Latest news

Nov 26, 2011
Added pics from Kingdom Death and Red Box Games.
Zach

Oct 2, 2011
Added pics of some work I did for Reaper and Dark Sword.
Zach

Aug 20, 2011
Added pics of the Dark Sword scorpion queen from the GenCon competition and Dawnlord Vyros, the Privateer Press Grandmaster painting competition winner.
Zach

Aug 12, 2011
Added an article on brush selection in the Tips section and pics of Thorvin from GenCon.
Zach

Aug 10, 2011
Pics of Todd's Gold winner in 40k single, Mortio Grulgor, are posted in his gallery.

Aug 9, 2011
GenCon was great, as always. I really enjoy getting to see many of the friends I have made in the community, it's just a shame it's only once a year.
There were an amazing array of entries, but I won the Privateer Press Grandmaster (Best of Show) award and a gold in the single figure category with my Dawnlord Vyros.
Both of my single figure entries placed in the main GenCon competition as well, with Thorvin taking 3rd and the DarkSword Scorpion Queen taking 4th.
Pictures up soon!
Zach

8-2-2011
So Games Day Chicago 2011 has come and gone and I am pleased to have gotten a Gold in 40K single. It was a really a tough category and it could easily have gone differently. Congratulations to Vincent on his Slayer Sword win!
I hope to have pictures up soon. I will also do an article on this mini (Mortio Grulgor) similar to the Lictor article from last years.
I have to work out the details with Zach but I hope for Crooked Eye to have its first painting contest using an original sculpt of mine. More on that later.
Good luck to Zach who is at GenCon this week!!
Todd

GenCon update
All of my classes have already sold out, but I have never taught a class where at least 2 or 3 people didn't show up, and I do usually allow a few extras in with generic tickets so if you are interested plese do still show up.
Here are the class numbers:
MHE1118804, MHE1118813, MHE1118814, MHE1118815, MHE1118816.
Send me an email if you have any questions.

5/15/2011
Zach has his entries from the Crystal Brush up. Todd is still working on pics of his entry.

4/4/2011
Both Zach and Todd were at the Crystal Brush/Adepticon convention over the past weekend and we did very well. Not only did we have a great time teaching classes and meeting a bunch of incredibly talented people (Like Mike McVey, Alfonso Giraldes, Jakob Nielsen and many more), we both took home trophies. Todd took home a silver in the sci-fi single category and Zach got a gold in the diorama category and bronze in the fantasy single figure. We should have pics up of both our pieces and some other entries soon!

Mike Stubbs posted some pics from the Crystal Brush.

1/20/2011
In the tips section we have a wip walkthrough/tutorial of how Todd converted and painted his slayer sword winning Tyranid Lictor from the North American GD 2010!

1/9/2011
Both Zach and Todd will be teaching classes at Adepticon this year, keep an eye on their website Adepticon for details and a schedule.
Even better than that we have pics of Todd's Slayer Sword winning model from the North American GD 2010!

11/5/2010
Added pics of Sir Alexander, my Baltimore Golden Demon Gold winner.

10/30/2010
Added pics of my GenCon single figure entry from August, 2010.
Also added pics of my GenCon Privateer Press entry from 2010.
Zach

10/29/2010
One small update in the "Tips" section, a quick description and some examples of Zenithal priming with an airbrush.
Zach

10/27/2010
A bunch of smaller changes and updates. I'm STILL behind on putting up pics, sorry. I do need to remedy that soon. I put larger pics of many of the newer pieces up, check out my gallery to see them. I added some new pics to the box page- more examples of display bases for single figures, tray options and plastic gaming bases with the magnet or disc already integrated. Ironically though I am going to have to halt taking orders for the boxes for a bit. They've been keeping me very busy and I've started a full kitchen renovation so I won't be able to turn them around in a reasonable amount of time. I'll probably start again in January once the kitchen and the holidays are done.
Zach

9/25/2010
Finally getting some pictures up! First up is my entry in the "Lord of the Rings" category at the Baltimore Demons- Gil-Galad.
Zach

9/23/2010
Thanks to Zach for his kind words. I have been far luckier than anyone deserves to be in the Golden Demon Competition. Congratulations to Zach as well on his amazing gold winning entry in Fantasy single. Zach forgot to mention that he was in the running for the Slayer Sword this year as it was between him, Natalya and me. Congratulations to all the other winners and to everyone that entered. No matter what lever the entries are at I am finding constant inspiration.

I am working to get some good pictures of my Lictor. I just bought a new camera and am trying to get some quality photos.

My goal is to contribute to the website this year. I am a slow painter with little time so my gallery will not be growing anytime soon, but I do plan on writing some articles on things I have already done so check back in for those.
Todd

8/22/2010
This years lone North American Golden Demon has passed and Todd has proven once again he is an unstoppable juggernaut. He earned a gold in 40k monster and his fourth slayer sword!
I won gold in fantasy single as well so we had a good trip. There are a lot of new things to take pictures of, Todd will get his Lictor up and I have 2 entries from Gencon, the Privateer Press entry and the Golden Demon piece.
-Zach

8/10/2010
As always, GenCon was great. It's such a great place for meeting up with other painters and getting better at every part of what we do. The classes were really good, the attendees asked lots of great questions and I think people got a lot out of them.

I painted for the aces of painting again and I think the collection sold for $600 this time, a nice sum for charity.

My GenCon travel curse continued, sitting on the runway for an hour and forty-five minutes on the way out, and for the second time in the past three years I came home to a terrified, panicked wife and a bat-infested house. She may not let me leave next time if this continues.

I did well in the painting competitions, getting an honorable mentiont (4th place) in the GenCon single fig group and a gold in the single fig competition for Privateer Press. I'll try and gets pics up soon but it probably won't be before the Golden Demons in two weeks.

With all the good stuff that happened, the highlight may have been seeing all the CrookedEye transport boxes at the show. There were at least four there, including mine. Very exciting.

7/20/2010
GenCon is coming up, I'm getting very excited. The classes are looking good, with almost all of them full or close.
I'll be clearing the "new" tags to get ready for a big August from both Zach and Todd since both GenCon and the Golden Demons are in the same month.

I have sold a bunch more boxes, and so far people really seem to like them. Also, I reloaded the box video- at the original link: Video

5/15/2010
Todd has added the last pics- Ripgutt Ironjaw and LoTR Aragorn. Some great looking stuff. Please take a minute and check out Todd's gallery, it's all good!

5/15/2010
Todd has uploaded pics of his Eowyn and Trogdor Necksnappa, the Atlanta 2007 sword winner. Very nice!

Also, my friends Mike and Greg went to the MFCA show in Valley Forge and they both put up some really nice pics. Mike is great at meeting folks, and in addition to pics of great paintjobs, he got pics of himself with painting Royalty. Somehow he convinced Marjin Van Gils, Bill Horan, Kostas Kariotellis and the very nice and eminently talented Adrian Bay to take a picture with him.
Mike's gallery
Greg's Gallery

5/12/2010
Todd has uploaded his Slayer Sword winning Beastman warband. Great stuff. I knew when I saw it that it had the sword.

4/29/2010
Todd has uploaded some more of his stuff! A Gnoblar group and night goblin have all been addeed to Todd's gallery.

4/21/2010
Official GW coverage is up.
Official French GD coverage

4/20/2010
There is some spotty coverage from the French GD. Nice stuff.
Full Repent French GD coverage
Cedrics French GD coverage
And also Remy Tremblay's entry, possibly my favorite. Remy's 40k single

4/10/2010
Another box system is out the door, hopefully another satisfied cutomer. Also, for those of you in the NJ/NY area, Time Warp comics on highway 23 has started carrying the Red Box games figs. It was nice to see this line in person and I picked up a few. I'd like to get a few pictures up and do a review of sorts.
Zach

3/15/2010
My Miniature Mentor Tutorial was released a couple days ago. I am both nervous and exited for its release. I just hope that people like it and that they learn from it. Here is a link to an unaffiliated review that is on the WEB. Thank you to Dante for taking the time to post your thoughts. Dante's MM video review
Please keep checking back for new pictures in my gallery. I am almost ready to release a lot more!
Todd

3/5/2010
Thanks Zach for your patience. I am still working hard to get my mini pictures ready to share. I hope to have 16+ miniatures to add to my gallery very soon. I have also been working on my Slayer Sword Challenge miniature as well as preparing for the release of my Miniature Mentor tutorial. I hope to be posting regularly now that I am figuring out this web site stuff.
Todd

2/14/2010
Still mostly doing prep, but I have painted a few things as practice for planned entries. I'm also getting ready for GenCon by putting in my class descriptions and times. I'll be teaching the two "Advanced Techniques/Painting for Competition" classes as well as "NMM" and "Hands-on", which should be good since it's limited to 6 people (2 less than last year). I'm also adding a class on conversions. On the hobby side of things I have put up 2 quick articles in the tips section. One shows my paint rack and the other a fun little brushwasher project I made with my son.
Finally, Todd is working on a bunch of pictures and should have a whole slew of pics for us shortly! I'm looking forward to that since it will be a big influx of high quality stuff.

11/26/09
Been busy, but mostly prep work for new stuff. A bunch of Darksword minis and a few Enigma, GW, odds and ends. I also went to the Long Island Historical Miniatures Show. There was a good dealer hall and the show itself was very nice, lots of good stuff on display. I entered a few things and the techmarine got a gold in the masters category. I took a bunch of pictures from the hall and the displays, here's a link to the LIHMS pics. I've also done another box and a few custom display bases. I'll put some photos of those up soon.

10/24/09
Ok, added a couple of things to the forsale and box pages. I put in pictures of the cork blocks that have been modified to work with the holder and box by fixing them with steel discs. On the forsale page I put up a ceramic palette that I have only a few of and a simpler transport box that would work better for troop-type transport but doesn't have the bells and whistles of the newer system. Still customizable though I suppose, and if it's something like that you're after I can always make a new one to your specs.

10/11/09
Sorry, no updates really. I've been studying for my CCIE written exam (passed today) so it's been a little crazy. But... now things should start rolling along. Valshea is sold, but I still have boxes, bases and the holders available. If you are interested, please don't wait until it's almost demon time next year to order one, I'll be busy working on my own entries. :)

9/2/09
I updated the 'for sale' page with a piece for sale, something I don't normally do, but my display is starting to run out of space so I'm going to start selling some stuff. Also put the box on there and started putting some bases up for sale.

8/29/09
My first box is out the door. One happy customer and hopefully lots to go. Updated the gallery with pics of my fantasy single demon entry "Lokhir Fellheart".

8/25/09
Ok, both the page and the video are available. Box page Video

8/21/09
Ok, here is the page explaining how the Crooked Eye Transport and Display system works. There's a link at the bottom for pricing. The only thing I wasn't able to do was get the video to a reasonable size- it's almost a gig because it takes 15 minutes to go through everything.

8/21/09
Lots of updates all of a sudden. The Dark Elf entry from GenCon is in the gallery and on CMON. I also have the web page showing what the transport and display system is all finished up. Just have to do the video and the pricing page.

8/17/09
GenCon was great this year, really a lot of fun. Every year I learn so much and this year was no exception. The classes all went very well I think, and the attendees seemed to get a lot out of them. My Dark Sword Dark Elf won 1st place in the single figure category and I came away with a ton of fantastic Dark Sword minis, enough to really round out my already decent sized collection. Many thanks and much props out to Jim Ludwig of Dark Sword. The GW Lokhir Felheart took 3rd place in single figure- I'll have pictures of both up soon. The transport boxes were a big hit- everybody loved them and I got a lot of inquiries about them. I'm glad I took it with me because I got to use one for 4 days and really put it through the paces. I think I'll recommentd a locking latch and perhaps try a slightly wider cotton webbing for the handle, though that maybe only for people with larger hands. Other than that it did great. I dropped the box once from about 2 feet up and nothing came loose... I'm finalizing pricing now but should have details up very soon!

7/25/2009
Pics of the Techmarine from Toronto GD up. The rest of the CrookedEye transport and painting system is coming along. I hope to unveil the whole thing before GenCon.

7/12/2009
I have 10 of the transport boxes pretty much done, just have to put the finishing touches on the rest of the system and I'll put up a new page for it. I went up to the Canadian GD, had a really nice time. James Craig did a super job organizing the demon lounge and the competition was really good. I was lucky enough to walk away with a gold in 40k single. Pics will be up soon, though I'm having some problems getting good photos. Todd is working hard on a big project at work and an entry for Chicago. Hopefully we'll be seeing some more pics from him soon.

5/16/2009
Pics are up! My entries for Baltimore GD '09, and more pics of Festus from Todd, plus Ragnar Gutsnagga. Pics of some of the bases I've made on the way. I will be selling some of them.

2/26/2009
There is now an article on some of the aspects of painting my Nurgle Terminator Festus in the Tips section. I wrote this article for the Spanish magazine Game Forces which should be published soon in issue 14. Since the article will be translated to Spanish I thought it we good to share the English version. Enjoy!. Todd S.

2/11/2009
A Very special thanks to Zach for sharing his site with me. I have been an admirer of his work for some time and was honored when he invited me to contribute to his Website. I am new to this so please bear with me. I hope to populate my gallery soon with some of my favorite miniatures in my collection as well as some work in progress pictures. I would also like to post coverage of some of the events I have been to. Thanks again Zach!! Todd S.

1/5/2009
Still no camera. Working on getting one, but no luck yet. Painting a bit, and working on transport boxes, nice quality paint rack cabinets, and a foot-pedal operated DC fan so I canstop blowing on minis. It's fun! On a very bright note, multiple sword winner and all-around great guy Todd Swanson is going to share this web space. The gallery has now been split into "Todd" and "Zach" and "both" instead of by manufacturer. I'm very glad to have him and I think it will give both me and the site a shot in the arm.

8/29/2008
This is a great link for making a really nice looking base. It's in German but you can get the gist of it from the pictures. I've got a lot of uprooted vines and small trees in my yard so I should be able to find some of the natural materials easily enough. Tree Base