delivery app to be more accurate.

010

Stephen Lea Sheppard @stephenls.bsky.social · 23/01/2024

Admittedly the base isn’t done. I have one more sprue of Space Marine infantry to do from the LI starter box I’ve been saving ‘till last; I’ll do this thing’s base at the same time I do theirs.

Closeup of the right wing of a Legions Imperialis Space Marine Thunderhawk painted in Raven Guard colors.

Closeup of the rear engines of a Legions Imperialis Space Marine Thunderhawk painted in Raven Guard colors.

Closeup of the rear underside of a Legions Imperialis Space Marine Thunderhawk painted in Raven Guard colors.

Closeup of the front underside of a Legions Imperialis Space Marine Thunderhawk painted in Raven Guard colors.

010

Stephen Lea Sheppard @stephenls.bsky.social · 23/01/2024

(Mostly) finished my Thunderhawk. The one remaining thing I want to do—heat distortion of the metallic weathering on the leading edges—will have to wait until I can practice on drop pods or Xiphons or something.

A Legions Imperialis Space Marines Thunderhawk, painted in Raven Guard colors, viewed from the left.

A Legions Imperialis Space Marines Thunderhawk, painted in Raven Guard colors, viewed from the right.

A Legions Imperialis Space Marines Thunderhawk, painted in Raven Guard colors, viewed from the front.

A Legions Imperialis Space Marines Thunderhawk, painted in Raven Guard colors, viewed from above.

131

Stephen Lea Sheppard @stephenls.bsky.social · 11/01/2024

More tiny tanks, plus a shot of everything I’ve done so far.

Three Legions Imperialis Predator tanks painted in Raven Guard colors, plus extra turrets, in front of a Lego minifig for scale.

Two Legions Imperialis Sicaran tanks painted in Raven Guard colors, plus extra turrets, in front of a Lego minifig for scale.

A Legions Imperialis Raven Guard force consisting of three Predators, two Sicarans, five Rhinos, four Contemptor Dreadnoughts, and ten infantry bases, in front of a Lego minifig for scale.

020

Stephen Lea Sheppard @stephenls.bsky.social · 07/01/2024

Done! That puts me up to five and I think finishes my tests

Three Legions Imperialis rhinos painted in the Raven Guard color scheme, viewed from the front.

Three Legions Imperialis rhinos painted in the Raven Guard color scheme, viewed from the rear.

010

Stephen Lea Sheppard @stephenls.bsky.social · 29/12/2023

Not gonna lie, I’m very proud of the freehand laurel on the banner, even if it’s half-covered by a transfer on the final product. (Still not done; they’re now glossed and the next step is a recess oil wash.)

010

Stephen Lea Sheppard @stephenls.bsky.social · 25/12/2023

I did some heat discoloration on the barrels of my contemptor dreadnought guns for Legions Imperialis.

020

Stephen Lea Sheppard @stephenls.bsky.social · 30/09/2023

Fully assembled screamer-unaliver.

000

Stephen Lea Sheppard @stephenls.bsky.social · 07/08/2023

Today’s work. Not sure what the next step on these guys will be; I don’t want to move on to oils until I’m sure I’m done with acrylics, but I don’t know whether I want to touch up the hyperphase blade gradients with brush work or not.

Three Necron Ophydian Destroyers and three Necron Skorpekh Destroyers, plus two Plasmacytes, for Warhammer 40K, set on a hobby mat. They’ve been airbrushed steel-bronze from the front and steel-purple from the back, and their hyperphase blades have been airbrushed with an as yet incomplete gradient from black to fluorescent green. Their chests and faces have been airbrushed with a less vibrant green, simulating green light cast upwards from below. They are visibly unfinished, with a lack of definition in the recesses and airbrush overspray visible on their bases.

000

Stephen Lea Sheppard @stephenls.bsky.social · 06/08/2023

Tonight’s work. They’re not done but I’m not doing anything else with them until the oil wash is finished curing, so they get to sit on the shelf for a couple of weeks.

Six Necron Scarab Swarms set on a hobby mat, viewed from a high angle. They’ve been airbrushed with a gradient of silver-gold to silver-violet metal front-to-back, and the orbs in the center of their bodies have been airbrushed to appear glowing bright green. The ground underneath each scarab has also been airbrushed with a green glow, but many of those glowing spots have been misplaced, reducing the effectiveness of the illusion that the scarabs are projecting green light downwards.

100

Stephen Lea Sheppard @stephenls.bsky.social · 06/08/2023

Here’s what the oil paint experiment looked like; I added a dot of yellow to the low-hanging wire under the gun, to make it look brighter and better contextualize then glow on the ground. And then I undid it because I didn’t like the way it shifts the color profile toward yellow.