A fine glass of red wine, packing my suitcase for D.C. and some fine music.

Hey Jungle Painters,

today the last load of Random Prize Pool winners was shipped.
Additional to this we already started to ship individual medals. We did not finish this yet and tomorrow Raffa and Roman are heading out to the NOVA Open 2015.



After our return we will drop a last bunch of parcels to the roads with all your medals included.

Stay tuned´and keep on happy painting!
Best Wishes,
Your MV-Team

Well, this looks totally awesome, eh?

Hey Jungle Painters,

well, I never really was into Custom Toys.

I learned about them via the interview with David "Dust" Stegmann.
Recently I got in touch with some more. An emergency email forwarded from the local hobby store called "Modellbau Koch" (where I am a frequent visitor).

The mail was about doing repairs on two customized "Toy Pops!" for a wedding cake. Inspired by the couples World of Warcraft Characters. The wedding was close. I read the urgency in the words of Bernhard and put on my Batman-Costume. I did the repairs, repainted some areas and did some minor more work to the hair and eyes. Also a white plastic card board was cut in a circle shape (thanks for your patience and pity to my elbow, Bene!) to look better on the white wedding cake. Fun. Truely fun.

I was even thinking about painting one of these to the light and texture standards in the miniature painting scene. Mmh. If there is anyone of you outthere who could imagine such a crazy comission, please contact me!

Toy Pops!

Patience by Bene, but what I learned from this photo: Doing something with a blade and a having a patch on the finger does never look professional. And Bene did awesome!
 From the back!
 Upper Front!


Thanks Bernhard for your trust!
Emergency case closed!
I wish you a great wedding!

And to all you jungle painters outthere:
Keep on happy painting!
Best Wishes
Roman

Hey Jungle Painters!

Maybe you remember Forged Monkey? I am sure many will do!


Forged Monkey was my very personal solo project of a line of miniatures and busts.
It started very small but slowly grew bigger and bigger...
... to the point where I couldn't handle the orders, the webshop needed many urgent updates, some tax rules changed for me in 2015 that weren't implemented in the shop and it costed me so much time that I couldn't concentrate on the things I love to do: sculpting and painting.

So I closed the webshop in January 2015.

My first plan was to polish everything up, create a new webshop, new packaging and make everything more professional.
But time flew by and I just didn't find the time to do all of this...

Then I was in vacation with my girlfriend (now officially my wife btw ;-) in Spain.


We met with Fernando Ruiz Ceano in Barcelona where we were also talking a bit about miniatures (how could we not).

He had a great idea... to make a collaboration between Forged Monkey and Fernando Ruiz Miniatures ( FeR ).

I loved the idea as it would finally give me more freedom, make my miniatures easily available in different countries and take away the stress of packaging and selling my works. Also, Fernando is a very passionate professional when it comes to his work, I love this and working together with him is great :)

Last Thursday the first two busts were officially released at FeR and the collaboration started!
In the FeR webshop you will now find a Forged Monkey category where you will find all my works.

The first two busts that were released are Ragnok, Orc Norse Hero and Jamal.
Roman did an ace job painting both version of Ragnok. ( Version 1 and Version 2 )


Make sure to stay tuned for future Forged Monkey busts at FeR and maybe get the FeR Newsletter to be informed about the next releases!

And... see you next week at NOVA Open!
Roman and myself will be there!

Cheers
Raffa

Hello dear Jungle Painters,

today I want to present you a bust I already finished around half a year ago, but didn´t show it yet for whatsoever reason.

The bust itself was/is part of a commission. Although it took me some time to find the right direction on this bust I had some fun painting it and I am so far satisfied with the end result. Nothing ultra fancy, but an in my opinion cool looking paintjob. 

I hope you like this demon fellow too.




This guy is also up on putty and paint, so feel free to vote if you like. Just click here.

That´s it for now, if you are interested in giving me a commission, feel free to contact me via e-mail to:

bene (at) massivevoodoo (dot) com

So we can talk about the possibilities and details.

Cheers
Bene

Aloa Jungle Painters,
 
a newly finished bust from my table. Version 1 of this 1:12 bust.
Orc-halla awaits! Really cool subject. Just imagine Viking Orcs roaming the sea and ravaging the shores. Nothing more to say! Close your eyes or look at this bust and see Orc-halla arise!

I am planning on writing a detailed Miniatures Unpacked and a step by step on this bust. Well, not just right now as preparing all the photos and such is always a lot of work and my life is busy right now with some private things, shipping bananalicious parcels and preparing myself for the trip to the states to the Nova Open 2015.

All will take a little while, but I am looking forward to write these for you with all the patience it needs. So far, I hope you enjoy the model.
 

Ragnok, Norse Orc Hero
Comission Work
1/12 Bust by Fer Miniatures/Forged Monkey
Sculptor: Raffaele Picca
Painter: Roman Lappat



 
More photos via Putty&Paint


You can get your version of this cool bust at:
http://ferminiatures.com/shop/forged-monkey/ragnok-norse-orc-hero/

Hope you like my painting.
Keep on happy painting,
Best Wishes
Roman

Hello Everyone!

It has been a long time since I wrote here some lines. For those of you who don't know who I - Bene- am, check my profile. And I kinda have the feeling I say this every time I post something because there are such long times in between.

Maybe one day I will be able to post more constantly...

Anyway... it has been also quite a long time since I was in our studio, because I was busy with studying the last months, but now it is holiday time, so I have some more time again to be creative.
Inspired by Romans Hasslesprees I decided to begin painting again also with some Hasslefree Minis. And because I really like the sculpts.

So I prepared a few Minis I want to paint the next days. 
As you see I prepared two modern warfare soldiers and two, let´s call them survivors, I think everyone who plays video games will recognize them. So the two survivors went both on one base as they are wandering together through a destroyed world searching for the rescue of mankind. 




Well, finally some lines again from me. I hope you enjoyed the read and the pictures and maybe found some inspiration for your own projects.

Cheers
Bene

10 Golden Rules of Miniature Painting


1. Have fun!
2. Have fun!
3. Have fun!
4. Have fun!
5. Have fun!
6. Have fun!
7. Have fun!
8. Have fun!
9. Have great fun!
10. Enjoy what you do, enjoy yourself, do not worry yourself, learn with joy, embrace progress, accept fails, search yourself, find yourself, find your path, go your way and have fun! 

Keep on happy painting!
Best wishes
Roman

_______________________________________________________________________________
You want to support Massive Voodoo? 
If you like to support or say thanks the monkeys of Massive Voodoo in what they do, please feel invited to drop a jungle donation in their direction via paypal or check their miniatures they got on sale here.

Good Morning Jungle Painters,

as you know Raffa and Roman are soon heading to Washington D.C.m USA for the Nova Open 2015.
Beside holding seminars and judging the capital palette, both MV Team members also help the Charitable Foundation of the Nova Open to raise funds to help the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and Fisher House Foundation.

Here are two of Roman's recently painted miniatures that he throws into the raffle - remember you do not have to be at the NOVA Open 2015, they ship worldwide if you win the raffle.


#01
Donated by Roman Lappat (Massive Voodoo):
“Zeta, the Barbarian Babe”
Official Link!

“Zeta is a warrior princess. I can relate to the fierce nature of this woman as she will undoubtedly wage battle against any threat. She has nothing to hide. A force of nature, she will take on evil and she will prevail.” ~ a breast cancer survivor

Only 200 tickets will be sold, both on site and on sale at the NOVA Open Tabletop Wargaming Convention in Washington, D.C. (September 3-6, 2015). Proceeds will support BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION & the FISHER HOUSE FOUNDATION. Need not be present to win: The NOCF will ship anywhere in the world with a deliverable address. With only 200 tickets being sold, multiple tickets will increase your odds of winning greatly!

BUY RAFFLE TICKETS TODAY!


#02
Donated by Roman Lappat (Massive Voodoo):
“Forever Young” (Pictured in the artist’s display case)


 
Roman describes his work on this model from his personal collection,

“This is my interpretation of Fer Miniatures Lucy, the Vampire bride bust from the Gothic Horror series. I really enjoyed the size of the bust. 1/12 is so enjoyable to paint. I did not want her to be a young bride. I rather see her as on old vampire lady, living through all the ages, sleeping for centuries, just to awake and see how the world changes. A little drink of fresh blood here and there, but all in all a little melancholic vampire lady who is not sure if staying forever young is really the perfect solution. What if she gets bored by this neverending story?”

Only 200 tickets will be sold, both on site and on sale at the NOVA Open Tabletop Wargaming Convention in Washington, D.C. (September 3-6, 2015). Proceeds will support BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION & the FISHER HOUSE FOUNDATION. Need not be present to win: The NOCF will ship anywhere in the world with a deliverable address. With only 200 tickets being sold, multiple tickets will increase your odds of winning greatly!

BUY RAFFLE TICKETS TODAY!


Check out the other content of the Raffle and help to help!

See you at the NOVA OPEN 2015!

Hey everyone!

While I don't post too much at the moment I still want to show my latest finished miniature :)
It's a pretty small bust by Pegaso that I bought on the Duke of Bavaria... I can't remember the official name, if someone knows, please write a comment :)

As said, the scale is pretty small, around 1:16, if I had to guess, the head/shoulders are about the size of a 90mm figure.

I tried to paint the bust as one side is hit by warm light, while the other is lit a bit colder.
It's not a "big" effect, something more delicate ;)

I hope you enjoy it!








Have a great time!
Raffa

Hey Jungle Painters,

today Roman wants to write something about his workspace.
From the beginning - when miniature paintining became his daily work beside studies - to now where miniature painting is his work.

In the past we asked you to show us your workspaces too and you can find the workspace gallery 2010 and the workspace gallery 2011 in the depths of the jungle. Just in case you need some workspace inspiration.

Now enjoy Roman heading back into the past with his own workspace.

________________________________________________________________________________

Your workspace is a holy place. 
It is the place to calm down, find peace of mind, paint, find inspiration, fight inner battles with the challenges facing you, win challenges, fail on others, enjoy music, enjoy memories, create tiny wonders, paint with friends or hide from the world, but often I just sit there and stare for hours. My little palace of colours.


It is important that you feel good at your workspace. Once in a while it helps to clean it up and make time and room for freshness. It is healthy and sometimes really needed. You know what I am talking about, eh?

Well, in the past my workspaces changed, drasticly. Becoming more and more professional in what I do the workspace had to grow with me. In points of organisation, space, even better organisation and more. Right now I want to take you on a journey how my personal workspace grew up to become what it is today.


2008-2010
Actually this wasn't my first workspace ever. I had about two while I was living at my parents, one in the basement for rough work and some tiny spot in my room.

This was the first workspace when I moved together with my girlfriend. I took the table from my parents though. My great girlfriend did not really like that corner as it looked like a hell of a mess if I did not clean it up properly. I did not do this often as beside studies and other time consuming things, cleaning up was often last on my list. And I felt organised in that little corner, really I did, even you can not see it.

Back then Massive Voodoo was in his early baby days and one article I wrote back then was called "Holding several miniatures at once while painting 'em!". I had to be creative with the space available.




2011-2013 
We moved and my workspace recieved its own room in the new flat. More space to go crazy and keep untidy. Well, still my lady had the control to make me clean that up once in a while. The little corner became a whole table and I enjoyed creating creations there much more.



I even tried to build my own paintrack back then for this table to have a better view on my colour collection, but I didn't like it that much as sitting in front of this massive wall of colors made my senses for tones and perception totally numb.


Well and Keiko and Momo arrived too at my workspace. Great cats, great friends, great members of my little family, but they enjoyed hanging around my workspace pretty much and always wanted to play their part in my creations. Sometimes I caught Momo drinking out of the wet palette (she is still alive!!) and Keiko playing with open colors, throwing down color pots or leaving her colorful footprints through the flat. Not so good. The lady was right to force me to find a better solution.


2013-today
My work grew more and more professional. Very often - while working from home - I was not able to stop. Home was work and work was home, this was confusing. So the decision was made to find another place to put a workspace in. Also the decision was made to share a room with my bibab (brother in brain and brushes) Raffa.

We found our new home in the Kulturpark West, a corner in Augsburg, Germany where many artists and musicians share three big houses and can rent a place for cheap prices. This place is in danger right now and if you did not yet sign the petition for its preservation please do so over here! 

Well, ok. We moved into our first studio and the place was huge compared to everything else I called my workspace before. We had a big table to work on and many storage solutions.


After one and a half year in that studio we had the opportunity to move in the room next door. It was a little bigger and we already needed more space.


My workspace is well organised, when cleaned up properly. We have four workspaces on this table thus far and many storage solutions all around the place.


We renovated the MV studio again and the result is a superbig table for four to six painters. 



Well, you might ask: Why this article?
I can tell you. Raffa and I are heading to the NOVA Open soon and when we return changes about the studio are on the horizon. Sanne will be moved out by then and we (Bene, Raffa, I) will welcome Erik as he moves in.

We decided that we are not really happy in this studio right now. Not because of the lack of space nor other reasons. It is just too crowded and we are doing big renovations during the last weeks of September. Cleaning up everything, throwing out stuff, new closets with doors maybe as we are really getting sick of the dust settling in. A big clean up to stay focused. Room for freshness.

I hope you enjoyed this little workspace evolution review and maybe there is inspiration for you in it.
Always remember, everyone of us walks a path, if it's in sport, love, life, work and it is always good to know where you are coming from!

Keep on happy painting!
Best Wishes
Roman

 

Hey Jungle Painters,

first of all: sorry that shipping all your prizes took us so long.

It was not a small task to finally prepare all your parcels, make lists of your adresses and get this all to your parcels. We start shipping prizes this week and should be finished in the next two weeks.

Why does it take so long? 
Well, Roman takes the prepared parcels via bike to the postal office. Step by step!
Thanks for your patience!

Hey Jungle Painters,

help us stay in our studio and sign this petition!
Thanks for your help and signature! You are the best!

Your MV-Team

Good Monday Morning
Jungle Painters,

a 1:72 Preiser railroad miniature. I repainted it.
Why the Chicago White Sox? Well, no idea, I never was much into baseball, but into basketball and I loved the Bulls in the 90s with Jordan, Pippen and Rodman. I once was asked which baseball team I favour and I just said the one from Chicago too :D

It was a spontaneous birthday gift to a good friend from Vienna, Andreas, who enjoyed a two day private coaching in the MV-HQ last week.

I tried to copy their uniforms from the photos I have found via google. It's always fun to do such tiny work. Want to read an article about it? Go ahead:

Working with 1:72 Samurais




Hope you like him! You can find this little fella also on Putty&Paint.

Keep on happy painting!
Best Wishes
Roman