31 May, 2014

Booklet feedback wanted


With only a few POST-CENTAUR PAINTING-booklets left I am quite pleased about the venture. I have already recieved several comments and bits of feedback but I thought it would be nice to have a post reserved for feedback.

Overall, the feedback I have got so far has been quite positive and encouraging.

However, these are some of the wishes:
  • Closer looks at the miniatures. So bigger detail-shots.
  • More text as an improvement was also mentioned. I wonder if I could have taken the type-size down by one or two to make room for a few sentences more?
  • More sketches if possible.
  • WIP-images has also been asked for.
  • Also, the spiral binding does take it a bit from a ”proper” book.
Lots of great feedback. Thanks a lot.

Of course I can only show sketches for a project if I actually made the drawings. As mentioned in the booklet I consider sketches a kind of visual notes. For me it is a combination of trying out a composition and planning what bits to use. Sometimes I do a sketch, at other times I just go directly into the conversion.

More text (and space for it) would be great in some places. For some of the models I could easily har used more space, but for one or two I felt like I could not add more using ”mere” words. Instead I left it to a short presentation and let the miniature speak by itself. But if more text is requested overall, then it is something to shoot for in the future.

The spiral-binding was a tricky one since the small format makes it hard to glue properly. The risk was that the pages might get loose and fall out if glued. However, a plus for the spiral-binding solution is that you never have to bend the paper to show a page-spread properly. I have actually come to like the spiral-binding very much, although I had my doubts about it at first.

So far it has actually been a lot of different things that people point out as their favorite bit. Some people like the my Mordheim gaming miniatures, some like the inquisitor characters, others comment on the overall stylistic journey.

But anyway, any comments on other issues or just a repetition of some of the pointers above will be greatly appreciated. Feedback is crucial - certainly if I am to look into doing a second booklet. Of course, you cannot make everyone happy and the topic or theme of a publication will always create some limitation. But that is part of the game!

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For those who did not see the POST-CENTAUR PAINTING release post back in April, the booklet can be purchased through Runic Miniatures at the following stand-alone site, 

Happy Painting!

26 May, 2014

Mordheim captain and a bowman

Converted these guys last week and painted them in a 2-hours-frenzy last night

 

Most work went onto the leader. I am quite pleased with the combination of both getting the colours in the right places and the rough and textures look. Great - and quickly painted - gaming models I suppose. Next game with my Reiklanders is tomorrow evening!

19 May, 2014

Picking up the Wood Elves

With the release of the new army book for Wood Elves I have dusted off my small army and painted a group of 8 archers. I actually had them lying in a box all primed black and waiting for paint. 4 sessions of 1½ hours. Approximately. 4 evenings anyway. I started the army back in 2003 (!) and with no plastic archers available I used metal High Elves Shadow Warriors for my Glade Guard. Here they are:


Also, I have found this special mini in one of my old boxes:


Painted back in 1992 I think, he was part of Scarloc's Wood Elves Archers which I bought about a year into the hobby. So long ago. I remember repainting these models a few times as my techniques evolved. Now - again - he is to be cleaned up, repainted and join my army...

I guess I ought to show the army at some point also. I'll try to remember.

08 May, 2014

Presentation bases for armies

I got an email the other day asking about the presentation base I made for my Chaos Army back in 1998. About the dimensions and materials. Well, it is a wooden frame bought specificly for the project in a store that makes frames for art and posters. The dimensions for the actual display area is about 23 x 33 cm.



In 1997 I did a similar base for my night goblin army. This one has the inner dimensions of 50 x 33 cm:


In both cases there is a sheet of wood in the frame for a base. And on this you can build up the terrain using either polystyrene sheets or thick cardboard. I have used both materials - cardboard on the chaos base - and they both work out alright. The tricky thing is to make the cut-ins for the bases, especially the round ones...

01 May, 2014

Mid-80s Orc Leader finished

I finished the orc the other night:


As mentioned, I first saw this model in the Citadel Miniatures Painting Guide back in 1992 or so. There was a colour sketch of the model in the guide. This is - in itself - interesting. A model shown with a drawing - how intriguing is that? And the drawing came with suggestions for colours, so you might imagine how I wondered something like this: "...if I could get hold of this cool orc, would I be able to make it look like this?...How would it turn out..." Well, now I have had my try anyway.

The model is from 1985, real vintage, so I added the miniature's tag to the back of the scenic base. Paintingwise, I wanted to go back and use the suggested colour scheme from back then taking the green in a very light and vivid direction.

I really enjoyed painting this model. The process was nice and quick and the model is now in my cabinet.