Saturday 3 February 2018

Building a better, cheaper backdrop.

Have you ever dreamt of having one of those fancy pants backdrops to take your mini pics against, but you couldn't be arsed acquiring all the necessary terrain supplies, the time spent building the bloody thing and then the possibility of it looking like a polished turd once completed? Well have I got the answer for you! This backdrop costs next to nothing to build, can be set in no time and can be stored away in the bin after use. All this, without compromising on style or class!

 I present to you the pinnacle of backdrop design, the printed beach!

I think you get the idea ;)


When your pretend soldiers have ended a hard day at the office, killing and being killed off, there's nothing more that they would rather do than to relax on a beach somewhere.....theoretically of course. But mostly it's coz I like a fair amount of kitsch in my gaming :D

Here's a few recent mini's I've painted up to show off the new Papafakis backdrop.

Chaos Sorcerer with his digits freed from the mitten hand he had been cursed with from the factory.  

One of my favourite Merc's from the range.

Major Magnum sporting a grenade launcher. His titchy pistol was all but gone when I bought him.

I think this guy is a Hasslefree mini? Anyway, had him for years...knocked him out last week.

Kulo wants a beach holiday too.

Old world Jack. A mini I've wanted for a very long time. Gifted to me by my friend Asslessman, cheers buddy :)

The shoulder pads make it pretty clear that he doesn't like to be bothered.

Basically, just leave him be.


So, this is my new backdrop for the foreseeable future. That is until I come across something cheaper and more stylish than this of course.

Till next time, cheers fella's.

24 comments:

  1. Brilliant mate - liking your latest minis, and good to know there are still beach holidays in the grim-dark future ;-)

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    1. And in the Chaos wastes ;)

      Cheers mate, I'm pretty happy with my latest additions. I've got a few daemons on the go atm as well. Glad you like the backdrop Leady :)

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  2. Classy! Certainly not what I expected, but realxing on the Caribbean is a total win!
    I have to print a new background for my pics, you may have given me some ideas...

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    1. Fact, Kitsch = classy :D

      I have been trying to come up with something to replace my old T-shirt backdrop for a while. This idea popped into my head last week, and here I am.

      Cheers Suber :)

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  3. I was just thinking "I wonder what Papafakis is up to", and the answer is that he's sent his models on holiday! I can almost hear the steel (legion) drums.

    Seriously, the models look very good and the bright background shows them off very well. I really need to look into making a proper background sometime. Nice work.

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    1. Even though it's cheesy, I still needed to make sure the background image didn't compete with the mini's being photographed. The beach is fine for the time being, but I'll be on the look-out for other "stylish" backdrops to print off in the future. Purpose built one's look great, and I'm quietly confident that I could knock one up....just couldn't be arsed.

      Cheers Toby :)

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  4. Its nice warm colored lighting, a bit bright for my taste but heh, I prefer beige. I do like your light box though, a further out shot would be good?

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    1. I've got a shitty phone camera that can't handle low light very well. Always have to over expose the shot just so you can see the mini. I'm getting a new camera in the coming months so the pics will improve then.

      You likey the box? I'll send you a pic.

      Cheers Curtis :)

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  5. What ho! Effective and refreshingly direct, if my phone hadn’t gone into the washing machine I would definitely do this. My forces deserve a beach holiday having to put up with me, weirdly been feeling guilty that I haven’t built houses for them yet!!?

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    1. Hehehe :D Yeah, all we do is send them off to their death most of the time.

      It's simple, but fun and does the job. Cheers Ragsta :)

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  6. I have to say I'd be slightly worried about sand between the toes of my miniatures. I would never allow them a beach vacation for that reason alone ;) Having said that, you've almost shamed me into finally building a proper photo backdrop. That aside, I love Kulo, where is he from?

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    1. I'll let you on in a little secret Merijn, they aren't on a beach. There's a travelling photographer that tours the pretend battlefields of the WFB/RT globe. He sets up shop right in the thick of it, laying out his backdrop, takes the pic and the hauls arse outta there!

      I made/converted up Kulo a little while back. The wrote about the build here:

      https://papafakis.blogspot.com/search/label/Kulo

      Glad you like him :) I'm chuffed with how he turned out too.

      Cheers Merijn.

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    2. "There's a travelling photographer that tours the pretend battlefields...", you win the internet for a day sir :D

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    3. Hahahahaha, thanks Merijn :D

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  7. I thought that was actually done in Photoshop first time I saw it! Ha!

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    1. Gee, I must be doing something right if I managed to fool a graphic designer :D

      Thanks Curis :)

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  8. When are you going to show up in a bikini in the background?

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    1. When you slip an e-dollar into my g-string :D

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  9. A day at the beach! Pretty soon you're going to have to rebase all your miniatures with a finer grade of sand! :) That actually works pretty well. The horizon line disappears nicely. Well done sir! Cheap and easy maybe, but very effective.

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    1. Thanks Composer :)

      It did turn out a lot better than I expected actually. The bright setting really helps with the contrast of the mini's. I'll play with a few more different one's in the future too, all kitschy of course :)

      Cheers.

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  10. This is a great method, and I've used it myself countless times. Very generous of you to go through a step by step for everyone. Thanks for that (I'll be sending view to this post for years).

    but recently, for really quick one off's, I found I can cut out the printing step and when I find a background shot I like, I simply set up my tablet behind the minis.

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    1. Great idea Major! I'll keep that trick in mind :)

      Cheers!

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