The Good, The Bad and The Ugly...

There have been a couple of hobby related things that have thrown me off balance over the last couple of weeks. One is a model that was frustrating me because the image in my head wasn't working out with what I was painting. The other is an ongoing situation with someone taking a specific dislike to either me, my painting style, or my choice of models...

The first of these issues I am on the way to resolving, as I'll explain below. The other remains something of a dilemma really...


A few posts back (in May), I mentioned that someone has taken exception to my models on Coolminiornot. Well, their campaign continues unabated with each of my models submitted since May being subjected to their trolling "fun" to a greater or lesser extent. As things are unlikely to change any time soon, and the identity of my nemesis remaining unknown, I can only really remain philosophical about it and take the view that I must be doing something pretty decent that this someone takes that much time out of their day to try and tear it down! *winks*
And with that very much in mind, here's my latest Kingdom Death Pinup, The Phoenix Dancer...

I had actually finished her a little while back, but I was in two minds about the base. I had made this base a while back from a glass effect clear plastic stopper from some cheap Xmas smellies and a perfume lid. I had to sand and buff out the mould lines and flatten the top a little to accept the model.
Once glued on, I have a LED base from a laser etched glass ornament which I sat the base on, so that I could shine the light through the middle of the base and light up the bubbles within to bring the rainbow colours in the sword into play too.

The colour scheme is based again on Lokman Lam's concept art, and I should mention that this was a preview cast of the sculpt (by Thomas David) that I received from Adam around the time of the Kickstarter. It will be released as a part of the Kickstarter soon(ish).
This was the art by the way...

Harking back to CMON, here is the voting link for her - OH HAI!
And here is the Putty & Paint link (member votes here are more than welcome) with larger images and additional views - CLICK ON ME!
^_^

Moving swiftly on, I previously showed a paint in progress of the Andrea Ainariël piece. I had painted a load of colour on the cloak, but felt unsure of whether I was happy with what I'd done. This led me to put the piece down and temporarily lose my enthusiasm for the model. A few years back I decided that I would no longer paint models that I didn't enjoy, and particularly that I wouldn't paint models specifically for competition. Now, I'm pretty competitive in many things in life, and I still like to win, but I now see it more a case of making sure that I take something new with me when I do go to shows and competitions, regardless of whether I think that they will win anything.
So, I sat and looked at this partially painted model (or tried not to look at it sometimes!) and tried to figure out what was stymieing my enthusiasm for it. In between I prepped and started painting a couple of fun pieces that I'll show in a future Ep, and inadvertantly in doing so I decided to open and try some paints that I'd been a little intimidated about since I bought them a couple of months back.
The paints in question are the Scale 75 Scalecolor Metal N' Alchemy paints, and my goodness they are a revelation! For a couple of years now I've been using Vallejo's Model Air metallic paints ahead of other ranges because the paints had much finer metallic pigments than any of the other acrylic miniature metals, and I had no experience of the likes of metallic printers' inks, alcohol based metallics or similar. The results with the VMA paints were pretty good, although I still preferred to paint in non-metallic style because I felt that I couldn't get the same quality of finish painting with "true" metals...

Not any more.

A lot of painters have been very happy with the behaviour and appearance of the majority of Scalecolor's paints, but these are pretty much game changers for me. The metallic pigment is almost liquid like in each of the paints, so no more visible flakes, and even when diluted you get great, flat coverage within two or three thin coats that is really convincing. Add to this the numerous colour tones in the range that allow you to create subtle, and not so subtle, colour shifts, you can create realistic looking reflections and effects without resorting to witchcraft. Further to this, I've been using the Scalecolor inks relatively successfully for a couple of pieces, and they can be mixed with or glazed over the metallics to great effect too!

So, armed with these new toys, I picked Ainariël back up, and set about her with renewed vim! And so happy was I with the metals that I've moved straight on and begun work on her skin. The skin is intended to stay mostly pale and pinkish, but almost none of it is finished at this stage.

 

Now, I've still not resolved the cloak in my mind, but the metals have inspired me to get on with it, and maybe something will pop into my head as I go along.

 Until next time, ne te confundant illegitimi ^_^

Another guide and some gardening

Hi all.

If you have seen my activity around FB or any of the forums that I hang out in, then this may not be news, but I have had a third painting guide published on the Kingdom Death site - LINKY

This model is the Preacher pinup, and is again a part of the Pinups of Death box set and painted to resemble Lokman Lam's lovely concept art. I have now completed all of the models and am currently working through the painting guides for the upcoming months, so watch out for that. :)

I've put her into my CMON gallery - HERE - and also my Putty & Paint gallery - HERE - so if you feel like popping by and leaving a vote or comment that would be great. :)

Moving on with what I'm doing right now, I've progressed the Andrea elf a bit. I am actually a little intimidated still with regards to the drapery on the model, and have done some early blending, but I want to add a lot of either texture or embroidered imagery to the cape, so these shots are likely to hold little resemblance to the final piece.

The base I think I shall call "done" barring some touch ins of the black and a name plaque. I've done a warm/cold contrast with some warm coloured plants to the front and centre and darker, more autumnal tones to the back and far edges. There's some real plants, Silflor tufts and flowers plus some laser cut leaves scattered around. I may yet add a few coffee grounds to the soil, but I'm fairly happy where it is right now.

Hopefully I'll more her along some more this week.

Cheers ^_^

Apologies for the delay. Normal Service Now Resumed...

Well. With the best of intentions, the last couple of months have been very busy working on a great commission. There will be a wait before I'm cleared to share the pictures, but the box is on its way to the new owner and I now have time to set my sights on my favourite show, Euro Militaire.

I have several ideas in mind, but with only 7 weeks left we'll see how far I get. The first model that I've decided to work on is an Andrea piece that I had almost forgotten that I had. This is Ainariël, Arrow of Light, and I think that she is the first Freeman sculpt that I will attempt to paint. I have decided not to do any conversion work on the actual model, largely due to her being cast in metal, and the base that she comes with lends itself nicely to just building some ground work around the metal. I found an aftershave lid that fits the shape of the model superbly too, so that will be her plinth :)

 

There was a small amount of filling to do, but I actually received her as a second hand model, so a lot of prep work had already been done in terms of mould lines and pinning.

I plan on completing the base with earthy tones, grass tufts, fallen leaves and such, all in an autumnal scheme, and then allowing that to help dictate the colours that I will use on the model either as a complementary or contrasting scheme. I also plan to use my new Scale 75 metal alchemy paints on her armour for the first time. I have heard good things about them, so I hope to share good progress on them very soon.

Other than this, I haven't had much time away from the commission work to paint or prepare anything other than the Kingdom Death Phoenix Dancer that I started quite a while back. She is a lot closer to completion now and I am quite pleased with her as a representation of Lokman's concept art...

There is still some work on the feathers, little lanterns and sword hilt to do, then I need to create a base for her, but I've enjoyed working on her when I've had a few minutes to spare.

I do also still plan on working on Shido'ni, as mentioned in the previous post, and I think that I may do the Twisted M'Dusa model that I picked up at Salute, if time before the show allows. If it doesn't, I guess that I will probably just paint her anyway, because she is a great looking sculpt! ^_^

In other news, while I've been away, I've had a big birthday (40), which has involved quite a lot of eating and drinking, plus the ongoing good weather here has encouraged that extra beer or two in the garden of a weekend or evening. Think I need to squeeze a bit more exercise in before I can't squeeze into my clothes! lol

Cheers (and beers!)

I ain't dead. I've just been busy...

Well. Apologies for not posting sooner for anyone who may have been wondering what I've been up to, but I think that I mentioned that I've been working on commission work that would become public when the client was ready. This coupled with the World Cup being on during my hobby time has meant that I've not been as prolific of late. I have in fact been quite productive and I'm moving into the later phases of the commission work, so in a few weeks I'll have more to show.

Aside from this, it has been a really busy few weeks at home and work too, with weddings, birthdays, surprise visits from my sister who lives in Australia and trips to toddler based entertainment events and amusement parks. So, again, all of this has scaled me back a bit.

With the preamble dealt with, I do have something nice to show, and I am really happy to say that I've been published again on the Kingdom Death website.

The piece is another Kingdom Death commission piece, and my first painted piece from their new hard plastic range. I've got to say that I was really very impressed with the kits for the quality of detail and faithfulness to the original resin versions of the sculpts (despite the very slight increase in size vs. the resins). The most impressive part though was the amount of thought that had gone into how the individual kits were cut up for assembly. In this particular model, I think that there was one, maybe two obvious joins on the whole model that needed any filling, and looking at the others in the set, this is carried across to the rest of the sculpts.
Like the brief on the previous piece that I did for Kingdom Death (the Architect Pinup), there is an accompanying article which can be found HERE.
The process of painting is less exhaustive in this second article, but mainly because a lot of technique chat was done in the first article and much of that need not be explained again :)

So, here is the Forsaker Pinup...

I've said it in the article, and I'll happily say it again that these new plastic go together just brilliantly, and it makes a pleasant change to paint something where you aren't constantly worried about bits breaking off like you do with resin! Yet they still have almost all of the details as the original sculpts, and still nice and crisp.
This gives me good incentive to paint the others and soon, so watch this space! ;)

You can find more views on Putty & Paint - HERE - and also on Coolminiornot - HERE

Unfortunately, this is the only new thing that I can show right now, but I have been shopping for a couple of indie pieces too, most notably Shido'ni by Christian Hardy

And also Laurent Leleu by Yannick Hennebo

Sometimes individual prijects like this just catch the eye and you have to just buy them when they come out. I shall especially enjoy painting Shido'ni when the commission pieces have been finished off. She will make a nice change of direction before the madness of Kingdom Death:Monster finally ships...! ^_^

Hope that you like the Forsaker, and with the World Cup coming to a close soon I hope to get some personal painting done too, maybe with an eye on Euro Militaire.

Cheers! ^_^

Crowdfunding season (and some titillation)

OK, well it seems that my Facebook feed is crammed to the gills with current and upcoming crowdfunding projects, so I thought that I would do a little summary of the ones that have caught my eye (or pocket) in the last few weeks. A couple of these will have finished by the time that you read this, but I've included them either for additional exposure and future reference, or just because I like them! ^_^

First of all, Kingdom Death:Monster...

Yeah, I know, it "should" have been fulfilled by now if original estimates had worked out, but never in his wildest dreams did Adam Poots expect to go from selling 50-100 resin minis to fund the next casting run or sculpt, to fulfilling the wishes of some 5500 backers, and cramming about 11 expansions into the original game! Dealing with the new expectation has led to sourcing hard plastic moulding of the minis from China and who knows how much else in terms of card stock, dice and artwork.
The anticipation of this as a table top game, method of miniature construction and as a slick looking art piece is huge now and each update on Kickstarter has me salivating happily.
I've been lucky enough in the past to have had a few of the models from the game in their prototype resin forms, and they are stupendous.

I painted the starting survivors for the game almost as soon as I received them, and they may end up in the final rulebook.

More views in my CMON and P&P galleries - HERE and HERE

The recent release of the Pinups of Death has shown us what to expect from the game's plastic models and, from what I've seen so far, the people are going to be very happy with them. More on this another time though ;)

The reason that I mentioned (other than the self pimping, lol) is that the pledge manager for KD:M has been reopened for existing backers to add to their pledge if they wish. Personally I feel that around 100 minis in a box is plenty to be getting on with, but I know that there are a few completionists that want to "catch them all" ^_^

Next, Hangar 18's Modern Pinups

This was a re-issue of a KS scheme that went wonky a few months back. It has just finished and has funded quite nicely, but backers are currently awaiting the pledge manager. 

he new sculpts are all done in the style of Andrew Bawidamann's pinup art, which itself is greatly influenced by Gil Evren's bomber nose art from the Second World War. Some are a bit marmite, but some look like they will be absolutely great. It is unusual to have

The link up with Hasslefree with regards to EU backer postage was a benefit, along with the innovative add-ons, like mouse mats and photo back drops, but in the end it was one particular sculpt that tipped me over the edge and got me "in" on the scheme...

I ended up paying in for 2 other girls and a bust too, but this one was definitely my favourite. ^_^

Next... RPG Fantasy Miniatures by Minx Studio

 

 As I write this Kickstarter has 15 days to run and looks like a really interesting project. I like the slightly different take on things that the guys running this have taken. The models so far are kind of "generic" fantasy, making them suitable for a variety of RPGs and tabletop games as character models. There is no plan at this stage to create a game system associated, which could be a drawback to some, but it has never stopped the likes of Hasslefree succeeding in the past... ;)

What makes this scheme note worthy? Well, aside from the guys enthusiasm and good looking models, you can pledge to receive display level models by some very well known painters including Aaron Lovejoy, Emuse Studio, Minx Studio themselves, oh, and some bloke called Scott Hockley!! lol

So, what are you waiting for? Back it! NOW! haha! ^.^

Etchmaster

This scheme still has just under a day to run as I write and is something really useful for almost everyone modeller. Run by Ben Jarvis, a UK Slayer Sword winner, this is all about brass etch accessories to customise your models. I've seen the early sheets in hand, and the detail is great! Brass etch isn't cheap to produce, but this works out quite reasonable and will definitely be something that I shall make good use of!

Drakerys, the game

This is a new Kickstarter from the guys behind Eden (Taban Miniatures), but also largely from Rackham in the dim and distant (often lamented) past.
Lots of good looking minis with what looks like an innovative method of building rank and file models too. Some of the concepts for the stretch goals look really impressive too. I shall be keeping an eye on this with a view to some late mini scalping, I reckon ;)

EDIT

I forgot a Kickstarter that a friend is running and I feel pretty bad for not mentioning too (I've probably forgotten others cos I've got a sieve for a brain at times. So this is one I missed!

The Trolls of Trudvang by JoeK Minis

Joe Karame is one of the Brindie Gang, and the third of the bunch to go full scale with a bit of crowdfunding (Infamy did a short one recently too but has a bigger one in the pipeline, and Warploque did the successful Arcworlde one a few months back too). As I write, it has 12 days to run and the scheme is based around a piece of Paul Bonner art that Joe got licensed to reproduce in mini form. The KS started with funding the big troll in the artwork itself, and then subsquent stretch goals have unlocked the sculpting and production of the remaining protagonists in the scene. Well worth a look and I am glad to say that it has funded successfully already, plus you can get additional discounts from the JoeK range by backing the scheme too. ^_^

Fallen Frontiers

This one is eagerly anticipated from the Scale 75 guys. They are currently awaiting the green light for their Kickstarter to actually begin, but this one looks like it will have some of the best sci-fi minis around judging by early images. Keep your eyes peeled...

Another upcoming one is going to be The Others from Studio McVey and Guillotine Games. So far there has only been a couple of teasers, including the following vid, but I consider my interest piqued... ^_^

VID LINK

OK. Enough pimping from me, and happy shopping!

Getting back to what I've been up to in terms of painting, aside from committing to painting minis for the Minx KS, I am still in the midst of a nice commission which I can't show yet, but I also took a bit of time out to start painting a Kingdom Death Pinup that is due for release with the Monster game soon (we hope).
This is the Phoenix Dancer...

The colours of the skin are still being worked on at this stage (and the colour balance of the photos was really off!), but I really like the sculpt and the pose makes for quite easy painting too, with only a couple of head feather left off the sculpt to be added a bit later.
I hope to have her finished this week if all goes well, although I'm in two minds about a base at the moment, so I'll post up more progress soon.

Until then, enjoy Crowdfunding season, even if your wife/husband/significant other and wallet won't! ^_^

It's a funny old game...

Someone doesn't like me apparently.
I know, I know. Where's the surprise there then? lol
Well, something happened to me (on line) this week that I have seen or heard happen to some others before, and it did cause a bit of a raised eyebrow.

I was going to write a bit of a diatribe about the practice of score sniping on Coolminiornot, but I think that it will only do a couple of things:
a) Rehash a debate about the imperfections of the voting system of the site's gallery feature.
b) Give credence to the particular individual who took an hour out of their day over the weekend to torpedo my mini anonymously.

I must insist that I love Coolmini as a resource and gallery, and have been a member there since 2007. I have met and got to know a great many of my hobby friends directly or indirectly via the site, and have the greatest respect for the guys that run it. The site isn't perfect, and it would appear that there are a few trolls around, but I think that it is as good as it can be to serve the purposes that it does.

Instead, I am going to shrug my shoulders, safe in the knowledge that much better painters and sculptors than I have had the same or much worse happen to them. Most of them are still around to tell the tale and/or impart the benefits of their wisdom too, so it can hardly be the end of the world.
The score isn't important (the comments are though! :) ), just like winning at events isn't important in the grand scheme of things. It is good to do the best that you can and have people recognise that - similarly it is just as good to do the best that you can at any given moment and then be told how you might improve next time when amongst your peers and friends - but it definitely isn't the be-all-and-end-all.

What is important is to enjoy your hobby and do it for that enjoyment first and foremost. Be it for the sense of achievement when a piece is finished, be it that it gives you the chance to socialise with like minded folks, be it just that lovely centred feeling that you can get when it is just you with some music, a paintbrush, a model and some paint. Whatever it is that makes you head off to your cave to tinker with toy soldiers for a few hours, make sure it is because you want to do it.

Anyway. Not so cryptic intro dealt with, I'll get on with today's post...

First, the Architect commission piece and article both seem to have been well received.
The Coolmini entry (HERE) is featured in their best of the week page - LINKY - and, at last count, the painting guide has had nearly 7500 hits (HERE). All in all I'm pleased, and I have lots of exciting (for me) Kingdom Death stuff in the pipeline that I am trying to squeeze in around the commission that I'm working on at the moment.

A piece that I've been meaning to get around to taking final photos of is the Soda Pop vignette that I finished before Salute last month, and I did take some shots at the weekend which are below.

 

 

I'm not sure that the white background shows this piece in its best light, but I'm also not sure that the piece as a whole is easy to photograph anyway... :/

I enjoyed aspects of this vignette, and learned a few new things, but I think that I was struggling with a casting that wasn't great, and became more apparent as painting progressed. I felt that I wasn't going to fix these issues to a level that I was going to be happy with, so there ended up being a few things within the whole of the piece that I'm not so keen on. 

I also now think that mechs aren't my "thing". Despite the fact that there were two girl models on the scene, it wasn't really enough to get me to push on and make it quite what it perhaps could have been.

I made a promise to myself a couple of years ago that I wouldn't paint models that I didn't like/enjoy, and in the end this was maybe a bit close to breaking that promise.

I don't know whether I'll add this one to my galleries, maybe I'll have another go at photos with a more suitable background soon. :)

Other than this, I am forging ahead with a lovely commission that I hope to be able to show in a few months, and scribbling down ideas for what I plan to do next for myself. I may have some pics up next post of one or two models that I am tinkering with. We'll see...

Oh, and our little boy is 2 years old this Thursday (the 15th). I can't believe how the time has flown, and it reminded me that I painted a mini for Sally & Kev of Hasslefree pretty much while my wife was in labour! In fact it was mostly while she slept waiting to go into hospital, or go back to hospital as it took 5 days for him to decide that he was ready to make an appearance!!

The piece in question was Kalee...

More pics are HERE, HERE and HERE

It is frightening how fast time has gone, but this is a quirky reminder of the time and those first few weeks of abject terror when you are placed in charge of your first born!! lol

Happy days... I think! ^_^