v22TTC

@LDP: I didn't mean you specifically, but more the extremely literal-minded, inflexible tourney organizers (and some gamers), it has been my displeasure to know. Their rules mean more than experimentation, conversions and sweet creativity... I'm sure you know the type I mean. But we've all got our standards - I suppose the only one that bothers me is proxying, using another company's minis: I care about the minis companies I support (pretty much just Wyrd and CB now), and to use minis from other companies seems a bit disrespectful to me.

@Peterdita: It's slowly, ponderously, excruciatingly, and frustratingly on the way.... Dude, my life's just gone so ridiculous this last couple of years, that there's nothing I could say that anyone would believe anymore... while IP was on, I was fighting a medical battle to prevent my Mum's foot being amputed (whilst attempting to stop her water pipes from bursting), for instance... sheesh!... But, yeah, work's being done.... Would be quicker, if I could get adequate lighting (thought spending £20 on two bulbs might give me a fighting chance, but no... f*cking Androv!). Which leads to.... @Wombats: Would you mind posting a link to one of those halogen lamps? Seriously, I seem to be spending half my life trying to get good light, and never getting nearer a solution.... [i can only ever work at night.]

Depending upon what it's for, your base-work can help too - if you have something on the base behind the mini (like a bit of broken wall, or railings) and paint the mini with an impression of what's behind, it'll add to the aetherial effect.... Bit of dark blue in your mix will probably help too, for your regular ghost (nice and cold).

I'd add a little flexibility to the rules, so they're spirit, rather than letter. My colour scheme for my Infinity Nomads is only two colours (if excluding black and white, and the highlight colour for one of them), and the bases are smoothed and painted with a lot of freehand, but certainly not 'based' (no gravel or flock will get within a million miles of my slick manga-tech Nomads!). Fails the rules, yet each one of my dudes is painted to a ludicrously high standard, with total love, and taking ten times as long as it would to reach the 'GW standard' (why none of them are finished yet).... OK, I'm not a tourney kind of guy (for these kinds of reasons), but have attended some (for work), and it'd be too ridiculous for words if such well-painted minis were marked poorly against someone else's 30 minute per mini rules conformity, or even disqualified... ah, I so love rules.... @Sturm88: Nice post - tons I agree with in your sentiment!

Well, after getting my ass kicked by Androv Medical (spit!), for a couple of months, I'm now without adequate light to work. Can anyone recommend a UK (ideally) manufacturer of reliable full spectrum bulbs, 32+Watts, and bayonet, ideally? Cost doesn't matter - as long as they effing work.... They really made such a difference... when they worked.... Cheers!

I know what you mean, but (just so you know) this is how they're doing things at the moment: get multiples of the linkable troops out; and when the sculptor sculpts a new troop type, he sculpts two versions at the same time, so the second will be released fairly promptly.

Just a heads up that the new Infinity stuff's up today: can't link, coz their site's completely down (hackers, no doubt ), but pics are on TGN [much as I hate the place...]. Some of the releases are merely repackaging, and the male Moderator's not a zillion miles away from the other one, but the rest are effing SWEEEEEET!!!! Best month of new stuff for a good while now! Happyhappyhappy!

Try to not let the paint get up into the ferule (rinse immediately, if it does). Use cheaper brushes for the rough work (rough, in terms of what it does to the brush): taking paint from the pot, mixing, feathering etc. After every session:- Rinse the brushes you've used in warm water, and in the nice, powerful jet you get from the tap (to get right in there). Don't have the water too hot, since it can melt the glue that holds the hairs in; Use a quality brush soap (from an art shop, probably) and really work that soap up into the ferule. Leave it to soak into the hairs while you do each brush; Rinse, repeat, rinse again. [A good soap also acts as a conditioner - these are natural hairs, like yours, so should be treated in a similar way - try to avoid using washing-up liquid etc, as it can destroy the oils in the hairs.] Lick each brush to a fine point and put it in a container that keeps it as vertical as possible. Some people like to put the rubber tube protector, that good brushes usually come with, back on, but I find it can do more harm than good, as you sometimes catch a hair and bend it back when you do that. I'm not particularly disciplined, generally, but totally commited to this, and my brushes have lasted years, still at peak performance [and, money-expense aside, it's well to remember that a beautiful, and harmless animal has died to give me my brush, so should be respected by my getting as much life out of that brush as possible, before it needs to be replaced... and you get used to a specific tool you use a lot - when you replace it, the next one won't be exactly the same...].

Holy cats! - that's a fantastic mini; worth checking out, everyone. Nice to see the Master sculpting subjects beyond his 'usual' these days. Cheers thewartoad for the heads-up!

I think the worrying thing about such discussions is what they might do future minis. OK, in retrospect, Vik Sword Mistress is Wyrd's best-seller, so has been retroactivelly vindicated. But have the chances decreased of Wyrd creating a similar 'difficult' (cough...) mini, now the minis are for a game? I would really, really, really hope not! Not sure there's much space left in the 'easy, 2D, blocky, bag of sh*te minis for gaming' market.... [For the record, I love CB's stated policy of 'we will never sacrifice beauty and artistry for efficacy', though some of their minis have made me come pretty close to weeping with frustration!... But that ain't Wyrd's niche (which is a far friendlier one).]

Yeah, some of them need the ol' 'replace stick with a brass rod, and glue (and GS) a coin under the base' treatment. PS Sorry for the snideness of my previous post: I just hate to see credit not being given where it's due (eg Nathan obviously has a policy of not flogging his molds to death to save costs, like many other minis companies, who seem to keep getting away with it...); and this type of discussion brings back too many bad memories of working in GW Dublin, and getting moaned at by the mothers of the 'gifted' eight year olds, who've never assembled a mini in their lives but want to start with a complicated LotR mini, and refuse to listen and do it properly, then complain. My bad.

Not really a miniature but please indulge (and help) me. Somebody has commisioned me to paint a purple rose on a purple zippo (for his girlfriend, called Rosie, who is very nice, and who deserves a most excellent job!). Now I can paint (like a mofo!) but this requires a level of durability that wouldn't normally be necessary for a mini, so any advice? I'm guessing enamel paints are more durable than acrylics. Would it be better to sculpt a fairly flat rose with milliput onto the zippo and then paint it? Durability (over an insane amount of time) is key here - my skills are up to any suggestion. The zippo's finish is fairly matte (purple) - should I sand the area to be painted first, use a brush-on primer (acrylic?) etc. All help massively appreciated!

I thought this thread was a sardonic joke but it seems it's serious.... There's no arguing with the luck of the cast, but I've always found Wyrd minis to be rolling around in the clover compared to most minis out there... and I'm not the luckiest, generally. Frankly, in absolute terms, I prefer a few other minis ranges out there, but I'd say that Wyrd has the optimal point of minimal-prep to quality of anything - I find Wyrd minis are generally 'try to find the mold-line' where most other companies are 'yep, that's days of my life sorting that one out - before I start painting'. Re: pinning - Viktoria's arms!?!? Hahahaha! Yeah, nightmare.... Hahahaha - that's some pampered consumers!... Obviously need to get some Chinese infants on the case.... Try an Infinity antenna or multiple-simultaneous attachment points mini (like the Aragoto Senkenbutai).... For what it's worth, my advice (for I have no constructive criticism*) would be to maintain the Wyrd minis niche - which is pretty much the optimal point of everything! - and to never sacrifice beauty for efficacy (consonant with the niche), since plenty are doing that already. Niches are precarious things to maintain.... [*And stop doing LE minis!!!!]

Yeah, I didn't know Moonrise was going to do this... for the purists, I was playing with the punctuation a little, but have since moved the ellipses to their right and proper places (in addition to a few other things). There was a title too, which kind of added to feel:- 'Herein, a True History Known to but Few....' [i was imagining it would be hidden away in the rule book, to reward the attentive fluff-hounds; it being a self-contained 'prequel': please pretend you never read it (those that did), and you'll value the rule book more....] And the key words are deliberately capitalised (it's a Platonic thing...). Some of the characters do it more than others... Ghelkrauss is shocking for it! I hope that this has reassured the legions of good folk who worry about such things, and forestalled the thousands of posts we were sure to get. Sorry to have troubled you: back to my non-lurking.... PS: [While I'm here...] That Malifaux art is so sweet, and that War Pig!!!! Yeah!

Yeah, my eyes went pretty wide at that one too - please tell us Oh Mighty and Wise Malebolgia! And Angel Giraldez is a Director and painter here - that Dude must have 120 hours in his day!