Group photo

Not much to say to be honest.
Just a proof that I'm ready;]

cheers

'eM

Viking's base, phase two - painting

This tutorial has been moved to Minichix Studio.

You can read the full, updated version here:
Woodland Scenic Base - Painting.

Viking's base, phase one - building

This tutorial has been moved to Minichix Studio.

Read the full, updated version here:
Building a Woodland Scenic Base

Viking Chief finally finished!

Well, after almost a year or so, I can proudly present my second part of Pegasus Project finished.
And yet another mini moved from Hall of Shame to Hall of Fame:D

Cmon

pnp 

cheers

'eM

Pegasus Project - Viking finally assembled!

As you can see I managed to glue the bad boy together. Finally:D
The only thing still missing are wings, but I'm not convinced if I should use them in the first place.
I kinda like the feel they give to the miniature, but on the other hand they're not particularly historically correct, so.... I'm not sure what to do;p

The photos are quite crappy and done with camera flash, but as a simple proof, that I glued him together, they should do;]
Hopefully soon I should be able to show you some more progress on the cloak.

cheers

'eM

A bit more skin

Another quick update.

Some more work on Umruth's and Viking's skin is done.
I also managed to paint metal parts on Urmuth. I was hoping that they're done, but I need to work a bit more on the contrast and some colour niuances, judging by the photos in a day light.

 

cheers

'eM

Christmas means gifts;]

Gurka Le Rouge

 

(c) Leben Models

Well, I must say it was absolutely love from the first sight. And I wasn't disappointed when I opened the box.
Bust is really nicely sculpted, the cast has few small flaws, but nothing major. I'm probably gonna do a proper review later, but for now I can show you first pictures;]

He's huge, isn't he??:>
I have no idea what's the scale here, but he's clearly bigger than the viking (1:20). He's 105mm from the bottom to the top of his hat (70mm to the top of his head).

I seriously can't wait to take him under my brush. But first I need to finish at least Urmuth and Viking:D And buy bigger brushes I'd say:D

cheers

'eM

Templar nominated;]

This is quite unexpected but nonetheless very pleasant news:
My Templar  is nominated for the WAMP Awards 2012, as one of 5 miniatures in Best Painted Historical.
Full list of nominations in all categories you can find on this shortlist, and if you feel like voting for any of the categories check Wamp Award Voting.

I doubt (judging by the competition in this category) it will go any further than this, but I'm happy anyway. And I do feel appreciated here, so thanks for anyone who decided that he's worth it:D
And good luck for everyone taking part in the competition.

cheers

'eM 

Hall of Shame Part 4

Sadly I need to get back to the Hall of Shame and place few more miniatures here.

cheers

'eM

Templar Knight - inbox

Just to finish off with the Templar Knight, little review:


Not much to say, really. Let's let the pictures speak for themselves.
And if you want to read a bit more about the company and my opinion of it, check the more indepth review I did on Viking Chief a while back.
 
The Mini:

(c) Pegaso Models

Name: Templar Knight XII c.
Manufacturer: Pegaso Models
Product code: 90-053
Category: Crusaders
Sculptor: Andrea Jula

Material: White metal
Scale: 1:20 (90mm)

The box:

In the box:

Quality of the cast:
Great as always. And even there are some delicate mold lines, especially on the cloak, they're easy to get rid of. Just check every part carefully and everything should be ok:D


Assembly:
Again 21 parts, like with Viking, but this time it's seriously tricky. The miniature is very complex and in such a dynamic pose, so you need to plan very carefully which parts you're gonna glue together at the beginning and which later. From my experience I may say there is no one and easy answer.

I glued the body (torso, legs, collar and head), painted it more or less and then added lower part of the tunic painted (again more or less) inside. And added cloak (glued together) later. Arms and shield were added closer to the end.

Very important part is attaching the cloak. Because Templar stands on the stairs, and because the end the cloak basically lays on the steps, it's crucial that you glue it exactly how it supposed to be. Even slight mistake, a bit thicker layer of glue or maybe different angle can cause a huge problems. I didn't check if it fits right after attaching cloak, when the glue was still a bit wet and easier to remove, and ended up with a fully painted miniature that needed to be filed almost to the bone. I had to remove one fold of the cloak to make it fit into the steps. And trust me it's not something you'd like to experience:D You can read about it a bit more here.

Other Pegaso Models reviews:
Viking Chief
Iroquois


cheers

'eM

Pegasus Project - 'landscape after the battle'...

...and 3 days before the painting competition 'Masters of Imagination'...

There is really not much to say.
Mr Templar simply hates to fly, and as a form of protest he decided to break his sword, fall apart completely and lose some paint on top of that.

Because of the problems I had with the cloak and base (described few posts ago) I had no proper pins fixing him to the base. I'm guessing that's the main reason of the disaster. Normaly this kind of accident wouldn't be such a big deal, but away from my workbench, with only few basic paints, and without any pigments and special effects products it was quite a challenge to put him back together and prepare for a competition. And I'm really happy that I didn't give up, because he did very well, and now looks really nice in my Mum's cabinet (and the fact that sword is slightly bend is barely visible).

But I must say, I do hope that's the last accident of this sort that involve my miniatures.  I most definitely need to be more careful in the future.

cheers

'eM

Masters of Imagination 2012 results

Just a quick announcement:
My Templar Knight placed second (category 'Large model'), in the painting competition 'Masters of Imagination' which took place on 24th of November 2012 in Lublin, Poland.

Full list of winners can be seen here (for now in polish)

Beneath you can find a photo, as a proof that it really happened;p
The picture itself isn't very good (you know winters in Poland, lack of proper natural lighting is a pain, especially if you don't have a tripod with you:)), but should suffice as proof;]

I must say that I'm really happy with the result. Especially after all what happened to this miniature few weeks ago. Tomorrow I'll try to post photos I took 3 days before the competition, so you can judge by yourself how extremely brave and sesoned warrior Mr Templar is.

cheers

'eM

Templar Knight - 'final' photos

At this point my Templar is in Poland, Swidnik to be precise, in the box... in pieces (7 exactly).
I guess you could say, he didn't take the trip too good. Next time I'm home I'll do my best to glue him back together and fix the damages.
But there is no point of waiting with posting him on CMON, he won't look any better than a month ago;]
I don't think I'll have a chance to make any decent photos anymore, so I had to use last photos I made.

cmon

cheers

'eM

Viking Chief - review

I believe Pegaso Models needs no introduction to anyone in the hobby, at least if you're not die hard fan of GW and GW only. But even them should hear the name.
Pegaso is very well known for wide range of their desings and quality of casts. From what I've seen so far their quality control is impeccable. Of course all of it don't come for free and I must say, their models are quite pricey. But the price is the only downfall here.

Ok enough introduction, let's look at the miniature itself.

 (C) Pegaso Models

Name: Viking Chief
Manufacturer: Pegaso Models
Product Code: 90-049
Category: 05 Middle Ages VIII-XII Cen.
Sculptor: Andrea Jula (Looks like it's my favourite one here, 4 out of 5 of my Pegaso pieces were sculpted by him)
Scale: 1:20 (90mm)

The box:

As you can see on the picture below it was delivered by DHL in a plastic bag, but the box was secured by the layer of bubble wrap. The box itself is very thick and secured by Pegaso stickers to make sure noone was tempering with the pieces inside.

Inside the box:
And inside we can find two layers of very thick foam, some informational materials and pieces of the miniature (21 to be exact).

 On the last photo you can see the worst mold lines I could find:D Pretty impressive isn't it?

Assembly:
21 parts... sounds scary;] But surprisingly it's not. All parts fit together nicely and assembly is rather simple. All the additional pieces like a knife, sword and purse have little knobs that fit into the little recesses on the main body, to make sure they stay in the right place.

Very important information!

It has nothing to do with the quality of the cast or the way parts fit together, it's just about the sequence of joining them into one piece.
Glue first upper part of the torso with both parts of the cloak, and lower part of the torso with legs and then glue it together. I did a mistake and glued the body first and now I'll have to glue parts of the cloak separately, and I'm not really sure how it's gonna work out for me here. The only hope is that shield will cover all the nasty places;p

Overall opinion:
I can't find absolutely nothing wrong with the miniature. The cast is great, all parts fits nicely, painting is a pleasure (you can check previous post about Pegasus Project to find out how it goes), the subject is Viking! The only issue I have with assembly is clearly my mistake;]
Well, there is a price... that's true. I guess I wouldn't mind Pegaso lowering the prices a bit;p But on the other hand you can always wait till mini you want is in offer (it basically cuts the price to the netto value before promotion) or buy it during the show. That gives you a chance to check out the cast before buying, to make sure there is nothing wrong with it. Like I said QC in Pegaso is really great, but they're only humans:D


Other Pegaso Models reviews:
Templar Knight
Iroquois


cheers

'eM