Disclaimer: I received the book as a free review copy by the publisher. This will not predetermine the review, which will be a fair summary and assessment of the book's strengths and weaknesses as I perceive them.

Hey all,

Summer's here and David's back with a quick review of the most recent addition to AK Interactive's Learning Series book. As all other parts of this popular series, volume 13 focuses on one specific topic or technique in scale modeling, figure painting and diorama-construction, in this case: the use of watercolor pencils. Pencils have been used for ages in scale-modeling, often as a cheap source for pigments and for easy applied metal effects. In recent years, a number of modeling companies, including AK Interactive, have brought their own lines of pencils with water-soluble lead on the market that are specifically aimed at model-builders. With this book, editors Rubén González and George Mefsut present a handy guide on how to use them to achieve different goals and effects.

The book's ToC

The contents of this small book are distributed on 91 pages that are structured in three chapters. After a single-paragraph introduction to the goals of the book by AK boss Fernando Vallejo, the first chapter presents some background information. First, it presents a lengthy summary of what pencils are, how they are manufactured and how types of pencils differ in shape, their pigments and the "hardness" of their leads. The chapter then continues by briefly summarizing some practical considerations on how to handle and "work" with pencils, both in general and especially in modeling.

Some information on pencil production, ...

... general thoughts about using pencils in the hobby, ...

... and two questions answered (to some extent).

Chapter 2 is titled "Specific Applications of Pencils" and presents advice on how to achieve a range of "special effects" with water-soluble pencils. The chapter covers thirteen individual topics, including staples of modeling, painting and diorama-building such as metallic effects, rust, oil, moss and dust, but also more exotic issues such as stenciling or replicating the "washable white" that was often used as winter camouflage on WWII vehicles. Each application is covered on at least one double-page and combines general thoughts on the different "special effects" and some practical advice on how to achieve them with pencils.

The book combines excellent inspirational pics...

The third and final chapter nicely brings the previous topics together, covering on 32 pages the practical application of the ideas and instructions outlined in Chapter 2 in ten brief step-by-step weathering tutorials. While their titles imply very specific effects, such as "Rust on a Wagon", "Application of Winter Camouflage", or "Dirt and Chipping Effects on Sci-fi Vehicles", each of the brief sub-chapters actually covers a variety of effects, systematically combining and practically illustrating the use of the techniques and ideas covered in Chapter 2. In addition, the chapter addresses almost all aspects of model-building, including railways, planes, armored vehicles and diorama accessoires. The final step-by-step even shows how pencils can benefit figure-painters, showing how they can simplify the painting of eyes on a large-scale bust.

... with tips on their application...

... on a wide range of topics and potential uses of pencils.

I have to say that I am a fan of AK's Learning Series. They are well-done and informative, focused on a particular topic - which means that you get information exactly on the one topic that you are interested in. With less than 10 Euros suggested retail price, they are extremely affordable to boot. In addition, the books' compact format makes them very convenient to use as a handy reference or tutorial material right there on your painting desk. This particular volume of the series is no exception: it describes a variety of concrete applications and is a great source of inspiration on what can be achieved with these tools. By driving home their simplicity and variety of application, the book also succeeds in getting (at least this) reader excited actually to test the pencils.

Rust!

With so much light to praise, there is also some shadow. I think Chapter 1 is way too long and does not present much information that will be relevant for modelers/painters interested in using pencils in their projects. While the description of how pencils are made is quite interesting, the treatment is very long (covering almost 1/10 of the whole book!). Moreover, even where Chapter 1 does talk about the general foundational principles of using pencils in modeling (pp. 16-17) and on which colors would be most useful to buy (p. 20), I did find that information too general to be particularly helpful.

Covering a range of subjects, including airplanes...

... and figures.

However, this does not detract from the fact that I think that this is an excellent little book, which provides a wealth of useful, practical information on the use of water-soluble pencils in our hobby. As always, however, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and the value of a painting guide has to be proven in the actual application of the material covered in its pages. So, I got myself some weathering pencils - which I haven't used yet - and will do a little test-run guided and inspired by the book. Naturally, I will reflect on my results here in the MV jungle - so, stay tuned!

Thanks for reading. Feel free to check out my review of the volume on vegetation of AK's Learning Series. And, as always, feel free to drop me a line or two in the comments. Talk to you soon.

Best, D.

Hey all,

welcome to the fifth page of my project diary. If you're wondering what this is, please check the announcement post, in which I explain the motivation and general goals of the diary. At the bottom of that post, you will find a link to all parts of this series (constantly updated as soon as new articles are published).

Today's post is a quick one! But, as promised, it features actual paint!!! So, let's get right to it!

The pic above is just a quick reminder what the mini looked like before any paint hit the model. First step was, of course, priming. Before applying the 2K priming technique, I quickly thought about the light situation I envisioned for the scene. Because I wanted a quick and easy project and because it fit the story I had in mind for the mini, I decided on a zenithal lighting scheme. So, the burning Mediterranean sun is shining above our valiant Sea Raider and there are no secondary light sources. Accordingly, I first spray-primed the mini black all around, and then did a second primer layer from the top of the mini to already sketch in the zenithal light situation.

The two pics above show the situation after priming. However, as is often the case, priming highlighted some of the flaws I missed while preparing the mini (remember me praising the mini for being so easy to prepare...): there was a big ugly moldline running over the thigh area. However, that was easily dealt with thanks to my trusty scalpel - and, now, the mini was ready for some paint!!

Look at that moldline...

... gone.

Before I started to slap paint on the mini, I did some research on how the Sea Peoples were described. I really like this part of painting historical miniatures - delving into what we know of past civilizations, what they wore and how they must have looked like. Of course, often there is a lot of (educated) guess-work involved and - especially for a subject matter as far away in the past as the Sea Peoples - there is very little solid evidence on (perishable) materials and colors. However, I always find artists' interpretations of what we know inspiring, and this time was no different. I found a very nice illustration of a Sea Peoples' leader in an OSPREY book on the topic (p.41). This I used as inspiration and reference to guide the four main "areas" of my miniature:

• Skin: the skin will be a dark tan, indicating a life under the hot Mediterranean sun
• Cloth: the kilt will be colorful, with blue and red panels, that are divided by white stripes
• Headgear: the headgear consists of a bronze headband and some colored feathers, which I will also paint blue, maybe a bit turquoise
• Metal: the metal parts will, of course, be a warm, yellowish bronze. I will see whether I will give the large shield and the sword a slightly different hue, just to make it more interesting

The pic above shows the wet palette with the basic colors; the pics below show how the basic colors look like on the mini. I also gave the beach a warm, sandy tone to tie everything together.

The blue and turquoise colors are a bit glossy (haven't used them in a long while)...

... but this is no problem and will be dealt with when I get to these parts.

Alright. That's it for today, folks. Thanks for reading. In the next project diary, painting will continue with some work on the skintone! Let's give that guy a nice tan!

As always, let me know in the comments if you have questions. See you in a bit!

Best, D.

 

Good Morning Jungle,

time for another private coaching review.
Kilian, a long time student and friend of mine visited me in the new studio for his personal painting goal: He wanted to combine his knowledge of atmosphere (last coaching) with textures. He wanted to learn and understand much more on how to create texture that makes sense in a context ... our main focus was to understand true metallic metal, also we focused on a good color compositon ...

We were so hyped to see eachother again that we forgot to take a selfie :D
Or I am getting old and can not find the one we did anymore.

Well, let's take just this one:


Before working on a figure, I put Kilian through several lessons of texture explanations on different volumes and made him focus on single elements in just black and white to understand the textures he is aiming to explain to the viewer's eye.

From then on we went on a miniature.
Kilian loves Star Wars Legion Models and is really into it.

I can say that we put all what was learned on the miniature, but as a teacher I can say it was much more important to give my student a good feeling about the decision he makes for himself while proceeding. This was actually my main goal with teaching Kilian this time.

You can follow Kilian's work via Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/qraith/

Thank you once again, Kilian for always trusting my teaching skills.
It is always a pleasure to welcome you as my student!

Keep on happy painting!
Yours,
Romaan
____________________________________________________________________________

If you want to learn from me
in your very own private coaching session, do not hesitate to contact me for further details via
jarhead---at---massivevoodoo---dot---com

Write me an email and we can make it work!

If you are interested in a private coaching session or the actual news on workshops, please read:
http://massivevoodoo.blogspot.com/2021/06/news-workshop-private-coaching.html

_____________________________________________________________________
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.
_____________________________________________________________________

Hey all,

welcome to the fourth page of my project diary. If you're wondering what this is, please check the announcement post, in which I explain the motivation and general goals of the diary. At the bottom of that post, you will find a link to all parts of this series (constantly updated as soon as new articles are published).

Today's post will be about building the base - step 1. I say "step 1", because the base for our sea raider will be built in two steps: one before painting the mini and one after. In the first step, I will build the foundation for the base, that is:

1. preparing the plinth


2. creating the beach


3. integrating the mini

So, first I prepared the plinth. As noted before, for my single 1/72 miniatures, I typically use a 2x2x4cm plinth of simple beechwood, which I buy in bulk from the hardware store. To ensure a smooth finish and remove imperfections, I give the plinth a quick sanding with fine-grit sandpaper. Since I wanted the beachfloor to have a small decline where I can add some "deeper" water, I then attempted to cut away a little of one corner of the plinth. First I tried my luck with my trusted cheap-Dremel-like-tool, but I did not have my sawblades handy and the drill bit I used was no great help. So, I just ground the corner down with some coarse sandpaper, which worked really well.

After the slight decline was achieved, I created the "sand". For my 1/72 projects, I almost exclusively rely on a trusted technique for creating a relatively realistic sand: rolling out some Milliput and then stippling it with a stiff-bristled brush. In this case, I used an old toothbrush. This creates a nice and slightly irregular, fine-grained surface.

Once the beach was laid out but the Milliput was still workable, I carefully placed the figure on the sand and slightly pressed the feet into the Milliput to make sure that they give the impression of slightly soft beach sand. And that's the reason I did not yet put the pins into the mini's feet in the previous step ;-).

The next day, when the Milliput was cured, I realized that something was missing - I had the raider's feet nicely planted in the sand - but I forgot to put another footstep into the deeper sand, which I thought would look nice and make the whole scene more plausible. So, I shaved off some of the cured Milliput on the declining part of the beach, and created a new "sandy layer" of Milliput, in which I pressed one of the warrior's feet. And with that, I was satisfied with the base for now!

After the Milliput repair had cured, I gave the sides of the plinth another round of tender-loving-care with some fine-grit sand paper to ensure a smooth finish. Then, it was time to marry miniature and base. Remember those nice little holes I made into the soles of the figure's feet? Those I marked with a drop of dark paint, applied with the tip of a toothpick, and placed the feet into their positions on the Milliput-sand. In these marks, I drilled holes. Then I super-glued acupuncture needles into the mini's feet to work as pins, and glued the feet to the base. And done. For now.

Thanks for reading. The next entry to the project diary will include a bit more than two toothpick-tips worth of paint!

As always, let me know in the comments if you have questions. See you in a bit!

Best, D.

Disclaimer: I received the book as a free review copy by the publisher. This will not predetermine the review, which will be a fair summary and assessment of the book's strengths and weaknesses as I perceive them.

The book's cover - again, very nice, but sadly the mini is not featured within the book.

Hey all,

David's back with another review of a recent painting-related book. This time, it's the third and final volume of AMMO by Mig Jimenez' Encyclopedia of Figures Modelling Techniques. As its predecessors, the book is edited by Rodrigo Hernández Chacón, and combines a number of articles by well-known miniature artists on a variety of topics that are summarized as "Modelling, Genres and Special Techniques".

The table of contents

And, true to its title, the book spans a wide and diverse range of topics. The book is about 150 pages strong, which are split up into a two-pager Introduction by the Series editor, and six substantive chapters. The first chapter deals with the very foundation of all modeling work, the modeler's/painter's workbench. Next to the organization of the workbench itself (lighting, set-up, etc.), the chapter deals with the necessary tools of the trade and goes into depth on the various brushes and their uses, and the set-up and use of a wet palette. Chapter 2 also deals with tools, but focuses on the necessary implements to assemble, prepare and modify miniatures. Next to sanding moldlines, and filling gaps, the chapter discusses minor and major conversions of minis of different materials, and even includes a step-by-step guide on how to sculpt a miniature from scratch.

Well-structured advice for a well-structured workbench.

Priming with brush and spraycan.

A snippet of the sculpting-from-scratch step-by-step.

Chapters 3 and 4 focus on color. On five pages, the third chapter presents different ways to prime miniatures using brushes, spray-cans and the airbrush. Chapter 4, then, discusses in depth how to paint specific materials that are likely to appear on most minis: human skin (using the examples of a light-caucasian female and a tan male skintone), leather, and metal (covering both TMM and NMM approaches).

Sketching skintones in practice.

How to paint a lively and realistic TMM.

Chapter 5 discusses the particularities when painting two different types or categories of miniatures: minis for the gaming table, and flats. For gaming miniatures, the chapter first features Marko Miladinovic showing his approach to painting green skin and then Enrique Velasco (Emuse) presents a complete step-by-step on how to paint a GW Nurgle creature. Then, Albert Gros shows some of the specifities when painting flats. The final Chapter 6 provides a survey on a number of tips and ideas concerning base-building and scenery. Next to insights into the general principles of base-composition, this chapter incudes two "putting theory into practice" sections, each showing a step-by-step of building a base. The book closes with a small gallery of some of the authors' works.

Advice on painting a Nurgle creature...

... and where to place light and shadows on a (flat) figure.

This book covers a lot of material, laid out in the same well-organized and easy-to-follow-way as the previous volumes of this series. The pictures are very nice, and the longer and shorter texts provide clear explanations. The diverse range of topics covered by different artists means that there is most likely to be something in the book for every painter, from absolute newbies to advanced hobbyists. The former will particularly benefit from the chapters on the tools-of-the-trade, the setup of a well-laid-out painting table, and the preparation and cleaning of minis. The advanced painter will rejoice in Chapter 4.1, which for me is the star of the book. In that chapter, Arnau Lázaro takes the reader through a detailed step-by-step of how he paints lively, complex and dramatic skintones on a miniature depicting a female nude. Next to sage advice on the subject matter, the chapter also is an excellent example of the sketching approach to painting introduced in Volume 2 of the series. My second highlight in the book is Albert Gros's treatment how to paint flat figures. While Albert nicely points out the particularities of painting 2D miniatures, much of what he has to say on lighting is perfectly relevant and helpful for minis sculpted in the round. Overall, I very much liked that the chapters refer explicitly to concepts and topics introduced in previous volumes, which drives home the encyclopedic character of the series. Finally, and similar to my concerns regarding Volume 2, the cover picture shows a mini that is not really dealt with in the book.

Basing in practice.

The desire to cover so many bases, of course, also comes with disadvantages. For one thing, the fact that the book addresses topics from absolute basics (such as the variety of brushes) to things that require advanced skills (such as the chapter on skintones) makes it hard to clearly define a core audience for the book. This can be interpreted in a positive way as I have above - that the book has something for everyone. But it also will make it hard for someone buying the book to feel fully satisfied with the book-as-a-whole. For another, since so much ground has to be covered, some of the individual topics are necessarily dealt with in some brevity. For instance, I generally like the book's discussion on basing, especially because it includes a few thoughts and guideline on composition and basing principles. But a single chapter simply cannot do justice to a vast and multifaceted topic such as basing. Maybe it would have been better to reserve a full, fourth volume on basing, and vignette/diorama building, which could have gone more in-depth on composition, materials and how-tos.

An excerpt of the beautiful gallery that closes the book.

Summing up, I would say that the book will be most beneficial for beginners. For 29,50 Euros suggested retail price you get a lot of content, presented in an attractive and systematic way. For advanced painters, I think the skintone chapter will be most interesting - but a single chapter might be too little to warrant buying the whole book. And, of course, those wanting to complete their Encyclopedia collection will have to grab a copy, in any case :-D

Thanks for reading. As always, let me know, in the comments, if you have questions. Talk to you soon.

Best, D.

Hey all,

welcome to the third page of my project diary. If you're wondering what this is, please check the announcement post, in which I explain the motivation and general goals of the diary. At the bottom of that post, you will find a link to all parts of this series (constantly updated as soon as new articles are published).

Today's post will be about preparing the mini for painting. Since I have talked about this in extended detail in the past, I will only briefly summarize what I did!

Same same... but different?

As usual, the Caesar set included a few of the same pose, so the first thing I had to do was pick the mini that I liked best. Normally, I would choose the best-cast version (the least undercuts, casting mistakes, flash/moldlines), but in this case, all three were pretty much the same. However, probably due to the rather soft plastic Caesar uses for their casts, the three versions differed a bit in the angles (legs to ground, sword to arm, etc.). So I just picked the version I liked best (in this case, the first from the left). The actual preparation went very smoothly as there were no undercuts, very little flash - just a bit around the shield, and nothing much in terms of moldlines. Very well done, Caesar!

Very little for me to do!

Just a little bit of flash along the lower shield-rim

So, ultimately, all I had to do was to cut away the little plastic base, clean up the shield a little and make sure the figure was really clean of moldlines.

The tools of the trade...

As usual, when I am done with the knifework on those soft-plastic miniatures, I treat the mini with some soft-plastic primer, which (I feel) smoothes out tiny micro-imperfections in the plastic.

After that was done, I drilled holes into the mini's feet with a .4 mm drill. In the step after the next, I will insert acupuncture needles as pins, which will fix the mini to the base. Why not pin them now, you ask? It'll all become clear in the next installment...

Thanks for reading. In the next part of the project diary, I will address the first steps of building the base.

As always, let me know in the comments if you have questions. See you in a bit!

Best, D.