Dipping my toe back into the painting water... with Ptolus and Pathfinder.

Right, here are the first three miniatures I have painted to almost completeion since 2001. I've painted bits and bobs and odds and sods in the 12 years since, just nothing that I could call finished, or as good as finished.

From left to right: two Ptolus minis and Kyra, a pathfinder iconic cleric.

So I bought the Ptolus minis because I needed a mini for my Dungeons & Dragons character. And the only reason I bought these particular minis was that they were within my unemployed, newly immigrated tightly restricted budget. The unpainted red knight was my character for about a half dozen ghastly games of 4th ed D&D, and the sword maiden was going to be my new character for another season of what I assumed would have been more ghastly games of D&D.

I decided one day that I wanted to paint the miniatures that I had. I purchased the Army Painter beginner box using a christmas gift and then I bought Kyra, simply because I wanted to paint a miniature. And I really like this miniature.

It took me almost three weeks to paint these three miniatures. It was painful going. I hadn't thought through what I was doing. I did short-cutty things like use cellotape to keep Kyra in her base (once I've varnished her I'll rebase her) and the paint job looked patchy and messy, and nothing seemed to click.

Until I used the army painter quickshade which broke the interminable drought that I'd developed for myself and I finshed all three minis in a couple of evenings.

I really like how they turned out. They are streets ahead of any paintjob I've done previously.

Sheva Callister, of the Ptolus miniatures line (Ptolus).

Urthon Aedar, from the Ptolus miniatures line (Paizo)

Kyra, from Reaper Miniatures.