About Us
Lion Tower Miniatures Ltd (Now Trading as "The Lion's Tower") was founded in 2015 by Dan Kelly. Dan has been a miniature collector since 1990, and has been sculpting miniatures since 2005 (originally in Kneadatite a.k.a Greenstuff), making the switch to digital sculpting in 2010 (mostly to learn a new skill and stop Hayley complaining about the mess every night when he got all of his sculpting gear out on the coffee table!). At the time, we didn’t believe that consumer level 3D printing technology was within our reach, but how wrong we were! Following the success of our first Kickstarter in 2016, we invested in a top quality 3D printer and are now doing both sculpting and printing exclusively in-house.
Jump forward to August 2019 and 3D printing had become a hobby for many and it was the right time for to move from dealing with a physical product into a digital marketplace, and so we set up our Patreon page and My Mini Factory store front to help us to reach the new audience.
It’s been a rollercoaster of a journey over the last few years with the explosion of the STL marketplace, COVID and all manner of other hurdles that have been thrown our way, but we’re still here and bringing you all exciting new content each month.
One thing that we will always guarantee you as customers is models that are sculpted to scale to be gamed with and designed to be painted by someone who understands miniature painting and gaming!
Who are we?
Dan
I’ve been collecting miniatures since I was 7 years old. I remember painting my car boot sale acquired copy of Hero Quest Advanced Quest using the paints and brushes from a painting by numbers kit! I entered the hobby as many miniature enthusiasts did at the time through Games-Workshop products as a very accessible miniature resource.
When I was a little older I joined a local gaming club, regularly playing Warhammer Fantasy battles, Warhammer 40K, Necromunda, Mordheim, Inquisitor, and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Eventually we dabbled in other systems like Void by I-kore (later taken over by Urban Mammoth) and others that I cant remember the name of now.
I always loved collecting, converting and painting models more than actually playing the games, and I used to enter the Golden Demon competition and occasionally finalised (but sadly never got a trophy).Over the years I dipped in and out of the hobby and my gaming waned, but my painting and modelling continued as a staple use of my spare time.
Gradually I began to do more elaborate conversions, moving into sculpting and eventually started doing full miniatures. I did a few commission pieces in my early 20s, but it was before Facebook and other Social media really took hold so it was tricky to get in touch with contacts without already being in the industry. I've made miniatures to be cast in both Metal and Resin in the past and sculpting in the physical scale, whilst it does present some challenges, has ultimately given me a much better understanding of miniatures as a whole.
Around 2010 I picked up a copy of Zbrush and began moving my sculpting journey into a digital direction and then several years of practicing and developing a workflow led me to set up the business in 2015 and run my first Kickstarter back in 2016.
Before sculpting full time I used to work in Health, Safety and Environmental Management and Facilities Management
Hayley
I met Dan in 2008 and at the Time I was a fairly recently qualified Teacher with a few years under my belt. I remember thinking he was a real nerd with the miniatures, but an adorable one!
He won me over, but I still don’t entirely get what its all about! That said I’ll support him every step of the way and I even know things now that I would never have known previously – Like the difference between a Paladin and a Cleric or a Sorcerer and a Wizard!
In May 2021 I handed in my Notice after a 15 year teaching career and 12 years at the same school – I was burning out with the long hours, not able to give our 2 wonderful children as much time and attention as I wanted to, and ultimately teaching just wasn't the same profession that I joined all those years ago and it was time for me to leave. Luckily, Lion Tower Miniatures was doing well enough to employ me to help Dan and free him up from various administrative burdens.
Now I look after the Accounts, marketing, and website admin looking after our various online stores that we use. I also assist with creating renders and product images.