31 March 2017

Mu 97 - Nonsense Miniatures, Orc Bust



Time for another review here on MV. 


This is review #97 - if you are interested in getting to know more products or miniatures we regularly use, check the overview on the Miniatures/Material Unpacked, in short MU.

Today we will look closer on a bust called "Orc Bust", by Nonsenseminiatures.

More information about Nonsenseminiatures:
This is the official photo on their homepage. 
Photorights @Nonsenseminiatures

The busts price is at 19,99 € + shipping. 
It's full size is 5,5 cm and the cast arrives in resin.
If you want to order your copy see this link:
http://www.nonsenseminiatures.com/home/62-orc-bust.html

Roman takes over with the review now.
 
_____________________________________________________________________________
 
Allright jungle,
 
let's have a look what we got here by NS, NonSenseminiatures.
First a square box with digital camouflage on it. 

Inside we find - wrapped up - in bubble wrap: The Orc bust we will speak about. Cast in resin.
First impression: A beginner friendly bust as it does not take ages for building.
Packing recieves 2/5 points.


Assembly
The bust arrives in three parts. Main body and two horns for the Orc's helmet. Assembly points reached 5/5.


Sculpt
Having a closer look the sculpt of the Orc shows plenty of details, cast in one piece this is really nice if you look at all the little horns, rings, hair and details. The sculpt itself does not show a brand new subject, nor a specific design of an Orc, but delivers the character pretty well. Some parts of the sculpt look really well done - face, skin and details, where other areas lack final detailing, for example fur. The sculpt itself recieves 3/5 points.

The sculpt offers plenty of different materials to work on, like bones, orc skin, hair, metals, leather, fabrics and other armour materials. Together with the easy assembly it makes him a good training project for beginners and intermediate painters alike.

The quality of the cast is good. 3/5 points here. 
Out of the box it looks a bit shiny and you might have to clean it with soap before priming.


Preparation
Cleaning the model was quite easy as there was no major mould line or such to be found. The only thing - if you want to do it - is removing the resin part under the model, but this could also be used for placing it to a plinth.
4/5 points here.


Due the shine it was quite hard to take good photos of the sculpt so we assembled him - even we decided to place the horns in a different angle - and primed him black and white, without cleaning him first. GW's black primer did a good job on it and we are not sure if you really have to wash the model, but please decide this for yourself.







Allright, let's sum this up:

Packing: 2/5
Assembly: 5/5
Sculpt: 3/5
Cast Quality: 3/5
Preparation: 4/5
Price: 4/5 
Overall: 21/30

This Orc bust is a very beginner friendly sculpt that can bring you quite the fun if you like Orcs and do not want to spent ages with cleaning and preparing. A good training on different materials and texture can be done on all these several different materials.


More information about Nonsenseminiatures:

30 March 2017

Haleth

Good Morning Jungle, 

these days are a little more quiet here in the jungle, mainly due Roman is doing a little spring break from his painting table and other apes are abscent too.

Nonetheless once in while a post on the blog will drop in, no matter what.
This time it is another fun paintjob Roman did a while ago as a gift to a friend.

It's "Haleth" by Hasslefree Miniature in 32mm.
If you did not know yet, Hasslefree brings you some of the most magnificant and characterful sculpts in 32mm. Believe it or not. It's like that.

Haleth
Hasslefree Miniatures, 28 mm








Keep on happy painting!


23 March 2017

Mu 96 - Neko Galaxy, Akito



Time for another review on MV. 

This is review #96 - if you are interested in getting to know more products or miniatures we regularly use, check the overview on the Miniatures/Material Unpacked, in short MU.

Today we will look closer on a bust called "C-Girl Akito", by Neko Galaxy,

sculpted by Miroslav Dimitrov

The busts price is at 49,00 € + shipping. 
If you want to order your copy write to
NEKOGALAXYMINIS(at)GMAIL(dot)COM

Roman takes over with the review now.

Well, the square box arrives with a sweet artwork on it and really makes you want to look inside for more.


A sticker on the back of the box gives all information you need to reach out for the company. And the logo of Neko Galaxy is supercute.

Opening the box you find three resin parts of the bust, a cute neko galaxy sticker and - again - the digital artwork of the model. All was packed beside some white packing ... uhm, stuff that stuffed the miniature parts for secure travels. Not the best packing ever, but also not bad.

Looking closer at the bust parts she quickly reveals her beautiful character.

Sculpted in 3D by 3D Artist Miroslav Dimitrov the character is something many miniature painters where waiting for. Not another fantasy barbarian nor a historical subject, this bust arrives in a futuristic design to fit perfectly into a SciFi setting like Shadowrun.

Dressed in little armour, some farbrics and cool details. 


Equipped with some kind of power sword that makes her stand out as a fighter. Also her gloves show that she is used to give orders, not follow them. A powerful lady.

The quality of the 3D print is good and so are the resin casts. No blurry edges, everything is sharp and ready to be painted. Here and there you can find a mould line and a little preparation time is needed to make her ready for priming.

Although the bust looks like quality management took hold and with it some areas have been cleaned from the roughest remains of casting by the manufacterer. Still if you are a perfectionist, some work awaits you here.



The fitting quality of the arms to the main body is superb. Glue - pinning if you need it - and you are good.


Overall a great bust that stands out with her pose, subject and beautiful female features.
The best part for me personally is the face and the stubborn character she represents.


Positive:
+ beautiful female SciFi Character bust
+ good level of details without being overloaded
+ different material to play with color and material preferences
+ beginner friendly due three pieces only
+ great fitting
+ reasonable price

Negative (not really):
- not the best way of packing
- some minor clean ups needed

Overall a really cool bust that might see some color here in the jungle!

The busts price is at 49,00 € + shipping. 
If you want to order your copy write to
NEKOGALAXYMINIS(at)GMAIL(dot)COM

Keep on happy painting!

22 March 2017

Duke of Bavaria - Overview and Information

Dear Miniature friends!
Soon the duke of Bavaria starts!

Duke of Bavaria on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/herzogvonbayern/
Here is some information for you (taken from this official source):
________________________________________________________________________________

CONTEST
To keep the waiting times as low as possible, please use the registration form. You can download the writable PDF file here:
 

You can find the competition rules here in several languages:

Registration time for the competition:
Friday, 31/03/2017: 10:00 am - 4:45 pm
Saturday, 01/04/2017: 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

Now a very important note in own matter:
Figures from all eras and sections (civilian, military, Fantasy, round or flat) are admitted for the competition. In agreement with the museum we don’t approve figures with power-glorifying, porn or extreme right wing contents.
The Organization reserves the right to not approve such exhibits for the competition. Here we ask for sense particular our foreign visitors. The law position in Germany for the representation of national socialist symbolism is absolutely clear.
This also applies to the goods offer in the Dealer area.

________________________________________________________________________________ 
Historical Judging Teams

Master categories will be judged by:
Michael Seitz
Max Bettermann
Marco Lambertucci

Standard categories will be judged by:
Carsten Abel
Andreas Pettau
Bernd Prott

Karsten Pöpping will support and counsel the judging teams.
Fantasy Judging Teams

Master categories will be judged by:
Alfonso Giraldes

Sascha Buzcek
Raffaele Picca

Standard categories will be judged by:
Roman Gruba

Patrick Kaiser
Christian Reckerth

Roman Lappat will support and counsel the judging teams.

________________________________________________________________________________
OTHER IMPORTANT FACTS:
 
Set-up times for dealers:
Thursday, 30/03/2017:     1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Friday, 31/0372017:         9:00 am - 1:30 pm
Official opening of the dealer area: Friday, 2:00 pm

The entry with cars or short parking at the castle court is only possible for dealers for loading and unloading at the beginning and at the end of the show. All participants in the competition and visitors should use the public parking areas around the castle.
Since the museum is reopened with a first special exhibition, we ask all the participants to buy an entrance badge at the ticket office. The Museum offers staggered tickets for one, two or three days at a very fair special price.
________________________________________________________________________________ 

Free Painting demonstrations
We are happy to announce that some of our judges will present their painting skills during the Duke of Bavaria Show.

These are the time slots:

Saturday:
11.00 - Alfonso Giraldes (Painting a Bust) - English
12.00 - Roman Gruba (Painting Textures) - English
13.00 - Sascha Buzcek - in German

Sunday:
11.00 - Roman Gruba (Painting Faces) - English
12.00 - Alfonso Giraldes (Sketching Session) - English
We are looking foreward to the Show!


Speedpainting 2017 

Frank Miniatures will organize a speedpainting this year again. Some teams have already registered. The figure will be Robinson Crusoe in 54 mm. If you want to take part speak to Frank from Frank-Miniatures at the show. 
 

You can find the following vendors at the show:
Zinnfigurenstudio Peter Evers
GOLEM Art
Grey Wolf
2dreamers
Kellerkind Miniaturen
Hecker & Goros
Castle Miniatures
Munich Miniatures
Frank Miniatures
Der Bunte Rock
Scorpio Models
Jupiter Miniatures
Miniatures Berlin Oleg Kunz
PEGASO Models
Pd Models Dino Pivato
Zwerg von Nettenscheid
Il Modellismo
Tartar Miniatures
Aradia Miniatures
Preussisches Bücherkabinett
Schilderdesign Rohmer
Irbis Miniatures
Big Panda
Salvia Develops
Hülbener Zinnfiguren Rolf Buck
Vertigo
Mr. Lee´s Minis
Valhalla Figurki

 ________________________________________________________________________________ 

ADDITIONAL: 

10 Rules on good preperations for a Miniature Show
If you take this for credit you will be prepared on every event. 

21 March 2017

Joanna

A beautiful Hasslefree sculpt 
once in while keeps you happy at the brush. This always works for Roman.
Here he used a base he did build back on painting class - long time ago - and found a perfect home for Hasslefree Miniature's "Joanna" ...

Joanna
Hasslefree Miniatures, 28 mm








Joanna is for sale, 
if you want to support Roman please feel inivited to see his cataloge of miniatures for sale.

Keep on happy painting!

20 March 2017

Duma, Lord of Bones

Good Morning jungle,

Roman is heading home today from a really cool painting and teaching weekend in Hamburg.
Exhausted, happy and alive. In the meantime we got some more miniature candy for you from his work table: Lord of Bones - Duma - by Kimera.

We did a miniatures unpacked (MU) of this model, click. 

Roman painted this one as a comission for a private collector from China and has another project ahead of him for the same collector. Soon more about this. We hope you enjoy Roman's version of this sculpt:

Duma, Lord of Bones
Kimera Models, 75 mm






You can find bigger and better photos via Putty&Paint.

Keep on happy painting!

17 March 2017

Ghosts of Mordheim

Hi,

while Roman is in Hamburg right now, close to starting one of his famous MV's Jar's Beginner Classes with a full class of 26 students tonight we got some miniature eye candy for you.

Roman always was a big Mordheim boardgame fan.

Recently he encountered the relatively new - but superhard - pc version of the game. A real joy. It feels like Mordheim, characters lose arms and eyes regularly and everyone of the warband suffers due his visits into Mordheim and you can not save or protect yourself from such losses. Perfect.

Roman's Ogre ... what a beast:
Well, enough screenshots of computer games, back to the real thing. A lot of inspiration was found in that game. Roman is also preparing a bigger diorama, but more to this when the time is right. Here is one result of this inspiration:

Ghosts of Mordheim
Games Workshop conversion, 28 mm
base is scratchbuild






This miniature is sold and in private collection.
Thank you for your support in Roman's art, work and passion.

Here is a little photo of Roman's - already primed - conversion work of a WHF skeleton. He started this about three years ago, but so far did not find the right moment to finish this project.


Keep on happy painting and stay inspired!