Hired Gun miniature painting service

Adding another WebSite

2011-02-16T08:45:00.003-05:00

AKA: Godaddy Sucks!

I am in the process of setting up another website at this time. I have been extaordinary busy these last few months and the little free time that I have had I have spent painting for my clients. Right now I am unable to accept any additional commission work, but if you are interested still get in touch and I can update you further.
Meanwhile, check out the new site. Its not fully done and I am still working on the layout, but it's there: www.thegloriousdead.com

Killer Phones

2010-06-24T01:21:00.002-04:00

I am excited for the new smart phones on the horizon and the features they will have, which will offer interesting options for running my blog and webpage. The iPhone 4 and the Droid X, both due to release this July, include new apps and features which have peaked my interest. Although I don’t currently use a Mac as my first choice for computing, I may start using Safari 5 as my browser to take advantage of these new features. One of the coolest features is that Safari 5 will eliminate some ads from articles, so that users can read just the details on a site without the distraction of some ads. This does not eliminate the ad from being displayed, but the article will “pop” out from the background into main focus. When I read about this feature, I thought “fantastic!” It’s about time I can view articles on the web without being assaulted by annoying herbal supplement ads. Also, the new Safari is going to support many html5 features, including geolocation and application caches. I know these features are just the tip of the iceberg, but I am really excited to see what I can do with the possibilities of html5 and Safari on the iPhone 4.

The other new phone that has me excited is the Droid X. With this phone, I could run my entire blog without my laptop. The features and apps that are available on this device will make running my business a snap. I can complete a job, take pictures, upload them to Photobucket, and then update my blog and any forums where I regularly post content. I can then notify friends and customers on Facebook and Twitter that new content is available for their viewing pleasure, all from my phone. Also, the endless stream of apps that flow for this phone will keep things exciting. I wonder how Android will answer to the ad elimination feature of Safari 5.

These are just a few of the interesting things this new technology will offer. Now my biggest problem is that these phones have not yet been released, and I will have to wait…but not long!

Steven Algarotti

Finished Furioso Librarian Dread!!!

2010-06-11T00:21:00.001-04:00

Made some significant changes...

Blood Angels!!!

2010-06-11T00:18:00.002-04:00

Here are some pics of some finished units of my Blood Angels army:

Dread Update

2010-04-21T00:09:00.002-04:00

Here is what I have done painting-wise with the librarian conversion...

Blood Angels Furioso Librarian Dreadnaught

2010-04-15T22:23:00.003-04:00

With the release of the new Blood Angels codex I decided to dig out my old army and get it ready for a re-fit. This means changes to squad composition, Weapon swaps on vehicles and other things. One of which is my crazy scheme for converting an old dread to a new Librarian dread. This model is by no means close to getting painted but I decided to raid the bits box and got out the dremel.

It's a good start I think...
Also, I converted one of my old Razorback models to a newer TL Hvy flamer one...

same pics, more shots

2010-04-01T15:03:00.001-04:00

Since I have recieved many emails wanting more shots, here they are.

March Updates!

2010-03-27T10:10:00.001-04:00

More Space Hulk

2010-02-14T20:13:00.003-05:00

I had painted these up before last christmas but only now do I have the time to clean it up and share with you all. More to come!

Much belated updates!!

2010-02-14T19:59:00.003-05:00

Here are some pics that I had on my laptop that I cleaned up and uploaded. I am still in the process of adding more (there's always more..)

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-27T21:11:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone, I hope all are enjoying the holidays. I am spending half of my time with my family in St. Louis and the other half painting and some other projects. Trust me, I will have some pics of all the stuff I have been working on over the last couple of months so you all can see. I know pics have been slow of late, but its either get lots of pics up on the site or get jobs done on time. But they will be coming soon. Anyways, more pie!

BroodLord!

2009-11-18T09:30:00.001-05:00

Here he is!

Space Hulk!

2009-11-17T11:43:00.002-05:00

Here is an example of the Librarian from the Space Hulk box set that I just finished painting for a local guy. More pics to come as I get the time...
Also, if you want me to paint your minis just send me an email and we'll talk!

Bane by Dark Age Miniatures

2009-11-04T09:52:00.001-05:00

New pics (a quick update)

2009-11-03T09:48:00.004-05:00

Here are a couple of things that I have been working on.

What to do Next...

2009-11-02T10:41:00.002-05:00

Well I am still rocking away at all the current jobs that I have. Things are progressing well, but this past week has been hell on my schedule with mid-terms and my son's daycare has had a swine flu outbreak. (read: it's been daddy daycare...) But to all the people who have jobs with me right now don't worry, the painting marches on! I will send emails to people to let each one know their status as soon as I can.

Elsewhere, I feel like I'm in a funk right now as nothing that I am working on can capture my imagination at the moment. I have some stuff for Infinity, Flames of War, Warhammer, and on my scope is AE-Bounty and WarCanto. I have also been looking at expanding on the historical side of gaming as well. There are some amazing Napoleonic and AWI lines out there but I really don't know the best rule set. Has anybody tried anything like this. Let me know! Please!

Something on the Horizon...

2009-10-22T23:53:00.002-04:00

Just saw a new interesting game. WarCanto by Dwarf Tales. This stuff looks brand spanking new, as in just released. The art on the website looks amazing but the models are PHENOMENAL! I haven't been this excited about a new game since I first saw Confrontation come out. The rules are free (as a quick download) and there looks to be some interesting gameplay elements as well. But damn those models are fantastic!

Here are some Pics

2009-10-22T12:12:00.004-04:00

Here are the two models that won me two of the Golden Goblins. More detailed pics of the models are going to go up on the other site soon...

please note that the formatting is a little skewed on this site; they are not that stretched...

Marauder Mayhem...

2009-10-18T23:16:00.002-04:00

Just got back from a great tourney in Dayton Ohio. Army underperformed, but I still won TWO painting awards! One for best single fig and the other for Large Monster. Pics to come soon...

Web Site

2009-10-12T12:32:00.001-04:00

Here is he address to the website: http://www.minipaintingservice.com/

Its up, its bare-bonesed, and it gonna have a lot more pics soon!

Website goes live today!

2009-10-11T10:32:00.003-04:00

I am happy to announce that my 'real' website goes live today. I will still update my blog on a regular basis but the website will be the main source of hired gun miniatures.

On other news, my Vampire Counts army is almost ready to roll to the Marauders RTT next week. Let the meat wave roll... I will be surprised if this fluffy list wins a game. But i will let you all know how it goes and I will take pics, see them here...

What's New

2009-10-09T13:52:00.002-04:00

Well, the new website is going painfully slow. Most of my time has been spent painting my current jobs and getting an army ready for a WFB tournament next weekend. The things that are interesting me right now are Flames of War and Infinity. I also had a great idea for doing space wolves: I like the fluff but I just don't like the models; namely the wolf cavalry. What an abomination of a figure (dude looks cool but that wolf is horrifying.) So I was thinking I just might use chaos space marine bits and guys on blood crushers as the models with those rules. I think it would look cool and be fun to play.

The other thing about this tournament. I thought it would be a fun friendly event and not something resembling a 'ard boyz tourney. I was wrong (from what I hear). But the list has already been submitted and now I just play for fun and it is a great opportunity to get exposure for Hired Gun painting service. But I can promise you at the next tourney I will bring the 'thunder'.

More updates to come...

Distractions....

2009-09-17T14:49:00.002-04:00

Its that time of year again. Fall. My gaming time always seems to take a hit at this time of year and now that I am a professional painter, I find myself forcing me to the grindstone amidst many annual distractions. I live in Ohio and with fall coming so to does another school quarter. It's wierd being in college and on the quarter system, but thats life. Getting these jobs done now require a strict management of my time so I can pass my classes and still make money.

Football is here too. I am not originally from Ohio so I am not a diehard buckeye fan, but I do love my college ball. Its kind of easy though to paint with the tv on, but all too often I find my gaze lingering on the Tv and not my models...Pro Football I keep an eye on for my fantasy team (no not Bloodbowl..) but as I said being in Ohio the regular games are the Browns and Bungles, combine their annual effort and you might almost get a winning season... Also, the NNL pre-season has begun so I will follow my BlueJackets in no time...

Tv is not my only foe, the fall fishing season is almost upon us which will regularly force me out of the studio and into the burning sun and insect infested shores to try to catch something other than frustration and dissapointment...

Add a family to the mix and there goes even more time, but this is one that I would gladly pay. (The local pumpkin patches are almost open, yay!) But it does force me to choose what I do in those few moments that are not occupied with previous commitments. Most of the time when I can game I really have to pick between what I play: Will it be 40k or shall I play Malefaux? Shall I finish painting Blood Angels or Eldar or even Flames of War? Should I look at Infinity or Warlord 2.0? Decisions, decisions, decisions....

It wouldn't be so much of a problem but I am just so damned distracted these days. Oh, look at that....

More Guard Pics

2009-09-16T09:40:00.003-04:00

Here are some more pics of a guard army that I had recently finished. Desert Camo and painted at a Tier 2 level of quality. Even better, now im working on more units for this army, including a full psyker squad!

Space Wolves....

2009-09-14T18:47:00.002-04:00

Well I finally got my hands on the new 'dex, and I gotta say I really like it. It's fun, flavorful, and competitive. The fluff is really good and the army list really sticks to it. But, already, there have been cries of "CHEESE!!!" and "BROKEN!!!". At first glance, I don't find anything really broken, yes, there are some really powerful things in there and there might even be some really sick hidden combos that will be revealed once players get an in depth look at the list.

It is an army that kills really well and you could very easily make an all-comers list with relative ease. It is easily in the same tier as Orks, Vanilla Marines, and Imp Guard.

My only problem with what I saw in the Codex was some of the sculpts. Some Wolves looked like ancient and mighty badasses, others however, have mustaches and facial hair that look like turn of the century baseball players, and others have 80s style ponytails that I can't help but look at them like they are going to jazzercise class... When did the mustache-that-connects-to-the-sideburns look ever say 'badass'??? Also, the dude mounted on the wolf. The guy looks awesome, but his wolf is a disproportionate, squirrel tail, nightmare with a cyber-eye... WTF?!

But, for every stinker I saw, there is an equally badass wolf lord sculpt that just rocks. Overall I give the new models a B-, pretty damn good, a few pew, and no Lemartes...

From the first job.

2009-09-10T22:33:00.003-04:00

This was done awhile ago as part of the Guard army I painted. I like it. It was done to a little higher standard than the rest of the army was painted, but I got carried away because it is such a fantastic mini!

Updates...

2009-09-07T00:31:00.002-04:00

Well, I know I have been quite slow at posting but I have been busy painting. I have several jobs going on right now and I'm trying to get as much done before school starts as I can. So far, I have been productive...

The website(official) has been built and I am slowly adding content to it to make it nice and professional. Expect lots of pics and all the info that you need to get your models painted and on the table...

Other than that I've been reading some Lovecraft and Erikson before bed. I really dig Erikson's grasp of the epic. Start with 'Gardens of the Moon,' its a little hard to get into at first but the payoff is well worth it...

Among other things, I have my eye on Reaper's Warlord 2.0, its simple, well-written, and the models are bad-ass, and cheap. The game is fun and it looks like I might be able to fill the space for a fantasy based skirmish that Confrontation left behind. Jean Bey you suck...

My one day at GenCon

2009-08-14T11:06:00.002-04:00

I spent one, singular day at GenCon. I had no camera or twitter device with me, as this adventure was based on a short notice event which allowed me a flexible schedule to attend. There was just no way for me to really see everything, but I just got a taste. Here is what I saw:

Malifaux, the new skirmish game from Wyrd Miniatures, looks amazing. The card based game mechanics have me hooked. Also, for the launch of this game, they have an impressive amount of miniatures and starters out. The few models not currently out are looking for release before the end of the year! This game is six shades of bad-ass!

The line for the new Pathfinder RPG was just about as long the Privateer Press line. PP had their new faction for sale and some of their exclusives. It looks really cool, but I just did not have the time for a much closer look at either of these two items. The demand and hype for them speaks volumes as it is.

Alkemy was represented as well. I really like this game, as I think it is a fun, fantasy based skirmisher with lots of cool miniatures. However, it has literally been about a year since there have been any new releases and I swear I could smell death eminating from this game. But lo and behold, they had their wave 5 sets availible at the con, a pdf version of their rulebook availible, and painted wave 6 figs on display. Also, their dispaly of painted minis was THE sickest of the entire show! I literally wanted to go home and destroy my brushes and just repaint everything. They were the most amazing models I have seen possibly ever! I guess JBT and crew really are not human...

I saw the Rackham booth and the most hated man in gaming... The ONI box was on dispaly and for a second I really liked the ONI foot troops, the had a necro-technoish theme, but then I saw their vehicles and they looked very modern and, well, almost exactly like the Stryker Assault Vehicle. For me the two flavors just didn't mix...

Among other things: I checked out the Reaper booth for some models for their Warlord 2.0 game. This game looks smooth and easy with along line of models to support it and should be easy on the wallet. Also saw Dark Age and CMON booth, and they had some amazing models for sale. Lots of limited edition models and con exclusives. They also had some amazingly painted models on dispaly, a step up from other displays, and I am sorley tempted to repaint my warbands...but I wont 'cause I like my stuff...

All in all, GenCon is a massive event, and a massive line for people who did not pre-reg....Next year I plan on going for the full four days, doing everything I can and seeing it all! But it was pretty damn fun even for just one day!

BTW...

2009-08-11T10:52:00.002-04:00

The new website will be @ minipaintingservice.com. See you there!

Here's the deal....

2009-08-11T10:41:00.002-04:00

Well last night I finally found a hosting service for the 'Official' mini painting website. From that site people will be able to clearly see the services offered and at what price. This site will still remain open and I will primarily use it as just a blog about the gaming industry. So that is what the deal is. Anyway, projects are rocking and rolling. One is just about done and another is getting started. I am heading to Indy this week for a one day stop at GenCon. I know its not a lot of time to see everything there, but with schedule conflicts and other things, I'll take what I can get. Now back to the studio....

Eldar Fire Prisim

2009-07-29T17:05:00.003-04:00

The only problem is I guess I have to take the holo field upgrade every time I play with it....

Some Fantasy mins (VC)

2009-07-27T14:00:00.003-04:00

Lilith from Wyrd Miniatures

2009-07-23T13:02:00.000-04:00

Times are changing....

2009-07-11T23:26:00.002-04:00

I know it's been forever and a day since I've updated anything on this site, but changes are coming. I hope to have a new dedicated website up in the near future. This will clearly spell out policies, prices, ideas, etc. Also, I been messing around with the camera for a while so look for some new, 'fancy', pics of some of the stuff that I've been working on. So please keep sending the emails, I'm still here...

Finals...

2009-06-10T15:25:00.002-04:00

Well it's that wonderful time of year again. Finals! yay. This has consumed much of my time over the last few weeks but they should be over soon. Over the next couple of weeks I should get the pricing info completed and a few more pics up of some more examples. Also, why won't coolminiornot let me post my pics? I mean, what the hell?

Working out the details.

2009-06-03T09:04:00.002-04:00

Well I still working out a pricing system that will be affordable to the client and still be worth my time. My new eldar army is almost done with just a couple of tanks left to go.

Some examples...

2009-06-02T12:01:00.000-04:00

Some examples of WIP

2009-06-02T11:08:00.000-04:00

Starting it up!

2009-06-02T10:22:00.001-04:00

Coming soon