03/15/2025

Happy Sunday, and welcome back to Tabletop Thoughts!

This week brought some solid progress on the crafting front, along with the satisfaction of crossing another goal off the HobbyWeek list. There’s always something energizing about seeing those small, steady steps add up—whether it’s finishing a piece that’s been sitting on the desk a little too long or finally getting around to a project that’s been on the “soon” pile.

A bit of hobby time here and there can go a long way, and this week was a good reminder that consistency beats perfection every time. Even modest progress keeps the momentum going, and before long the hobby table starts to look a little more complete.

Let’s take a look at what got done this week.

First up this week is the 7-Headed Hydra from Brite Minis. I printed this one on my FDM printer and, overall, it turned out pretty well. The model itself is nice, though I do think it might have been stronger with five heads instead of seven. With all seven packed together, things get a bit crowded, which makes getting a brush into all the right places more of a hassle than it probably needs to be.

For paint, I went with a quick SlapChop-style approach to keep things moving. The body was done with two different blue India inks, which gave it some nice tonal variation without much effort. I followed that up with a final drybrush of Temple Guard Blue to bring out the raised scales and add some quick highlights across the body.

The teeth and claws were picked out with bone-white model paint and then toned down with a sepia wash to give them a bit of age and depth. The eyes were painted with brilliant red model paint, and I used a 0.5 fine-tip marker to finish the eye slits for a sharper look.

After a quick clear coat from a rattle can, the hydra was finished and ready for the table.

Next up is a Water Weird from EC3D Design, which was a really fun piece to work on. This one was printed in resin on my Elegoo Mars 3, then primed black and given a white drybrush to establish the base highlights before adding color.

For the water effect, I used Caribbean Ocean Speed Paint, followed by another light white drybrush and a blue wash to deepen the color and give the water a bit more movement and depth. The eyes were picked out in red model paint to help them stand out against the translucent blue tones.

The stone well was painted using my usual stonework method. I start by stippling several colors with a makeup sponge—typically browns, reds, and tans—to create a mottled stone texture. After that, I bring everything together with a light gray drybrush, and then apply my homemade black wash to deepen the shadows between the bricks and add a bit more definition to the stonework.

For the final finish, I coated the well with Matte Mod Podge while the Water Weird itself received Gloss Mod Podge to give it that wet, watery sheen. I’m really happy with how this one turned out.

This miniature also marks something new this week—I’ve placed it in my new Tabletop Thoughts shop. The shop will carry many of the same items available in my DM David’s Prints Etsy store, but I’ll also be listing unique, one-off pieces like this that I don’t plan to keep regularly in stock.

You can check out the Etsy store here:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/DMDavidsPrints

I also completed another set of pine trees for the Etsy store this week. These were done with my usual SlapChop-style process, starting with a dark base and a white drybrush to bring out the texture of the branches.

From there, I used several India inks to add the color, letting the inks settle naturally into the recesses to create some quick depth and variation across the trees. It’s a fast method, but it works really well for terrain pieces like this, where you want good tabletop results without spending hours on each piece.

These are now finished and in stock in the shop and ready to make their way onto someone’s tabletop.

This week, I also released my Shadowdark RPG supplement, Forged in Darkness, on DriveThruRPG. I set it as Pay What You Want, and I’m really proud of the work that went into putting this together. It also marks another goal I checked off my 2026 list, making the release even more satisfying.

You can check it out here:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/559725/forged-in-darkness

Forged in Darkness adds several new systems to Shadowdark RPG focused on expanding how magic and equipment work at the table.

Inside, you’ll find rules that let characters experiment, gamble with dangerous magic, and uncover gear with real history behind it. Wizards can pursue risky magical experimentation to develop new spells, while priests may petition their deity directly for miracles—with the ever-present chance of divine mishaps.

The supplement also introduces equipment quality rules so that weapons and armor feel more meaningful when discovered in the depths of a dungeon. Not every blade is created equal—adventurers might find anything from ruined scrap to finely crafted masterwork gear.

Included systems:

• Wizard spell research and scroll crafting
• Priest divine petitions and possible mishaps
• Equipment quality for weapons and armor
• Repair rules, armor fitting, and loot quality tables

The goal is to bring a little more risk, discovery, and story to both magic and equipment in your Shadowdark campaigns.

I also released a new Tabletop Thoughts video this week, where I walk through how I built a set of Underdark scatter terrain using inexpensive craft supplies and a few simple hobby techniques. The project uses repurposed wooden bases from Dollar General, air-dry clay to sculpt stalagmites, and small wooden mushrooms from Dollar Tree to create terrain that blocks movement and line of sight during encounters. After adding sand and stones for texture, the pieces were primed black and painted with layered blues for a dark cavern look, with bright mushroom colors to help them stand out on the table. The goal of the project was to show how you can create atmospheric, functional RPG terrain for very little cost using basic materials and hobby methods.

I also made some solid progress on my dungeon tile project this week. The tiles are now in the final stages of completion, and I’m really happy with how the set is coming together. Once everything is finished and ready for the table, I’ll be putting together a full build video walking through the process, which should be released sometime this spring.

Keep on gaming!

2026 Goals Progress

• Minis Painted: 136/ 150
• Large Models / Terrain: 6 / 6 – COMPLETE
• YouTube Videos: 4/ 24
• Game Reviews: 3 / 4
• Games Played (TTRPG + Board Games): 0 / 4
• Thursday Drop-Ins Created: 2 / 12
• New TTRPG Systems Tried: 0 / 3
• Shadowdark Mini-Campaign Sessions: 0 / 3
• Shadowdark Release on DriveThruRPG: 1/ 1 – COMPLETE