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So, after a lot of thought, research, and discussion, my wife and I have decided to purchase a lost-wax casting system. Essentially this is a system for casting any metal with a melting point below 2000 deg F into jewelry, minis, etc. Unlike the spin casting used by companies like Reaper, this will be low volume with only 10 to 50 pieces a day possible. I should note right away, that I do not intend at this time to go into minis production/sales on my own. So what do I intend to do with it: Make jewelry for my wife and our business. Eventually (10+ years), we would like to get into producing our own line of gold and silver jewelry and become seasonal vendors at various Ren Fairs as a retirement career once the kids are out of college. Of course this is a long term goal and won't happen for a long time yet. I'll practice on copper and pewter first. Make rings for our sister parish in Haiti. Due to various cultural reasons, most Haitians won't get married until they have a pair of rings. This can be very hard for some of the poorer people, so they just stay apart and don't get married. My wife can by old jewelry under value and I'll be able to melt them down and make them new rings and send them down to them as they need it. (We've been giving them the rings she finds, but this way we will be able to cast them in the shapes and sizes they actually need/want.) Make armatures for my sculpts. I spend a lot of time resculpting skulls and basic forms because I have to start from scratch. This will allow me to make a library of animal armatures and other stuff to speed up my sculpting. Also, I will be able to produce better sculpts by being able to control how much and what type of metal is in the armature. I don't ever want to send Reaper another piece of furniture that warps on the mold again (bookcase, I'm looking at you). For sculpts I can't/don't want to sell, I'll be able to make copies for my friends and I (maybe even some goodies for things like the BOGW ). I'm sure I'll think up other uses as I get more skilled at it. I started reading, studying, and taking some classes on the subject in the past few years. I'm at a point where the only way forward is to take the plunge and buy the equipment so I can begin practicing and learning for real. My finances are at a good spot for it now, so I took the plunge and ordered a kit from Gesswein. The following equipment is on its way: Rubber mold vulcanizer (small single figure version of what Reaper uses) Wax injector (for making wax copies in the rubber molds) Burnout oven (for baking the wax copies out of the molds before casting) Vacuum casting machine (for removing air from the molds and later pulling the metal into the molds during casting) Flasks, investment, wax bits, rubber, and lots of other materials needed. Here is a picture of the kit I bought: I won't be able to just jump in and start casting right away. I still will need to get a method of melting the metal (either a torch or an electric furnace). I'll also need to rework my basement studio with new benches, electrical outlets, and venting to make it safe, which is where this thread comes in, as I thought you all might be interested in this, so I plan on documenting everything here, from the unboxing, to the building, to the first cast piece. I'm very very excited! Andy

For those of you that know me, I cut my teeth on Tom Meier carvings, and I have made it a habit of painting anything that he has put out that I can get my paws and brush on. I was given Syrio Forel (DSM-5133) before my move. I started painting him this week, along with another two others Meier Sculpts. I will mount him on a created base when I finish painting him. Meier sculpts are ALWAYS a challenge. They are small and intricate, they also, at times, carry a surprise feature buried in a fold or underneath a caparison to paint. So here is where I am on this miniature, a day after I started work on it. I do NOT use colors straight from a bottle, a color wheel is a close friend. Jasonator.

I have actually been painting, sadly I'm no longer as fast as I used to be. I just wanted to post a photo of two Tom Meirer Elf's that I am currently painting. I have gotten a bit ambitious as to the guards, and also the basing project. So when it is done, I will post in the show off Forum. I have gotten rather fond of the plastic vise grippers to hold the miniatures.

Bunny Girls, modeled by Brother vinnie. Need I say more? There's also a set of bunnies to choose for those who need a familiar or just to add to a diorama.

I started out this miniature without a clue as to what I was going to do with it. I had NO idea what it was, and so the first thing I did was create a WIP to get some guidance as I progressed through painting the mini. I was absolutely clueless. In a short time of working on it, the Meier touch came through and the pure humor, and skill of Tom was guiding my hands (if not my chuckles). Ideas came along with encouragement of our friends on the Forum. So rather than keep filling an already full bucket, here is my painted interpretation of Tom Meiers "LITTLE WOOLLY". Your comments, and opinions are greatly appreciated. You can find the WIP in the Works in Progress session. The base is made from a very old piece of Oak Bark. Jason

After ALL this Time I am going to Post a WIP ??? Well, I broke all my rules about painting a miniature with this one. I designed the BASE FIRST (do that last Normally). Attached the figure to the base, its glued and pinned (becoming a nut-job really). So now I have to paint this puppy on its base, and I have NO CLUE as to what it is. Two eyes, claws, lots of mouth, furry, and VERY Little. Might be smaller than my dwarf that I posted. I believe it is. So I'll try to post photos as I go about this. Maybe I'll learn something, maybe not. Here is the start of the little Woolly creature on his base made from a piece of 1000 year old oak bark, taken from the area where the crotch of a limb might have been. Toss a comment in if you feel like it. Jay

Finally I have finished this miniature (I should call it a mini-Mini). The photo's will prove my point. Challenging is an understatement. A Tom Meier mini that will test you in many ways, and a great teaching tool. Want to learn brush control, pick this baby up. I spent almost as much time cleaning up after myself as painting it up. Once you stop rushing and enjoying it, it turns into a hoot. I did enjoy this one. So enough chatter on my part. Here is the Dwarf Warrior as I see it. As usual, your comments and input are greatly appreciated. Jay

Kathud !!! I finished another Dark Sword Miniature this afternoon. I got some upsetting news, so I painted it off, intead of letting it bother me. So, with that said... This is a HEAP OF FUN to paint. I actually did it twice. When I looked at number 1 I liked it, but it was boring. So I got out the paints AGAIN, and figured out another paint scheme. I based my second set of painting on "Night Watch", and that is what is here. Very complicated Sculpt to paint, and get into. Multi level highlighting also makes the brush work that more complicated. 28mm is SMALL, so keep tips well pointed ! Do have fun, its worth it on this one. Comments (negative or positive) are greatly appreciated ! Here he is: Jay

I have been threatening to finish Zoe The Golden Retriever sometime this week. Last nights sixteen degrees F provided the impetus ! I was too cold to sleep well. So Here is ZOE. This is a beautiful, soul full piece to work on. Capturing the emotion in that small face, getting everything painted and mounted proved quite the challenge to me. In the end Zoe was a real treat to do. Not that often I really get into a feeling level while painting a miniature. Mr. Summers must have had a beautiful and loving companion in Zoe, it came through the Sculpt ! Hope I did it Justice. Let me know what you think of my efforts on this mini please ! Jay

Having a hard time getting started back up on my keeper's sanctum diorama... I think I need to purposely take a break from it and work on some other stuff to get my creative juices flowing again. I have this idea in my head for a 75mm diorama featuring black sun miniatures' "Barbarian and the Lost Princess" (Conan) vs SC75's "Brock the Wanderer" I'm thinking in this piece that it will have Conan carrying the princess through a dungeon type setting and then Brock standing there in front of a doorway. I'm going to really pull from artwork that I admire in regards to barbarians such as Frazetta and Patrick J. Jones. Right now I'm cleaning off the flash and mold lines, as soon as I do that, I'll wash everything and start to assemble as much as I can without causing issues during painting. Mood and color scheme inspiration pic from Patrick J. Jones -

Finally have gotten back to painting; what a joy !!! Felt like a major portion of my life had gone away. Poor Alfyn has been sitting on my desk forlorn for over 30 days. I finally said enough, and here he is finished. He is such a majestic Viking I wanted to get him elevated as he reminded me of my beloved Fjords. Well here he is at the pinnacle of a fjord looking at his dragon boat pulled up on the shore. Feel free to make any comments, criticisms, they're ALL appreciated. So here is Alfyn Crowkiller Wilding Captain as I envisioned him. Jasonator.

I looked at this sculpt with a GREAT amount of fear and nervousness. Complicated, Multi-small parts, and just a complete display of "I will make you jump through hoops". It lived up to its threat. Gluing was tedious, and physically painful. Sharp ! There is nothing really intuitive on this piece, even the head goes on crooked !! You have to do a difficult mini in order to grow, and this one will provide ample opportunity! ROFL. She is fun, Challenging, and color wise, a field of flowers waiting to be painted. Hope you enjoy. Give me a comment about what you think please. All are appreciated. So here is the Page of Wands from Dark Sword Mini's, I have adored painting her, and have spent 11 days completing her. Jasonator.

Incredible, that's the only way I can describe the experience of Painting this Miniature. Tom Meier is know for his skill, but he has this ability to put so much detail into the smallest of Mini's. This is NO exception. Loved working on this mini (look out for the antlers..."SHARP". The Mini is also very small. I have experimented all over the place on this mini. Colors were the basic Wash/primer/than Brown Liner. I then started mixing Nightmare black (which is really blue) and put on about seven coats, mixed vampire whites into pallet, Cavalry reds, washed, and anything I could mix in there. I had my trusty color wheel out, and was just playing. Eventually he said "I'm done/cooked/finished. So here he is. I even used clear colors in this paint trip. Your comments are solicited, and very appreciated. Do let me know what you think. Jay Here are some photos: I Forgot to add the obligatory quarter when I paint anything by Tom Meier; gives you an idea how small he is !

I have been sick for several months, and it appears I am turning the corner now. Finally got the Noble Wood Elf Couple completed yesterday. Magnificent pair to paint from Tom Meirer. I wanted to get the woods aspect in there, and yet create the Royal hidden in the wood feeling. Their is some subtle gold and brown colors going on in robes. I'm trying to create "Non" highlights, and yet make the figures pop (if that makes sense). Here are three photos. The newly Diabetic diagnosis has caused a bit of (hopefully temporary) eye focusing damage when I use the cell phone to take photos. Can't tell if i have blurred a shot or not. So, let me know what you think of the Wood Elf and his consort. The Robes are a mixture of Ruby Red, Brown, Blood read, and four different golds. Plied on in layer with browns. Jay

Since I tossed a vacation into the middle of working on this mini, it has been a tough time getting back to it. I usually love all things Dark Sword; however the assembly of this mini left a LOT to be desired. The arms and shield were next to impossible. Once some pre-painting, and the shield was in place things moved along better. It became a great deal of fun by the end. I tried to keep the basing simple, I want the attention going to the "Brave Cat", and his display of emotion. So here is Brave Sir Robin - Scaredy Cat. Your comments, critiques, and likes are solicited, and appreciated. Jay Here are some photos:

Besides having never painted one of these, I found it primitively challenging. I messed around with clothing, texture, miniature details, blending, and finally the gemstones. That was a lot of challenge, six colors working to make a sparkle was a lot of fun. Think I pulled the larger ones off. On the head and chest. I thought I was almost done when I saw the tiny, tiny, ears showing up in the hair ! Dang, how am I gonna get them in ! I kept it simple, and didn't go nuts on the basing. I'm not to sure whom it is, and who made it. Feel free to identify it. I'm clueless. So here is the Wood Elf Band Archer: Comments and critiques are always appreciated and welcome. Jay

This has been an extremely delightful miniature to paint. I created a WIP (link below) since I decided to break with my standard way of doing things. I made mistakes along the way, and learned from them. I simplified this miniature in line with the sculpting that Tom did. I went for the "feel" of the actions, and didn't try to "pretty it up". I like the power this mini protrudes. So here is The Ancient Wizard. I've included a photo with a quarter to give an idea about scale. As usual, comments and critiques are valued. Here is the Link to the WIP if you are interested in seeing what I have done here. Jay http://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/70602-ancient-wizard-wip-dsm7316/

If anyone has noticed I was a bit busy for the past few weeks...chuckle. I started working on this miniature and became totally obsessed with it. Purple is not my easiest color to use, then combine it with the cat features, and that huge tail and you have some nice challenges. I decided I wanted to mount it as if it was giving a speech. That brought on a few more challenges. When you have a white robe, on a white marble floor, how do you hide the the clipped off part of the base that remains ? I had to work that one out, while setting up some kind of balcony/arbor/some type of platform to make it feel right, and look its best. Here is my attempt to pull all this together. I removed the broccoli that it came with. Your comments/criticism are always welcome. Please let me know what you think of the Cat Emperor !

NOM The Russian Blue Cat Paladin stepped into the garden to commune with his god for a few minutes, with the hope that he might, in turn, be blessed with a mouse from on high ! Here he is standing quietly in the garden. Total delight to paint. I had to make him a Russian Blue Cat, I thought it would be a lot of fun to do, and it was. The more I messed around with this one, the more I enjoyed it. The flowers on the base were a hoot to do, I went into flower by flower and leaf by leaf mode as I got into it. Gave me the splash of color I was looking for. Your comments and Critiques are greatly appreciated and solicited. Please let me know what you think of my effort with Nom, The Russian Blue Paladin"...

Finished this Miniature LATE last night. It was so much fun doing it, I couldn't put it down! Of course, that explains why I am dragging butt today ! I wanted to play around with colors, and decided I needed a white challenge, I sure got it ! This was a Christmas present so I wanted to get it finished to show the giver that I really appreciated the gift. I like the way the colors are bouncing off each other. Shadows were very interesting, especially as I rotated the miniature around. I based him standing in snow on a walnut colored base. That added some drama to him. Your comments and critiques are always welcome. Do leave me a note please. Here is the Rabbit Mage:

I finally picked up one of my Tom Meirer Sculpts that I so dearly love to paint. The are used by me as a teaching tool. Once you know how big they are, they give you a bit of pause to paint one. I'll include a beginning photo for scale. I was doing a lot of experimenting with the reds. On some of those reds there are 20 plus coats of paint, and probably 10 different shades of red mixed together to give me the final colors. None of those reds are out of a dropper. I've worked on this for about two weeks. While taking photos I noticed that I was peeling off the edge primer (?) this is a new one for me. Maybe it has to do with the cold temp in my painting room. I corrected the slight edging flash. So Here is King Pelinore by Thunderbolt Mtn. Your comments and criticism are desired and requested. Please leave me a note about this mini. Jay

This has been a whole lot of firsts for me ! Everything about this mini has been a challenge, including the weather. I have never attempted to sculpt a tree before ! Here is Ari Sparrow, Female Cat Pirate - The Scourge of the Seven Seas. She is well equipped to scratch your eyes out; but the other things she can do are worse ! Here she is on her treasure island, standing next to her loot ! Be careful, She Does Not Share ! Hope you enjoy her, and please leave me a note. Your C/C are greatly appreciated. Jay

Hey everyone. Here is a recent completion. It's been on the shelf of shame for over a year. Its on a 2 inch large square base, and it's a heavy lump of pewter! I originally primed with Tamiya White Fine Surface Primer, thinking it would help. It seemed to come out VERY hydrophobic. Then I proceeded to paint the whole thing with Shadowed Stone. What a nightmare. The paint wanted to bead up with any degree of thinning. It took about 4-6 coats to cover. I went up to Pure White through the Stone Grey Triad using 50/50 increments. Each was about 3 layers per mix to get the blending. So, this ended up with something lie 30 layes of paint. At one point, despite thin layes, I thought the transitions were too rough, so I hit the whole thing with Stone Grey as a glaze, and picked out the weathered stone and pure white again. Only the top half of the model goes to Pure White, to try to draw attention to the head. In the end, I'm not sure the whole figure is white enough, but I'll let you guys weigh in on it. I wanted the base to look desert like, so this could fit as a Dust Devil. Also, I wanted something that looked like a tumbleweed and I think the moss painted with Tanned Leather and then highlighted with Dirty Bone worked well. Finally, I wanted the eyes/nose/mouth to have an OSL effect like the sun's rays peeking through the clouds. At first, it didn't look right. It was pure white as a base and sun yellow into that. It lost the OSL look with the whole face bleached out. So, I added in a rim of Stone Grey to those orifices just below the edge, and it made it recognizable again. The base is just sand and some small pebbles. That goes from Brown Liner to Muddy Brown, Earth Brown, With some spots of Chestnut Gold, Tanned Leather and Dirty Bone in various spots. I'm glad to be done with this. All those layers of grey got pretty BORING to paint! C&C appreciated. Thanks. -Darc

OK. I "gave" this mini to my brother-in-law for Christmas two years ago. I told him I'd paint it as soon as I could... I just added the photos. I wasn't planning on doing WIP, but it will be my first real delve into NMM, and I'm going to need help, as I don't have LTPK3. My inspirations for the color scheme are from my brother-in-law: Favorite color is Red. I'm basically done with the cloak except the fur. It's shadowed with a mix of Splattered Gore and Brown Liner, and goes all the way up to Blood Red. I tried to make his freehand gold trim line on the inside of the cloak look like a continuous "Omega" symbol, but it didn't work out that way. I copied his "ankh-ish" symbol from his tabard/skirt, and freehanded one onto the cloak. I like how that came out, but wish it could be higher toward the shoulders. My other inspirations and what will help me with this are: Derek's Seelah http://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/41709-60019-seelah-pathfinder-iconic-paladin/?p=586519 and Silvervane's WIP of LTPK3 which I followed and loved: http://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/58045-silvervane-paints-up-ltpk-3/?p=1002909 So I plan on doing nmm in small pieces. The first is on his left leg, from the knee down. Right now, you can see the model was primed white. Then I did the cloak and face through the visor. Then I did the base (walnut brown, brown liner, and the stone grey triad). For the nmm, I'm planning Brown Liner, Shadowed Stone, Weathered Stone, Linen White, and Pure White. I'm amazed how it looks almost there with just brown liner, Weathered Stone, and a line of Pure White. No blending or other dark lines next to white added yet. Just those three things. As it progresses, I'll be asking for help with the NMM. Thanks in advance!

Well, everyone. Arc724 made the following comment in his guidelines for his exchange mini: "I'm starting a Star Wars RPG Campaign, so if you can paint me a Sith or Jedi, you'd have a new friend forever." Challenge Accepted... As soon as I saw this figure years ago I thought "He'd make a great Sith." Now I had the chance to prove it. I call him Bel'Rheol. That was a jumble of the letters in Hellbore (which is the only name on the blister card). He has a weird spiral hat, so I Ret-Conned that to make him a Twi'Lek. In reading on the Wookieepedia, I came across a Headmistress at a Sith Assassin Academy named Darth Traya who was pale with black eyes from "seeing with the force." I used that idea. I originally envisioned short sabers (Shoto) like dagger length, but they ended up like long short-swords. I modified his toes to be less "Jester-Like" and more Sci-Fi acceptable, with little green stuff soles. He is on a Secret Weapon 30mm Tau Ceti base. The shoto are sewing needles. (see WIP when done). I'll get into colors, thoughts and ideas more in the WIP, which it looks like will be later since I just got paged to go in to work... WIP http://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/63010-02782-warl-hellbore-assassin-wip-for-summer-2015-exchange/ Fiction: http://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/63011-from-the-personal-holocron-of-master-bel%E2%80%99rheol-force-assassin/ Enjoy!