Woot 150! Quite an achievement sir congrats!


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I mean 151 I guess lol

The curse of the page rollover.

Who you calling sir buddy? Its Ma'am to you. But seriously thanks, I couldn't have done it without experienced painters like yourself to aspire to.

Good job again Weety. Like the scarf thing around his neck.

Mmm, tasty lead, mmm.

Nice job, not the nicest miniature to start with but it has a couple of lovely details that you've picked out beautifully. Namely the, I assume, looted Eldar pistol and the scarf. The scarf detail is my favourite, I always enjoy these little details you add and the patterns you give the fabric. I'd quite like to try it actually, have you done a tutorial or did I imagine it?

Well basically they are just dots of white paint so I'm not sure what to say except you must have a very steady hand. the dots are arranged in a 4 dot diamond pattern and also repeated in a roughly diamond configuration. Where the fabric is in shadow I try and make the dots smaller and fainter. I use a very fine nylon brush which has curved over at the end into a hook shape - this is a common flaw of synthetic brushes but it does allow for very accurate dots, lines and stripes I find.

Thanks for the tips, weets. I'll try it out at some point and see what I can come up with.

* Hands Wheety the whip*

Well thankyou miss dee what a lovely whip.

I will post a link to the competition thread when they get it up, and you can all vote.

Painting goliaths this week, big ones. Unfortunately have to go back to work this week and we have a new manager who I have to ingratiate myself too(that makes 7 so far).

Beautiful skin tone on those juves, Weety! Love the slight discolouration around the stones, and the subtle gradient on the muscle work.

Also absolutely love the scarf on the citadel gent - it's great to see what can be made of such dated models with a little love.

You should be fine shaving / filing lead, btw. Resin's a little dangerous because the dust is so fine it stays up in the air (and then your lungs, which get fibrosed over time). Lead weighs a fair bit even in shavings, so stays on the table. Like the others said - no licking or cooking with it!

Please all immediately make your way to http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/537266.page and vote for me! Obviously I don't stand a chance.


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Bloody competitions! I have never entered one b4 and I realize that they make me feel very nervous. Competitiveness in art... Something I constructed and painted is now being judged by others. Its like being the mother of a stupid child who's taking a hard exam and has been predicted a D. Sort of.

Voted, weety - I think I've voted for your entry, but I'm not certain.

Some very nice pieces in there, and some of the nicer ones seem to be getting a lot less votes than I'd expect.

So long as you voted for what you like! Its about the taking part apparently.

I think I can tell which is yours Weety and I like it.

So long as you like it and you did your best that's what matters, the competition is only an extra.
Good job.

I hope your enjoying the competition weets and I hope Infinity has made an impression on you! Your entry is honestly one of favourites although the voting is going the opposite way to my predictions. I think one of the nicest parts about taking part is about aiming to improve next time or getting a friendly rivalry going with someone. This tends to pick up after the winners are announced and everyone turns out to chat about there favourites, some people might even post a breakdown of their feelings on each entry soon. I think Arakasi and someone else did it last time.

Well whoever painted Entry 7 - Yu Jing Sun Tze 2.0 deserves to win overall in my opinion - also I like the the other two that are contesting first prize - they are all really pro-paintjobs. But the bases are all quite small and simplistic on the front runners and the rest of us have much more interesting bases. So I guess the voters don't care for a scenic base when they see a great paintjob. A lot of us have suffered from imperfect photography it seems. Entry 18 particularly looks amazing until you get a closer look and realize its ended up pixilated. I think I should have taken a bit more care with my photographs, but I was in a hurry to get to a carnival...

Yeh I thought the theme would have held much more weight with the voters, I'm rather surprised. Only one or two of the miniatures I voted on are in the running for a top 5 slot and I made very careful decisions.

Presentation is a huge deal in these competitions, 18 is a prime example. I have to be careful not to give away who the entrant is but they don't have access to a computer easily and they barely have the slightest grasp on English so the rules may as well have been a recipe for Chilli. They originally sent me like 20 big images so I explained the rules and eventually they managed to send me that image but it was half the size it should be. I explained again but they couldn't do anything, I volunteered to stretch it to fit which is what you can now see. The first set of images told a very different story though, there is some ridiculously small freehand along the back of his sheath and on the back. I was completely blown away, especially considering this was their second attempt an entry(the first one started a week before the challenge).

But anyway, you should be really proud of your entry, I know I say that a lot but it's true. All of these entries are above and beyond what most people would hope to achieve, yours definitely included.

Yeah, I thought about the basing and adherence to the theme when I voted and thought it was strange that many of the better painted models had very simple bases and then there were others that had huge, complicated bases that actually told a story and were therefore equal as far as the competition goes.

So I think I may have voted for about a third of them, but I also voted in the gallery for each entrant as a way of grading them.

Well competition or no, life goes on and its nice to paint without the pressure. Here's more goliath porn. Goliaths are the perfect subject for me atm as I'm working on improving my skin tones and goliaths have a lot of skin. I have a goliath leader I want to paint next, the one with the grenade launcher and chainsword - he needs fixing as his chainsaw has snapped off but I think with a little GS all will be well. Also I've primed and based a chaos squat and he is sitting on the table waiting for love (thinking nurgle).

I didn't think about voting in the gallery, actually - might have to do that.

I'll admit to ignoring the theme for the competition, and instead concentrating on the quality of the paintwork and basing - I do tend to think that it is a shame if you go to a lot of effort to paint the model, but then do the bare minimum on a scenic base.

Looking at the three currently in the lead (5, 7, 13), I can see why the latter two have gotten good scores, as the paint on the model is great, particularly 7. I'm less clear on why 5 is doing so well, as a lot of the fades look like airbrush work, as opposed to the work on 7's purple cloak. As noted earlier, though, none of them have anything going on in the base, which is a big let down.

Goliaths look great Weety. I'm envious of your skin tones. The shading of the muscles and face are really nice.

Ah, the big dudes... Goliaths right? Very nice looking group weety.

voted^^

Lovely Goliaths, pal. The gothic horror paint scheme is really working for me and skin work is hugely impressive!

Dysartes - yes airbrushes are annoying aren't they, they're just so unfair on the rest of us. . One day I will have an airbrush and then I will feel better about it. I've got two eldar wraithlords just waiting for that day.

Thanks everyone for voting and stuff.

Why is it that goliaths all have halloween pumpkin shaped skulls all over them?

Oh - its because they are gofic of course. Maybe I should do tribal tattoos on the next one?



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OMG OMG OMG I just had a funny idea.

I've got about 30 quid to spend so I was looking through the parts of hasslefree I don't normally get too and realised how many naked sculpts they do, and suddenly thought that I could make a really trippy looking 1970s softcore porn orgy...

I'm not 100% certain that I could post it on dakka though...

So far I've got elvis, an old man in a tutu with a shotgun and a kid with a chainsaw in my basket.


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Also kind of want this but I have to find the right rider for it
http://www.hfminis.co.uk/shop?product=shetland-pony~hfm027&category=miniatures~fantasy-monsters-%26-animals


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They gave this dog balls! You've gotta credit hasllefree because they have balls. Lotsa balls.

http://www.hfminis.co.uk/shop?product=hamlet~hfn024&category=miniatures~fantasy-monsters-%26-animals

Hamlet is cool, weety - did you see Post-Apocalyptic Hamlet?

That reminds me, I wonder if Ifanaan got anywhere with her HF care package yet...

Yeah I'm sure she got those all the way back at the start of the year. Hopefully soon huh I really want to see what she does (sure she will go one better than me on them - its like an arms race trying to keep up with ifalna). Yeah hamlet is a great dog - and he looks good in a gas mask. Still haven't decided exactly what to spend the spare money on.

So noone has anything to say about my hasllefree softporn diorama idea? I don't blame you to be honest...

I've been painting a fantasy orc and making flagstone bases. Photos later - I have an early work shift today so I gotta go.

Google keeps telling me that "two people are spying on you(click here to find out more)". What they should have said was "Two government agencies are spying on you(and we help them)".

I've been enjoying painting fantasy for a change - this one is really old - someone told me where it was from but I forget. Will have to trawl the thread for it. Made the base myself!

Wow. Proper old school.
Oh, and I'm totally down with retro 70s softcore...

You're not paranoid, people really are watching you... lol

Orc looks good. Really nice metal work and I like the fur boots.

Is he part of the PFJ? Solidarity Brother...

Oh yeah, and no problems with the softcore here...

Remember though, the 70s was apparently before the invention of the razor

I grew up on 70's and 80's skin mags, so I have no problem with it or the non-razor-ness.

As far as the orc.. I love it! I really wish I knew which was your entry in the contest, Weets. I already voted, but I couldn't tell which was yours. :(

I will probably put the porn diorama on the back burner for now... One day it'll happen and I think it will get a laugh.

In a characteristic U-turn I have decided to paint more fantasy miniatures! (this won't last long as I'm short on square bases). I've been having fun making flagstones - they are drying now and soon we will have some orcs, some goblins, beastmen and maybe other dungeon denizens. One of you lovely people sent me a snake-man so I will do that up nice(who was it? Thanks). And ideally if I'm still in the mood for fantasy I would like to make a nice dungeon terrain piece for them.

Photos soon.

If you do a snake man in a diorama, do Conan fighting him. Then it will be like one of my favorite stories.

The dungeon terrain piece sounds very exciting weety, do we get to see a dragon in said dungeon?

That would be cool. I still haven't done a diorama yet - It is a hard thing to plan and pull together, but I'm sure once I've done one it will get easier.

Dragons are probably expensive right?

Porn dungeon? Anyone?

Hilarious graven!

The Dragon could wear a Baby Blue Leisure suit

Today I am running a fever. Hasn't stopped me painting though - it may be the delirium but I'm very happy with this slaneesh beast. Done some NMM on the blade and the shield and it looks good. I've been trying to learn about this but I can't find a really good tutorial so I'm winging it.



This little chap didn't work out quite so well - its harder to do NMM on such a small wonky model and maybe my brain was fried. He is an evil goblin from the same set as the previous orc and he is from 1985 so in fact he is a really good sculpt for the time.



Got a few more beastmen, orcs and goblins to go.yet. I'm really digging the fantasy stuff at the mo.

Oo, not good weather to have a fever in. Hope you feel better soon.

Doesn't look like you need to watch any tutorials, that metal is really good.

Liking the purple hood as well as the rest. Good job.

How do you do the nmm?

Well Thats kind of hard to put into words miss dee. I use grey and blue and black wash and white highlights. I suppose I just keep washing and highlighting until it looks right. We really need a good tutorial to explain the principles of it.

Thanks Doc. I hope I get better too. It sucks, I can't tell if I'm burning up or if its just really hot. I'm very resilient though so I will be fine.

Get better plague monkey! Or we shall rename you typhoid weety! Though clearly madness has infected your painting delightfully, I do miss all the bull headed slaanesh stuff. Lovely work and that's a great old gobbo too.


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Re the porn dungeon btw, the orc cheerleader from blood bowl with nipple tassles would seem not incongruous...

Lol - I should write all these ideas down - it would be the craziest diorama ever.

Photo dump. Pictured here is a random greenskin with a funny face - presumably from the era before they had decided what orcs and goblins should look like. Anyone recognize him? I forgot to look at the tab before gluing him in.

Also here is the grand sum total of my unpainted dungeon denizens. They are all getting the treatment. I'm bidding on some old school skaven on the bay of E so they will hopefully expand the force. They are a disparate band of species, only bound together by mutual fear of their master, Varna-gth The Pestilant! An evil sourcerer who holds sway over a great system of caverns and abandoned sewers. He is still in transit - There seem to be two models by that name but his pic is at the bottom of this page http://www.collecting-citadel-miniatures.com/wiki/index.php/Chaos_Sorcerers_-_CH5

The latest beastman has a non-metallic metal verdigris bronze cuirass. Still winging it on the NMM and I'm not completely sure I'm doing it right. Also these are group pics so you can see my growing band of dungeon denizens. I must see about making a dungeon for them - I could use up the rest of the milliput to make building blocks. My only problem here is that I'm short on space so it will be a small bijou dungeon.

Nice work Weety.
The shields look great.

It's not saying verdigris to me at the moment, maybe a bit more green/turquoise...? Looks more like grubby gold I think.

So long as it looks like some kind of metal!! Its a steep learning curve...

 weetyskemian44 wrote:
So long as it looks like some kind of metal!! Its a steep learning curve...

Oh yeah, and it looks good.
I don't doubt that, it's not something I would attempt and you are doing very well.

Tbh I prefer grubby gold in this situation to verdigris, so well played! I've got some random fantasy minis kicking about if you're such in a fantasy place and need new toys to decorate for our viewing pleasure. Yes, I am your nerd crack dealer.

I need my random fantasy fix. Let me know the details!

it is a kind of addiction.

When you buy it from the big dealers they even send it in baggies...

Yep. I have a closet half full of unpainted stuff.

Nice work Weets! But the beastman's shield rim should match the rustiness of his sword.

My Reaper Bones order arrived. I am now ALL SET on random fantasy miniatures.

Hows that for a start?

9bar... Weets, tell you what, you cover the postage (give me a figure) and I'll send you stuff gratis.

Vallhalla - I think I'm fairly restrained compared to most. I've just a couple dozen unpainted models left!

Dsteingass you are right of course. I did add a tinge of corrosion to it but probably not enough.

Briancj thats a hell of a lot of minis. The giant picture of all the minis you get made my browser crash. Have fun and think of us poor humble mortals scrapping the bottom of the bitz box for fantasy figures.

Miss dee wos that then? Looks space marineish.

tell you what graven - you tell me what they weigh and I will find out postage, just use those tiny scales...

it is a space marine

Weight of minis would break my scales. I'll send you a fiver's worth, how's that do you?

Well its not a normal space marine miss dee its got wings all over it. You will have to bear with my ignorance I don't keep up with modern trends much! What flavour is it?

Graven you get my drift. I expect a fiver will cover it. In my experience the post office rarely exceeds that. I will have to send you an e-cheque though cos paypal don't take kindly to folks with no credit cards. PM me your paypal email thingy.

Hes a dark angel

aha hence the wings and the dress. You want me to paint him? Don't be mysterious.

I was showing ya a stage of nmm

Aha. Yes I tend to use a similar blue grey for swords myself (so far anyway, only done 3).

There will be a photo update sometime today I reckon. Finished work for the day and retreated from the sun into my dark cave of a flat (I'm ginger and I fear the sun). So painting hopefully.

Wow I won the bidding on some great old classics today for 99p each. Real nostalgia stuff for anyone who was into advanced heroquest. A lot of these where featured in the rulebook and others in the box art.

rule book page (click to zoom):


And here is what I purchased

..

Back when miniatures had CHARACTER. Zomg, so jealous. Yes, even with a desk full of dragons. STILL JEALOUS.

More pictures. Better pics of the beastman and just completed Ruglud from Rugluds armoured orcs. Also a small bijou dungeon made of milliput - as soon as I get more milliput it will become more spacious and will get some furniture and walls.

dungeon is off to a good start now you need gob piles of gold for your dezins to guard from heroes that may need the xp.

beast men is pretty awesome also.

i love comming here and looking at the old minatures i know some of the folks that follow this played, had or seen them irl. but for me its just neat to see something unique and characterful painted up (very well i might add)

any way enough of my fanboying of you just keep it up and we will look forward to the next picture update.

I like Ruglud's sword, very nice.

Good start to the dungeon.
How big are those slabs?
If you want to save on putty, try using some sprue (or equivalent) for the core and puttying around it.

Not enough skulls.

Miss Dee, what do you use those plastic beads for?

Love the flagstones weets, you gonna do more terrain?

A whole dungeon lair dsteingass - I wish I could do more but we are cramped for space so it can't be much bigger than a shoe box.

Thanks alabamaheretic! You are very welcome.

Dr H. sprue? Is that the stuff that plastic minis come attatched to? I'm a bit of a lead snob so I don't have any. I could probably use something else common, like gravel maybs.
The big slabs are about half inch square. Its a very small dungeon yet. I will work on trying to get the slabs a bit more even. I want a nice staircase and some arched doorways, definitely treasure and provisions, tables, candles, flaming torches, spiders and whatever else springs to mind.

Oh and skulls of course Briancj

I have an old SM bike box full of leftover sprue that I intend to use one day as brick or rubble for various terrain projects.

The beastmen and orcs are looking really nice weety and thats a grand start to an underground lair.

Weety's home for misfit miniatures

Is there any chance of some more shots of the Goliaths, with a strong light source behind the camera? Minimum shadows, sort of thing?

Lindsay40k - but my head goes behind the camera? There really aren't many shadows - I take my photos in a light tent with a light on either side. admittedly one light is slightly stronger than the other so the right hand side is ever so slightly brighter. But most of the "shadows" are just my paintjob I think. I do make an effort to give an impression of a light source when I'm painting. I could try and light it even more though maybe...


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Ask and ye shall get - here is the goliaths in the blinding light of the daylight bulb directly behind the camera (click to zoom)



Here is the original. It doesn't look that much different (but does admittedly have some highlights caused by directional lighting):

 weetyskemian44 wrote:

Dr H. sprue? Is that the stuff that plastic minis come attatched to? I'm a bit of a lead snob so I don't have any. I could probably use something else common, like gravel maybs.
The big slabs are about half inch square. Its a very small dungeon yet. I will work on trying to get the slabs a bit more even. I want a nice staircase and some arched doorways, definitely treasure and provisions, tables, candles, flaming torches, spiders and whatever else springs to mind.

Oh and skulls of course Briancj

That it be...
Nowt wrong with that, we all work with what we like and are comfortable with (I've only ever worked with plastic for models).

Yeah, anything that's cheap, smaller than the thing you want to make and can hold putty on the surface will do.
Also, something that's lighter than the putty will make the final model lighter overall (a lot of putty can make quite a heavy model.
I've seen aluminium foil used for bulking out, I use sprue because I have loads.

Cool. I like the ambition and look forward to seeing the result.

I'm kinda kidding of course I have lots of plastic but as I bought it all second hand it wasn't on sprue. Plastic is undoubtedly better for multi-part kits, vehicles and converting.

Aaaaaah feels good to be home for the weekend, time to walk down lidl and get a nice red wine and some cool frosty graffenwalder. I wish they had a fridge in that shop its a drag having to wait for it to get frosty.

More goblins and beastmen to paint this weekend perhaps. I've also found some empire troops to represent hapless explorers.

Things and stuff.

Playing around with flagstones, and some goblins - no idea who the goblin with the flintlock is? Anyone recognize? I couldn't find him in the catalogue. He looks like a pirate.

Good work on the Goblins. Nice skin tones, armour/clothing, boots, the shield and the metal...They're just nice all over...

I'm quite liking the second dungeon layout, with the small slabs in the middle you could add a grill/drain to the centre, maybe some channels and then a torture table over them...

It's really nice to see how busy you've been weets! Loads of lovely miniatures for me to goggle at! Where is the Slaaneshi Beastman from? I've seen a conversion from it once before but that's the only other time.

Keep the prosperity going, pal!

Great Idea Dr H. Will have a go at that soon.

Casey - Its from 1991 I think - a real nice model.

Its great to have a flare up of enthusiasm. It will probably wear off soon but in the mean-time I will take advantage and paint.

http://www.solegends.com/citcat19912/c20281rcbeastmen-02.htm

Very nice weets. You've definitely got your goblin zen going on!

Cheers gits. Goblins are fun. Little smiling faces full of malice.

Some things I haven't yet shown people.

A 1988 realms of chaos khorne champion, ought to have cost 15-20 quid but I snapped it up for 4 inc postage because the photo was really fuzzy. Remember to take a nice picture if you are selling stuff folks!! Makes all the difference. Anyways Its a really nice sculpt that stands up well to modern stuff

A 1988 chaos snakeman.

Very cool, my favourite ever army used quite a few of those beastmen for conversions. Nice new minis too! I'm sure I have a bag of stuff that you could use but they probably need a lot of restoration and would duplicate stuff you already have. I'll have a look in a bit.

I think I know the army you mean. Is it this one - http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/images-33913-25745_Beastmen%2040k-%20The%20metal%20beast%20project.html

Not that one but I am a big fan of that army. The pressmoulding used in that project is truly brilliant if I remember correctly. It was an old WD article, a Slaaneshi CSM army. Probably the biggest influence on me to date, closely followed by Hive Fleet Moloch.

I've had a look and I actually don't think you'd have any interest in the stuff I was thinking of. It's only a few Necromunda models and a couple of Bloodbowl that my cousin had painted back in the day and which have at this point lost an array of limbs and weapons. It's conversion fodder at best. Sorry about that, I remembered it differently.

I have to admit I never thought of collecting blood bowl. Its a bit too sporty.


I have had a very busy day paintwise.

A whole beast man unit... wonderful!

There are some nice lighthearted Bloodbowl sculpts that I've consider buying before. Since it's just fantasy armies in a different setting they blend quite well and I imagine would add some nice character to a force. I actually think it fits your style very well, if I come across anything more intact I'll be sure to send them your way.

You've certainly had a busy painting day! Really nice work on them all, the ungor(?) actually looks quite modern, is it of the same era? The mace guy's face is giving me the serious creeps, the addition of the mohawk is making it worse too. It's just too human, looks like the offspring of a weird one night stand between a beastman and human.

Nice hornblower!

Careful weets, you're in danger of having an army at this rate...

Holy Moly Weety. Your painting really does follow the thermometer's mercury doesn't it; cold weather and Weety goes quiet, English summer and Weety goes paint-crazy...

Very nice jobs all round and the speed is stunning.

Its so bloody hot that painting is basically all I could do today - Its like being under a grill if you go outside. But its good weather for painting,the drying times are significantly reduced - cold weather makes my fingers numb and so is bad for painting.

casy I think the ungor is new-er-ish. Late 90s early 2000s.

I know what you mean, I've been praying for a storm every night for the last week.
The heat, however, has sapped me of my motivation; I've only managed a few little bits and pieces.
Had to work really quickly on my last putty work as well, because the heat speeds up the curing time.

It's great to see so many pretties coming out of here though.

Oh, and didn't say; I was right about spotting your infinity entry. Was a good job and a pretty model.
[/fanboy-isms].

I spent way to long on the base and not nearly long enough on the figure and the photography. I think I panicked over the deadline and painted too quickly. But I'm happy with It for a first go at competition. Next time I will be ready...

I really enjoyed your entry but I agree that the painting could have gotten more work. The theme was a bit too vague, I'll make a post about that in the main thread later. As you say, next time you'll have experience on tour side.

The skaven arrived today. They are beautiful. Seriously the best sculpts of the 80s. Very fine sculpts with cool looking spiked leather armour and finely made appropriately sized weapons. And really cool ratty faces, nice clawed feet and hands. Most are pre 1987 I think, before Rogue Trader was a twinkle in Rick Priestley and Andy Chambers eye . They've all been based, primed and washed in black. Might manage to paint up a test model by tonight.

Ooh! Looking forward to it!

Best sculpts of the 80s. Couldn't resist a vanity shoot before pigment. Here they are in glorious black, white and 40000 shades of grey.. Although I should point out I'm too drunk already to paint. Watching tagadella nights, such a great gentle satire on redneck america. Anything with Will Farrel in it is alright by me


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Its hard to believe they sculpted most of these in 1986

Love the old Skaven.

Also, "tagadella" made me laugh.

Keep up the goodness!

Aw those are rather lovely little guys, I'm impressed. Go get your drink on but I want to see them painted soon!

No probs casey it probably won't be long.

We were chatting to a long lost relative today who joined the french foreign legion, and he won't really tell us much about his time except to say that there were a lot of forced marches across the desert followed by three course meal with lobster, foie gras and wine. What I want to know is is he gaking me or do they really feed them haute cuisine?


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Oh I sweared and dakka changed it - thats nice of em - I meant to say "is he yanking my chain" Lol

Haha, who knows?! They certainly keep an air of mystery about themselves but I imagine its all bull. They get everything free, I can't imagine they can afford to feed them any better than they have to, to keep them going.

Well he said they were like athletes and were fed accordingly, but he is just the type of man to "gak" me. Hes always kidding around.

Haha, it's hard to say. He's a military man so you'll have no luck interrogating it out of him. Right ahm aff tae bed, I can't keep up with you young binge drinking ruffians.

The demon drink strikes again! I always end up drinking more than I should.

Just realised that I should put up the other pics of my competetion entry - there are loads and they are huge - you should be able to zoom in as far as you like and never see a pixel. I only spent a few hours painting the mini so considering that it isn't bad. But nothing spectacular - next time it will be spectacular. I was going for an almost peaceful feel - like she has been fleeing through the jungle and has suddenly stopped and realised how beautiful it all is.

I had hoped to persuade some tiny house spiders to put some spider webs on the plants but they weren't playing ball (they covered it in spiderwebs before I primed but that was no good to me. I wish I had taken a photo) It would have been so cool and no one would have been able to figure out how I did it!!.

anyway pics...



I could do so much better

Now you say it I really get a sense of that peacefulness, I wonder how that could have been made more obvious? I really like your entry but as you say, you are capable of much greater things, I'd be excited to see what you'd do next time round.

Hah, real spider webs is an amazing idea, I bet that could actually work with some careful planning.

Really looking forward to Weety spectacular.

I liked the colour choices for that model.
The base is very cool. In fact, what was the recipe for the rock that she's on? If you can remember.

Maybe, what you could have done, was give her skin a gloss/satin varnish to make her look sweaty and then maybe some little cuts and scrapes to give the impression of fleeing through jungle branches and muddy splashes on the legs...

Obviously first the rock was primed and washed in black, then carefully drybrushed up to white again. The paint on the rock is a sort of blue-grey wash. about 10% blue and 90 percent grey. It was shaded with the grey plus a little armour wash and then gently dry brushed with a touch of white I added little patches of very watered down green afterwards to give algae. Nothing complicated.

Those are good ideas Dr H. No doubt at some point I will try and improve or completely repaint this. I always seem to end up doing that with things I'm disappointed with. Mud on the legs! Why oh why didn't I actually think of that.

Casy - maybe I should have sculpted a flask and a lunchbox full of sand-wedges to illustrate that she is taking a break?

Planning is tricky with spiders. They put their webs where they want to really - I would have had to imprison one in a box with the model and threatened it until it did as it was told. But I'm not really cool with picking them up. Nasty little legs and eight of em and they scuttle so fast.

Milliput arrived today so construction on the dungeon can continue.

Also the chaos mage who will use his mental powers to rule the dungeon.

That's beautiful, Weety. Nice work.

I really like your Infinity piece weety, has a nice relaxing pastal theme going on.

Haha, a lunchbox would have been hilarious!

Yeh any spider that I couldn't squash with the end of a pencil freaks the heck out of me, I'm like a rabbit caught in the headlights! It's pretty rough actually. And my garden backs onto an abandoned rail track so come the end of the summer I start to get huge big things invading my house looking for a mate. They are a good couple of inches in diameter, scary!

Fun with dungeons. Bottle of PVA and some cardboard packaging makes permanant dungeon sections. This is very much experimental and I've learned things that will help on the next one. The little hole in the middle is going to have a drainage grate.

Liking the archway Weety. Good job.

Looking good, I think it'll come together really well when you add details and paint, are you going to 'grout' between the slabs?

Wheety's dungeon ..........

You have dirty minds !!!!!!!!!!

Well I have been having trouble getting on the internet and as it turns out the lack of a procrastination machine is good for productivity.

These are some of the best "quick" paintjobs I've ever done - It only took me a very relaxed 8 hours. That gives the wrong impression really as probably only 20% of that time was spent painting and the rest just watching twin peaks waiting for paint to dry. (we got the dvd series for 2 quid, happy times).

I'm really enjoying painting at this time and I feel like I'm making progress faster than usual.

Very nice skaven weets. Have just the right feel to them.

They look awesome Weety.

How do you do your wood? I will have a lot of wood to paint soon and your's is really nice and crisp.

Its a secret. But the mix contained grey, yellow and umber.

 weetyskemian44 wrote:
Its a secret. But the mix contained grey, yellow and umber.

Thanks Weety, I can work with that.

You cant go wrong with mixing colours with grey if you want them to be subtle colours Dr H.

For me painting is about colour and light and shade. I use black, white and all the grey inbetween help to define the miniature and then apply the pigment as if I where watercolouring over a black and white drawing. There are other ways of shading and I must explore these - apparently you can use a colours contrasting colour to shade it - I wonder if anyone remebers these - they use that technique http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/177816-Questing%20Knights%20Bretonnia.html

I see. Cool. Thanks Weety.

Yeah, I've experimented with adding the contrasting colour to darken a colour, but it didn't really work that well at the time. More experiments needed.

I'm not short of grey paints though, Humbrol has quite an extensive range.

That's some nice colours there.

Yeah those knights are pretty psychedelic.

A better shot of the skaven leader

Wonderful Skaven! Very characterful yet subtle paint jobs.

Yeah, I really like those paintjobs.

I also like the minis. They remind me of a friend's fantasy army back when we started WH Fantasy (during 3rd edition). He had Skaven and I used Ral Partha High Elves and Sea Elves.

I saw some of those on ebay the other day - sea elves that is. I may bid one or two of them.

Work in progress pics are in - I'm not 100% sure what colours I'm doing them yet! Great models these.

Lovely minis, I'm sure you'll do them justice!

Nice blending/shading. I see how you get your models looking so good. Look forward to colours.

Those are great models! Have fun!

Dr H yes you have rumbled my secret - I've known other painters to do this successfully - I think major tom does it sometimes - although he uses an airbrush to do it (grumble, mutter), and I just do it with a really good drybrush. Now I will work coloured pigments and washes into it and it will all end up nicely shaded.

going to get an airbrush someday - does anyone know do you need extraction for that? I don't want to suffocate us (very small flat).

On a small scale, you can work safely in your flat without a dedicated fan-based-spray-booth. Take a cardboard box, cut off one side, that's your spray booth. Layer the bottom with old newspaper. Wear a 'paint' quality filtration mask (the particulate level that is created by airbrushing can be toxic, even if the paint itself is not). In the United States, this costs around $30 at our DIY stores.

A lamp on a swing arm is great to be able to aim into the box/booth, so you can see what you are painting.

--B.

meh...I airbrush inside all the time. Granted, its a large garage with ample ventillation, and I run a small fan to turbo-dry things anyway. Air-compressor noise is more of a worry than breathing it. Ideally paint should atomize so that the particles dry soon after impact with the model. So, you shouldn't have a cloud of paint anyways. If you use acrylics, there is little risk. Enamels or oils, now that is a different story.

Thanks for the info - I have a big skylight over my bath so I will spray in there and just wash the excess away with water maybe?

Going to drop some hints to the parents for xmass.

Honestly, you don't need the bathoom. Just a cardboard box to contain what little overspray happens. I put mine on my worktable in my bedroom.

Others will tell you that you do not need a filtration mask. I ask that you buy one for 100% safety.

 weetyskemian44 wrote:
Dr H yes you have rumbled my secret - I've known other painters to do this successfully - I think major tom does it sometimes - although he uses an airbrush to do it (grumble, mutter), and I just do it with a really good drybrush. Now I will work coloured pigments and washes into it and it will all end up nicely shaded.

Nice work to do that with drybrushing.
I did a similar thing with my Wave Serpent to get the shading on the blue, but can't usually get it to work with the enamels.
Can't help you with the airbrush as I don't have one either...one day, when I have the money...

They're looking great weets! Did you get your care package BTW?

oh man, you have really done these old models justice, excellent stuff!

Man, I just love your work on that first model weets... really enthusiastic about how it'll turn out!

Graven - Yes it has arrived! I'm very excited about the contents but keeping it under my hat until they are assembled! Some really unusual stuff, I especially like the druid. Thanks!

The models are actually finished now but there is furniture in front of my light tent. I will get photos later when we shift it.

Grand, good to know, glad you likey!

His name is hengis or hengist the druid and he is from the forgotten isle of Albion. I may give him a golden sickle and rename him Getafix.

First photos of the chaos champions. I would like to have got more pics but old batteries have scuppered that. Later I will take more and there are some goblins as well!

...

Getafix would be cool.

Loving the colours. Especially the purple and the bone.

I know how you do it, but it still looks like witchcraft how you paint these models so well.

I've just scored a gang of urban street warriors from copplestone and some very old dark elves.

Here is that druid I was talking about - graven sent him along with some other amazing old things things to be revealed shortly

Is that the Dogs of War druid guy that came with the Giants of Albion? Wasn't in the actual Dogs of War book, but was one of the units added later in White Dwarf?

That's right, that's him.

It would be cool one day to put him in a woodland glade cutting mistletoe with his sickle (he is perfectly posed for it) and brewing magic potion.


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I got some pictures done.

These three goblins are a kill team - first the little one shoots you in the back of the knee, then the crazy looking one with the big rusty ball comes rushing out of the darkness and wacks you. Finally grandpa goblin serves the coup de grace and shanks you with his sticka. I call him grandpa because he is wearing slippers - he also has magic mushrooms in his belt!



More better pics of the chaos champions



Group shots of the dungeon horde

Looks like one helluva party!

You know what that party needs? A troll >

Wow! Beautiful work, Weety. The Knight and the Demon turned out vey nice. I really like the purple effects ln the Knight and especially the Demon's sword.

I agree with graven!

Fantastic body of work there weety. You've really perfected painting those old minis.

A troll huh, where would I get one of those from I wonder... (looks around for troll). Nope I can't seem to find any trolls, maybe I should look under the bridge - I hear one can find river trolls down there. Great big river trolls with barnacles on their bellies. A great opportunity for another water effects base that would be. Shame I don't have any huh.

Thanks for looking all. I'm mostly very happy with the way these came out - the photos are a tiny bit too blue tinted with the new background though.

Oh my, that is all so awesome!

Wait-Did I fail to send a river troll? I will rectify anon.


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Wait-Did I fail to send a river troll? I will rectify anon.


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Argh!

I used to paint Warhammer Fantasy miniatures until I took a goblin arrow to the knee...

...and then got hit by a large iron ball...

...and then got stabbed by "Mister Pointysticke".

Briancj - Lol fantasy humour!. I was thinking of calling the goblin with the slippers and magic mushrooms "the small Lebowski". I should get some better photos of his mushrooms.

Graven - That last post was a decoy, but you've blown it now - yes I have an enormous river troll all covered in barnacles and slime! Thanks. I may as well spill the beans - Inmygravenimage, awesome dakkite that he is has provided me with: Hengis the druid, a river troll, the warhammer quest dwarf, a drunk dwarf with a tankard, the halfling hot pot catapult and an empire witch-hunter. Did I miss anything? Oh wait there was a stone cistern/sarcophagus full of treasure. It all looks like treasure to me!

Thankyou Casey that's what I like to hear. I do my best to entertain.

Heh heh heh...so much win!

I always love the greenskins but I think my fave today is the beasty chaos guy with the luminescent sword.

Don't tell the gobbos because I don't want to be shivved in the back.

- phew! Was worried there, but sorry I blew your cover.

Finished dungeon floor tiles. What does anyone think of these? - Do you think I can sell em to fantasy roleplay fans?

These are prototypes really - My next idea is to cut the tiles out of plasticard and have the milliput as just a thin layer of detail on top - this should save on milliput and make them more sturdy - I will also be able to make press molds from it possibly and mass produce. Using these techniques I can then go 3D and make a whole castle/temple of doom!

Oh and also my sorcerer has been painted - He is a very primitive mini so I thought I should add some freehand to make him more interesting.

Very nice, like the grate. Are you considering maybe doing a little sideline in these, maybe an e-bay-business?

It would be very easy to resin-cast these.

Could be graven could be - I originally got the idea for building a dungeon from looking at stuff on ebay - there's someone making really detailed plaster and resin casts of dungeon pieces that I like. they seem to have cornered the market in fact

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/skater_blind/m.html?item=190732679822&pt=UK_Toys_Wargames_RL&hash=item2c688dba8e&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

I think maybe its time they had some competition maybe.

Briancj Is that something you could do on a small coffee table? I don't have much room! Still up for giving it a go.

Nice dungeon Weety. Great grate as well.

The sorcerer is awesome. Nice freehand.

Great grate. Yes.

I think I've worn out my detail brushes. Whats your favorite detail brush?

MICRON brushes are the best on the market, though hard to find and usually need to be bought online. If you prefer a longer bristle for edge highlighting and liners...they are unmatched.
PS. great painting and lovely photos

Brushes: Winsor and Newton series seven. Don't forget to pick up some brush cleaner.

Resin casting: Yes, you can do it on a coffee table. As always, cover the table with newspaper or a painter's cloth. I took a class in it, and both resin and dental stone casting are very easy. Galorn is my (very) local expert in this.

Modular tiles that also work as square bases - there is your USP.

Great job, weety!

 inmygravenimage wrote:
Modular tiles that also work as square bases - there is your USP.

Yeh that's a really, really good idea if you are going to sell them.

And a movement tray/modular dungeon floor piece. C'mon weets, we know you have the know how! You could even offer painted ones as well.

Brushes - Rosemary & Co, mix of series 33 and series 323.

Buy British, weety!

Please note that the Kolinsky Sable brushes are listed under Watercolour brushes, as opposed to Acrylic brushes, for some reason.

In regards to brushes I use the same as Dysartes Rosemary & Co series 33, they really are nice brushes.

Yes I think I will go for the rosemary and co brushes - I like the idea of buying my brushes from a local small business. And the price looks right.

I will look into resin casting. I've always enjoyed making stuff and selling it. Hell I have a degree in making stuff. We did a lot of mold making and casting in univerisity but I we only had a very brief tutorial on resin.

I have painted a happy dwarf - this one was from gravens stash. He is pretty drunk.

He looks very cheery Weets! Like the rune on his mug. Maybe a little vignette with some halflings who are sick of the noise? And definitely go down the casting route.

Yeah - when I saw him I had a picture in my mind of making a bridge diarama with this chap about to fall of backwards and maybe a dwarf vomiting over the side onto a river troll who's come out to see what the singing is all about.

^ Btw, I found the rest of the trolls (and the hill giant) this morning. Going to go buy some jiffy bags! Do you like the movement tray idea?

I love the drunken dwarf! And that diorama idea with the troll, this must be done!

Whatever Kolinsky Sable brush you get, pick up a bottle of Pink Soap for cleaning them, It'll keep your brushes healthy for a very long time.

The dungeon is fantastic Weets! Really great! And the Dwarf! Great Job! Aren't they fun to paint?

So much fun I did another! This is the warhammer fantasy quest dwarf. A plastic model but such a good one that I don't mind. Thanks to graven again for this one.




Get pink soap - check.

Hi Valhalla yeah I will do that sometime! Wish I had more space.

Graven if you think people want movement trays I suppose I could. I don't want to complicate this though - I don't have much room so just a few big ticket items and lots and lots of little bases is probably the way.

Well I'm not a whfb expert. Ask around the boards, but I think it could be a goer. Also, the dwarf is cracking!

Nice work on the dwarfs.

and good show ol' chap, Graven for sending them.

As always, top job weets!

Thankyou. I like painting dwarves, its a shame I've run out. Its probably time I stopped buying miniatures for a while and finished what I've got. I'm not getting paid enough. I need to supplement my income with art somehow.

I'm currently taking my sweet time over some dark elf assassins that I previously painted some years ago. They have big mullet hair, wavy knives and punch daggers. They're a bit daft looking really in a very 80s way, its the hair! - I can't find them in the citadel catalogs so I think they are marauder or pal-ratha or maybs grenedier - I will research.


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yep they are marauder miniatures - http://solegends.com/marauder/mm73deassassins.htm

Something really heavy arrived in the post today. In fact I could say it was a giant package. Thankyou again graven, you are increasing my heavy metal supplies considerably. Also I now have an entire 4chan of river trolls (thats the best group word I could come up with for trolls)

Its going to take me a while to strip the paint off and pin it together so no pics yet.

Dark elves finished soon - they are 55% complete.

Grand like your collective noun too

lol, a 4chan of trolls. Nice one Weety.

Look forward to seeing more.

Awesome! I have him still primed after years The only fig I painted from Quest was the Barbarian.

Did you once have another giant graven? - you seem to have sent me some giant spare arms and weapons. Also a model which seems to be cut in half. Not sure what he is and I'm just curious to know what he was. Perhaps I can green stuff another half to him if I see a pic of what he looked like.

I sent it to you? I don't remember lol..pic?

That message is for graven. I'm sure you'd remember if you sent me a giant with spare arms!

Maybe we all sent giants with spare arms and you only got Gravens.

lol

^

Giant has spare arms iirc. Half guy? Guess giant was hungry

Lol. That makes sense.

So the dark elves are done - here is the before shot



And the new paintjobby

,..

Nice work, very subtle and Delfy!

They all have such perfect 80s hair too! Good job Weets!

Looks like an add for "cougarlife.com".

Nice job weets!

My wife and kids were just watching a teen movie from the eighties yesterday, you nailed the hairdo perfectly .

^ when cougars attack...

Nice work Weety.

Hi theophony welcome - did you sculpt that green stuff padded suit guy in your gallery? He is very cool.

The black and white 80s hair - its a bit goth and I think dark elves are a bit goth so it makes more sense than my previous paintjob.

What is cougarlife - I will go look myself...

Older women aye - gitsplitta you old dawg.

LOL! A cougar would t be interested in me. The site is for older women looking for young men.

Not so young anymore huh gits. I feel a bit old - no one's asked me for ID when I buy booze for 2 years now. Its awful.

I'm very envious of dave's dental stone cave. So I made some dungeon. This piece was rolled out onto scored plasticard (rolling out milliput is awkward - I had to lube up my rolling pin...). Then I got all geometric on its ass with a ruler. The rock texture was created by rolling an uneven chunk of granite about the size of a tennis ball across the surface. I've digitally altered one to give you an idea what it will look like painted.

I need to build some furniture for this room. I love miniature furniture. There's gotta be a wooden table with some bottles on it (maybe I will use Dr H's method? I have some sprue now.), benches, a pile of sacks, barrels, strongbox, weapon-rack, throne, sacrificial alter, etc. If anyone has any helpful suggestions please post them here.

Sounds good. The tiles look cool.

Yeah, wooden tables always have bottles on them...

Would love to see what you can achieve on the sprue carving front.

Lovely stuff! Your ideas sound good and Dr H has proven how versatile sprue can be so that's a great way to go about it. I'm working with card for my entry to the same competition which is rather versatile too although you would likely have trouble casting a porous material like that. If it's for one off pieces it's actually pretty brilliant stuff surprisingly, I'd be happy to give you some tips on using it if you go down that path. I could even do some short tutorials.

Well I had some spare milliput kicking about so I've made a tabletop out of it, and some skyrim style wine bottles, cheese wheel and bread loaves.

I need some tiny plates - its not very hygienic that tabletop. Can anyone think of what to use - I though maybe a brass tack with the point cut off and filed down - kinda bowl shapes

I will probably use sprue for the legs of the table.

I'm loving the table already. I could imagine that kind of table in the taverns my D&D groups used ot meet in to get new adventures.

Nice table and I like the things on it, especially the bottles.
I can't currently think of anything better for plates other than putty, but I'll let you know if I have a brainwave.

and don't forget to build a frame for the table, to go with the legs and for the tabletop to be nailed (or riveted) to.

A frame? I think I know what you mean. I've just sculpted a skull to go on it - possibly with a candle on top. Pics tomorrow when its all dry.

Good morning! Last night's work is dry and looking good - the brass tack idea worked, and I'm getting good at skulls.

Last minute update!!!

My first armature! I have no idea what it will be so I will just start by building a body and see what springs to mind.

 weetyskemian44 wrote:
A frame? I think I know what you mean.

The way I thought about it with my table is that you need something to attach the planks to otherwise, what's holding the middle ones up...
It only needs to be a rectangle that's slightly smaller than the tabletop and I put the legs on the inside of the corners.

The Skull looks amazing, really really good.
Plate works well, good vision.

and look forward to what the person becomes.

I see what you mean now Dr H - Googling "rustic table helped.

The armature has been coated in a first layer of muscle. I can confirm that it will look roughly human. Much work remains. I think I will make it a him and he will be an armoured fighter with shield and sword.

Anyway I'm back to painting now. Hengis the druid, a rare and collectable model, courtesy of graven and Vangart Soulspiller, chaos champion 1987

Excellent progress! Looking forward to what grows from that armature.

He looks like a duellist / fencer! Great start, Weety! Excited to see where this goes

Thanks casey and scarper. Taking it slow - perhaps there is a tutorial? I have very limited internet or I would have watched some already! Green stuff is hard to work with - I have some vasaline to stop it sticking to my fingers and a cocktail stick to shape it. I probably need more tools. What do you use for shaping GS scarper?

I suggest every hobbyist should have colour shapers on hand for sculpting. They make a massive difference, you'll ve amazed. Also, I only every use water for lubrication, I've never had a problem as long as the tool and GS are both wet. My other tip would be to have as many reference images as you can find. Forewarning: Depending on what you're sculpting this can involve some strange image searches and some mental scarring. I'll never search, 'nude obese male art reference' again without checking the safe search filter is on first.

Lol - don't worry I have a strong stomach! fat naked men hold no fear for me. If I was doing zombies though I might draw the line at researching real corpses.

Colour shapers - I will check at the local art shop.

collminiornot has some good tutorials and having read them I realise that all the pros use cocktail sticks so I'm halfway there!

Nice painting Weety. Good job. Like the subtle colours of the druid dude and the not-so-subtle colours of the chaos dude.

I second colour shapers. I've only recently got some and they are awesome. Be aware that they come in different stiffnessess which can make them useful for different jobs.

But can't go wrong with a pointy (cocktail) stick for most things.

Haha, yeh, it was what the fat naked dudes were doing that had me vomiting though! With my Nork Warboss I really felt like I needed some corpse references but I was a bit wary so I settled for a few other things. Animal offal and zombies from films mainly but I had a quick look at rotten wounds although I didn't save the images. I think that's all the realism I require and can stomach if I'm honest.

Toothpicks are good but I don't use them anymore, I made some similar tools by attaching some really thin wires to the ends of old brushes, they are much smaller in some cases and non porous.

I often imagine some NSA spook in an office somewhere trying to make sense of the random gak we search for on the internet. "So this user has looked up gay fat porn, gun specs, rotting wounds and autopsy photos, we've got one sick puppy here".
Did you hear about the family who where interested in buying a pressure cooker and a rucksack? They got raided, but they just wanted to cook some lentils and go hiking.

Hi Dr H. I love painting chaos warriors - I use the goblin knights from 'Labyrinth' for my inspiration.

...

Ha ha, Labyrinth. That's a film full of inspiration.

Love the cheese Weets! This is gonna be badass! Plates? Without a miniature clay wheel to spin them.....maybe sculpt one then make a press mold? Better yet, why not make them eat right from a cutting board?

I vote you urn the armature into a waiter for the table. Win bottle pouring out he right hand, and big server tray in the left. He'd work great with your table.

Haha, yeh, I'm one of the few pro being watched but I sometimes worry about how many blips I put on the radar. I think any half cocked intelligence investigator could find my Dakka account and stuff which likely vindicate my activity if it got to that stage though. I bet miniature hobbyists are some of the worst offenders in that sense.

I see the link to Labyrinth, very nice! Dark Crystal was 1000 times better though!

Great druid! love the work there.

Dstien - I am waiting for an engineer to build me that tiny wheel. I guess if I just linked a tiny electric motor to a tiny wheel I would be set - but I can't be assed so I will bodge it. I'm glad you love the cheese! Its totally skyrim. A lot of the basic foods from skyrim are easily sculptable.

Theophoney this is an obscure hope - but you never know whats gona happen at this stage.

Casey - hope realism prevails. But the system is exploitable for the proto-fascists if it pans out that way. Think about what happened in other places. But the important thing to remember is that dark crystal rocked

Graven you have enriched me. I thank your awesome stockpile and generosity.

I have just watched the evil dead 2. Hilarious but if you take it seriously one of the most disturbing films ever made.

Have I been here before - I know i've visited your pages often to drool over your stuff but not sure if I've commented??

If not, I just need to say 'Old Skool' for the win - your models and painting style really makes me feel nostalgic for the good old days, it's like flicking through the pages of classic White Dwarf issues...

Hi Ruglud! I reckon you've commented before. Thanks for stopping by again.

The Next floor plan is finished! And my table. I think the next table will have books, a money bag and a goat skull. Or maybe it will be a bookshelf. Having a lot of fun with this. I think I've found my calling in life.

That's awesome weety... just awesome.

It's looking fantastic! I like the turned over stool. It makes you think that three dudes just got into an argument at the table and then stepped outside to settle it.

Seems like someone ought to be pinching their food while they are away. It must be an honorable wretched hive of scum and villainy.

Awesome.
The floor is nice. Good splash of colour.
The table looks great.
The things on the table look great.
and the stools...I love the stools. Very cool.

Cheers! Its been fun.

There is definitely a future in this - if I get fed up with warhammer I could even scale it up and make dolls house stuff - there's money in that. I just love constructing miniature worlds. You know what I mean or you wouldn't all be here! wouldn't it just be great to quit my stupid job and make stuff for a living.

I won't quit the day job just yet though...

Very cool indeed and def consider doll's houses as an outlet for your talents!

That's not a bad idea really. I need a job as well...

Wonderful looking floor Weety! I often think that terrain is among the hardest things to paint - it takes a lot of dedication to make a tiled surface look right, and its over such a large surface too.

I would second colour shapers - I use them a lot, as well as occasionally a metal sculpting tool and some push pins as well. Personally I don't like vaseline - I lubricate with water when I can, or sometimes by putting the tools in my mouth(!). As long as they stay wet, all is good!

I'm really keen to see where you go with the mannequin - I've not done too much from armatures myself, but it's something I've been meaning to get into for a while!

You've got all the skills for it scarper - just got to bring them together.


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More floor plans! I'm on a roll tonight.

Briefly slipped back into sci-fi to apply the NMM technique to a Mutant Psychic Scrunt. I still lack some of the refinement I've seen on some peoples nmm. But its Ok so long as you don't zoom in.

I don't know what it is, I don't know what it's doing to/with that skinned cat-alike, but it's nicely painted.

ditto

Fantastic as per usual.

That cat makes that piece.

Really like and am getting a very Daleky vibe from it, which van only be a good thing.

I think he is drinking it...? Do you all remember the scene in dune were the harconians milk the cat? Thats gotta be where he got the idea.

https://www.youtube.com/results?client=firefox&hs=ajW&rls=com.yahoo:en-USfficial&q=cat%20dune%20milking&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.50952593,d.ZGU,pv.xjs.s.en_US.5T6bx5-0vDE.O&biw=1024&bih=608&um=1&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&gl=GB&sa=N&tab=i1

 weetyskemian44 wrote:
Cheers! Its been fun.

There is definitely a future in this - if I get fed up with warhammer I could even scale it up and make dolls house stuff - there's money in that. I just love constructing miniature worlds. You know what I mean or you wouldn't all be here! wouldn't it just be great to quit my stupid job and make stuff for a living.

I won't quit the day job just yet though...

This. I would love to be able to just make stuff, build models, and sculpt for a living as well...I am slowly acquiring gear to start some small scale resin casting. To begin with, it will just be for making copies of architectural, structural and detail elements for my scenery projects, and to duplicate custom bases, etc. But eventually I may get brave and start selling original terrain pieces and the like. Having a wife and 3 kids on a single income though (well, I already have 2 jobs)...I'd really have to be making massive profits and pumping out loads of product to even come close to replacing my main source of income...and I wouldn't have the time it takes to keep up with that on my own...then were talking about hiring help and it all just gets to be a convoluted mess. Not to mention having to figure out health insurance, etc. Maybe I should move to England...

Back on topic though, I really enjoy seeing some of these old school Citadel and Grenadier models get a modern paint job. You really do do them justice.

Looking forward to seeing more!

I'm lucky I don't have all those expenses. I think I will keep the boring day job and just start doing it part time.

Health insurance sounds like a massive drag - It is great to have a national health service, don't let any politician tell you otherwise.

Maybe you can shift into it more when your kids are older?

I'm torn because I was born in England, which makes me (and also my three children) British citizens. So we could move over (assuming I could get a high enough paying job to support my family of 5) and would be fully covered under the National Health Service.

But, I served 4 years in the U.S. Marines and injured my back while I was in the service. Because I was a California resident when I served (and still am today), as a disabled veteran, all of my children can attend any of the California State Universities (assuming they applied and were accepted of course) tuition free.

So free health care for my entire family, or free higher education for my children (as I'm not certain they can claim that benefit if we are no longer California residents)...

What would you do in my position?

Edit: sorry for derailing your P&M thread, you don't have to answer that. This week we're doing annual open enrollment for our companies' health benefits...and our premiums went up again this year, while coverage went down substantially. I'm supposed to feel lucky I have the crappy health benefits, and in a way I do...there are millions of uninsured and/or under-insured people in the US. I guess its all just been weighing on my mind.

On a lighter and more on-topic note, I selfishly request that you paint more of those lovely Necromunda figures.

Yeah I'm not going to answer that. That's the original hard question right there. Education vs health. I hope it works out for you.

But I would probably stay where you are. It wouldn't surprise me if the government sold the NHS so they could give more tax breaks to millionaires. .

Ok thats enough bitterness for one post.

I picked up a brace of copplestone urban war minis the other day and I have been industriously sawing off their bases with my jewellery saw - got through 3 and then broke my last blade. Damn I've had that saw since 2006 and this is the first time I've had to buy more blades - I can't even remember what tooth size I use. About 0.5mm I think.

I think the copplestone bases are silly because the models are so unstable - one little nudge and over they go. So off with their bases.

Pics later - gotta go work and sell shoddy goods.

There is a reason professional jewelry supply companies sell jeweler's saw blades by the gross.

Yeah I think I got through 60 of them and I don't use it much.

I find the X-fine blades are too fine and brittle for plastic work. The med toothed ones last longer, but too much tension or twisting mid-cut can snap them pretty easily.

Fantastic stuff, that dungeon and monsters makes me want to start up Advanced Heroquest!

....shame i dont have any friends lol!

Ditto - well no friends who paint miniatures anyway. They mostly like dressing up and getting drunk, which shouldn't be knocked of course.

Dstein, Yeah thats how they get broke - Also they heat up a lot if you are trying to cut 6 copplestone figures off their bases and I don't think that helps

Weets, if you want to cut them off flush at the bottom of the feet (and don't care about the molded bases) try using snips or clippers, hacking away around the feet. Then you'll have platform shoes you can snip/sand down where you want them.

Snips or clippers. Hmmm. Nope haven't anything heavy duty enough. Time to order some new saw blades - its neater that way.

The promised pics - I didn't get these direct from copplestone - they were second hand and might not have been what I would have chosen from the copplestone range if I'd had the choice - I do love the guy with the ripped suit and briefcase and also the biker dude. At 99p each they were a steal.

Some tidy looking models, if I find the friends to play heroquest we may have to have a game of Necromunda now afterwards!!! haha.

 dsteingass wrote:
Weets, if you want to cut them off flush at the bottom of the feet (and don't care about the molded bases) try using snips or clippers, hacking away around the feet. Then you'll have platform shoes you can snip/sand down where you want them.

Weets, Dave's got it here. Get yourself a pair of jewelers' snips, you want ones that come to a flat edge on one side (wire cutters usually have an angle on both sides). Also, the harder the steel the better, as they will last longer and can be used for nice clean cuts on brass rod, etc (for empty shell casings, weapon shaft replacements, pinning joints, etc). The ones GW sells are worthless for anything but plastic, by the way. These will give you a little more control than the saw blade (plus you dont have to pinch the model in a vise and risk squishing/marring any details. Cut away chunks around the feet, then clip off the bottom bits to give the feet/shoes the desired height, clean up with needle files, and voila!



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Edit: Love the guy with the pink glasses! hes a great sculpt.

Love it, love it, love it! The dungeon scene and tiles are really nice, you did a great job. The creepy dwarf sucking the life out of that diseased cat is brilliant, a nice bit of NMM. The Copplestone stuff is coming along nicely too, very characterful miniatures which is where you excel in my opinion.

Do tell us what blades you buy and how they are, I broke the last in my first set recently too and I really want something better next time. I can be pretty delicate but these things snapped when I looked at them wrong. The biggest issue was they'd get stuck when the metal inevitably closed in behind them. No good for dividing larger pieces. Maybe a range of sizes would be good?

Also, it's interesting how many people seem to be on the same boat. I too would love to make a business out of producing little characterful pieces for creating miniature worlds and similarly I have no friends interested in miniatures. I've actually been getting the impression recently that the hobby is dying off in the UK while it's growing massively in the US...

Whoops, /ramble. Keep at it!

Opportunity for an export market...

The last lot of blades were from Cookson Gold, suppliers of jewellers tools and materials.

Heres what I've been up to.

I love the big bearded dude!

Really nice work. The only thing I could criticise is that they could use some spark of colour to break them up. But otherwise brilliant stuff.

Nice work. Liking the glasses/shades and the tattoo.

Big, bearded biker boy be badass!

Glad you like him - really great model. I like copplestone castings they are fun, and look good for the price.

This next model is an odd one, in the sense that it was hard to make it look good. All the dark elves citadel did in the 80s were a bit skewed and I think this is one of the least wonky but still there is just something a bit squashed about the model.

But I work with what I'm given and I did manage to drag him out of the reject bin a little.



Not sure whats next it depends what I make bases for. Its a toss up between more copplestone or more squashed looking dark elves(actually one of them is quite cool looking and is holding a severed head!). And I need to look into gravens river trolls.

Finally I should add that I am open to doing commissions if anyone's interested as I have a surfeit of spare time and
I'm running out of miniatures. I will consider anything really but may turn stuff down if its very big (I have no airbrush), and obviously prices will be low while I find my feet. I would be feverishly painting anyway regardless of pay. Any tips on where to advertise?

Copplestones look great, really atmospheric... I do like a Copplestone mini, I have a few of his Gangsters and Archaeologists in my 'to be painted' queue.

And as for that creepy Scrunt fella, excellent work on possibly one of the weirdest minis I've ever seen (the weirdest though are the Orc and Ogre Bloodbowl cheerleaders )

Aye up miss skemian.. not bin around these these parts for a while , great to see your fantasy stuff , the post apoc guys glasses are just brilliant btw , you are deffo the best shades painter in the world ;-)

Nice to see you moving into fantasy terrain as well , that table gives of a classic heroquest vibe for sure.

Nice work on the Elf although I see what you mean about the miniature being a bit off. I bet he'd love a Baby Ruth.

Get on with the 4chan! Also, nice pointy-ear

Baby.... Ruth.

He seems to have a hair-lip if you look close. He is a dark elf after all so a bit of mutation is to be expected.

Looks like I have my first commission already. Servitors. More info as it comes.

I've been looking at ifalna's website and absorbing the ins and outs of commission painting. I want to try and be as dedicated and skilled as she has been, so please make criticisms and suggestions.

Its hard to rate my work. I know I have a different style from others and I generally paint much older models so direct comparisons are hard. I think commission painting is the ultimate test of versatility because you are painting things you wouldn't normally paint..

Weets, do you want some recent stuff just to build up portfolio? I can happily send you a couple of sprues of SM or something?

Good luck with the commissions Weety.
I know what you mean about judging (and pricing) your own work as I've also recently started some commission work for a friend (and his ebay shop).

Hey graven - I guess a couple of marines might be useful. I hadn't really thought about it but someone is bound to ask for marines eventually. What a terrifying thought, me painting plastic marines. The horror.

I do actually have a few modern marines I scrounged but getting the thick blobs of paint off them is still work in progress.

Well done Dr H - its always a great moment getting paid for being creative.

The Horror.

^ lol

Thanks, not been paid yet, will have to see how well they sell. Fingers crossed.

^lol

Too funny.

Another dark elf - this one is a more rounded sculpt - but I can't help thinking I ruined it by adding too much blood. Maybe a spot of gloss varnish would make it look more better-er. Also dark elf flesh - Have I made him too pale? Opinions please.

That's a male Dark Elf? o.O. Now I feel dirty.

Its hard to tell with elves. I think you were right the first time though! Those may be breasts I was painting - normally GW make them more obvious...


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Naggaroth must be a bit like Thailand but with more S&M.

The skin looks fine to me. I like the skin on the dead head.

I don't think it's too much blood, although I may have put it as a smear across the middle of the sword to make it look like it was used for chopping the head off rather than stabbing (which is what blood on the tip implies).

Gloss would definitely make it more blood-like.

Originally it was just on the edge but like I said I got carried away! You're right of course.

It's so easy to get carried away when blood is involved... ...did I say that out loud...

Yep its female.

Top notch as always Wheety

Very nice work there too! The dead head is my favourite bit of painting.

I think you could do well with commissions, I don't know if I've mentioned it before but there are a few Dakkaites I'd like to buy work from. I want to build up a reference shelf and your work would definitely have a place. Sadly I'm skint for the foreseeable future so it'll have to wait for now but one day I'll pm you and maybe get one of those cool mugs too!

I'll look forward too that!

Busy morning today - bought two Rosemary and co sable brushs, two pots of P3 armour wash and one of red ink, a couple of skaven plague monks and a new set of batteries for the camera. Thats my shopping done for the month - unless my parents get me cash for my birthday...

Also the last dark elf - glad to see the back of these to be honest. Remind me not to buy anymore dark elves even if they are a bargain. Sculpting in the 80s was very hit and miss.

Chunky... but nicely painted.

Remember not to buy any more dark elves, even if they are a bargain.

Nice paint job though.

and Happy Birthday for whenever that may be in the next month (big up to the September birthday crowd).

Yes september is the best month. It is like baby bear's porridge - not too hot and not too cold. Also I can harvest blackberries and make free wine.

Its been a busy day - in between mountains of housework I have been slathering milliput onto card. I wonder what to make to go on the shelves - books obviously - but maybe some other gak too

That's quite a transformation weety...

Its a welsh dresser - I'm going to give it very small feet tomorrow. We had one at home and I see a lot of these in skyrim with random loot and books on them. Perfect for roleplaying.

I think its feet should be Feet...

That would be fun but difficult graven. Its not going to happen until I sculpt a luggage... I have sculpted feet before - about 10 times larger in scale though! Difficult.

In other news I went and uploaded a couple dozen of my best paintjobs to coolminiornot. Boy those people are hardasses. Average score was 6.2 and the best I got was a 6.9 so far. As I understand it that's quite good! Leaves plenty of room for improvement too.

Hah! More voting overnight and my best one is a 7.1 for my warhammer quest dwarf.

I've done some more to my little dungeon playset. I would really like to make a little helmet to go on the shelf but I've no idea how to do that in milliput.

Nice work on the shelf unit.
Liking all the little additions. Could do with a bottle of potion or two.

Charming weets, just charming!

Dr H - you mean smaller bottles than the wine! Tricky - much smaller and I'm splitting the atom.

rosemary and co brushes arrived today. They look perfect and I got 2 for about 9 pounds including postage. Try them out tomorrow on something.

Real tired out after work today. We have a tourist boom in cornwall and they all want cold drinks. So not updates till tomorrow.

Chow for now.

Tricky, yes. But not impossible. They wouldn't be too dissimilar to the necks of the bottles you have there, just with a smaller bulge at the bottom, if at all.

Couldn't think of anything else that usually appears on shelves in skyrim at the time. I stopped short of suggesting the various ingredients that appear...

Oo, how about some cast Iron pots and pans, they're popular.

A statue would be a real challenge though...

That's beautiful Weety, so much character! Will have to try something similar

Dr H - a dagger would be great. If I make a basic dagger shape from milliput I can then grind it down to a good shape. Or I could just use sprue! I will try both.

Its fun scarper. Milliput and cardboard.

Both methods work well for edged weapons.

The shelves are looking great weety, I must ask though whats the item on the top shelf to the right?