Adams dioramas and painting efforts

[adamsfantasticminiatures]

Hi, this is my first effort at a topic. I have been collecting miniatures since the early 1980s on and off, and like many others ended up with a lot of unpainted models "a lead mountain". Due to ill health (heart) and looking after parents I had to stop full time work and had time to catch up with the hobby. So I have taken pictures of my efforts, and I have organised them in to slide shows on You Tube if anyone likes the pictures on here enough to see more.
I am a fan of Essex miniatures, so here to start is a picture of the vampire Count Basildon and his castle, under attack from a band of adventurers...
..




The You Tube things is on if you like these. I think those Essex miniatures undead are great, a joy to paint.

[Spinal Tap]

Wow, you've a lot of figures.

Your painting style is unusual but very appealing although the walls make my eyes go a bit funny.

[Citizen Sade]

You have some lovely old figures there & I don't fancy the adventurers' chances much.

[Little Odo]

Great looking figures - the red really makes the skellies pop. I also really like the bookcases and the globe.

[Frugalmax]

Nice work!

[adamsfantasticminiatures]

Much appreciated, thanks for your comments. I am no photographer and the lighting is hard to get right and very hit and miss, very much a learning experience. Apart from the figures themselves I love all that assorted paraphernalia like the bookcases and globes and things. I also enjoy doing crossovers between unlikely opponents. The great thing about historical miniatures is that they are so much cheaper new than fantasy figures. Here are some dwarves (its meant to be Balin returning to Moria), and with enough red to give major headaches, Samurai vs Balrogs in a dwarf mine. More in my gallery on here and linking to my you tube thing.

[Peithetairos]

Sweet offerings. The stylized faces really add whimsy to the dioramas, which is different and really does spark the imagination. Kind of like an animated series.

[SpaceArmada]

Wow Adam. Thank you so much for sharing. I loved the dioramas and looking at the range of old miniatures - Minifigs and Essex … all still available at reasonable prices.
Your art is very inspiring so thank you, I’ll have to get painting. Do you paint with Enamels or oils?
Love your style and you bring the little warriors to life with your colours, eyes and personal style.
I look forward to your other work and will continue to enjoy your YouTube channel. Absolutely brilliant in so many ways - in particular your individual imagination and style. Thanks a million!

[adamsfantasticminiatures]

Thanks to Peithetairos and Spacearmada. Your stuff is amazing Peithetairos, incredible lighting and so on. Mine are much more cartooney I'm afraid.
Re my painting, its all with acrylics as they dry so much quicker, and all the paints from trusty Games Workshop. The look of my figures is very much based on contrasts- I paint the whole figure black, then a white undercoat for all the areas I want colours on, so I have all the deep shadows before i start any colours. Very basic but I like the effect, and the triple or more layers of paint mean you don't have to keep repainting the figures all the time. Below is a photo which shows the intermediate stage where the black undercoat and white base has been done. Then some Dwarves and Dragons. Here is a link to the You Tube vid is anyone likes the pictures;

[adamsfantasticminiatures]

The Essex dragon under attack by 3 dwarves, has anyone else had a go painting this?

[Frugalmax]

You all might call this pro-dragon bias, but I'd say all of those dwarves and elves are dead meat. Yum!
Nice work! 

[tjgreenway]

The Essex dragon under attack by 3 dwarves, has anyone else had a go painting this?

Absolutely wonderful - I think this is the first time I've seen this painted despite hearing many good things over the years and you may have swayed me into a purchase. I may have to slip it into my next Essex order (I'm overdue some more Olley Orcs and Small Giants!), love these old classics 

[SpaceArmada]

Thanks for the tips about your painting style Adam.
Appreciated.
What are you currently painting or planning to paint?

[adamsfantasticminiatures]

Thanks to Space Armada and the other people who commented. Had a busy couple of weeks so apologies for the time to reply. I have a new offering fantasy wise, as well as two medieval battles on my You Tube thing which is a way of showing the whole set of photos togetherhttps://www.youtube.com/@adamsfantasticminiatures .
The fantasy one is a clash between Elves and English knights of the 14th century, so it can't be described as strictly Tolkien or medieval, but what the hell, I think it is a fun thing to imagine. Elves are mostly Ral Partha from the 1980s, a lifelong collection, same with Essex miniatures who did most of the knights, I spent a scary amount of time painting fiddly heraldry. Anyway, hope you like the results!

[Frugalmax]

Dang, that's quite a melee! Looks great, thanks for sharing!