myrmidon studio

Skaven warlord wip

2012-01-28T08:35:00.000-08:00

I have slowly been working this this during this week, half an hour here and there. It will be finished probably tomorrow and then put on ebay.
It's not a display standard just my usual commision standard so nothing special.
It's more about contrast between red and green than anything fancy really with the reds concentrated on the body to hep draw attention to that area.

Pine tree tutorial

2012-01-24T16:09:00.000-08:00

Here is the Pine tree tutorial (at long last I hear you cry!)

First of all I started by making some templates, these were made from twenty two gauge copper wire cut using some standard modeling cutters (the same sort of cutters guitarists use to trim their strings.)
The trunk of the tree is made from a balsa wood dowel. Just trim to shape (I use a hand drill with sanding attachment which does this very quickly but makes an awful lot of mess which is why I forgot to take photos of this stage.)
Just take your time shaping it and try not to make it too thin. For the shorter to medium length trees I used 6.5mm dowels. For the few larger trees I did I used 10mm dowels.
The average height of the small to medium trees is 24cm, the bottom 7-8cm is removed and the two pieces joined together with a pin (but not glued as this means the section of the tree with live branches/foliage can be removed as needed.) (for actual scale pines in roughly 1/56th the tallest ones would be almost 60cm tall, understandably I have chosen to use a height of roughly two thirds this to give the feel of scale but bearing in mind practicality as this piece is for gaming with.)

If you are going to base your trees individually (instead of planting them into the terrain) you don't need to cut the trunks, just make sure the bases are large enough to keep the trees stable (I would personely go for 50-60mm bases.)
Next you scrape along the trunks with a fine tooth saw blade to create texture within the trunk (do this before painting/staing the trunk, this is something I forgot to take a photo of), after this just stain/paint whatever colours you decide. Just remember that trees are not actually brown, they have grey, green, black red etc within them (just take a close look at the next tree you see and see what colours are actually their.)

Once the wire strands are cut I then start to attach them, the top branch is placed into a cut that I made with a modelling knife. It was then glued in place with some super glue (be carfeull you don't glue your fingers to the trunk when holding the balsa wood together when creating the top branch.

For the other branches I used a 0.6mm drill bit in a hand drill. Take your time and let the drill do it's work, if you apply pressure in an attempt to go faster you will snap the trunk.

It's easiest to hold the dowel/trunk just under where you are drilling, just be carefull and avoiding drilling into your fingers.

When gluing the copper wire into place you only need a drop (micro tips are advised as you will make less mess which is something I forgot to buy when purchasing the materials for this tutorial!) of super glue, nothing more and nothing less.

Branches on the pines that are within the forest don't go all the way down to the bottom, the trees only grow branches where sunlight shines (trees are rather clever and only spend energy on things that are necessary.)

Putting some dead branches on to the trunk adds a little nice touch. For good views of pine forest for those who don't live near any or do not like searching for ages on the internet just watch the intro to the film gladiator or watch the film centurion.

Once all the branches are in place bend the a little, try not to have a branch right above another, remember trees try to maximize the light that they catch.

Once this is done we can start to add the smaller branches (before adding the branches paint the copper wire, something I forgot to do for this tutorial as I'm rather busy at the moment and doing too many things at the same time!)

For the longer branches lower down I use woodland scenics fibers (I prefer cutting field grass to length as the thickness is better suited to this but it is just too costly when you are on a very tight budget like myself with a forest to create.) Don't just pull some from the mass of fibers and glue them down, it will look like a rather low quality children's toy.

Tease the fibers apart by holding a small ball of them in both hands, once apart continue to do this until you have separated the fibers into tiny strands instead of a large mass.

Apply tacky glue to the copper wire and then with tweezers place the fibers into position.

Only do a couple of branches at a time, this will prevent the tacky glue going off before you are ready. (as you speed up you can work on more at once.)

Once the glue is cured trim the fibers to the desired length and shape (this is where you can determine the breed of pine/fir.)

For the smaller branches you can use wild grass from nock, this is far quicker :D and is great at making the pines that are in the deepest parts of the forest as you only need to do the first third to half of the tree with foliage.

For the smaller needles I use 2mm flock (static grass) Simply spray from above with a clear varnish (spray glue has too strong a blast I found and gives my lungs problems when spraying batches of trees)

Then spray at a few angles quickly making sure you only spray the branches and not the trunk.

Then sprinkle the 2mm flock (static grass) from above and gently shake off the excess.

Then repeat this process with 1mm flock (available from antenocitisworkshop)

finaly sealing with another coat of varnish.

Testors dullcote has given me the best results due to the very fine spray but at £5 for a small can it's just not possible for me to fund a forest, spray wood varnish is a good cost effective substitute.

Do not use hairspray, hairspray is designed to break down over time. It is not designed to act as a glue.

You could always use scatter (woodland scenics fine turf for example) for a faster method if you prefer (it also cuts out the painting stag,.) instead of the two stages of smaller flock (static grass.)

Thought we were done, not a chance!

Now we air brush the foliage and add a little more depth/character to the trunk.

First we start with black (vallejo primer) just spraying the undersides of the branches to add shadow. We also give a light mist over the lower part of the trunk as not a s much light hits this part of the tree.

Then we use a dark green, for this I used vallejo air olive (number seven) making sure to add little bits of moss etc to the trunk (you could always add texture to this will some fine turf glued on first.)

After the olive I gave it a very light spray of cam light green followed by duck egg green to bring out the texture of the foliage/needles. (it's the air brush equivalent of dry brushing.)

You can always add dead branches with roots cut from a dead bush (ask permission first if you are going to pull it from the ground.)

Now we plant the tree (yay at last.)

First thing I did was to cut a piece of balsa dowel that was used for the tree trunks and attach two scalpel blades to it, one either side using sticky tape.

I then pushed this device into the ground, as I didn't want to risk pulling up any of the ground work when I pulled the device out. Turn it around a little and then push it in again. Continue this until you have a circle cut out.

You may find you have to place your fingers on either side of the blades (flat side attached to the dowel) to stop them from pushing up through the sticky tape when you attempt to create the hole, just be carefull.)

Another way of doing it could be to drill a hole, it's just a suggestion as I haven't tried it myself.

Once done then use tweezers to pull out the pieces of filler and foam. This is made easier by using your modelling knife to make further cuts inside the circle you have created.

A hole roughly 1cm deep will give more stable results.

Test fit the trunk to ensure the hole is big enough then add glue to the bottom 1-2mm of the trunk as well as a little blog into the hole. I used deluxe materials foam to foam glue for this (as well as origionaly using it for the creation of the hill and attaching t resin scenery to the boards, very usefull glue foam to foam.)

You may find some of the dust from the filler is around the bottom of the trunk or that the hole was slightly too large and some foam is showing, just add a little tacky glue and place some course turf over it, this will look like weeds etc and hide the evidence!)

When planting the rest of the trees make sure that they will fit in place before you cut the hole (especially if you have made the top two thirds of the trunk detachable!)

As you can see, the forest starts to come to life as you slowly add more and more trees.

Just take your time and think about the next stage before you start it, good look you lords of nature with creating your forest. :)

To create dense looking foliage place a branch every 5mm, for looser looking foliage or older trees start to increase the distance between the branch layers as you add them to the trunk.

Forest preview

2012-01-20T15:39:00.000-08:00

At last I have managed to find the time to start the forest. The tree experiments are over and work has begun at last.
The tutorial will be a while off as I want to finish the full forest before posting the tutorial on line.

Here you can see the height of the bottom section of the trees compared to some miniatures (32mm to top of head) the trees are made in two sections so that the stumps can stay in place for working out line of site and cover.

The next picture shows the actual height of the trees compared to the models.

The last of the first batch of trees is now planted, I now have start making the second batch and hopefully the olive paint will have arrived before I finish (it takes more paint than I thought it would to colour the foliage.)

As you can see, it takes more trees to make a forest than you would imagine (okay a pine forest then as oaks etc have HUGE [as wide as they are tall] spans and as such take up far more space.)

Village on hill terrain tile tutorial

2012-01-15T09:33:00.000-08:00

Eventually I have the time to wright this tutorial up. Like an idiot I forgot to get photos of the initial stages, luckily I have a link to a tutorial that allowed me to make this piece. lead adventure forum tutorial

Supplies can be bought from the folling places
deluxe materials for the glue and water products.
antenocitis workshop for everything else (you can get the water products from Ged but not the resin in the quantity I need)

I started off by rough;y sketching out ideas on the set up of this tile bearing in mind that the path needed to be in the center of the tile so that it would match up with the first one I made forest terrain tile
This is very important if you want to have tiles that can be put together for larger encounters/skirmishes.

Once the sketches were finished I marked out on the first piece of blue foam (extruded styrene) with a pencil where the hills would go and where the path would run (the pencil will leave an indentation in the foam so is also good if you want to make a cobbled path for example.)

Once this was done I then started to cut out the hills using a hot wire cutter (I use the woodland scenics one as it is very affordable and easy to use/maintain.) One thing I did bear in mind whilst cutting the hills was that miniatures had to stand on the slopes and that some smoothing would be done with wall/crack filler so the hills didn't need to be perfect, just near enough.

The rocks were made from pieces of cork bark, cut roughly into the shapes I needed with a standard saw (no need for expensive tools, just the correct ones :)
The hills were then glued into place using deluxe materials foam to foam glue followed by the cork bark (rocks) and left to set (it takes roughly an hour to fully cure)

Once the glue was cured I started to carve out the stream using a hand drill (sanding attachment) which is far quicker and more accurate than cutting by hand or sanding (but damn messy!)
After this (and cleaning up the mess) I mixed up the wall/crack filler (the dry powder is far cheaper than the ready mixed, why pay premium prices for someone else to add water!) and started to finish off the hills.
Just mix the filler untill it has the consistency of a thick porridge (one that a spoon won't stand up in!) and use a spatula to put in place, smooth it out before it cures with the spatula (just wet the spatual first) and then wait for it to cure.
I also smoothed out the river/stream bed as well with the excess I had mixed)
Once cured use some sand paper to smooth out and large bumps etc.
(the small pieces of slate in the river bed are to indicate a ford)

Now that that part is done I painted the relevant parts the appropriate colour using cheap craft paint, this ensures that any part that doesn't get completely covered by foam, grass etc won't have bits of blue showing through (a very easy way for a lot of work to be ruined just for the sake of skipping ten minutes of work!)

The rocks were base coated with a black craft paint and then had vallejo model colour silver grey (thinned own) painted over (two coats.)

As you can see it now looks like a cheap plastic childrens toy! don't dispare though as woodland scenics and nock will come to the rescue.

Once the paint was dry I glued into place the resin pieces I had previously painted (using the foam to foam glue) Remember to put the pieces in place first and then one piece at a time remove and glue, this will ensure your village etc will not only fit but will be how you want it to be (yet again another ten minute job that will pay big dividends in the long run, or as carpenters say, measure twice cut once.)

Make sure that models have enough room to move around the parts you wish the to be able to move in.

Getafix from the old metal magic company (painted by my friend John Mooney) aided me in this task.

Next up was to get the main part of the rocks out of the way. This was done in the same manner as the rock tutorial here (obviously the base coat has already been done so no nead to base coat it in ivory as in that turorial.)

The next stage was to start the ground work, for this I used woodland scenics fine turf, grass and earth for the grass areas.

Leave the paths clear at this stage.

Just paint on pva and then sprinkle on the fine turf, once dry turn the board on it's side and gently shake free any loose turf (collect this turf as it can be reused, waste not want not.)

Then mix up a scenic cement mix (highly diluted pva and water mix) and spray all over the turf, this will ensure it is firmly fixed in place and will stand up to gaming. (have the spray bottle set to spray and not jet! and clean the nozzle by squirting pure water through it as soon as you are finished other wise the glue will block up the nozzle.)

Once the pva scenic cement mix is dry use masking tape to cover the paths (this is to ensure that any where you don't want the grass you will not have any, with hindsight I would have convered the buildings and wattle fences as well as getting the grass of them took along time!) as they may not have anything on them but the scenic cement mix will have left them ever so slightly tacky (even if left for twenty four hours!)

Next is the grass.

In this step I used a very cool piece of equipment known as the grass tech II (static flock applicator) Noch produces one as well, more expensive with different attachment as well but at half the price the grass tech does what I require of it (their are tutorials on the net on how to make them yourself.)

Antoniciti (Ged and Nadine sell it) Grass tech flock applicator

Simply load up the hopper, attach the crocodile clip to the glue (I attach it to a small nail and just place that where I need it as it doesn't then leave a mark or a hole) and start to sprinkle, for thicker areas of grass just sprinkle for longer over that spot. For different heights of grass just sprinkle thinly and then load the hopper with the different height of grass and then sprinkle in the same area (same with different coloured grass as well.)

Here is a youtube vid of it in action

I just use a paint brush to apply the glue as using your finger on top of the fine flock isn't practical.

Once done allow to dry and then vac up the loose grass (place an old sock over the nozzle, in my case I placed it in the tube and trapped it in place with the fine nozzle thus allowing me to reclaim the grass and put it back in the tub to be reused again.

Then apply glue to your paths etc and flock them with the earth fine turf.

Once dry scatter bits of course turf into places where you want weeds etc to be growing and then blast the lot with the scenic cement mix and allow to dry (this may flatten some areas of grass, don't worry this just makes it look like it has been trampled down and more natural.)

The next stage is to apply dry pigment powder to the paths (I use mig pigments) and river bed then seal with a fixer (in my case I use lighter fluid, just load the fixer onto a brush and gently touch the dry pigment powder.)

Now we are onto the water stage :D Making sure to seal the edges of the board (the two ends of the river/large stream) I used clear plastic (the backs of warlord games blister packs cut to size) and glued it in place with foam to foam glue.

If you wanted to remove the barrier/seal afterwards for example of you were having the stream run through a couple of board sections then you could seal it with brown tape, then use a two part epoxy glue (that dries clear) to ensure the seal is good. once cured cover the inside of the brown tape with liquid vaseline (otherwise you will end up with lots of air bubbles where the resin has touched the tape.)

Once the barrier is in place mix up your clear resin (usually two parts resin to one part hardener) and start to pour. I would advise on doing the pour in a couple of stages, first stage just a thin covering of the river bed. This will allow you to make sure your seals are good enough, if not you will only have a small amount of resin to clean up.

Let each pour cure before doing the next (I did this board in two pours.)

My apologies for the poor quality photograph (the sunlight was that bright the blind would not stop it coming through and everything has an orangy brown glow because of it!)

Once the resin is cured we now need to make the water look like it is actually flowing.

For this I used deluxe materials making waves, it is extremely thick, thicker than you would imagine. It is designed to be stippled into place.

Put a little onto the end of a flat brush and stipple, do a little area at a time (I worked in one inch areas.)

It will dry clear and it will dry matt.

Just build up the layers where you want the ripples etc to be.

As you can see I started off with a general covering and then built it up in the center with a few more layers.

I then gave it all a coat of acrylic gloss varnish (vallejo model colour) to get rid of the matt finish (water is reflective)

Then to add the little bits of water that that appear almost white and foamy when flowing over rocks etc I mixed a little white into the making waves (one part white to two parts making waves) and stippled it into areas that I wanted to give the appearance of rocks below the surface (not too much, less is more.)

The ford area had more applied to draw attention to it (as it means the water isn't as deep their.)

Once dry I gave the white foam parts a liitle stipple of pure making waves just to add a clear surface to it and take away the white painted look.

And that's it!

To cover up the blue foam from the edges of the boards I simply used gaffa tape as it adds a little strength to avoid damage from knocks and looks neater than blue foam or matt paint that slowly shows blue as it gets bashed about through plenty of use.

Here is the finished tile and some close up shots.

(the hay is noch wild grass beige)

Troll preview

2012-01-09T14:07:00.000-08:00

Here is the "green" for the troll, sculpted by Brother Vinni

As soon as I have some casts (resin due to size of model) I'll put them up in the store, for customers on the American continent it will be available through the cool mini store

Sneak peek

2012-01-08T12:47:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick sneak peek of the terrain tile I am doing not just for the studio but for a step by step tutorial.
(the for sale page will be having the last of the buildings added later tonight as well.)

For sale page updated

2012-01-03T12:19:00.001-08:00

Some painted Gripping beast resin buildings have been added to the for sale page (more to follow) as well as some of the prices on other products being reduced.

Terrain tile

2012-01-02T17:28:00.000-08:00

Had a go at Making a terrain tile over the holiday period. The trees will be finished and attached once my new compressor has arrived (the old one died after I replaced the starter capacitor!)

I'm still having problems with wide shots with my camera and I need to dig out my light tent to diffuse the light as the models on the board have been totaly washed out.)

The hills have been made so that models will stand on them in any position (no models falling over due to hills being too steep on my hills) even though the hills stand at 50mm high.

More tree experiments

2011-12-27T06:32:00.000-08:00

Grabbed a little time to try out a few ideas on trees.
First was adding dead wood branches which did improve the look, the second was to find a way of speeding up the process as well as creating finer needles than ground foam.
The caspia trees are nice but are way too time consuming so I decided to make the branches out of copper wire and then attach 4mm wild grass to them. Then I added 2mm static grass on top off this, finally 1mm grass was added.
I just need to wait for my replacement parts for the compressor as the fine needle branches need painting to give them the darker look I would like.
The trunks also need another black stain as the red in the mahogony is coming through way too much.

As you can see the bottom third of the trunk is separate, this is to allow the trees to be removed for not only gaining access to models but to show how far into the forest the players can see whilst leaving the trunks for cover etc.

This is a view more people will be familiar with regarding trees

Christmas time

2011-12-24T16:05:00.000-08:00

Hi folks :)

Things have slowed down drastically for me over the last month due to conjunctivitis in both eyes! as well as my airbrush breaking down (replacement parts in the post) on top off goods not turning up when they needed to (some were a month late!)

This has put me way behind on getting the rules fully typed up and getting the scenery made for the scenarios to go with the rules.

In the meantime here is a pic off a few trees that are mid production.

Happy Christmas to every one and hopefully you will have a good new year as well (mine can't be any worse than how this one has ended.)

Last of the hovels resin

2011-11-27T15:27:00.000-08:00

Here are the last parts for my small Celtic village, eventually it will be assembled on a terrain tile.

The second Celtic roundhouse and a pig stye.

For sale page updated

2011-11-26T04:27:00.000-08:00

The night goblin army has been added to the for sale page

.for-sale-page

Night goblin army

2011-11-26T04:12:00.000-08:00

More Hovels scenery

2011-11-24T14:22:00.000-08:00

Here we have the raised grain store and the covered grain store.
The covered grain store has had noch beige wild grass added to represent straw.

Red Box Games miniatures

2011-11-20T12:56:00.000-08:00

These are from a resent commission.

Airbrush maintenance tutorial

2011-11-17T14:37:00.000-08:00

I thought as I was doing a fair amount of airbrushing recently that I would give a run down on airbrush maintenance (especially as I found it damn difficult to find any thorough advice until a friend Dave from the Steve Dean forum rang me up and talked me through it.)

Maintaining your tools is vital to good performance, if you don't maintain your airbrush it will mess up any chance of getting a good finish so get used to constantly cleaning it. The more you clean it the faster the procedure will become (stop giggling at the back you dirty minded boy!)

The airbrush I will be using for this tutorial is an AB135a from everythingairbrush.com in the UK as well as the AB-AS189 mini compressor

Okay then, lets begin.
As well as the airbrush and compressor get a good quality hose, not the cheap arse plastic hoses that tend to come free (they are seriously poo and that is being polite.)
On top of this a invest in a moisture trap to attach to the brush (having a trap on the brush and on the compressor (the compressor comes with one as well as the pressure regulator) as having a trap on both ends of the hose cuts down on condensation build up in the hose almost completely (remember to release moisture build up by pushing the pin button) which isn't a problem unless you are doing a lot of airbrushing (or forgetting to release the moisture build up on the compressors moisture trap!)

the mini screw driver does not come with the airbrush

Now we are done with basic tools we can start with the maintenance.

First up, once you have finished spraying a colour don't just pop in your next colour, give the brush a quick clean.

We start this quick clean cycle by using a brush loaded with airbrush cleaner (alcohol usually or water in the case of acrylic paints) and start to remove the build up in the airbrush cup.

Once that is appears clean load the brush with the alcohol and work it into the lower part of the cup where the needle slides through. Use the airbrush to blow the liquid out then slide the needle backwards then forwards with the trigger and see if any paint is showing on the needle, if it's clean then move onto the next step.

Slide the trigger back so that the needle retracts, this will help prevent any damage to the needle as it is extremely easy to damage them. Now the trigger is back untwist the cover (nozzle cap) at the front, it comes in two parts, remove both parts.

Now you can separate the the nozzle cap into it's two parts, the nozzle cap and the needle cap (the needle cap is the front part.)

The needle cap isn't needed for spraying but until you have been using your brush for a while leave it on whilst spraying as it will prevent you getting too close to what you are spraying and bending the needle (I bent mine doing camo on 15mm tigers in the first week I had it because of this, don't make my mistake!)

I also put the needle cap back on if I am going to nip off and make a quick brew as it's better safe than sorry.

Use a brush loaded with airbrush cleaner to remove any build up paying close attention to not only the hole the needle goes through but the screw thread.

Now we remove the fluid nozzle, this directly covers the needle so be careful, not only of the needle but of your finger (the needles are damn pointy!)

Do not use the spanner to undo or put back on the Fluid nozzle, it is way too easy to strip the screw thread. use your fingers to tighten it and do not force it! (you may need the spanner to release it the first few times but after that it will be fine.)

remember to tighten it properly when putting it back on otherwise you won't be doing any spraying (it may even cause blow back and leave paint flying everywhere from the hopper, or just bubbling if you're lucky.)

Using a smaller brush clean this piece as well making sure you get the inside clean by poking the brush through the tiny hole (hold it up to the light when finished, if you cannot see a round hole with light shining through then it isn't clean.) This is one of the most important parts to clean, screw this stage up and you will have so many problems you will not be able to get any airbrushing done whatsoever.

Now we remove the handle (this part is really easy!)

Now we have access to the needle chuck nut, loosen this and remove the needle from the front of the airbrush, first push from the rear and then slowly (and carefully) draw it out from the front.

Before we clean the needle we now have access to the front of the brush where the needle fits into, give this a clean as well (making sure the screw thread is also clean.

When cleaning the needle ensure it is gleaming, any dirt on the surface will give all sorts of problems. After using the brush cleaner use some 1500 grit paper (wet and dry) to remove any traces of dirt from the needle point.

Now the quick clean is complete we can reassemble the airbrush in reverse order and continue to spray.

Once the spraying session is done we need to do a full clean to ensure that even the rear of the brush (inside) is clean as well otherwise this will lead to spraying problems further down the line (it makes maintaining firearms look easy!)

For a complete clean before starting the normal procedure we need to flush the brush. Fill up the cup with airbrush cleaner then place a rag or damp tissue against the needle cap. This will produce bubbles in the cup, it is cleaning the inside of brush.

After this is done we can completely strip the brush, follow the procedure as before but also remove the needle chuck guide, the trigger and the trigger guide.

Then thoroughly clean all parts of the airbrush (inside as well)

If the needle chuck guide won't come out then loosen the screw (it doesn't need removing) with a small flat head screwdriver.

Before assembly make sure ANY moving parts are oiled, you don't need to drown the parts just a little on a finger tip and gently rub the part (this prevents sticking and long term damage through abrasion.

All done :)

Once you are used to it a quick clean will only take a couple of minutes and a full clean ten to fifteen minutes (as long as you regularly clean it properly when used.)

Here is a look at the stripped down brush I use when working, it speeds up the quick clean process and allows for a little more accuracy when doing fine line work (as fine a line as my shaky hands allow!)

Please don't operate your brush like this until you have a fair amount of experience as the needle is exposed and is easily damaged.

Regarding paints, it's far easier to used ready mixed airbrush paints such as Vallejo model colour. If you wish to mix your own the you are aiming for a single cream consistency, too thick and it either won't spray or you will get splatters, too thin and you are in danger if it spidering (nice little spot that then spreads outwards in all sorts of directions.)

If you really do wish to mix your paints that you paint models with by brush then buy at least one pot of Vallejo air so you have something to compare the consistency with.

Hope this helps.

p.s.

Airbrushing dvds such as the ones sold by Everything air brush (link at the top) will really help, unfortunately their are not many dvds for airbrush maintenance on the market (or at least their weren't when I was first getting into it.)

Tutorials

2011-11-14T14:45:00.000-08:00

Here is a list of the tutorials on the blog, as I write more (I'll be honest and let you know It's rare I get chance to do anything other than work currently!) I'll add them to this page.

village-on-hill-terrain-tile-tutorial.

Guild of harmony dark elf sorceres step by step

Step by step sculpting and-painting rocks with milliput.

Rackham goblin gas blower step by step.

airbrush maintenance tutorial

Foundry style tutorial by Artmaster (Toby)

Pine tree tutorial.

polished granite step by step

Painted Celtic Roundhouse

2011-11-12T14:27:00.000-08:00

As I'm still suffering with the virus (I gave up trying to paint commissions after a couple of hours as I was just messing it up and their is no way I'll try and pass off under par work for commissions,) I decided to paint up the Hovels Celtic Roundhouse.
I decided against adding the wooden poles that most others add as they were usually cut off once the roof was constructed but before the thatch was added.

(got a quick pic of the wattle fencing as well)

Painted thatched hut

2011-11-11T15:39:00.000-08:00

As I haven't been able to work due to a virus (hands are way to shaky to be able to paint commission work.) I decided to put a little paint onto the Hovels resin scenery.
I decided to dig out my airbrush as I haven't used it for a while (not to mention I haven't painted buildings for years!) and have a play.

I managed to get the thatched hut (oblong store hut) and the wattle done, the hut took a while as I had to constantly redo areas due to shaky hands (slipping with an airbrush can destroy an entire wall!)

here is the hut, I'll try to get some pics of the wattle over the weekend if I get time (commissions have to come first and I'm behind now.)

Elven Germani minis for sale in aid of charity

2011-11-10T10:00:00.000-08:00

Over at Newbold world the Elven Germani range (one of each figure in the entire range) unpainted at a discount price in aid of charity.
The adventurers went as soon as they were put up!

newbold charity shop

not only are they at a discounted price but it's for charity.

Hoveles scenery review

2011-11-08T15:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the resin scenery arrived :D so I thought I would do a quick review for people.

It was the farmstead deal (6D) that I purchased.

Up first is the big one, the Celtic roundhouse. It stands 10cm tall (floor to point of roof) and 9cm wide (wall to wall not including thatch overhang) with a depth from front to back (not including thatch) of 10.5cm.

The resin is good quality, the casting has a few imperfections but they are not that noticeable and to be honest it won't take much work to correct with a file and ten minutes spare.

Next is the covered grain store, this is a two part piece with a diameter of 6cm and standing 7.5cm tall when complete. The casting was very nice although the person who was sanding away the excess flash has removed a small piece of of the thatching detail on one side (2cm strip) which will take all of thirty seconds to fix (not a big deal really but this is a review.

Now we have the raised grain store. This is another multi part piece, nothing to complain about regarding casting. A few pieces of flash to remove from the bottom section but nothing you wouldn't expect from any kit (very minor flash.)
Complete it stands 5.5cm tall 5cm deep and 3cm wide (wall to wall not including thatch.)
Just the grain store it's height is reduced to 4cm, the added bonus is that with a Little pinning and not glue you have a detachable hut that will look great for a dwarf, goblin, halfling settlement or forest hide for some wee little hunters.

Up next is the oblong thatched store, this is a single piece building. with only one or two minor pin holes in the cast (dot of super glue is all that is need for that so not even a ten second job/)

It's height is just over 5cm tall, the width is 4.5cm (yet again not including thatch,) and the depth is 7.5cm.
This building is a cracker for general use not only for ancient and fantasy use but also for dark ages periods.

Last of all is the wattle fencing. Their was some flash on this piece but to be fair it was the worst of all of the wattle fence castings, the rest have hardly any flash at all.
It measure 4cm across and 2.5cm in height. In one pack you receive four wattle fence pieces, in the farmstead deal you receive five packs (twenty pieces in total.)

The total price for the Farmstead deal including postage to the UK was £38.26. A pretty damn good deal in my opinion and well worth the money.
If your in the market for ancient/dark ages buildings then I can definitely recommend Hovels scenery.

hovelsltd.co.uk

p.s. one company to look out for If you are US based is kobblestone I would personaly love to get my hands on their Celtic fort and buildings but their is no way I could afford it (maybe one day)

Wild mage on ebay

2011-10-31T11:09:00.000-07:00

ebay

Guild of Harmony Wild mage (finished)

2011-10-30T16:26:00.000-07:00

Got the bugger finished finally! My tired eyes slowed me down that much it turned into a ten hour job! (should have been eight due to the extra little twidly bits on him, it was almost like painting a Rackham mini.)

It will be next week when I put it on ebay as my eyes can't take staring at a monitor any longer and need rest (this is what happens when you get old younglings or don't look after your eyes.)

Guild of Harmony wild mage wip

2011-10-29T15:59:00.000-07:00

Started this piece this afternoon and I'll be finishing it tomorrow afternoon (should work out at roughly six hours work.)
As it's a piece for evil bay I decided to play around with colours a little adding a little orange into the blue here and there.

It will be much later tonight as various areas are taking far longer than I would like (extra detailing I hadn't noticed at first as well as my eye sight being blurry so that is slowing me down.)

Elven Germani Noble warriors

2011-10-28T14:07:00.000-07:00

Finished them at last.

My eyes are just too tired to be able to do any more on them or try to take better photo's.

Musical interlude

2011-10-28T09:45:00.001-07:00

Whilst I'm working on the bases of the Elven Germani Nobles (which will be posted tonight) here is a song from a Polish band, Unsun.

Elven Germani Besrkers

2011-10-25T15:40:00.000-07:00

I have finaly got these finished and put them into the painted Myrmidon Miniatures catalogue.

P.s. check out Engles blog their is some cracking painting and scenery ideas.

Landsknechte Command moulds for sale

2011-10-23T14:24:00.000-07:00

I need funds so unfortunately my side project needs to end.

For sale is the master mould (for all three models) and the three production moulds (one for each model)
This includes production rights.
The moulds were made by Griffin moulds and are currently held by them.
I'm sorry that the painted pics are not that good but I just couldn't get the light levels correct.

I am open to offers as I need to raise funds for sculptors.
my email address is uzruk @ aol.com (no spaces surrounding the @)

Myrmidon Adventurers

2011-10-21T11:04:00.001-07:00

Got these finished at last.

Myrmidon Miniatures distributors

2011-10-15T14:07:00.000-07:00

USA and Canada cool mini shop

Australia and New Zealand Guild of Harmony

Rest of the world, currently from (UK) Myrmidon Studio

I am looking for other manufacturer and distributors please enquire if you are interested.

Painting tutorial by Artmaster

2011-10-15T12:26:00.000-07:00

Hi readers :) Just thought I would put up this painting tutorial videa by Toby from Artmaster Studio.

This was a live recording by Toby (he usualy does one every friday evening for those interested) using the foundry method. A great method for people needing to get a number of miniatures painted quickly.

Some recent commisions

2011-10-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

These are a few of the model I have been working on recently, they are all from redbox games.

Redbox online store for US customers

Uk customers can buy from Artemis Blacks

Tre is a fantastic sculptor, well worth checking out (I will be for a future mini range to go with my game I'm working on.)

Vikings, Saxons and Romans reduced in price

2011-10-05T03:17:00.000-07:00

The Viking, Saxons (both anglo and danish) as well as the Roman regiment have been reduced.
No further reductions in price will be made.

for sale page

Single figures now in Ebid store

2011-09-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

Managed to get the time to get the last update for the Ebid store done.
All of the single figures are now up Ebid store

Remember, if you do not have an Ebid acount (or do not wish to open one) just email me with what figures you are after and where you are based (which country you live in.)

Hopefully I'll have some spare time this weekend to get the painting on the adventurers completed.

Ebid store updated

2011-09-24T15:36:00.000-07:00

The Ebid store has been updated with the Germani packs as well as the Adventurer pack.
Hopefully I'll have time tomorrow to update it with the Germani character singles and the Adventurer singles.

Myrmidon Studio Ebid store

For Australia and New Zealand please visit the Guild of Harmony store as Sebastion Archer is not only the sculptor of the Elven Germani range but also the distributor of Myrmidon Miniatures for Australia and New Zealand.

For those of you on the other side of the pond (American continent) the minis can be purchased from Cool mini or not

If you do not have an ebid acount or do not wish to open one yet wish to purchase any of the miniatures please email me with which miniatures you wish to purchase.

Commision

2011-09-20T14:41:00.000-07:00

This was part of a commision (hopefully the other models will arrive soon! damn post.)

Myrmidon Miniatures catalogue (painted version)

2011-09-19T12:14:00.000-07:00

Gaulonians
sculpted by Vlad Junger

Orcs of the Legion
sculpted by Vlad Junger

Germani

sculpted by Sebastian Archer

Adventurers sculpted by Sandra Garrity

Myrmidon Miniatures catalogue (unpainted version)

2011-09-18T13:43:00.000-07:00

Adventurers
sculpted by Sandra Garrity

Germani
sculpted by Sebastian Archer

Romans added to for sale page

2011-09-09T11:59:00.000-07:00

A unit of Early Imperial Romans has been added to the for sale page.

FOR SALE PAGE

2011-09-07T12:22:00.000-07:00

This page is all of the items that will be for sale through this blog and not through Ebay or Ebid, if you see some of my unpainted minis for sale on ebid and do not wish to create an ebid acount to purchase them then just email me (uzruk at aol.com, use the @ symbol with not spaces instead of at.)

Gripping Beast resin Buildings
All prices include postage
The medium size wattle hut with brown thatch is £25
The medium size wattle hut with light thatch is £25
The small A frame huts are £15 each
The small stone buildings are £15 each.
The timber frame longhouse with light thatch is £28
The timber frame longhouse with brown thatch is £28
The longhouse with red curtain is £30
The longhouse with blue curtain is £30
The medium sized hut with red curtain is £28
The medium sized hut with blue curtain is £25 (hole not filled properly on corner of thatch so I'm knocking a couple of quid off)

Night goblin army.

It consists of 160 infantry! 3 units of spear (40 in each unit) and a unit of 40 hand weapons (usually used as a reserve)
Their are 4 units of light cavalry (5 in each) with bows (great for taking out pesky wizards and artillery)
6 fanatics (I used to place 2 in each regiment of spear)
3 characters, the shaman and his 2 sons left nork and right nork (together they act like a complete set of tits)
10 bases of snotlings (the rotters) lead by insubordinate general dick.
And last but not least, the 4 stone trolls (heavy cavalry bashers)

The asking price including postage is £500

Up for sale currently is a DBA Saxon army with the variants to field it also as an Anglo Danish army as well as a DBA viking army. The Anglo Danish army does not have the optional cavalry element added in as cavalry was very rare in this period of western european warfare.

The bases are 60mmx30mm so you can put two together to create one element for an Impetus element.

Landsknecht command group master mould and the three production moulds are also up for sale.

Anglo Saxon

Both the pic above and below have four elements, two in front and two as a second rank.

and the three element of hurscarls to replace the three warband elements (last pic above) to turn it into an Anglo Danish army.

The vikings.

Both the pic above and below have four elements, two in front and two as a second rank.

The last pic contains both an element of bow and an element of psilio, this choice is one or the other within the DBA army.

Both the Anglo Saxon/Anglo Danish army iand the Viking army are now going for a reduced price of £600 , postage is free and no additional charge for paypal.

.

Early Imperial Roman regiment for sale.
Mounted on three 60x40mm bases. (can be used as double depth stands for DBx systems as well as is for systems such as Warlord Games Hail Ceaser.
The left and right elements contain eight models a piece whilst the centre element holds seven models.

19 plastic models and 4 metal models for a reduced price of £150 postage free with no additional charge for paypal.

For sale is the master mould (for all three models) and the three production moulds (one for each model)

This includes production rights.
The moulds were made by Griffin moulds and are currently held by them.

I am open to offers as I need to raise funds for sculptors.
my email address is uzruk @ aol.com (no spaces surrounding the @)

Saxon Elite (dba elements)

2011-09-05T13:23:00.000-07:00

The last of the DBA elements have been finished for the Saxons, both the pre1066 warband (three elements) and the 1066 hurscarls for the Anglo Danish (three elements.)

More Vikings on ebay

2011-08-06T15:18:00.000-07:00

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180706801912

This is the last element to go on ebay, the two DBA armies will only be for sale through this site.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Viking Element on ebay

2011-07-24T11:20:00.000-07:00

Up for auction is a Viking Element made from Gripping Beast plastic Vikings.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180700429138

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Psiloi and Bow

2011-07-23T14:37:00.000-07:00

Here are the elements of bow and psiloi for the Vikings

and here is the element of psiloi for the Saxons.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

I'll hopefully have an element of viking up on ebay tommorrow.

Some more Gripping Beast metal Vikings

2011-07-14T13:59:00.000-07:00

Here are the last two stands of viking raiders (blades) and the stand of beserkers (warband)
I'll hopefully be able to start on the bow and psiloi next depending on my health ( seven day weeks have taken their toll and I won't be doing them again as the extra income just is not worth wrecking my health for.)

and a big pic of all three

Interval

2011-07-02T17:44:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if I will get this weeks minis finished on time due to hay fever this week so in the mean time here is a cool tune sung by Frank Turner.

Last batch of plastic Vikings

2011-06-27T15:23:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the delay, I totaly forgot about it as I am extremely busy at the moment.
The first batch of metal vikings is ready for priming, the second lot (psilio and bow elements) will be painted alongside the metal saxon.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

ebay ad

2011-06-18T06:20:00.000-07:00

As I'm still working on the Vikings (the metals from gripping beast haven't arrived yet so I may take a half day off and end up finishing them on monday instead of by late sunday.)

In the mean time here is an oop river troll on ebay by Joe Gilronan
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/metal-river-troll-games-workshop-oop-painted-and-based-/280697127089?pt=UK_Toys_Wargames_RL&hash=item415ada40b1

you can find some canvas work by Joe on his blog
http://joegilronanlordoftherings.blogspot.com/

Viking WIP and conversions

2011-06-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

Just a little pic to show the few conversions I have thrown together to give the viking elements a little something extra.
The spear on the left has had it's head removed and placed on the other end (all of these are super quick and simple conversions) the model with the two swords had the left hand replaced with the sword hand from the command sprue and finaly the Dane axe (this is too large actualy) is simple an axe head swap with a spear head.

I'll no longer be using photo bucket as it is total poo, lets see how long it is before image shack stops working!

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Gripping Beast plastic Vikings

2011-06-12T16:44:00.000-07:00

Finaly, crap bucket decided to work (I could not get it to upload into the correct album though!)

The other plastics will be done next week and hopefully during the week the metals will arrive so that I can finish off the DBA armies.

Viking WIP

2011-06-11T12:12:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick pic of the gripping beast plastic vikings part way through the process (hopefully I will have them finished and based (including shields) by late sunday evening.

Gripping Beast Plastic Saxons

2011-06-07T13:13:00.000-07:00

The spear part of the dba army is done (mounted on 60mmx30mm bases)
Once I have finished the plastic vikings I will move on to the metals (not purchased yet) to finish both the dba vikings and saxons (as well as painting the few extras to allow the saxons to also be fielded as Anglo Danish.)

The 60mmx30mm basing is quite versatile as the elements can be used in a variety of rules such as the DB series of rules, Command and Colours, Hail Ceasar as well as the rules based on WAB (you need to remember that the bases class as 3 men not the four though if you are playing WAB.)

http://www.grippingbeast.com/

Once they are both complete (viking and Saxon) I'll put them up for sale.

And the big pic with them all together.

Warlord Games Romans

2011-06-04T11:24:00.000-07:00

For once these are for me, mine, all mine hehehehe.

I have been doing these here and their keeping track of time and these are in the £15 a piece category for units.
The shields designs are the waterslide tranfers that come with the plastic warlord games box with battle damage added with paint.
The command stand is a mix of plastic and metal warlord games minis.
The bases are 60mmx40mm.

http://www.warlordgames.co.uk/

And finaly a big pic.

More plastic Saxons

2011-05-30T14:32:00.000-07:00

Here is the second lot of twenty Saxons, the basing for all of them will be completed once the mdf bases arrive from warbases.co.uk (great price and service)

Whilst I have speeded up with unit painting (figuring out which short cuts still deliver the results I want) I would not be able to do the plastics for less than £17.50 each due to the extra time involved in the prep work unfortunately (when the cost of living is increasing I can't afford to work for less than minimum pay.)

Plastic Saxon wip

2011-05-24T14:10:00.000-07:00

I know I was supposed to be starting the viking but unfortunately I opened the box of plastic gripping beast saxons by mistake (I'm the sort of guy that would throw the pin and then say oh fu! just as the grenade went off!)

I still have some kinks to work out regarding techniques etc as switching from painting half a dozen models a week to twenty whilst keeping the table top appearance the same is proving to be more tricky than I thought.
The main reason I'm working on this is to ultimately drop my painting time down enough so that I can lower the charge to roughly £15 a mini for regiments and not end up living in a tent.

First thing I learned from the Gripping Best plastics (as far as plastics go these are pretty damned good by the way) is that painting the head before attaching to the body was far easier (this is because I painted the two champions heads seperate so that I could attached the cloaks after painting the body.)
Second thing |I learned was that the heads that don't have the cheek protectors on the helms are a pain in the butt to paint due to the limitations of plastic moulding (a problem that even the mighty GW still have problems with.)

Last but not least before the quick pics before I run off and get into the last twenty Saxons is the LBM shield transfers, wow. These are so quick to apply and are as good as If I had painted them myself (my own skills for 25 pence stirling each, I wonder if they could do tranfers to cover the entire model!)

Cauldron of Blood

2011-05-15T10:59:00.000-07:00

Well it's finally finished.

Next up is a unit of plastic vikings by Gripping Beast

Apologies for no posts

2011-05-08T12:01:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately my right eye is giving me trouble again (Hemorrhage) due to tiredness, this has left me able to do very very little work at all.
I'll hopefully be able to finish off the cauldron of blood soon but after that it I'll be trying out units (hopefully easier on my eyes due to less concentration on small detail) if that doesn't work I'll have to give up painting and stop the creation of the miniature line and game system.

Diorama book

2011-03-27T12:39:00.000-07:00

A thought came to my mind today whilst looking at some pics on one of the forums I visit, many people create good dioramas but with just a few little adjustments those dioramas could become great.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Build-Dioramas-Sheperd-Paine/dp/0890241953/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1301254104&sr=1-2

This book by Sheperd Paine is the diorama builders Bible

Here is a dvd by Richard Windrow http://www.amazon.co.uk/Terrain-Modelling-DVD-Bill-Lucas/dp/1905573979/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301254528&sr=1-1
Well worth the purchase as his books are not easy to come by and often cost way too much when found (the advanced terrain modelling by Richard is a cracker and well worth purchasing if found at the right price.)

These guys may be getting on a bit but they are just a couple of people that have helped push things further in this hobby and hopefully their knowledge will be passed on and added to.
We who are about to create dioramas salute you :p

Goblin Gasblower auction on Ebay

2011-03-16T15:05:00.000-07:00

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180640418079

Money is needed and so I have to pimp my wares on evilbay (I feel so dirty hahahaha)

This is the little fellow, the one I painted for the step by step tutorial.

Polished granite step by step

2011-03-14T13:57:00.000-07:00

As promised here is a quick marble step by step.

First off I painted the base black (the base in this tutorial is the equivalent of one tile.)

Next, using a piece of sponge that you get from blister packs stippled a little pattern using foundry bright green shade A (25A)
Make sure you do not make any side ways motion when stipling or you will end up with horrible smears instead of dots. (this technique is also used for scratches on armour etc)
Once done I then used bright green shade B (once again foundry 25B) making sure with this stage to create the rough pattern that the "veins" will follow.

The next stage was to bring in the the "cloud" effect often seen in marble using controlled washes. (just touch the brush against an old T shirt or rag to remove the excess paint so as not to flood the area you are painting.) This was done with foundry bright green 25C
This will take several passes, just let each layer dry before adding more on top otherwise you will just remove paint you have layed down.

With the bright green 25C add the veins, just let the paint thicken that you already have on the pallet (you can use the different dilutions as it slowly dries to create different layers of veins etc.)
As I have shaky hands this part is easy for me :D other people find that rolling the brush in between their fingers helps in creating the "lightening" style of pattern, don't try to control it too much and you should find it easier than you thought.
After this using an oil paint filter (filters and glazes are so thin they look like dirty water) to bring out the darker tones a little more, as I was in a rush I just used a filter using black acrylic, it's not as good as the oil but it means I didn't have to dig out the turps.

the last step is to use a gloss varnish (airbrushing is best as it leaves not paint brush marks, if you do not have an airbrush then thin the gloss varnish and cover the surface with a thin puddle, this will avoid brush marks.)
After this stage you can paint the gaps between the tiles, oil pin washes are great for this as they are extremely quick and the gloss varnish keeps the oil paint from spreading.

Here is an example of it used on Gamesworkshops Cauldron of Blood.

Marble/polished granite

2011-03-13T08:22:00.000-07:00

Thought I would show a quick pic of some marble on a commision piece I am currently working on.
I'll get around to doing a step by step for it at some stage as I know it is something many people struggle with.

GMB Flags

2011-03-12T08:11:00.000-08:00

Finaly I'm better! the timing of the flu virus was perfect, just as I was recovering from an operation (yes I caught both strains within a two month period!)

I'm behind on work in a very big way so it may be a few weeks before I can find time to start posting articles again, I'll try to get some wip shots though :)

Finaly on to the subject the title mentions! Gmb flags, fantastic flags that are self assembley (cut out and glue together around a metal rod.) For those that are state side you may wish to hunt down flag dude, the flags are not as good to be honest but they are pre assembled (I use flag dudes flags for my Naoploenics.)

http://www.gmbdesigns.com/

Flu

2011-01-03T09:55:00.000-08:00

Sorry about not putting up any usefull posts over the winter so far but I have had flu (still have it.)
Hopefully I'll be able to start painting again soon (especialy as I have a commision that needs doing!) as I'm due to have an operation towards the end of the month which may put me out of action for a while.

Happy Christmas

2010-12-25T07:46:00.000-08:00

All the best to everyone and I hope you all have a good New year as well. :)

Sneak peek

2010-12-15T09:55:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick pic of the mage, It's not to my usual standards for studio jobs but time is against me and I don't earn money when painting for my own range :(

Apologies for lack of posts

2010-12-15T08:18:00.000-08:00

Hi guys and gals :) sorry for the lack of posting recently, I have been busy with short notice commisions as well as getting stock sorted.
I'm currently (in between commisions) starting to paint the new studio models for the Germani range as well as the adventurers by Sandra Garrity.

Hopefully these will be available early in the new year (for USA based customers check out cool mini or not as their shop holds my range and is the distributor for all USA sales.)

A tip for element basing

2010-12-01T13:04:00.000-08:00

One thing most people fail to realize when they look at cool multi model bases (elements) is the prep work that most people put into them.

For a basic base it is as easy as putting the models in place and moving them around then taking photos.
You don't even need the models that will be used, any models will do as long as it gives you a feel of what the base will look like.

Here are a few photos I have quickly taken just to give you an idea (I will be doing some more advanced bases at a later date.)
Please ignore the napoleonics in the background as these were just quick photos taken from my cabinet)

the models have not been glued down and the metal models are just models I quickly grabbed to give a rough idea of what the base will look like with models in those positions (on the finished base they will be germanic tribesmen from the Marcomannic wars.)

A few old foundry figures

2010-11-23T18:36:00.000-08:00

Eldar army SOLD

2010-11-19T14:27:00.000-08:00

Currently being packed and then on it's way to it's new owner :)

Realy old orc!

2010-11-17T13:16:00.000-08:00

wow, I have just stumbled across a mini I painted over twenty years ago and it still isn't finished hahahaha (beat that one Mike!)
It goes to show that with a little practise any one can improve (especialy if they have tuition.)

Eldar "raiders" army up for offer.

2010-11-13T13:43:00.000-08:00

Here is an army has been gamed with several times (I no longer have time to game and also need funds for sculptors)

In total we have painted:-
16 guardian defenders+shuriken cannon platform and crew
16guardian defenders+scatter laser platform and crew
8 guardian defenders+starcannon and crew
8 guardian defenders+starcannon and crew
6 scouts with sniper rifles
2 vyper jetbikes with brightlance
7 striking scorpions (one is upgraded to exarch) with waverserpeant transport (twinn brightlances)
Wraith lord (old oop model)
5 dark reapers
1 vibro cannon+crew
5 wraith guard
farseer (lotr wraith) with two warlock body guards.

Their is a unit of twelve oop dire avengers (unpainted) as well as a couple of unpainted farseers as well.

Any sensible offers welcome with postage at cost.

jus click on the thumb nails for larger pics.

Edit:- as photobucket is being a pain and various pics are not loading for people here is the link to the eldar raiders album page.
http://s91.photobucket.com/albums/k297/generulpoleaxe/eldar%20raiders/

Bonfire night

2010-11-05T14:07:00.000-07:00

Time for goverment and people to remember

Pics of the greens

2010-11-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

These are the greens that were sent off to Griffin Moulds.

First up is the Germani nobles (dirty stinkin' Fey hehehehe)

Next up is the berserkers of the Germani (just don't spill their pint!)

and lastly we have the start of the adventurer range

The Germani were sculpted by Sebastian Archer of Guild of Harmony fame, the adventurers were sculpted by Sandra Garrity (world reknown especialy for her work with Reaper Miniatures)

In the pipeline is the start of the orc range of which I have Vladd Junger on the case (he sculpted the 54mm orc that this line will be based on.)

Rules for the skirmish wargame/roleplay are currently underway (it could be some time as they have been redrafted quite a few times as I was never happy with how slow they were or how their was not enough detail for a skirmish game.)

Greens off to the mould makers :)

2010-11-02T07:19:00.000-07:00

I'm currently packing some greens and then sending them to the mould makers (Griffin moulds)
http://www.griffinmoulds.com/

in the mean time here is a cool little flash game
Battle Ship 3D

Finished GoH dark elf sorceres

2010-10-31T15:03:00.000-07:00

The step by step tutorial can be found here http://myrmidonstudio.blogspot.com/2010/09/guild-of-harmony-darlk-elf-sorceress.html

Grumlok and Gazbag

2010-10-30T14:47:00.000-07:00

Got the blighters finished at last!
Up next is finishing off the Guild of Harmony Dark Elf sorceres turorial.

interval

2010-10-26T15:25:00.000-07:00

I'm currently wrestling with man flu (common cold) so haven't got as far as I wanted to on the orc, I'll hopefully finish it in the next couple of days (and then I'll be able to get the dark elf tutorial finished)

In the mean time here is a big pic of an ugly orcs face.

orc sneak peak

2010-10-24T13:32:00.000-07:00

Here is a commision I am currently working on, still a bit to do (understatement!)

Step by step sculpting and painting rocks.

2010-10-17T15:49:00.000-07:00

Most people paint rocks grey and then dry brush them, the problem is real rocks are not grey. They are a combination of colours, not just caused by the minerals within them but by the natural things such as dirt and moss.

Sculpting, many people struggle with sculpting rocks as they use the wrong tools. Sculpting tools are great for creating the shape of a rock but they don't create texture. Trying to create the texture with sculpting tools takes an absoloute age and is extremely difficult to pull off, instead it's easier to actualy use chips from rocks.
In this pic you can see that I use an old scalpel, a sculpting tool (dental tool) and some pieces of slate for texturing.

The different surface texture and sharp edges of the slate pieces gives me far more versatility than a traditional sculpting tool ever could (as with sculpting tools wet the rock chip to stop the putty from sticking to it.)
The rock surface was created using milliput as it is far cheaper and better suited to this sort of thing than kneadatite (green stuff,) roughly shaped with the tools, texturing and a little shaping from the rock chips then the edges smoothed until they are flush with the sides of the plinth.

First the rocks were base coated with ivory (a standard pure white is too harsh for this.)

Then ochre yellow washes followed by drab green washes (in this case I used catachan green,) this is to add in some of the natural colours of the rock.
Try not to cover the entire surface with the yellow and green as we need some of the off white showing through.

Now we start with the oils, for this I used two Mig oils, black and wash brown. First I placed a blob onto each onto a piece of card (part of an old blister pack backing) to draw out some of the oil in order to prevent the oils from drying with a satin finish. (leave it to stand for 10-15 minutes)

Next I placed some blobs of the brown onto the rocks, I then loaded a brush with white spirits (wiping off any excess) as started to use downward strokes, this represent natural staining caused by rain etc. Don't be afraidto sprea the brown around or even remove excess oils, it is realy easy to do with the white spirits (mineral spirits for you states side of the pond.)
I then did the same with the black, this covered up more of the brown than I wanted so I then went back and added a little more brown to certain areas.
You can even speed up the drying time in between stages with a hairdryer (this is also a usefull tip when using acrylic washes as well.)

Intermission

2010-10-14T08:22:00.000-07:00

The orange shoulder guards and hair step by step is finished for the dark elf WIP.

dark elf wip link

It will be a few more days before I can finish off the tutorial completely as commsions must come first.

In the mean time here is DNR by Testament

Le Corbeau/ The Crow by Rackham

2010-10-12T16:24:00.000-07:00

Cracking little mini by Rackham which I have wanted to paint for years (why oh why did Rackham stop producing metal miniatures!)

I'll be finishing off the dark elf WIP next (at long bloody last I hear you say!) then I have a plastic skaven warlord that will painted for ebay.

One commision down!

2010-10-06T14:19:00.000-07:00

This is a piece I have been working part time on over the last few weeks (it's bigger than I thought and gw's steroid munchers are pretty big to start with!)

After I have finished up with the next few commision pieces I'll no longer be doing the lower standard that I used to offer (I end up putting in more effort than what I charge for and as such I'm not earning enough)
I will only be doing studio (character painting) standard paint jobs from now on.

Modelling supplies

2010-09-24T10:17:00.000-07:00

I'll add more as I remember them.
If you want your company on here just send me an email and I'll check out your site and products (I'll only add you if it's something I'll use myself and is hobby related.)

Brushes
Airbrushes, compressors and parts
Glue/foam/flock/kitchen sink you name it Ged has got it!
hovelsl resin buildings
grandmanner resin buildings
kobblestone resin buildings
grippingbeast resin buildings
fredaldous (great for balsa wood and other modelling bits)
Plastic bases and dice
scalelink (brass etch etc)
small collector cabinets (great for those who don't have the floor space for an Ikea cabinet)

Back again!

2010-09-17T05:29:00.000-07:00

Hi readers :) my neck is now almost fully healed but updates will be slow for the next few days as I'm behind on work :(

In the meantime I have found a cool article on resin water that gives a far better run down than what I gave in my goblin gasblower tutorial.

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/tnt1/001-100/TNT067_making-water_Geraths/tnt067.htm

Hopes this helps somebody.

p.s. I will hopefully be able to get back to the dark elf wip by monday evening, sorry for the delay.

chris.

Delays ahead

2010-09-09T13:23:00.000-07:00

Due to me pulling muscles in my neck and shoulder it may be a while before I can do more work on future tutorials and the current dark elf wip.
Sorry for this but I have to put work first and that means not pushing it by working through the evening on articles/items for the blog on top of commision work during the day (and teaching.)

I found one of the old test cards :D

ebay pimping

2010-09-07T15:31:00.000-07:00

Hi, less than one day left for this painted oop Rackham orc tracker

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Painted-Rackham-orc-tracker-CS-/180555714108?pt=UK_Toys_Wargames_RL&hash=item2a09f58e3c

Finished pics of the Goblin Gasblower (at long last!)

2010-09-07T14:12:00.000-07:00

It took quite some time for the resin to cure and for me to sort out the cockup (all my fault.)

Pest control in the City of No DanKar

Guild of Harmony Darlk Elf Sorceress WIP

2010-09-05T15:43:00.000-07:00

Okay, here is the next WIP a dark elf sorceress by guild of harmony.

Sebastions Miniatures shop (Sebastion is based in Australia and also stocks my miniature line.)

The mini will be on a plain base as it will be up for auction in the end and is intended for people to game with (or for collectors on a budget.)
The base first had cork chippings attached with super glue (available from most model railway shops) as they are not only cheap but make great rocks. Next the base was painted with pva and a fine flock (it is for model trees) attached, once dry the rocks and the flock were given a very thin pva coat (mix with water until it looks like very thin milk) to seal the flock and the cork.

Thats all until tomorrow as my eyes are too tired to do any painting. :(

Tonight I'll be taking you through the skin.
The basecoat was elf flesh with a tiny amount of charred brown (gw's equivalent is scorched brown)
The first highlight was ivory with a little of the basecoat mixed in (it takes less paint to darken a colour than to lighten it when creating a mix.)

I will be starting the shading later on tonight.
With this mini you will notice that I will bounce back and forth between shading and highlighting a part instead of doing all of the shading and then the highlight. This allows more control and subtlety which is important on female flesh as a softer look adds more femininity.

Now the shading was started, first I began with bestial brown as this was done I also brought some red into the cheeks and bridge of the nose.
Then to the bestial brown I added some purple (a redtone to it not a blue purple.)
To this mix I then added a little turquoise for the darkest parts and finaly a little turquoise on it's own for the make up.

Then I used ivory to bring out the highlights (couldn't get a pic without glare for this, sorry.)

As I could not sleep (insomnia is a pain in the butt!) I decided that the belly need a little more work (a little too rough for my liking.)
I bought in some purple flesh tones to the belly to smooth it as well as bringing the same colour into the flesh tones of the arms and legs to add a little more harmony. I also managed to get a good photo after turning down the light level two steps.

As I have pulled some muscles in my neck and shoulder I was only able to get a little bit done (and it needs more work!)

The skirt was base coated with bluegreen, shaded with turquoise and then orange was added to the turquoise.
Highlihgts were created with thinned ivory.

The other parts of material on the model will also be done in the same manner.

Aha, I have a break between commisions!

First of all I starightened the model as she was leaning to one side (something I should have sorted before starting to paint the model!) then I finished of the parts that were to be painted blue in the same manner as the skirt, the highlights don't show up too well but that is something I can sort out later.

The boots and greave were base coated with a mix of warlord purple (vgc) and a darker red/purple (forgot the name and it's rubbed off the label!)
The shading was started with the dark purple washes and then a little black was added.
The highl;ights were thin coats of ivory (vmc)
finaly I brought out somedetails with some dark lining (not as neet as I would have liked but a combination of shaky hands and tired eyes meant it was the best I could do, not something I would risk doing on a commision piece!)

The first stage of the orange was basecoated with a pale orange (just grab any orange and lighten with white, it's easier to add the orange into the the white,) in this case I used gw foundation macharius orange mixed into vmc ivory. (both the hair and the shoulder guards were painted the same, the hair just had more of the darker shades applied.)
The shading was started by thinning the orange and applying several layers, then turquiose was added to the blue, finaly black was added.
The highlighting was done with a thinned ivory (vmc)
After this too much of the orange was missing so thinned glazes of the macharius was used to bring the orange back into those parts.
The orange is important as it adds contrast through colour (the model has a lot of blue in it) bringing attention to the models head.

As you can see more clearly on the rear of the model the orange realy does draw your attention to it.

The last stages were finished in a rather haphazard manner due to it being halloween and having extremely tired eyes due to lack of sleep (damn stupid daylight saving rubbish, when the sun is up it's up, the time does not matter!)

The light coloured metal (silver is too light for this as the model is pretty light as it is) was base coated with vmc blue grey pale and then shaded with vmc dark sea green.
the highlights were created with wolf grey vgc then white was used for glare spots.

The padding on the handle was painted in the same manner as the other purple.
The rocks were base coated ivory, washes of ochre yellow and drab olive green followed by black (a faster version of my rock turorial.)
The skull on the stave had orange brought into it to give an osl effect (done very quickly with blurry vision) to give it a little more colour as it was looking a little too grey.

Paul Bonner art book

2010-09-05T13:02:00.000-07:00

Here is Paul Bonners book on amazon UK
If you are a fan of the Rackham artwork or some of the earlier GW stuff as well as other miniature companies artwork then It's a damn good buy.

his book can be found here

Sneak peeks of rackham goblin gas blower

2010-09-04T14:56:00.000-07:00

Just about to create the barrier around the base for the resin mould, in the meantime here is a teaser or two.

Looks like the resin is going to take far longer than I thought (or I should say hoped) so in the meantime here is a large pic of the little gobbo to look at (would be cooler if I had the old pic that UK t.v. stations used to show when they closed for the night hahahaha.)

Interval :)

2010-09-04T08:17:00.000-07:00

I am currently finishing off the nmm on the goblin gas blower so whilst you are waiting why don't you chill out to a cool 60's tune.

Goblin wip

2010-09-03T15:50:00.000-07:00

Hi People :) just to let people know, all of the work is being put into one post so that it is easier for people to find when they do a search.

I just have to do some size cropping and I'll have the pics up from this evenings work later tonight (or should that be early tommorrow!)

EDIT
Pics added :)

The other painted Rackham orc tracker on ebay

2010-09-01T11:10:00.000-07:00

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180555714108

I'll be posting more on the goblin wip tonight so don't worry :D this is just a brief interlude.

Rackham goblin gas blower Tutorial.

2010-08-30T11:55:00.000-07:00

Finaly this blog has another post on what it is supposed to be about!

Over the course of this week I will be working on a goblin gas blower in between commision work.
The story behind this piece is a very simple one, some poor smuck has to to go into the sewers and clear out the vermin and this poor goblin has been given the job.

here is the first stage, most of the mould lines have been removed from the miniature and the base has been started.
Hopefully I will be adding a water effect as well at the end, I'll have to see how I'm doing for time wether it gets added or not.

Next I finished off the removal of mould lines and drilled the neccesary holes for pins on the hand and back as well as on the items to be attached.

Once the putty was dry I then smoothed any rough parts with p1500 sand paper (wet and dry) as well as removing any marks left by the file on the miniature.

Once done I then gave the model a quick spray with Hycote automotive primer. Hold it about 10 inches away from the model and only use short and quick sprays (bursts.)
The idea is for the primer layer to be realy thin, allowing the paint to stick to the model without any detail being lost.
You want it to be so thin it looks a light grey and not white, if it looks white it will be too thick and their is a chance that the paint will not stick to it (it is designed for car paint afterall and not acrylics!)

The edge of the base of the model may not be smooth but no need to worry as the water will hide that later. If I was not going to be using a water effect I would have to go back and smooth it, the same goes for any marks showing on the model itself.

Managed to grab a couple of hours to get the base painted (all except the black rim.)
This was using an orange base (terracota) adding in green to darken it finaly bring in turquoise for the shadows.
Then I brought in pure turquoise to act as contrast to the orange (I love it how Paul bonner uses blue and orange.)
The metal ladder was done in nmm all the while keeping the light source concentrated as though it was coming from an open man (goblin) hole.
Finaly I brought in highlights to the brick work with ivory in order to accentuate the light source even more.

Tonight I started on the goblins robes. First they were base coated with pale sand (vallejo model colour) and then the shading was started with yellow ochre.
The second step was brown ochre and finaly a dark purple.
Finaly I went back and brought out the highlighting with white to enhance the zenithal lighting (as the light is coming from the man (goblin) hole above.
I will be bringing some orange into the mid tones when I get the chance so that it ties in with the base (as orange and blue were used on the base.)

As I could not sleep I decided to work on the robes some more. I used vermin brown to bring orange into the mid tone (vallejo game colour) and then calthay brown into the shadows (gw foundation) finaly bringing some turquoise into the darkest shadows.
With hindsight it would have been quick to base with a mix of pale sand and vermin brown, shade with cathay brown, tweek shadows with turquoise and then use white to tweek the highlights (but seeing as I'm playing around with colours and this is not commision work it doesn't matter!)

Tonight I decided to paint the mask :D
First stage was to use a mid tone green (goblin green) then the shading was started by adding blue green to the goblin green (vallejo model colour)
Then I used a dark blue to enhance the shadows and added a little purple into a few areas to add some character to the mask.
Next the mask was highlighted with ivory and lighting effects (osl) were added to represent the glow from the candle (it needs to be more than what would appear naturaly otherwise it gets lost on the model.)

Lastly the goggles and lamp were painted using standard nmm and gem techniques.

First thing I did totday (before work!) was to tweek the mask as a couple of rough spots were bugging me.
Some red was brought into the shadows around the candle light osl and the yellow caste was brought out a little more with a few glazes of flourescant yellow (fantastic colour by vallejo, it's so bright!)
The shadows on the opposite side of the mask were deepend a little by glazing them with a dark blue (as well as smoothing out some oth the rougher bits!)
A liitle gloss varnish was also placed onto the google lenses as well as onto the melting wax on the candle just around the wik as well as adding in a little yellow and red to the candle sten to add to the sense of light and heat from the flame.

This evening I decided to get the back pack out of the way as well as start the nmm.

For the main part of the back pack I mixed up a very dark purple (so dark it looks black to the eye.)

Next a gave the back pack a very light dry brush off shadow grey (only working on the edges) followed by a light dry brush of khaki on areas that would get used a lot (this represent the cracking over time of the leather) and finaly with a thin ivory I brout out the highlights. (also using some cross hatching to add texture.)

Next up was the barrel (a barrel without beer, aaaaaaaaargh say it isn't so!)
This was basecoated with khaki (great colour, it's so usefull) and washed with cobra leather (vallejos equivalent of snake bite leather)
Next red glazes were used (this starts the shading and brings in some orange helping to to the tried of orange, blue and red/purple.) An olive green glaze was used for the shadows then a turquoise finished it off by adding character, suggesting of mould or a leak.
Lastly the highlights were brought out with a little ivory (yet another amazingly useful colour.)

The straps were base coated with cobra leather and shaded with charred brown (gw's equivalent is scorched brown) follwed by a red/purple (can't remember the name, I think it's a similar shade to gw's liche purple.)
Yet again the highlights were finished with thin coats of ivory (hmm their seems to be a pattern emerging here.

Now we move on to the nmm (final stages will be done tommorrow)

The metal areas were basecoated with medium sea grey ( a nice light grey but not too light.)

The shading was started by glazes of dark seagreen and then adding in some black.
The areas that will catch the light had some turquoise glazes brought in. It may not look smooth but the next stages using glossy white for highlighting and the black and brown for the final shading will sort all of that out.

well, that's all for tonight.

Okay, this afternoon I found time to finish the nmm.

First was the majority of the highlighting with glazes of glossy white as well as bringing in texture such as scratches etc on the metal.

The miniature was then dullcoted as the glossy finish from the glossy white (it's not just a clever name!) makes it almost impossible to use glazes over the top as the paint doesn't sit where it is placed.

This was then followed by enhancing the shading with black glazes as well as smoothing the transition a little.

The rust was added to give the feel of grime and long use in damp conditions, this was done with glazes of dark flesh (game colour and gw's are both the same shade) followed by glazes of blazing orange as well as some very subtle stippling to create a little more texture (rust isn't smooth.)
Finaly the white hotspots (glarespots ot whatever you want to call them) on the metal were brought out with white (when added with glazes it doesn't give a bright white so the same colour when used in a thicker mix will give a more saturated effect, in this instance the bright hotspots that nmm needs to work.)

Tonight I will be painting the liquid as well as the robes on the little guy (and the few other tiny bits!) as well as hopefully attaching the model to the base.

Is it that time already!

The black parts of cloth were basecoated with shadow grey and highlihgted with spacewolf grey then shaded with black glazes. The shadows were enhanced by mixing in some orange with the black (contrasting colours, colour theory isn't just for making your curtains and carpet to match!)
some orange was also brought onto the tip of the tiny goblins nose as well as around his eyes just to add a little more colour (otherwise he would be based around blue entirely! (blue clothes and blue based green!)

The liquid was base coated turquoise, shaded by adding orange and highlighted with ivory. It was then gloss coated which unfortunately looks poo in the pics but looks cool when viewed in person.

Well the mould is finished and the resin poured and as always their was a tiny gap (caused by me using realy old masking tape and relying on selotape to hold it in place!)
Depending on how much comes out of the hole (only should be a tiny amount) depends on if I have to top it up which just delays the overall curing time (pick any expletive you wish!)

Please note the needle attachment to the syringe, they are very usefull for when you need accuracy such as on this model as there was very little space and the syringe on it's own was far too bulky.

I get all my bits such as the syringes, needles, resin and plasticard from antennocities workshop.
http://www.antenocitisworkshop.com/

Her is a shot showing the resin STILL! curing, the edges are a little ragged which will be sorted once it it fully cured.
Lesson learned, don't use old resin (throw it out and buy new!) and don't be impatient (removing the masking tape before the resin has hardenend left the edge slighty ragged as the tape was pulling at the still curing resin.
Also, use inks instead of acrylics for tinting the resin as the acrylic I used even though a tiny amount has coloured the water far too much.

Finly it's finished!
The resin has finaly cured and the edges have been smoothed off (trimmed with a knife) and then sevaral coats of gloss varnish applied to smooth any imperections and add the shiney qualities that water has (okay so it should have been reflective qualities!)

The last view that a rat has in the golblin city of NO Dan Kar.

Rackham orc tracker on ebay

2010-08-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

More ebay pimpage, sorry.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180552742130&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Enlarged faces!

2010-08-23T12:40:00.000-07:00

Having grabbed a few spare minutes I decide to crop the full size faces of the two orcs I finished recently.
Hopefully these will help new painters to see how adding contrasting colour to faces can add character as well as changing colours on features such as ears (on the orcs the ears go from green to a pink flesh tone.)

Hopefully this will help someone.

One last thing before the pics, try checking out artists work such as Paul Bonner (he has done a lot of work for Rackham and GamesWorshop in the past.)

Rakham orc trackers

2010-08-22T12:43:00.000-07:00

I managed to finaly get the time to finish these two Rakham orcs (in between commision I have been grabbing half an hour here and there so It has taken a while.)

Better than looking at armies I painted years ago eh!

Beastmen army (sold)

2010-08-15T17:28:00.000-07:00

Edit:- SOLD
thank you for the enquiries :)

The army consists of :-
one unit of eight centigor
Two units of eight hounds
Two units of beast with extra hand weapons (twelve gor, eight ungor)
Two units of beast with shield (twelve gor, eight ungor)
Two chariots
one shagoth
and finaly the shaman.

10mm Pendraken Romans and Ancient Britons

2010-08-10T11:41:00.000-07:00

Some photographs of some 10mm Pendraken miniatures I painted years ago and never got around to getting good pics of!

Germani

2010-06-30T14:53:00.000-07:00

Managed to get some replacement Germani characters painted for the studio as I sold the other ones.
They were only done to a character standard to save time (pics are not that good either, I'll have to redo the pics at a later date when I have the time.)

The warpaint on the beserker was a bit of an experiment, I painted the areas for the warpaint with a mix of pva and talcum powder first to represent the texture of the woad mix (so some areas would look as though they were drying and coming off as well.)
It sort of worked but made it extremely difficult to paint the blue over the top due to the capiliary action of the talcum/pva mix (a similar technique for texturing an area before applying a rust effect on armour and vehicles.)

Here is a link to the complete studio warband (when the noble warriors and the beserkers eventualy get cast up I'll be adding them in as well.)

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k297/generulpoleaxe/blog/warband-one.jpg