The Miniature Realm

Painted Lara Kraft - Reaper Mousling

2011-05-31T18:39:00.001-05:00

Well, here's my version of Reaper's Lara Kraft Mousling.

Studio McVey - Beauty and the Bot

2011-05-26T22:33:00.000-05:00

Took silver at ReaperCon with this entry.

ReaperCon 2011 Update Coming Soon

2011-05-24T11:05:00.000-05:00

I'm still getting settled down after such a great convention. I attended some really awesome classes and will be posting about those later...also met some awesome people. I'll also post my competition entries. My goal for 2011 is to get more tutorials on the site and change the look a bit. More to come...

Reaper Con 2011 - 8 days and counting

2011-05-10T18:44:00.000-05:00

It's been really quiet at the Miniature Realm these past weeks because I've been diligently working away on my competition pieces for Reaper Con. I happened to go to their site today and had to share the awesome mouslings they'll be releasing at the con.

Monterey Jack

Asiago Jones

My personal favorite...Lara Kraft

Check out the Reaper site for more info

Reaper Con 2011 Admission Tickets On Sale

2011-03-17T19:05:00.001-05:00

Reaper Con 2011 will be held Thursday, May 19th through Sunday, May 22nd. Pre-registration is now open. They have a super cool poster this year...is that Sophie Croft???

*artwork property of Reaper Minis

New tutorials are on the way

2011-03-13T11:10:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I've been able to get anything new posted. Been busy getting some competition pieces ready for ReaperCon. I'll be posting photos soon. Time has been a bit fleeting for me lately. We lost the last of our furry kids two weeks ago. That was pretty upsetting for me. Not having kids of our own, we couldn't adjust to the empty house so now we have these little guys and let me tell you...they are keepin me busy. They're sleeping right now so I'm going to get some painting done and work on a new tutorial.

Stay tuned...

Genghis Con - Day 3

2011-02-20T21:50:00.000-06:00

Well this was the last day and I am wiped. Two more classes today, one with Liliana Troy on special effects. Great class. She makes it all look so effortless. I also had a freehand class with Torin Reed. It was great as well, definatly took away some great tricks.

All in all it was a great and educational 3 days...now to prepare for ReaperCon.

Genghis Con - Day two

2011-02-20T08:49:00.000-06:00

Attended some awesome classes by Michael Proctor. He is by far one of the best at basing and painting metallics.

I'm walking away from the competition with two first place ribbons and a trophy for best in the theme for the Bandito I posted recently.

Evil Alice 1st place

Goblin King - Silver

I couldn't get a very good picture of this guy. I think he looks much better in person.

Genghis Con (Day One)

2011-02-19T00:37:00.000-06:00

Today was day one for me at Genghis Con. It was a crazy day, my bags were searched at the airport. I guess they thought my bringing little pewter people on a plane was a terrorist threat. They actually took my carefully packed pieces out of my carry-on and ran them through the scanner. LOL Once in Denver, everything settled down. The classes I took today were a little below my current level (not trying to float my boat, just the facts). Don't get me wrong, they were good classes, just didn't bring anything new into my world. The best part of the classes for me was getting to meet other more advanced artists and learn from them through talking and asking questions. Everyone here, artists and attendees alike, have just been awesome to meet.

Now I'm off to bed...ready for day two.

Painted Reaper-Logo Sanchez, Bandto

2011-02-13T18:56:00.001-06:00

This is my entry for the Reaper Winter Painting Comp. I'll also be entering this one next weekend at Genghis Con.

Reaper Miniature Painting Contest Winter 2011

2011-02-03T18:47:00.001-06:00

Although this is a winter miniature painting contest, there is no actual theme.

Contest ends February 14th, 2011 at midnight and not a minute later. The staff will pick their favorite entries, then member of the forum will be able to vote on those favorites. The three lucky winners will receive Reaper gift certificates.
Prizes:
1st: $50 Gift Certificate
2nd: $25 Gift Certificate
3rd: $15 Gift Certificate

Visit the Reaper site for more details.

Ice Pallet Tutorial Update

2011-01-26T19:48:00.001-06:00

I added a bit more information from Yvonne to the Ice Pallet tutorial. I just realized today that she had additional notes that I had not added to the tutorial initially. You can see it here.

Miniature Basing Tutorial: Scavenger Step-by-Step

2011-01-20T19:58:00.001-06:00

A big THANK YOU to Jabberwocky for graciously allowing me to share his Scavenger Base Step-by-Step Tutorial on the Miniature Realm Basing Tutorials page. If you would like to see more of Jabberwocky's work, check him out on CMON.

I had gotten some positive comments on the basing for the Gentleman Scavenger and so I thought I would put together a small tutorial on the construction of the piece.

I began with the gate as that was the most interesting part of the base for me. I'll admit this is definitely not the quickest way to do it, but I couldn't find a prefabricated wrought iron gate that I liked. I did enjoy the process and it was a good learning experience for me.

Step 1: Supplies for the gate

I took some plastic tubing, watch gears and greenstuff for the bulk of the gate. The spikey bit was some GW Chaos sprue that I snipped to have just the very top.

Step 2: Gate Construction

I elected to make the gate just a bit larger than the model itself. I began with the outer structure of the gate. The tubing came in a pack of various sizes that were unlabeled, but measuring it came out to about 1mm in diameter. At this size, the plastic is still malleable enough to bend, yet will hold its shape. You could also gently heat the plastic to get it to bend to your liking. As it cools, it will hold its shape. The pieces were then glued with cyanoacrylate glue (or superglue as it is called here in the States). I then attached the spike to the top of the gate.

The smaller bars (about 0.5mm in diameter) were then carefully measured and cut to length. I tried space them equally moving toward the center of the structure. This part was especially fiddly and took some time and patience. The smaller bars were secured with superglue as well.

Once the bars were set in place, I took a couple of small watch gears (I got mine from a fine company called Skullcrafts) and laid them on top of each other to get a nice little pattern to set in the middle of the gate as a more elaborate decorative piece.

Finally, I rolled out some greenstuff and cut two small rectangles for the hinges and a thin piece rolled and curled for some additional decoration along the bottom of the gate. The broken lock was another small piece of plasticard.

Step 3: Column Construction

The center column was composed of a stack of cork cut in 2.5cm squares from standard cork sheets. The bricks on the bottom were small prefabricated ones that I glued to the bottom.

Once the core of the column was created, I added some thick plasticard to the top for the capstone and next took some spackle (thanks for the tip Boris!) and covered the cork. This was layer on a bit thick and smoothed initially just with my fingers. Once it had dried, I sanded it gently and then carved in the irregular brickwork and did some initial chipping of some of the corners.

Step 4: Wall Construction

The wall itself was again created from a center tile of cork. I glued two pieces of prefabricated plastic on either side. Spackle and carving would have been an option as well, but in the interest of time, I chose the prefabricated plastic and cut it to size.

The next step was to add the stucco, which was derived from gray texture paste, a product made by the Skullcrafts company. Vallejo makes a similar material--white pumice that I have used for the same effect in the past. I thinly layered it on and then once it dried picked and peeled off bits to reveal the stonework underneath. The material is quite versatile and I also used it for the asphalt on the base. I finished up with the capstones that were made from the same plasticard as the column and were cut to size. Finally, I pinned the wall with 3 paperclips to securely fasten the wall to the column.

Step 5: Concrete and asphalt construction

The concrete was simply done with thin plasticard cut to size and then carved with my metal putty tool to create the seams in the sidewalk as well as the deeper cracking. The asphalt, as mentioned above, was created from a layer of gray texture paste. The curb itself was modeled from standard Milliput. I chose this medium instead of greenstuff so that I could sand and carve it more easily to achieve the curved effect of the curb.

Step 6: Details, details, details...

For me this was the most difficult part. I am a bit of a perfectionist and have difficulty in creating asymmetry and randomness; I like things to be equal and symmetric. Nevertheless, I tried to achieve this using several other materials at my station. The fine bits of broken brick/stucco at the base of the wall as well as the small rocky chips around the concrete holes was done with fine ballast. The wooden planks were wooden stir sticks from Starbucks. The grass was, of course, static grass. Finally, I added the trash can and bottles to round out the base.

Step 7: Putting it all together

I added the Gentleman Scavenger last once the entire basework was completed.

Blending Tutorial: Part Two by Yvonne

2011-01-17T21:33:00.008-06:00

(This is another tutorial graciously provided by Vhaidra. For part one see Miniature Painting Tutorial: Blending Part 1). This second installment of her blending tutorial offers ddeo instruction)

Introduction: This is the continuation of the first part of my Blending Tutorial which describes some general basics: Link zu teil 1

Special Thanks to my good old friend Darkstar who helped me out of this "english disaster" because he checked out the text and corrected faults and made it all sound a bit more natural. Many, many thanks for that.

This part includes my very first painting deos so excuse the very bad quality. The quality is good enough for getting at least an idea of what is going on there but not much more. I will try to improve this and if it works I will post some better videos in addition here, sooner or later.

I will go on to talk about mixing paints and how to turn all the knowledge of part 1 into practice. In part 1 I started with a simple transition, because these kinds of transitions are the easiest ones. Easy/Simple means: The same color is changed from a very dark version (shadow), over a midtone to a very bright version (highlights). In other words: Shadow is a very dark blue (dark blue mixed with a bit black), midtone is a medium blue (dark blue mixed with a bit white) and highlights are light blue (dark blue mixed with more white).

If you mix all those colors in the right order (as stage less as it is possible with 7 tones depending on the depth you wish) on your palette without hard interruptions between tones and you have the whole palette right in front of you, then you can apply all the colors directly in the right order on the miniature and you already have a first rough blending like you see on your palette.

Elementary for success is that the 5 tones (for beginners, not so much depth) or 7 tones (for advanced painter, much depth) are mixed as well as possible. If there is an interruption in tone on your palette there will be the same interruption for sure at the painted transition on the miniature. The better you mix your paints, the better the first sketch of your basic transition will be.

Mixing paints in action:

One fact we may not forget when it comes to mixing paints is the dominance of the dark colors. If you want to darken a bright color, just mix in very carefully a small amount of a dark color. As an example I show how to mix a simple blue transition:

Video Mixing Paints

The way I paint starts with thicker paints like I mixed them in the video. If the consistency of the paint is right (means: Creamy), then wet blending is easier because the paints need a bit more time for getting dry than they would need in a thinner consistency.

Video Wet Blending

On smaller surfaces like we find on miniatures, the wet blending technique doesn`t work exactly like you see it in the video here. For smaller surfaces the brush needs to be wiped over a kitchen towel in front of you. Because if you don`t wipe the brush over the kitchen towel, you would have way too much paint on your brush. Details about wet blending will be described in the 3rd Part of the Blending Tutorial where I only will talk about wet blending. All who are not able to do wet blending (yet) because they are not fast and sure enough, have another possibility to paint the basic transition. In practice it works in the same way as I have shown at the wet blending video (paint one tone after another) but the paint has to be thinner. It should be only half as thick as the paint I used for wet blending. Maybe even thinner.

The reason for that is: If you used the paints as thick as I use them for wet blending, you would apply the paint slowly so that it dries and the paint wouldn`t blend into the previously applied thick paint, then some ugly interruptions would appear at your transition unless you change the consistency (by dilution).

For the slow painters and the beginners: Apply the paint medium diluted, meaning: Not as thick as I use it for wet blending but also not as thin as you use it for a glaze or a wash, but something in between. Consistency should be like thick milk or thin cream. There is no certain consistency. You only have to know: The thinner the paints - the less interruptions at the transition, but also less opacity and more layers are necessary for getting good depth. The thicker the paints - the faster opacity and depth, but also harder interruptions at the transition, at least if you use thick paints for layering and not for wet blending. For wet blending thick paints work fine. I have written a lot about consistency in part 1 of the blending tutorial.

The way for painters who are not able to do wet blending (yet) is to look for the best compromise of getting quick depth and acceptable results without too harsh of blends between tones.

With Wet Blending:

When I finished my basic transition, which is done after 3-5 layers of wet blending, then I start to work it out. 3-5 Layers means: I wait until the first layer is dried and then I apply the next all over the whole area, which means I paint the whole transition again over the first and cover it completely with the new layer. The more often one does this the more depth can be reached and the transition will become more and more even and opaque. While I am doing this (applying my layers again and again) I work also on the highlighting and even change it sometimes. Meaning: I place it a bit differently or correct it when I do the next layer.

Without Wet Blending:

All this also works without wet blending too if you use a thinner consistency but it takes much more time. If you use thinner paints you do the same: You put on layer over layer, highlights over highlights, midtones over midtones, shadows over shadows. I`m also working crossover and overlapping, meaning: I place midtones over shadows to lighten them up again a bit or I use the midtones to darken the highlights or I use the shadow color to darken the midtones and so on. In this way you can work out the depth and the highlighting more and more with each new layer. Your eye and artistic sense should tell you where to place which color and how much of it.

When you think it is enough and when you are satisfied with the depth of the blending and also with your highlighting then you can start to work out the transition, but then with much thinner paints. You can place them as transparent filters between two tones to paint a connection. With each additional layer the depth becomes deeper and the transition becomes smoother and smoother. That is the reason why high-end level miniatures need so much time to be painted. There are a lot of thicker, medium and very thin layers necessary to work out the depth and the smoothness of the transition/blending. So you can spend a lot of time in endless blending sessions to get the best result.

So wet blending is really a great way to speed up the process, but a painter needs maximum brush control to master this technique and so beginners often fail when they try to do wet blending. But please if you are beginner try this way of painting, because it works easier with 7, respectively 3-5 tones (I will explain why in the 3rd part of the blending tutorial), because you don`t have to blend 2 extremes (very light and very dark color) on the miniature (like wet blending normally works) into each other for a smooth transition. No matter how you build up your basic transition, by wet blending or with thinner layers. Here you can see how I proceed:

Video Smooth Out Blending

To work out the blending:

Something you have to keep in mind while you build up the basic transition is:

- Start with the thickest possible consistency (for quick depth). If you use the wet blending technique you can use very thick paints but for layering or putting the tones beside each other you need to use a medium consistency.

- Go on with medium to thin consistency to get the transition a bit smoother than before. Consistency should be like thick milk or thin cream.

- Then use a thinner consistency like you would use for a glaze or a wash. It should be transparent and well saturated but very liquid (like water).

- For the very final touches you can even thin the paint a bit more but I wouldn`t recommend to thin the paints more because after this there only comes a consistency which is like slightly colored water and that is to thin, it will only look glossy when applied. It is better to use more tones than to thin down the paints so extremely.

The right order is from thick over medium to thin and thinner. This way you will get a smooth Blending. Nevertheless, it is a good idea to use thicker paints too while you work out the transition because it is great for quickly covering mistakes or if you want to darken or lighten up a certain area more quickly and/or to build up your blending again. For example:

Working out and the dominance of dark colors:

Some very important information which may not be missed here and all success is depending on it. How I already described at Part 1: The dark colors are dominant over light colors. So if you thin down a very dark and a very bright color to the same consistency, you will have to apply the light color approximately 5 times more for getting the same opacity as the dark color has with just one layer.

This means:

- Either you use the light colors in thicker consistency than the darker ones (but then please pay attention to the midtones because of the danger of interruptions). I often use the first two highlighting colors in thicker consistency, the lightest midtone slightly thinner and the shadow colors are very diluted (transparent).

- Or you paint a lot more layers with thin light paint than layers with dark paint which means: Care much more about highlighting than shading. If you don`t care about this advice it will be very hard, tedious and nearly impossible to reach really good depth in the transition.

Common mistakes:

- Missing Midtones: You don`t keep in mind the dominance of dark colors and you tend to shade too much. What happens then is that the midtones become too dark and the connection to the highlights gets lost. An interruption at the transition appears, chalky highlights, and curved details don't look round but flat, because all the midtones which make a curved surface look curved/round are missing.

Solution: Thin your shading color more, use a brighter shadow color or a dark midtone and work out consistently the midtones again and again after shading.

- Chalky Highlights: They appear if the connection from the highlights to the light midtones is missing.

Solution: Mix your paints better or mix up an additional midtone between the both highlighting colours.

- Paint doesn`t stick anymore: This happens if you paint too many layers of very diluted paints. The surface gets polished because of the consistency (like water) and then the new layer doesn`t stick and the paint slides off.

Solution: Sounds hard but either you give up or you paint a new layer with a bit thicker paints (but still slightly transparent because you don`t want to damage your already painted blending entirely) and then you can work out again the transition on the new layer of paint because the new layer of thicker paints will be a bit roughened so that the paint will stick on it again. But don't overdo it; stop when just enough of the very thin paint has been applied.

-Paint is out of control: This is a common mistake among beginners. It is because they don`t know just how little paint is needed for miniature painting. The result of too much paint is: Stains, stripes and paint that flows everywhere but not where you want it and it damages already nicely painted areas.

Solution: Just use less paint. Wipe the brush all the time over a kitchen towel. If you use a brush size 0, you may need to wipe it 3 times over the kitchen towel before you put the brush to the mini. Everybody has to find out through practice by themselves how often it is necessary to wipe the brush over the kitchen towel because it is also an individual preference. One thing is for sure: It's absolutely necessary to wipe the excess paint off of the brush with every new application of paint. Best thing for a beginner is to learn this right from the beginning.

-Paints dry too fast (during wet blending): There are moments when it seems that the paint dries in split seconds.

Solution: Maybe it is too hot inside the room where you are working or the humidity of the room is too low or you have to try another consistency. Try a thicker or thinner consistency. In the meantime I`m able to do wet blending with each consistency even with glazes. This means: It is possible to do wet blending with each consistency, but there are 3 consistencies which work exceptionally well and each of these 3 can be described as: thick.

- Generally: It is not necessary to use a drying retarder for successful wet blending. I say this in advance because I suppose that the question concerning drying retarder will arise. I only use pure acrylics and apply them as simply as you can see in the video. This works because of the consistency and the amount of paint and it is as easy as how it looks because you have your paint already well mixed on your palette. That`s the whole the secret. No additives and no drying retarder.

- Personal experiences: Once I tried a drying retarder, but wet blending didn`t work with the retarder. I think the retarder makes the paints like gel and I find them hard to control then, but maybe it was because the retarder I used wasn`t the best, I don`t know. But the wet blending technique immediately worked when Jarhead showed me at his workshop and he didn`t use retarder.

- The depth becomes less when you smooth out the blending: Oh well that just happens. If you smooth out the blending and try to make the tones more and more similar, mostly the shadow and midtone areas becomes larger and the highlights become darker and darker while trying to get all the tones connected to each other without interruptions. This happens as a matter of course. Often the painter doesn`t recognize it while painting, but when paints dry you will see that the transition has lost depth.

Solution: Either you paint more depth into your basic blending until you think that you have reached maximum depth in your basic blending or you just add more layers of diluted paints to work out the light tones again.

- Perfectionism: A disease I am suffering from very badly and this point is among the "common mistakes" because many painters suffer from it. You can spend a lot of time trying to get a blending smoother and smoother during a lot of hours of tedious work just to think: "Oh well, 3 hours ago it didn't look much worse." I just want to say: One can carry perfectionism to excess. Other things like atmosphere, base work, creativity, a nice theme, a message and especially a lot of fun are at least just as important as perfectly smooth blending.

There is a certain moment when the blending is done, when it is finished according to the current skills of the painter. The painter should recognize this moment and declare the blending as finished although it doesn`t look perfect yet.

Miniature painter`s skills develop slowly by experience and practice. You shouldn`t rush something but wait patiently for your own development. Your blending technique will become better and better by itself. If you force yourself too much, you will lose joy in painting and then painting will lose sense. Be hard working (but not too hard), be willing to learn, take critique but don`t be too stubborn and take your time for your own development. This is the most comfortable and promising way.

To be relaxed is essential for miniature painting. Creativity only comes to a relaxed mind and the brush seems to move by itself if you are in a good and relaxed mood. In this state of mind also learning is much easier and you will make better progress then. I also want to especially mention the value of honest, constructive critique which you should face as relaxed as you should be for painting. Our critics are our best teacher because they tell us where we can still develop.

Solution: Stretch things a bit ;-)

Zombie Horde Miniatures (for my personal game)

2011-01-15T16:47:00.000-06:00

I had a hard time deciding to post these on the site. They were painted over a span of two days to get them ready for my game tomorrow and the quality is definately not the best. I'd rather paint at a higher level but time just didn't allow it this time. In the end, I decided that they are such a fun group I would go ahead and share them with everyone. Sorry the pics aren't the best, but I really didn't want to take the time to photo each one. Oh, and before anyone asks...I don't know who the manufacturer is. They were given to me as a gift last year and I didn't keep the packaging. 8 ( Now, on to paint the kids. Mwahahahaha

Zombie Children - Mwahahaha

2011-01-07T22:26:00.000-06:00

Just ordered these little guys and gals from Studio Miniatures. They have a great line of zombie figs and I will thoroughly enjoy tormenting my players with them. My next purchase will be the doctors and patients.

Reaper Piers Young Mage: New Miniature in the Gallery

2011-01-04T18:06:00.001-06:00

Painted this one for a mini exchange on the Reaper Boards. A lot of fun to paint, I hope the recipient enjoys it. (Update 01/20/11: Piers was chosen for a place in the Wamp Portal Issue 6 gallery.)

Miniature Scenic Basing Material Supplier

2010-12-28T11:59:00.001-06:00

If you've never heard of Skullcrafts it's about time you checked them out. I happened upon their site while searching for Birch tree seeds to use as groung scatter. It is one of the best sites I've found offering a pretty compresive product line of scenic basing materials AND at reasonable prices.

They offer individual items such as Birch seeds, cork, ballast, various grasses and ground covers; but they also offer these items in themed kits (i.e. winter, steampunk, and fantasy basing materials). I purchased the Winter basing kit and have been very happy with what I received. According to their site, they have recently changed their kits to include even more basing materials allowing their customers to the get the most bang for their buck. I purchased my kit before this change but I can easily see getting a couple dozen 24mm bases completed with what I received. They are deffinately a company I will buy from again.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T17:12:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas everyone! I've been sidetracked with getting some pieces painted for competition but I will be getting more tutorials posted over the New Year's holiday. Thank goodness for some time off of work; I can really use it to get my comp pieces done so I can start working on some stuff just for the fun of it. Now...what to spend my Christmas money on???

Miniature Review - Fenris Games

2010-12-12T22:24:00.003-06:00

5 Stars

Company Info: Fenris Games is a UK based company specializing in premade miniature bases and other modeling supplies. The company is operated by two brothers, Ian and Jo Brumby, who boast a combined 30 years of industry experience. Recently they have expanded the company’s product line into miniature figures and have plans for an entire line of realistic modern/sci-fi characters for use as characters in roleplaying games.

Product Info: From dungeon to sci-fi, Fenris offers a large range of bases to choose from. Bases are made from resin and miniatures are made of metal. Products are supplied unpainted, however they do provide custom built scenery. The majority of bases are finished with a curved lip so that a standard plastic base is not required. A small range of base inserts is also offered. Base size ranges from 20mm to 60mm and are offered in sets. Average cost is approximately $5.53 US or 3.50 GBP. At this time, the majority of their products are available in the Fenris store on eBay, however they also have a small amount of products available on their website as they move their store from eBay.

Review: Always quick to ship and respond to questions, I have been more than pleased with the quality of products and service provided by Fenris Games. Slight sanding is necessary to get a smooth finish on the resin bases, otherwise very little prep work is necessary before priming. Due to the base being resin it is very light weight and easy to work with. In my opinion, if you are looking for a quick and easy base to give your miniature extra oomph, Fenris is a great place to look for high quality low cost scenic bases.

Astronomican Contest 2010/2011

2010-12-09T22:07:00.001-06:00

(Details originally posted on Astronomican)

The theme of the Astronomican Winter Contest is: ‘Unsung Heroes’

Who or what is an ‘unsung hero’?’ That’s totally up to you. It could be the lone Cadian Guardsman who gives his life, so that his brothers have the time to muster a counter-attack. How about the pilot of an Imperial Navy fighter who refuses to take to the skies or a Dark Elf Assassin who finds himself trapped within the walls of Altdorf. We are sure you will agree that the options are nigh on limitless. It is your job to portray the unsung hero through the medium of fiction, conversion or painting – whatever you feel the best option is for your skill-set.

There are 3 separate categories within the Astronomican Winter Contest, which are as follows:+
(1) Fiction
(2) Conversions and Modelling
(3) Painting
Each category will be split in to 2 separate skill levels, being ‘acolyte’ and ‘master’.

Contest ends 23:59:59 (GMT) on Monday 28th February 2011. Visit the Astronomican site for more information.

Miniature Basing Tutorial - Making a Dead Tree

2010-12-09T22:00:00.002-06:00

What not to do: In the photos you will see a white film covering parts of the armature. This was from my first attempt at creating the tree. The white film is styrofoam putty. It is what I had on hand at the time, but I quickly learned that it does not stick well to the metal armature and is extremely flaky and unstable. I started over with much more successful results after scraping off the styrofoam.

Items Needed:
20 gauge wire
Wood putty
2 sets of pliers (or 1 plier and a vice)
Tools for applying putty

Making the Roots:
Cut 15-16 pieces of wire approximately 6" in length. (Add more or less wire for the desired thickness of trunk).

Taking two or three pieces at a time, twist wire together at one end. Twist approximately 1/2" of wire from the end. Do not try to twist ALL pieces together at once, there are too many pieces to manage easily. It is best to work with them in smaller numbers building from the roots up.

Making the Trunk:
Once all roots have been twisted, it is time to make the trunk. This step will require two sets of pliers. Gather all the root pieces made in the previous step. Hold pieces together firmly with pliers approximately 1" from the end. With the other set of pliers begin twisting 1/2" from the tip of the roots. Once the trunk is securely twisted at the roots, bend the roots outward. Continue twisting up approximately 2" to create the trunk whiling leaving approximately 2" not twisted for creating the limbs.

Making the Limbs:
Making the limbs is similar to making the roots. Take the wire, two or three strands at a time, and twist. Leave approximately 1/2" untwisted at the end. This will make the tips of the limbs.

Adding Bark:
Apply wood putty. Make sure it is very thin toward the tips of the limbs.

TIP: If the putty is too dry it will not stick to the wire frame. If this happens, moisten the putty with a small bit of water to make application easier.

Wood putty dries relatively quickly, 15 min or so depending on thickness. Once the putty is dry it can be sanded and/or sculpted. Once dry, take a sharp tool and scratch shallow grooves to create the appearance of bark.

The only thing left is to prime and paint. Happy painting!

Chick Challenge Entry

2010-12-08T18:59:00.000-06:00

Well, here is my entry for the Chick Challenge - a ton of fun to paint.

Bored again

2010-12-07T20:58:00.000-06:00

I've mentioned before that I get bored easily so I find myself looking for a new blog template. Just mentioning this so that if you see crazy things going on with the site it's because I'm trying to figure out how to get the html to do what I want. Just bear with me and I'll settle on something I promise...sort of.

Suppliers of Miniature Basing Products

2010-12-04T09:14:00.003-06:00

Disclaimer: The following list is provided for information purposes only. We assume no liability for products purchased through any of these suppliers.

This list will be updated as I find additional suppliers.
Tip: When purchasing scale items for basing scenery, 'O' scale is the best scale for standard 28 mm figures.

ArmorCast: Terrain and accessories.
CMON: Sells bases from Dark Age, Enigma, Micro Art Studio, Scibor Monstrous Miniatures, and Wyrd.
Discount Trains Online: Provides buildings, structures, and scenic accessories from multiple manufacturers.
Dragon Forge: The site of Jeff Wilhelm, supplier of scenic bases, resin plinths, conversion parts, sculpting and modeling supplies, and diorama and terrain sets.
Epicast: Offers miniature bases from cobblestone to industrial.
Fantascene: Home of terrain and scenery made from rigid urethane or strong casting resin for 25 - 30 mm wargames and role-playing games.
Fenris Games (Ebay Store): Supplier of many different styles of bases and scenery.
Forgecraft Games: Provides various types of bases from steapunk to ruins.
FRP Games: An all inclusive site offering access to terrian including scenery, building, and bases.
Micro Art Studio: Resin and foam terrian, this site also offers accessories such as street lamps.
Micro-Mark: A source for hard-to-find mini tools and model building supplies.
miniNature: Landscaping materials focusing on differnet regions and countries
Scenic Express: Basing materials including grasses and flowers.
Secret Weapon: Secret Weapon miniatures produces high quality, pressure cast resin bases for wargaming models and miniatures as well as a full line of weathering pigments, conversion accessories and photo etched brass detailing bits.
Skullcraft: They offer individual items such as Birch seeds, cork, ballast, various grasses and ground covers; but they also offer these items in themed kits (i.e. winter, steampunk, and fantasy basing materials).
The War Store: A one-stop-shop providing access to basing products from many of the major manufacturers.
Woodland Scenics: Provider of landscaping scenery including groundcover and water effects (NOTE: Woodland Scenics water has a tendency to shrink when dry).