skya

*Points Nikmal to the topic name

Latest commission. The request was for her to look spanish or Italian so I had an interesting time working with a new set of skin tones.

Given that I'm not able to see them that well I'd say my main critique would be that you need add some highlights. The only thing that seems to be actively highlighted is the gal's braid and the dwarf's tabard. The silver looks decent as is, but the gold could use a little as well. The fleshtones look very flat, but that's hard to tell if it's a camera issue. You know you're always welcome to show up at IMMPS for some hands on critiqueing.

As requested here is a break down of the convesion of Elsabeth Briarkiss into a cowgirl. To add the lasso I clipped the whip off at the handle and carefully clipped it from the cloth, touching up the cloth with green stuff and adding a buckle on the middle strap where the whip had met the arm. I then took a reasonably flexible wire (I have no idea what type it is as I picked up a massive spool of it at a garage sale for 50 cents) and rolled green stuff around it. I extended the greenstuff out past one end of the wire by and inch or two and left the other end with wire sticking out. This allowed me to pin the wire into the hole I drilled in the handle where the whip had been. I then bent the wire into an arc with a loop at the end, took the end that had green stuff with no wire in it and wrapped it around to complete the loop going over the rope and then coming back in through the loop. I then twisted the rest tightly three times around where the wire ended to form the "knot". To add the hat I first clipped off the wingish things in her hair, filed down the headband across her forehead and got rid of her fangs while I was at it. I then rolled out a thin layer of greenstuff and cut an oval in it with another oval cut out of the middle of that one so I had a wide flat ovalshaped donut. I rested this on her head where I felt the brim of the hat should go and then made a teardrop shapped lump that was flat on one side and stuck in on her head. I pressed it down in the middle to form a divit and spend a goodly amoutn of time trying to get it to the right size so that iwasnt too big or too small. While working on that I used more green stuff to pull up edges on the brim. I think I really needed to make the brim a little thinner as the edges came out looking kinda thick. I do think the paint managed to fix it s that didnt show as much though. The gun was a real pain. I had originally been hoping to add one that was already sculpted on to it but nothing I could find looked properly pistolish. Everything was either very modern or very steampunk so I gave up and started working on my own. First I clipped the knife off, leaving the handle in her hand and accidentally taking some of her thumb with, grr. Then I drilled a hole and added a pin to it the way I would for a sword. I then rolled out a shot cylinder for the bullet chambers and added a rounded dome to one end. I tried several times to add the rounded shapes for each chamber and finally gave up in disgust leaving the whole thing smooth.I rolled out a smaller cylinder for the barrel and in retrospec I should have just used a good brass wire for it. I then attatched this to the chamber and pinned the whole thing on to the hand. Given that at this point (that's how far I was in these pictures) it didnt look right to me I went and tracked down pictures of pistols. I then created the triangular sight down the center of the barrel, added the cocking mechanism the trigger guard and bit of wieght under the barrel. Full Painted Version

Kick butt. I was actually thinking of you guys and trying to remember who it was that was complaining that nobody does conversions of reaper models while I was working on it.

Yeah I could do that. Give me a bit and I'll post it over in the conversions section for you.

As is. Tanned skin through fair highlight. I did notice that my tanned highlight is a slightly different tone than the rest of them. More blueish than brownish. The paints are friggin tough though and they dry in very thick layers is you let them. This is good when working on something this size but a couple times I wasnt careful enough and ended up with divits in the paint where the water I added had seperated a bit and caused the paint to spread out from it. Amusingly the paint is tough enough that I sanded the divits out with no problems. Wet blending was almost impossible because of how fast the paint dries and it not seeming to like mixing with my flow improver and slow dry, so I did a lot of layering instead. Time to try and remember what brands Anne uses I think. As for the shading on the front of the wings I think if I add another light to my camera set up it might show better. It looks right on the mini, but the camera makes it look like the shading is uniform and the light is adding all the shadows.

I guess I can always try giving her a coat of semi-gloss (a.k.a. Armory Matte Sealer) Well one of the things about someone whose clothes are wet is that usually the shine tends to be patches. You already have the areas have that darker patches wet look, you could put shine in the center areas of those and then on the rest of her use the shine on the highlight spots? I dunno just a thought, she deffinately gets the impression across as is. I'm just brainstorming.

I do really like the basing on the nyss. The muddy look on the gal worked really well though I think if you toned down the gloss it would probably work better.

Got my hands on this one and really felt she needed to be more succubusish. Also gave me a great excuse to play with the Master Paint skin tones. Only two things I'm not happy with on this one. The base, which was a rush job to get her done for the CCV, and the fur line I did down her spine. The base, honestly needs to be totally replaced, but I think with a bit more work the fur from the wings coming down the back might be salvagable. Sophie Front - nudity Sophie Back

I got a couple of requests for more pictures of this one, so I fiugred here was a good place to show her off. I can pretty much blame this one on my husband, upon seeing the mini in the store he suggested that she really needed to be a cowgirl. As he generally suggests really wierd off the wall concepts that I'd never do, I couldnt resist the challenge of a suggestion that I thought was really cool. So, after hacking at her whip and trying to reposition what she came with I finally clipped it off altogether and sculpted my own out over a wire. I then had a hat to add and a head band and fangs to get rid of. Next was the dagger. That got clipped off and I went looking for a good gun to use. That was a lost cause and I eventually ended up sculpting my own. Grr. So yeah, it's a bit large but it works. Once I'd decided on the color scheme the hardest part was painting the rope and the gun. I didnt have the sculpting skill to add the grooves on the rope or the chambers on the gun so I had to do it with paint. Here's hoping ya'll enjoy her. And here's larger pics if you're interested. LARGER PICTURES

Man, I want to get my hands onthese AICOM minis for use in Shadowrun so badly... *fiends*

Chestnut ink is actually great for two things - Washing gold/bronze/copper metallics and adding a red undertone to hair and fur. If you start with a yellow or orange color and then wash it with chestnut you end up with a decent red hair. Just remember that unless you're going for quick paint jobs you rarely want to do a wash as the last step. You wan to go back over it tp smooth out the edges of those puddles and clean up the transitions.

I think they do, but I dont stop by there more than once in a blue moon so I wouldnt know for sure.

I think if I were putting this together I'd go with three sets of skin tones. However, I'd include a mini like the nymph with the sea shell on her or the warlord banshee so that you could do the flesh up in one set of the colors and the little bits of cloth and shell in a different set of the colors. show how the browns and yellowish tones that work as flesh tones can also work as cloth or other natural items. Pick three sets of colors that are different enough from each other that you can do this. For example, and oriental skin tone set will work well for shells or leather agains a pale caucasion skin tone. A light creamy skintone will work well as cloth against a nubian skin tone. Show how you can work your flesh tones into your hair color as highlights. Things like that...

Origins is also a much better place for just hanging out. It's smaller and has an open to all hotel bar connected to the convention center so everyone gathers there fter hours and it's easier to get to know the people who are there running things.

Dang, he's cool.

It occurs to me that I do have grey charcoal paper I could use as background. I may have to try that. Less distracting texture. I do have to agree on the wings, they were my favorite part but I couldnt seem to get the light to come at her from enough directions to not leave large shadows on them. Grr and stuff.

Thanks much...

Skin-Fu: Took a page from VikingLodge I think it was, and tried adding greys into the shadows. Basecoated her Vallejo Dark Bluegrey and mixed that into whatever rosey GW skintone it is that I'm using. Worked from there to a slightly yellower lighter tone (think its elfflesh but I forgot to label them when I transfered them into dropper bottles) and from there up to white. It also used to be I'd do almost entirely wet blending but for this I did a lot more in the way of glazing than I have previously. The glazes worked well for control and the greys seem to have given it a much more classical painterly feel with which I'm very happy.

It's somethign I've found in a lot of Gael's work so I think it's probably more of a style issue.

Finally got the chance and took the timje to paint one of these. Experimented with a new technique for skintones in the process and am quite pleased with the result. I love the wings on this one but there's something about the shape of the body that just doesnt feel quite right. Especially comparing it to Talon's drawings.

Interesting. I've been looking for a good quality metalic I can mix with other paints. I really love the Vajello alcohol based ones but shading them is an absolute pain. I wonder if these will give as bright and shiny a surface.

I think more than likely it'll be next week??? Only ReaperBryan knows for sure... You guys gotta stop invoking my name . . . Too many summons to reply to all of them at once. Ok - The answer to your query is: Our talented casters (Did you all know that my wife is a caster? She is. And you should all thank her when you come up for Reapercon for making such lovley minis. If you don't, I may have to sleep on the back porch -- the couch is far to comfy) spend the early part of this week casting these. (My wife cast up all the Sir Kimball's, and Erica did all the Jester's). Packaging spend the last few days blistering them, and they have begun to ship to distribution. Expect to see them in FLGS's soon, and an our website in a few more days (I think around the 10th-ish) Oooo! Ooo! Speaking of DYOMs, when's Dara the Psionic Warrior coming out??

I'm jelous, I want my Dara.