Kinetic7 1 Aug 2012 v2 PDF

ISSUE 1: Wrath of Kings | Dark Age | Confrontation | Changing Economics in the Industry | Sculpting | Plaster Scenery and more...
ISSUE 1 2012
CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE:
| Alkemy |
| Grisaille Tutorial |
| Sculpting a Miniature |
| How To Make Plaster Scenery |
and more...
In your virtual hand you have a new
magazine, so why should you read
it? Well you could skip slightly ahead
and check out the feature one of my
favorite games: Alkemy, check out
the new game 1650, or maybe just
go straight to the hobby articles or
artist features Hopefully you will
get something from this and we can
use this format to fuel the love for the
smaller game. This is our frst issue
so it can only go up from here! This
magazine was made to be read on a
tablet - so kick back with your pad of
choice and enjoy.
Happy reading!
3 KINETIC 7, ISSUE 1 2012
HOBBY TUTORIAL
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL ................................................................................................................................................. 4
GAME FEATURES
ALKEMY ................................................................................................................................................ 5
1650 ........................................................................................................................................................ 32
ARTIST FEATURES
ANGEL GIRALDEZ ............................................................................................................................. 9
AARON LOVEJOY ............................................................................................................................. 26
HOBBY TUTORIALS
GRISAILLE PAINTING ..................................................................................................................... 14
MAKING PLASTER SCENERY, PART 1 ......................................................................................... 22
SCULPTING A MINIATURE, PART 1 ............................................................................................. 37
AND THIS LITTLE PIGGY WENT TO THE PAINTING TABLE ................................................ 51
EDITORIAL & STAFF
We have a saying in Sweden the wise men study
to learn more and more about less and less until
one day they know everything about nothing.
This is how I sometimes feel when I start YET
ANOTHER hobby project. It has gone so far that I
now hide my half painted minis, half build terrain
and other stuff in big plastic containers (it is not
there if I cant see it..)
My immature way of dealing with an issue aside,
there is a reason for this I have so many projects
because our hobby is so fantastic right now! The
industry as a whole seems to have gathered the
best sculptors, artists and writers available! And
the constant feed of awesome content is like an
avalanche! Every day there is a new Kickstarter for
a cool game, or a new artist that posts some stuff on
deviantart or a new youtube channel launching
So many creative people wanting so much out of
this hobby
Which is why I am proud that between all my half
fnished project we actually fnished this! :-)
We are going to try and get one issue out every
other month (so six times a year,) the focus will
be on hobby articles as well as some pieces that
interest us (the Alkemy and 1650 features are great
examples.) Sorry, we are just selfsh like that we
do this for the love and I am very proud of this frst
issue, a big thank you from me to the whole team!
I hope you (as a reader) enjoy it so that the energy
and time spent to put it together was not to waste!
Finally, there is another great saying (from Winston
Churchill I believe) that I would like to imprint on
our hobby as a whole online: Make a speech while
angry, and you will make the best speech.you
will ever regret be kind to each other online!
/Mananadomus has spoken
Kinetic 7 issue 1 2012
Editors:
Mikael Mananarepublic Astrom, Derek
AngelicOne Osborn & Matias Math
Mathonwy Frosterus
Cover & Illustrations: Nico Kopf
Featured Painters: Angel Giraldez & Aaron
Lovejoy
Text and Photo:
Derek AngelicOne Osborne
Johan Dangereux Lundback
Mathias Rofen Rofelt
Peter Angora Overton
Mikael Mananarepublic Astrom.
Matias Math Mathonwy Frosterus
A JACK OF ALL TRADES, MASTER OF NONE
FEATURED GAME
look is very cohesive and evokes an original,
fantastic sense of wonder as the best miniatures
lines have the power to do.
The rulebook called Genesis was released
as a free PDF and it includes the rules, rich
background of the world of Mornea and its
peoples as well as a full list of profles for all
the fghters that have been released to date and
then some. The games are scenario-driven and
a full-sized game usually involves about 7-12
miniatures per side, though the game is rather
scalable.
The rules alternate activating a cards worth
of miniatures (one to three) at a time and is
based on action points with each model having
between two and four. Moving takes one action
point as do hitting in close combat, shooting
and so on. If you have action points in reserve
By: Matias Math Mathonwy Frosterus
I have been playing miniatures games for
well over twenty years now, with most of
my attention during the last decade being
focused on various skirmish games. I have
played a lot of different systems and Ive
liked most of them, each with their own
good qualities and innovations. However,
a special place in my heart is reserved for
Alkemy, a French fantasy skirmish miniatures
game, sporting amazing miniatures, a rich
background and my favourite set of fantasy
skirmish rules. Originally published by
Kraken Editions but currently produced by
Studio 38 the game is alive but the releases
come quite slowly. There is an active scene
around the game in France designing rules
updates and holding tournaments.
The miniatures used to be plastic, soft but with
extremely crisp and fne details. The medium
allowed for details such as thin blades and
long tails that would have been impossible
in other materials. Studio 38 produces their
miniatures in high-quality resin so if you want
heft from your miniatures, Alkemy is not for
you. The range has a very unique visual look to
it much shaped by Allan Carrascos sculpting
work for the line and many miniatures feature
slightly twisted postures and clean lines as
is characteristic to Allans work. The overall
ALKEMY, THE BEST GAME NOT TO SUCCEED....YET
FEATURED GAME
Modifers to rolls provide bonus or penalty
dice, and you always take the best or worst
two, so the game is very easy on the math and
you can also react on the other players turn
by jumping into cover from a rain of arrows or
hitting back in close combat.
The close combat system of Alkemy is one
of my all time favourites. It is based around
different strikes chosen by using cards: brutal,
normal, quick, parry or pass. Both players
choose their strike and reveal it at the same
time and the cards have a rock-paper-scissors
style interaction in that a brutal strike, aside
from being slower and more damaging also
provides a bonus to the attack roll when it is
deployed against someone using a quick strike.
This means that there is a lot of tactics involved
in trying to anticipate your opponents strike
and it makes close combat a nail-biting affair.
The game uses custom dice in three different
colours with white dice being normal six-
siders, yellow dice having fewer high numbers
and red dice having even fewer. The fghters
wound level determines the type of dice used.
FEATURED GAME
Aurloks are a race of totemic human-animal
hybrids with Native American infuences.
Toadmen, crowmen, wolfmen and some form
of primal oxmen make up the fghting ranks
of the race and the fghters are more elite
usually having a somewhat higher cost in
points compared to the human factions. They
favour thrown weapons and are ferce close
combatants.
The Empire of Jade Triad is a human faction in
the vein of ancient China. The fghters favour
pole arms and long bows preferring to fght in
loose formations to better support one another
and gain the advantage from their greater
numbers.
The Khaliman Republic is formed of Arabian
cat people with tiger, panther and cheetah
styled warriors. Fast and agile, but less
numerous than their enemies, Khalimans
prefer to fght in a harassing manner
overwhelming a portion of the enemy force at
a time.
Finally, the human kingdom of Avalon
splintered off of Jade Triad to pursue forbidden
fows easily even if played with refreshments.
Finally, the dice also contain little sword, axe
and mace symbols which tell you the damage
you do when you hit so attack roll tells you
whether you hit as well as the damage you do.
All of this results in an extremely smooth play
experience.
Finally, as the name hints at, alchemy is a
central theme in the game with alchemists on
both sides harvesting ingredients from the
battlefeld to fuel their spells. Alchemists are
powerful but since the number of ingredients
on the table is limited, having a large number
of spell-casters does not lead to imbalance.
All in all, the system is tight and simple in the
right way in that it offers a lot of tactical choice,
but the game fows wonderfully. Compared
to some other skirmish games, the design has
been obviously more concerned with every
game producing a good gaming experience as
opposed to aiming for a simulation of reality.
There are four factions in Alkemy, each with
their own strong points and weaknesses.
FEATURED GAME
talk of re-releasing the Khaliman starter in
resin, since that is hard to get.
I recommend the game most highly as a
polished game system with an amazing line of
miniatures.
Studio 38: http://www.fgurines-studio38.
com/ALKEMY.html
To download the Genesis rulebook in English,
go to kinetic7.com/extras/ for the link.
magical experiments. The more traditionally
western medieval kingdom has monks and
templars worshipping a gigantic tree at the
center of their lands. They graft implants from
this tree to their warriors with the higher
ranked warriors being among the best fghters
in the game supported by rabble.
The original plastic miniatures can still be
found in some online stores such as Ludik
Bazar or Battlefeld Berlin with highly
discounted bargain prices. Studio 38 naturally
sells the miniatures they have released but
they have not yet re-released any of Kraken
Editions original miniatures since they are still
somewhat available. There has however been
FEATURED ARTIST
Hi my name is Angel. I was born in Vigo,
Galicia, Northwest Spain, in 1983.
I started in this hobby after seeing an ad
on TV for a collection of miniatures called
Wargames, Spatial Forces I though it was
interesting and bought some chapters. Later I
found out about Games Workshop (GW) and
started entering in local painting competitions,
that way I started to know people in this
hobby.
One day a friend of mine, who owns a comic
book and scale model shop, told me that there
was a company called CORVUS BELLI nearby.
At this point I was not well known and had
just started, but I decided to talk to them and
see if there was work for me. After we talked
and I showed them some of my painted
miniatures they offered me a post as freelance
painter. Which is how I started painting fgures
for the Corvus Belli and Wracrow ranges (15
and 28mm).
In 2003 (once I had fnished my degree) I joined
the company fulltime. At the beginning my job
was a bit of everything, quite hard work, and
I worked with everything from the casting to
packaging to painting the models.
In 2006 CORVUS BELLI launched INFINITY
and from them on my role switched to just
painting.
In 2007 I decided to open STUDIO GIRALDEZ,
my own company to allow me to work as
a freelance painter in addition to my work
at CORVUS BELLI. As freelance painter I
have, and still work, for companies such
as PRIVATEER PRESS, CIPHER STUDIOS,
URBAN MAMMOTH, SPHERE WARS,
MERCS, PREDASTORE, AVATAR OR WARS
and more companies. I also do commissions for
private collectors now and then.
/Angel
GETTING TO KNOW ANGEL GIRALDEZ
FEATURED ARTIST
all of it and after a general wash to defne the
different areas I start to work on the contrast
of each individual area. Working on the lights
and shadows. Some times I even paint the
face frst, hehehehehe.

K7: do you have a style? If so, how would
you defne it?
A: I dont think I have a defned style, some
people think that I do because of my way of
working with the colour but I think its more
because of my choice of colours.

K7: which painters inspire you? Any particular
paint jobs that have blown you away?
A: I dont tend to copy other, as I prefer to
bring my own set of skills and ideas.
If I have to choose I would like to mention
the group of painters that formed the
K7: In what sort of environment do you
normally paint?
A: I work at the CORVUS BELLIs Studio
where the whole team works together,
sculptors and designers. This allows for a
great fow of ideas and comments regarding
the upcoming miniatures.
I normally work with my headphones on as
each individual has their particular taste on
music. At the end of the day I, sometimes, do
paint for another 1 to 3 hours, depending on
what my workload is like.

K7: Do you have a process that you normally
follow as far as research, technique & process
when painting?
A: I normally paint the fgure in base colours,
Q & A WITH ANGEL
FEATURED ARTIST
FEATURED ARTIST
A: I always have plenty of work!!! (:( ) and
therefore I dont tend to choose what I
paint. The little free time that I have I prefer
activities that are not related to the hobby.
When you spend 8 to 10 hours a day painting
miniatures, what you really want is to
disconnect a bit from it all.
K7: which brand of paints, brushes, airbrush
and tools do you use?
A: I only use VALLEJO, their paints, brushes
all of it. As far as I am concerned Vallejo
is one of the best companies in the hobby.
When I am painting models for PRIVATEER
PRESS I tend to use P3 paints to match the
other studio models.
I sometimes use some of the GW colours (for
eample Blood Red and Elf fesh.) I think they
frst RACKHAM team (Vincent, Martin,
Sebastien, etc) I also think that the EAVY
METAL team at GW has (and had) great
painters.

K7 This might be a little leading question but
do you have a favorite miniatures line?
A: Of my favourites, the models from
INFINITY and GW are at the top. A sole
favourite miniature is impossible to name as I
like so many. One that particularly caught my
eye the frst time I saw it was the ARCHAON
mounted fgure from GW, modelled by Brian
Nelson, it has a wonderful dynamism and
strength!
K7: When you are not doing a commission
piece - how do you select what to paint?
FEATURED ARTIST
When I work for other companies or do
private commissions i can get anything from
reference material and concept illustrations to
a full artistic license.

K7: Do you have a paint job that you feel
especially proud of?
A: I am particularly proud of my work with
the models for the INIFINITY RANGE, I
think it best showcases my evolution as a
painter.

K7: Any fnal words to our readers?
A: I would like to thank you for the interest
that you have in my work and wish you
good luck on your wonderful project (this
magazine, eds comment.) This kind of
initiatives is what makes this hobby so great!!
K7: Thank you Angel!
To see more of Angels work go to his
homepage http://studiogiraldez.blogspot.
com.es/
are good colours but I have yet to try the new
paint range, I will though!
My airbrushes are from the INFINITY and
EVOLUTION brands, which are the best ones
as far as I am concerned.

K7: do you have a tool that is unique for you?
How do you use it?
A: A very particular tool that I use all the
time and without which I dont think I could
work, hehehehe, is the cover of a BIC ball pen
(the cheap ones) I use it to mix paint and
water to the best consistency for my painting
style.

K7: How do you select your colors?
A: When I paint for INFINITY i get the color
schemes from the designing team, although
sometimes I change things around during the
painting process.
HOBBY TUTORIAL
This technique works very well when painting
miniatures and it has been often used in its
most simple form using black and white spray
paint. I chose to do it slightly more detailed
though.
First I go through the usual process of cleaning
up the miniature from any mold lines or fash,
and washing it to get rid of any residue from
the molding process. Any loose parts would be
drilled, pinned and glued. In this case the only
loose part is the weapons pack to be attached
to the hunters back. I leave this off to be
attached to a pin vice and painted separately.
By: Johan Dangereux Lundback
Grisaille is a term from traditional art
(from French: gris, grey) developed during
the 14th century describing a technique
where a monochrome picture was drawn,
and either left monochrome, or layers of
oil paint was glazed over the image. Later
on this was developed to use the shade of
green, especially when painting portraits
as it corresponds very well with the human
skin tones to give a realistic hue. This was
especially popular with the Flemish artists.
GRISAILLE PAINTING TUTORIAL - RACKHAM HUNTER
HOBBY TUTORIAL
PAINTS USED IN THIS TUTORIAL
TEMPLE GUARD BLUE
GAMES WORKSHOP
GLACIER BLUE
RACKHAM
ABYSSAL BLUE
RACKHAM
ARCAVIA RED
RACKHAM
OGRYN FLESH
GAMES WORKSHOP
RACKHAM RED
RACKHAM
DEVLAN MUD
GAMES WORKSHOP
SKULL WHITE
GAMES WORKSHOP
NOESIS WHITE
RACKHAM
WILDCAT GRAY
RACKHAM
GRAY OF DARKNESS
RACKHAM
CHARADON GRANITE
GAMES WORKSHOP
KISLEV FLESH
GAMES WORKSHOP
PARCHMENT YELLOW
RACKHAM
TAUSEPT OCRE
GAMES WORKSHOP
SOIL OF AVAGDDU
RACKHAM
KHEMRI BROWN
GAMES WORKSHOP
CHITIN GREEN
RACKHAM
SYBARITE GREEN
RACKHAM
HOBBY TUTORIAL
IMAGE 4:LIGHTING FROM THE TOP
The hunter is frst spray painted with a white
primer. This will be a good base for other
colors to stick to and will give a good luster
to the paint even though I will go pretty dark
with the base coat.
For the frst steps I use an airbrush. I start
by giving the whole miniature a base coat
of Chitin Green and Chaos Black properly
thinned down (I use regular water as it is
so clean here in Sweden). This color mix is
applied in every angle to really cover the
complete miniature. Next I use pure Chitin
Green now adding paint only in an 0-90
angle, leaving anything below this untouched.
((image 3))
When dry I use Parchment Yellow, applying
it in an 45-90 angle, being careful not to use
too much paint to get a relatively smooth
transition. ((image 4))
Last I apply Noesis White in a 67.5-90 angle.
Now we have a transition from dark green to
a warm white. ((image 5&6)) For a large scale
miniature or if you want to add an extra effort
to it (like for competitions) you could also mix
colors between the steps to make additional
coats to get an even smoother fnish.
At this time Im content with the result. If
doing a miniature for really high end painting
I would here also apply further highlights
by glacing with Noesis White where needed.
Usually this could be good to apply to the
forehead, chins and shoulders, weapons and
in some cases materials on the miniature that
should be hard and refect more light, like a
glass bottle etc.
By starting with this even before applying
colors we get total control of the brightness and
contrast of a miniature which I believe is the
primal factor for readability of a miniature. But
IMAGE 3: BLACK AND GREEN BASE COAT
HOBBY TUTORIAL
for this article we skip this step. More about
reading miniatures and painting them with a
good readability will be featured in a future
issue of Kinetic 7.
When painting I use an artists pallet so that I
can thin down the paint a lot, without having it
running around and mixing with other paints.
I paint with very thin dillution, I would say
it has a milk like feeling. The whole idea is
to let the background shine through so it is
important to make the layers of paint thin and
also even enough. Depending on the brand of
paint, an acrylic retarder or acrylic medium
can be used to ease the process of getting even
layers.
Each step usually requires two thin layers of
paint, so this makes for quite a quick way to
paint when you get the hang of it.
IMAGE 7: SKIN BASE COAT
IMAGE 5 & 6: SHOWING THE FINAL HIGHLIGHT WITH AIRBRUSH
HOBBY TUTORIAL
Starting with the skin (as it is the deepest lying
parts of the Hunter) I paint it with two smooth
layers of Kislev Flesh letting the underlying
colors shine through, adding luster and depth.
((image 7)) When dry I apply a controlled wash
of Ogryn Flesh ((image 8)). After the wash I
paint the eyes and then use a glace of Kislev
Flesh and Glacier Blue, giving the skin a cooler
and more living hue, natural to an outdoor
environment. For the fnal highlights I add
Noesis White to the mix. ((image 9))
Now, being done with the most important
steps. I start with his skirt and cloak, giving
the skirt a couple of layers of Abyssal Blue. I
chose this color as the cold blues are excellent
to make the armor parts, straps and stones to
stand out more and it will also cool down the
lower area of the miniature, making the center
of the hunter the automatic focal point. Usually
the human eye gets drawn to the brightest and
IMAGE 9 IMAGE 8
IMAGE 10
HOBBY TUTORIAL
warmest colors. The cloak gets two layers of a
mix of Soil of Avagddu and Gray of Darkness.
((image 10))
The skirt needs a little bit of warmth to it and I
highlight it by frst adding just a little Sybarite
Green and then Noesis White. For the cloak I
use frst Wildcat Grey and then Noesis White.
Large areas like this cloak can be hard to glace
and highlight without visible brushstrokes. I
do this by being quick and as soon as I have
applied a highlight glace, I soften the edges
of it by using small circular motions over the
edges with a damp clean brush.
Next I apply colors to the bag , straps and wrap
around the spears etc. This starts with Khemri
Brown and then some Wildcat grey with just a
little amount of Parchment Yellow to make it a
little warmer. A little shade is added towards
the hand holding the spears by applying thin
glaces of Chitin Green/Chaos Black. Base
colors are added to the metal areas. For the
bronze I use a 50/50 mix of Tausept Ochre and
Khemri Brown. For the spear tips I use plain
Grey of Darkness. The bronze then get a wash
of Devlan Mud. ((image 11))
When the wash is dry I add green glaces to
make the metal get more depth (Chitin Green
with a little Chaos Black). Highlights are
applied by successively adding Noesis White
and Parchment Yellow, going up to fnally
using pure Noesis White. The Spear tips are
made by adding Wildcat grey and by adding
Noesis White to the brightest highlights.
((image 12))
Finally I paint the details (like the stones
attached to the straps) using a mix of Sybarite
Green and Temple Guard Blue. Note that I
am working with blue on blue here but with
different saturation and brightness which
work very well to create a harmonious but still
IMAGE 11
IMAGE 12
HOBBY TUTORIAL
striking look to really make the stones pop.
This mix is also used with the bottle but with
some Abyssal Blue and Chitin Green to it.
I also add freehand details to tie everything
together. At the front to also add more
movement and to the back do defne the
shoulder, to make him more readable.
The red fst is part of my overall army
theme. The Sessair is such a random bunch
of creatures so to tie everything together I
decided to add something common and came
up with the idea of letting each warrior have
their right hand painted red.
According to Confrontation lore - the Sessairs
dip their hands in the blood of a freshly
sacrifced stag. The frst Kelt chief to set foot on
Aarklash was even named Avagddu the Red
Handed. In my own forces story my warriors
honor that heritage, and the eventual peace
that came between the kelts and the children
of Danu (that together came together in the
Sessair tribes.)
Finally the weapons (that were painted in
the same fashion as the rest) were attached.
((image 13&14))
So that is how you apply an oldschool painting
technique like grisaille on miniture painting - I
hope you enjoyed!
IMAGE 13
IMAGE 14
OYE!
MINIATURE COMPANIES:
YOUR AD COULD BE HERE!
Look at all the empty space on this page - wouldnt you like to show
off your cool stuff right here? Well you can! Email us at ads@kinetic7.com
and we will get right back to you! Not only that, but in the best Penny-Arcade
fashion we will even design your ad for you! How cool is that?
/K7 team
HOBBY TUTORIAL
gets the job done perfectly fne. There are some
really expensive brands out on the market,
used for an example by dentists, that are
extremely hard and durable. I havent tried
them and I probably wont do it either because
I dont need it to get the result Im after. The
durability can be handled other ways to
satisfaction.
Plaster is extremely user-friendly as it is non-
toxic, easy to work with and pretty cheap. It
gets quite dusty and dirty when carved, but
keep a couple of layers of an old paper on your
workspace and you should be fne.
To get different effects and/or textures you
can add sand, gravels, sawdust, pigments and
lots of other stuff to the mix. I prefer to not add
any materials but to create the effects I want to
achieve by carving, brushing and dabbing.
By: Mathias Rofen Rofelt
Do you remember the frst time you opened a
Cry Havoc Magazine? The high quality of the
painted miniatures, the use of nmm and the
unusual awesome looking scenery. You recon
that? Well that is what struck me at frst sight.
Further reading one of the gaming worlds
most amazing magazines fnally got me into
trying out the excellent tutorials published
in Cry Havoc. Ever since then - I tend to use
plaster as the main material in my scenery.
This is the frst part in a series on how to make
scenery with plaster. Today I will go through
the basic steps with working with plaster.
Materials: Plaster comes in various different
quality and density. Ive found out that normal,
fne coarse, hobby plaster is both cheap and
MAKING PLASTER SCENERY PART 1
HOBBY TUTORIAL
Moulds: Where can I get those? Well, the
answer is rather where cant I get them? Old
blisters, plastic lids, plastic jars, home made
carved moulds from styrofoam, home made
moulds from wooden boards etc. Use your
imagination!
Below is a simple wall made by using a large
blister.
Tools: Your arsenal of tools will grow and
grow once you start playing with plaster. You
dont need the expensive modellingtools, well
By adding black pigment you can minimize the
chance of having your favorite scenery looking
broken if for an example a small piece of an
corner breaks off. Instead of having it shine
white (here I assume that your scenery piece
isnt white) it will be a grey tone depending on
how much pigment you added to the mix.
An other advantage by using pigments in your
mix is that it will result in an excellent base
color that you just can start to drybrush, ink,
whether etc. But remember to mix it well when
adding pigments.
HOBBY TUTORIAL
it with a metallic ruler immediately. I advice
you to try this on a scrap piece frst so you will
learn how the fresh plaster works with the dry
(cast) plaster. The dry cast will soak the water
immediately and leave a thick almost dry paste
on top of it. This needs to be worked with a
metallic ruler or a spatula at once. If it ends up
drying to quickly and is to thick, soak it a bit
with water and start work it again.
The goal with foating is to get the surface
irregular and eliminate fatness, by this giving
your cast life and a more realistic result in the
end.
Brushing and dabbing: To further get some
texture, aging etc one needs to learn how
to achieve different results. With an old
toothbrush you can both brush and dab the
cast. If you want to enhance it, spray/moisten
the cast with water and rock on with the brush
(be careful not to overdo it).
I prefer doing it on a dry cast, spending more
time and getting a better result.
Carving: Once you have your cast you can
start sketching up your design with a soft
pencil. The more time you have put down on
at least I dont. You can go pretty far result
wise with only a nail and an old toothbrush,
trust me! Tools you might fnd handy are: A
small saw, carving-tools, toothbrush, brushes,
fles, rasps, clippers, spatulas, compass and a
metallic ruler.
Casting: Mixing is simply adding the powder
to water in a cup or jar. The powder will sink
when added to water, and is ready to be mixed
once the powder stays above the surface
and starts to crack up. But before you start
mixing it, let it rest for about fve minutes.
Now your mix is ready for casting. The mix
starts to set immediately so you will have to be
pretty quick with your work. Hot water speeds
up the setting time and cold water slows it, so
thats pretty good to know when starting your
project.
Techniques
Floating: To get your cast realistic you need
to improve it a bit. First thing to do is to use
a technique called foating. Floating is when
you pour on some fresh plaster on top of the
desired area of the original cast and then work
HOBBY TUTORIAL
to your desired satisfaction and your wildest
imagination.
Look forward to more in depth tutorials as this
series continues!
the design, the easier it gets when you start
working with the cast itself. Always do a few
sketches on a paper that you easily can transfer
to the cast. Itll make the work run smoothly.
A smart way to easy up the carving if you plan
to have different levels on your fnal piece is to
sketch them up in different patterns.
Plaster should not be limited to scenery only.
Small pieces and fat blocks can be used on
bases as stones, bricks, broken statues, stairs
or concrete blocks etc. These can be carved
FEATURED ARTIST
As far as awards go, I have 8 Golden Demon
trophies (3 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze) as well
as a spattering of awards from ReaperCon,
GenCon and other local painting competitions.
Ive also been featured in Game Forces, White
Dwarf and No Quarter magazines.
Right now I work for CMON, Soda Pop
Miniatures, Dark Sword and Red Box Games.
/Aaron
My name is Aaron Lovejoy. I am 40 years old
and have been painting for the past 12 years
or so. The last 2 years I have been doing it full
time.
I live in San Diego, California and have two
children...Taylor and Jordan.
I started painting when I accidentally stumbled
actross a game store. I saw the Warhammer
40K stuff and have been hooked ever since.
My frst army was Black Templars. Now I run
a 15,000 point Chaos Army as well as a much
smaller Tau army. Yes, I actually do play the
games! I really do enjoy it...and if you were
wondering, every model that has won me a
Golden Demon has been played with in an
Apocalypse game!
GETTING TO KNOW AARON LOVEJOY AKA OLLIEKICKFLIP
FEATURED ARTIST
the movie, I simply make them myself with
the occational scream from the victim being
shot. As far as inspiration goes, I check out
cool mini or not quite a bit. I love looking at
all the awesome paintjobs that are posted on
that site!
K7: Do you have a process that you normally
follow?
OK: There is no real method to the madness
when it comes to how I tackle each miniature.
Every model is different so you attack each
paintjob differently. The only step that is the
same with every mini for me is I airbrush that
initial base coat on. It is always a base color,
highlight and shadow. It is typically the most
predominant color of the miniature. Then I
use that as a guide to highlight and shade the
other colors by hand. For instance if I was
to paint a female warrior. I would airbrush
the skin color over the entire model. Lets say
she has a robe on that needs to be red. Right
now it is shades of tan (skin colors). I would
use this as a guide for where to place my red.
In the darker skin color areas I apply dark
red and in the areas where the highlight skin
color is I use my highlight red color. Its very
easy and helps keep the direction of your
light consistant across the entire model.
As far as color selection for a model, I work
for several miniature companies and they
typically have concept art to work off of.
For private commission, either the customer
specifes the colors they want or I pick them
myself. If I get to choose, I try to pick colors
that compliment each other or that I have
seen work well together on someones elses
work.
K7: In what sort of environment do you
normally paint?
OK: These days I typically like to paint at
my local game store. There are two here in
San Diego that I paint at. At Ease Games
in Poway and Game Empire in Clairmonte
Mesa. I am a very social painter and I
fnd that getting out of the house actually
helps me paint for longer periods of time.
Otherwise I would be at home all the time
and that would be boring. I enjoy listening
to music while I paint...Techno is probably
my music of choice while painting. It
keeps you butt moving you know!! I have
also listened to more movies than I have
probably watched! Typically something with
lots of machine gun fre in the background
keeps my creative juices fowing while I
paint. If therer are no machine gun noises in
Q & A WITH OLLIEKICKFLIP
FEATURED ARTIST
FEATURED ARTIST
painting classes. It was amazing to see his
collection of miniatures and watch him paint.
I learned so much from him. I have also been
lucky enough to meet Mathieu Fontaine.
His colors and they way he does his contrast
between colors is just amazing. Not to
mention his airbrushing skills...that really
inspired me for painting vehicles. There are
so many other people who infuenced me in
my painting...Brice Cocanour was one of the
frst really good painters who would actually
talk to me and help me out with ideas.
Michael Proctor, Liliana Troy, Jen Kaufman
and all the Colorado painters. Thier work is
alwasy an inspiration. Jessica Rich, Thomas
Schadle, Joe Orteza, Todd Swanson, Zach
Lanier, Jen Haley...they are all painters that
I have admired over the years and been
fortunate enough to meet.
K7: Do you have a style? If so, how would
you defne it?
OK: I try really hard not to have a style. Early
on, I would see other painters who were
really good but that would paint everything
red...or blue..or only use nnm or true metalics.
I have always tried to change things up.
Sometimes its fun to do a paintjob in a
realistic style and then on the next paintjob it
crazy Anime colors.
K7: Which painters inspire you?
OK: GEA from JMPM was amazing! I am
still in awe of that model. It won the Crystal
Brush competition this year. As far as people
who have inspired me...Jeremie Bonamant is
a major infuence on my painting. We few
him out a couple of years in a row to teach
FEATURED ARTIST
Wrath of Kings, they have some really good
sculpts. I am also a huge fan of Warhammer
40K. The Chaos, Tau and Dark Eldar
armies really do it for me! Kabuki models,
Darksword minis, Red Box Games. Oh, and
Scibor...very good stuff. Especially their
space marine commander type models.
K7: When you are not doing a commission
piece - how do you select what to paint?
OK: I paint what moves me. My best
painting is alwasy done on a model that
inspires me. I need that passion to drive the
look and feel of the model. Unfortunately I
am so busy, I rarely get to paint for myself
anymore.
K7: Which brand of paints, brushes, airbrush
and tools do you use?
OK: I use the Rapael 8404 series paintbrushes.
They are amazing. Both for display quality
paintjobs or simply for painting an army.
K7: was there any piece of knowledge that you
felt really pushed your painting skills?
OK: It was lots of little things...you just have
to put the painting puzzle together. You cant
have just one way to blend...you need four
or fve techniques. I would suggest taking
paiting classes whenever and wherever you
have the opportunity. Also there are tons
of great painting videos out on the market
these days. Dont be afraid to pick some
up! Another important thing for me is paint
night. We get together every Friday night and
paint. Sometimes its just 2 of us and other
times its 10. You will be amazed at how your
painting will start progressing simply by
doing a paint night.
K7: do you have a favorite miniatures line?
OK: I love the Kingdom Death stuff...love
love love it!
A new line that Im painting for is called
FEATURED ARTIST
If you want to see more from Olliekickfip or
maybe even get a commission done you can
fnd him here:
http://www.prestigeminis.com/
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.
com/#!/olliekickfip
CMON Gallery: http://www.coolminiornot.
com/artist/olliekickfip
They last forever and have a great point. I
use the size 0 and 1 mostly. For airbrushing I
use a crappy Master Series G22 airbrush. Its
cheap and works amazingly well. I choose it
iver my Infnity 2 and 1 airbrush almost all
the time. I think you can get the G22 with a
silent air compressor for under 130.00 dollars.
Thats not bad! As for paint, I use them all...
My go to paints are GW and Reaper Master
Series right now, but I also use P3 and Vallejo
paints. Although I fnd that the Vallejo paints
dont stick as well as the the other brands.
Occasionaly I will use Tamiya paints as well.
I can run any of these brands of paint through
my airbrush so it makes for endless painting
options.
K7: How do you select your colors?
OK: I use a color wheel a lot. Try to fnd a
wheel that has more than just the primary
colors on it. This will allow you to see what
the complimentary color of say olive drab
is. Also just in general, I always keep an
eye out for good color combos. Video game
magazines and comic books are great sources
for good color combos.
K7 Do you have a paint job that you feel
especially proud of?
I realy like how the Masque of Slaanesh, how
the the Avatar of Khain came out and I am
really proud of Cang, the CMON dragon.
K7: Any fnal words to our readers?
OK: Just keep trying! It took many years of
practice to get to the level I am at today. I
failed misserably for 5 years before I fnally
one a Golden Demon Trophy. I still watch
every paint video I can get my hands on and
take every paint class that I can fnd. Never
stop learning and never stop living!!
FEATURED GAME
models managed to capture my imagination in
(what is now) such a super competitive market
whit jaw dropping stuff popping up online
every day. They have that great clean, semi-
comic book feel that is starting to become
a hallmark of Spanish sculptors.
By: Mikael Mananarepublic Astrom
1650 is a game from Tercio Creativo (TC) and
is one of the most exciting games Ive seen in
a long while. From the alternative historical
setting to the clean lines of the minis (which
are all sculpted by the owners and creators of
the game) the game presents a very complete
vision full of character.
I frst heard about the game when it was still
just a model line, with two or three models
released, and the style of the sculpts with their
renaissance style clothing and black powder
muskets seemed like a cool setting. Now that
the preview rules are out Ive had a chance to
look them over and get a grasp of what this
game will be like. I cant go on without talking
frst about how awesome the sculpts are, the
A NEW GAME WITH A LOW FANTASY THEME
FEATURED GAME
in place. Models include classic Spanish
conquistador style models and jailers with
hoods.
The new order
A combination of criminal elements
and freedom fghters wishing to
overthrow the current rulers and
insert a more commoner friendly
order. The models feel much more like a ragtag
group with more diversity between the them.
Mercenaries
These are characters that will fght
for any side as long as the pay is
good enough.
In the future I can easily see TC adding more
factions such as pirates, the french, the popes
forces and so on but for right now the line feels
solid with the two existing factions.
There are named characters but instead of
allowing the same characters to be used in both
forces, the players have to do an initial bid to
see who gets to keep the model in their army.
Setting and factions
The game is set in an alternative version of
17th century Spain, but beyond some tangible
results from blessings it stays very low fantasy
and kind of realistic. Like an old swashbuckler
movie where fencing swords are clashing in a
fog created by heavy gunpowder muskets.
The peninsula of Iberia is in civil confict as
different factions are fghting for position
and the power to decide the future rules of
the country, with the ultimate goal os re-
establishing the Spanish as a power in the
region.
Right now there are two factions and a set of
mercenaries that will work for either side.
The Old regime
These are the supporters of the
crown, the troops fghting to
keep the current power structure
FEATURED GAME
The system uses alternate activation model,
where each player alternates activating one
model at a time. When all the models have
been activated - another round starts. I really
prefer this way as it keeps both players active
and allows for a really small style skirmish
force (which would be harder in a different
setup.)
Close combat manages to be fast as well as
detailed. Every close combat weapon comes
with two skill levels, one for attacking and the
other for replying. These values represent how
good a model is at attacking and defending
themselves with a specifc weapon, and used
depending on which role the model has
in a round of hand to hand combat - again,
simulating the ebb and fow of swashbuckling
combat. Which brings me to the next cool
feature. Just like Alkemy, 1650 uses card
mechanics to give some depth and favor to
the combat. These dexterity card add different
rules to each round, like special attacks or
defenses. Each weapon is of one of four
Combat and game mechanics
The whole game is based around rolling D10s
with a higher roll being a better roll. Roll
higher than your skill value and you have
succeeded.
FEATURED GAME
Shooting is deadly but slow as a model can do
very little while reloading their gun. I like this,
ranged combat becomes crucial for success so
players will have to plan how they use their
assets. Imagine a sharpshooter peeking around
a corner and taking a shot at the butcher who
is trying to cross the courtyard to get closer to
him.
Your models dont have a lot of health (no
tanks here) and the effects of combat can be
seen right away with models feeing and/or
dying as a result.
To add a little favor some models come with
coins called maravedies, which can be used to
add a dice to a roll (discarding the lowest) and
for using skills. The cool thing is that the coins
are available for purchase in resin and the fuff
fts nicely with the rules - give your soldier a
little incentive, and they will do better :-).
One of my favorite game mechanics is the way
lamps work. Before the start of the game the
players establish the scenario and what type
different types - piercing, sharp, blunt and
distance (yeah you can still whack someone
with that big musket,) and each card can only
be used together with certain weapon types.
Right now there is only a 14 cards released but
I can see how a whole deck could add so much
favor to combat and make it a much more
cinematic experience.
FEATURED GAME
If you want to you can jump between two
buildings straight into combat in the best
Dumas fashion!
Final words
TC has got something really special cooking
and Spain seems to taking over the lead
position from the French as far as model design
goes! I can see how this game can be very fast
and beneft from being played on tables with
a lot of scenery. Things will die, run away
and the rules for interacting with scenery
are simple enough to work. I really hope this
becomes a hit, as it deserves it as a true labour
of love with some real cool rules.
Tercio Creativo has an indiegogo.com crowd
funding campaign that is about to close (or
already has) - there is some great rewards
(including exclusive busts, sculpted lamp
markers and exclusive models) for getting
in on the campaign so if this game sounds
interesting go check it out! Especially dont
miss the bust perk given away to some funding
levels!
of battle it is - on a roll of 7 or more on a D10
the result is a night fght. In a night fght the
range of all ranged weapons is halved, which
has a great impact on tactics. Before the battle
starts a number of lamps are placed by the
players (half of the amount of the dice roll.)
The lamps are placed by both players, taking
turns placing them. This means that already
at this stage a player will need to think about
their plan of action.
Setting the mood
To go along with their creation TC is releasing
lovely scenery pieces that are both modular
and can easily ft into any other fantasy setting.
We see this more and more with gaming
companies either releasing scenery pieces in
in kits or adding them as part of starter sets.
I really like this - scenery can make all the
difference when it comes to making a battle
come to life!
The rules for interacting with said scenery are
very easy with basic modifers to diffculty
depending on how much injury your model
has sustained.
HOBBY TUTORIAL
materials, techniques and, if all goes well I will
follow the model from armature to cast metal
miniature.
The internet has been and invaluable resource
as have some of the local Australian sculptors
and Nic at Eureka Miniatures who does my
casting. I thank all who have given me hints
and help over the last couple of years.
Its a steep learning curve when sculpting but
it is immensely rewarding and satisfying to
hold, at the end of the process, a metal model
in your hand that you created.
By: Peter Angora Oveton
In this series of articles I intend to show you
how I go about sculpting a miniature. Let me
start by saying this is my way of doing things
and not necessarily the best, or even the right
way to do stuff. I started sculpting a few years
back as a bit of fun and, over the last year or
two have had several commissions and have
learned a lot.
I am by no means a professional and these
articles will comprise a full account of the
process I take. I will be covering tools and
SCULPTING A MINIATURE PART 1
HOBBY TUTORIAL
These tools have a wide variety of points,
spoon shaped bits, fat areas, blades and chisel
like points. I can normally fnd a tool amongst
this colllection that will make the kind of mark
Im looking for.
Having said all that these tools are probably
my least commonly used ones. Every sculptor
has his or her preferred tool and I am no
exception.
By far the two most commonly used tools in
my collection are my bog standard Games
Workshop sculpting tool and my Wax #5.
The Games Workshop tool was the frst tool I
bought and it has become the one with which
I am most familiar. I have a similar tool in
my general tool range (see earlier pic) but
something about the size and angle of the
wee fat end is different and this one works so
much better.
The Games Workshop tool has a good blade
and a small round, fat end. The blade is great
for cutting in armour plates and hard edges
while the fat bit is perfect for smoothing areas
This frst article will cover the tools and
materials I use and we will get started on a
miniature based on the brilliant cover art of
this magazine.
Part 1 - Tools
There are a wide variety of tools that can be
used for sculpting. Basically anything with
a point or an edge that will make the kind of
mark you are chasing will do the trick. I tend
to buy tools as I see them. Most of mine have
come from art stores or craft shops with only
one or two from hobby stores. The large clay
sculpting tools arent much use in general for
miniatures - they are designed for much larger
work. The wax sculpting tools are often very
useful as are the range of small burnishers that
are designed for gold leaf.
Sculpting Tools
I have quite a variety of metal tools. Many of
these show come from a large set I bought off
ebay for a few dollars. Some I have been given
and some just seemed to appear in my study
and I dont quite remember getting them at
all...
MY SELECTION OF TOOLS. NOT THE STRAY BLOBS OF
GREEN STUFF HARDENER AND OTHER UNTIDY BITS
WHERE I'VE BEEN TO LAZY TO CLEAN IP PROPERLY
AFTER MYSELF...
MY TWO FAVOURITE SCULPTING TOOLS.
AFFECTIONATELY KNOWN AS SID AND NANCY - I'LL
LEAVE YOU TO DECIDE WHO'S WHO.
HOBBY TUTORIAL
Some care does need to be taken when using
these tools on fresh putty as they can tend to
make a ripple effect as the tip sort of bounces
along the surface. If you fnd this happening
use the next frmest one until it stops, changing
to metal tools if black does it too.
These three tools are very handy. The top one is
a sharp, needle like point that is very handy for
small detailed work like eyes, buckles etc.
The middle one is a ball burnisher with two
ends, one slightly larger than the other. I use
this mostly for bevelling the edges of armour
and making round cut outs for futed steel or
similar things.
The fnal one is a blunt round tip that is handy
for making small adjustments and clean ups to
areas where the #5 is too big. I like these three
as they are kinda pen like to use/
Knives
A couple of knives are handy. I tend to use
the black one shown for working on sculpts,
shaving away bits etc. I keep a good, sharp
blade in that one. It also serves as my general
hobby knige for getting off mould lines etc.
Occasionally my knife will double as a
sculpting tool but I tend not to use it for that
much.
and working on curved shapes. This end is
the one I probably use most when massing out
miniatures.
The #5 also has a blade, however it is rather
thick and I hardly ever use it. Its probably a
lot more use working with wax. The curved,
smooth pointy end is great and I use that a lot
to smooth areas, get in under a models arms,
help create folds in cloth and generally work
on areas where the Games Workshop tools end
is a bit too large (i.e. faces, muscles etc.)
Another very, very hand kind of tool is the
Colour shaper. These bad boys are like paint
brushes with rubber tips. White is a very soft
tip, grey is medium while black is very frm.
These tools are indispensable when sculpting
cloth as they make the movement of putty into
fowing curves so much easier. The Firmer
ones are great for blending soft, frest putty
with previously set stuff as they can drive the
material fat whist keeping nicely to the form
below.
I have the bullet point and chisel point in all
three kinds and a fat chisel in the frm for
armour and hard edges.
HOBBY TUTORIAL
I also keep on hand some very fne (1,000 grit)
wet and dry paper for fnal smoothing. I tear
this into small bits to sand in crevices and have
even glued it to bamboo BBQ skewers to create
small custom fles...
Another important use for the sandpaper if to
clean up your tools. Almsot inevitably as you
work small bits of putty cling to your tools and
the working faces of the tools become cvery
lightly scratched and marked. All these factors
can make the medium you work with cling
to the tool a bit or leave unwanted streaks/
indentations in your work.
Every session, before I start work, I give the
working faces of Sid and Nancy a bit of a buff
up with the sandpaper. It keeps the blade
sharp, the faces nice and smooth and gets rid
of small gobbetts of random dried putty.
Other Tools
Speaking of putty clinging to tools... this stuff
is the ducks nuts to keep everything running
smoothy. Most epoxy putties (e.g. Green Stuff
and Procreate) tend to cling to your tools,
especially when fresh and sticky. I keep one of
these wee chap sticks handy, scooping small
amounts of it out and applying it to whatever
The other one uses a blunt blade from the frst
knife and it is the one I use to cut off chunks off
putty for mixing and cleaning my other tools.
Files
My collection of fles ranges from the large,
rough hooby fles through smaller fles and
down to the tiny diamond fles you can see (the
ones with the red handles).
The larger fles dont see much use in sculpting
but can be handy sometime of a large amount
of putty needs fling back. The smaller ones can
all be used to refne and clean up shapes once
the putty has set.
HOBBY TUTORIAL
sculpting only to cut armature wire - I cant
think of anything else.
The small pliers are used to bend the armature
into shape and sometimes to help remove the
fnished sculpt from its working base (very
carefully...)
An old, old toothbrush that generally sees
service when my miniatures whos paintjobs
kind of fail get a bath in Simple Green.
In sculpting terms it is generally used to give
the mini a quick scub when I fnd that Im
getting loose bits of putty foating about. This
generally happens after fling but when using
Super Scupley you can be left with a few stray
grainy bits that need a brushing to get them off
neatly.
This is my armature wire. Its 1mm, soft steel
wire. This roll has been in use for 4 years or so
now and is used for pinning minis too. A sculpt
will only use about 10cm or so and, as the roll
was 20 metres when I started I dont see myself
running out any time soon.
Make sure you buy soft steel wire for
armatures. Copper wire is too soft and tends to
bend when youre working and hard steel wire
will destroy your clippers.
I also keep various bits of brass rod about,
tool I am using. It makes the process so much
easier and it also seems to clean off nicely with
your fnger for the next layer of putty.
Fairly self explanatory really. The drill is for
making holes in stuff, whether that be in the
base to hold the armature or in the sculpt to
insert more wires or just to make holes where
holes should be.
Tweezers are for picking up a miniatures head
after it pops off the armature, rolls across the
desk and nestles in next to my radio where I
cant reach... (and manipulating other small
thingumabobs)
I keep standard modelling clippers for cutting
things from other things. These see use when
HOBBY TUTORIAL
back a little when you sculpt. It also remains
rubbery when set and doesnt sand or fle
terribly well.
You generally get about 20-30 minutes useable
life out of Greenstff once mixed so dont mix
more than you can use in that time.
Im not best fond of the strip form of
Greenstuff and prefer the one that comes in
two tubes as you dont get the pre-hardened bit
where the two putties meet.
I normally store my epoxy putties in small zip-
loc bags.
Pro Create
Procreate is very similar to Greenstuff.
Its used the same way except that the Grey
component is the hardener. It mixes faster than
greenstuff too.
The main advantage of ProCreate is that it is
not as springy as Greenstuff so its much easier
to get fne details in, along with nice sharp
edges. It also stays where you push it so its a
little easier to control. As it isnt as sticky, it is
a little harder to use when applying small, fne
bits (like fligree for example).
Both epoxy putties harden beyond sculpting
useability in about half an hour or so but they
ranging from .5mm to 2-3mm for various
purposes. Its useful for gun barrels, spear hafts
and the thinner stuff is used to give swords
a solid central core. The brass rod is used
anywhere a nice, even, circular shaft is needed.
Other handy things to have are white metal
cast guitar strings and ball bearings (I gor
mine from Dragon Forge designs). The guitar
strings are great for power cables and much
easier than sculpting them each time. The Ball
bearings can be used as eyeballs on big stuff
and as globes, the base of fasks and any other
purpose where a nice even sphere is required.
You can also just roll up a ball of putty but the
bearings are simpler.
Scuplting mediums
Greenstuff
This stuff is one of the more common mediums
for sculpring miniatures. Its good stuff and,
whilst very useful, has been largely replaced
by either Procreate or Super Sculpey for me.
Its easy to mix, just a bit of blue and a bit of
yellow and knead untill its an even green.
The Blue is the hardener so the more of that
your mix contains the faster it will set and the
harder it will be. I tend to work to about a 70:30
Yellow/Blue mix as I like a quite sticky mix for
the things I use Greenstuff for.
I generally use it as a base on an armature to
get Scupley to stick and to add small details
to minis where the stickiness of the putty is an
advantage.
Greenstuff is quite rubbery and will spring
HOBBY TUTORIAL
with as kids! It has a few of advantages when
sculpting.
Firstly there is no mixing so its quick to get
going.
It wont set or harden until you cook it so you
can keep working on a piece as long as you like
until you are happy with it.
It has less spring in it than either of the
expoxy putties so it stays exactly where you
push it.
Its cheap! This block cost me about $30AU and
Ive used it for half a dozen models now and
have used this much....
As its name suggests its frm. What this
means is that your model is a bit more resistant
to handling.
still can be worked and refned until they set
completely.
It is sometimes necessary to wait for them to
set a bit before refning details and smoothing
areas as, when they are soft its quite easy to
deform them (beware the stray fnger when
you are working!).
They harden completely in 3-4 hours at room
temperature. You can speed this up by popping
them in an oven at about 30 degrees C for half
an hour. The putty will then be nice and hard
and ready to have the next layers added.
Be careful not to put your model in the oven
until it has reached temperature and settled
down. Most ovens fre their elements to get to
temperature fast. I know from experience that
popping a mini in too early while the oven is
warming WILL melt your putty and ruin your
work.
A good test is to pop a standard slotta base
in the oven prior to your sculpt. If the base
doesnt deform then you should be OK.
Super Sculpey
This is my favourite sculpting medium at
the moment. It feels and behaves very much
like the plastiscene Im sure you all played
HOBBY TUTORIAL
one-off items (I use it for bases etc) but if you
make a miniature from it you will need to have
a resin master made before going to metal.
Sculpey needs to cook at 120 degrees C for
abou 10 minutes so beware of using any
component in a model that wont stand the
heat (i.e. plastic)
Magic Sculpt
I only got hold of this stuff recently and
havent played with it much yet. Im told its
great for hard edged items like swords etc as it
hardens to a very stiff fnish that takes sanding
and fling well.
From my little play with it so far it seems like
a replacement for Miliput Superfne White
(which I used to use for that sort of thing) but
is fner and smoother.
When I get to the actual miniature Ill be
sculpting in later issues Ill have a play with
this stuff and well see what comes of it then
eh?
That about covers the main tools and materials
I use when sculpting. Im sure there are things
Ive missed but, as the miniature progresses,
well cover them as they come to hand.
So, without further ado, on to the fun part...
Having said how great it is it also has a few
disadvantages.
Its reasonably tough to get new Sculpey to
stick to baked sculpey. I tend to complete as
much as can before baking off the sculpey and
switching to one of the epoxies for the fnishing
details.
Its also quite crumbly straight from the pack.
You can warm it up in your hands and it gets
better but you really need to invest in some
clay softener to make it properly workable. Just
a drop or two of this stuff on a lump of scupley
and mash it together and it gets very much
softer and more workable.
The softener also makes the sculpey much
more sticky and likely to adhere properly to
your work.
In no case though is Sculpey suitable for using
straight over an armature - it just wont stay.
You need to apply a layer of expoy (Green stuff
is best) and then quickly add sculpey over that.
Sculpey does come in a few forms. I only
use the frm for sculpting as its the best for
holding detail and it is the only one of the
range that will withstand the vulcanising
process the moulds will go through.
The regular, pink, sculpey is great for making
HOBBY TUTORIAL
As you can see there are a whole range of
interesting areas from his wrapped leggings
to the stone axe heads and the fappy, torn kilt
thingy - hopefully amongst these articles youll
learn a thing or two ( I know I will). Some
things Im fairly certain how to approach,
others Im not 100% on yet. I will document
my sucesses and failures as I think showing as
much of MY process as I can is going to make
the article more interesting for all of us.
As I said earlier Im not a professional so I do
rather work things out as I go and sometimes
it just goes a bit pear shaped but, with any luck
and with the dice gods smiling on me there
should be a pretty cool miniature in metal at
the end of it all.
First Steps:
The Base
Before starting a sculpt you need to decide on
what sort of base its going to be on. If its a
display piece and will be on a large scenic base
then preplanning isnt vital - just do what you
feel and build the base to suit. In this instance
I want to get the guy to ft on a standard
Confrontation infantry base from Rackham. I
collect Rackhams Kelts so this fella may well
see action in my force so he needs to ft on the
appropriate base.
As I intend to use Super Scupley Firm I
must use a heat resistant base. Most plastic
bases will be OK at the 30 degrees C used
to set Greenstuff or Procreate but will melt
completely at 120, the temperature at which
sculpey must be baked.
To solve this I need a piece of balsa wood. I use
4mm balsa as its nice and strong and it has one
added advantage that I will cover later on.
The Sculpt
For the purposes of this article Ill be working
on a Human Barbarian based on our excellent
cover art by Nico.
The interesting thing is this should give you
a good feel for proportion and scale as we all
know how a human should look. There are
also some interesting textures in the form of
fur and feathers along with some fne fligree
work (eeek! - Im scared of that bit cos Im a bit
rubbish at it).
Here is the concept art:
BRILLIANT, ISN'T IT?
HOBBY TUTORIAL
The next step is to glue the proxy rock in place.
You can see Ive stuck it a little off square as I
feel miniatures look much better just a touch
out of square with their bases. It breaks up the
lines a bit and makes them look much more
natural.
With that done its on to...
The Armature
First up cut a length of wire about 3-4 times the
height of the miniature.
In this case I have a piece about 15cm long. You
need the length to allow for the twisting step
that comes next and for the wire to be secured
to the working base.
At this point I normally grab a miniature from
my cabinet as reference for how big to make
the armature. I want a human in this case,
preferably one with a nice, urpight pose that
shows the proportions of the scale nicely.
Here are the bits I will use. The smaller block
will be used to make a rest for his back foot. Ill
be scukpting the miniature and his wee scenic
base separately so at this stage I just need
something to proxy in for the rocks.
The frst step is to turn your plastic base
upside down and trace around it with a felt tip
marker.
This is a bit tricky with the steep angle of the
Rackham base bit if Im a mm or so out it wont
matter much. Once I have the base marked in
I know how my model will relate to the base
in the fnal instance. Im not worried too much
about the slots the base has as this model wont
use them anyway. If it is a consideration mark
them it too as its important to know how your
miniature will relate to its base.
HOBBY TUTORIAL
You sometimes fnd that the hips may be bit
wide, it rather depends on your pliers. If they
are just bend them down a bit to narrow them.
Do the same thing to the other leg and then
its time for the next important joint - the knees.
You must keep checking your proportions at
this stage. If you get these key bends too badly
wrong it will have implications for your sculpt
later that you may not be able to recover from
easily.
Once you have your bit of wire and reference
miniature grasp it frmly at the narrow end of
your long nose pliers, bending it in half and
then start twisting the two halves together.
Keep twisting until you have a length of
twisted wire that runs from roughly the middle
of the reference models face to his groin.
As you can see in this pic Ive probably gone
one, maybe two, twists too far. Its no great
drama as I can just nip the top off with my
clippers once I have checked it.
Next up the hips need to be formed.
Grab one of the legs of the armature in the
pointy end of your long nose pliers again and
hold it frmly (see image HIP 1.)
Once you have a good grip bend the leg to
form the hip of the miniature (see image HIP
2.)
HIP 1
HIP 2
HOBBY TUTORIAL
The thigh of your average male is about the
same length as from hip to chest and the lower
leg is about the same as the thigh.
Bend the legs with your pliers at the
appropriate spot. Dont worry about pose at
this stage, well get that sorted once we have
the vital bends in place.
Here we have the armature with knees and
hips in place. You will note that Ive not
worried about arms I tend to pop the arms
on once I have much of the body sculpted. I
like to get the line of the shoulders right before
committing to arms (plus I cant solder worth a
damn so attaching them now is tricky).
HOBBY TUTORIAL
I now take the base I prepared earlier and drill
a hole where I KNOW one foot will be. In this
case the foot Im most sure of is the one on the
rock (his rear foot) so I drill that hole frst.
Pop that leg of the armature in and you can
then start to estimate where the hole for the
other leg should be. Make that hole and pop
the second leg in. I usually end up making a
couple of holes for the second leg - I often fnd
that by the time I have the armature down far
enough to make the lower legs the right length
then my frst estimation is off...
If your miniature is on tip-toe remeber to allow
for his ankle in the armature. This guy has one
foot just off the ground but I think Ill get away
with using a straight wire and trimming back
the excess - I think that will be simpler (heres
hoping it doesnt come back to bite me later...)
Once you are happy with the pose and the
holes for the legs then pull the armature
through until your lower legs are the correct
length.
You want a good 2cm of wire poking through
at this stage. Its not a bad idea to give each
leg a little bend with your pliers to stop them
pulling back through as the armature will
probably have a bit of spring in as its now
under some pressure.
Now, having done the tricky bit, we can start
to work on the pose. In this case I want one leg
that is just about straight, one bent and a lean
forwards in the torso as the barbarian steps off
the rock.
This step is hard to explain its just a matter
of understanding how the person is moving
and getting your armature to match. Its not a
technique I can put simply - its as much feel
as rule.
Its not a bad idea to stand up and try the
action yourself - get a feel of how your
body moves and try and capture that in the
armature.
Below you can see my posed armature next to
the concept.
You can see Ive nipped the top off the
armature to fx my mistake earlier. The lower
part of the armature is way too long at present
but thats OK - we need that length for the next
step.
HOBBY TUTORIAL
Here is the completed armature. It looks
pretty good to me. There may be a very slight
elongation of the shin of the front leg but it will
be fne I think. I may yet lean the torso a bit
further forward - not sure yet well get some
putty on and see.
Next issue Ill get started on the sculpt and
show you how to go about massing the fgure
in and getting the simple, bulky shapes right.
We may even get to some interesting detaily
bits... you just never know.
Cheers
/Peter
Once you are happy with the pose and
proportions pop a good bit of superglue on
each leg from underneath the base. The Balsa
will soak it up and you should end up with
quite a frm armature. Its worthwhile bending
the spare wire fat along the underside of the
base and glueing it again just to make sure
it holds as you will be doing quite a bit of
pushing and shoving from above later on.
Some sculptors glue the balsa working base to
corks or other bits of material to give it more
height and a kind of handle. I dont like that - it
doesnt suit me, but if you think it would suit
you - go for it!
HOBBY TUTORIAL
You might be able to do more with an airbrush
on a Space Marine or a Warjack, but for most
of my work, I either end up doing the basecoat
of whatever color that covers the biggest area
of the model (as the case is with my WFB ogres
skin,) or as in this case some basic highlight/
shading of armor.
All the armor is given a basecoat of Adeptus
Battlegrey and the middle of the sword is
highlighted with it. The sword should only
be highlighted in the center as I will later use
masking tape to create an NMM effect. Then
the armor is given a highlight of Fortress Grey,
then Fortress Grey with a tiny bit of Morrow
White in it. When applying the paint with the
By: Mikael Mananarepublic Astrom
I just love the new Wrath of Kings line, I
have been fortunate enough to get hold of
some of the resin pre-releases and they are a
complete pleasure to paint. For this tutorial I
am painting a Teknes Union Worker soldier.
I wont go into extreme detail but cover
the most important parts of painting this
miniature.
Doing the Airbrush work frst
I just recently started using an airbrush and I
fnd it to be an awesome tool for doing some
of the basic work on a model (that would
otherwise be very time consuming.)
AND THIS LITTLE PIGGY WENT TO THE PAINTING TABLE
HOBBY TUTORIAL
INITIAL AIRBRUSH WORK AND BRUSH ON EXTREME HIGHLIGHTS.
Fortress Grey and then with Fortress Grey and
a little Morrow White. After this removed the
tape and started with the brushwork.
For all the extreme highlights on the armor and
blade (the pure whites and such) I use a brush
and keep the contrast a little harsher than what
I would in a normal blend - this is extreme
highlight created by light catching the metal so
a little roughness in the blend actually works.
Right now the NMM is passable for a
tabletop quality but I like to add one more
thing: a glaze. Metal refect what is around
airbrush I have the PSI dialed down to around
18-20 so I can hold the airbrush closer to the
model without spreading the paint. I also use
a downward angle for the highlights on the
shoulder pads (matching the angle of my light
source.)
Once this is fully dry I mask off half the sword
using masking tape, I use the cheap kind
from Home Depot but there are much better
available from your local craft store. The half of
the blade no covered is then given a basecoat of
Adeptus Battlegrey. I then highlight the blade
towards the top and the bottom - frst with
MASKING OFF THE SWORD AND DOING IT IN STEPS
HOBBY TUTORIAL
I thin the paint down to a wash consistency
and in thin controlled layers (you should not
be able to see the frst 2-3 layers) I apply my
paint with the brush going from the lightest
area down into the shadows. You can see the
result to the left the camera cant really catch
it on the blade but you can see how much more
alive the shoulder pad is.
Once I am done with the armor I do most of
the basecoats, trying to stay clean within each
surface area and paint using thin layers.
The Skin
This is a method that I use almost all the time
for Caucasian skin tones, with only smaller
modifcations as far as how much I highlight
the skin, and what colors I use for the deepest
shadows and glazes. The overall method and
colors stay the same regardless.
The skin is given a basecoat of Tallarn Flesh
(I will miss this paint so much now that is is
gone), I usually apply it in 2 or 3 thinned down
coats. It covers really great but try not to apply
the paint too thickly. It is important that this
it so you can either use a color from a fctive
environment (as the blue sky,) a rust brown or
as I am in this case the Deep Turquoise Incubi
Darkness used on the leggings.
PAINTS USED IN THIS TUTORIAL
SANGUINE BASE
P3 PAINTS
EXILE BLUE
P3 PAINTS
INCLUBI DARKNESS
GAMES WORKSHOP
CRYX BANE BASE
P3 PAINTS
MORROW WHITE
P3 PAINTS
FORTRESS GRAY
GAMES WORKSHOP
TROLLBLOOD HIGHL.
P3 PAINTS
CRYX BANE HIGHL.
P3 PAINTS
RYN FLESH
P3 PAINTS
TALLARN FLESH
GAMES WORKSHOP
HAMMERFALL KHAKI
P3 PAINTS
GUNCORPS BROWN
P3 PAINTS
ADEPTUS BATTLEGREY
GAMES WORKSHOP
SHINY BLACK
ANDREA
CHITIN GREEN
RACKHAM
SYBARITE GREEN
RACKHAM
ARMOR BEFORE AND AFTER GLAZING
HOBBY TUTORIAL
My favorite step is the last one, I mix some
Sanguine Base with the Tallarn Flesh and thin
it down to a wash consistency. Then using thin
controlled layers I glaze the muscles starting
my brush motion in the middle of the muscle
and ending it in the dark recess. After one or
two runs across the paint something magical
happens and a gradient of cold reddish shade
ends up between the shade and highlight I
love this step as it also helps pop the skin and
make it more interesting to me. You can use
this same technique to create great effects as
red noses or bruises/cuts as well.
Leather Armor
The Leather armor was given a basecoat of a
40/40/20 mix of Cryx Bane Base, Battlefeld
Brown and Shiny Black. I shade this by adding
successively more Shiny Black to the mix. Then
I highlight it with a 70/30 mix of Battlefeld
Brown and Morrow White.
layer is 100% opaque as it will dictate how the
shading and highlighting comes out.
Next I shade the skin by adding Umbral
Umber to the Tallarn Flesh, I add a little at the
time making the mix successively darker. I try
to give the muscles volume by shading the
underside or each muscle and exaggerating the
volume of them by crawling the shadows up
on the sides.
I then highlight the muscles using Ryn fesh
mixed with Tallarn Flesh. I use the same
thought process as with the shading - creating
soft highlights at the top of the muscles.
Skin have more color nuances than pink.
So after the highlights are done I shade the
deepest recesses with a mixture of Umbral
Umber and Exile blue this makes for a much
cooler (the temperature) shading color and
gives some depth to the skin.
THE SKIN IN FIVE STEPS
CLOSEUP OF THE LEATHER ARMOR BEING PAINTED
HOBBY TUTORIAL
highlight with the basecoat - which is what
happened to me here.
As a fnal touch to the shield I add some
scratches, again to give texture.
The tabard
The tabard is given a basecoat of Trollblood
Highlight, then shaded with (frst) Cryx
Bane Highlight, and then Cryx Bane Base. To
highlight I used the base coat + Morrow White.
I needed a pattern on the tabard to break up
the color. The Teknes faction symbol looks
like a gear with two fashes going through it. I
though of doing this symbol in the middle of
the tabard but I thought better of it. The tabard
is so folded it would have distorted the look of
the symbol and made it look like gibberish.
So instead I chose to do half a gear at the
bottom of the tabard, this way I could get a
I make a sponge out of some old blister foam
and apply both the basecoat mix and a 40/60
mix of the basecoat/Morrow White over the
highlighted areas of the armor. This gives the
armor that worn leather look, and a lot more
texture than just a straight highlight would. I
want different materials to seem like they have
a different texture.
Because the lighter sponged on details are a
little harsh, I fnish of the leather armor by
glazing the whole surface with a thin coat of
Battlefeld Brown this dampens the most
aggressive highlights and pulls the whole area
together.
The Leather details and shield
The leather was shaded in two ways: The
smaller details (such as the armor stitching
and belt) were shaded using devlan mud. The
shield was instead
shaded using Battlefeld
BrownBrown.
For highlights I use
Hammerfall Khaki then
Hammerfall Khaki
with a touch of Morrow
white it it. Whenever
you use white you
might end up having
to glaze over the whole
THE LEATHER SHIELD COVER
THE TABARD IS FINISHED
HOBBY TUTORIAL
mix, and then a 50/50 Incubi Darkness and
Morrow White mix.
I hope you enjoyed this article as much as
I enjoyed painting the model. I am looking
forward to tackling other Wrath of Kings
models in future issues.
Teknes style symbol and that would still be
legible despite of the folded tabard.
I start off by marking out a bottom line and
the a half circle marking the size of the center
of the gear using Incubi Darkness (I used this
paint to tie the leggings in with the tabard.)
I try to look at how the fabric is folding and
drawing my lines to refect that.
Then I fll out the whole shape and add the
gears to the circle. The gear is shaded with
Shiny Black and highlighted with a 50/50 mix
of Incubi Darkness and Morrow White.
This was repeated on both sides of the model.
The Leggings & Tunika
The basecoat of Incubi Darkness is shaded with
a mix of the basecoat and Shiny Black. I take
the shadows, around the buttons and in the
crevasses, a little further than I should because
that will make the details pop. I highlight frst
using a 80/20 Incubi Darkness/Morrow White
THE LEGGINGS
FIN
NEXT ISSUE:
| Theme: Magic |

Kinetic7 1 Aug 2012 v2 PDF

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Kinetic7 1 Aug 2012 v2 PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

ISSUE 1: Wrath of Kings | Dark Age | Confrontation | Changing Economics in the Industry | Sculpting | Plaster Scenery and more...

You might also like