Thanks guys.

Cam, what's this offence thing? Sure, they could be used as assassins (if they are still part of the Warhammer 40,000™ game. I have no idea.) but they would mean playing the Warhammer 40,000™ game. I haven't done that in a long time, and for good reason. I have an old callidus mini somewhere... I think I have a vindicare ( the sniper?) and the one with the skull face... can't recall its name. They were a bit better than the usual fare from The Games Workshop®, IIRC.

Spektr done. After sitting on the shelf of shame for 2.5 years. Geez.


Amusing fact. The base coat for this was the same color-- red ochre-- that I used for the Yu Jing. Interesting that changing just the highlight color ( cadmium yellow deep for the Yu Jing, Zinc White for the Spektr) can produce such radically different results.

Maybe I work on something fromt he table of shame. Or paint a goblin Wolf Rider (D&D mini) I'll decided tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by.

Spektr looks great, Red. You're on a roll.

Nice job. I like the white helmet on him, good contrast with the rest of him...
*scrolls up to check for boob armour*
... yes, him.

Well, it does have very prominent pectoral plates on its armor. So, boob armor in a way.

Still debating between the Shelf of and the Table of Shame. And maybe entering another painting challenge. It seems an effective way to motivate myself to finish some minis.

Something that has been in the works for a while. A little bit of work here, a little there and voila

The start of a 'game mat'. Only not a mat. Actual 1/4" thick panels, so the thing will be 3d. Still has a long way to go. It's meant to be somewhat configurable too. The panels and roads are separate pieces.

Yes, a PITA to glue all those hexagons. Hence the a little work here and a little work there bit. Maybe over the course of a year?

How'd you build that? Those honeycomb pattern sections appear to have writing on them in some area? is that just where paint is still transparent, or is this literally some magazine mosaic

-Very curious!

It is literally a mosaic. I used a hexagon hole punch and punched out an ungodly amount of hexes from lipton tea boxes. The paperweight is just right from that kind of packaging. Then the tedious gluing, which, as I mentioned, I did a little at a time, say 10-15 hexagons ( the amount one tea box would yield) I highly recommend NOT doing this. There are better ways. I still need to finish the detailing, like the curb sections and the wheelchair ramps for pedestrian crossing, the stormdrains and manholes.

Wouldn't have been easier to just do one sheet and then cast it instead of doing every sheet and every hexagon individually?

I don't cast things, so no. However, it would have been easier to print out sheets and glue them down, then do the cutting. My thinking was that I wanted the 'look' that would result from hand laying, with all the little irregularities that would actually happen in RL. I underestimated the tedium. Ah well. It's done and I can move on. Next time -- if there is one-- I make a jig and use a router or dremel with router attachment. The irregularities effect, it is not worth it.

Live and learn.

Don't you be talking like that. it's totally worth it.

Says the person who carved sprue into individual planks to build a hut from...

And a fine hut it is. No worries, this will turn out well in the end. I'll have something nicer than one of those gaming mats, (the vinyl ones or the ones from mouse pad material.) and more rearrangeable.

Lazy week. Well, lazy hobby wise. Started this mini, Konstantinos, for a Painting Challenge. Really early WIP. Maybe 30% done?

Only trying for 2 minis in this month's challenge. It is a short month. I got a late start. I want time to finish something from the Table of Shame. This

Going to do either a marble or granite effect on the facade. This building was an experiment anyways, to try the smoked windows idea. I'll need to finish the inside of this one too, since it is open backed. Inside will be printed stuff. I'm going for a minimum of painting on this. Another experiment. Might as well stack 'em up, no?

Thanks for stopping by.

Looking forward to seeing Konstantinos, he's a model I really love the look of. Great rules too, when I get back around to my MO I'll definitely pick him up

Thanks. It's been slow painting. Here's a WIP, about 60% done. Also in the photo, its dire foe Yasbir.


I decided that the marble/granite facing looked terrible, so I'm going with a simple paint job. Here's the base.


Hobby mojo faded dramatically this month, hence the lack of progress.

Thanks for stopping by.

Love that your 60% is about 160% better than my 100% I like the building's functional lines, I can see it fitting a future/Asiatic aesthetic

Thanks Graven. The building will need something though. Signage of some sort. But most buildings in that style have minimal surface detail, so I don't think I'm going to do that much more with it. Sometimes less works better.

Ah, Konstantinos is finished.


A nice mini. A bit awkward to paint with the sword and the scabbard always getting in the way. I thought that I would never get the sword straightened. And that makes 2 minis for the month. I hope to finish 2 more. My hobby Mojo took a gut- punch this month. Sigh.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nice work on Konstantinos, interesting model with themes of ninja and crusader...

EDC

His blues are beautiful, lovely toning.

As to the building, personally, I would just do a plaque of some kind, like a building name, looks kinda nice as is, it is one of those types of building.

Hope you get your mojo sorted, struggling myself, chin up bud.

Chap looks nice. I like the little touches of gold.

Yeah, the building is giving a "clean" feeling.
The raised stripes could be painted in a contrasting colour/shade.

I like Cam's plaque idea too.

That'd be the cadmium yellow there Doc. Not the fake stuff either.

EDR-- it is supposed to represent a special Operations unit, so...and also, Konstantinos is a real person ( He goes by Psychotic Storm on this forum.) as is Yasbir. As a tribute to them Corvus Belli named these miniatures after them. A nice thing to do for fans/customers, no?

Cam, that blue was driving me nuts. Did not want to blend nicely at all. Things are so warm and dry hereabouts ( 24.4 degrees C here today. Insane.) it is messing with the paints. Even with a wet palette. Ah well, 'tis done.

Doc, took the idea and quick experiment...

It'll do just fine. A little weathering and such on the walls, and it'll be and done and dusted. The plaque is a cool idea too, something brass, generally, right next to the door. Also, building numbers over the doorway. The smoked glass works well here, but I still want a better way to to the windows themselves. I may have to try plasticard for a change.

Here's Yasbir, BTW-- a 40% WIP. This mini is driving me nuts. I do not know why. I suspect because I have been painting continuously since late November. I may need a break for a while after I finish this. So, maybe something else from the table of shame.


Thanks for stopping by.

Regarding Yasbir, perhaps it's the tactical rock he is about to fall over that's driving you nuts?

But seriously, the building looks great. Konstantinos too. Yes, I can imagine the sword and scabbard were quite annoying. Thanks for sharing!

 Red Harvest wrote:
That'd be the cadmium yellow there Doc. Not the fake stuff either.

It's also how it's applied.

Doc, took the idea and quick experiment...

Ja. Works as intended.

Your minis are always so beautifully painted. And this new building looks awesome. I love the simple touches you add to make your buildings look more realistic.

Thanks Warboss. I've got no updates, but do want to put up this link to the latest LoER poll. Vote folks, vote.
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/719936.page#9237516

Thanks. I'll get back to "hobbying" soon.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Early, ealry WIP of the old Bagh-Mari sniper. Very slow going.

It's for this months painting challenge on another forum,.

I may need to take a break from the hobby. Recharge the mojo.

Thanks for stopping by.

 Red Harvest wrote:

For practice, a couple of spaceships/dropships

Not well assembled. I tried reinforcing the Disney ship (the orange thing) during assembly. Not a swift move. The other ship, the chickenhawk, from Topo Solitario ( a name well known to the Infinity crowd) it has its problems, like being too small IMHO, but it still looks pretty cool.

I stumbled across your thread (which is awesome!) through a google image search. Can you tell me where you got the "Disney ship" from? I love papercraft and having some quick vehicles for games is nice. I will be looking closer at your stuff, but have considered using label paper and "wallpapering" your structures?

Thanks. I have considered printing and gluing instead of painting. I've been doing a bit of it with flooring. Time and energy permittting I may begin to experiment with more elaborate plans Currently I'm on "Vacation" fromt the hobby. If that is even possible :S

The Disney ship, oh dear, I found that years ago. This ought to be the link: https://family.disney.com/craft/bespin-direct-starspeeder-1000/

Also, wow. You joined in 2008, and this is your first post?

Remember this? Of course not.


How about, remember me?

Still overcoming the massive winter burn out, but I did manage a little work on this building. Easing back into things.



And with a removable roof and floor for interior accessibility.


The windows will be the interesting part here. And maybe a few more balconies or ledges. We'll see. For the record, it is a 12" cube, counting the superstructure on the roof.

Thanks for stopping by.

Is that 16mm MDF? Or 5/8" if you are so inclined. That is one very solid structure you have there. Any particular reason for making it out of such hefty material?

Missed you

Great building, nice architecture, looks very playable too. Also looks like it should be a very shiny white.

Good to see you still kicking.

Very nice. Those are incredibly sharp edges and look great for your ultra modern style. I imagine that there will be some very big windows to install - maybe smoked / darkened glass?

looks badass....and i love your sturdiness show off´s...

Fancy. Need to backlog, but I like that building.

That's a beast of a building. Such clean lines, too.

Thanks, Graven. That's part of the style, clean lines and right angles. It presents a nice challenge, and it does look near future-esque enough.

 Archer wrote:
Is that 16mm MDF? Or 5/8" if you are so inclined. That is one very solid structure you have there. Any particular reason for making it out of such hefty material?

It is just corrugated cardboard. Underneath the cardstock veneer, it looks like this

This keeps the stuff from warping. This is the thickness

The top scale is an Engineer's Ruler. I'm using the 1/50 scale for this building, and future buildings too. It fits better with the larger minis that are out these days and it is easy to use. I'm beginning to like 'easy to use' more and more. For most things, anyway. The scale ruler shows the walls are 2.8 feet thick.

Ruglud, this is what I had in mind for the windows

Yes, they are large, but that is part of the style.

Started work on the entrance. The white cardboard is just a placeholder for where the 'glass' will go.


And a scale shot


Really, the building is 60' by 60' which is not that large at all.

Cam, I like your suggestion. Maybe not all that shiny, but gleaming at least. I'll poke around for examples. the R&R hall of fame is one... Hmmm.

Thanks Grimdork. Not that much of a backlog though. I've been quiet for a while.

Thanks Vik. Built 'em sturdy and they last forever.

The tricky part will be the interiors. I've sort of planned for that though.

Thanks for stopping by.

honestly was also thinking you used MDF for that build...but all those details would then be impossible to make with that material...shows all the more how clean you can work...as for the windows...bigger is better in modern day architecture...as more an more the trend is to substitute artificial light with daylight sources...

as for the footprint of the house...well, my son Felix and me are starting to build a wild west town...and if you want, say a playable inside of a saloon, you have to biggerize everything to make convincing room for furniture and models...GW really made us dumb in that department...

Welcome back Red'. Nice looking building to return with.

Red, welcome back. That's a fine looking building. Very impressed that you're using cardboard in that way, and it's not warping. Any secret to it?

Great progress on that building. It's large enough to be a table itself.

Thanks Theo, but 1/16th of a table, really.

Cleatus, you need to brace the stuff... see the 1st photo in the previous post.

Yeah Vik, you need to make room to be able to put your hands into the building. That means high ceilings, and movable walls. Which is why this building is so tall. Almost double the height such a building-- one with 2 storeys -- normally would be.

Thanks Doc.

Had a Game night over the weekend, so no building until last night. Just a little work on windows.

This one will have a door in the middle. I'm just not sure how I'll go about doing it. Note the door is properly sized. Or will be

Working on the wall of glass for the front facade.


Just another shot to show that the doorways are in scale, even though they probably look too small to many people... because everyone is used to seeing gigantic doors. Bah.

I'm wondering if I want to use the very shiny plastic for the smoked windows. Or even leave a few clear ones. Time to experiment.

Thanks for stopping by.

"Prime real estate, ultra modern design, beach front location, $$$$"

Beautiful work sir, love the architecture.

Doors look OK, though in modern buildings, especially office type, the doors are getting bigger. In previous job, had to deal with a 10' x 10' single leaf door with an automated operate. Damn thing fell off the hinges one night when security numpty tried to slam it shut. That was heavy.

Looks Awesome, Love seeing you build Terrain Red

Thanks JoeRugby. This is a project that will last the whole summer, in all probability. I have no intention of rushing it, or stressing myself about it. That is what I did with the miniature painting, and it turned out to be a Bad Idea™.

Thanks Cam. Was that a service entry door? 10'x10' is a monster size...

Ruglud, dollar signs instead of pound signs?

Just one WIP, the front door. Cutting these window frames is a bit tedious. I've tried doing it as strips, but that does not work well at all.

I'm thinking about leaving the glass clear, so some interior detail will be visible. Or maybe mix and match. I'll have to experiment. Given the size of the interior, it will require some detailing.

cutting these windows is wasting a lot of material i bet...but totally worth it!

Such a beautiful crisp finish though, not chunky clunky like mine, positively elegant sir.

Not at all, Vik. The material is this

So, what I don't use goes into the recycling bin.

Cam, we have different styles, and that is a good thing. If you wanted to you could get the crisp angles etc too.

Ah, finished the windows, except the big one. (maybe stained glass for that? Hmmm.)


^^^This side is getting a catwalk or breezeway to connect it to other buildings... eventually.

Now I need to scrounge up more clear "glass". I need it as backing for the plastic for the smoked glass, since that stuff is a bit flimsy.

Thanks for stopping by. Got a long Holiday Week-end, so probably no update until Wednesday.

Long holiday weekend means eating more cereal, which means more material for building awesome . Enjoy the weekend sir. The building is looking great. Will you use a brush on primer or how will you paint this up without spraying the windows?

Yep, $ as I work in finance and it's all $s... plus this is is reminiscent of a beachfront property In the US of A. Maybe in Miami?

Looks like you sand the glossy side of the cereal packet as well. Presume this is for better glue and or paint adhesion?

funny...the inside out cereal cardboard looks totally different than what we have here...our cardboard is grey inside...thhus i got confused by the color to compare it to MDF... and of course with that stuff excess material is worth no tear

by the way... seems you sand it down before glue and cutting...makes sense...if atm i am too lazy for this procedure^^

Theo, I'll paint the building before gluing the windows into place. They are just pressure fit for now. Of course, since the windows are slippery plastic, even if I sprayed paint on them, it would be easily removed.

Ruglud, Yes, 150 grit to take the gloss or sealer off for better adhesion. Works a charm. Messy though, since it generates dust the color of whatever inks were used for printing. I need to wipe down the sanded surface with a lightly dampened paper towel to get it off. A bit tedious, but no complaints, since it is free material. Could be in Miami, or anywhere really. I had a friend who used to housesit for a family in the DC area that had a place like this in a toney area along the river (Potomac River). Beautiful house, but it was so, well, cold, austere. I could not see how it could be a 'home", if that makes sense. There is something a bit off about residential buildings in this style. My Opinion™, of course.

Vik, we have gray and brown and even white colored cardstock-- white usually for frozen foods-- for food packaging. This stuff is heavier, thicker, than normal packaging since it is for a "family value pack" of the cereal. It is thick enough that I only need 1 layer of it for the window mullions and muntins.

Looking wonderful.

Sure I have mentioned this before, could try a lamented clear pouch for the glass.

^that...but still a bit problematic when it comes to glue?

Lovely work on the windows (and the structure as a whole).

When I looked at that building at first it looked really massive, much bigger than the average sci fi building. But as I thought about it, and especially with the glass front, I just realized that most modern buildings are actually too small, and any large building would dominate the average wargaming table.

Lovely stuff, keep it up.

Danke, DaBoss. This building would be ~15.25 meters per side, which is slightly larger than most houses here in the US, at least in depth -- not counting the McMansions. Not at all a large building. So much terrain for TTG's is undersized, or maybe scaled for 20mm or something.

Yah Vik, Cam, laminating stuff is not ideal. I'm using clamshell plastic for the glass part and plastic binder insert/divider whatever for the smoke part. I'll pressure fit it into place when I affix the rest of the window parts on the interior. It will effectively 'float' in the frame. Not the quickest way to do it, but it makes for a durable window. I like durable. Durable is good.

Here is the rooftop, or a few WIPs. The skylights have a solar panel look with the smoked glass. Maybe I need to make the glass clear?




I'm still debating how much detail to add to the rooftop. The wall are going to be fairly plain. The building will be a bit light on external details.

I wanted to post this photo of a set of d6's I received as a gift.

Pretty cool, eh? I've been having fun rolling these as my fireball dice when we play D&D.

Thanks for stopping by.

Loving the dice.

Skylights really work well, agree about them looking a little "solar panel-ish" maybe get away from that with painting the back of the glass silver or blue for the sky, sure I have seen you do that before.

Excellent work as always sir.

Aye, wargaming buildings are really underscaled. The school I work in has at least 6 units which are each the size of that building on the main site, and another site down the road.

Looking lovely, skylights are gorgeous. Infinity terrain done right is fantastic.

Amusing dice.

Nice work on the skylights. Smoked is fine.

Those skylights - sheer brilliance

Wow... from the spiral stair on page 1 to these skylights and windows, I'm thoroughly impressed. Now to read the 40 intervening pages for inspiration. Great work!

Awesome roof top.

also dear lord those dice look like its going to be hell to read.

Just count the pips, like regular dice. The problem that I have encountered is that they roll just below odds. Fireball is 8d6, so should average 28. I end up with 25-26 most of the time. A bit disappointing.

Thanks guys. Been having a bit of trouble getting anything done. (long story. ) I have decided white for the building, as per Cam's suggestion. I am thinking some sort of pattern though, tiling of some sort, and I am looking around for examples for inspiration. And the time to do it.

Heh those dice are pretty neat.

EDC

They are. I like the yellow the best, because they remind me most of an actual smiley. They rolled odds this week-end. So a small improvement. (And my wizard made 8th level. Yay. )

Finished construction on the roof and its shed. Base coat of paint applied. I'll get around to finishing things off, paint-wise, when I figure out the details...a small light fixture above the door, for example. maybe a few vents applied to the walls. Not too much though. I don't want to detract from the main feature.



BTW: that door is 34" wide and 80" high in scale. The mini is very big. Belongs on a 40mm base, if you ask me.


I think that I will need to glue down those roofs. The space directly underneath them is not really meant to be playable anyway.

Back to work on the main building now.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nice roof space, just needs some plants and furniture and you're all set!

EDC

Plants, yes! Excellent idea. I can use planters to hide those unsightly seams where the roof is removable. A perfect solution. Thanks.

Great simple paint job really makes the roof pop .

Top (floor) job.

Just caught up on the past couple of months of stuff on here. Some really cool stuff! keep it up

Thank TW, but things were a bit quiet for me the past couple of months, so not too much catching up, eh?


Thanks Theo. It snaps and crackles too.

Yes Doc, the roof is in tip-top shape, unlike my Real Life ™ Roof. I spent last week getting estimates for a new one. O.U.C.H. I have a big roof. (stupid 2 car garage.) So, not much hobby done due to that pre-occupation. But I've settled on a contractor and made my peace with my wallet. (pro tempore.)

Started experimenting with the panelling ideas


I'm going with this simple vertical panel scheme. the pilotis (or whatever they're called) are going to be a dark gray... or I'm going to try and make them look like granite. Still mulling it over.

Thanks for stopping by.

Awesome.

Really like how the straight lines of the walls and windows work with thee rounded roof. The skylights are brilliant.

Good luck with the 1:1 home improvement project (if things over there are half a pain as around here, you might just want double those estimates, to be on the safe side...)

Panelling looks good.

Good luck with the real roof. Are you going to present them with a cardboard mock-up and say that's how you want it to look.

I'd go nuts cutting all those shingles. But I have often thought about making a scale model of my house. For the Lulz.

Littletower, That can happen hereabouts too, mainly with the interior improvements/remodelling like kitchens and additions to the house. Whenever you have multiple trades involved (carpenters, plumbers, electricians etc...) things can get pear shaped in a hurry. Exterior stuff like a roof or siding tends to stay within budget, mostly, since it is just the one trade. Still, with a 50 year old house, any sort of work is potentially a trip down the rabbit hole.

More pixs to follow. Had to spend hobby time doing yard work... a fallen tree. We've had some ugly weather recently. I have a nice 40v battery powered chainsaw ( a 14 incher) so things are a bit less of a hassle. I hate using gas powered chainsaws anymore.

Haha, back in the early days of my terrain making life (read 16yo.) I made a 1:20 scale model of my family's house. Nothing seemed to line up quite right...hence my recent builds being set in a variety of apocalyptic settings :p. This building is looking really nice and crisp though I must say. +1 to mad skillz for Red

 Red Harvest wrote:
But I have often thought about making a scale model of my house. For the Lulz.

Go on

the building looks awesome

Thanks Terrain Walker, JoeRugby.

Terrain Walker, a 1/20 scale? That's a strange one. Still, imagine how much better you could build it now.

Panels done.



Still much work to do, but with most of the smoked glass cut and temporarily into place, I can see where this thing is going. I ran out of the plastic I was using for the smoked glass. So I'll get more. meanwhile there is plenty else to do.

I did try the granite look on the pilotis. Not sure I liked it. Might post a few photos for C&C later.

Thanks for stopping by.

Yeah, my Grandfather was an architect and he let me use his rulers and such and showed me a few things. I guess the way they're set up for architectural drawings was to do it in 1:10, 1:20, 1:40 and 1:60 if I recall.

That's actually the way an Engineer's ruler is scaled. there is a photo of one a few pages back, here in this post: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/1230/583487.page#9445709 Very useful thing and more useful for this sort of work than an Architect's ruler-- which has the usual gradations 1/2", 1/4" etc, so you'll end up with a scale like 1/48 with it. I hardly use my architect's ruler.

1/20 scale will produce a big building. The Cube is 1/50 scale, and you can see that it is a beast.

Ah, well then most likely I was using an engineer's ruler and 1:50 as yours looks to be a similar scale to the one I built..memory fails

Building is looking amazing sir. Realistic enough, and perfectly suitable for Infinity.

I love it, it looks great!
1/20 is often used for architectural models. Also (and if you haven't seen this stuff, check it out), it's used by the artist Joshua Smith for his recreations of real-world buildings)

I have indeed seen that. Brilliant work. That particular scale is what you may find in films, like the Wallace and Gromit films.

I learned that 1/48 was most common for residential because 1/4"= 1 foot is easy-peasy for people to use, and works with an Architect's ruler. For larger buildings, scales can vary. The one 'true' achitectural model in this thread, the National Museum of the American Indian is ~1/200 scale. I say approximately because I could not get accurate measurements of all its dimensions.

Thanks, Cam.

No worries, TerrainWalker. I have the same problems with memory... mostly remembering last names. Takes me forever to recall them sometimes. I do eventually recall them though. I think it's cool your grandfather helped you with the project.

Some work on the entrances

The two white patches on the sides are going to be planters.

Basic steps

Yes, a catwalk to connect to another building.

Still have a set of actual exterior stairs to do. Then tidy these things up. Add a few details and The exterior will be all but done. Except for the painting.

Thanks for stopping by.

Absolutely loving this building. The windows have such a great design.

And when it couldn't get better....catwalk to another building

Looks great. Good design for the catwalk.

Great job on that building - something out of the ordinary there! Looks like an architectural model it is so good.

And it keeps getting better each update,

Saw you asked about a compass cutter somewhere else, I have an Olfa Circle cutter, like this one. Plastic parts are hard enough, and it's actual metal where it counts. It usually comes with some extra replacement blades as well.

Does the job, even on thick (up to 3mm) HIPS, with multiple passes (on both sides for the thicker sheets).

It's heavy duty brother doesn't look bad either, altough it is onnly good for a minimun diiameter of 3".

Gracias. I may try one. I can always adapt one of my dremel circle cutter for the larger stuff.

Six months. Well, there was a lot of RL stuff which prevented me from doing much with the hobby.

Did very little work on the building.


Now I must to remember what I was doing with it.

I 'need' to finish these by month's end

They are 3 Yu Jing minis from the Red Veil expansion set. I'm at least close to finishing them, finally.

Thanks for looking. More updates when I actually finish something.

Loving your deco-futurist architecture. Stunning.

"Now I must to remember what I was doing with it. "

I am sure you were going to cut it up and make a nice 40k ruin!!!

Who am I kidding.


That building is stunning, a true example to us all. Beautiful. Inspirational. More now please.

The figs look awesome too, nice to see something from you, mind you "I need to finish these!" but they look so good now!

Great to see you bud, miss you.

You can always backtrack your thoughts in this blog, I'm told there is some amazing stuff here!

Minis are looking great already.

Good to see progress, too!

Great stuff as always Red that building is looking fantastic!

If you paint that building pink it could be the 40K Barbie Dreamhouse. The detail you have accomplished is stunning. I've never seen this kind of modeling for wargames terrain, I usually only see models like that on display in architectural engineering showrooms or as scale models in the lobby of the finished building. Very impressive work. And not just the construction, it's also the vision to see the design.

Hi Sasquatch, very long time, no see. Welcome to Dakka.

Skalk, srsly? Pink?

Thanks Littletower. I tried that. Then I noticed the dates. But of a downer. I was going to make a saircase and a catwalk though. And paint the thing.

 Camkierhi wrote:
"Now I must to remember what I was doing with it. "

I am sure you were going to cut it up and make a nice 40k ruin!!! .

I'll start making ruins when you stop making them

 inmygravenimage wrote:
Loving your deco-futurist architecture. Stunning.

I tell people to build big, so this is me practicing as I preach. Always a dangerous thing, eh?

Heya and yeah its been a while. I kinda fell out of love with the hobby for a bit.... and never did finish that build XD

 Red Harvest wrote:
Then I noticed the dates. But of a downer. I was going to make a saircase and a catwalk though. And paint the thing.

Dates are just a convention. Sometimes, an inconvenient one. Take control of the construct!

Never mind time, it will be great when(ever) it is done. It already is.

Building still looks epic.

Look forward to more of the mini's.

Sasquatch, no worries. I don't even think about all the unfinished stuff I have.

Littletower, I agree, but most Anglos have a less refined sense of the importance of time than those of you in Latin America. That whole time rules us instead of vice versa mentality that prevails north of the Rio Grande. I realize I am treading close to some stereotypes here. Meh.

Well Doc, finished just the one. The Zhangying Imperial Agent.

I rushed the paint on the gun, just to get it finished before month's end. I can touch it up, uhm, mañana, yeah, that's it

Thanks for the comments guys. I'm easing back into things at this point.

Good job. Looking as nice as ever.

I love collecting shiny things, tools, models and watches, but I stopped wearing a watch 2 years ago, I had previously managed to go 5 years before I had a job that demanded time discipline. Don't sleep these days so just grab what I can when I can and I am lucky to tell you which day of the week it is at the mo. Life is SO much simpler.

Now the figure is amazing as usual, nicely done easing back in is cool, always love seeing your work, so beautiful and inspiring. You are one of the few who really inspire me to push harder on my painting.

I do collect the tools. So I understand you completely. I gave up the wristwatch maybe ~20 years ago, when I got the feature phone that told the time too.

Now, do keep up with the day of the week and month sort of thing. Those are the answers you'll need if you ever get a psych evaluation.

Danke, Doc.

Nothing to show for tonight. Wind storm took out the power, and since the windstorm is still around, it's too dangerous for crews to work. Power should be back by Sunday. Fortunately, I have a back-up generator so I can run the important things... TV, Internet Actually refrigerator and freezer and a few space heaters -- the safe kind -- and the internet and TV.

Take care and hope it lets up soon.

21 hours without power: not bad, there were folks who went much longer. Fortunately I had the foresight to buy a generator years ago-- and keep it in good working order.

Managed to finish the Guilang sniper, and the ridiculously tiny sniper rifle. Sheesh. Photos look a tad over-exposed.


Otherwise this is a nice mini. I think the painting turned out better than the previous one. Orange is a PITA to paint sometimes. The big mini, the Dao Fei is next. Yes the names are strange to me too. But I'll have a nice 10 unit, 300 point, tournament ready army painted when I finish the last one. That'll feel good to have done. And I'll have 112 more Infinity minis to paint. The vow is buy nor more until 2/3rds are painted.

Thanks for stopping by.

We had 3 hours without power the other week and it reminded me how much I rely on having power; I went through a long list of things in my head as alternative activities to do (all requiring power in one way or another) before I started to get uncomfortable, so I set up my MP3 player with portable speaker and that saved my sanity for a bit.

Much like the problems we have with snow and limited salt supplies, heat-waves and no air-con', the British don't tend to have generators ready for power cuts either.
None of those things happen often enough for long enough for us to invest in proper solutions.

Good work on the sniper anyway.

Not that many people hereabouts have generators either. I got mine after a 3 day outage, caused by a derecho in 2012, during a heat wave. Lesson learned.

Thanks. Only one more mini to go from that set.

Love the fades on your orange. I know I've said it before, but you make me actually like Infinity models, when I'm really not a fan at all.

Thanks. I find orange to be a not very fun color to paint. It does not make nice glazes like say red or green. The mini I'm painting now will be the last orange for a long time. Cadmium yellows make for nice highlighting colors. Just don't ever lick the brush

New toys:

Very good clamps. I anticipate getting much use from them.

Nice. You can never have too many of those.

Painting is coming along great.

 Littletower wrote:
Nice. You can never have too many of those.

Where have I heard that before?

Y gracias.

You see, I told you it would spread, now you have a dose of clamp. Off to the clinic with you.

Figure is looking great, as expected.

 Red Harvest wrote:

 Littletower wrote:
Nice. You can never have too many of those.

Where have I heard that before?

Oh, I've heard it before a few times, mostly from master craftsmen whom I try to learn from.

First time I did (and it was most certainly old by then) was from Grandpa LT, whose idea of a power-tool was the biggest hammer in his shop. He also said you could get the measure of a man from his vices (or something akin, might be losing something in translation), but he might not had been talking shop by then...

Must be true, I guess,

Clamped anything yet?

Hi, Red! Gorgeous work!

--Brian

Where I did my apprenticeship had I kid you not over 200 clamps of varying size and capabilities. It was very rare though that among the 5 of us we weren't trying to steal clamps off each other......

Well, time for my monthly post. Sigh.

Thanks guys. Archer, not surprised, me. I'm one guy and I have dozens of clamps myself.

Littletower, I bet it is a common saying among woodworkers. Nice to see it exists outside of the Anglo-Saxon Sphere too.

Finished the last of the orange minis. Don't like painting the color. This is a Daofei.



I'll see about a family photo or two soonish.

Thanks for stopping by.

Always glorious to see you in action. You make the colour radiate, for all that you don't like it.

You've done a great job on the orange though.

Far too often I've seen people finish an army and state that they hate painting the main colour.
It's why I vary my projects so much.

Thanks Doc. Orange is an oft-maligned color, and for good reason (IMHO, naturally) and it does not photograph well either. Or I cannot photograph it well --most likely explanation. I cannot recall ever taking an active dislike to any other color while painting. Anyway, now lots of pleasant colors to paint, soothing blues and greens

Maybe some terrain work too, RL permitting.

Well Graven, thanks, and,when seen altogether, it is a bit overwhelming. At least it is bright

They look awesome, the orange is very nice, the green contrast works so well.

You really are a master of your craft, between your buildings and painting I think it would be magnificent to see a battle report with all your gear in operation.

I am starting to think this would be an excellent colour scheme for a Dreadball team, now I see them all together.

Cool squad, all together.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And for rollover.

 Red Harvest wrote:
...

Impressive group shot!

Do it, Graven, but make orange the secondary/accent color. Save yourself the grief.

Doc, Meer_cat, thanks.

Thank you, and someday Archer. I need to get everything painted up first. The Slows. Got 'em

Started this guy, called a Grenzer. I'm experimenting with softer, desaturated color. WIP, of course,, maybe 50%-60% done.


Those colors are red ochre and burnt siena. The close-ups show every out of place brush stroke, eh? I've got 5 more of this faction -- nomads-- to finish. Then I get to paint the minis for the factions I actually play.

Thanks for stopping by.

The burnt sienna in the cloth looks beautiful. Really lush.

I think It looks great, even with a large photo showing all tje brush strokes.

Much better than mine.

At the size of those pictures (which on my screen is about the size of my hand at arms length)) you can't avoid seeing the brushstrokes. If you can't see it in "real life" then it's not to be worried about...much (I do on all my models).

Good job.

I don't mind the brush strokes at all. I think it comes from years of painting in oils and acrylics on canvas. Thing is, a fair few people have unrealistic expectations about how a mini might look based upon what they see on the internet. From a distance, the blending and brush strokes disappear. Up close... ah, now one sees how the sausage is made.

Still hungry, folks?

Thanks Graven. Anything but black, which is the color the studio version uses.

Thanks Mysterio. It's a matter of practice. So, practice and you'll be a fine painter soon enough.

Grenzer is done. Mini #4 for the year. I'm on a roll.




Not sure what to paint next. Maybe finish the rest of this faction. And work on the lighting.

Thanks for stopping by.

Excellent job! Really well done blending within both the blue details and the red uniform. Really well-articulated figure too!

I don't see no brushstrokes, though, nice smooth job.

Top job, Red'.

Yeah, sometimes it's a fine balancing act between the perfectionist on one shoulder and the "Get it done already" on the other shoulder.

Very nice, great scheme.

Thanks Meer_cat.

Actually Doc, on my one shoulder sits the Imp of the Perverse. On my other, his evil twin.

Thanks Monkeytroll. It's a simple scheme, for ease, and one hopes, speed of painting.

Here's a WIP of the next 3 minis. More from the same faction. These are Alguaciles (Alguacil is Spanish for Sheriff, more or less.)


Thanks for stopping by.

So at this rate you will have another Inifinity group finished by Christmas? Isn't it time to go back to one of your superlative architectural master pieces so I can pester you about donating it to me?

Christmas. Good one I estimate I'll be done with this group by Bastille Day ( mid-July)

For buildings, it'll be a while. I'm still recuperating from some unpleasantness that makes it uncomfortable to do scratch-building. My modernist cube has been taunting me for months too. I haven't touched it since February.

Don't let the cube get to you man. It ain't the boss is you.

Also, lovely Spaniards

Muchisimas gracias.

Oh, I get taunted by platonic solids all the time. The icosahedron mainly. Nasty, vicious thing that it is. Thinking it's better than you because it has 20 sides...

15 Days later and one is finished. I was dragging on this too. I just could not bring myself to paint the face for some reason. It sat on the table for 5 or 6 days before I started to even begin the hair. No matter. Done, done and done. Leaving the photos large too.


Two more Alguaciles, four more overall from this faction. I think Bastille Day will be my self-imposed deadline.

Some of those polyhedrons have a real superiority complex.....

Nicely done, and it doesn't matter if took a while to paint the face, it came out real nice, that's the take away

Looks very swish. Don't think I've commented on how much I like your poker chip bases, they're ace.

Gracias Guys.

Now I need to look up the slang definitions of 'swish' ... oh dear. Thanks. I like the bases. They are easy to see on the table. However, they are a bit divisive.

Yes, Monkeytroll they do. Consider the lowly tetrahedron. It thinks itself a caltrop and is always trying to get dropped on the floor where it will lie in ambush.

Good job again, Red'.

and hey, the tetrahedron is the basis for the atomic arrangement for diamond... that's well 'ard, that is.

Alguacil (Comisario you Oficial, I'd guess, hereabouts?) looks ace.

You can always tell your attitude-laden icosahedron it still has a long way to go when a sphere is actually an infinitely sided polyhedron...

The scheme you've chosen for these miniatures is amazing. I really love the look of the group shots. I'm always too timid to do bright orange.

Danke, Da Boss. Orange is not hard to paint, just annoying. It tends to overwhelm any other color for some reason. Granted, that may just be my perception of it.

Gracias Littletower. A sphere only has one side, so wouldn't it be a monohedron? It's been a long time since my last geometry class...

Merci Doc. And the Great Pyramids. Most of my tetrahedrons have been, erm, neutered? They look like this http://www.gamescience.com/Gamescience-Red--d4--Four-sided-die--Plain_p_62.html Not as nasty to step on.

Not much painting. Distracted by the Stanley Cup. My team may actually win... for the first time ever.

Ah, a Cap's fan then.
I'm a distant Flames, Canucks, Canada, Pen's fan (in that order, depending on who gets through to the post season). So I shake my fist at you for the first round loss.

Good idea for D4's.

Lifelong Caps fan. Although every game I've ever attended, they lost. Every. Single. One. Grrr. However they did win the Stanley Cup. Very nice.

Dealing with a flare up with the hands, so no painting.

I did find a safe d4. These guys https://www.miniongames.com/store/giant-2-inch-soft-foam-polyhedral-dice-set-7.html I got a blue set. My friends assure me that collecting odd dice is a victimless crime.

Sucks about the hand, empathise completely. I like giant foam dice, I used to have a huge foam d20 for throwing at children randomly picking kids in class.

They, the dice, are fun. The hand will improve. My grandmother had the same problems. She took up crocheting to spite them.

A quick WIP of what is left to paint for the faction.

I am so tired of painting the boots on these minis. So elaborate. Ridiculously so for what they are.

Thanks for dropping by.

It's the fact that those are WIPs. Breathtaking.

They just know you can ruin an entire outfit if you have the wrong footwear on.......

Faction is coming along swell- great painting! Got a little bit of the hands thing going on myself. I find that cutting a Salonpas in half and putting a piece on each hand (usually the back, sometimes the palm, depending on which joints are stuck) and leaving them for several hours helps a great deal.

As a non-maths guy (and geometry to me is a math) I've had a lifelong suspicion of all things many sided.

Graven, one is almost done -- the reverend healer-- needing final highlights and the face properly painted. I always wait 'til the end to paint faces. So a late WIP. The other three, just painting between the lines. Neatness helps with this sort of mini.

it helps that they are pretty cool looking minis... and I'm using only 4 colors (red ochre, burnt siena, black and white) Although the female alguacil will get some anime colored hair, magenta or hot pint or turquoise/teal.

 monkeytroll wrote:
They just know you can ruin an entire outfit if you have the wrong footwear on.......

I should paint the soles bright red. In protest.

Meer_cat, I've never heard of Salonpas. Does it have the odor like pretty much every methyl salicylate containing product. The smell of some of those things can get overwhelming, especially on one's hands; makes my eyes water. Not ideal for painting.

For the knees, or the back I just use a TENS device. I've never heard of it used on hands... until just now. Hmmm. I'll give it a try.

Geometry is fun math. I never liked statistics.

Good work, Red'.

Ooo, you're going to have to update now, it's a new page...

Hey Red- Salonpas has aspirin (salicylic acid (sp?) as its active ingredient. There is a bit of wintergreen-ish smell (to me) but definitely not something that makes my eyes water. Walmart carries them for pretty cheap.


I'm not familiar with TENS devices, but if it helps with the larger joints/areas, it ight could be fine for finer areas as well- careful not to overdo!


I look forward to seeing more!

The wintergreen smell is from methyl salicylate. Aspirin is acetylsalicylic acid. Salicylic acid would be very unpleasant to take. Useful for burning off warts though. I don't mind the wintergreen smell in birch beer, but constantly smelling it is a bit much for me, especially if it is on my hands, which end up close to my face while I paint.

Well Doc, not much to update. Ah, apparently my Stone Roses addiction has recurred. They released two new singles, and reunited and sort of disbanded ( again) since the last instance some 9-10 years ago when the 20th anniversary edition released. Geez, those guys. So much unrealized potential and so much realized potential at the same time. Especially the drummer, Reni.

I paint for maybe 5-10 minutes at a time. It's progress. I'm resigned to being a slow painter at this point.

Finished the Alguacil #2.


Not the greatest mini, or job on the face and hair, but 'tis done. Photo is a low light long exposure experiment. I think I like it better than the better lit photos. Not as washed out.

Three more nomads to go and I am done with them. Yay.

Thanks for stopping by.

Yeah, really like how the lighting has worked, very natural. Lovely as ever.

Very nicely done! I find red for uniforms like this (or jumpsuits, as may be) a real challenge to get right, as you have done here. Too much thinning, and it's pink; not enough and it's too bright. Again, very nicely done!

Great stuff red

Good job again.

Yeah, I've found that I'm not a quick P&M'er. You just have to work as the speed you go, you can't rush these things.

Good job on the latest guy, and the photo technique seems to have worked well

Inspiring work as usual here, setting the standard for us mere mortals.

Very nice work Red. I especially like the lens on Alguacil #2's arm.

Thanks Cleatus. It's supposed to be a piece of gear called a comlog. I've you've ever read Dan Simmons Hyperion series, you'll recognize the reference.

 Meer_Cat wrote:
Very nicely done! I find red for uniforms like this (or jumpsuits, as may be) a real challenge to get right, as you have done here. Too much thinning, and it's pink; not enough and it's too bright. Again, very nicely done!

I've used red ochre here, which is as much a brown or orange as it is a red. Plus I didn't so much as mix the colors as I did glaze white, or a white+ red ochre mix over it. Another way to avoid the pinkness.

 JoeRugby wrote:
Great stuff red

Thanks Joe.

 Dr H wrote:
Good job again.

Yeah, I've found that I'm not a quick P&M'er. You just have to work as the speed you go, you can't rush these things.

Slower than molasses flowing uphill in the dead of winter, me. I've come to accept that this slowness is just a part of aging. Not happy about it.

 monkeytroll wrote:
Good job on the latest guy, and the photo technique seems to have worked well

Yes, I am liking the low light effect. Makes the mini look more 3 dimensional. I like that. I'm tired of seeing photos of minis, photos taken in such a way as to make the minis look like oil paintings on canvas. Hmm, I guess that was a bit of a rant. Ah well.

 Camkierhi wrote:
Inspiring work as usual here, setting the standard for us mere mortals.

Gracias Cam.

I've really been dragging my butt on getting this last alguacil finished. Like for a month dragging my butt. sigh. However, it is done.


and a group shot of all three of the little buggers.


I'm still playing with the lighting, making it a bit less 'dramatic' I think the lighting is now a little too strong. So next photo shoot I'll tone the lighting down to just one bulb, instead of two. I made some homebrew light diffusers by cutting apart an opaque white milk jug. It kills the 'harshness' of the lights. thing you can see in comparing these photos to the first alguacil photos on the previous page. or... now that I think about it; maybe swap out the 60w equivalents I am using for 40w equivalents? Hmmm.

Only 2 more Nomad minis to go, and one is nearly done. New dead-line is Labor Day ( 1 September) since I blew through my previous dead-line ( 14 July)

Thanks for dropping by.

At least their done buddy! And they look smashing

Fantastic job. Always a pleasure to see your work. You have a wonderful grasp of color theory, light and shadow.

Also, your comments about lighting and backgrounds has got me thinking about my own backgrounds. I don't use a landscape picture background -- guessing that's what you mean by oil painting on canvas? I do use an a plain white background, or rather a literal blank canvas as the background for my miniature photos. Maybe I should experiment with other options? Something to think about I suppose.

I had quite a few art classes in my youth, Cleatus. By Oil painting I mean that the mini is painted in a style like an oil painting, with the strong contrast, nmm, osl etc., and then photographed in such a way that the photo looks like it is an oil painting. Head on over to a place like Massive Voodoo here http://massivevoodoo.blogspot.com/ to see what I mean. It is a valid style, and certainly produces eye pleasing results. It is, however, a style best suited for a display case rather than the tabletop. Also, enjoy all the really good advice on that site. Those apes sure can paint.

Thanks Graven. Smashing. I was thinking more like "smash 'em". A faction rivalry thing.

Anyway, next up will be the Mobile Brigada. I do hope to finish in less than a month.

Great looking trio there.

I'd say diffuser is a better option than lower wattage, a single low level light source will still be more likely to produce 'dramatic' lighting than a brighter but softer lighting.

And as for speed, at least you actually finish stuff I can only think of two I've finished in the 4/5 months I've been back at this......and neither of those is technically based

Some seriously beautiful terrain in this thread. So good I had to underline it!
The level of detail is insane.

I think i've saved about 6 or 7 images for future reference.

They look great Red.

good luck getting the rest finished for your deadline

 Snrub wrote:
Some seriously beautiful terrain in this thread. So good I had to underline it!
The level of detail is insane.

I think i've saved about 6 or 7 images for future reference.

Indeed... some really inspirational stuff.

Good job getting the latest done.

Thanks Doc. A little here and a little there. Like 10-15 minutes every couple of days. it is glacial progress, but right now, it's what I can do.

 Snrub wrote:
Some seriously beautiful terrain in this thread. So good I had to underline it!
The level of detail is insane.

I think i've saved about 6 or 7 images for future reference.

Thanks Snrub. It'll be interesting to see what you do. I've already subbed to your thread.

 JoeRugby wrote:
They look great Red.

good luck getting the rest finished for your deadline

Thanks Joe. It is a very, very soft deadline. sigh.

 insaniak wrote:
Indeed... some really inspirational stuff.

Thanks.

WIP on the penultimate nomad, the Mobile Brigada.

Maybe it's 30% done. Fortunately the remaining mini, the Reverend-Healer, is about 70% done. So really, I only have 1 mini to paint. Hmmm, that seems a bit off...

Thanks for dropping by.

Looks very good. I like that the highlights on the armour look like actual light reflection and not pink edging.

Love your math!

Ooh, Reverend Healer? Colour me very excited ! I'm not a huge fan of the Infinity aesthetic as a rule but I love that model.

 Red Harvest wrote:
Thanks Snrub. It'll be interesting to see what you do. I've already subbed to your thread.

I saw that, Thanks! Appreciate it.


Like Graven, Infinity doesn't do much for me, aesthetics wise. However I can always get behind a good paint job and this is shaping up to be a good one. As Littletower says, the highlights looking like actual light reflection is superb.

30% done he says.......

Looks great so far, and ditto with the highlight comments

Your infinity models are always a treat to see. I wish I had your skill with the gradients and blending. It’s a whole other level and style of art.

One of my favorite rpgs in my youth was Rifts, and every time I see the mobile brigade I think “what happened to the glitter boys Boom cannon?”

Good progress, looking nice.