Category Archives: Small Scenics

Small Scenics: Secret Weapon Miniatures’ Traffic Pylons #2

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Secret Weapon Miniatures' Traffic Pylons

Seventeen years ago, back in September of 2019 I painted the first batch of “Traffic Pylons” from Secret Weapon Miniatures. I picked up 50 of the things on sale at a local retailer in however many little baggies of them, and then set to painting half of them. They weren’t hard to paint, but in such numbers they’re pretty tedious and so my original plan of getting to the other half got a little sooner than now got sidetracked initially by my hiatus, and then by not really wanting to do them.

This second batch then had been sitting in a chinese food container-style disposable plastic tub since last year, and sitting on top of a pile of my modelling supplies and such I kept seeing them, so resolved to getting them onto an upcoming Tray. Since official Tray business is kinda suspended right now, I’m allowing myself to work on terrain as well as D&D board game models, because Dave Stone’s Winter of Scenery Challenge, and also because terrain can be a bit rougher and doesn’t need that fine freehand and careful highlighting and shading like regular models do, so it fits in pretty well for allowing me to keep getting stuff done right now.

Secret Weapon Miniatures' Traffic Pylons

The only difference between this batch and the first batch is I changed the “orange” to a slightly different shade, a little darker and a little more muted. I just wanted that slight variation that you tend to see between two sets of “identical” mass-produced products that have come from different batches that then often tend to have a small but uniform difference between the two.

…and now I have 50 Traffic Pylons for my modern+ games. Hopefully this coming summer I can get my urban Tablescapes painted…

Wizkids Deep Cuts Miniatures Cage & Chains (“Paint the Crap You Already Own!” April 2020 Challenge)

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Wizkids Deep Cuts Miniatures Cage & Chains

Ann is running another hobby challenge this month, the aptly-named “Paint the Crap You Already Own!” challenge. (thanks, Ann!)

Works for me, and so the rather broad topic combined nicely with the annoyance I’d been feeling at seeing these bloody things on the corner of my painting desk for the past 4 months since I saw them on Amazon and added them to an order of other crap I was making. The sticking point, aside from my break from painting was needing to paint in all of the are in between the bars. On four of them. They ended up being the second (and third, forth and fifth) models I painted this year – after the dwarf and before the goblin. But all in April, so I’m counting ’em.

Wizkids Deep Cuts Miniatures Cage & Chains

The painting process was several shades of metal, some washing of a mix of black and brown Vallejo Model Wash (thanks Dave!) and then some rust washes, followed and finished off by a rusty drybrush inspired by Wudugast’s War Cry scenery (thanks Wudu!) The chains are part of the kits, but were painted last year in December. They were probably the very last things I got done in 2019, actually. So while they don’t count for this challenge, they’re still part of the kit.

Not too bad at all efforts by Wizkids/NECA/Hasbro/WotC/TSR/etc. Inexpensive, and much, much nicer than Reaper’s Bones to paint and work with – and better than the Kegs I painted up last year as well. I’d definately consider buying more stuff in their lines.