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Im curious as well... Looks to be SUPER nice! Wouldnt mind upgrading my own setup to something similar!

I'll third wondering where you got the lightbox! I've been using the "Foldio 2", but I think I may have actually gotten better results angling 3 OttLites together... this is much faster but I may consider swapping it out at some point as yours looks brilliant.

OK, I want one of those things!

GiraffeX wrote:Wow that was a great find Iffy, your gobbo looks absolutely amazing in there, its makes such an incredible difference.
I picked up one years ago and it ended up being too big and needed lamps and I never really bothered with it, I got better results with a piece of paper which I'm still using now

I've been using bits of paper for years, but nothing gives you as good a result as a light bouncing lightbox, I'm just amazed at how MUCH light this thing bounces, and I double layered the diffuse paper!

GiraffeX wrote:Edit: We all know now that all your pics are being taken in the bathroom....

Because all my pictures are poop! HOHOHO.

Wehrkind wrote:That looks pretty slick! Where did you get it from?

Ramos Asura wrote:Im curious as well... Looks to be SUPER nice! Wouldnt mind upgrading my own setup to something similar!

RiTides wrote:I'll third wondering where you got the lightbox! I've been using the "Foldio 2", but I think I may have actually gotten better results angling 3 OttLites together... this is much faster but I may consider swapping it out at some point as yours looks brilliant.

SlaveToDorkness wrote:OK, I want one of those things!

So happy you guys like it too, I'm in love with this wee thing.

The only place I found selling them was this one Chinese dealer:

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/LED-photo-studio-Portable-9-inch-Mini-Kit-Photo-Studio-Light-Box-Softbox-/271936856033?

I've contacted him asking if he will have any more available soon as I think I got the last one

Can't recommend it enough, it is my new best pal!

Just waiting on my airbrush to get here now, if it's not here today, something has gone rather wrong.

Edit: She is here

That's a very cool little light box you have there Iffy. I've never seen a plug that that before. Sure did a nice job showing off your little gobo though!

What an amazing airbrushing set up... wow.

Thanks for the lightbox link and info . Airbrush looks shiny!

Gitsplitta wrote:That's a very cool little light box you have there Iffy. I've never seen a plug that that before. Sure did a nice job showing off your little gobo though!
What an amazing airbrushing set up... wow.

I was so surprised to see it, it seems like such a simple idea and yet I never thought of it!

Haha, it will be less impressive looking stowed away in its slot under my desk at home. I always feel its a shame to not see compressors as I think they look awesome.

RiTides wrote:Thanks for the lightbox link and info . Airbrush looks shiny!

I'm so happy with it ^^ I can't wait to get home and do some tinkering.

I need to get myself a light box. Every picture I take to post on dakka looks like crap, which doesn't motivate me to post as many as I should.

I still use that tutorial you did ages ago for finishing and colour balancing in Gimp though. Very useful.

I note your airbrushes have the bottom cup and tube set up instead of the top feed, little tiny cup set up. Any thoughts about the virtues of either? It always seemed a little strange that the cup-o-paint at the bottom wasn't the standard instead of the little cup on top you have to refill all the time, but what do I know?

Nothing, that's what!

Da Boss wrote:I need to get myself a light box. Every picture I take to post on dakka looks like crap, which doesn't motivate me to post as many as I should.
I still use that tutorial you did ages ago for finishing and colour balancing in Gimp though. Very useful.

Dude I cannot stress enough that you owe it to yourself to get a photo setup done properly. It is so demotivating to not be able to show the work you have done properly, I totally understand you. It does not matter how well a fig is painted if the photos of it don't do it justice, and while amazing DSLR cameras and light studios help, a decent phonecam and a little lightbox like this is all thats really needed for nice photos.

The only editing I did on the gobbo was to crop the image, I didint even need to edit the colouring because the lightbox does it for you. Totally worth it.

Wehrkind wrote:I note your airbrushes have the bottom cup and tube set up instead of the top feed, little tiny cup set up. Any thoughts about the virtues of either? It always seemed a little strange that the cup-o-paint at the bottom wasn't the standard instead of the little cup on top you have to refill all the time, but what do I know?

Nothing, that's what!

You know plenty!

I didn't order the under feed brush as I don't like them, you tend to need to use quite a bit more paint and more is wasted than an overhead one, so it's down to what you want to do.

If you are basecoating an army, and underhand one is great as it holds lots of paint.

If you are working on a nice single fig, you would be wasting a lot of paint with an underhand one. Also, the underhand brush has a single action trigger, so it basically just releases paint and air as soon as you press down.

The brush I did actually order has a dual action, so you can control how much air and how much paint come out seperately.

Ahhh that makes sense! I might pick up a cheap underhand one for base coating sooner or later. The Sotar is a little over kill for it, and that little cup.... It also doesn't help that I am convinced I need to swirl my hands around while I do it, and inevitably get paint sloshed out the top

Looking forward to seeing those first fancy airbrushed and boxed pics!

 Wehrkind wrote:
It also doesn't help that I am convinced I need to swirl my hands around while I do it, and inevitably get paint sloshed out the top

Haha, mine has a little metal hat to prevent that!!

 Wehrkind wrote:
Looking forward to seeing those first fancy airbrushed and boxed pics!

So am I ^^ Want to finish off the emprs champ, then it's time for some tiny little boats..

 Ifalna wrote:

 Wehrkind wrote:
It also doesn't help that I am convinced I need to swirl my hands around while I do it, and inevitably get paint sloshed out the top

Haha, mine has a little metal hat to prevent that!!

Argh, that happens to me, too! Mine has the little metal hat but... I never remember to use it

I have that exact same compressor and pair of airbrushes.

I've not used the siphon feed brush (and have left it sealed for resale value), but the dual-action side feed brush seems to work well. The compressor does what it says on the tin.

I have the same compressor. Which brand and model AB did you get?

nice the light box is a slick set up. curious, are you photoing your minis with a phone camera? I'm having an issue where the photos looks super crisp on the phone screen, but then they almost lose some colors or something, like colors almost become separated when i view the photos on my pc. wondering if you have any thoughts about that or workarounds...etc etc....goblin looks good too
bb

Dr H wrote:I have that exact same compressor and pair of airbrushes.
I've not used the siphon feed brush (and have left it sealed for resale value), but the dual-action side feed brush seems to work well. The compressor does what it says on the tin.

I'm probably going to butcher the brushes for parts but the side feed one is pretty decent considering it was part of the bundle! Really surprised at the value, I gotta say

My compressor did not have the filter attached and I've had a nightmare getting it on, as the threading on the main nut means that the filter always locks in at an angle, instead of locking in straight.

I realised only AFTER I sent an ebay message asking about it, that they actually included some teflon tape in the box and you are meant to wrap the threads lots to cusion them and make an air seal.

It's set up fine now

Solar_lion wrote:I have the same compressor. Which brand and model AB did you get?

The brushes are some nameless brand, but decently put together!

I would love to have an Iwata or Badger one day, but they are outta my price range at the mo ^^

The compressor was the real deal, I think I paid about 105 euro for the whole thing + shipping, which is fantastic as I couldn't find any mini compressors here for less than 200!

bebopdrums2424 wrote:nice the light box is a slick set up. curious, are you photoing your minis with a phone camera? I'm having an issue where the photos looks super crisp on the phone screen, but then they almost lose some colors or something, like colors almost become separated when i view the photos on my pc. wondering if you have any thoughts about that or workarounds...etc etc....goblin looks good too
bb

I am indeed taking them with my camera!

If you are on Android, look for an Ap called Open Cam. It gives you lots of manual setup camera features the auto mode doesn't give you access to, including a colour corrector and iso options.

Totally PM me a link to some of the photo's losing colour quality, that's pretty odd but it could maybe be fixable in GIMP with a bit o tweaking!

EDIT :

Quick wee update, the seller has 2 more of the vinyl lightboxes available after getting back to me

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/LED-photo-studio-Portable-9-inch-Mini-Kit-Photo-Studio-Light-Box-Softbox-/271950252894?

This guy is a major pain to photo. He either turns out so dark you can't see the highlights, or so bright that they look bright blue!

Getting there slowly with him, he's a much richer black in reality but I'm struggling to catch it in the photos. He also is quite an old metal fig now, and the detailing on his sword is non existent so had to be mostly freehanded, which is going slowly as he is so tiny.

Still mid WIP, but getting better!

Its funny, that old Emp's Champ is really an old old model by most standards, but in many ways I think it represents the peak of Space Marine sculpting. It is so understated, with none of the crazy bling future releases got smothered in, but just has the purposeful stride and salute/challenge that is so well conveyed.

I actually had plans (and bits!) to make him and a Sister Superior into wedding cake toppers for my wedding. Alas, we didn't actually decide to the ceremony until too late to get it all together. Maybe for the 10th anniversary. I could stand to paint up another of him

Very nice Iffy, don't forget to highlight the vents on the back of the backpack.

Gitsplitta wrote:Very nice Iffy, don't forget to highlight the vents on the back of the backpack.

I won't there is so much more to do on him, I'm getting quite annoyed with him to be honest, the metal is so lumpy there are no smooth edges for edge highlights, bit of a nightmare :(

He has really reminded me how far the plastics and finecast have come.

Wehrkind wrote:Its funny, that old Emp's Champ is really an old old model by most standards, but in many ways I think it represents the peak of Space Marine sculpting. It is so understated, with none of the crazy bling future releases got smothered in, but just has the purposeful stride and salute/challenge that is so well conveyed.
I actually had plans (and bits!) to make him and a Sister Superior into wedding cake toppers for my wedding. Alas, we didn't actually decide to the ceremony until too late to get it all together. Maybe for the 10th anniversary. I could stand to paint up another of him

Absolutely agree, this is prob my favourite Space Marine sculpt. It has such a perfect blend of extreme power and grace, I really, really love it. I also love that with only minor tweaking, it works as a fantasy figure too. Just wish he was the finecast version, poor guy.

Love the idea of using him as a cake topper, that's brilliant What a great way to integrate a hobby into a special day ^^

I'm actually going to take my own advice for once and stop working on him for a bit, as I'm getting frustrated with him and not enjoying him at the moment, so I'll be intelligent and move onto somethng else for a while and come back to him later.

It's all assembled and I'm booting up the airbrush and compressor now.. wish me luck!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ahh..

That's better. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)



1st hour done, now to start picking out stars and edges.

You certainly haven't forgotten how to use an airbrush Iffy, looking very nice so far.

Poor Emperors Champ you cant wish for him to be finecast, that stuff is really bad he would end up going round with a banana shaped sword poor guy.

I had GW send me a total of 5 finecast ECs until I got one that wasn't a total wreck.

Fire Prism looks great so far. I've always found the starscape stuff very cool to look at.

GiraffeX wrote:You certainly haven't forgotten how to use an airbrush Iffy, looking very nice so far.
Poor Emperors Champ you cant wish for him to be finecast, that stuff is really bad he would end up going round with a banana shaped sword poor guy.

Haha, aww thanks. I can blend decent with it but I tried to do some detail work today and it did not go well! I have no paint thinner so I'm using water which doesn't work very well, but it was AMAZING FUN to do a bit of airbrushing again"

whalemusic360 wrote:I had GW send me a total of 5 finecast ECs until I got one that wasn't a total wreck.
Fire Prism looks great so far. I've always found the starscape stuff very cool to look at.

Aww man, is finecast still not great? Last thing I remember was it getting much better :( That sucks.

Here is where the prism is at tonight before bed. I'll get shots of it on a grey or black backdrop tomorrow, as some of its detailing is lost against the white.



Blacklining, edging, millions more stars, and star detailing done.

Another layer or two and thw hites will be finished too.
Does anyone have suggestions on the gems? Would love the contrast of scarlet red, but think it would overpower the purples and pinks that are hiding in there already.

What if you did the glossy gem tutorial that's been floating around dakka for a few years now? go with a "deep red" that's mostly black, but with just a smidge of red on one of the corners?

Thats looking really really nice, iffy. Very well done!
Perhaps a turquoise or teal on the gems, following that black gem tutorial. Would keep the colors cool but still have a spot color?

"It's full of staaaaars!"

Nice! I used to have a celestial themed Eldar army back in the day (before some gak stole it.)

Alfndrate wrote:What if you did the glossy gem tutorial that's been floating around dakka for a few years now? go with a "deep red" that's mostly black, but with just a smidge of red on one of the corners?

I love black glow gems!

I tried to do them with my Arachnaroks eyes and LOVED the turn out.



This is definitely an option as it would be a very slight amount of extra colour but look gorgeous.

Ramos Asura wrote:Thats looking really really nice, iffy. Very well done!
Perhaps a turquoise or teal on the gems, following that black gem tutorial. Would keep the colors cool but still have a spot color?

It's totally a toss up between teal and blood red right now. I kinda want to do a little OSL on the engines and weapons with teal, so this is tricky! Argh!

SlaveToDorkness wrote:"It's full of staaaaars!"

Nice! I used to have a celestial themed Eldar army back in the day (before some gak stole it.)

Someone stole it???!

Oh man, that's terrible, so sorry that happened :(

I've wanted to do this forever but didn't have the confidence and was afraid I would ruin my fire prism, but a bit of reassurance from my partner that I could just "Primer it again with black?" got me going

Big question for Eldar players:

My plan is (if this ends up nice, but it's looking lovely so far), buy one of these sets:

http://www.games-workshop.com/en-IE/Wraith-Host-Web-Bundle



Which comes to 261 euro, plus this fire prism which I found in my wardrobe so we won't mention that.

I was planning on painting it to this quality using the same scheme (which is making me drool thinking about the wraith lord..), and then selling it for a profit as a small army.

My worry is, the Wraith host looks like it's probably not that popular a set to field. Would I be better going for the regular Eldar battleforce to sell on?

http://www.games-workshop.com/en-IE/Eldar-Battleforce



It's a heck of a lot cheaper, but it's not going to do the scheme nearly as much justice.

Any ideas?

The Prism is looking really nice so far Iffy.

I'd say the wraith host is your best bet, but that's a very large investment and might take a while to shift when you add the price of your painting on top along with the Prism.

You need to make sure if you go for this option to arm the models correctly as well

If your'e buying direct from GW you will also loose the discount of not buying it from an online retailer, although I imagine that might be an issue if you're in SI.

@Ifalna: The eyes you did on your Arachnarok spider are genuinely creepy! Nice work!