6th Cofc Miniature Exchange mini published

Here is the miniature I painted for 6th Cofc ME. My recipient Hellspawn, just received my package so I can post it here:

CMON

 cheers
'eM

Awesome blog collections

I'm constantly searching for, and discovering new and awesome blogs and websites about our hobby. Mostly by browsing known blogs and checking their 'blog lists'. And I must say sometimes I find true treasures this way. But recently I found two really awesome sources. I'm so happy about that, so I need to share my joy with you:


One is blog called The Pewter Brigade, written by Johan Kees, who specialize in historical pieces painted with oils (mostly ancient rome). On his blog you can find two really nice things. First is lots of reviews, photos of unpainted , freshly unpacked historical minis, and the second is really impressive list of blogs from our community.

And the other one is spanish 'Figure International Magazine'. I don't speak spanish at all, so I don't really know if the website itself is good or not, but their resources are pretty ipressive.
Not only do they have very long and very diverse list of blogs, but also equaly nice list of manufacturers and associations.

So if you're looking for something different than only wargaming pieces, those two places trully worth checking.

cheers

'eM

Port Royal - Inbox

While I'm working mostly on my 'secret piece' I can't show you any photos of the progress. So, in the meantime, I decided to do a review.
Yet another Andrea Miniatures lovely model, another of my favourites subjects: the Pirate


The mini:

(c) Andea Miniatures

Name: Port Royal, 1660
Manufacturer: Andrea Miniatures
Product code:PC-06
Category: Pirates of the Caribbean
Material: White metal and resin
Scale: 1:32 (54mm)


The box:

In the box: 

As you can see, parts are secured very well with two layers of thick cartboard and thick sponge, so there is no chance that anything can move inside during transport.

Quality of the cast:
On the first glance, the cast seems to be very nice. There are some delicate mold lines and imperfections, but it is rather complex model, so I can understand and accept that. At this point I can say, nothing is damaged, and the metal surface is rather smooth.The resin parts are more rugged, but because it's only wall and ground, I can guess the extra texture was intentional.
Of course all the thin parts (blade especially) are rather thin and bend easily, so we need to be careful with them.


Assembly:
Well... The mini is rather complex... So I can expect some small obstacles and difficulties with the assembly, but at this point it's just my guess. 
But the very most important thing for me will be of course the order in which I'm gonna assembly the piece. So far I was experimenting with with that on different miniatures, and must admit the trial and error approach got me nowhere. I'm not sure if there is one right answer to that problem, but I'll do my best to find the ways best for me and the particular minis.


Other Andrea Miniautes reviews:
Menhom Dark Shadow 
Urmuth, Scars of War


cheers

'eM

Mysterious mini - first layers of paint.

Another small update on the base (mini is still a secret).
First layers of colour, still lots to do, mostly contrast and colour variations on the stone (plus some tidying up), but you can see the general idea.

I'm thinking about shifting the dead beetle's colour more towards green, to make it stand out a bit more.
But other than that, I'm quite happy with the way this base is shaping up. Ferns will be added at the very end, to avoid accidental damage. They are not as fragile as dried plants, but rather delicate nonetheless, so I'll keep them separate.


BTW it's quite obvious, that I might be in my turquoise phase now;p

cheers

'eM

Etched brass for the first time

Really qick post to show you my first contact with etched brass foliage.

Quite a fun I must say. I think I'll be using them more often from now on.
At the beginning I had no idea how to deal with it, how to bend fern leafs into desired shapes, but quick search in internet and I knew everything. To be honest, as long you don't need to bend etched brass into very specific shapes, all you need is a lighter and a bit of caution to avoid any accident with fire.
Because I need to hurry with this piece I won't be able to do proper tutorial how to work with etched brass, but I'm gonna use it on Viking's base as well, so I'll do my best to prepare some decent step-by-step while doing so.

cheers

'eM

CoolMiniOrNot Annual 2011 and me

CoolMiniOrNot 2011 Annual is finally ready, and I'm happy to let you know, that my works will be published there as well. It may seem like not a big deal, but I'm quite happy anyway.
I know that 4 works may seem like not much, but in 2011 I published only 6 works.

By the way, for those of you, that skipped this part, my nick on CMON is Asha, so if you feel like browsing through my gallery, feel free to check it here.

cheers

'eM

Urmuth - belt buckle

Folowing one of my friend's advice, I decided to rapaint the buckle on Urmuth's belt. I tried to make it look like a gray gem. And here are the results.

I know that photos aren't that great. But I had to do them with on camera flash. Lamps would be in danger, as my cat's were displaying unbelievable levels of hyperactivity. So I had to be very quick and pray that they won't demolish anything;p Of course there was small accident. Mila was trying to lick mr U so hard, so he ended up on the floor, hence destroyed ends of his horns.

But anyway, he's in one piece again, nothing irreversible happened, and here are the photos:

Suprisingly I must say, the wooden axe handle, even though not finished yet, doesn't look too bad in such an extreme close-up. You can see some beginnings of the wooden pattern.
The gem itself isn't too bad as well. I might need to fix the highlight on the top, but other than that I'm quite happy.

And what do you think?

cheers

'eM