skya

Huh, that might relate to some of the problems I've been having with a couple specific RMSs I use for regular mini painting. Maybe I'll trying thinning with medium instead. Bet that it'd flow off my brush real weird though...

I'll add to those happy with MSPs through the airbrush, though I tend to use a mixture of Liquitex airbrush medium and Windex. (I cant breathe around the amount of Windex Jester uses. *shudders*) It's worth noting that if you have VMC, they mix pretty well with MSPs through an airbrush as well. Which makes me a very happy camper as there are colors I use regularly that I couldnt be able to mix otherwise.

Anne, if you could get me to get back into painting minis, more then a couple days of the year, you'd be a genius! Hoping to have something painted by May.......hopefully Best way I know of involves having other people to paint with. Set up one day a week, or a month or whatever works for you guys and get together somewhere and paint. That makes it a commitment and not just to yourself, but to your fellow painters. It also leads to good conversation while painting which will distract you from, well other distractions. :)

*Pulls out her handy dandy MMSI calendar* Oct 15-17 Seriously one of the most inspiring shows I've ever been to and it is all about the exhibition and then the conversation in the con suite afterward.

It's a new year and that means MHE (Miniatures Hobby Events) at Gen Con are searching for instructors and volunteers of all stripes. We need a folks willing to help us out with hobby classes, Paint & Take, Demonstration tables, Speed Paint Arena, and a lot more. Instructors and volunteers can earn free badges and help with hotel space and costs. Even if you don't paint, or you only have a couple of hours, we need your help to keep these great events going! Teach a Class! Instructors set their own prices for classes, and although Gen Con does get a portion, the rest is paid to the Instructor. The volunteer staff of MHE guides you through our submission and scheduling process, submits all events to Gen Con, assists with supplies and storage, handouts, help with setup and clean up, as well as handling ticket paperwork and security. Just contact Katie at [email protected] with what you want to teach and she'll set you up. Be a Volunteer! Join our crew of volunteers and help us run these events smoothly. We have a lot of fun, and helping has it's rewards! Get in touch with Noel Meyer at [email protected] for more information on all the many ways you can help. We have plenty of work to do that doesn't need painting skills, just a love of minis. But if you can paint, come hang out with people who share your love of the hobby! Event submission starts this week and badge and hotel pre-reg start next week so if you want to be part of the MHE Crew, the time is now!

Right then, time to upload a whole bunch of stuff. We shall see how it goes.

Ehem. He's is keeping his sword sheathed... for now. :P

The variety was nice. I really liked the chicken wrap. Refrigeration was definitely an issue though. As much as I liked the idea of fruit, I'd say go with whole fruit instead of slices. It will take much longer to turn that funky brown color. I prefer my fermented items to be beverages.

My transport for my paints is actually an Army Transport with old 2 1/2 - 3 inch foam trays that I gutted the insides of. I pack my paints in rows slightly offset of each other with one thin piece of foam at the end of each row to fill in that space where there should be half a bottle. This ends up holding a lot of paints, 3 trays worth where each tray holds 84 paint bottles, with extra space on top for either an extra tray of paint or for my minis, slipgrip tube and water cup/wet pallete. The front pockets hold all my tools and basing supplies. The transport case has a carry strap, though I've seen some with wheels as well. I've not tried the Reaper transports, though they look like they would do the job just fine, perhaps with slightly fewer paint bottles per tray.

Stern, yeah I tried my darnedest to fix those eye's, but they're at such an obnoxious angle and sculpted rather odd in relation to each other.. meh. If you look at each eye from a profile shot it looks fine, but together.. yeah they look kinda off. Basically what I did is put a heavy pin down the middle of the missle. I then took the steel wool and compacted it into the general shape I wanted. (It holds together better like that.) I then jammed the really tight roll of steel wool onto the pin, teased it into exactly the shape I wanted to make it look like there are four jets combining into one rolling mass and then glue gobbed over it with super glue in a couple places to smooth out a few areas into more rolling billows, also helping it keep its shape. Then I slathered it in brush on primer, soaking it in in blobs to help keep everything else together. I think I did three really thick layers of brush on primer, and let me tell you steel wool can soak up an amazing amount of that stuff. All in all though at this point it holds pretty solidly.

Steel wool pulled around a pin with a whole hell of a lot of primer and paint. I blame the success of the exhaust on this one entirely on Paintminion who suggested the steel wool in the first place.

The Iron Painter theme of Full Metal Jacket gave me a good excuse to get off my butt and do this one up for Reaper.

So that's what happened to Jester!

IF you cant find the figure online I'd recommend calling my local store, Games Plus. They have a pretty extensive back stock and I recall seeing exalted figures on the shelves not too long ago.

Yeah, I brought it with me last ReaperCon along with the rest of the Iron Painter stuff from that season. I expect that this year you'll be seeing a slew of this season's Iron Painter stuff in person as well, though I do have a special project I'm working on just for ReaperCon. :) *chuckles* Yes you did. Thank you Sue, and thank you to you and the rest of the IMMPS for putting up with me in Iron Painter mode while I swore at it for two weeks straight.

Thanks. :)

I'm honestly not sure that's teachable in one class. I mean, you can teach composition, design and even how to most effectively present a story or idea, but teaching artistry would be like teaching someone how to see the world differently. It's something that can be done over time with much encouragement and a whole lot of pestering to the net effect of "why dont you try something bolder", but in one sitting? You can show innovative ideas, and what makes them innovative, but how do you teach *being* innovative? Maybe it's about inspiration, and a teacher who is inspirational enough to spark that in others? I've met some teachers who never taught me to be creative, but certainly inspired me to be.. And trust me, if someone can manage to give that class I'm darned well am taking it too.

The skintones are gorgeous as is that silky cloth. The NMM however feels like it's missing it's darkest shade. Especially on the trim of the dress deeper color in the folds would really make the curves pop out more. Also particularly where the scabbard and the belt meet. It looks great on the bracelets but the belt doesnt quite have that same three dimensionality. Am I making sense? Describing NMM is harder then actually painting it sometimes...

The NMM may need more highlighing and some reflected light from underneath, but honestly? I really love the face. It's got so much character you've really captured that rosy nosed exerting in the snow look.

Coldfire is very wintery. :)

*jealous* I've been trying to get ahold of those for ages. Looks like what I really need to do is an inventory of the miniatures in the basement. Mind you, when it comes to the ElfQuest figures I honestly think that Werner needs to do modern versions of them as his style very much fits the art style of the comics. I still want Julie's though, which I think were quite well done for the time. Then again I'm a massive ElfQuest fan, and having my two main hobbies overlap just makes me a happy camper. Oh, and inventories come in handy. Especially when it comes to the realization that you have way more crap then you have any possible need for and nowhere near enough cash in the bank.

*jealous* I've been trying to get ahold of those for ages.

Wow, the difference is huge. I would not use my regular illustrating acrylics on minis. They are just such a different consistency, and they dont have the cohesiveness that most mini paints do. I did find that the Confrontation paints reminded me a lot of the Goldens I used to use. It was a lot like painting with goo and I had a much harder time with brush control. Though they'd probably make for a good glazing technique.

Yeah, I hear you on the intimidating part. It took me years to feel confident painting Meier's stuff. Though I must say that for mid level painters they are definitely worth trying a hand at. It forces a serious thinning of your paint, and, you can really *see* what in your painting needs improving. It can be frustrating, but informative.

Safari Ltd sells tubes filled with plastic toys that are reasonably high quality, usually reasonably priced and come with 10-14 pieces in them. That's where I got my dolphins. Here's the shark tube.