Paintrix

I know, I know, it's about time. At any rate, Paintrix Miniatures is underway, with about half of what will eventually be in the galleries, and a few articles up. A guide to working with green stuff, and one on basing, are nearly complete. And there are a few Reaper minis, too. Requests and suggestions for what else you guys would like to see in the way of step-by-step guides, illustrations, etc.? --Jen

Very nice, Enchantra! A number of years ago I made up a bunch of dice bags for friends for Christmas, from the scraps of really luxurious or bizarre fabrics in my stash. It was fun, and I'll have to do it again next time I clean. Mine is plain black matte satin, with jet beads on the tassels. And yes, I *do* use it as a purse! It's the all-purpose dice/evening bag! --Jen

Ooo, I'm going to have to try that. My favorite mail-order store has been stocking the Gunze Sanyo products more consistently these days. I like deader than dead flat! --Jen

Complain, complain. Spray paint isn't even *sold* in the city of Chicago these days. It thoroughly sucks to have to go out of city limits to get a can of Krylon... (If I owned a business that sold some age-restricted product? Employees would be told to ask for ID for everyone who looked under 50, just to be on the safe side. Especially if I had lots of customers who were women Of A Certain Age. It's flattering to be carded, at a point...) --Jen

If the bottles have been partly used: Try pouring the reconstituted paint through a fine strainer or sieve, then back into the bottle after rinsing it. Gets out any chunks or undissolved grit from dried paint on the sides and top of the bottle. I used to use the Armory paints, and some flow improver would probably help the overall workability. --Jen

History Channel. Discovery Channel. 'A History of Britain', on DVD. On occasion, the universe has even been so kind as to co-ordinate, say, a Freaky Cannibal Murderers marathon with my needing to push myself before a deadline. (I like narrative in the background, but can't stand audiobooks; they conflict too much with the voices in my head.) --Jen

Did I stumble into the Privateer forum again?... I stopped using washes for years because of the problems you describe. Never could get them to work right. I started using them again after finding a method that corrected the problems. Now, I use roughly half paint and half brush-on sealer (or Vallejo matte varnish), and dilute that mix with water to wash consistency. It settles nicely, and leaves a light, even glaze of color on the raised areas. As long as I take that color shift into account, I don't have to re-base-coat after washing. On large flat areas, of course, I'll still apply paint more selectively (layers and glazes, even wet-blends) for shadows, but for deep relief or textures, washes are often my first choice for shading. The layering and edging you describe are some of the first techniques I (and lots of other instructors) suggest to people who come into painting via tabletop and want to move on beyond the basecoat-wash-drybrush method. They'll open up a lot of possibilities in your painting, but as you master more techniques, you'll probably find yourself experimenting with discarded methods, too. Always something to be learned from revisiting the basics. --Jen

Brown if you want it to look tufty or sparse. (I like this type myself, over 'soil' as Fieldarchy says.) Green for a really thick meadow or golf green look. You can highlight the grass itself to get some slightly different colors, too. Nice work! I have a few of Julie's old figures, too, that I'll paint up some year... --Jen

I put 10-15 hours in the average miniature I'll sell on eBay, with no more than a couple of hours for cleanup, conversion, etc. (I pick figures that don't need much work in this area.) The same figure for a competition entry might be anywhere from 25-50 hours, with 5 to 15 for conversion, sculpting, and basing. And I *can* still turn out a character for tabletop in 3 or 4 hours, if it's a life or death situation. It won't be that pretty, but it'll be painted. --Jen

Nice tank! I have an 8 gallon Biocube 'bonsai reef' right now, which is about the biggest tank I can handle. Home for a tailspot blenny (fun little guy!), a skunk shrimp, and some dwarf hermits. That's the most livestock I'd dare to put in, but it's a busy little world in there, with all the smaller reef bugs and snails and worms and things. --Jen

Oooo! Next time I'm at Reaper we'll have to find a restaurant with the weirdest meats in the area. Or a specialty butcher shop. I like goat, and rabbit and squirrel, and I've always wanted to try iguana. And I'm not completely certain I didn't eat cat meat under another name in Bulgaria once... --Jen

No, I was ordering some other things from Michigan Toy Soldier. I used to love the W&N varnish since it was dead dead flat, but the formula changed to the current one. Then again, I find Dullcote too shiny for my taste on some models...

So, it was in stock, and in a giddy moment I dropped $13.50 for a (roughly 14 oz.) can of the stuff. I've wanted to try it for some time. It's an acrylic-based, permanent spray sealer. Good news: It does not contain toluene or xylene, the carcinogenic agents in just about every other spray varnish, including my favorite Dullcote. There is very, very little odor. Bad news: It is very, very picky about its application. A light to medium coat does not appreciably flatten paint. A heavy coat frosts badly, with the matting agent forming a powdery surface that can be scraped off. Several trials, with slightly different applications, did not yield a result I liked. So that's my experience with the product. I believe I'm going to get a better filter mask and keep on using Dullcote when I want a spray. --Jen

I drop minis so frequently that I've learned to just sigh and paint up the chips and cracks as battle damage. No, really, I do. --Jen