fieldarchy Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 Well this mini started out as a competition mini but every time I turned it a different direction I found a flaw with the sculpt. So I fixed as much as I could and painted it up really nice. This is one that I'm keeping for myself too. I think he came out really well considering all the problems I had with the sculpt. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercius Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 I LOVE IT! I am a huge LOTR nerd though! I paint quite a few GW LOTR minis (part of the LOTR nerd thing) and I can attest to how horrible the minis are to paint. I don't know if it is the sculpt or issues with how they are cast and molded, but every one I have painted has had a million small issues and imperfections and a few large glaring ones (eyes being drooped down on the face, large areas of the mini having no definition, large chunks missing, etc.) All the flaws though, I still love paitning them. That beiong said, this is one of the best Leogola's I have ever seen bravo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inarah Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 It looks very good. I like the soft colors you used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercius Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 My character in Lord of the Rings Online has boots that look just like those, heh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fieldarchy Posted April 13, 2010 Author Share Posted April 13, 2010 I'm a total LOTR nerd myself. In fact I think this is the longest stretch of time I've gone without having one of the movies going. It's been about 2 months at least. And you better believe I'm counting down the days for Del Torro's take on The Hobbit! Considering how much I love the books and the movies I have been really excited to paint the LOTR minis but they are all really sucky sculpts and casts. The first issue is that the eyes are a bit too small to paint well and certain areas aren't defined well enough. Then you add bad casting to that as well and it makes it very difficult. I don't understand why the GW LOTR casts are so bad though when their WHF isn't that bad at least not the ones I've painted. I also painted this mini: Another metal cast from GW but it wasn't a bad cast. Had a bit of flash but that was it. Not many mold lines to speak of. I've seen other LOTR minis from other manufacturers that look a lot nicer which is disappointing since I want to paint some LOTR for Games Day this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercius Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 Yep, I have had nothing but issues with GW LOTR sculpts. I envy your talent though, because the paint job is perfect, you can't even tell you had any issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkayn Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 I agree. Your talent is one of the many on this board I envy and enjoy looking at. I can't understand what the problems you faced are, as I don't do much painting, so I haven't run into these issues, but I can appreciate wanting a sculpt to look good. That being said, I really like how you brough Legolas to life. Keep up the good work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stern Kestrelmann Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 Hey that's nice Meg. Love that tree and base work too! Paint on Sister! SK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fieldarchy Posted April 13, 2010 Author Share Posted April 13, 2010 Thanks guys. I am very happy with Legolas and I think he is one of my best yet. The issues were more the casting than anything else. If you ever get a chance to visit Reaper and see how the casting process works you can understand how some of the flaws occur. Basically there was a lot of flash, mishapen areas of the cast where air bubbles were trapped and the metal didn't pour/cast up correctly. I covered up most of the flaws and also with the angle of the photograph concealed some of the flaws but they are there and I know it and judges would see them too if I were to enter this into GD. It was originally meant to be a golden demon entry and I still would have entered it if the cast wasn't full of issues. Like I said it seems to be hit or miss with GW metals. I'm at the point where I wish they would do all plastics because their plastics look a million times better than their metal. That or do resin casting like Kraken miniatures. Reaper is the cream of the crop when it comes to metal casts in my opinion. It's how they manufacture all of their minis except for the humungo dark maiden but everything else is done in metal and they have people overseeing operations who care about the quality of cast (Thank you Reaper Bryan!!!!! Have I told you lately how much I love you?) GW is better at plastics since that's the majority of their lines these days. So that's what they are good at. I think the LOTR minis would be better quality if they were plastic. But until then I spend as much time prepping a mini for painting as I do painting it. This all being said . . . if anyone wants to visit me while in town for Reaper Con let me know. I live in the Reaper neighborhood (quite literally, 2 miles from Reaper and some of my distant neighbors are reaper peeps). I won't be teaching any classes at Reaper Con but I'd be willing to give tips or show how I do something if y'all come over after con hours. Just let me know. Feel free to PM me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercius Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 The plastic LOTR minis arent much better Meg. I bought the 24 pack of dwarven rangers and my god, horrible problems with air bubbles and molding issues. I might have just gotten a bad batch, but others have told me similar. Regardless, you still did a phenomenal job, I would love to paint something up this nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruunwald Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 Avoiding debate, but exchanging contradictory experiences for the sake of understanding these things, my experiences with Reaper versus GW LoTR models regarding mold lines, bad castings, etc., are the opposite of those posted here.I love Reaper dearly, but I have no complaints with my LoTR models. On the other hand, and speaking as one with a gigantic Reaper collection... well... let's just say I buy out of customer service, variety and style. Back on topic, it's a fantastic paint job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 Awesome painting! Your color blending is really amazing, very smooth transitions. I like the basing as well. How did you make the leaves? Really beautiful job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercius Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 Avoiding debate, but exchanging contradictory experiences for the sake of understanding these things, my experiences with Reaper versus GW LoTR models regarding mold lines, bad castings, etc., are the opposite of those posted here.I love Reaper dearly, but I have no complaints with my LoTR models. On the other hand, and speaking as one with a gigantic Reaper collection... well... let's just say I buy out of customer service, variety and style. Back on topic, it's a fantastic paint job! It could really all come down to a few bad moldings. I am EXTREMELY glad to hear that they aren't all like that. I would continue to paint them regardless though. Thanks for the info though, give me hope! ALSO, Meg, I was looking through your gallery at coolmini and the scores that you have recieved for a lot of your painted minis is baffling me...I would say most of them are well under 1.5-2 points of where they need to be, at least that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fieldarchy Posted April 13, 2010 Author Share Posted April 13, 2010 ALSO, Meg, I was looking through your gallery at coolmini and the scores that you have recieved for a lot of your painted minis is baffling me...I would say most of them are well under 1.5-2 points of where they need to be, at least that. Mmm hmm. People snipe me because . . . well I don't know why exactly. When I looked at Legolas earlier today he was at a 7.9 now he's at a 5.9. As far as reaper minis go with mold lines--there were some bad casters recently but keep your stuff with bad mold lines and bring it to swap for better casts at Reaper Con, assuming they are still doing that this year. Regarding GW plastics I've not tried the LOTR ones but the WHF plastics I've used have been phenomenal with minimal mold lines. They've had gaps after construction but what mini doesn't? Anyway, glad y'all like this mini. I'm hoping I can get more commissions for display minis. I'm really sick of table top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercius Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 People sniped my latest on coolmini also. It was at a 6.2 for a few there and then after a few days I looked and was shocked it was at 5.2, now it has managed to climb back up to 5.9 luckily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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