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 

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

Talrashi - back to 'tiny' scale

With Grinder and Templar back on the WIP bench, I need to get back to 28mm scale for a while.
At this point I'm planning two 'tiny' projects, Talrashi from Red Box Games and Isabela from McVey's. 

On the photos below, first colour on girl's dress and 'family' photo with bigger uncle;]

Talrashi is a very very early WIP so far, so there is not much to say really. I just hope I still rememeber what to do with such a tiny minitatures;p
To be fair, size makes a difference;p

cheers

'eM

Euro Militaire 2012 - results

Well, not much to say really. This year I didn't even made a single cut.
I'm not gonna lie, I'm a bit dissapointed (everyone likes being appreciated), but on the other hand, to be perfectly honest with you... my works weren't the best there;p There is still lots for me to learn and practice, so I can only hope next year will be better.

But I didn't left Folkestone completely empty handed;]
I did proper shopping (list and photos soon) and had a chance to speak with few judges (big thanks guys for your patience:D), so I brought back really decent feedback:D
Thanks to that, Grinder and Templar are back on the workbench;] I'm not sure if I'll be able to make them winning pieces, but at least better looking ones:D

cheers

'eM

My EuroTrio;]

Here are my boys:D
Quick groupshot for now, but everyone should have a solo photoshoot closer to the next weekend.

cheers

'eM

Pegasus Project - Templar Knight, last touches

Almost there, still few little things need to be fixed, but I'd say I'm quite happy how he turned out. Especially after all stress and horror of yesterday;]

And what do you think?

cheers

'eM

Pegasus Project - little disaster in the process

Today I decided that it's the time to glue my Templar to the base, before adding mud, sweat and blood. But suddenly it turned out the cloak doesn't fit. And that was a surprise I must say. I did  try if it's fitting before glueing miniature together, but you know, it's rather hard to check it exactly if you have few heavy pieces in your hands.
So basically I had to file quite big chunks of the cloak and base, to make it happen. Not a funny thing to do, especially if the miniature is fully painted and only two days left for the competition;/
But I did it finally, and I lost only half of the day...
Anyway, that's how it looks now. Arrows, dirt and blood are still missing, but it will be there before Saturday's morning:D

 cheers

'eM

Pegasus Project - Templar Knight... still in a deep forest...

Not much to say really.
As you can see, base is more or less done. The same goes for leather and metal elements, face and bottom of the tunic (and shield, not included on the photos). Cloak and top of the tunic (mainly cross) still need lots of work.
And after that, when all will be shiny and smooth, I'm gonna go crazy with dirt and blood.

And at this point there is only 7,5 days left...
Not good, not good at all.

Textures - leather

This tutorial has been relocated to my main site, Minichix Studio.
Read the full article: Theory of painting realistic leather on miniatures.