Wamp / Reaper Competition Entry – Part 2

Time now for the second instalment of the saga of my entry into the Wamp forum Reaper miniatures competition.

The observant among you will have noticed that the back shot of the ogre I posted last time was still showing it’s mould line. I’d like to say this was a deliberate act on my part but the truth is I missed the blooming thing.

However I've fixed it now, hopefully, and so I can now stumble forwards a bit more.

This ogre has a lot of exposed flesh so I thought its probably best to get that out of the way first. Up until very recently I’ve been using GW bronzed flesh, and GW Chestnut ink to try and get a realistic flesh tone. It isn’t the greatest system and those that know these things better than I, explained that chestnut ink is too orangey to work properly. So I had a go with a bottle of GW flesh wash that I had taken in as part of a miniature job lot. The results were worse and I was quickly advised never to use the stuff again.

So time for a change. Out went the bronzed flesh and flesh wash, and in came a Reaper msp fair skin triad and a bottle of their flesh wash.

 

 

Ok fair skin for an ogre is perhaps not the ideal, they spend their life outside being rough and tough after all. However I also wanted paints I could use for humans and demi-humans afterwards. Its also easier to go darker with a light paint than to get a dark one to go lighter.

I’ve now base coated the ogres skin areas with 09047 fair skin and am in the process of applying a couple of coats of the 09253 flesh wash over it to darken it down a bit. The flesh wash has proved to be rather user friendly in that its already pretty thin, and its doesn’t overpower the base flesh tone like the chestnut ink used too.  

 

As you can see the top bit of the ogre has received the flesh wash treatment and a bit of highlighting whilst the rest is just the basecoat flesh tone. Work is ongoing but the results are better than I’ve been able to produce before.

Painting tips

Two much better painters than I have been very kind and have posted some interesting tutorials on the MH forum.

First up is one on shaded metallic's by Jabberwocky.

Second is one on Zenithal priming by Gi6ers. It’s reply #6 on the thread so you’ll need to scroll down a little bit to reach it.

TTFN

Tim

Portal issue 27

Another excellent issue containing the second part of my interview with Brett Reavis, miniature reviews, competitions, competition results, lots of painted mins and some very interesting how too’s

Click the picture to download.

TTFN

Tim

DarkSword New Releases

A range of new DarkSword miniatures that are now listed and available to pre-order.

My Reaper and DarkSword orders will be placed on the evening of the 14th October, usually around 9pm. Please make sure your pre-orders are submitted before this to make sure they get added to the main orders.

My next Mirliton order will be placed on the 30th October 2012. This will be my last order with them before Christmas. So again if you want Mirliton products for Christmas, please order before the 30th.

Click the pic’s for more information.

Painted miniatures by Jessica Rich. ( Stunning aren’t they ! )

 

TTFN

Tim

Reaper releases for 22nd October 2012

http://www.reapermini.com/misc/distributionphotos/10-22-12.pdf

Also a couple of blogs you may well find interesting.

http://insosworld.blogspot.co.uk/

http://grymnoutthere.blogspot.co.uk/

Both by well known multi-forum dweller Inso. His visitor force is currently taking shape on Insosworld and is well worth a look.

TTFN

Tim

Reaper Miniatures Update

Reaper have released some new miniatures this week. I’ve also taken the time to review my listings and found they weren’t as complete as I thought they were.

All fixed now, and the miniatures are now in the shop and available to pre-order.

Also with a 3 week delay between the order being placed and it coming into stock, please remember to order early if you want items in time for Christmas. That goes for Mirliton stuff too.

As usual click on the pic for more information.

 

50283: Evie, Post-Apocalyptic Heroine (no picture at the moment)

TTFN

Tim

Wamp / Reaper Competition entry

Odd as it may seem, I can actually enter this as although I sell Reaper here in the UK, I’m not personally involved. All the difficult bits of organising and judging are down to Wamp forum.

This is also my first competition ever so I doubt I’m going to trouble the heavyweight painters very much. Still it does give me an incentive and a good reason to try out a miniature from their bones range. Despite selling these for a good few months now, I must confess as to not having had one out of the packet. I’m also not a plastic fan, as most people know. I got Old Lead Disease many years ago and I can’t see it ever changing. But times change, things progress, and I have to admit a certain curiosity about these new plastics.

First off, its more flexible than I thought it would be. It springs back into shape very quickly, and I can’t see the plastic show any signs of stress when you bend it. This is good because you can push bits out of the way a little to get to the more restrictive areas. However its also a pain because it means the plastic is softer.

The mould lines are small, but visible. Got to clean them off, but how. Metal files are designed for metals and on this stuff are next to useless. Cutting with hobby knives are a bit awkward too. Very easy to gouge the plastic.

What I found was your blade needs to be really sharp to be effective, and used with great care. I also discovered the plastic responds well to sanding. Strangely plastic and wood can be generally worked with the same tools, sandpaper being one of these. So after a little experimentation I made up this.

 

Its just a long thin sanding board made from a tapering piece of balsa wood with two different grades of sandpaper stuck either side. The red is a piece of P80 grit, and the grey a piece of P300 grit wet and dry. Being thin it gets into detailed areas and allows a greater degree of control. Combine it with a little liquid green stuff and the result is pretty good.

 

So here he is in all his primed ogre glory. I’ve covered up the face that is carved into his club as personally I though it looked too twee for an ogre. Sadly he’s not sticking too well to my painting base. I use plastercine as a non permanent adhesive which works well on metal and resin, but not great on bones plastic. Still its a minor thing and he’s not going to be needing his base for too much longer.

Reaper Paint Triads

I had an enquiry the other day about what do the Reaper MSP triads actually look like. It struck me as odd at first as of course I get to see them live. But on the site they’re just represented as three coloured discs. So here is a pic of what you actually get.

A three bottle blister pack containing the base shade, a darker shadow and a highlight all in one pack. Dropper bottles too which saves getting your brush loaded to the stock when you try to get paint out of a standard pot.

TTFN

Tim

News, Updates and a small Milestone

Well to start with the milestone, today I reached 250 newsletter subscribers!

A big thank you to all those that do subscribe. However I think its also a good time to point out that you can connect and keep up to date with Miniature-Heroes via social media too.

I’m on twitter here https://twitter.com/MiniatureHeroes

And on facebook too. Just search for Miniature-Heroes and like us. Well I think that’s how the blooming thing works anyway. Tell all your gaming friends too, the more likes the better.

Then there is the Official MH blog. This is linked to both twitter and facebook, and is where the link in the newsletter points you to. Its worth joining these extra outlets if you’re able as sometimes I post small updates that I often forget to include in the bigger shop powered newsletter.

And if all that wasn’t enough, there is the MH forum too.  http://forum.miniature-heroes.co.uk/index.php  This is linked to twitter and I try to tweet the more interesting posts. Do feel free to visit and read the posts on the forum though. There are some very talented posters and I’d be very happy for you to join in with the posting too.

Lastly there is the MH gallery It’s not a rating gallery like Wamp’s, just a display place to show off painted miniatures from the ranges I sell. It also hosts some of my own efforts, and those of others too. Plenty of room for more so if you have something you’re proud of let me know and I’ll post it up.

WAMP III

Not content with organising and running a Reaper painting contest, Wamp forum is also putting on its now annual end of year painting bash. Follow the link for all the details of the catagories and how to enter. I won’t be entering because being a prize sponsor I can’t. However that does mean more goodies being added to the already extensive prize pile.

The MH prizes are a little different to the main ones. Talent should be rewarded, and there are going to be some excellent heavyweight painters signing up for this. They can fight over the main prizes. I though thought it would be nice to give an incentive to the more amateur, and so came up with this. The MH random prize for the best new comer / amatuer per category. It takes the form of a £ 10 gift certificate which you can spend in the MH shop on what you like. I’m the judge for this, and its purely on what I think deserves it. As per the title you have to be new to the competition, and an amateur painter. Simple really, so get signed up and have a bash.

 

Lastly, some new oldies that are now in the shop. Click on the pictures for more information.

 

Remember, follow Miniature-Heroes on twitter,  facebook and blogger.

 

TTFN

Tim