Euromilitaire results.

What a lovely weekend it was!
I had really great time, seeing all my friends,  making some new ones... indulging in the hobby, seeing lots of awesome paintjobs and buying some of the amazing products avaliable during the show.
It's a real pitty that now we have to wait a whole year for next Euro... I know, I know, there are some other great shows later this year (MSS, Hussar, Bugle Call and maybe more), and early 2015, but sadly I won't be able to go there... so I'm waiting for yet another trip to Folkestone, and planing what should I paint;]
But let's talk about this year's show for a while longer.

First shopping.
I bought most of it on Saturday, so chronogically it should be first.
As you can see on the photo, I didn't buy much.

• Just few unique bases, I love buying them during shows, where you can see them from every angle and find best ones that suit my models. One of them will be used right away, for my Diablito, cute little guy sculpted by Roberto Chaudon.
• A beautiful bust of Aquila, Roman Legionary, made by Nut's Planet, scale 1/10, casted in resin. I've seen it recently around painted by many amazing painters and feel like I'd like to give it a go. Not much of a chance to do it completely different than others (you know, the uniform and all that) but I hope I can leave my mark on it anyway.
• Battle Chick, One of new releases from Nocturna Models, a beautiful girl from the line Necrospace. The mini is 75 mm tall (according to the producer's website), 1/28 scale, cast of course in resin. I think I'll be doing some small changes to her equipment, but othet than that, she's trully gorgeous.
• And a piece I had in my mind for few years alerady. A gorgeous Mermaid from Origen Art. Another resin cast in 1/28 scale. I feel the right time came to finaly buy her and paint. I can't wait to start with all the rust and weathered parts, and the mermaid itself of course.
• Two video tutorials from Painting Buddha, about freeehands and basing alchemy (first part earth). I have their first set of DVDs and can't wait to see those two. 

Entries, and badges.
This year I entered 4 pieces, all of them busts, one historical and 3 fantasy. Luckily enough all of them got a badge.

Sapo - Gold
Old Gnome and Leon - Bronze
Landsknecht - Commended
I'm more than happy about that, as it shows some consistency in my painting, at least I'd like to think it does. And I gathered some valuable feedback from judges, so there is a chance my painting will improove in the mentioned areas:D
Below you can see a solo photo of my golden boy, Sapo.

Photos from the show:
I tried to take as much photos as I could. But both, social side of the event and my unability to take decent photos during such a busy show, stood in the way;]
My photobucket gallery. and some found in internet:
FB gallery of Andrew Nai,
FB gallery of Pekka Tapani Nieminen,
Platoonbritannica thread,
Photos taken by Rob Pollock and presented at imodeler.com: Part1, 2, 3, and 4,
Photos taken by a fellow PB-er Theunrealisticartist,
Photos published on militarymodelling.com,
Some photos found on the very nice blog The curious way.


cheers
'eM

Painting buddha set - inbox, part one - Brad and Yanet

I'm still watching the DVDs, and I don't want to review it before I finish all 6 of them, so  today I'm gonna show you Brad and Yanet, two beautifully sculpted miniatures you can find in the set.


Minis:

(here is the photo of both pieces painted for the DVD,
left one painted by Ben Komets, right one, by Rafael Garcia Marin)

Name: Brad and Yanet
Scale: 1:32 (54mm)
Material: resin


The box in the box:

Inside the big black box you can find, among other things, small metal box containing mentioned earlier miniatures. It is a really nice touch, telling you how much attention and care went into preparing the whole set. When you think about that, minis could be simply protected by the bubbly bag or just a plastic bag. The box is purely to spoil us, I guess:D


In the shiny box:

In the metal box, between two layers of foam, we can find multiple parts of resin. Once again, pretty good protection. Even rough treatment during the delivery shouldn't damage thin and fragile parts.

 

 

 

Quality of the cast:

Below you can find a close up portrait of our couple. As you can see there are some mould lines, but in the non crucial places, so they should be easy to remove, if you'll be carefull and patient enough. The most important part, at least for me, is that all the details are crisp and clear.

A bit more work, even if easier, will be with the base, to secure it properly to the plinth, you'll have to remove all the extra resin on the sides. Other than that though, the cast of the elements for the base, is perfect and very detalied.

Assembly:
Looks pretty easy. Miniatures are casted almost as single pieces.The only tricky part, at least for me, will be drilling holes in he wrists and hands to pin them. Assembly of the base, on the other hand, will be pretty straightforward. Nothing should go wrong here;]


Overall opinion:
Beautiful couple. Really nicely casted and packed/presented with lots of care. It's even more imperssive when you remember it's just miniatures added to the painting DVD. I doubt any other company would take so much care and effort to prepare them.
And I'm pretty sure they would sell very well on their own, as a separate kit.

Who doesn't like gifts?

Like the title says... who doesn't like gifts?? Most certainly not me;] I love receiving them, especially if they're unexpected. And today I received one:D

2 lovely parcels from Painting Buddha, containing:

• DVD set (containing 6 DVDs, some leaflets, few badges, and even fridge magnet),
• T-shirt (my size:P),
• Angron (signed by Simon Egan),
• another metal box with 'Brad & Yanet'

I completely forgot about the giveaway I won on masterminis a while ago, so the parcels were a really nice surpise for me. And I must say... it made my day:)

Below you can see what was inside the big box, and of course you can expect proper review really soon. I just need to watch the DVD first, as I need to know what exactly I'm reviewing:D