Tuesday 29 October 2024

A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

 Normally for me that would be a runaway train, but in this case I'm close to finishing my commission order. First up today is one of two candelabra my client has requested, I've almost finished building the second, so that should hopefully be finished this week. This was made from plastic rod and greenstuff. 


The next piece is a spooky chair/throne, which was the brief my client gave me. this was made from plasticard and greenstuff.


Last today, is a staircase, my client wanted models to be able to stand on them, so the stairs needed to be deep enough for a model base. The stairs are all high density foam, and the balustrades are plastic rod and greenstuff, with a couple of skulls from the bits box.


From the picture above you will see I narrowed the top of the stairs, to add to the optical illusion of them being vast. If my client is happy with this set, I'll need to do another set to finish his order.

That's all for this post, so until next time, stay safe, and have fun !

Cheers Dave

Friday 25 October 2024

ONE AND ONLY

 October is a month heavy in challenges, there's Zomtober, Dreadtober, my own Apocalypse Me, and then there is Orktober, there are many people that do this event, but I tend to focus on the people I follow, first there is imperialrebelork and then we have convertordie who each year they do combat against each other, to see who can paint the most orc's or ork's ( or whatever GW currently call them), there is a point system, which they work to as well, for the last couple of years, I've taken part, but don't own enough orks to be in any serious contention, and the same this year ! LOL I have managed a single grot, which gives me the enormous total of 1 point, am I ashamed ? No, as I've scratchbuilt mine, and here he is.


This is Leonardo de Grot, in charge of painting all the vehicles, especially looted vehicles, armed with his Go Fasta Red paint, and his best detail brush, wearing his best painting smock (it's the one that still moves, as it's not covered in paint yet ! LOL), he's also wearing his renaissance hat, that he thinks looks cool, and makes him an artist ! LOL

That's all for today, but hopefully next week I've got some cool bits to show, so until next time, stay safe, and have fun !

Cheers Dave

Monday 21 October 2024

THE RIGHT REFERENCE

 The right reference can make a lot of difference, what do I mean, well if you've ever watched Star Wars you may know what a Dewback is, it's a lizard like creature that is large enough that a person can ride one. We first saw one in the desert sands of Tatooine being ridden by a Stormtrooper, but it was a background creature when the stormtroopers found the escape pod.


When they rereleased the extended versions, these creatures were now CGI, and there was a lot more of them. but the colours were very different, almost mottled grey and green.


The top reference didn't give me enough detail, and the bottom one, I wasn't keen on the colour, then I found this one on Wookiepedia.


Now armed with the right reference, I could paint my Dewback I recently got, and here are the results below.


And as I had the model out, why not a scenic shot.


Really enjoyed doing this one, and would like to get another 3, so I can have one of each rider type that comes in the box. That's all for todays post, so until next time, stay safe, and have fun !

Cheers Dave

Friday 18 October 2024

WELL IT'S NOT THE TATE

 Have finished all the portraits for my client, there are 10 in total, 5 male, and 5 female, I've also done it as 5 oval frames, and 5 rectangles, just to add some variation, and also varied the styles of frame as well. You will also notice two of the pictures are ripped, this was my clients request, and loved them, but wished he knew what the whole picture looked like ! LOL


This part of the commission is now complete, but still got a seat, and some stairs to do, so more to come, so until next time, stay safe, and have fun !

Cheers Dave

Monday 14 October 2024

THIS IS THE WAY

 It's probably no surprise that I would want a model of the Mandalorian and Grogu, especially as I already have his N1 Starfighter, so was happy to get the set for my birthday, I've used multiple silver paints and washes to get the right sort of tones to his armour.


His little companion comes in two variations, one doing the magic hand thing, and the other in his favourite pastime eating, although they only provide a base for one version, it wasn't a major problem as I always have this size base about for my scratch builds ! LOL


Here is a shot of the two of them with his fighter.


I've also got my first two TIE Fighter pilots finished, tried to highlight the different areas of black differently to show the different materials.





Here they are exiting a LAAT


That's all for today, so until next time, stay safe, and have fun !

Cheers Dave

Friday 11 October 2024

THEN THERE WERE TWO

 Haven't had a lot of time this week because of commission work, but did manage the second AT-AT driver, same as the first one on the conversion work, and painting.


I think that these will be the only two I do, as I only have one AT-AT, I could do more for forces within an Imperial outpost, but would only need the two as surviving crew if the AT-AT got blown up, so will probably go with the later, as I have more vehicles the TIE fighter pilots would be piloting, so will make the other 5 Inferno squad into TIE pilots.

While were talking of two's I've got two more portraits finished for my client.


You will notice they are all now added to wall sections, I've made them as small as possible so they can be moved around, or placed in front of a full wall to blend in, this was my solution to my clients request, that they could be free standing, and moved about.

That's all for this post, so until next time, stay safe, and have fun !

Cheers Dave

Monday 7 October 2024

KNOW YOUR ROLE

 Recently I levelled up in the game of life, and my family got me some great gifts, I had a pair of books, the next graphic novel for A.B.C. Warriors, and a book all about Stormtroopers, and their development, and variations.


I also got some models, including Dewback Rider, Scout Squad, Mando & Grogu, and a Inferno Squad. Now the last one you may know nothing about, as this is a made up Imperial unit, now you may be thinking Dave only goes for ones that appear in the movies or series, and you would be right, but I had a plan ! LOL Below is what the standard miniatures look like.


Recently you may remember I found pilot models for my AT-ST, and my AT-DP, and I've continued to look out for AT-AT pilots, having not found any, I realised that the above Inferno squad were very similar, so with a bit of conversion I could make the above into AT-AT drivers, and also TIE fighter pilots. Below is my first conversion of each.


I've then painted the first driver, to check it worked, and can be seen below.


Here is a reference picture to see if you think it looks right.


You may have noticed I haven't painted the symbols, and I'm thinking of looking for a transfer to achieve that, as it would need to be pretty small. That's all for today, so until next time, stay safe, and have fun !

Cheers Dave


Friday 4 October 2024

COMMISSIONS

 been busy on commission work this week so nothing for Apocalypse Me, or Orctober ( I know, two challenges at the same time, who would be that mad ! Well me obviously ! LOL), as I have been busy on commission pieces, the first three are for one of my regular clients, and have a spooky theme to them, which is very apt for this time of year. First up is a fireplace, this was built out of foamcore, some plasticard, and a bit of greenstuff.


Next is a Grandfather Clock, this was mostly plasticard, some acetate and a bit of greenstuff.


Last is a portrait, this was greenstuff on a plasticard back, I gave the canvas texture, to give it a bit of realism, and it's been a while since I've done a bit of traditional art, let alone in miniature ! LOL


Here is a group shot, with a model for scale.


Last today is the recent commission I did for Jeff over at kuribospainting why have I not shown this before, well I wanted Jeff, to post about it first, which he already has.



This was an interesting piece to do, based off of a Black Bellied Pangolin ( one of the larger species), as it's based off of a real creature, it has to be 100 % accurate, and have includes the reference picture below.


Still got a lot more commissions to finish, so no idea what will be in the next post, so will be a surprise to us all ! LOL So until next time, stay safe, and have fun !

Cheers Dave