bestienmeister.blogspot.com

Quote of the day

2012-03-06T14:02:00.002+01:00

"Some people, hear their own inner voices, with great clearness, and they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy, but they become legend."

(Jim Harrison - Legends of the Fall)

Chris

WIP: Ascianus

2012-03-05T20:56:00.000+01:00

After a long and instructive weekend with Stephan Rath (derwish) in Munich I am back home. I won't write anything about the workshop yet as I want to share my thoughts and some pictures very soon. However, it was an extremly interesting and motivating workshop and painting session with many friends.

Here is a picture of a current wip, another victim of my purple phase. I am seriously thinking about entering nothing but purple miniatures at this years Games Day in Germany. As this still is an early wip, I am highly interested in feedback. The axe has been changed to make him look more brutal, he somehow reminds me of the Butcher from Diablo.

Chris

A new place

2012-02-27T20:19:00.000+01:00

Hi guys,

after two rather exhausting weeks, me and my wife have finally moved to our new place in Augsburg. All that packing and unpacking can drive you crazy easily. However, most of it is done now and our flat looks cosy. It might take a few more weeks to get all details done but I finally have my own working/ painting room. I will post pictures as soon as possible.

Up next is Derwish's workshop in Munich, where I will meet a lot of old friends and definitely will find new ones. I can't wait to learn from the master of freehand himself. I will catch up Goatman here in Augsburg and we will spend a great weekend in Munich. I will take pictures of this event.......

Chris

Lost in the warp

2012-02-02T19:27:00.000+01:00

A couple of minutes ago, I had a look at my cmon gallery (after months) and noticed, that several of my miniatures have disappeared. I don't know why that happened but I just uploaded them once again. Some of them had quite high ratings, interesting to see how/if this changes after a couple of years. If you like, you can leave a vote, or (even better) a comment on one or more of my oldies. Take a look:

The King

Thanks a lot!!!

Chris

Quote of the day

2012-02-01T21:52:00.000+01:00

"Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself."

Chinese proverb

Chris

How to.... win a Golden Demon (Lesson 3: Obey the rules)

2012-01-17T13:35:00.000+01:00

If you are new to this series of articles, make sure to read the first and second article, before you go on here.

Today, I would like to talk about the rules of the Golden Demon competition. I will use the German rules to explain my thoughts because I know them better than rules from other countries and I have also learned (the hard way) how strict these rules have to be obeyed.

Many people read the rules, think about them and recognize that they somehow limit space and creativity. Therefore, they decide to brake the rules on purpose and hope not to get caught with it. International forums are full of topics that flame certain Games Days because entries have been banned from the contest. In most cases, these bans are totally ok, because rules have not been obeyed. Those flaming-threads however always refer to creative aspects and artistic freedom. My advice: stop whining and start obeying the rules.

An artist usually looks for inspiration and then tries to bundle it on some kind of surface. A Golden Demon doesn't work this way. Your inspiration, the background of the GW universe and the rules must come together, to create a promising entry. Leaving one of these asprects away, just because it is easier, will kick you of the pedestal. If you can't think this way, a Golden Demon is the wrong contest for you.

Here is some general advice concerning rules:

Never be late to a Games Day. The jury won't care for your reasons.
Use the correct base (GW only). This rule is handled very strict in Germany.
Don't use miniatures or basing material from other manufacturers (specially scibor) for your entrys.
Be polite.
Are team projects allowed? If not, don't even try. (lifetime ban in Germany, if you get caught)
Don't look for ways to expand the rules, the jury won't like it.
If your idea doesn't fit into the rules, modify the idea (not the rules).
Don't mix LotR-bits with regular GW stuff.
Be polite.
If you go to a foreign GD, ask someone from that country to translate the rules for you.
Never enter a winning miniature on another GD.
Only enter what you have painted yourself, the painting community is rather small and will get you.

In my opinion, it is much harder (and more demanding) to take all these aspects into consideration than just following your "style" and doing a miniature on a base you like. I have seen tons of great entrys getting removed to other categories (Single to Monster and Monster do Diorama most often), just because people didn't care for the rules.

This short article might seem rather obvious and redundant but trust me, it is not. For many painters, it seems to be very hard to follow my advice. In 9 out of 10 times, those people won't win a Demon.

Next time, we will talk about about picking the right miniature(s).

Chris

All and nothing

2012-01-12T18:13:00.000+01:00

These days are full of energy, the new year just feels good. I still don't have any time to paint but I take some time to find new inspiration. Here are a few links I would like to share with you. 2012 will be an insane year for those among you who like to visit cinemas on a regular basis.

Let us start with a song (instrumental, if you prefer) and then go on to this and this movie trailer. If you liked the song in the Hobbit trailer, you can listen to it over and over again here (as I do all day long).

The picture on top of this post really grabbed my attention and served as a great inspiration for an upcoming LotR miniature.

I would like to end this little link collection with a meaningful quote:

"May the hair on his toes never fall out!"

Thorin Oakenshield

Chris

Worldwide Golden Demon dates for 2012

2012-01-04T21:43:00.005+01:00

As I just read on Volomirs blog, the Spanish White Dwarf has released the dates for all Golden Demon contests in 2012. Here is the full article. Note, that the French Games Day has moved towards the end of the year, a huge change. Spain will open the Games Day season this year. Here is a list I copied from Volomir, hope you don't mind bro.

Spain: July 1 (Sunday)

USA: July 28 (Saturday)

Germany: August 12 (Sunday)

Australia: September 9 (Sunday)

UK: September 23 (Sunday)

Italy: October 14 (Sunday)

France: October 28 (Sunday)

How to.... win a Golden Demon (Lesson 2: Clever Decisions)

2012-01-03T18:41:00.000+01:00

I got great feedback for the first article of this series and I am majorly happy that nobody got me wrong so far. As I promised, today we will talk about the best way to pic the right category, when your aim is to win a Golden Demon.

After reading the first article, you might think of a category that fits best to your painting skills. There might not be an archetype of painter, so it might easily be possible that you find yourself in the upper part of group 1 (Beginner), or maybe in the lower part of group 2 (Advanced). Make clear for yourself, where you are. To be on the safe side, you should think of a bit of understatement (just if you like but way better than hubris).

The Golden Demon system

Lets take a look at the Golden Demon system, herefore you can look at the rules in Germany :

In Germany we have 11 categorys, plus Youngbloods and the Open Category. This makes 39 Demons in total (I count the Youngblood trophies as Demons as well). In contrast to many other painting contests, the Golden Demon does not favor the open system. That means that every other participant competes against you and tries to be among the best three miniatures (or at least what the jury thinks are the best minis...you know what I mean). This k.o.-system, as I like to call it, has drastic effects on the jurys mind. While the jury members in competitions with the open system look for quality and set a certain (subjective) niveau to win a prize, the Golden Demon jury looks for mistakes on a miniature. This way of thinking often results in strange decisions, but thats the way this system works. When 5 minis seem to be rather equal in quality, it is the most simple way to look for things you don't like. Although I reject this way of thinking, we have to be aware of it and draw a conclusion. Whenever you lack motivation, ambition or time, do something else but don't force yourself to paint on a Golden Demon entry. This way, your miniature will definitely not show the best result you can produce and it will be full of mistakes. 99% of miniatures painted this way don't win a Demon, there are to many other painters taking this thing to serious.

Number of entrys

Depending on your speed of painting and the time left until the next Games Day, you have to make an important decision. How many miniatures are you going to enter? As I already mentioned in the first article, it is a bad idea to put all eggs in one basket. Going to a Games Day with one entry can easily break your neck, as there are hundreds of painters around who might very well have done something better than you for the same category. Therefore, you should spread your miniatures across at least 2 categories, maybe even more. However, make sure not to overshoot. Entering 11 mediocre entrys will not make you win either. The right number lies somewhere in between. I usually take 3 to 5 entrys to a demon, with a winning rate of about 60%. This rate drops rapidly, when you don't make clever decisions (except you are in group 3).

The right categories

Lets fly over the categories we have in Germany:

Warhammer 40k Single Miniature: very strong category, recommended to group 2 and 3, hardly ever someone from group 1 wins here

Warhammer 40k Unit: takes a lot of time and energy, recommended to group 1 and 2

Warhammer 40k Vehicle: hard to say, kind of a lottery; recommended to group 2 and 3

Warhammer 40k Monster: same as vehicle

Warhammer Fantasy Single Miniature: again very strong, the masters battle here, recommended to group 2 and 3

Warhammer Fantasy Regiment: when you do something very ambitious that takes a lot of time, you can win although you are in group 1; group 3 usually won't take part here, although exceptions prove the rule; recommended to group 1 and 2

Warhammer Fantasy Monster: lottery again, I have seen very strong but also extremly weak years in this category: recommended to group 2 and 3 and to the brave ones in group 1

Duel: This category is often decided by good ideas instead of the best paintjob; recommended to group 1, 2 and 3

Diorama: pure lottery, you find Slayer Sword winners here very often, but then again you have years where hardly one good entry can be seen; very time consuming category, when taken seriously; recommended to group 1 and 2 + ambitious guys from group 3

Large Scale: in Germany, this category is dying a slow and painful death; recommended to all three groups

Lord of the Rings Single Miniature: very strong again, only painting is allowed, no conversions; expect kick-ass miniatures here; recommended to group 2 and 3

Open: very hard to say, recommended to all groups

Youngbloods: speaks for itself

Lets sum this up:

Group 1 (Beginner)

Go for at least 2 entrys you took a lot of time for, 3 would be even better. Avoid the strongest categories, especially the three Single Miniatures. These categories are very attractive for group 3 painters, as they can produce something on a high level in a short period of time. Go for entrys like units/ regiment, a duel or a diorama. They are way more time consuming, group 3 painters will more often hesitate to do this kind of entry because they could do 3 Single entrys in the same time. However, you have to be patient, willing and motivated to spend a few months for maybe one Golden Demon. Burning ambition is your bonus, make use of it. Don't even try, if you don't feel it.

Group 2 (Advanced)

You have the hardest job to do. Maybe you already won a Demon in one of the "group 1 - categories" and aim for something higher. Maybe you won a Demon because you are almost in group 3. Be honest with yourself and choose wisely. I recommend doing some "safe" entrys first, such as a monster for 40k or Fantasy, that takes a lot of time and leads to an awesome result. After that, you can risk something and do one or two Single entrys. If you wan't to be on the safe side, do a unit or regiment, you will most likely win a Demon when you put enough effort into your miniatures.

Group 3 (Veteran)

Chose what you are in the mood for. After 10 or 20 Demons, you stop counting, and your motivation can be at a very low level if you pick the wrong category/ miniature. Your skill allows you, not to think what other painters will do. Try to set the tone. The three Single Miniature categories can be done in a few days/ weeks and grant at least one or two demons. The rest is up to your free time and motivation. Go for something bigger if you aim for the Sword.

This is it for today, lesson 3 will be called "Obey the rules" and tell you something about to dos and don'ts.

Again, I would be very happy to read your comments, feedback and your opinion on this topic. I hope it is still going to the right direction.

Chris

How to....win a Golden Demon (Lesson 1: Self-assessment)

2012-01-02T22:02:00.000+01:00

I would like to start a little series of articles I will extend regularly, called "How to....win a Golden Demon". The first reason why I write these lines is because I have heard one question over and over again from young, uprising painters who are eager to win a GW-trophy: "What do I have to think of, when I try to win a Demon?" Instead of telling the lessons I have learned over and over again, I will write my thoughts down and share it with everybody who is interested.

Before you go on reading, here is a general warning: this series will not tell you how to find your inner peace, nore will it boost your creativity or make you a better person. Maybe the opposite will happen. If you are not interested in winning a Golden Demon at all, please stop reading. This article might annoy you, as it only regards the best strategies to maximize your chance of winning. No other aspects are considered, what does not mean that they aren't important to me. They just aren't subject to this article.

All that will be written here refers to the rules and habits of the German Golden Demon competition. Note that there still are varying rules in different countries.

Lesson 1: Self-assessment (or: "Know your weaknesses)

Before you even think of a miniature you would like to paint, a certain project or a colour scheme, you should be aware of your own weaknesses. Being honest to yourself might be hard and demotivating, but it is an essential part of maximizing your winning chances. If you overestimate your skill, or just aren't willing to think about your level of painting, watching other people winning the trophies might be just as painful.

In order to judge your skills, you should compare (and learn). The best and fastest way is to check these sites here:

http://demonwinner.free.fr/

http://www.coolminiornot.com/

To make things easy, I would like to think of three groups of painters:

1) Beginner: knows how to hold the brush, might be the best painter among his friends

2) Advanced: might have won some local competitions or one to three Demons

3) Veteran: has won quite a few Demons and knows the business very well

Lets be honest, about 95% of the people taking part in a Golden Demon consist of painters from group 1 (Beginner) and group 2 (Advanced). However, 95% of the demons go to group 3 (Veterans). In my opinion, this imbalance can be changed dramatically by regarding a few aspects of the Golden Demon winning-system.

Group 1: Beginner

You found yourself in group 1? Well, there is something great I would like to tell you: Painters from this group are extremly motivated and eager to win. USE this motivation to create something competitive. While Veterans rely on their skills, you have the emotional aspect on your side. This is by far the strongest power when you are trying to do something great. Note, that motivation alone might still not be enough, when your painting skills are below or way below average. In order to maximize your winning chances, you should follow this rules:

try to deliver your best paintjob so far for the Golden Demon this year
go to demonwinner and see last years winners from your country, this is the level you should reach
don't go for the Single categories, you will not win
don't think that last years weak categories will be weak again, the opposite will happen
therefore, go for a strong category (except of Single)
ever painted a regiment? putting a lot of effort into one entry is something that 99% of the veterans will not do --> this is your chance
get in contact with other painters on the internet, share your ideas and learn
be humble
do more than one entry, leave this game to the veterans

Group 2: Advanced

In a dangerous group you are, my friend. Overestimation close is to you, the dark side near is.....and so on, you know what I mean. Once again, be honest to yourself. You have won a Demon already, but what kind of Demon was it? Where you lucky because the other entrys in your category sucked? Then you might still consider yourself in group 1. Was it a clear decision in a strong category? Then you might tend to see yourself in category 3. Here are some rules you might want to think about:

don't think you are a pro, try to put as much time as possible into your entrys
go to demonwinner and see last years winners from your country, this is the level you should reach
try to develop your own style, without doing something that is against the style of GW (we are still trying to win)
do some secure entrys first, something time consuming like a regiment or a duel
do one entry for Single, try to highly improve on this miniature
expect not to win with your Single miniature, instead talk to people who won that category (learn...)
your Demon will most likely consist of 50% diligence and 50% skill, lets make it 70% diligence to be sure

Group 3: Veterans

Well, what should I tell you? It is you guys who set the tone, so don't be to hard with the other 95%. The good thing I can tell you is that you have both the skill and the experience on your side, on the other hand you will most likely be way less motivated than someone who aims for his first Demon. Some advice for you, if you are reading this article:

try to improve with every miniature you paint
don't care who won what with some kind of entry last year
keep your creativity in the world of Games Workshop, many Veterans fail here
obey the rules
go for Single Miniature first, do something time consuming in the end
OBEY THE RULES

This is it for today. Lesson two will be called "Clever Decisions" and focus on picking the right categories depending on the group you belong to.

Please let me know what kind of aspects concerning this topic you would like to read more about. What do you think of this article? Is it worth the time? A pile of junk? Enlightening?

Chris

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T15:17:00.000+01:00

The last days have brought many changes to my tiny batcave. Me and my wife will move to a much larger cave very soon and we spent countless days with buying furniture and all kind of necessary and unnecessary stuff. We bought a showcase for my minis which is quite kick-ass, I will post pictures of it as soon as possible, but not before February.

Apart of that, I didn't get in touch with minis or mini-related stuff at all. To much other things to do, not enough time to relax. However, I expect a huge motivational boost in my own working/painting-room, what was the bat-kitchen until now. There are a few projects waiting to be finished and they have to be done until the Duke of Bavaria.

Sorry for not posting here on a regular basis at the moment!!!!!

Chris

The early bird catches the worm

2011-12-15T14:34:00.000+01:00

It might be a bit early, but I would like to let you know that there is an official date for next years Duke of Bavaria in Ingolstadt. The show will take place from Friday (27th April) to Sunday (29th April). As this has become the most important German painting competition and show, you should be there if possible. I will post pics of the last events during the next couple of weeks.

Chris

Quote of the day...

2011-12-14T16:59:00.000+01:00

When I was in China on the All-American Ping Pong team, I just loved playing ping-pong with my Flexolite ping pong paddle.

-Forrest Gump-

Come and go with me to that land

2011-12-13T20:49:00.000+01:00

Words can't describe..

Chris

Painters-reunion at its best

2011-12-12T21:56:00.000+01:00

reunited (left to right: Erik with Akira, Goatman, Raffa, Angelus, me)

The last weekend was just great. I was looking forward to meet some ancient, some old and rather new friends at the same place. As we slowly tend to become elder (I saw an immense amount of grey hair around the painting table^^), this kind of meetings become more grown up, without loosing any kind of intensity or fun.

The "Casa Angelus" is an overwhelming place to hold such an event, the pure size of the house is breathtaking. In fact, I can hardly imagine a better place to meet friends. Sorry once again for the resin-thing, the cooking-thing, the jeans-thing, the hair-thing, the car-thing and the shower thing. The rest should have worked. :)

I want to thank Angelus for being such a great and strong-nerved host, to Raffa for sharing his view of life with me, to Goatman for being the ass he is (in the best way one can be an ass-I love you man!!!) and especially thanks to Erik for being the person he is. Special thanks goes to Akira for not licking my toes at night (don't even ask).

Here are some pictures to give you an impression of the event. Hope to see you guys again soon.

grumpy pirate-version of Raffa --- harrrrrrr

Angelus bending the steel-whire^^

true love

I painted this in about 90 minutes - contact Picster from massive voodoo if you like one of these

damn, we're getting old!!!

Akira the cat-killer

my latest victim of my purple phase

Chris

It usually takes a long time to find a shorter way

2011-12-08T12:45:00.000+01:00

What happened during the last couple of weeks? One thing is sure, I did not paint for a second. First and foremost I decided to be Dovahkiin, I slayed Dragons, improved my Thu'um, retrieved long-lost spoons, intimidated kings and spoke to whispering doors. Furthermore, I smithed day and night, decided to not follow the path of Mara for the moment and instead restore the former power of the thieves guild. With a bag full of torchbug thorax and a totally useless torch I made my way through the world of pixels.......

I you have no idea what I am talking about, please don't even try to understand. It will absorb your mind, take your full attention and leave you as a lonesome creature of the night. I love it!!!!!!

However, I just wanted to tell you that there will be a great meeting of painting friends the upcoming weekend. Among the guys are Picster, Goatman, Archer, Angelus and Dovah.....^^

I will take some pics of the event and hope it returns me to my workspace. In about 2 months me and my wife will move to a much larger flat and I will get my own working-painting-fun-batcave. Yehaaa :)

I will show pics of the painters-meeting early next week. Here are some songs, pics and videos I enjoy at the moment, a wild mix around the globe.....

girls

impressive sound

art

Chris

Bonecrusher and Brain finished

2011-10-25T14:13:00.001+02:00

After a long time, I finally finished this miniature and the base. I tried a lot of new things here, new colour (Vallejo Air), more texture, focus etc. I like the cartoonish style of the result, especially because many other people won't. I tried to limit the colour palette and still let the rat ogre look like candy. The flash exaggerates the colour by far, maybe there will be taken some better pics one day.

Brain, the real boss of this duo, was originally standing on top of a banner in the Island of Blood box. Hope you like what I did on this guys, let me know what you think. This mini will definitely go to the Duke of Bavaria and maybe to next years German GD, we will see......

Chris

Bonecrusher update # 6

2011-10-17T18:32:00.001+02:00

Not that much progress, nothing spectacular. The fist is almost finished, just have to set the tones right. Up next are the bandages on the other arm, then the cable and last but not least the tail. After that, fun begins...brain is already waiting for colour.....

Apart of that, I am making plans for upcoming events and contests. I love to do that, although most plans remain just that...plans. :)

As me and my wife cancelled our trip to the USA next year, I might take part at the German Games Day in October. The Duke of Bavaria is a must go as well. Apart of that, I would love to go to UK Games Day. Let's see which plans become real. ;)

Chris

Games Day Italy 2011 - link colletion

2011-10-16T17:13:00.004+02:00

This years last Games Day has just taken place and we already have the first results.

The Slayer Sword goes to:

Matteo Murelli

More infos I found:

rapaz one gold and one silver
rusto one bronze
franciuus gold in Large Scale and Gold in Diorama
gobbo one bronze
axia one bronze
Raffaele Picca Gold in 40k Monster and silver in 40k Single
mauganrà one silver
Andrea Ottolini 4 golds and one bronze
Angelo Di Chello one bronze
Steve gold in Open
Vincent (Althalus) bronze in 40k vehicle with a speeder

Farabi:

Gold 40k monster (Picster - Raffaele Micca):

Silver 40k single (Picster - Raffaele Picca):

Galleries:

http://www.facebook.com/

https://www.facebook.com%20/# 2

stra75's gallery

Legio pictorum gallery

Sources:

http://www.farabi.it/

http://minicreateurs.com/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?57190

Chris

Bonecrusher update # 5

2011-10-11T13:30:00.000+02:00

I painted yesterday in the evening, so there is some progress to show. The mini is almost done, parts of the right arm, some bandage, the tail, cable AND "Brain" have to be done. I hope I can finish this mini until next weekend and send it to the box of pride (aka my showcase). You want to know who or what "Brain" is? You'll have to wait a few more days.

The picture shows that there are still some lights missing on the arm, I will change that soon. Concerning the warpstone - I was really afraid that the green would ruin the entire colour balance of the mini. I decided to do large parts in very light green/ greenish white, to prevent that. The result is not fully convincing, as it doesn't really look like some sort of gem. I think I will add some dark spots for more contrast and hope that will do it.

Can't wait to finish this project, do "Brain" and head on to the next miniature.

Chris

Review: Citadel Liquid Green Stuff

2011-10-10T14:45:00.000+02:00

This is what GW says about one of its latest products:

Liquid Green Stuff is the ideal tool for filling in small gaps on a miniature. Because it is water soluble you can use a normal Citadel Paint Brush to apply it (just make sure you wash the brush afterwards). The Liquid Green Stuff will then set in place, filling the gap neatly and efficiently.
This pot contains 12ml of Citadel Liquid Green Stuff

First thing that came to my mind when I saw "Liquid Green Stuff" was: "Yeah, right. So this is your answer for Finecast." However, I gave this a try and decided to do a little review.
I have read several articles about this stuff and some of them said that Liquid Green Stuff is non-toxic. GW doesn't say that on their homepage, so this might be wrong. Can't tell you more about this aspect but I try not to lick the brush after using it. :)

Consistency:
Liquid Green Stuff looks and feels like almost dry GW-colour. The one that is not totally lost and can be reactivated by adding a bit of water. You could also compare it to liquid rubber or hot cheese on a pizza, whatever you prefer. When you look very close, you can see sort of a sandy surface but that disappears after drying. There is a very faint smell that I can't describe in detail, but nothing to worry about. As I mentioned before, I didn't taste it.

Shrinking:
I added a small strip to a ruler, exactly 1 cm. I then waited for about 15 minutes and looked again, without noticing any shrinking concerning the breadth. What I instantly noticed was the fact, that the Liquid Green Stuff became very flat. So as the original GW-text says, this seems quite good to fill gaps, bubbles or remove mold lines. As this was a very quick test, I wouldn't definitely say that it doesn't shrink at all, it just didn't until now (one hour went by).

Filling gaps:
I looked for something with a visible gap and found nothing.^^ Then I went reeeaaaalllyyy deep into my box of shameand found the legs of the Nurgle-Lord-thingy from 40k. As you can see on the pics, some work has to be done between the leg and the torso. Lets see how it worked.

I was a bit disappointed at this stage. I waited for about 15 minutes, until the Liquid Green Stuff looked totally dry. Well, it was not. I have to test how long it really takes until it is dry and can be sanded, 15 minuted are not enough. However, this is the result. The gap is filled, thats what I wanted. The consistency at this stage is still like rubber.

Smoothen flat surfaces:
For me, this is the real strength of Liquid Green Stuff. I used a lot of other puttys to get surfaces smooth but none of them worked perfectly for me. This product does.

First a I added a bit of water to the surface, then I applied a first thin layer of the putty. After 5 minutes, I applied a second layer and waited. Using water really makes this stuff easier to work with, I have to try different mixtures to get a satisfying result. After about 20 minutes I sanded the surface and got a really smooth result. The best thing is, you don't have to wait ages until the putty is dry.

Using it to sculpt:
No way, don't even try it.

Conclusion:
Liquid Green Stuff is worth the money, especially compared to other puttys used for the same reason. Don't use it right from the pot, it will disappoint you. Dilluting with water brings nice results. After drying, it doesn't get rock-hard.

If you have any questions or remarks, let me know.

Chris

Bonecrusher update # 4

2011-10-09T13:27:00.000+02:00

I really feel bad because I had no time to care for this blog during the last couple of weeks. However, after I found some routine concerning my job, I managed to also find some time to paint again. With about 10 different wips in my "box of shame", it seemed to be a hard decision to chose the right mini. It wasn't....

I am really motivated to finally finish the Bonecrusher-project and send it to my showcase until the next GD. Therefore I rushed some unfinished parts yesterday in the evening. I painted the neck muscles, the face and the metals on the weapon arm in about 4 hours. The pics are terrible as always, to yellow and a bit blurry. Let me know what you think...

Chris

You shouldn't miss...

2011-10-05T17:36:00.001+02:00

...some great step by step articles. All painters are Germans and rather new to the topic of historical painting. While SKATE shows some awesome freehand work with a little help from masking tape and his airbrush on Pegasos Karl D'Anjou, Feanor uses pure brushpower to paint Markos Botsaris from Alexander Miniatures. Crackpot is doing the "usual" stuff - pure perfectness. Follow the links and enjoy the pics. Unfortunately the descriptions are written in German only, but maybe the pics help as well.

Feanor's Botsaris

SKATE's D'Anjou

Crackpot's "Outnumbered"

I myself haven't held a brush in my hands for weeks now, but this will change today. I will take some pics and show you my current project soon. My brain is full of ideas for both fantasy and historical projects.

Chris

Euro Militaire Folkestone 2011 link collection

2011-09-18T15:15:00.001+02:00

Here is a collection of all links I could find on the internet concerning the Euromilitaire in Folkestone this year. I will update this topic as soon as I find new links. Enjoy

Euromilitaire as it happens (from planetfigure)

Event coverage on legio pictorum

Best of show

pictures 1

pictures 2

pictures 3

pictures 4

pictures 5

pictures 6

to be continued....

Chris

No news is good news???

2011-09-17T16:25:00.000+02:00

I love my job. School started here in Bavaria and I have been removed to a new place. New school, new pupils, new rules and above all new impressions. Did I mention that I love my job? I can hardly imagine something more satisfying than helping people and seeing progress on a daily basis. Miniatures are as far away as the moon is for me at the moment, as there is a lot of work to be done. A strange, but not necessarily a bad feeling...

Here is some music I like to listen to after a long day at work, hope you like it.

Chris

The Outlaw

2011-09-02T09:30:00.001+02:00

As I told you a couple of days ago, I managed to finish my little version of Robin Hood. The whole scene, especially the colour scheme where inspired by the classic movies rather then by the current, darker versions of this character. The base was pure fun to do, the leaves are glued one by one. I can hardly imagine something more relaxing at the moment....
Thanks once again to Raffa (Picster) for taking the pics.

Chris

Step by step tutorial: 33rd Regiment in Abyssinia

2011-09-01T09:24:00.000+02:00

As this miniature is now finished, I thought it might be a good idea to sum up the different wip posts and make one single article out of it. This way you can easily reconstruct the whole process without clicking too much. Raffa kindly took picture of the finished miniature , which you can find at the bottom of this post. Thanks a lot for that mate, extra banana promised!!! I also added a bit more theory to some parts, enjoy and let me know what you think.

Choosing the base, preparing the miniature

Usually I begin with the base of the miniature, just because it is more fun and you see process very quickly. With this miniature, I will not do so. The reason for that is because it will be a very simple base, more or less just sand and a few rocks and a bit of dry grass.
However, there are a few important things I would like to say about the right wooden base:

Height: usually, the base should NOT be higher than the miniature, nore should it be much smaller. Both effects will usually have a negative influence in the overall impression. The picture below shows, that the miniature and the base have about the same size.

Top: The top of the base should be about 2/3 the miniatures size, when you don't plan any walls, buildings, trees or whatsoever. Very often I see well painted miniatures on way to huge wooden bases. That way, the miniature seems lost, small and out of focus. That is bad....

Colour of the base: For years I only used bases that I sprayed black. That way, all of the focus went on the scenery and miniature on top of the base. Today, I try to use bases, that have a similar colour as the ground (not necessarily the miniature). By using similar colours for wooden base and scenery, you don't see a strict border between base and the rest. The final result of this miniature shows that the colour of the wooden base, the painted ground colour and some areas on the miniature itself are the same. That is good...

Preparing the miniature

I removed all moldlines yesterday (edit: at least I thought so^^) and filled some gaps on the shoulders and the neck with green stuff. This morning, I drilled holes into the legs and pinned them. This way I can attach the mini onto a painting base in the right position. I always drill the holes into the heel and up the leg. Otherwise, there would be very little space for the drill and I would ruin the shoes.

Painting the face

Painting the face (theory): For me, the face of a miniature somehow determines the feeling, the ambiance and the sympathy. Although the face is very small, I think it catches about 50% of the viewers attention, the rest is bonus (what does not mean that you should rush there). A well painted face show good blending skills AND hard lights at the same time. You need very strong lights and shadows on a rather small surface to achieve something that seems individual, that gives the miniature its face. Most important is the T-zone, what I will now explain in detail.

Imagine a "T" right in the middle of the face of your miniature. The horizontal line are the eyebrows, the vertical line is the nose down to the chin. This "T" shows the lightest areas in the face. In addition to that, you have the nasolabial folds, which are very light as well and determine the harshness of the miniature. This "T" and the nasolabial folds are surrounded by the darkest areas in the face. The area under the eyebrows, running down the side of the nose und the point under the lip but above the chin are really, REALLY dark. By putting this contrasts together, you get a well painted face.

Colour choice: Everyone has his own recipe for painting skin, I use Tanned Flesh, Bronzed Flesh, Elf Flesh und Skull White for the basic blending and lights. Shadows and nuances are set with every colour I like, green, purple, red, blue, grey.....

Basic colours, codex grey for the beard

Base colour is Tanned Flesh + Bronzed Flesh (3:1) - the face is primed quite rough

First lights by adding more Bronzed Flesh, you can hardly see any difference

More Bronzed Flesh has been added, you start to see the "T"-line

Elf Flesh has been added to the mix, the lights are now very clear and you just follow the path

The lights are very strong now, to strong in fact. Don't care about that, you can change that later.

The lights are finished, the miniature looks more like a ghost at this stage.

This is quite a huge step in one picture, I glazed the face several times with
the base tone. Then I painted the beard with a mix of Tanned Flesh and
Codex Grey (3:1). Then I painted red under the cheeks, green onto the temple
and several mixtures to darken the area next to the "T"-line.

Note that the face still looks rather strange and unfinished. This is because the moustache und the hair is not painted yet. I didn't paint the neck because I will now mask the face and do some airbrush work. Painting the face without any reference colour around can be difficult when you just begin with the hobby. Most often the contrast will seem way exaggerated and just not right. This will change as soon as the surrounding areas also get some colour. No need to panic at this point....

Finished face

Here are some pictures of the finished face, you can see what I just mentioned above. The hair takes some attention away from the face, the colours work together and the contrast seems less strong.

The colours, lights and shadows strongly influence your further process with your miniature. There should be no area that is lighter than the lightest point in the face. That would draw the attention to the wrong place (exception: for some reason, you want the focus to be somewhere else).

Using airbrush on the uniform

I used Tamya masking tape to protect the face, boots and the free hand from the colour that will be sprayed onto the miniature. The Basecoat is a mix of Vallejo Dark Sea Grey, Vallejo Model Air Gray Primer and Vallejo Model Air Skin Tone (10-1-3). After two layers of basecoat I added a bit more Skin Tone to the mix and sprayer the first lights. I then added more Skin Tone and repeated this step. The nuances on the uniform are very narrow, there is still a lot of work to be done with the brush.

Painting the uniform

The colour of the uniform refers to Osprey Men at Arms # 198, The British Army on Campaign 1856-1881 (page 29 ~ soldier on the left). This link gives some rough information about the regiment the miniature refers to, here you can read about the British activities in Abyssinia. When you intend to paint a historical miniature, make sure to do some good research on the equipment and uniform of the miniature. When you mess up the correct colour, like I did on this one, you can at least tell that you know you mistake before someone else tells you about it.^^

For further lights I used more Vallejo Air Skin Tone, what proved to be a mistake. The result is a Khaki uniform, instead of a light grey one. I painted several glazes of grey onto the mini but it didn't change the colour that much. Then I decided to either rescue or ruin the mini and mixed some Codex Grey with Chaos Black. This quite dark colour was painted onto all surfaces which were meant to be in the shadow. The result is not breathtaking, but it is ok for me. I then noticed, that the uniform looks very new and unworn, so I painted a lot of dirt by just tipping the brush with thinned down colour on the miniature. Unfortunately, the last pictures don't really show this effect.

The uniform still looks a bit too monotounos for me, so I will paint a few shadows using greens and brown, we will see what happens.

First lights have been added by using more Vallejo Air Skin Tone. After this
Mix, I should have used Bleached Bone....

Soft folds get blendings, hard folds get NO blending, very important...

Current state of the miniature, the focus is quite clear.

I just noticed that is might make sense to write an article about different kinds of cloth and the best way to paint them. There was a time when each and every fold on cloth I found became its own blending, what is absolutely not necessary and rather unrealistic.

Going into detail

The remaining things are fun, small details in different colours, nothing repetitive. I painted a rough surface onto the brown cloth, unfortunately the picture hides most of that. The contrast isn't that hard in real. I will add more nuances to the uniform when all details are finished to get the right colours.

Just a bottle

A really small update, the water bottle is finished. There are two hours left for painting, then I have to leave.

A worn bag

I took a wip shot during the painting of the worn leather but it turned out quite bad. This is the way I painted it:

> Ground Colour is a mix of Scorched Brown, Bronzed Flesh and Vallejo Air Golden Brown (10-1-2). I painted several thin layers of this colour onto the bag.

> I added more Golden Brown to the mix and took a "larger" brush (Da Vinci Nova Synthetics Size 0). I dipped the tip of the brush into the paint and removed most of the colour on a tissue. Note that the tip must not end in one point, an older brush does a very good service here. I then started dipping the almost dry brush onto the bag, trying to let the pattern look random.

> I repeated this step two times, once by adding more Golden Brown and once by adding a bit of Bleached Bone. The contrast must be very strong at this point.

> Then I used "Badab Black", one of Citadels new washes and thinned it down a lot. After about 5 to 7 layers, you start seeing how the colours run together, the contrast isn't that strong any longer.

> The last step is to take some undilluted wash and dip it on the bag, leaving really dark spots. This is it.

Drought soil

Yesterday in the evening I still thought about the base and decided to do some sort of dry soil, maybe a riverbed. As I ordered Distress Crackle Paint some weeks ago, I finally wanted to try it. As I never worked with it before, I had to try different sorts of drying, applying and thinning. That took me about 3 hours this morning, so I didn't paint anything on the miniature itself. However, I managed to create a base that seems ok for me. I will add some dry wood and the soldiers gun and that is it. Very simple but not just sand....

Here is the wip, I forgot to take a picture of the Distress Crackle Paint that was put on the base after the Vallejo Sanding Paste had dried. Sorry for that...

I carefully chose the front side of the base.

I use this quite often, a great product from Vallejo.

Using a toothpick saves your brush from dying an uncomfortable death.

This takes about 15 minutes to dry. Coffee time...

After the sanding paste was dry, I put a thin layer of crackle paint on top
and threw the base into the oven at 50 for 3 minutes.

The result, I am satisfied with this.

The rough paintjob is done, now I have to go into detail.

We need a medic over here

I painted some blood, Vallejo Air Fire Red mixed With Vallejo Air Black (5:1) plus some Glaze Medium. Not that bright red irl.

And here are the pictures of the finished miniature. As the Glaze Medium didn't work, I used Gloss Varnish as a topcoat for the bloody areas. Furthermore I painted the soldiers shadow onto the ground, I will do an extra article about that soon.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed this article. If you have any improvement suggestions, please let me know.

Chris

Running out of leaves

2011-08-31T09:43:00.000+02:00

Following this tutorial, I have put a little bit more detail to this base I have painted about two years ago. The leaves are not yet painted, they will get some nuances that will also be present in the viking's clothes. Hope you like it.

Chris

Some music...

2011-08-30T14:30:00.001+02:00

I'm not that much into gaming on a console or PC nowadays, but there is one huge exception: The Elder Scrolls. I think I have spent months of my life in Morrowind and Oblivion, just to collect burning candles to decorate my house or looking for the last missing part of my full armour collection. In a few months, I will turn into a hardcore nerd once again. To be more precise, on 11.11.11 Skyrim will be released, the fifth part of the Elder Scrolls Saga. The reason I am telling you this is because there is some great music included as well. The first song is fanmade, the second one is official. Enjoy...

What about you, are you a fan of the saga as well? Do you have any other preferences?

Chris

Painting with the monkeys, weisern and Sebastian Archer

2011-08-29T13:59:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I was invited to join the Jungle Crew in the holy halls of hallucinating creativity. Some "special guests" from Australia spent some days here in Augsburg and brought some awesome miniatures as well. I is always a pleasure to talk to Seb and weisern, they are just cool and humble guys. I didn't paint at all, the Aussies told us about Crocs, GW-politics and antivenom and we talked about future plans. Big Kong taught us some theory concerning colours, Chewbacca-style (awesome time, will never forget that)....^^

Some pics....

By the way, I finished the live painting miniature on Saturday and took it to Raffa. He will kindly take pictures, so I will soon show the final result and some Games Day miniatures.

Chris

Live painting, update #10: we need a medic over here!!!

2011-08-26T19:12:00.001+02:00

I took a nap and painted some blood. Vallejo Air Fire Red mixed With Vallejo Air Black (5:1) plus some Glaze Medium. Not that bright red irl.

Up next is the remaining bag, then I will attach to mini to the base and paint the boots.

Chris

Live painting, update #9: drought soil

2011-08-26T11:15:00.000+02:00

What a strange morning this was. Yesterday in the evening I still thought about the base and decided to do some sort of dry soil, maybe a riverbed. As I ordered Distress Crackle Paint some weeks ago, I finally wanted to try it. As I never worked with it before, I had to try different sorts of drying, applying and thinning. That took me about 3 hours this morning, so I didn't paint anything on the miniature itself. However, I managed to create a base that seems ok for me. I will add some dry wood and the soldiers gun and that is it. Very simple but not just sand....

Here is the wip, I forgot to take a picture of the Distress Crackle Paint that was put on the base after the Vallejo Sanding Paste had dried. Sorry for that...

I carefully chose the front side of the base.

I use this quite often, a great product from Vallejo.

Using a toothpick saves your brush from dying an uncomfortable death.

This takes about 15 minutes to dry. Coffee time...

After the sanding paste was dry, I put a thin layer of crackle paint on top
and threw the base into the oven at 50 for 3 minutes.

The result, I am satisfied with this.

The rough paintjob is done, now I have to go into detail.

Chris

Some scenic inspiration from Ethiopia

2011-08-25T18:30:00.000+02:00

As the miniature I am currently painting is standing somewhere in Ethiopia (Abyssinia at that time), I just searched for a decent landscape to put on my base. This are some of the more inspiring pictures I found.

Chris

Live painting, update #8: worn bag

2011-08-25T15:12:00.000+02:00

Another small update, I guess it is the last one for today. I didn't manage to paint as much as I thought I would, mainly because of the high temperature (30+ degrees at my painting desk). My aim is to finish the mini untill tomorrow 12am, including the base.

I took a wip shot during the painting of the worn leather but it turned out quite bad. This is the way I painted it:

> Ground Colour is a mix of Scorched Brown, Bronzed Flesh and Vallejo Air Golden Brown (10-1-2). I painted several thin layers of this colour onto the bag.

> I repeated this step two times, once by adding more Golden Brown and once by adding a bit of Bleached Bone. The contrast must be very strong at this point.

> Then I used "Badab Black", one of Citadels new washes and thinned it down a lot. After about 5 to 7 layers, you start seeing how the colours run together, the contrast isn't that strong any longer.

> The last step is to take some undilluted wash and dip it on the bag, leaving really dark spots. This is it.

The contrast on the last pictures is hardly visible, it is a bit stronger in real.

Shejtan asked for some colour recipes, I will a list of the colours I used in the end of the painting process.

Thank you very much for your great support via mail and here on the blog!!!!

Chris

Live painting, update #7: just a bottle

2011-08-25T12:48:00.000+02:00

A really small update, the water bottle is finished. There are two hours left for painting, then I have to leave.

If you have any idea for the base, let me know. It must be desert or at least stony ground...

@ Philip: thanks a lot for your kind words!!!

Chris

Live painting, update #6: going into detail

2011-08-25T11:26:00.000+02:00

You can still ask questions or send feedback to ugotitbad(at)gmx.de

Chris

Live painting, update #5: painting the uniform

2011-08-25T08:40:00.000+02:00

I painted for two more hours yesterday and managed to put some lights and a few shadows onto the uniform. For further lights I used more Vallejo Air Skin Tone, what proved to be a mistake. The result is a Khaki uniform, instead of a light grey one. I painted several glazes of grey onto the mini but it didn't change the colour that much. Then I decided to either rescue or ruin the mini and mixed some Codex Grey with Chaos Black. This quite dark colour was painted onto all surfaces which were meant to be in the shadow. The result is not breathtaking, but it is ok for me. I then noticed, that the uniform looks very new and unworn, so I painted a lot of dirt by just tipping the brush with thinned down colour on the miniature. Unfortunately, the last pictures don't really show this effect.

The uniform still looks a bit too monotounos for me, so I will paint a few shadows using greens and brown, we will see what happens.

First lights have been added by using more Vallejo Air Skin Tone. After this
Mix, I should have used Bleached Bone....

Soft folds get blendings, hard folds get NO blending, very important...

Current state of the miniature, the focus is quite clear.

I just notices that is might make sense to write an article about different kinds of cloth and the best way to paint them. There was a time when each and every fold on cloth I found became its own blending, what is absolutely not necessary and rather unrealistic.

Sebastian asked about the noozle of the airbrush and the thinning of the colour.
> The noozle I used is 0,3mm, the thinning grade is hard to explain. I try to use as much Vallejo Air as possible because you can use that colour from the pot. Vallejo Model Colour proved quite difficult.

Chris

Live painting, update #4: using airbrush on the uniform

2011-08-24T14:15:00.000+02:00

I took a break, had a coffee and something to eat. After that, I used Tamya masking tape to protect the face, boots and the free hand from the colour that will be sprayed onto the miniature. The Basecoat is a mix of Vallejo Dark Sea Grey, Vallejo Model Air Gray Primer and Vallejo Model Air Skin Tone (10-1-3). After two layers of basecoat I added a bit more Skin Tone to the mix and sprayer the first lights. I then added more Skin Tone and repeated this step. The nuances on the uniform are very narrow, there is still a lot of work to be done with the brush.

I will now start to paint lights on the uniform, using the rest of the colour from the airbrush. There are about two hours left for today and I will definitely not be able to finish the mini. For that reason, I will continue tomorrow at 7am. :)

@ Volomir: thanks a lot man!!!

@ Tom Riddle: I used no airbrush for the face but for the uniform.

@ Colonel Shofer: thanks a lot :)

@ Tuffskull: I am glad that you like it.

@ Sebastian: see above for the masking tape...

Chris

Live painting, update #3: finished face

2011-08-24T12:12:00.000+02:00

Here are some pictures of the finished face, hope you like it. As always, pictures are very bad (click to enlarge). :)

Thanks for all the positive feedback via email and comments.

Chris

Live painting, update #2: painting the face

2011-08-24T11:12:00.001+02:00

I feel like I could use a typing monkey. I am not used to interrupt while painting for taking pictures but somehow it works.

Basic colours, codex grey for the beard

Base colour is Tanned Flesh + Bronzed Flesh (3:1) - the face is primed quite rough

First lights by adding more Bronzed Flesh, you can hardly see any difference

More Bronzed Flesh has been added, you start to see the "T"-line

Elf Flesh has been added to the mix, the lights are now very clear and you just follow the path

The lights are very strong now, to strong in fact. Don't care about that, you can change that later.

The lights are finished, the miniature looks more like a ghost at this stage.

Note that the face still looks rather strange and unfinished. This is because the moustache und the hair is not painted yet. I didn't paint the neck because I will now mask the face and do some airbrush work.

Thanks to Sebastian for encouraging me to go on....

Sleipnir asked wether a banner pole counts towars the size of the wooden base.
> Yes, I think so.

Chris

Live painting, update #1: choosing the base, preparing the miniature

2011-08-24T08:18:00.000+02:00

I just began and I already feel like I'm late. ^^
Usually I begin with the base of the miniature, just because it is more fun and you see process very quickly. With this miniature, I will not do so. The reason for that is because it will be a very simple base, more or less just sand and a few rocks and a bit of dry grass.
However, there are a few important things I would like to say about the right wooden base:

Height: usually, the base should NOT be higher than the miniature, nore should it be much smaller. Both effect will usually have a negative influence in the overall impression. The picture below shows, that the miniature and the base have about the same size.

Colour of the base: For years I only used bases that I sprayed black. That way, all of the focus went on the scenery and miniature on top of the base. Today, I try to use bases, that have a similar colour as the ground (not necessarily the miniature). By using similar colours for wooden base and scenery, you don't see a strict border between base and the rest. That is good...

Preparing the miniature

I removed all moldlines yesterday and filled some gaps on the shoulders and the neck with green stuff. This morning, I drilled holes into the legs and pinned them. This way I can attach the mini onto a painting base in the right position. I always drill the holes into the heel and up the leg. Otherwise, there would be very little space for the drill and I would ruin the shoes.

While I write this lines, the glue (UHU Strong&Safe) is drying. The miniature is ready to be primed and painted. Time to get a coffe and take out the brushes....

If you have any questions, send me an email (ugotitbad(at)gmx.de) or write a comment.

Chris

Live painting announcement: tomorrow, August 24th, beginning 7 am

2011-08-23T18:18:00.000+02:00

I finished my version of Robin Hood today and prepared a new miniature for painting. Tomorrow I will do a live painting session, what means I will post wips all day long and write my thoughts on every single step (base, face, focus, airbrush, colour choice...). You can send questions on ugotitbad(at)gmx.de and I will answer during the painting process. The miniature I will paint can be seen below, it is a Latorre sculpt sold by Art Girona. I will start early, around 7 am and will most likely stop at 4 pm. Due to technical problems I am not able to answer comments at the moment, so please get in contact via email.

Chris

A rising star

2011-08-22T17:52:00.000+02:00

Today I would like to present Chris to you, a very talented painter from London and a really nice guy. I met him at this years Games Day in Germany and we had a great time. If you are interested in his work, follow this link to his blog and take a look. A couple of days ago, he won his first Golden Demon with this miniature, find his entire cmon gallery here.

After having spent many years with painting and meeting old and new friends, from time to time you meet people with an almost endless potential and a lot of motivation. I am sure we will see many great miniatures very soon. This will definitely not have been his last Demon!!!

Chris is the guy in front of Ben Komets

Chris

World Expo 2011 Montreux: link collection

2011-08-21T12:12:00.001+02:00

This weekend the World Expo took place in Montreux. As there are many image galleries and videos on the net already, I thought I might do a link collection that makes it easier to click through all pics. Enjoy....

figurines-tv shows some great videos

first gallery of miniatures in contest

forum gallery with tons of great pictures

gallery from minicreateurs

More to come.....

Chris

Games Day Germany 2011 link collection

2011-08-08T17:48:00.000+02:00

Me and my wife returned home and instantly packed our bags for Mallorca. For that reason I can't post any pictures or write that much about this years German GD. I went away with two silver Demons, one in Lord of the Rings and one in Large Scale. I will write a few words about this GD in about two weeks, when I am back home. Congratulations to Matt Cexwish for a well deserved Slayer Sword. Here are some links I found on the internet:

Chris

Robin Hood update #2

2011-08-03T15:07:00.000+02:00

A lot of painting at the moment, motivation is the key. This miniature will definitely not be one of my best, however it is great fun to paint it. Robin will most likely be finished tomorrow. The picture is crappy as always.

Chris

Robin Hood update #1

2011-08-02T13:55:00.000+02:00

Nothing special today, I reworked the shadows of the top cloth, gave the cap a ground tone to work with and finished the green cloth. The arms will be painted in a different colour, very similar to the cap. Took me about 5 hours of painting, time to get back my routine....

The picture once again is very yellowish, sorry for that.

Chris

Games Day Chicago 2011 link collection

2011-08-01T16:11:00.004+02:00

Here is a link collection concerning the latest GD:

Previews for upcoming Warhammer Forge releases

Gaming tables at GD Chicago

GW's live blog coverage

Forgeworld previews

CMON aftermath

more pictures...

some entrys...

gaming tables

GW Event Coverage

I will update the link collection as soon as possible.

Chris

...until lambs become lions.

2011-08-01T15:29:00.000+02:00

I started painting this morning at 8 o'clock and took just a few breaks for coffee and cookies. The result is a finished face and an almost finished first part of cloth (don't know the English name for this thing - is it a cape?) The blendings on the face are not very good but the overall impression from a distance of 20 cm is quite ok. The cloth needs some more nuances in the shadows, nothing that takes too long. Up next is the cap and the rest up the upper body. I am having a lot of fun at the moment with a miniature, didn't have that for a longer period of time. Sorry for the blurry pics....

Chris

Rise and rise again...

2011-08-01T08:36:00.000+02:00

Me and my wife will leave for Cologne in 6 days. Although this isn't that much time, I just don't feel like it's the right time for another Warhammer miniature. I don't know if I will finish the rat ogre for this Games Day, there are projects that sound much more interesting to me at the moment. There will be plenty of time to paint during the next six weeks and I want to finish some historical miniatures. To be more precise, I love to build bases at the moment. The roman corner is still waiting for the finishing touches, but before that I am working on Sherwood forest.

I owe you 100 gold coins when you find the woodpecker and 200 gold coins when you find the frog.

Pictures of Robin might come later this day.

Chris

Interview with Sascha Buczek (Goatman)

2011-07-21T17:42:00.002+02:00

Sascha has always been my hero and over the years he turned into a friend and companion. When I meet him a couple of weeks ago, we made an interview for my blog. First I wanted to show you a picture of Goatman playing guitar hero but he didn't like that idea. Instead, I chose this picture:

The bald guy is Goatman. :)

You won your first trophies at the time I started to paint miniatures. How do you deal with your function as a role model?

I don’t think that I am a role model. The more you are on the spot, the more you should act as if you were a role model. First of all, I think it is important to share your knowledge. Secret-mongering doesn’t help you or other painters, you stagnate. In the end it doesn’t matter whether you share your „secrets“ on a public forum or on a private level.

Regarding the common techniques, the world of miniatures has changed a lot during the past ten years. Did that influence you?

Of course it did. When I see something new or something different, I try it myself. That does not mean you have to follow each and every trend but you should at least try new techniques. When I like an effect, I adopt it and adjust it to my style. Copying styles can become dangerous because you only chase a trend. For the main part you paint for yourself.

How would you describe your style of painting?

„Chaotic, yet clean“ sums it up quite good. I use all sorts of stylistic device I like and mix them on a miniature to create an overall image. This way, every miniature brings along something new.

After many years of fantasy miniatures, today there are also a large number of historical miniatures in your collection. What led to this reorientation?

It might sound stupid but I wasn’t aware of the superb range of historical miniatures. I painted more and more large scale fantasy miniatures, so the border to historical miniatures wasn’t that hard to pass. It was Pegaso Miniatures that finally caught my attention. However, I like both fantasy and historical miniatures. I buy (and sometimes even paint) miniatures that look good, no matter what kind of topic they raise. That keeps me motivated.

3d-image

People often criticize me for my „fantasy-looking“ historical miniatures. Where do you the difference concerning the painting style?

Historical miniatures try to imitate reality on a downscaled surface. Colours have to be very close to the model. That means light is used much more aware and colours are way more desaturated. Structures and different kinds of surfaces play an important part. This strict frame sometimes makes it hard to develop a personal style. In fantasy painting, on the other hand, there isn’t a no-go. Colours can be very loud and exaggeration becomes a stylistic device. Both sides of the shield have their own advantage, in the end you should be satisfied with the result of you work.

„Painting miniatures consists of 10 percent talent and 90 percent practice.” What do you think of this statement?

That’s what I always said. Some painters might start with a little bit more talent but in the end it’s burning ambition and the will to invest time what makes a good painter. When you try to get better with every miniature you paint, you can reach everything. Depending on your talent, this process takes more or less time.

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You own a countless number of trophies. How important is competition for you? Do you become a “better painter”, when you compete with others?

Competitions are a great source of motivation. You aim for a goal and you invest many hours for it. You learn a lot of things when you compare you work with that of other people. The older I get, the less important it becomes to actually win a contest. Planning and painting a miniature is the chief aim, a trophy is a nice bonus. Contest with the open system are great because there is no pressure to perform and people interact much more relaxed. That makes it easier to find new inspiration.

Who or what inspires you?

Other painters, books and movies serve as source of inspiration. When I see a great artwork, I instantly try to adapt it to a miniature. Sometimes miniatures inspire me to convert them and tell a whole new story.

What is a „no-go“ when you think of painting?

I don’t know if there is such a thing. However, I think every painter should find his own style. It is ok to copy good miniatures when you start painting. With more and more experience you should try new things and go your own way. There will be a point when copying won’t help you any longer.

Your presence on the internet decreased a lot. What are the reasons for that?

You are right. It is both my job and my private life, you can’t be a student forever. Today I divide my spare time among my girlfriend and my hobby, so there isn’t much time left for the internet.

You will attend the World Expo for the first time this year. What can we expect?

Some old things, some new ones in fantasy and historical painting. I have been working for two years on my version of Gotrek and now he is finally finished. At the moment I am working on the awesome griffon from Nocturna. The knight will be replaced by a Sigmar priestess.

What did you always want to tell me?

Your historical miniatures look „fantasy“. ^^

....oh really Goatman? Take this:

Just do it....

Chris

Long time no see

2011-07-20T10:58:00.001+02:00

Almost a month went by since my last update on this blog. I was very busy with my job AND with my hobby. I passed the final exam and now I am a teacher. I went to Angelus from the Bemalforum to meet him an Goatman, where we prepared some entrys for the German Games Day and last but not least I went to Berlin for one week, where I meet Ben Komets, Matt Cexwish, Georg Damm and Kevin Kosse. They are currently working on breathtaking projects for the GD as well. Expext pure madness....

Here are a couple of pictures from the meeting with Angelus and Goatman from the "Bemalforum".

Thorsten and his wife live in a wonderful area,
their house is surrounded by vineyards, old castles and forests.

Thorsten is working on his GD project, Goatman is not. :)

What might it be?

Goatman works on the Nocturna pegasus for the World Expo.

Nice effect so far.

Thorstens entry for 40k Monster this year. He improved a lot on this mini.

I love the Gotrek and Felix books and Goatman does
as well. So he decided to sculpt his own Gotrek in 54mm,
I am so jealous about this miniature!!!

Goatman also finished this historical piece. The details
are really great, I live the vase and the fruits.

Here is a picture of me (the guy on the right) with a good friend in front of the Berlin Wall.

The museums in Berlin are very inspiring.

This is it for the moment. Very soon there will be an interview with Goatman.

Chris

Reworking the design

2011-06-28T18:59:00.000+02:00

I don't know anything about Photoshop, programming and things like that. Fortunately other people do, people like jens b from the Bemalforum, who are willing to help. He made the new header for my blog and offered to help with some other things as well. There will be some (minor) changes during the next weeks. Thanks a lot to Jens and all the other helping hands in the background.

Here is some music that made my day, if you don't understand German just enjoy the tunes: Peter Fox

Chris

Tutorial: Creating unique plants and flowers

2011-06-26T14:35:00.000+02:00

Small plants and tiny flowers add a lot of dept to a base. Unfortunately, most products you can buy don't really look realistic or are not available in the correct scale. I found a way to create my own plants in just a few minutes .

All you need is PVA glue, thin roots and some sort of leaves. I used linden leaves from plusmodels for my plants.

I drilled holes into a box and glued small parts of my roots onto it. The Colour pot shows the size of the roots. They should be rather small.

The linden leaves come in 4 to 5 different sizes and are slightly bent to one side. As they are made of paper, you can easily bend them into any form. The colour is rather realistic and doesn't need that much work during the finishing touches.

The largest leave is still very tiny. Make sure to turn away before sneezing. (not kidding, was no fun to recollect them)

Use a sculpting tool or a wire for the next step....

....and bend the leave around your tool. The leave will keep this form, you don't have you use something to fix it.

Keep on...and do some research on the internet. My plants are a sort of dicotyledons. By imitating things you find in nature, your plants will look more realistic.

This is what your plants look like before painting. I used some Green Stuff to create a petal.

And this is the finished base with painted flowers. I used some highly dilluted purple for the leaves. Very simple...

Some details...

More details.....

Chris

Bonecrusher update #3

2011-06-25T18:50:00.000+02:00

Many things happened during the last days, mostly good things, some bad....

This blog went insane this month, it had more than 5k klicks in less then 20 days. This makes me really proud and happy, and as the last exams are finished, I can now focus on this thing here again. I will meet Goatman and Angelus from the Bemalforum next weekend and we will definitely have a lot of painting fun. Expect a huge coverage of that meeting with some of my best buddies. It is time to finish some more stuff for GD

I finished the Bonecrusher-base today and I am quite satisfied with it. It took me about 20 hours to build and paint the base, I have done all flowers myself. Tomorrow there will be a little tutorial about making unique flowers in 5 minutes.

Here is a picture of the finished base, now I need to finish the rat. Hope you like it.

Chris

Bonecrusher update #2

2011-06-05T13:50:00.000+02:00

I was motivated to build a base, so I did. Nothing special, the rat ogre is meant to be the focus.

Still much work to do, I will add a lot of different flowers and some animals.

Chris

"The road" music

2011-06-02T18:34:00.000+02:00

I watched "The road" just the other day and this movie just stunned me. It is sooo good. Here is one of my favourite songs from the soundtrack.

Chris

Tutorial: thinning down your paint

2011-06-01T20:59:00.000+02:00

Many people have asked me about my "way of painting". Well, in most cases I try to explain the most important things one has to take care of. However, I always point out that my tecnique is not THE technique, but one possible way you can go.

The first thing most beginners are not aware of is the importance of a good colour consistency in order to achieve a satisfying result. I painted with barely dilluted paint for many years because nobody taught me better. The result was very bad, blendings didn't work at all. Furthermore I emptied my GW pots very quickly because I used tons of paint (quite brainless - I know).

I took a picture of paint in different consistencies to show the actual difference I am talking about.

1. This paint consistency is GW - colour out of the pot. At this stage the paint is good for nothing. With nothing I mean absolutely nothing, not for painting, mixing and definitely not for basecoating with a brush. Don't do it, it will ruin your mini from the base. When you follow the brush stroke towards the right side of the picture, you can see how grainy the paint is at this stage.

2. Here you can see the same colour (Midnight Blue) thinned down 1:1 with water. The brush stroke is even and there are no grainy spots visible. The paint is thin enough to show a slight blending towards the right side. This consistency is ok to paint the basic colour on top of your basecoat. In order to not flood the mini with paint, you should always wipe your brush before touching the miniature.

3. This is the paint consistency I use most of the time (about 5:1 mix with water). It is too thin to use it as basecoat but it's just perfect for me to paint clean blendings very quickly. Note that stage 3 is not suitable for beginners as you need quite some experience to control your paint.

4. This is the consistency I recommend most beginners to get a decent blending (10:1 mix with water). It takes quite some time and many brush strokes to see any progress but you can hardly do any mistakes. Don't forget to wipe your brush before applying your paint, the tip of the brush should feel almost dry. I used this consistency for about 3 years before I went up to stage 3.

5. This consistency is not suited to paint blendings any longer. As you can hardly see the paint, it would take ages to recognize a blending. However, this is the perfect mix (about 20:1 with water) to paint glazes. By using glazes you can change the impression of the colour underneath.

Hope this helps.

Chris

Tutorial: painting rust

2011-05-28T13:03:00.000+02:00

The user "Darkspawn" from the "Bemalforum" did a great tutorial about painting rust using different tecniques. The article is in German but the pictures are quite helpful.

Link to the rust tutorial

Chris

Games Day France 2011 link collection

2011-05-22T18:23:00.012+02:00

I have not been at this event myself but I try to collect all information and links to galleries here.

Slayer Sword winner: Remy Tremblay

Galleries:

http://www.wolferine-figurines.fr/galeries/25

http://pierrematsas.blogspot.com/2011/05/games-day-2011.html

http://www.warhammer-forum.com/

https://picasaweb.google.com/Thom.Fritz/GamesDay2011

http://minicreateurs.com/

http://www.warhammer-forum.com/

http://haekel.free.fr/

http://fullrepent.fr/

http://remytremblay.sculpture.over-blog.com/#

http://volomir.blogspot.com/2011/05/golden-demon-france-2011-first.html

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?categoryId=&pIndex=0&aId=16700016a&multiPageMode=true&start=1&_requestid=36595

Winners:
(found the list here)

Young Blood
Or Ouriel Zeboulon
Argent Louis Post
Bronze ?

Indiv. Battle
Or Bruno Lavallée
Argent Ben Komets
Bronze Cédric Lurkin

Indiv. 40k
Or Martin Grandbarbe
Argent Stefan Kochowski
Bronze David Waeselynck

SdA
Or Bruno Lavallée
Argent Olivier Brédy
Bronze Olivier Bouchet

Monstre/cavalier
Or Benoit Ménard
Argent Bruno Lavallée
Bronze Martin Grandbarbe

Machine de guerre/Véhicule
Or Stéphane N'Guyen
Argent Aliaume Chapelle
Bronze Vincent Bourrier

Régiment Battle
Or Sébastien Marchal
Argent Olivier Brédy
Bronze ?(avec un régiment de trolls)

Escouade 40k
Or Maxime Ducres*
Argent Vincent Clément
Bronze Xavier Payet

Diorama
Or Rémy Tremblay
Argent Mathieu Fontaine
Bronze Stefan Kochowski

Open
Or Christophe Bauer
Argent ? (avec un buste SM)
Bronze Olivier Brédy

BoS FW
Bruno Lavallée

Slayer sword
Rémy Tremblay

Will be updated soon.....

Chris

What happened?

2011-05-21T15:47:00.001+02:00

Wow, two weeks without an entry on the blog. What happened? First of all, I passed another very important exam and made a huuuge step towards being made a civil servant. This time was very hard, to downplay the whole situation. I felt like a Grey Knight lost in the warp, fighting 24/7 with no hope for return. However, in the end I found a way back and now I am almost done and utterly satisfied with the outcome. I slayed a monstruos demon (got an A) and now I can focus on something called "private life". Yehaa!!!!

Next week I will return to my painting desk and go on with the rat ogre. I can hardly wait for that moment....

Sorry for all of you waiting for a reply, I am an unworthy creature. :)

Tomorrow will be the french Games Day, the first european GD this year. I am very excited about that and will try to collect all links to galleries here.

Chris

Quote of the day

2011-05-05T15:46:00.000+02:00

Todays quote just perfectly sums up my week.

I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. Thomas Jefferson

Chris

Event coverage: Duke of Bavaria 2011

2011-05-01T12:52:00.000+02:00

Due to private reasons I could only go there on Friday and Saturday, so you get this coverage while the event is still running and the winners are not yet anounced. However, I can tell you that the monkey gang from Massive Voodoo did an excellent job and will take home a lot of trophies.

The overall impression of the weekend was great once again, all the helping hands in the background show great routine and the show just works perfectly fine. The number of entrys wasn't as high as last year, but what can you expect a few months before the world expo is taking place. The level of quality was very high, both in historical and fantasy painting.

The number of retailers at the show also went down a bit, but that is nothing to worry about, I think.

I was very happy to meet dozenz of hobby friends from the Bemalforum, some foreign painters such as Fabrizion Rusto and many guys from the organization team. I also was allowed to take part at the decision of the Best of Show miniatures and that really helped me to understand what a jury is looking at when it comes to close decisions. That was a great experience.

Here are some pictures to give you an impression of the weekend.

Chris

Appetizer for the upcoming weekend

2011-04-28T15:27:00.000+02:00

I packed a few minis for tomorrow and now I can hardly wait to get to Ingolstadt. The Duke of Bavaria will be THAT show for me this year, as I decided not to go to World Expo. I will be there tomorrow and on Saturday but not on Sunday. I intend to post a review of the event as soon as possible, maybe even one for Friday and one for Saturday.
As a little appetizer, I would like to show you a few pictures I took during the last years at this show. Just to give you an impression of the quality of the entrys. (2006-2010)

Chris

Bonecrusher Update #1

2011-04-27T14:35:00.000+02:00

There isn't that much time for painting at the moment, as I have to prepare for a further exam next week. Nevertheless I found some minutes to go on with the rat ogre. I have to say that I really really love Vallejo Model Air Colours, they are just perfect for my way of painting. I finished both feet, the loincloth and some bandages, more will follow. Slowly I understand how to use Airbrush to ease the work with the brush.
I am just thinking about a nice base, nothing too minimalist. Maybe the monkeys from Massive Voodoo have some more bricks for me. :)

Chris

"Quick, quick, scuttle fast...."

2011-04-26T12:45:00.000+02:00

I am reading this book at the moment, and I must say that it is a real pleasure. I love the way how Skaven are easily the strongest power in the old world but again and again mess it up because of their pure stupidity and ignorance. Awesome.....

... this motivated me to start another GW project, one of the rat ogres from the Island of Blood box. This will be my version of Tanquols upmost stupid companion Bonecrusher (the current one, not one of those killed by Gotrek, hihi). I decided for a rather unusual colour scheme, don't ask me why. The mini was basecoated with airbrush, I also gave the feet a slight blueish nuance and sprayed a little light from the top. This is the current state after about 5 hours of work. I had to rework some areas because I experiment with new colours. The metal parts will most likely not be done in NMM this time, I think this doesn't work with a miniature so tremendously stupid.

I am not sure if this will become a pure fun project or something for the Games Day in Cologne this year. We will see.

Chris

Phoenix Guard # 2

2011-04-23T12:40:00.001+02:00

Holiday time here in Bavaria, I took some days of the internet and focused on painting and finishing some projects. I am quite productive at the moment, what makes me really happy.
Some years ago I wanted to paint a unit of five Phoenix Guards. I stopped after painting 2 and 1/2 minis because the colour scheme and the repetitive areas on the minis became very boring. Last year I reworked one of the minis and entered it in the Open Category of the German Games Day, what brought me a silver demon. You can find a link to the mini here .
Some days ago, I decided to put the second finished miniature onto a base and finish it. This mini might go to this years German Games Day, but maybe it wont. We will see.....
Hope you like it, I will add a bit more light to the halberd. The snow is the Andrea stuff mixed with Vallejo white, PVA glue and a drop of water. I will add a bit of ice hanging down the base.

Chris

Quote of the day

2011-04-16T21:43:00.000+02:00

I have often regretted my speech, never my silence.

Publulius Syrus, ~ 100 BC

Chris

Sgt. Antarius - finished

2011-04-13T13:07:00.000+02:00

After several months, I finally finished my Space Marine (at least 99%). There is some blacklining to do, but that's nothing worth to mention. I am quite satisfied with the final result, although there are many minor mistakes. I will present this miniature at the Duke of Bavaria show and most likely at the German Games Day in August. Time to concentrate on the next project.

Chris

Roman Corner - update

2011-04-07T15:26:00.000+02:00

I tried to paint very old and worn marble on the next part of the column. I restricted myself to the colours I used for the ground as I am afraid the overall impression could become to colourful. I am still not sure about the right miniature for this base. Maybe no miniature at all, we will see...

Chris

Roman corner

2011-04-03T14:24:00.000+02:00

This is my first mini/base, where airbrush was included in the painting process. I did the transition from light to dark on the ground with airbrush and then started to paint the stone texture with a brush. All colours used are Vallejo Air Color. Sorry for the miserable picture quality. The mosaic was painted stone by stone with a small brush.

Chris

Airbrush and music

2011-03-31T18:17:00.000+02:00

I have spent the last two days with my new airbrush and after some hours of testing I have to admit that I LOVE IT. While Vallejo Model Color didn't work that fine, Vallejo Air just seem to be perfect (quite obvious, as it is a color done for airbrush ;) ). I have always been very critical towards miniatures painted with airbrush, and I was wrong. It isn't that easy to apply a blending onto a surface, you need to practice and practice and practice and.....

On the other hand, you can save many hours you needed for applying a basic color transition from light to shadow. Now I do the rough work with the airbrush and the really fun things like adding texture or changing nuances with the brush. Can't wait to learn.....

I am painting a Pegaso-base at the moment, I will show you some progress soon.

While driving home from work today, I suddenly thought of this song. I listened to it all afternoon as it motivates me. My neighbours must go crazy....

Chris

Just a quick reminder

2011-03-28T18:01:00.000+02:00

Only 32 days to go until the "Duke of Bavaria" in Ingolstadt takes place, time to give you a little update on the event. Here is a list of free painting-, sculpting or basing-workshops:

Saturday:

09.30 - 11.00: Raffaele Picca (creating bases)

11.15 - 12.45: Benedikt Wiedmann (painting flat-figures)

13.00 - 14.45: Stefan Niehues (sculpting figures)

15.00 - 16.45: Micheal Vollquartz (painting figures)

Sunday:

10.00 - 11.45: Konrad Schulte (creating bases - vegetation)

12.30. - 13.45: Karsten Pöpping (painting figures)

And this is the list of all retailers selling their products:

Scorpio Models; Hecker und Goros; Fredericus Rex; Pegaso Models; Thorsberg Miniatures; Jupiter Miniaturen; Modellbau v. Wingert; Konetzke Miniaturen; Offizin Honovere; Zinnfiguren Peter Evers; Miniatures Berlin; Der bunte Rock; Schilderdesign Rohmer; Kellerkind Miniaturen; Müritz Miniaturen; Monument; Masquerade Miniatures; Norsemen Miniatures; Schilling Zinnfiguren; Krannich Zinnfiguren; Chris Figurenshop; Heinrich Toonen - Zinnfiguren; PD-Models Dino; Tabletop Art; Jester Miniaturen

Chris

Airbrush

2011-03-22T21:12:00.000+01:00

I just took a closer look at my wallet, breathed heavily and sent away my order. I can't wait to test my new toy. This is it:

Evolution 2 in 1 Silverline

Chris

Gold NMM recipe

2011-03-21T17:58:00.000+01:00

I received some requests to post my recipe for gold NMM, so here we go. This will not be a step-by-step article because you can find tons of them on the internet. Instead I will describe which colours I use and how I apply them. Mind that my NMM style is usually not declared realistic, but rather kitsch and comic-style. If that is just what you are looking for, you might want to go on reading…

As I mentioned in the article about the correct basecoat, I try to start with a middle tone, what allows me to work towards the lights AND towards the shadows. Gold-NMM looks realistic, when you utilize large parts of the range of colours instead of just painting a transition from yellow to brown with two colours.

Light 4: Light 3 + Skull White (1:1)

Light 3: Light 2 + Skull White (3:1)

Light 2: Snakebite Leather + Golden Yellow (1:1)

Light 1: Snakebite Leather + Golden Yellow (3:1)

Middle tone: Snakebite Leather

Shadow 1: Snakebite Leather + Chaos Black (5:1) (dirty, greenish colour)

Shadow 2: Snakebite Leather + Chaos Black (3:1) (very dirty)

This is basically the colour recipe I always use as a base for Gold NMM. Depending on the mood a miniature is ment to transmit, I use different washes to alter the overall impression. Note, that there are only 2 different colour mixtures for the shades, but 4 to 5 mixtures for the lights. If you reduce the mixtures for the light you will proceed way faster but the result won’t be that convincing because your NMM will lack different nuances.

For the washes you can use any colour you like, most often I take purple to make the Gold a bit warmer. The opposite is possible as well….

Chris

Theories of painting - Light and shadow

2011-03-19T15:30:00.000+01:00

Historical background

Painting light was immaterial in the world of fantasy miniature painting for many years. When painters of historical miniatures got into fantasy figures, this technique started to spread like wildfire. For this reason, painting light is erroneously meant to be a modern technique. To find its origins, you have to eye classic paintings on canvas, like the ones of Rembrandt. So painting light is not a modern trend, but rather a rediscovery of a classic technique and its utilization on a new medium. This article will describe different sorts of light and show how one can easily paint light on a miniature without any prior knowledge.

Different sorts of light

Diffuse light

Regardless of whether one has the intention to paint a directed source of light, there is always more or less ambient light around a miniature. Due to this light, raised parts of a miniature are always painted brighter, while deepened areas are painted rather dark. This variance of light and shadow creates natural contrast and makes a miniature look realistic. Diffuse light is most often used unconsciously by lightening edgy parts of miniatures and shading immersions. A classic example for the perfected usage of diffuse light is the ‘Eavy Metal Team (Games Workshop).

Zenithal light

In contrast du diffuse light, zenithal light always has a certain, desired intention on a miniature and is used well-controlled. In most cases one will try to imitate natural light that is created by the sun, which hits the miniature from above. The exact direction of the light source is prescribed by the position of the miniature’s face and position of the torso. When a miniature looks to the right side, or when the body is turned to the right, the position of the light source is relocated, until it hits the most important part of the figure in an angle of 90 degrees. This will be the place with the highest light intensity, in most cases these parts are the shoulders, the face and parts of the torso. Depending on the position of other body parts, it might also be arms or legs. A purposeful use of light can control the eye of the beholder, as lighter parts always seem to be more interesting than dark areas. Being aware of this fact empowers a painter to control the viewing direction of the beholder, what can become quite a strong power. As this technique takes some effort, you find it most often on miniatures that are painted for contests, rather than on gaming miniatures.

When you have decided to paint a miniature by using zenithal lighting, you will soon start asking if there are any rules you have to obey. In fact, there are three of them…

Global colour gradient

When you look at a miniature as a whole, single details become secondary and can be disregarded. What remains is one of the most important rules for zenithal light: the upper part of the figure is lighter than the lower part. The face and the torso are in the majority of the cases the most interesting part the most interesting part of a miniature, so they must be lightened stronger than the remaining parts. Global colour gradient means to mentally reduce a miniature to a cylindrical geometric form and to apply a colour gradient from light (upper part) to dark (lower part).

Geometrical colour gradient

In order to paint geometrical colour gradients, you have to look more exactly at a figure. You still must reduce it to geometrical forms, so arms, legs and the torso are cylinders while the head is a ball. Rarely you will also have square or rectangular forms on a human miniature. Each part on its own now gets a colour gradient, while you still have to think about the global rule of light and darkness.

Detailed colour gradient

So what about the details? The third step you have to think about is the detailed colour gradient. This will be the most time-consuming task, even so it will have the smallest effect on the overall impression of the figure. Even the most tiny part now needs a colour gradient on its own, without forgetting the global and geometrical theory. When you do this properly, your miniature will “come to life”.

Theory and practice

Understanding these theories does not automatically mean that you know where lights and shadows have to be placed on a certain miniature. To ease the use of this technique, you can prime your figure in two layers of different colours. After priming the miniature with black colour, you use white spray coat to simulate the light. You should mind that a distance of less than 30 cm will cover the mini rather than apply a thin and transparent layer of colour. The white colour will only reach parts where you have light, will the darker areas show you shadows. With some practice, you won’t need this technique forever, as you learn to “read” the lights on a miniature by just taking a closer look.

Chris

Kaptin Badrukk

2011-03-17T20:05:00.001+01:00

As I needed a motivational boost to finally finish the Space Marine, I got into my car and went to the local GW store. I haven't been there for ages and instantly noticed that the prices for tin and paint are exorbitant. Nevertheless, I turned the store upside down and managed to find a nice "little" miniature, Kaptin Badrukk. I think this is the first Ork I have ever purchased and I can't wait to start painting, but first I HAVE to finish the Marine.

As I took a closer look at the mini, I thought it might be helpful to write a short review for people who think about buying this guy.

Unfortunately, the base hides most parts of the mini - for a reason...?

I was quite sceptical when I first saw the blister, because the 40mm base hides most parts of the mini. as I have had quite unpleasant surprises with minis packed this way, I expected the worst. All the more surprising was the exeptionless high quality of the cast. The body and the gigantic weapon come in one heavy piece and show great sculpting skills. The sheer amount of details is mind-blowing and will take me about a gazillion years to paint.

There are hardly any mold lines or bubbles visible, some layers of thinned Miliput should do a good job. The face, sword and banner pole come as separate parts and show a level of detail that I am only used from forgeworld casts.

Last but not least, a music video I came upon today. Amazing performance by a man who loves what he does.

Chris

Musical delight

2011-03-14T16:08:00.000+01:00

Enjoy...

Chris

Space Marine update # 7

2011-03-11T08:13:00.000+01:00

I finished the soulder pad yesterday at night, took me ages because I could not blend towards an edge but right to the middle of the curved surface. Let's go on with the backpack....

Chris

Black or White?

2011-03-10T15:30:00.000+01:00

Some years ago I wrote an article for the German White Dwarf about the importance of the correct primer. I have always used the GW primer, mainly because all other products I tested were a major disappointment. The article was not ment to discuss the advantages of different manufacturers, but the more important question of the right color.

Today I would like to summarize what I wrote at that time, without trying to convince anybody of anything. Let's start with a picture....

Both Marine shoulder pads were painted with two or three thin layers of Regal Blue. Far more imporant than the obvious difference is the further advance of painting. My technique of using very thin layers of paint to create soft blendings works very quickly when I want to create shadows, but takes "years" to lighten up certain areas on a miniature. It is quite obvious that the left shoulder pad would drive me mad and take hours, concerning this fact. The right shoulder pad, in contrast, is already painted in the lightest tone and mainly needs shading and a bit of softing out the blendings in the light area. This way, I can save a lot of time only by taking a white primer.

Chris

Space Marine update # 6

2011-03-10T13:54:00.000+01:00

I painted about 3 hours today and finally attached the left arm to the marine. I couldn't wait to see if the miniature gets more balanced with both arms visible. The fingers still need a bit more weathering, maybe I can finish this miniature this evening.

I am still not sure about some sort of pattern for the loincloth, mostly because I am afraid to ruin it. By the way, thanks a lot to the monkey brothers for their boost of motivation. ;)

Chris

Painting again

2011-03-09T09:56:00.000+01:00

As I came through some hard weeks at work, I could neither care for miniatures, nore for this blog. The amount of visitors here went down really badly, nevertheless I couldn't do anything against it. I have one week of holidays at the moment, this means a lot of relaxing time for myself. After two hard days of Anno 1404 (with the result of a vibrant metropole :) ), I found a bit of motivation for my beloved hobby of miniature painting. The Marine is starting to get a pain in the ass, mainly because of the repeating colours. My goal is to finish the left arm this week, that would leave only the backpack for the next weeks.

Furthermore I am seriously thinking about buying an airbrush station to do all the basecoating and zenital lights for me. That would leave more time for the really enjoyable things such as setting certain nuances into the right places etc. We will see......

Chris

Painting evening

2011-02-16T19:17:00.000+01:00

The last couple of days were really stressfull. Next week I have to show a demonstration lesson, I am close to finally become a teacher. As I made most of the preparations for that lessen, today is a painting evening. I opened my wip-box and came upon a miniature I prepared for painting about a year ago. I just basecoated it in white and am about to start. This is my victim for today, Latorres pirate. The sculpt is so full of character. I think I will go for a warm colour scheme and do a contrasting base. He will stand in the water up to his knees. Hope I don't ruin the water effect once again.

This is Latorres version of this awesome sculpt.

I will try to finish the face this evening, I hope I can succeed.

By the way, I did not forget my plans for the German Games Day, I just need a break from the marine at the moment.

Chris

Succeeding inspiration

2011-02-14T18:55:00.000+01:00

This can't have happened by coincidence. I showed you some fine art by Robert Griffing yesterday and some hours later a member of a german painting forum offered two awesome miniatures. I didn't hesitate and bought them instantly, can't wait to hold them in my hands.

This is the original artwork, that inspired the sculptor Michael Roberts:

"Only a matter of time."

And this are the miniatures I got for a really fair price:

As soon as the minis arrive, I will do a review.

Chris

The art of Robert Griffing

2011-02-13T17:23:00.000+01:00

I had a near-Chuck Norris experience, when I stumbled across some great paintings by a man called Robert Griffing. Seeing these pictures makes me speechless and filles my head with dozens of ideas. I wan't to share his art with you.

Chris

"Quote" of the day...

2011-02-11T17:08:00.000+01:00

"Chuck Norris talks about himself in the fourth person."

"Death once had a near-Chuck Norris experience."

"Chuck Norris doesn't pay attention - attention pays him."

Chris

My showcase

2011-02-08T16:31:00.000+01:00

Although my level of motivation is extremely high, I have to focus on more important things at the moment. Quite some things have to bee done at work, there is only little time to relax. Instead of complaining about this fact, I show you some pics of my showcase. I like to stand in front of it, pick out a miniature and think about the times when I painted it. As I don't do that many comissions, most of my stuff stays with me. I removed all trophys because the showcase is quite small, they have to stay in the basement for some time....

Here we go.

Chris

Always drink upstream from the herd.

2011-02-05T22:58:00.000+01:00

For some reason, I never posted pictures of this project on the internet. I painted this scene about 3 years ago, it was a quick paintjob without the intension to enter it in a contest. The face of the barkeeper is one of the best sculpts I have ever seen, so full of character. Hope you like it.....

Chris

Le roi est mort...

2011-02-03T15:19:00.000+01:00

I started a new project a couple of days ago, as I needed a little break from my Space Marine. This will most likely be my Fantasy Single entry for this years German Games Day. It is a very simple conversion from the old GW damsel. As soon as sanding and basecoating are finished, I will write a few words about the idea that came to my mind.

Chris

More music...

2011-01-31T19:45:00.000+01:00

Saw the trailer of "True Grit" and came upon this song...

Space Marine update #5

2011-01-27T20:30:00.000+01:00

Just a quick shot of the current state. I am quite happy with the result so far, yet I think about some sort of freehand for the loincloth. Sorry for the crappy picture....

Chris

Quote of the day

2011-01-27T14:20:00.000+01:00

My toughest fight was with my first wife.

Muhammad Ali

Space Marine update #4

2011-01-25T15:14:00.000+01:00

I painted quite some time the last days and the finishing line for the Marine is getting closer. Up next is the loincloth, the missing arm and the backpack. In fact, this miniature is so much fun that I am seriously thinking about doing a unit of 5 for the German GD. That would limit the number of total entrys to 2 -3.

I tried to differ the lights on the armour concerning the warmth. The upper part is rather warm, while the lower lights seem to be a bit more cold.

Chris

Time to say goodbye...

2011-01-24T16:23:00.002+01:00

A couple of days ago I meet one of my idols AND best friends, Sascha Buczek (Goatman). When I started to paint miniatures with more and more ambition, he became some sort of guide for me. I always adored his way of thinking miniatures and setting new limits without any effort. After talking at a German GD a couple of years ago, we stayed in contact and started to meet on a regular basis. Over the years he became a true friend of mine. In a few weeks Sascha will leave Germany and go to Swiss. Although I am very happy to see him finally live with his girlfriend, I am a little bit sad as well....
Time to say goodbye, I guess.

Here are some pics of the meeting, just to give you an idea:

I am ready to go, all I need is there...

Miniatures are belt up.

I am almost there....

There he is, the David Phelps of miniature painting in person, plotting his next big coup.

What will it be?

He started something historical...

Creative chaos, isn't it?

Future Slayer Sword winner, trust me!!!

Typical Goatman, took him "some minutes"...

Chris