Hobby | Black Seas Merchant Vessel

As I mentioned in the last post, I've begun dabbling with the world of historical miniatures. And by dabble I mean buy way too many ships, but that is a problem for future me. Current me is proud of the first ship out of the shipyard, a large Merchant Vessel from Warlord Games Black Seas.

Review | Space Dinosaur Minis 2023 and a Look Forward to 2024

All, it has been a bit since I last posted, what with the holidays and all that. Ordinarily, in years previous, this is where I would post all of the minis I painted this year. While I did in fact paint lots of minis, my current living situation makes it difficult for me to pull them from storage and set up a big table for photography. So that tradition will have to be skipped this year. I did get some last minute gaming into the mix though. 

Throwback Postday: Pirates CSG Economy Edition Rules

Back in the day I was an avid Pirates CSG player, enough so that I was creating custom ships for the game. Nowadays, my attention is occupied by a different game, but I still return to those halcyon days of my youth from time to time. 

I actually created an entire custom rule set, the Economy Edition, which I posted to the long lost Miniature Trading website. My fellow Pirates colleague a7xfanben, who runs his own excellent website, Pirates with Ben, thankfully managed to preserve my ruleset and a lot of other content from the Miniature Trading forums. 

I am now brining those rules here to the Space Dinosaur Minis, with some minor edits and formatting fixes for clarity. It also helps to have it here so that if I ever need to update rules again or there are questions from users, they can get help straight from the creator.

Of course, massive thanks to Ben for saving my rules, go check out his website and give him some love. 

Throwback Postday: Pirates CSG and How I got into the Tabletop Gaming Hobby

I am once again starting another series here on the Space Dinosaur Minis blog: Throwback Postday. On any given day that strikes my fancy (don't want to limit myself to only Thursdays here), I will take a look back at the games that I used to play, or those that only get played occasionally. For the first installment of the series, we will take a trip down memory lane to the game that started it all for me: Pirates CSG. 

A Primer on Custom Pirates CSG

Although the game has been out of print for many years now, Pirates of the Spanish Main and its associated expansions, collectively known as Pirates CSG, is a wonderful game with delightful pieces that can still be found on ebay. Even if you don't want to play the game with the original rule set, each miniature can easily be adapted for other naval games. Occasionally, one may want to customize a ship to meet a particular need or simply for visual appeal, and this can range from simply swapping out masts (kit-bashing essentially) to completely changing the paint scheme or even physically modifying the hulls and sails.

A relatively simple kit-bash and repaint.

A much more involved re-design.

Overall I would say there are two main ways of changing the outward appearance of a ship.

1. Paint directly onto the miniature.

2. Create a design on paper and then glue the design directly onto the hull.

In method 1, the painting can be as detailed as you would like, but several things must be made clear. The finish that these models have do not take paint well, and any coat that you paint on will scratch off very easily. If you do not want to remove the design already on the ship, you will have to prime the model. Otherwise, you must remove the design that the ship came in with a fine sandpaper. The plastic will remain slightly rough after this, which usually has enough of a texture to hold onto some paint, although priming here wouldn't hurt. In either case, always spray your finished design with a finish to protect the final coat. A gloss finish is recommended to as closely match the original ships as possible. 

A painted design with lots of detail. 

With method 2, you have much more control over how the design will look as paint takes to paper very well. However, unless you are using a very glossy paint the models will never have the same glow as the original models. The extra paper will also bulk up the model a bit, but this can be hidden somewhat by darkening the edges of the paper.

A paper design. 

Whichever method you decide on, remember to have fun and start simple. Overtime as you become more comfortable, your designs can become more complex and soon you will find clever ways to make your models that much more unique.

Happy Modeling!

The Space Dinosaur Welcomes You

So far I have had a fair amount of success making custom miniatures for a number of games such as Wizkids Pirates of the Spanish Main and Wizards of the Coast Star Wars Miniatures. When trying to find inspiration for these games online I found that there weren't very many pictures of custom items, so I decided to make this blog to help anyone who might be in the same boat. Although both these games are out of print, many of the same techniques and ideas should carry through to other miniatures. I'm also an avid model fan, and will occasionally make posts about the hobby. I also draw and paint, and I have a heavy bias towards Sci Fi. From time to time, I will post how-to's along with example pictures.

Here are just a few samples:

A custom 5 mast ship from Pirates CSG.

Some background pieces under construction. Pirates CSG.

A game of Mech Warrior with Friends

I hope that to anyone who finds this blog that you find the information within useful, and if there are any questions, comments, or requests to feel free to send me a message!