posted by roman, jarhead, kong

"We can fight our desires,
but when we start making fires.

We get ever so hot,
whether we like it or not.

They say we can love who we trust,
but what is love without lust?

Two hearts with accurate devotions
but what are feelings without emotions?

I am going for the kill, i am doing it for a thrill,
I'm hoping you'll understand and not let go of my hand.
I am going for the kill, i am doing it for a thrill,
I'm hoping you'll understand and not let go of my hand. 

I had my hopes out on the line,
will they be ready for you in time.


If you leave them out for too long,
they'll be withered by the sun.


Full stops and exclamation marks,
my words stumble before i start.


How far can you sent emotions?
Can this bridge cross the ocean?


I am going for the kill, i am doing it for a thrill,
I'm hoping you'll understand and not let go of my hand.
I am going for the kill, i am doing it for a thrill,
I'm hoping you'll understand and not let go of my hand."

These days i am totally stuck to this song by La Roux. Don't watch the video at all, just listen to the song is my recommandation - so powerful, so full of meanings, so much freedom... love it while swinging the brushes in high circles :)

I hope you are all doing some serious Happy Painting around these cold days! Keep it warm in your heart with some colours!
Best Regards
Roman

posted by roman, jarhead, kong

posted by roman, jarhead, kong



This Miniature Unpacked is done about the already seen Nubian Guardian bust i am painting at the moment. The model comes from SK-Miniatures and is sculpted by Carl Reid in 200 mm, who did a fantastic job. The promo paintjob is done by Song-Eon Lee whose skills i admire very deeply.

As i plan this bust as a Christmas gift to my parents i was really excited when the model arrived. It looked like this when it arrived(click to enlarge like always):


The price is not low, but you really get a high quality sculpt which looks incredible real and alive for your money - so from my side it is truely worth every penny. Opening the box made me a bit unhappy as the parts where somehow loose in the box. There was foam for sure but it didn't help to make everything lay tight.


Looking at the parts which are included in the box makes this bust even more enjoyable. The torso and head do come as one part. Here is a list of the parts that are waiting for you in the box:

1x torso with head
1x right arm
1x right hand holding the sword
1x gun
1x knife 


Taking a closer look on the resin cast i fast realized there will be hard work ahead. There is a lot to clean up from the production process and this makes this bust not really easy. For example i really had some hard fights with some mould lines, also i had to recut a clean connection between the face and his turban. These minor spots really are sad, but the face made it all good for me. The overall quality is well, but far from perfect.


I truely fell in love with the sculpt and love to bring paint on him, but i really got to say that cleaning and preparing up this fella was not an easy task. So keep this in mind when you get hold of one - whatever, it is a great piece. Here are some more shots of the assembled model:


As mentioned i've already started painting him. I will try to stay close to the box art as Christmas is rolling in as fast as snow falls here in germany. Here is an early Work in Progress shot of the bust:


I hope you like this Miniature Unpacked and hope to see some painted versions of this guy around someday. This face is so stunning...

Best Regards
Roman

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posted by roman, jarhead, kong

... came these days from my friend Peter, who is still in Kairo and will return in several days after 6 months there. Thanks for these cool links - i hope you enjoy:

The Big Picture - Boston.com
Great daily photo updates

Here is a photo series taken out of the page
Wonderful

Peter also sent me the blog of his workmate, who does some impressive photos in Kairo:
Maximilian Pinno - wordpress

So far, i hope you enjoy the inspiration if you find one... i did for sure :)

posted by roman, jarhead, kong

As some of the old jungle visitors might know, there is a project taking its time on my workbench. I'll do Pegaso's Arkvenger as a comission piece and also write a step by step article about him, when he is finished. I am not sure if all of you might remember this one and as we got a lot of new folks around here i try to collect everything together so far - here you go:

Miniature Unpacked - Arkvenger
How to prepare a metal miniature
Prepared Arkvenger photo

Primed Arkvenger version 1.0
First colour sketch to find my way into the model
How to strip a miniature from Colour

Rebirth...

The Tutorial also starts in Italian over on Legio Pictorium

A little conversion on the head is done, first colours up and i got plans of the base

This all happened in about one year - it seems i really had my problems finding a visions for this model i want to catch. I will write the Tutorial together when i am finished, but i keep track in here - so don't you say goodbye to the Arkvenger, he says hello :)

Something is happening on him again and i really found fun on him the last couple of days again...  here are some photos and a little briefing on what i have done after the last Work in Progress shot done somewhere in August, i guess...


 As i really got inspired by using Oil colours for the future together with all my acrylic skills i just fell in love with the Arky again. It really struck me so it is always the same - there comes the time and a neverending try of progress, experiments and improvement will find it...

I wasn't really sure about what to do on him so i started working on his skin with some Oil Colours up on the acrylic basic you can see above, therefore i have used different skin tones from different manufacturers (i am in testing mode) and some Indian Red and a bit of Burnt Umbra in the shadows. This is just the beginning and i let this basic dry now. I also worked my way to green - i feel green on him... somehow a kind of Aztec god or Megamarine from the USMC in the year 2342, whatever, i love painting on him and using Oil Colours make a lot of fun and you get your deserved breaks on your miniatures because it has to dry for some days - so there you can switch around in your WIPs with a reason... love it!

I've used Vallejo Model's Air Colour 71020, German Green for the main colour on the greens. I did put in some Enchanted blue or Hawk Tourquise to keep it intresting on different materials, still basic. I used several thin glazes of these colours on the head-thing, which i guess will become a crown, for making it look like intresting material... i am planning some gold on him, as i would love to call him Ra, haha... you see fun is back - here are the photos in historical order while he is drying... next will be attention to the skin and then working out the details on the greens and everywhere else...

posted by roman, jarhead, kong

Hi.

This one was a miniature were i did test my first oil colours on and did some experiments. I only had burnt Umbra as my first colour so this colour seems to be everywhere on this one. I did learn a lot and doing some more exercises with using oil colours in combination with all my other stuff - i will talk about these experiences in the jungle soon, maybe - i mean when i got enough to tell or talk - i mean when there is content to talk about :) - I also choose a pretty simple base for this one - no idea why, but i liked it on him, the base is from Artefactory's Carlos.

This one is painted to Kurt, a good friend from Graz as a gift, because he is one hell of a nice guy everytime we see and even if we don't see us, haha - so this is a thank you gift. The miniature is already in Austria but the next time i'll see it i have to go at a little french rose on the flag as  a freehand - i wasn't able so far... i will do it, Kurt - got my word... thanks Andi for the photos:


Hope you like it!
Keep on happy painting!
Best Regards
Roman

posted by roman, jarhead, kong



After the decay disease is spread at my house he now is on the hunt for another home to get you infected... Fair starting price like always - Feel invited to check the auction here!

Happy Bidding!