It’s been a wee while since I’ve finished painting a model, but today I finished painting a couple of them. I have lots of works-in-progress, and mostly they’re the Reeves of Orboros. I also have to paint the Wolves of Orboros, and the Druids, the box of which you’ll see below. The Reeve unit leader and one of her stout yeomen guard my Snakebite.

Have ye had a Snakebite, me hearties? Some people call ’em Black Velvets. Depends on who you’re talking to. But basically, it’s a blend of Guinness and hard cider. The best ciders to use are either Woodchuck or Strongbow. Stay the hell away from that Hornsby’s stuff; if you see any, FLEE. Anyway, fill your glass about half or a wee bit past half with cider, and then hold a spoon upside-down over the glass and pour your Guinness over that. You’ll get the separation you see in the pic. Beautiful & tasty.

Now that you have an idea of the scale, I’ll zoom in a bit on the Reeve leader:

Either I was too enthusiastic with the detail brush or she just got back from the optometrist, where they dilated her eyes. :) Oh well. The armor came out looking pretty good, and I like the wolf’s head on her shoulder. Here’s one of the Reeves—there are six different ones in the unit:

Those double crossbows they have with a BONUS blade to gut you means you won’t be stealing a sip of my Snakebite. They have some beautiful cloaks, the Reeves do, trimmed in wolfhide:

Outside my kitchen window, I have a bird feeder that unfortunately attracts a large number of pigeons. However, it also attracts these lovelies, for which I am (barely) willing to suffer the pigeons:

Aren’t they pretty? Wouldja like to see one giving me a come-hither look? Or a give-me-more-seed look, anyway?

I am not the only one entertained by the birds outside the window. As you might imagine, the household kitteh is rather enamored of their visits. When he cannot watch them, he finds a nice box to sit in, from which he may glare at me and demand more birds to look at:

Hope your Thanksgiving was happy and you’re enjoying lots of leftovers. Especially pie. :)

This summer I’ve decided to start a new series of still lifes. The beer will continue on, but instead of dwarfs, I will feature a badass instead. If you’re wondering if I’ll do this on the road while sampling the beers in Colorado on my Book & Beer Tour, the answer is YES. I fully expect to get strange looks while setting up my still lifes in the brew pubs, and I will document them if I can. :) Behold:

Mace Windu, Jedi Badass of the Long Purple Phallic Symbol, defends my sandwich and beverage from the depravity of the Sith. A bit more about the beer, and then we’ll focus on Mace.

The beer is Polygamy Porter from the Wasatch Brewery in Park City, Utah. The ad tagline for this brew is “Why have just one!” and I could not agree more. Aside from the hilarious name, this is the BEST porter I’ve ever had in terms of taste and drinkability. That silver medal in the World Beer Cup ain’t no lie. If you like porters and have a good specialty store in your neck of the woods that carries this, I cannot recommend it highly enough. Failing that, the T-shirts for this beer will get you lots of curious stares, and you can order them online to stick it to the Man in Utah.

But now, back to Mace. Remember Mace? He’s seriously hacked off about something, and perhaps you didn’t notice that from the wide angle. Sorry about that. Let’s take a closer look, shall we?

Now I don’t know about you, but Mace is really talking to me here, and it’s obvious what he’s saying. “WHY ain’t there a muthaeffin’ BEER in my muthaeffin’ HAND?” He can’t be saying anything else…can he?

Remember that my Colorado Book and Beer Tour begins next week, so check back every stinkin’ day— starting Sunday—for photos of beautiful trees, beautiful beer, and (hopefully) some fans saying howdy to me in the Rockies! Cheers!