Cygnar Junior Warcaster 1.0 -

So I happened upon this model and I really liked the simple pose. It looked like a fun simple few hour project and that's just what I was in the mood for.

I used the airbrushed ink technique on him for the blues. The more I use it the more I love how it looks. Inks and highlights under them just make shading look fantastic and take about a quarter of the time that traditional methods like two brush blending do.

I used Vallejo Red Gold on the armors trim and Vallejo Old Gold (alcohol based) for the brasses. The pictures below are just after I did all that. Now its time to let the Gloss Coat dry so I can add the oil washes and bring everything down a notch, I also need to finish the face and Blam......science.

Better pics to come in the next day or two, once the model is done, based and put into the light box. 

On a side note. Video shooting is both fun and hard. Learning to paint to the camera has been the biggest challenge. So please be patient as I work the bugs out and bring you a quality product. 

Thanks everyone for reading my ramblings. 

How do you hold your models while painting.

I get asked this question quite a lot. There are a few reasons that you do not want to handle what you are painting directly. The big issues are as follows:

1. Oils from your hands. Yes even you have oily hands. Its just a fact of nature. That oil gets transferred onto the model and can mess with your paint adhering.

2. Snugging the not-quite dry paint. It happens and makes us all want to scream.

3. Its harder to get into the nooks and crannies of some models.

4. Paint rubbing off from handling. How many times have you been painting a model and notice that you once again have to repaint the hair?

So what does one do to get rid of these issues? Well there are several ways. Some folks go out and spend $20 on jewelers tools to hold models. Others drill a pin into the foot/feet of a model and hold it with a clamp. Some Pin and push it into a cork... Lots of ways to do it. All work pretty well.

Personally I like the cork method but a with a bit of a twist. Corks are fantastic, cheap (come free with the wine bottles even), or can be purchased in bags from your local hobby store.

However... for larger models your gonna need a bigger cork. You can spend a pretty penny on them, bind several together etc. Personally I made a hybrid

I used a 50mm round base I had laying around and super glued a cork to its center. It gives me something to hold onto and the base gives it stability

Here is how it looks.

Easy to work with, your hands never get near the model and you don't have to worry about the small cork tipping over and damaging your paint job. 

Give it a try and let me know what you think. 

Contest Model 6.0 - And Finished!

Rocinante is done and in the display case. This was a really fun model to work on. I love how PP Warjacks have largish but not overly so areas to work on. Just enough room to give good detail and do a few fun things with.

So where did we leave off.... Well after the gloss coat had time to dry. I was able to mix up a black oil wash and all the Silvers and golds were given a heavy wash to bring down the shine dramatically. Then I mixed an orange wash to add to the rust effect.

Once dried I applied some Secret Weapons Miniatures rust pigments across most of the model. It adds a bit of depth and also brings down the shine. I like doing this with the oil wash stage because it helps keep the pigments in place for the final matte varnish.

So here are some pictures. Please leave some feedback and let me know what you think!

Competition Model 5.0 - The Home Stretch.....

I feel all productive today. Made a video. Wrote a review on some editing software. Even managed to work on a model.

I got this little guy put on his base. I really like how the cobble stones came out. I started with grey primer on the base, then dry brushed Vallejo - Grey Black. then up to Vallejo -Stone Grey. After that I used Secret Weapons Miniatures earth powders to give them a dirty street look. I still need to clean up the rim of the base after everything is dried, varnished and ready to go.

I also got the oil washes on. I used a black on the golds and most of the silvers. I needed to knock down the shine quite a bit. I then used a bright orange oil to make a rust wash, This should help with the edges and give it a washed out rust look.

Now I'm just waiting on everything to dry for a day or two (oils take patience young padawan...)

Once everything is "dry" it will be time to coat with a matte varnish then I will add some rust powders to a few spots, finish cleaning up the base and this one will be in the books!

Well you have been patiently waiting so have a bunch of pics.

Wondershare Video Editor Review.

So finally got my shiny new camcorder, stand and all the accessories my heart could desire.

I was looking around online trying to find any information on what most people on YouTube use to edit video as the cost and high level of user knowledge for Adobe is just too high for my taste/time/abilities.

I found Wondershare. I shot a quick (30 minute video) and was able to play with the editor and not only cut out parts of the video with ease (things like painting out of view etc) I was able to add an intro, cut and splice things to make sense timeline wise, add text and really make something I am actually proud of.

Some of the features that make it worth looking at.

1. Easy navigation. Its all right there on one screen.

2. Intuitive interface. I'm still shaking my head how easy it was to use. I did not have to spend 20 hours watching tutorials and reading manuals (or enrolling in courses at the community college).

3. Upload to YouTube was fast and easy. It took about 15 minutes to upload a 20 minute video.

All in all its a fantastic product for under $50.

Oh and here is my first attempt at a video. It has the Wondershare watermark across the screen as I used the free trial version but its still a great first try.

Competition Model 4.0 - The Shining.....

So I was able to finish the golds, brasses, silvers etc on the model today. Now its just about time to start rusting it out, adding the pigments and oil washes and making it look like its been to hell and back. The base from Secret Weapons Miniatures shipped out yesterday so hopefully it will be here before the end of the week and I can have this model wrapped up and ready to go this weekend.

So here are a bunch of photos of what the model looks like before I ruin a perfectly good paint job.

Please let me know what you think.

Exciting news!

I have wanted to create a YouTube channel for a while now but have lacked the funds/equipment to actually do it. Well my amazing wife (she really is the best out there). Decided that it was time and I was able to purchase a camera, tripod, and everything I need to start creating video's to go along with the pictures and walk-threws I have been doing here.

So I plan to shoot and edit my first video this weekend and play with the editing software. I hope to have it up on YouTube next week!

I hope you will like what I produce and am more then open to suggestions for what the first model worked on should be.

Again I want to give a huge shout out to my Patreon with out you none of this would be possible.