Painting Buddha has arrived

I got a wonderful surprise in the mail yesterday!  My long awaited package from Germany--the DVD painting set from the folks at Mastermini.  Rather fitting for my 42nd post, eh, Mr. President (inside joke for those of you that have been following the painting revolution at Masterminis.net)?  I am very much looking forward to digging into this six disc compilation.  I'm not sure how many total hours are on the discs, but it covers the painting of two models along with the display base from two stellar artists from start to finish.  You can pick yours up at http://www.paintingbuddha.com/.

 

 

If that wasn't enough, Wyrd has released it's latest Chronicles, which you can find at  http://www.malifaux.com/Downloads/Wyrd_Chronicles_Volume_7.pdf.  It covers their new releases for the upcoming Gen Con event this year and is more advertisement than usual.  It still has some nice fluff, but I'm missing the step by step paint articles I've seen the past couple of issues!

 

I was also able to get in some work on the blues for the mummy.  RMS Ultramarine Blue was the base.  It was shaded with RMS Blue Liner and highlighted first with RMS Ultramarine Highlight and then UH mixed with Linen White.  I also add some initial metallics.  The gold metallics were done with GW Shining Gold mixed with a bit of RMS Russet Brown and the steel metallics are VMA Gunmetal mixed with black.

 



Something new, something old

I always have trouble finishing up the last part of a mini, perhaps the last 5-10%.  So it is with the hound; I'll get to him eventually, but for now I've set him aside.  I've set my eye on a mummy lord from Reaper's Dark Heavens.  I've made some progress on him far, with the stone ruin and desert base getting close to done aside from a bit more shading.  The remainder of him is just basecoated (incompletely...) to get an idea of how the colors are working.  The brown on the wrist bracers and on the head dress will be covered with gold.  I generally will get a fair bit of my non metallic down then "save it" with a shot of dullcoat before proceeding with the metallic.

Next off, a hearty welcome to Don Hans!  Thank you for joining me.  Don is new to the blogosphere as well.  He started off about the same time as I did, just a few months ago.  He has a love for all that is Old School and has a great collection of old Citadel minis that are very nicely painted.  I love seeing old minis get a nice paint job.  Check him out here: http://realmofcitadel.blogspot.com/.

Along those same lines, I came across the revamped website of a guy over at the Reaper forums named Darkstar.  He is a fantastic painter and does some incredible stuff with freehand.  He also is not afraid to shy away from the older sculpts and is currently working his way through a set of old Talisman models. Here is the link to his Tumblr page: http://darkstarminis.tumblr.com/.

Keeping up with the old school theme, I finally like to give everyone a heads up that the Goblin Aid miniatures are finally getting out.  As you may recall, Goblin Aid was a ground roots effort to support Kev Adams who is one of the giants of the sculpting world and is well known for his old school orcs and goblins.  He was severely injured in a home assault earlier this year and the sculpting community came together to create a rather large set of goblin miniatures with the proceeds going to help pay for his medical bills.  The "historical" and "modern" sets of goblins are out and can be purchased here at the Ral Partha Europe store: http://www.ralparthaeurope.co.uk/shop/goblinaid-c-123.html.

I'm baaack!

Had a nice little getaway to see the family and I returned on Sunday and was ready to get back to the blog and brush.  I had a wonderful couple of surprises for me in the mail box when I arrived home.  The first was the Arielle I ordered from Guild of Harmony--she's a new sculpt from the amazing Sebastian Archer.  Arielle is a steampunk version of  Disney's mermaid princess, Ariel.  The detailing on her is incredible!

I was also stunned by one Mr. James Brewerton over at Exiles Wargames Painter blog.  He had run a little celebration contest over at his blog to commemorate 3 years of blogging.  I was fortunate to win a prize.  I selected a group of 28mm historical from the Zulu wars.  I was fully expecting to get some unpainted lead to give the historicals a try in addition to the F&IW piece I had picked up from Thunderbolt Miniatures.  To my great delight, these were PAINTED!  Excellent detail on them and based on heavy 2 pence pieces as well.  Thanks so much to James for his generosity; I was really pleased by these and am looking forward to getting my pieces to paint up for the "Bloggers for Charity" event.

Along those lines, the Goblinaid miniatures are beginning to be released.  The first set of goblins will be the "historicals".  Take a look at them over at Ral Partha Europe: http://www.ralparthaeurope.co.uk/shop/goblinaid-the-historical-ones-c-123_124.html
I think the Napoleonic goblin and the goblin gent are my favorite of the bunch.  I'm planning on purchasing some of these once the various sets are out, but will hold off for now so I can bundle the shipping costs.

One of my readers had asked about a blow up frontal shot on the hound; here you go!

 

 

Not quite as visually pleasing to me.  The lava cracks on the shoulders along with the bright highlights on the facial horns creates a lot of stimulation to look at.

 

Finally, the next issue of Figure Painter Magazine is out!  You can download it here: http://www.figurepaintermagazine.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=33&product_id=54

 

Finally, for you competitors, WaMP is running several contests at the moment.  The most recent is Red Box Games.  Looking forward to seeing what everyone will come up with! http://www.wampforum.com/VB4/showthread.php?t=15887

More talk, less paint

Just a quick heads up that Figure Painter Magazine issue number 2 is out!  They have expanded the content and it has a number of tutorials this time around as well as loads of great models.

Good luck to all the participants in the Spring Angel event in Moscow this weekend.  I'm looking forward to seeing what comes out of that competition!

Finally, I came across another charity which I have added to my charitable events page.  This is a US based event that stemmed out of the a grow con here in Washington, DC.  The NOVA open was started several years ago and has rapidly grown in size.  A group of gamers/painters decided to put together a foundation in conjunction with this event.  This year, they are doing a raffle of three armies (Dark Angels, Necron, and Khador) to raise funds for Doctors without Borders, The Fischer House Foundation which provides assistance to military families, and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.  You can purchase the raffle tickets through their website and don't have to be present to win!  Check it out at http://novaopenfoundation.org/.

Shadow Goblin finished!

I finally finished up the 3rd of my Shadow goblins last night.  As always, there could be more to touch up and tweak, but I like him overall.

 

 

As usual, I've tossed up on CMoN.  I'd appreciate a vote if you have the inclination. http://www.coolminiornot.com/334108

I also was trolling through the web and came across a blog that I will be referring to many times in the future, I hope.  It is called Bloggers for Charity and is the brainchild of James Brewerton.  He will be joined by 3 others to organize a charity event for two causes; Men Matter, a male cancer awareness charity and Help for Heroes, a charity that supports the service men and women and their families that have been wounded in the line of duty.

They will be painting an couple of armies to recreate the Battle of La Belle Famille during the French and Indian War.  They will be accepting donations during the year and are looking for help in other capacities as well, especially in the painting category.  The battle will be recreated at Triples 2014 and the figures will be sold off with all the proceeds going to these two charities.  If you are interested in helping out or just following along, you can find them at http://bloggersforcharity.blogspot.com/

James is also celebrating 3 years of blogging on his site as well.  He's got some nice giveaways if you pop in and comment.  You can find it blog here: http://exilespainting.blogspot.com/2013/05/blog-3rd-anniversary-prize-draw-12th.html?showComment=1370503040700#c4221571153717533497

Shirt progress

Just a bit more done today.  The blends need some smoothing, but you can see where the highlights and shading are falling into place.

Another quick reminder that the 1st Newbold Creative Event of 2013 is drawing to a close.  The deadline is May 31st.  Visit and enter at  http://www.newboldworld.com/Challenge/TNC03.html

Happy Friday

Hello once again!  It's Friday and I hope everyone has some exciting plans for the weekend.  As for me, I'll be working.

I'd like to say welcome to two new followers, Anne and Legion Games.  Thank you both for joining along!

 Anne is from Ireland and has been blogging since 2011.  She is a fantastic photographer and miniature lover and quite funny with her posts, unlike myself...  She is well travelled in the blogosphere--if you have a chance, take a peek at her blog at http://fortwitter.blogspot.com/.

Legion Games, I wasn't able to pin down where you might be at on the web.  Let me know and I'll get a link up for you.

I have to say I'm a bit excited about crossing the 1000 view mark!  Now probably a 1/4 of those are me checking on who's checking on my blog and the another 50% are webcrawlers, but I'll pretend that they are all different people coming to visit my little site.

While perusing Anne's site, I stumble across another blog called Wargames and Railroads.  He is celebrating a birthday and is going at it Hobbit style--he's giving away presents!  He's got a nice stash to give away and the celebration is going on until May 29th.  Check it out at http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2013/05/birthday-week-giveaway.html.

I've not had much time to work on the goblin, but here's a where I'm at with his shield.  I think I took the picture of the shield upside down, though.  See how the top is a bit darker than the bottom?  Early on yet, but the basics are there.  I'll probably add some more highlights and take the shading deeper once the shield is on the arm.  The metallics still need a bit of work as well, again mostly to shade them down and reduce some of the rusting around the bolts.

 

 

And the true scale shot :)

 



New hobby magazine makes its debut

Good morning!  It's been a great week for the hobby world.  First Portal was released yesterday and now a new online hobby magazine call Figure Painter Magazine is releasing its inaugural issue!  I took a look and it's extremely well done.  I was very impressed.  There is a cool interview with Karol Rudyk and lots of fantastically done models.  I was honored with an article in this issue as well, which I am very excited about!  I did an article on how I constructed the diorama base for my Dark Carnival piece, going through my thought process during the project as well as a rundown of the materials I used.  I wish Shane the very best as he starts out on this new project.  Please take a look at the magazine here: http://www.figurepaintermagazine.co.uk/

Congratulations as well to the winners of the Miniature Figure Collectors of America show (MFCA) this past weekend near Philadelphia.  I didn't realize it until recently, but apparently this is usually a fairly large contingent of European painters that make it over to the States for this show.  I'll have to put it on my list of things to do!  Here is a very extensive collection of pics from the show:
http://s93.photobucket.com/user/ajlafleche/library/SBS/MFCA%202013?sort=2&page=1#/user/ajlafleche/library/SBS/MFCA%202013?sort=2&page=1&_suid=1368635853848006436526265550513

Good news regarding Goblinaid as well.  It looks like they are getting pretty close to releasing all the models that have been sculpted over the past few months.  There are also some auctions currently going of Kev Adams past works that are being sold to help assist him with his medical bills. https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Goblinaid/582169528462833

Next up, hello and welcome to Nameless!  I am so glad he has joined my little blog.  He was a great help as I put together my Dark Carnival piece, offering suggestions and critiques along the way.  He is a fellow blogger as well and his site can be found at http://namelesspainter.blogspot.com/.  He has a broad taste in miniatures and is currently working his way through a Nurgle WH40k army.  He is also author of Between the Lines, a series of funny articles over at Chest of Colors: http://chestofcolors.com/between-the-lines-grand-opening/

The work on the Nurgle marines also continues apace:

Work on the paint room continues...in the meantime, I'll be heading up to the local gamestore for some rare painting in public tomorrow afternoon.

Welcome to my newest follower, Ian Newbold!  Thanks for coming along.  As I have mentioned before, Ian is a great fellow and is currently sponsoring the 1st Creative Challenge of 2013.  The deadline is coming fast and the deadline for submissions is May 31st.  Take a look at the splendid entries already up and enter your own! http://www.newboldworld.com/Challenge/TNC03.html

I'd also like to give another heads up for the boys over at Masterminis.net. They just announced a giveaway of a painted piece by Ben Komets, a painter with many accolades under his belt.  There are some secondary prizes as well and its easy to enter!  Check it out here: http://masterminis.blogspot.com/

For the Greater Good

Happy May to everyone!  It has been a beautiful day here, although it may snow tomorrow...

In today's post I want to explain one of the reasons I started the blog up.  Besides having a location for all my miniature work as well as my various tutorials, I wanted to bring attention to folks that are doing good for others.  I have found the people in our hobby as a very friendly group as a whole--they are very willing to share tips and tricks when new painters and share knowledge to promote the hobby as a whole.  I hope to continue that tradition!

I really like to do miniature exchanges as well, when I find the time.  It motivates me to talk with the recipient and come up with a tailored gift essentially.  Hopefully they enjoy the piece and perhaps even learn something as they get to hold it up close.  I have painted a number of miniatures and given them away to acquaintances on the forums.  While I really enjoy painting, I am not much of a gamer, so my models tend to just sit and gather dust.  I like the thought of my little metal/plastic/resin creatures and characters getting played with and fueling the imagination of someone, somewhere.  Perhaps a bit sappy, true, but I do like to hear back from people after they have received an unexpected surprise.

Some folks take it a step further, though.  They actively engage the painting community at large to aid a friend or a cause.  I will try and bring these sites and causes to the attention of anyone that visits my little corner of the web.

There are two sites now that I have grown to respect very much.  The first is Ian Newbold website at http://www.newboldworld.com/main.html.  It is a small website, but he has a great love for the hobby and he and his wife have a great heart for charitable work.  Usually, at least a couple of times a year, he will sponsor a competition, funding the prizes on his own and donating additional cash to charities in the name of the winners.  The Newbold Challenge as it is called was started in 2006 and has raised over 40,000 pounds for charities such as Children in Need and Children with Cancer.  You can read more of the Challenge here: http://www.newboldworld.com/Challenge/UMDream/index.html .  There is currently a Challenge underway and is open until May 31st, so swing by and submit a piece!

The second site is much more recently arrived on the miniature scene.  The original website is run by Michael Bartels and can be found at http://masterminis.blogspot.com/.  He has a love for the miniature hobby that is as strong as any I have seen.  He also has great heart and has big plans for helping others.  Last November, he launched a new company with some extraordinary painters and has created a new website Painting Buddha at http://www.paintingbuddha.com/.  It an unusual model; a significant portion of the profits from the sale of his items will be donated to charity!  You can read about the galactic president's big plan in a series of videos under the revolution tabs at the Masterminis website.  Check him out!

Finally, there is current a campaign going on for a long time friend of the miniature community named Kev Adams.  He is a sculptor and has long been known for his work with goblins and orcs.  Earlier this year, he was assaulted in his home and hurt quite seriously.  The miniature community has rallied around him and launch GoblinAid.  The facebook page can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Goblinaid/582169528462833. At least 30 sculptors have created pieces in his honor and the last I read, the organizers were hoping to get something available for purchase by the end of May.  Several sites are donating a portion of the proceed from the sale of Kev's piece back to him to assist with medical bills.  Wargames foundry is already helping out and can be found here: http://wargamesfoundry.com/our-ranges/goblinaid/.

Go check these out!