Welcome to the New Blog
Hey there folks, can you believe we’re half way through August already? Today marks the start of a new blog format. We’ll be bringing you loads of content; things like community involvement, upcoming events, spoilers, interviews, and much more!
It is a personal honor and privilege to be able to present this to you all. I started here at BAM as a patron back in July of 2021 after I’d purchased a 3d printer to help me combat the monotony of Covid quarantine. I remember searching for owlfolk to print after I found out that they were being added to a certain favorite roleplaying game of mine and that’s when I stumbled upon “Legend of Daemoor”. It didn’t have just a few owlfolk, it had a whole village of them! The big draw for me, though, was what is still one of my favorite models, the Owlgon (which you’ll see later in the blog is close to another person’s heart, too).
So without further ado, I hope you enjoy the Broken Anvil Reader; and by all means, come on up and have a seat at the BAR.
A Glimpse at GenCon
What a crazy roller coaster GenCon was for the team. BAM was invited last minute, and leadership had to make a quick decision as to whether or not to attend. After the decision was made, the mad dash to the starting line began. Printers were fired up, t-shirts were designed and ordered, vans were maintained, statues were crafted, clampacks were… clammed? I simply can’t describe to you in a blog the utter scramble, hard work, and long nights the folks at BAM HQ made just to have a decent presentation on time and ready for you! Chris, Bill, Josh, Nate, and Michael made the drive over and met with many of you face to face. Back at home the craziness didn’t stop, with pretty much all the rest of BAM working diligently to fulfill Dungeon Delvers orders. A hearty welcome to all the newcomers who found us at the convention, and thanks to all of you who stopped by for making the event a success. We’ll see you next year!
Here are some highlights of the event.
Interview with an Artist
Of all the things I’ve enjoyed about working for BAM so far, one of my absolute favorites is looking on our internal Discord server and perusing all the lovely concept art, modeling, planning, and even just the interesting discourse between the various pieces. That got me to thinking: who are all these folks in the background of BAM whose brilliant work makes the whole thing possible? What do they do? Where do they come from? Well the mystery ends here! I’ll be conducting regular interviews with artists and contributing staff. First, we have one of our longest running 3d modelers, Katja. Let’s give her the floor!
Alex: Who are you and how long have you been with BAM?
Katja: Hi my name is Kateryna Hrytsyshyna and I have been a sculptor for BAM for almost 1.5 years.
Alex: Where are you from/based out of?
Katja: I am based in Ukraine where I work remotely.
Alex: Where/what did you study?
Katja: All my life I lived and studied in Ukraine; I’ve only recently started working remotely. I received my degree in computer engineering and was really excited about programming. One time, I needed a 3d model for a game I had started to write. I tried 3d modeling for myself … And never returned to programming. Through my 3d path, I tried a lot of things. I did models for the Farming simulator as my first job (the most boring thing ever), but it taught me modeling. After that, I did furniture for visualizations for a few years, and later I re-learned VFX Houdini artist (I was doing visual effects for movies, and programming experience really was good for this work). All throughout my 4 years of going down this path there was one constant part of it that became a hobby to me: character sculpting. I did it after work, on vacations, and on weekends. I taught myself a lot about sculpting. Eventually my first order for a character miniature arrived. Over time these character miniatures changed my work, and making them became my full-time job. And I am in love with it!
Alex: Did you always want to be an artist?
Katja: I really wanted to be an artist as a kid, and painted a lot. But at some age, I switched to mathematics and programming and only returned to art totally accidentally.
Alex: What techniques/programs do you use to make your art?
Katja: Zbrush, 3ds Max, and Marvelous Designer. I know some other software too, but do not use it now. And, for sure, I use a Wacom Intuos M creative pen tablet. I couldn’t do any work without the last one for sculpting.
Alex: What are some challenges you’ve had to overcome in translating sketch art to a 3d model?
Katja: When I first started sculpting, I had a bad habit. I would sculpt from just one angle, so my early works looked really bad from any other side than the front. But I do have some screenshots to laugh at now.
Alex: How long have you been doing this particular art?
Katja: I have been learning Digital Sculpting for a total of 5 years, and have worked as a sculptor for the last two.
Alex: Do you do any other forms of artwork other than your Digital Sculptor work at BAM?
Katja: Yes, my new hobby for the last year is jewelry. I really like to implement sculptures into a wearable metal miniature, adding some stones and sparkle. So, it’s connected to sculpting, but just requires a ton of other steps to do by hand.
Alex: What has been your favorite art piece/sketch/model that you have created so far?
Katja: It’s definitely the Owlgon (Owl Dragon) from the July 2021 BAM Patreon release, Legend of Daemoor. He’s adorable.
Alex: Is there anything else you’d like to share with us or advice you’d like to give?
Katja: Don’t be afraid to change your path; maybe you will find something worthy.
Thanks for your time, Katja! In honor of our spotlight artist and their favorite model, the Owlgon from the Legend of Daemoor set will be 60% off for the rest of the month using code KATJAOWLGON60.
If you want to see more of Katja’s work feel free to visit her Artstation site or follow her on Instagram!
Behind the Anvil
Last week we saw the remainder of the Dungeon Delvers shipments make their way to the distribution center and they should soon be in the hands of all you patient Kickstarter backers. We also have seen the release of a new Merchant Licensing Agreement for the Patreon and we’re hoping it’ll give us the opportunity to establish a more tightly knit professional relationship with our merchants.
GenCon leftovers have hit the store on a limited basis which you can visit here. I’ve been told that some GenCon t-shirts will be up for sale soon so keep a watch out for those too.
In addition, we also teased some lovely concept art for our yet-to-be-named September release. If you didn’t catch the teaser you can read it here! We’ve got all sorts of fantasy mobster delights in store for you. Keep an eye out for the full preview closer to the end of the month.
If you’ve been following Rivenstone, our new tabletop skirmish game, or you’re just learning about it, the BackerKit store will be closing in just under a week on August 21st. There are a number of Kickstarter Exclusives for purchase like alternate sculpts for your heroes, as well as some “Extra-Mile Stretch Goals” that we are close to unlocking! Unlocks like the Wild Terrain pack that you, the community, will have a direct say in what we make for it! So stop by and get those late pledges in while you can! If you haven’t heard, the required minimum order quantities for many of the stretch goals were significantly reduced. Thus far you have all managed to unlock extra dice, extra tokens and measurement sticks, acrylic measurement sticks, another group of alternate hero sculpts, and the two battlemats; and you are all very close to unlocking acrylic tokens, extra rulebooks, and faction dice bags.
Lastly this week, I want to mention our contest this month, Paint Fight 2: Gilded Road Rampage! Click this link for details.
Do you have what it takes to paint with the very best? If you do then you’ll have a chance to win a 3d printer, resin, and even our latest exclusive model, Sir Tornavir the Terror Blade. So good luck folks, submissions are due August 31st!
Last Call
Well everyone, it’s closing time at the BAR. Stay tuned for our next Broken Anvil Reader where we’ll have plenty to discuss about future Patreon releases, community spotlights, and more. Thank you all for joining us! And if you haven’t already, feel free to check out our My Mini Factory Tribes or Patreon here!
