Skya

It's a new year and that means MHE (Miniatures Hobby Events) at Gen Con are searching for instructors and volunteers of all stripes. We need a folks willing to help us out with hobby classes, Paint & Take, Demonstration tables, Speed Paint Arena, and a lot more. Instructors and volunteers can earn free badges and help with hotel space and costs. Even if you don't paint, or you only have a couple of hours, we need your help to keep these great events going! Teach a Class! Instructors set their own prices for classes, and although Gen Con does get a portion, the rest is paid to the Instructor. The volunteer staff of MHE guides you through our submission and scheduling process, submits all events to Gen Con, assists with supplies and storage, handouts, help with setup and clean up, as well as handling ticket paperwork and security. Just contact Katie at mhe.wrangler@gmail.com with what you want to teach and she'll set you up. Be a Volunteer! Join our crew of volunteers and help us run these events smoothly. We have a lot of fun, and helping has it's rewards! Get in touch with Noel Meyer at painterskya@yahoo.com for more information on all the many ways you can help. We have plenty of work to do that doesn't need painting skills, just a love of minis. But if you can paint, come hang out with people who share your love of the hobby! Event submission starts this week and badge and hotel pre-reg start next week so if you want to be part of the MHE Crew, the time is now!

Oooo she turned out gorgeous. I may steal your holly pattern for a piece I'm doing for my mother for Christmas.

Wyrd tourney at my local store huh? I dont actually play, but maybe I'll bring out some paints and come harass you guys while you play.

Not to mention the fact that when pulling apart pocket watches apparently you need a much finer set of tools then your standard eyeglasses screwdriver kit. *mutters annoyedly* Paying someone else to do the work seems well worth the cost to me..

Yikes, I wander off for a couple months come back and everyone's babbling about some cool new game... I'm going to have to start going through just the forums I read instead of going all the way through the list of new posts since I last visited or I'll never have time to actually paint.

Gen Con LLC brings you Sheperd Paine, a Seminar on Diorama and Design. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sheperd Paineâ's relevance to the world of the gaming miniatures hobby can be seen though his wonderful artistic modeling talents, strength of realism and storytelling skills, his use of source lighting, conversions, and above all passion! His work spans decades and stretches from model figurines to armored vehicles, planes and ships; historical periods from the Napoleonic Era, to the Civil War, WWII and Modern times; scenes from Fantasy, Literature, and to translating the work of Great Master 2D Painters in 3D. His projects are in the hands of collectors, historians, and museums around the world. His sculpted works include work for the Franklin Mint and numerous manufacturers. He has written tip-sheets for Monogram Kits in the 70's, numerous articles, and many sought-after books detailing techniques and projects that have shaped and influenced the world of modeling miniatures today. He is the driving inventor of the Open System of model judging used around the world, that is now gaining popularity in our own gaming convention painting competitions. He still oversees the MMSI Chicago Show judging, an Exhibition of models well-known for its high standards and attracting artists from around the globe, as well as judging at many other shows and exhibitions around the world. Shep is an artist who has pushed the limits of our hobby and stepped beyond, inspiring so many up and coming miniatures artists. MHE is proud to be able to bring him to Gen Con. His seminar is an exceptional opportunity to learn from a Grand Master and gain inspiration from his work and passion for the hobby of miniatures and modeling. Sheperd Paine will show examples of his many figures and dioramas, covering historical and fantasy subjects, explaining how he comes up with ideas, designs his scenes and constructs the models used in them. Sheperd Paine is one of Gen Con's Industry Insider Guests of Honor for 2009. Gen Con Gaming Convention Saturday, August 15, 2009 12:00AM (Noon) Location: Westin Hotel: Capital I 1.5 Hours This Seminar is free, but get your ticket to make sure you don't miss out on this opportunity! The seminar is only open to Gen Con attendees. Seminar information can be found at www.gencon.com. Further information On Sheperd Paine can be found on his website: www.sheperdpaine.com

The full rules are posted up on the Gen Con forums here. Manufacturer Awards The system of Manufacturer Awards allows many companies to reward painters for using miniatures from their product lines in the Gen Con Indy Painting Competition. It’s a chance for them to have their own painting competition without the space and hassles of running a competition, and allows everyone to exhibit their wonderful works of art in one place for everyone to see. The manufacturers themselves determine their own awards and judge their winners within the Gen Con Indy Painting Competition. All you have to do is enter the competition with the right miniature and you can be eligible for these awards as well as the main competition awards! Good luck and good painting! * * * * * * * * * * * * Wyrd Miniatures [ www.wyrd-games.net ] Wyrd Miniatures is happy to once again be supporting the Miniatures Hobby Events (MHE) at GenCon 2009 with free product for the Paint and Take as well as a Manufacturers Award for the excellent painting contest that is put on every year. This year we'll be offering a first, second and third prize placement for those entering a Wyrd miniature into the contest. First place will win our 62mm resin bust of our Chi-Wyrd-hau zombie pup which can only be won in our painting contests, never for sale, as well as one of our box sets of miniatures. Second place wins a box set as well, and third place will have their choice of two blistered miniatures. Looking forward to seeing your entries! * * * * * * * * * * * * Dark Age [ www.dark-age.com ] Prizes for the Dark Age Painting Comp $100 in cash and prizes for 1st place (Plus trophy) $50 in cash and prizes for 2nd place $20 in cash and prizes for 3rd place * * * * * * * * * * * * Dark Sword Miniatures [ www.darkswordminiatures.com ] Dark Sword will have 3 trophies made for 2008 Gen Con Indy (1st - 3rd). They are crystal and will look really nice. We went for the perfect size for a bookshelf or a display case, but still large enough to have some serious heft to them. We are upping the ante this year for prizes once again. 1st place / Best In Show for Best Dark Sword Miniature or Diorama receives: - Handsome Crystal Trophy, $500.00 in cold cash and $500.00 in hot Dark Sword products. 2nd place receives: - Handsome Crystal Trophy, $100.00 cash and $100.00 in product 3rd place receives: - Handsome Crystal Trophy, $100.00 in product Please note – Dark Sword may also personally approach you about purchasing your winning entries for the Dark Sword studio collection if you are open to parting with your winning entry. This of course would be above and beyond the prizes listed above and below. So you could make off with all sorts of cash and prizes when it is all said and done folks. Special George R.R. Martin Masterworks Prize Support In addition to great prizes above, George wanted to give people incentive to paint up Dark Sword figs from the George R.R. Martin Masterworks line. So he is throwing some swag into the mix as well. The top 3 Dark Sword entries with George R.R. Martin Masterworks miniatures in them will be able to choose in descending order, based on their placing in the competition, which of the following prizes they want. First place gets first choice and so on...George twitches on well-painted miniatures just like I do. Prize # 1 - A complete set of the DREAMSONGS audiobooks on CD, all three volumes (this is 43 CDs with 52 hours of stories on them - Wow!) Prize # 2 - Signed copies of the Green Ronin RPGs of A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE and WILD CARDS. Prize # 3- Signed hardcovers of INSIDE STRAIGHT and BUSTED FLUSH, the first two volumes of the "next generation" Wild Cards revival. If you dig Super Heroes, you will love what George and his fellow authors have done in their shared universe that has been around since the early 1980's. All of these prizes will be personally signed by George R.R. Martin as well. Please note - that it may be possible to have 6 different Dark Sword winners as George's prizes will be given out separately from our standard prizes. This is in addition to the general Gen Con Indy prizes and awards you could win with your Dark Sword entries! So, if your Dark Sword GRRM mini took first place in the Gen Con competition and also took first place for the Dark Sword Mfr Award and the GRRM Award, you could win three times for three prizes with the same miniature at the same show. Talk about incentive to paint up a kick-ass Dark Sword GRRM mini for Gen Con ! * * * * * * * * * * * * Hasslefree Miniatures [ www.hasslefreeminiatures.co.uk ] Best Hasslefree Miniatures Entry 1st Prize of $200 USD (£100 GBP) gift vouchers 2nd Prize of $100 USD (£50 GBP) gift vouchers 3rd Prize of $50 USD (£25 GBP) gift vouchers * * * * * * * * * * * * Pulp Monsters [ www.pulp-city.com ] Best Pulp City Model (or any Super Hero) – 50$ Booth or Online Store Credit * * * * * * * * * * * * Reaper Miniatures, Inc. [www.reapermini.com] Reaper will be awarding first through fourth places for their Manufacturer's Awards at this year's 2009 Gen Con Indy! All Reaper models will be judged under one category. 1st Place: $150 in gift certificates 2nd Place: $100 in gift certificates 3rd Place: $50 in gift certificates 4th Place: $25 in gift certificates All Reaper gift certificates are usable at the show and via mail-in afterwards, as well as online store, after receipt of special code. * * * * * * * * * * * *

I dunno, at 28mm scale it'd probably still make a pretty cool drone thingy.

That isnt a wang, that's a tentacle apendage.

Where would I be Sue, without you to tell me while I'm painting why what I'm doing with hair doesnt look quite right?

Oooo yeah, those are much better pictures. The skintones have much more contrast and color too them and the whole thing has more color intensity to it.

I've never heard of Gunze paints. My recommendation for paints for a beginner in acrylics would be Reaper Master Series. They go on smooth but thick out of the bottle and they thin down beautifully. They have dropper tops so you can put exactly as much as you need on your pallet not wasting any, and they come in triads if you want nice easy highlights and shadows without having to think about what colors to use.

I like.

She'll be sitting on something, but I wont be building it as she's a commission piece for a guy who uses puts together displays of toy soldiers in scenes like feasts and tournaments ans such. I'm pretty sure he commissions most of them including the scenery and then puts everything together to his liking. Here's a link to his collections. The three links on the bottom left are the displays I'm talking about.

Mmmm and because I just realized that for some reason it only linked to the small photo in that shows up in the gallery, here's where to find bigger pictures: http://wyrd-games.net/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=2714&ppuser=222

Amusingly that embroidery piece was the easiest thing on this to paint. It took an hour or two at most. And yeah, the skin on this one's a bit lacking. That tends to happen when I'm given silly putty arms at 54mm scale and I have to paint on the definition. Man I wish I'd taken some pictures of her just in the gray primer I received her in. I mean she literally has no neck. It's as if the sculptor was thinking her hair worked like a frieze and and he could just use the "background" to show that it existed. Everything past the point on her jaw under the ears is just roughed in. Not to mention that I had paint on the collar bones and the muscular definition on the arms which got washed out by the lighting. I'm pretty sure I failed at my goal on her hands.. Meh. Ok done ranting now. Gonna go paint a Tom Meier piece to make myself feel better.