Greetings fellow wargamers! Here at WMG we are always looking for new painting talent in the local community. Painters are the lifeblood of our studio. They are the legs we stand on, our rock of Gibraltar, the shock troops on the front lines, our swords and shields! So when one joins our noble ranks, we like to make them feel welcome. One way we do that is to introduce them, formally, to the world!
So, without further ado, allow me to introduce our newest painter, Mike Hartshorn. I'll let Mike tell you about himself in his own words: "My name is Michael A. Hartshorn and I’m 34 years young. What North Carolina calls OCD I call attention to detail, and that’s what I do when I do a job, whether it’s painting, driving tanks, or writing.
I have been in the game-store business for over 10 years and have been painting models and miniatures since I was 12. I spent 10 years in the Army, including the last few years in the National Guard. I am also enrolled in Full Sail University for my degree in Creative Writing for Entertainment, which includes scripts, screenplays, books, and novels. Hopefully in a few years my name will be among the other great fantasy and science fiction writers.
Whenever I get the time I try to play as many games as possible. I have a large Warhammer 40,000 Chaos Space Marine army, and am starting a small Tau force, and will be attempting an Imperial Guard Tank Company. In Warhammer Fantasy I have a large Chaos Warrior (see a theme?) army, an Ogre Kingdom’s army, and am working on a Vampire Count Crypt Ghouls army. I also have a minimal size U.S. force for Flames of War and a small force of Cryx for Warmachine."
Mike works at
Gamer's Armoury in Cary, NC, a FLGS. Mike runs their 40k league, which is always engaging on a new campaign of some sort. Indeed, the crew at Gamer's Armour seems to be a welcoming, close knit community that is always eager for a good, narrative game or a pick-up with a new player!
Mike has a clean style of painting. Even his OSL from the plasma pistol is subtle, and you have to really look to pick up the glow on the marines armor and face. Mike also manages to pack a lot of details into his figures. The Ogres below are a great example! Each of these ogres is a unique figure, a work of art all its own. Each has a fun 'little' mom tattoo on their bodies somewhere, as well as some other little details, like tribal markings and tattoos, other forms of scarification, and slate basing. And not to miss the obvious, but that custom BSB is killer!
Mike's lines are very well defined. His Grey Knights in blue and silver has a very crisp divide, and the already mentioned BSB has an incredible tartan plaid.
I also like that Mike doesn't always keep things perfectly even. His daemon prince sports a third arm . . . and that is not a euphemism he really does have three arms, much like the old Slaanesh prince. While most folks would insist on
four arms for their daemon princes, Mike threw caution to the wind. And why not? The Gods of Chaos are fickle, after all. This atach like giant prince has a place on any tabletop.
The other thing I like about Mike's style is his macabre sense of style. He painted his daemons in white to make them really stand out, and if that wasn't enough, he gave many of them lovely bouquets of flowers to hold. This reminded me of the scene in Legend (that Tom Cruise classic!) where the Goblins stalk the unicorn through the glade, or in Frankenstein when the monster helps the little girl pick flowers (we know how THAT ended . . . )
When you commission a model through WMG, we select a painter (like Mike) for your project. Each painter has a unique sense of style and areas of expertise, and we assign a painter to each project based on their talents as well as their availability. You aren't hiring a painter, you are hiring a studio. And we bring our full resources to bear for each project, to give each client the attention they deserve.
For those just tuning into this blog, my name is Caleb and I am the owner of White Metal Games, a miniature conversion and painting service in Raleigh NC. If you are interested in commissioning a model through us, contact us at calebfilm@yahoo.com. We have a dedicated staff of painters on hand to handle your project needs. We also offer terrain building services, consignment, and dioramas. We are your one stop modeling shop. Our prices are competitive with many services, but our customer service is certainly our strongest aspect. Give us a shot, you won't be disappointed!
Be sure to check out our youtube channel listings
here, and be sure to subscribe to see all of our updates!
And until then, remember to PUT YOUR MINIS WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS! Happy wargaming!
Caleb, WMG
Mike's lines are very well defined. His Grey Knights in blue and silver has a very crisp divide, and the already mentioned BSB has an incredible tartan plaid. 
