Malynor

So, after a little bit of contemplation, I decided on a mini to paint up for my exchange partner - trimmed off the base, primed, got my brown liner slobbering done, and then went to look at some inspiration gallery images to identify some of the fiddly bits correctly... and saw the exact mini painted by my exchange partners, better than I have any hope of doing. Back to the drawing board!

I'm near sighted - I wear my glasses and use a large magnifying lamp (the depth perception problems I had with a smaller one are almost entirely eliminated by using a larger magnifier). Without my glasses, in order to get the mini close enough to be able to focus, I'd end up with paint on my face.

I've only used the standard Millput, once mixed it's got a working time of a few hours (in my climate), and will cure rock hard over night (24 hours). After mixing letting it sit 30-45 minutes really helps it not be as sticky on the mold, it stamps well for bases, but but for accents I leave it in the mold until it's fully cured, and it pops right out with a little twisting of the mold. I find that there's not a HUGE difference between GS and Milliput for basing - but for accents (like the tavern brawl stamp) that have a lot of half that need to be stuck together, I find the hardness of Milliput a lot easier to work with. I know there are a bunch of different types/colours of Milliput, I don't know if they have different behaviours.

I backed the Kickstarter for 9 stamps (11 after goals? I don't remember, I've got a bunch of them). They work well once you've figured out the tricks. For base stamps GS works OK, Milliput works quite well. For accent stamps, I find Milliput works a lot better than GS (it's just easier to handle/trim/sand when it's rock hard after curing instead of quasi-flexible like GS). I'm still working out soem of the kinks (like waiting after mixing your Milliput), but I think it was definitely a worthwhile investment. Take a look at the pictures on their site, most of them are exampled on a 50mm round base, and the scaling is off on some of their stamps for 28-32mm. The wooden plank floors specifically seem rather large scale when put on a 25mm or 30mm base. Although they still get the idea across, and turn out much better than I could pull of on my own without the stamp.

60067: Nyrissa, Dryad Queen is listed as having 2 Boneyard pieces here: http://www.reapermini.com/Miniatures/Pathfinder/latest/page5 But on her own page (here) there's none listed. I'm assuming the giant wings are separate from the Dryad (no idea how it would be cast, or painted, otherwise)

No work on the Mousling tonight - I got a start on my super secret summer exchange mini. I'm assuming the general rule is no pics of exchange minis until after they've been received?

Thanks guys. I was just about to post a last pic for final bits of input before I called her done... but then noticed I need to clean up her ear a bit. And I forgot her tail... Anyways, here she is, if you'd kindly point out anything else I need to work on.

I lurk.

So, it's starting to look real now.. almost like I know what I'm doing. (HA!) Still needs more blurring - but it's coming along nicely enough for a pic to share. ETA: currently using Linen White for the brightest highlight now - should I move that over to Ghost White? It's "cooler" (blue-ish off-white instead of brown-ish off-white) and I think might be more indicative of the metal - I don't know enough about colour theory though. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I grabbed the Linen White (besides that I have 2-3 bottles of it).

I started glazing - and in at a particular moment, at just the right angle - it actually started working... need more blurring before i take pictures, but I think you've led me in the right direction.

Sorry for the delay, got busy with work and band. See that kind of makes 100% sense when I think about it abstractly... But then I look at my reference picture to see where/how it should work in actuallity.. and I don't get it. I see really flat colours there until the very edge of the curve - but I don't know how to paint that so it doesn't look stupid from another angle. I'm leaning towards keeping the hard line between the dark and light (because for some reason [science] they are right beside each other) - and then gradually blend it back to the midtone. Does that make any sense? Would it work? Or do I just ignore the reference picture completely, and blend it all? Reference Pic again:

It always weirded me out that Geordi Laforge could read without his visor on.

Wow, some of those are rather fantastic.. I'm pleasantly surprised. I hope they stay that good through the moulding process. I didn't go in on the Kickstarter, do we know if the minis will the be for sale separately afterwards?

I try to support local businesses when I can. but I just can't when it comes to my miniature hobby. My FLGS sells only GW, and it's so overpriced I just can't justify it ($4.95 per pot of paint). All of the minis are boxed, and inside locked display cases so I can't really tell what they are... and my FLGS is pretty lacking in the F once they realize you don't play Magic or Warhammer, so I'm hesitant to ask. -- I have seen some decent looking GW minis during my meanderings on the internet, I don't think I'd be that opposed to buying one or twenty, if they tweaked my interest enough. There's a small (run out of the owner's house) hobby shop on the other side of town, that caters to the modern era war models, and he sells some Vallejo paints - I snagged a bottle of seemingly magical Vallejo Model Air Metallic Aluminum from him. He carries some Woodland Scenics stuff as well, but it's mostly special order, what he has in store is bigger stuff for doing large scenes, not for basing minis (not for lack of trying on my part though). I won't be switching from Reaper MSPs, but I'll probably be buying more Vallejo metallic paints. I buy my W&N S7s from a local art supply shop, for almost twice the price as I can get them on the internets (although, to be fair, I did buy him out of the few he had left when he had them on for 50% off) I don't know if it's a corporate store, or a local franchise, but I've hit the local Michael's for glue, basing materials, and mixing mediums. 99% of my paint, and all of my minis (so far) have been ordered directly from Reapermini.com.

So, tried out some darker darks, and brighter brights, touch of white in the highest highlights. It was still looking very very flat though, so decided to add a some scratches in it (kind of like the milling marks you see in the reference picture above). Still not really where I want it to be. And I don't know why. Do I need a brighter mid-tone?

NMM is way more complicated than it should be and I don't get it.

OK, Reaper Forums, I need your help. I'm attempting some NMM on the tankards of my mousling wench and it's just NOT working. And I don't know why. Here's the pic I'm using as a reference - something not too shiny, I figure any place which would hire a wench, wouldn't have the cleanest/shiniest tankards. An here's what I've got on the mousling wench: So, here's the big question: What am I doing wrong?

Chainsaw? :D

There's a fairly well known pub in Nova Scotia called Curly Portables who's fictional mascot is a legendary lumberjack (of the same name) who invented the "triple bitted axe" - http://www.curlyportables.com/the-legend.html

Close, but not really close enough for what I want. Really important parts (for me anyways) is the hat - looking for something in a glengarry, then come the shoes/socks, typical military parade dress has spats (which there are a lot of minis with), which we don't wear, But I can (probably) paint the shoes/laces like brogues, and work with a coat, or vest, or whatever shirt. But the hats are what really makes it. It's OK though, it was more idle speculation than anything else, and my google-fu wasn't working well for it (I found oh so many miniature bagpipe INSTRUMENTS though). I've got enough on my WIP shelf now (and 200+ in my box-o-bones waiting for more, and a big bones2 order coming, and the minis from Myth coming (eventually), plus a handful of metal minis that were too cool for me to pass up on ordering), I don't REALLY need them. Just thought it'd be cool to do up some minis for the band.

And Irises! Starting to come together - Surprising how much (character? importance? completeness?) eyes can add. I don't know if I should give her pupils, or a spec of white reflection highlight or not. I'm new to this anthropomorphic stuff, and I don't know what the norm is, or even if there is one. Thoughts?

Did a little bit more on the fur/face, and started the eyes. Oh, and made an ugly necklace. It looks better in person, but only marginally. ETA: I know I'm being pretty rough on myself - the necklace isn't half bad for a first attempt at NMM ever, especially considering the size of it. I'm dissapointed that I lost the lining on it, but I don't think there's any way I can add it back in without starting from scratch. The fur looks a lot worse in the picture that it does in person. My biggest issue may actually be that I've been comparing my wench to the one that Martin Jones did here: http://www.reapermini.com/graphics/gallery/4/03633_p_1_mj.jpg His is just SO much better.

Touched up the reds. The scarf was pretty darned close to MSP HD Burning Orange. Not sure If I can manage any highlighting shading on the bow. I know it needs it, but it is so tiny, and might be beyond my ability. Bow: Scarf:

It's not too late, they're still taking Paypal for orders. (Really, you NEED this.)

I was going to work on fixing up the hat/scarf next... however, I have no idea what colours I used. Might have to start from scratch.