Borderlands Miniatures Charity Project

Headshots from the Heart was a 24 hour charity marathon that some friends and I created and we ended up running it for 3 years total to benefit the Child's Play Charity. With the support of a great group of volunteers, the support of some fantastic businesses and generosity of many people, we raised over $11,000 across the 3 years.

As a donation on behalf of Wargaming Tradecraft, I painted 6 figures to auction off in the event. These miniatures and additional larger display bases were donated by MiniWarGaming.

This page is acting as an index you can use to reach the individual articles.

I painted them in the now popular cell-shaded / cartoon style of the Borderlands franchise and they're possibly the first gaming miniatures to be created in this style. (Spring of 2012) Man, looking over them to create this index, some are soooo rough. But boy do I still love how Young Marcus and Mordecai turned out! Definitely need to revisit this style!

Even Gearbox got involved, giving us game keys to give away and shout outs on social media. (Which crashed our server the first time thanks to the number of people it directed to us!)

Historically Accurate Miniatures

Last year I donated my painting services to be auctioned for Headshots from the Heart, a marathon I'm involved with in support of the Childs Play charity. The person who won is a bit of a history buff. He's involved in reenactments and plays various historical miniature games.

It took a bit, but he got ahold of the miniature he wanted me to paint: Major-General Sir Isaac Brock. There'a a difference when painting historical miniatures instead fictional ones, mainly that these things happened so there's a certain way they should be painted.Sure, I could paint the clothes whatever I wanted, I could've given him a funny hat and I could even have painted the horse to look like it belongs in Robot Unicorn Attack... But when you factor in the client's importance on history, accuracy becomes even more important.

[CHARITY] Headshots from the Heart (2nd annual)

You may recall that last year I spent a solid 2.5 months painting some themed miniatures (donated by MiniWarGaming) for charity. Specifically, for Headshots from the Heart. A small group of us put on a 24 hour gaming marathon where we played Borderlands without pause, gave away prizes, auctioned off a bunch of phat lewtz, accepted pledges by the headshot and streamed the entire event online. In the end we raised about $2,700 for Childs Play.

You can tune in Saturday May 18th at 12.30 pm Eastern Time or catch a practice before hand.

This year I'm just volunteering, but you can bet I'm still going to pimp this out on my blog. With the release of Borderlands 2, that's the game that'll be running 24 hours straight... but instead of 4 people the entire time, there's only going to be 3... why? Because people who donate to play in the LAN party won't just get chances to win some cool stuff, they'll also have a chance to join in on the event!

As for the lewt up for grabs, we've got some amazing sponsors this year... Awesome gaming gear from Steel Series, Steam codes for Torchlight 2 donated by Runic Games, an absolutely beautiful leather mask from FeralCrafter and plenty of other geeky items, like, oh, a baby wyvern skeleton! Y'know what, just go LOOK AT IT ALL. There's a lot of stuff, but they're still accepting more so now's the time to contact them if you'd like to help a good cause.

If you don't have anything monetary to give, you can still help. Tweet this, Facebook it, post it on your own blog and help raise awareness for what's going to be a great time! They've also got banners you can use!

Last year I also posted an article detailing the steps on how you too can stream this sort of event online. I went with the software method and used a professional sound mixer with mics around the room to capture all the audio for the event. We were also prepared incase we had to reset anyones crit counters.

Borderlands Charity Marathon Broadcasting in 30 minutes!

Starting at 12:30pm EST (9:30am PST) and for the next 24 hours...

Four of us and a host of volunteers and interviewees will be raising money for Childs Play, a charity that donates to sick children. We'll be playing Borderlands the entire time, and besides accepting straight donations, are taking pledges for the number of headshot kills we make. There are also plenty of auctions for you to check out - from the miniatures I've been painting over the last month, to an 8-bit Megaman afghan my wife crocheted and a bunch of other geeky crafts of excellent quality & value... even VIP meet and greet tickets to see The Tea Party during their reunion tour this summer!

WATCH US

You can find all the details at http://headshotsmarathon.org
Follow all the awesomeness on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeadshotsHeart or trending with #Headshots

Please repost this on your own blogs to help out!

Headshots from the Heart: Borderlands Figures Completed

The miniature Borderlands figures I've painted for our Headshots from the Heart charity marathon are complete! Below are the final photos of this great task, and remember that you can try to win them during the event by bidding in our auctions. (All proceeds go to the Childs Play Charity) The 24 hour marathon begins this Sunday the 26th at 12.30p.

To sweeten the deal, my dad's made 3 very nice glass display bells - we're going to include them with the three figures that end up auctioning for the most. (So if you want one, you'll have to keep this in mind!)

These are all painted in a style new to me. I've tried to achieve the cell-shaded look from the video game using exaggerated shadows and highlights while experimenting with how I apply them to the models. This may be less realistic, but I'm greatly satisfied with what I've created over the last two months and think they turned out looking fantastic!

I'm sure what you're wondering though is, "What do they look like?" I've posted the standard quality photos first, and included uber-high-res ones at the end of the article.

If you want to take a look at posts that show these works in progress, with descriptions, you can read the series. (I'll also be adding them to my Step by Step page.)

Headshots: Bases

 This project wouldn't be complete without creating some nice display bases for the figures to stand on.

As mentioned earlier, I'm creating 2 bases for each figure: 1, using their normal base, making them legal for playing... and the 2nd is a larger base with a little decoration for display purposes.

All models are magnetized for this reason.

Headshots: Moxxi WIP

 With a big push this holiday weekend, I completed Moxxi, my final Borderlands figure. Basing is up next, and a few final touch-ups all around. Hoping to be done today.

...but that's not the topic of todays post.

Headshots: Marcus WIP 3

Not much to say about this step. I've done the highlighting, and Marcus is completed!

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With many thanks to MiniWarGaming and their crew for donating the miniatures that are being painted for this project.

Final figures will be auctioned off, all proceeds going to the Childs Play charity during the Headshots from the Heart marathon.

Headshots: Marcus WIP 2

 As life has a habit of getting in the way sometimes, I only got the cell-shading completed.

I've come across areas that will need some highlight cleaning, and after that, I'll be doing the cell-highlighting.


Then, only one more Borderlands figure to go + basing!

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With many thanks to MiniWarGaming and their crew for donating the miniatures that are being painted for this project.

Final figures will be auctioned off, all proceeds going to the Childs Play charity during the Headshots from the Heart marathon.

Headshots: Marcus WIP 1

Looks like I had a very productive weekend, and not just on the Borderlands figures. I also wrote up a very detailed post on how to stream multiple computers online. But yes, I also finished Brick (though realized I have a few buckles / bolts to attend to) and got a good deal of work done on Marcus.

Headshots: Brick WIP 3

In the final steps of the Borderlands figure Brick, I've done the cell shading / highlighting and taken care of some of the smaller details.

Headshots: Brick WIP 2

Continuing on from the last post, I've taken the basic colour and wash and go further in the highlighting of the Brick Borderlands figure. 

Headshots: Brick WIP 1

 And now, it's time to begin painting my Borderlands figure: Brick.

A lot more space to paint as he's quite a bit larger than the others. In the interest of keeping things interesting, I'm still trying to do things a little different

Headshots: Mordecai WIP 2

Got a lot done this weekend, and I finished off the Mordecai Borderlands figure, so this is the last of his posts.

Now, I know he's already pretty highlighted, but I use some white paint to do a little more highlighting before shading.

Headshots: Mordecai WIP 1

The next Borderlands figure that I'm painting is Mordecai, the sniper. I'm using the Games Workshop Vindicare Assassin, just because he's basically an awesome sniper.

I've tried some pretty unique techniques in this first phase of painting, and it's coming together pretty well. I expect to be done by Sunday. (fingers crossed)

Headshots: Lilith WIP 3

So if you'll recall, we ended the last post with Lilith appearing complete, but certainly needing some more work to increase contrast. If you'll take a look lower, not only do I cover the cell-shading, but also some pigment (powder) work.

Headshots: Lilith WIP 2

 As things continue, they're coming along well! Sorry about missing Sundays post, but I had a wedding to attend 6 hours north. (oddly, warmer than here, which is unusual in this great North)

However, I got a lot done today, which I'll share with you ahead... Please keep in mind that I'm still skipping the contrast step, that'll come next.

It starts with legs, because why not? Well, actually, because I like to start with colours I'm more sure of how I want the composition. That way, more of the model will be complete when I'm deciding on smaller details.

So I blended up her legs, then her top. I highlighted with pink, which you always need to be careful about... otherwise it looks too unnatural.

Headshots: Lilith 1

 I've begun painting Lilith next. For her, I'm going with a little softer colouring.

It's been a while since I've painted with a white base, and because of this, I'm using a different technique as far as the flow and order of things goes.

Headshots: Roland WIP 3

In the final instalment of my work on Roland, I take care of some of the smaller details to wrap it all up. The base still isn't done, but that'll come later... I want them all to look similar, so I'm going to base them all at the same time.

Headshots: Roland WIP 2

When last I worked on Roland, I'd completed both his skin tones and his clothed areas. A good place to start, but not really representative of his overall look.

Today, I painted up his armour, and I ended up with a fantastic looking model if I do say so myself. Still a ways before being done, but a great proof of concept for this whole project.