Organising paints on a tight budget, an alternative clay conditioning machine, and what's up next hobby wise

Looking at my paint bottles strewn all over the work station makes me wish I had paid more attention during woodwork classes all those years ago. If I had, I would have made myself a nice wooden paint rack by now to store up all the drop bottles I own for easy access. If wishes were horses ...

Using a cheap alternative to store paint drop bottles

So having an extremely tight hobby budget to work with meant I had to seek the cheapest option available without compromising too much on quality. That came in the form of a Tesco house-brand 2900 ml. air-tight food container which cost RM13.90 (about USD4.30) which was especially suited to the Vallejo Model Color acrylic paint drop bottles but not so much the Reaper Master Series paints.

A Tesco house-brand 2.9 litre food container

Dimensions of the 2.9 litre food container was such that I could overturn the container and still have the Vallejo Model Color drop bottles stay in place without moving too much.

Acrylic paints all lined up, pretty as you please

However, when I tried doing that with the slightly shorter Reaper Master Series paint drop bottles, they would move around rather loosely in the container. Nonetheless, both paint brands had drop bottles with a similar diameter so as long as you don't make a habit of overturning the container to have a better look at the colours, it was still fairly usable for the Reaper paints.  

Still fairly usable for the Reaper Master Series acrylic paints

Seems like the local Tesco store is starting to become a regular haunt for me in which to source alternative art supplies such as silicon-based cooking papers (attractively priced during festive seasons) for use in my home-made wet palette. In fact, it was in a Tesco store that I finally found an affordable alternative to an art clay conditioner. There was a mini-promotion going on at that time so I got the pasta machine for just RM29.90 (~USD9.20). Thank my lucky stars I didn't shell out RM130 (~USD40) for a clay conditioning machine that I saw in an art supply shop. Heck, Tesco should be my 'hobby sponsor' ala Formula One driver sponsors. Again, if wishes were horses ...

Using a pasta machine as a cheap alternative for a clay conditioner

So what's up next for me hobby wise? With my Knight Models Spider-Man Marvel Universe project very close to completion, I don't have much left on the work station other than the two work-in-progress Dark Sword Wood Elf Goddesses. So after a prepping, assembling and priming binge, I now have eight additional miniatures of all sizes primed and ready for their first coat of paint (see below). 

Miniatures on my immediate to-do list: eight primed and two work-in-progress

As for my sculpting ambitions, hopefully by getting a pasta machine for use as a clay conditioner I would have removed the last excuse I have for my continued procrastination towards sculpting. Moreover, after initially toying with the idea of using Katniss Everdeen as the first sculpting subject matter, I felt perhaps an easier-to-sculpt character will make those first baby steps less daunting. Darwin Watterson was the simplest subject matter I could think of off hand so I guess that walking talking goldfish from The Adventures of Gumball cartoon will likely kickstart my sculpting journey.

Darwin Watterson, The Adventures of Gumball

What with helping my son prepare for his finals as well as spending more time with him leading up to his birthday, I haven't had much time to paint miniatures. Hopefully I can still squeeze in some hobby time amidst quality family time. Matters are made much worse by the fact that two of my favourite TV shows namely Supernatural and Walking Dead are entering their latest seasons which means even less time for the hobby. Sigh ... if only we could download ourselves into an EMH (Emergency Medical Hologram) and have eternity to indulge in our hobbies. Ouch ... will the geekery never end.

Ahhh ... what price immortality and the life of an EMH

Nocturna Models Le Petit Chaperon [Completed]

Le Petit Chaperon is definitely the toughest challenge I have faced as a miniature painter in my relatively short (soon-to-be) three year journey in this hobby. This 80-mm resin figure from Nocturna Models was not only the largest miniature I have attempted to paint, it was also the most realistically sculpted which meant the margin for error was greatly reduced. There is a finer line between what looks right and wrong because we all have our own preconceived notions on how a fair skinned girl should look like. Painting made-up fictional characters like say an Ork gives one more leeway to err.

Nocturna Models Le Petit Chaperon, a closeup view

As mentioned in a previous blog, Le Petit Chaperon was painted in the colours of the French flag as a visual tribute to the historical origins of the Red Riding Hood fairy tale. Vive La France indeed. Incidentally, Le Petit's blonde hair gave her an overall colour scheme that is found in many other national flags so she actually can be what (and all that) you want her to be ... how cool is that.

Nocturna Models Le Petit Chaperon [Completed]

Down boy ... the dog that is

More work was done on Le Petit Chaperon's skin tone, mainly the addition of some blush to her face to accentuate her cheek bones as well as increase the greens of the veins on her arms. Contrast on her skin remained low ... after all many billions of dollars are rightly or wrongly spent on makeup to look fairer so you could say she is the advertising poster girl for the cosmetics industry. 

Nocturna Models Le Petit Chaperon (Side view from the left)

A Marilyn Monroe moment

No thanks to my clumsiness, I broke the handle of the basket not once but twice in separate locations no less. It was all down to a lack of concentration as I accidentally had my hand on the basket while I was doing something else and put too much pressure thus breaking the handles. Once was bad but twice was unforgivable. Luckily I have grown adept at using the 'super glue-pure baking soda' combo to fix things back to how they were. An alternative fix would have been to sculpt 'green stuff' putty over the damaged part, which in fact is what I did to extend the length of the puppy's leash. I did this to position the leash at a slightly different angle from what was shown on the official artwork. 

Cosmetics can't hide cellulite so tough luck Le Petit

A closeup of the puppy painted as a Siberian Husky

Nocturna Models Le Petit Chaperon (Side view from the right)

My approach to miniature painting has been a fairly minimalist one so that partly explains why I didn't go ahead with two ideas on my mind for Le Petit Chaperon. One was to paint a tattoo of the Chinese character for the word wolf on her right shoulder while the other was to paint a series of freehand designs on both her white stockings. But in the end I felt she looked better with neither.

Painting sheer fabric was made doubly hard due to it being white

To slightly reposition the puppy's leash, I had to use 'green stuff'  to extend its length

360 view of Le Petit Chaperon
For a 360 degree view of the Nocturna Models Le Petit Chaperon, please check out the YouTube video below. For Le Petit, I used a lower ISO setting when taking the video to avoid a 'washed-out' look that sometimes affected miniatures that had a bright/light colour scheme. For videos of other selected miniatures I have painted, please visit my YouTube channel FourEyedMonster Miniatures. Please choose high definition (HD) for the best video viewing option.

Finishing Freya and Le Petit Chaperon has given me greater confidence to tackle other Nocturna Models stuff regardless of their size. I hope to start on the Akelarre Enchantment figure soon and maybe paint the Battle Chick too. In fact, I am so pumped up by the experience of painting Le Petit Chaperon that I am tempted to do both at the same time. Anyway, thanks for following the progress of Red Riding Hood that has taken a rather long time to complete. Hope she was worth the wait.

Midpoint of the Game of Thrones project reached and the next noble house is unbowed, unbent and unbroken

With only eight Bretonnian Knights to work with, I have now reached the midpoint of my Game of Thrones paint-job conversion project. In keeping with my aim to continuously work with different colour schemes, the noble houses of Westeros I have completed so far all sport very different colours namely red for House Lannister, yellow for House Clegane, mid-green for House Baratheon of the Renly faction and light sky blue for House Arryn. Pleased at having achieved this mini-milestone, I felt it fitting to take a group shot of all four knights together side by side for the first time.  

Knights of House Arryn, House Baratheon, House Lannister and House Clegane

For better or worse, contrast on the knights was intentionally kept low because if the difference between the highlights and shadows was too drastic it would have resulted in a satiny look on the caparison (decorative cloth covering the horses). Instead, I wanted a more cotton-like texture for the caparisons. Although I do not know for sure what material was used to make caparisons during medieval times, I doubt that satin (likely to be expensive both historically and in an epic fantasy setting such as Game of Thrones) would have been used on a knight/warhorse set to go into battle.

Getting each house heraldry on the shields and caparisons afforded me plenty of freehand painting practice

Each knight's helmet was chose to reflect descriptions or story plots in George RR Martin's books

I have been fortunate in that the existence of appropriate and relevant parts from the Bretonnian Knights miniature sprue enabled me to customise each knight's helmet to reflect the characteristics of each individual house or at the very least portray parts of the storyline of George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire books. House Lannister and House Arryn was fairly straightforward with bronzed lion (albeit a winged one) and a falcon respectively adorning the helmet; so too was House Baratheon with the antlers. Meanwhile, a bronzed boar with a knife sticking out its back was a House Clegane homage to their masters the Lannisters who had masterminded King Robert's death-by-accident.

Opposing factions face off against each other to decide the fate of Westeros

Any enthusiasm to paint a knight and warhorse from my current favourite noble house i.e. House Targaryen was quickly doused when I realised I haven't quite figured out how to do a miniature freehand version of its heraldry which is a three-headed dragon. Until I overcome that significant obstacle, I am proceeding with House Martell which has a predominantly orange colour scheme. As with the other knights, I managed to find the perfect helmet for House Martell ... one with a coiled serpent around a spear-of-sorts. The horse's pose was also perfect as it captured a dynamism of a serpent springing forward which complemented the angled lance attached to the knight's right arm.

Assembled knight and warhorse (shown sans shield) for House Martell

It's ironic that as my Game of Thrones miniature project gathers pace I find myself stuck at Book Four of the A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) series. For some reason I seem to have lost the urge to turn the pages. So I decided to take a short break from George RR Martin's book and get myself reacquainted with the Star Trek Universe, specifically the books that pick up the story right after Star Trek Nemesis, the final movie involving the original cast of Star Trek Next Generation.

Taking a break from 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series with some Star Trek books

Resistance, Before Dishonor and Greater Than The Sum deal with the Borg who are now unlike how they were portrayed in the movies and TV series while Q&A sees Picard saving the universe with Q's help. Sword of Damocles is a story involving Riker's new command Titan that occurs sometime around the happenings of the other novels. I have finished four and am in the midst of the fifth book, all in less than a month. That's how good a read they are. There are actually many more books after the ones you see above, around 36 in total and counting, so I have barely scratched the surface of must-read Star Trek fiction. Something to keep me occupied during any free time not dedicated to painting miniatures and until I eventually pick up where I left off in Martin's A Feast for Crows. 

Ork Warboss of the Bad Moonz Clan [Completed]

After some quick work on both weapons of the Ork Warboss, the Bad Moonz clan leader is now finally finished. Rather than dwell too much on what to do for the double-barreled bolter (can't remember what it's actually called) and powerklaw, I just did a fast paint-job to show battle damage, oil stains, grime and/or rust at what I felt were the appropriate places on both weapons.  

Ork Warboss of the Bad Moonz Clan

Weapons were painted to show oil stains, grime and/or rust in the appropriate places

Side view (left) of the Ork Warboss

Rust effects were confined to the powerklaw as it made sense that the Ork Warboss would leave some rust on the powerklaw's blades to effect gangrene on his victims.  That or his grot orderly is too lazy to maintain his weapon. In contrast, I did not put any rust on the bolter (except for a metal ring at the bottom) because I am assuming regular usage of the gun would have meant rust couldn't easily form on it. Instead, heavy usage would leave the bolter with oil stains and heavy grime ... just saying.

Closeups of the Ork Warboss's weapons

While the overall colour scheme is too garish for my taste, it does however fit the subject matter perfectly. One would assume an Ork Warboss would want to dress in such a manner notwithstanding the fact that it would have made him an easy target for those 'emperah' loving wussies.

Light coating (or beginnings) of rust on the powerklaw's blades ... to rend and infect flesh with gangrene

Back view of the Bad Moonz Ork Warboss

Regular use of bolter equals less rust effects on the bolter ... I think

One key positive I can take from this miniature is that I am getting more comfortable working with metallic and 'technical' paints. That being said I still think it's messy work that I could do without.

Side view (right) of the Ork Warboss

Da boss looks good in yellow yah?

360 view of the Ork Warboss [Bad Moonz Clan]
For a 360 degree view of the Ork Warboss, please check out the YouTube video below. For videos od other selected miniatures that I have painted, please visit my YouTube channel FourEyedMonster Miniatures. Please be sure to choose the high definition (HD) option when viewing the videos.

For the time being, I am painting the whole ork army in my possession for my son. But in the event he doesn't have any interest in tabletop gaming I would be tempted to sell my whole collection. Either way, it makes sense for me to paint it as well as I can. Next up will be an Ork Painboy and his assistant although your guess is as good as mine as to when I will start painting both of them.

House Arryn Knight & Warhorse [Completed]

For the first time in my Game of Thrones miniature paint-job conversion project, I was completely stumped by how to paint a noble house's heraldry - more specifically that of House Arryn. This had contributed to the long delay in finishing knight numero quarto which had previously seen me paint knights of House Lannister, House Clegane and Renly's House Baratheon. The main stumbling block was the fact that House Arryn's heraldry has a perfect circle encircling a falcon and crescent moon. Painting symmetrical geometric designs is a skill that I am not ashamed to admit I do not have.

House Arryn knight on a warhorse [Completed]

House Arryn heraldry was adapted slightly to fit the heroic 28-mm scale miniature

In the end, to simplify matters seeing that this miniature was at 28-mm heroic scale, I took a step back from my usual obsessive compulsive painter tendencies to faithfully recreate designs verbatim. So that meant dispensing with the perfect circle around the falcon and crescent moon; the latter two was painted in creamy white as per descriptions I read in the Game of Thrones novels. In another first of sorts, I also dispensed with the usual careful 'planning and design' step I have for freehand painting attempts and decided to just 'wing it' - pun unintended - when painting House Arryn's heraldry.

A truly majestic bird ... the falcon

To paint the life bird resting atop the knight's right arm, I used the majestic Peregrine Falcon as the main point of reference. It gave a very nice contrast to the bronze falcon sitting on top of the knight's helmet. Meanwhile, the metallic silver of the knight's armour was given a blue wash to add a bit of dynamism to it. Moreover, it tied up nicely with the overall sky blue look of the House Arryn knight.

Contrast on the sky blue bits was partly subdued by bright lamps used in the photography session

Front and back view of the House Arryn Knight and Warhorse

Knight's armour was given a blue wash to make it look livelier as well as tie in to the overall colour scheme

Overall I am rather please that I have managed to persevere up to this stage of the project which has seen four knights from different noble houses being completed. To be honest, I am surprised I have gotten this far. That it has has been fun has obviously helped. Well four down and four more to go.

Bronze metal bird on the knight's helmet contrasts with the real life falcon on his right arm

As high as honour ... the motto of House Arryn

360 view of the House Arryn Knight on a Warhorse
For a 360 degree view of the House Arryn Knight and Warhorse - essentially a Bretonnian Knight painted in the colours of a noble house in the land of Westeros as described in the Game of Thrones books - please see the YouTube video below. For other videos, please visit my YouTube channel FourEyedMonster Miniatures. Be sure to choose the high definition (HD) option for the best view.

Although I am spoilt for choice as to my next noble house of Westeros, I am still unsure which one should be my next subject matter in this Game of Thrones miniature paint-job conversion project. I have only four Bretonnian Knights left to work with and as things stand they would most likely be painted in the colours of House Targaryen, House Martell, House Tully and House Tyrell. Next up will be House Targaryen if I can figure out how to paint its heraldry which arguably is the most difficult of all the noble houses. If not, I might attempt something simpler. Till then Valar Morghulis.