MINIATURE PAINTING TUTORIAL BOOK: Color - Angel Giraldez

Release Date: 10/05/25

Publisher: Self Published

SYNOPSIS:

Angel Giraldez: Colour, BSL System Product Description

COLOUR is far more than a simple book: it is the main entrance to the BSL System universe.

Throughout its 164 pages you are going to discover the BSL chromatic families and will learn to use them to take the maximum advantage of them. Guided by practical cases and video examples, you will experience the power of colour while you apply new techniques and tools to breathe life into your miniatures.

Immerse yourself in a creative journey that will transform the way you understand and apply colour, guided by Angel Giraldez and Pedro Gonzalez, the creators of the BSL System. Take your skills to the next level and become an expert with this must-have manual for artists of all levels.

REVIEW:

(Disclosure:  I purchased this with my own money and wanted to review it for others.)

As a painter of miniatures who wants to improve, I take every opportunity to sit down and learn, not only though You-Tube but also with helpful books.  As such I've been following an online painter called Angel Giraldez, I love his style, how he paints and of course how the miniatures look upon conclusion which easily allows you to see how the process works from start to finish.

Whilst a great many others out there have a good fundamental standing of artistic principles such as having studied at school or at a higher learning centre I haven't so whilst telling me that x and y work together, I've never had it explained in a way that makes sense to me.

This new book "Color" by Angel is a book that does this.  Written and produced in association with Vallejo, this book utilises his years of learning and skills to easily explain why certain colours work and others don't even explaining how some skin tones won't work with others to present a finished product that you're proud of.

It walks you through what some call basic skills, explains what's what and helps you learn as you develop through practice and repetition on your own mini's as well as having QR codes throughout that allow you to see it in practice.  

All round I'm more than happy with this book, I love how easy it is to follow, understand as well as seeing fabulously detailed photo's of the processes alongside having quality produced video to help back it all up.  

The only thing that I would have liked that wasn't included as a pull-out colour chart of the various paints mentioned within so that its easy to keep an eye on what is being referred to over just having to make a list and look them up separately which takes time away from the book.  It could easily have been added and I do feel its a little bit of an opportunity missed.  That said, there is a dedicated paint set coming out shortly that accompanies this book but when you start totting up the costs it can get quite expensive if you already have invested in other brands.  

SCI-FI HORROR REVIEW: The Staircase in the Woods - Chuck Wendig

Release Date: 29/04/25

Publisher: Del Rey

SYNOPSIS:

Five high school friends, bonded by an oath to protect each other no matter what.

On a camping trip in the middle of the forest, they find something extraordinary: a mysterious staircase to nowhere

One friend walks up – but never comes back down.

Now twenty years later, the staircase has reappeared, and the friends return to find the lost boy – and what lies beyond the staircase in the woods…

FROM THE MODERN HORROR SENSATION COMES A NEW BONE-CHILLING MASTERPIECE.

REVIEW:

In addition to this, if you prefer to listen rather than read, click our YT video here:

Chuck Wendig is a prolific author and with a ridiculous number of books to his name, across a lot of genres.

Lucky enough to get a copy early from the publisher, we dig deep and consider climbing "The Staircase in the Woods."

Diving into this book was a  plunge into the unknown as whilst the mythos of the Stairs in the Woods is well known, what you'll get from the furtive imagination of an author like Chuck is a complete mystery.

The book is written with his usual panache, has cracking prose, top notch description and of course keeps you hanging on by your fingernails right until the final page, occasionally  allowing you to grab a breath of air  with masterful lulls of pace.

Add to this, characters that you want to spend time with, that are believable and of course dialogue that feels realistic with choices that you could see yourself making, all round makes this one of the books that I am recommending already for people who love something a little different to pick up as they'll love every page.

All round, a book that was a pure joy to devour and one that will stay with you long after the final page is turned.  Magical.

MINIATURE FEATURE: Mortenburg Dark Lords of the Shifting Sands - Heroes Infinite April 2025

 

Here at Totally Pawsome,

We just love to bring you our favourite print yourself mini's each month, and here for your viewing pleasure is our YT vid for Heroes Infinite's Mortenburg:  Dark Lords of the shifting sands, which also includes news on their new subscriber tier.  

As usual we always include a link to their own video and hope you enjoy our own efforts of our cherry picked favourites.  

Please join us for more features to come in the next few days.

Thundermouser

BOOK PUBLICITY: Dr Dhrolin's Dictionary of Dinosaurs - Palaeo Games

 

With so many D & D 5e books out there, finding something that will allow you to take your games in a different direction can feel quite hard, however we were lucky enough to come Dr Dhrolin’s Dictionary of Dinosaurs,

Here you can take your games in a totally new direction as you'll be able to bring the Savage lands into your DnD game without worrying about players knowing all the stats and immunities of what they'll be facing. Its nicely put together, has wonderful illustrations and of course stats so that you can throw some real surprises their way, we will be reviewing this book in full in the future, however here's our thoughts on what we've seen so far as well as letting you know the various links so you too can join in.

Paleo Games: Dr Dhrolin's Dictionary of Dinosaurs

Professor Primula’s Portfolio of Palaeontology Kickstarter

VIDEO BOOK REVIEW: Warhammer 40K: The Ultimate Guide - Guy Haley and Gav Thorpe - Dorling Kindersley

Here at Totally Pawsome we love the dark 41st Millernium of Warhammer 40k so when we got a chance to finally put our words to paper on the fabulous Warhammer 40,000:  The Ultimate Guide by Guy Haley and Gav Thorpe, we jumped at the chance.   Here is our video review of this book:

MONTHLY MINIATURES: Imperial Commando: Lost in the Jungle - Heroes Infinite.

 

Hail Mighty Readers and Mini Painting Officionado's,
Here's our first post for this month of mini's that we're already in love with and that we'd recommend to others that you can print at home.  These ones from Heroes Infinite will add quite a lot this month to a those who have Imperial Guard 40K armies, especially with so many fine Catachan to add.  We've also added a new feature this month, our first YT video where we cherry pick our personal favs.

This mini, from the Imperial Commando, Lost in the Jungle is pretty cool and would make a fab leader for any Catachan unit in its beautiful glory of colour as well as design.


Alongside this, they have a whole range of other mini's out there with two price ranges, where under the Leader Tier ($10) you get:

9-10 Heroes

3 Dynamic Troopers

1 Epic Centerpiece

14+ Scenic Bases

2 Monsters

Whereas if you take out the Overlord Tier ($16) you will get in addition to the above:

Additional 15-20 new Troopers

to create 5 different units

Exclusive alternative versions

of Heroes and Monsters

Mind-boggingly extensive

Modular / Scatter Terrain

Exclusive additional models

for our Heroes Infinite Overlords,

such as Mounted Heroes, Monsters, and more.

Each tier is pretty fab and we also wanted to link to their YT vid where you can see the full range for your money.

Finally if I were to pick one item from the range to call my favourite, I think it will have to be the fabulous Bulldog, featured in our own YT video with plenty of space to transport your soldiers and of course would look great to either transport a kill team or even just as a centre piece for your battlefield.


Please join us in celebrating everything to do with the joy of mini's.

And as we continue the series please remember that some of these will only be available at the prices cited for this month, so if you like them, get them now.  

There are plenty of others that we don't have the space to feature so please watch the YT trailer so that you can see everything to decide if there's some that you really want.

MONTHLY MINI'S: Eclipsed by Darkness: Inquisition Vs the Void Elves - Heroes Infinite

 

Hail Mighty Readers and Mini Painting Officionado's,
Here's our first post for this month of mini's that we're already in love with and that we'd recommend to others that you can print at home.  These ones from Heroes Infinite will add quite a lot this month to a fair few armies, whether you love the Druhkari, the Aeldari or the Inquisition/Sisters of Battle.  They all look pretty cool to paint as they add something a little different to a lot of others out there, so without further ado, lets get to it:

This mini, from the Inquisition Vs Void Elves range (this set is known as Eclipsed by Darkness, is pretty cool and would make a fab leader for any Sister battleforce in its beautiful glory of colour as well as design.

Alongside this, they have a whole range of other mini's out there with two price ranges, where under the Leader Tier ($10) you get:

9-10 Heroes

3 Dynamic Troopers

1 Epic Centerpiece

14+ Scenic Bases

2 Monsters

Whereas if you take out the Overlord Tier ($16) you will get in addition to the above:

Additional 15-20 new Troopers

to create 5 different units

Exclusive alternative versions

of Heroes and Monsters

Mind-boggingly extensive

Modular / Scatter Terrain

Exclusive additional models

for our Heroes Infinite Overlords,

such as Mounted Heroes, Monsters, and more.

Each tier is pretty fab and we also wanted to link to their YT vid where you can see the full range for your money.

Finally if I were to pick one item from the range to call my favourite, I think it will have to be the fabulous Skiff, plenty of space to put a fair few of your Druhkari and of course would look great to either transport a kill team or even just as a centre piece for your battlefield.



Please join us in celebrating everything to do with the joy of mini's.

And as we continue the series please remember that some of these will only be available at the prices cited for this month, so if you like them, get them now.  

There are plenty of others that we don't have the space to feature so please watch the YT trailer so that you can see everything to decide if there's some that you really want.