So...the Paintshop is back open for business...

So many of you know of the carnage that happened at CCP/White Wolf on Oct. 19 and that I was caught up in it. I won't go into details as you can find those all over the various forums and blogs on the internet.

During my time there over the last 12 years I have started and shut down my commission painting work due to various reasons, the main one being that there just wasn't any time to do any. Well, things have a way of changing and I think it might be time to reopen the Paintshop once again...but this time for good.

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be putting together a new site (along with one that showcases my Level Design and Graphic Design skills), with new images and a general pricing guide (it's just a jumping off point for prices as some models may cost more or less).

If you have ever looked at my old site...or have ever had something painted by me, you know what what my painting capabilities are....and they will be even better in just a few weeks as I get back into old painting workflow.

And it does not matter whether you are miniatures company or a miniature aficionado...I deliver the most awesome top tier paint job you have ever had. Not to mention my sweet custom bases.

So come to the Paintshop and let me paint something for you.

Mike

Imperial Psyker...Day Two

Day Two.

The base is finally constructed. The great thing about Pro Create is that it cures really fast and without light. The flagstones turned out beautifully...the tech box/relay/ thing not so much. The original wasn't very detailed and for some reason the mold didn't pick up on some of the subtler details on it. Still, it does add a nice touch to a simple flagstone base. If I can find a coffee straw, I might make some tubing that leads to the box...if nothing else to make it more plausible. Or I'll just say its a portable personal void shield... still plausible.

You can also see I have some stuff in some smaller push molds. I mixed up way to much kneadatite and luckily I had some bits molds for the excess to go in. Alas, no tubing molds.

I am opting for no servo skull with this one. I figured the base is still sort of "iffy" and I'd hate to waste a good plastic servoskull. I'll be primering grey for this model....while I'm very fond of black primer, this model has a lot of lighter neutral colors. And painting over black takes soooo long.

This week's desktop shot of the week....

After a lot of rambling entries and aborted projects, I cleared my desk off and started over...again.

As you can see, I have once again painstakingly chosen a model that I "really like" and am in the process of prepping him for glory...or utter failure. He will hopefully be accompanied by a Servo Skull. Why...because I like servo skulls. I have some Pro Create putty in a press mold of flagstones I made from a plastic toy. The idea being is that the Psyker is part of a force involved in a prolonged urban conflict/pacification. While the flagstones don't scream Sci Fi....I do think they sort of capture how I picture the gothic architecture in the 40K universe, spcifically the architecture on some of the older and more settled Imperial worlds. My hope is that the finished model will have a lot of character to him while still being viable for use in 40K..

Not in the picture is the giant container of painting failures who are about to meet their maker in a giant jar of Pinesol....scary thing is I have several jars of stuff. I'm kinda terrified to open the older ones from 98 as they were filled with nail polish remover and I know there are some models in there that have dissolved into sludge. I think the one that dissolved was an old Grenadier model though....or maybe one of the Ral Partha models from their Rallidium days.

So wish me luck in that the Psyker doesn't make a return trip to the Pinesol jar.

Starting with a blank slate.....

I cleaned everything off my desk over the weekend...including any half done projects. Those projects were subjected to a withering critique and were found not worthy of continuing...and therefore are now in the big jar of pinesol. Drastic....perhaps, but sometimes you just need a fresh start.

With that in mind, I decided to start everything back off with an old Librarian Terminator from Space Hulk seen below:

Right about now you should drop to your knees and thank your maker plastic model technology has gotten better over the last twenty years. But as he is a classic model, I've been going with classic paint scheme and style. His armor has been given a coat of Enchanted Blue with the exception of his right shoulder pad which has been done up in the Blood Angels style. I'm keeping the effects such as the glows pretty simple....I still think the older models look better with a classic style paint job rather than a fancy one with weathering and excessive glowing. Probably some sort of nostalgia I have for the old days of White Dwarf (when half of it was in B&W and there were tons of 'Eavy Metal photos by Tim Prow, Mike McVey and Fraser Gray (my biggest influences when it comes to painting GW stuff).

Stay tuned as i figure out what a classic base for this guy looks like...as I have no idea.

New paintings....

So...you might have noticed I've painted something. Tonight's subjects are a Chaos Space Marine belonging to the Purge and a Barbarian from Harlequin miniatures (sculpted by Kev Adams...and it ROCKS!). The CSM was originally for a contest on CMON...but there is no way I'll be done on time. The barbarian is for a contest on Beasts of War.

I'm not really big into contests, but I figure entering a couple might get my name back out there since it has sort of fallen off the radar over the last....shudder...ten years. Someone hacking your Ebay and email account can really put a crimp in your online presence. And add on that my site has been AWOL for three years now. But hopefully things will start picking up. And please, if you have any comments on these or any other of the minis I've painted, please leave a comment...or constructive criticism. Feedback is always appreciated.

Trying to get back on the mini painting horse

Inspiration and those who inspire me to be a better painter....

Since I haven't had a chance to do any painting in like two months, I thought I'd take a little bit of time over the next several days to talk about the other painters out there on the web who inspire me to be a better painter. Sure, painting a model for a competition or to post on some website where faceless individuals rate it on a scale from 1 to 10 can inspire one to really push their boundaries. For me however, these guys inspire me to push my boundaries for the simple reason that it looks really friggin' cool and everything else is secondary at the most.

Tonight's site I'd like to mention is Witchhunter.net. While I don't know his actual name, I do know that he totally rocks when it comes to painting little metal men. The photo to the left (from a Wargames Illustrated from way back in 98). Every inch of that model lovingly painted to a high standard.... every barbarian in that howdah is easily an 8 on CMoN.

And you should see the rest of his barbarian army...it is friggin' amazing. Every one of them beautifully painted...literally every mini looks like its a hero model. Here's the kicker...it's a very, very, very small part of what he's painted. I sit here and paint one guy over a period of two months that maybe looks half as good as the minis on his site...and here he is cranking out tons of guys like it was going out of style.

So tonight I raise a toast to the dude behind Witchhunter.net. I don't know your name, but I am in total awe of your work.