Pegazus's Pile of Pminiatures (WIP)

[PegaZus]

what the f*ck! some people really taking the hobby one step too far. ugh. comments of what to do better is the most valuable, so plz dont stop posting such stuff!
...of course im very interested in who it is so i can post a comment

thats a mad looking robot by the way ...someting from AI?

Oh you don't know how tempted I am to unleash the hounds of the forum upon him. But it would do no good and just stir up trouble.

Wait. That's pretty much every forum out there. Nah. We're nice people. So like Freak suggests, ignoring.

The robot is Jeeves from Reaper, unless you're talking the Asimov AI. That's an idea either way. Only saw about 5 minutes of the movie, but some still shots might have some inspiration for details. Thanks!

 

[KruleBear]

The monkey made me smile (and the wife who thinks I'm a nerd stuck in childhood for playing with mini's). The cracked base on the robot looks like a good mistake. I'm looking forward to how he turns out.

 

[PegaZus]

The monkey made me smile (and the wife who thinks I'm a nerd stuck in childhood for playing with mini's). The cracked base on the robot looks like a good mistake. I'm looking forward to how he turns out.

Thanks! Glad that people get a chuckle out of it. And just remember, boys don't change. They just get more expensive toys!

Didn't really have a chance to paint much this end of the week. Went to Mt. Princeton, a hot springs resort, and did a lot of swimming, soaking, and river rafting. Funs, I tells ya! The river was really cool. Snow melt cold in the middle, boiling hot at the edges where the water seeps out. And the sand was so hot that you couldn't keep your hand in it longer than a few seconds. Really, really fun.

Did it again to myself! Forced myself to sit down for ten minutes. Just ten. Wound up being 45. Mixed up some "faded" paint, 3 parts 9078 Surf Aqua to 1 part 9063 Ghost White. Didn't start that way. Started out 50/50, but it was way too white. Added more blue. Worked out well, and I'm happy with it so far.

+1, 71pts

 

[PegaZus]

Hope everybody had an enjoyable Father's Day, and for the others, I hope you had an enjoyable weekend. That should be everybody. Didn't manage to paint nearly as much as I should have, given that I was at liberty to do what I pleased this weekend. Made the two days seem like three, so very relaxing. Did manage to go play with the airbrush again on the model car bodies. I'd been using Windex, as I read that it was supposed to be good at thinning the paint. But I'd had to do three coats on the test subject (mine, not the kids'), and I still wasn't getting adequate color. Then read about using the Future instead, and as I've got a whole jug of it (for doing washes and such), I used it this time. Much, much better results. I was able to finish my coat, get the daughter's hot pink 49' Mercury, and the son's dark green Hudson Hornet all coated. I must say, I had fun doing that once the frustration was eliminated.

But that's not mini's, at least in the spirit of this site, so on with the true subject.

Poor Jeeves. He's rusting. Added in some Honed Steel (9053) and then Rust Brown (9072) to age him a bit. Then opened up the can of Standard Rust pigment from MIG to get the rust a little texture. Happy with the results so far. Now I just need to figure out what I want to do with the unpainted details left. I'm wanting to do it in something that doesn't normally tarnish, so I'm thinking something like gold. But, I may just do a very nice powder coated item, faded just a little but not rusting.

That ties in to my thoughts on his story. I'm playing around with the eventual gallery submission text as a first hand account of some adventuring party coming across him, with a local guide trying to dissuade the group from spending much time with 'Ol Sawbones. Thinking that the details could be gold, and thus attractive to those who like to loot. But unfortunately for the would be looters, 'Ol Sawbones isn't nearly rusted up as much as people think. The exterior is degrading, but underneath the cheap, low-bid cover is long forgotten state-of-the-art medical robot, whose self-preservation circuits still work at full capacity. And those who try to wrap their nimble fingers around the valuable metal wind up losing quite a handful. Usually, just up the wrist. And so the party passes on, the thief of the party unable to convince the machine that the master who it is waiting for is long dead, and it should follow someone else, such as himself, from now on. I'll have to work on the dialog, and not make a novel out of it, but think it would be a fun addition.

Pictures!

+1, 72 Pts

 

[marjedi]

Poor rusty robot!

And what is this future you are mentioning?

 

[Meph]

What, rust on that robot? Quickly, somebody get that robot some beer, STAT!

 

[PegaZus]

Poor rusty robot!

And what is this future you are mentioning?

Future, Klear, or any other name acrylic floor wax might go by. In theory, when making a wash with it, it will reduce the surface tension of the water in the paint which lets it flow into cracks better.

 

[PegaZus]

More paint! And Ra Ra Rasputin, Lover of the Russian Queen! Ahem. Sorry.

Still hadn't decided on what to do some of the details, although I'm more or less resigned to doing the gold, probably NMM. But, I really didn't want to tackle that on a Monday night. So, painted the concrete and bricks. Actually surprised the bricks look as nice as they do. Was very unhappy with the color red that I started with, but it turned out.

Concrete was done with a base of 9038 Rainy Grey, then <insert English failure here>. Speckled? Dabbed? Mottled? Gah! There's a word for it. Too late in the evening. Anyway, second color to the concrete was 9090 Misty Grey. The bricks were based in Deep Red (9002), and I wasn't happy with it as it was too violent. GAH! Violet, not violent. Then it was dry brushed with the Misty Grey.

*sigh* Time for bed, but picture * picture * cause-of-tonight's-insanity.

+1 pts, 73 Total.

And now put this on repeat for an hour or so. See what happens to your mind. Actually, I've done that with Nyan Cat. Fun having your brain liquify, but that's the only way you can make it fit the mold again sometimes.

And for those of you who want to take me up on that whole brain melting thing:

Hmmm... wonder if I could do something similar to the 4-hour challenge. Nyan Cat challenge. You've got 10 hours to paint a single figure, but must have the Nyan Cat going at all times.

The horror. The horror.

Okay, I'll stop. Night.

 

[Meph]

RA RA Rasputing, Russia's Greatest Love Machine! Damn it's stuck in me head now. It does that often, that song...

 

[PegaZus]

STIPPLING! That was the word I was looking for last time! Sheesh!

Very proud of myself, then a little disappointed. First, I didn't feel like doing much tonight... other than painting. Rather a large shock for me, as I usually have to drag myself into things. But, took a stab at doing NMM gold. I probably could have done a little better with it, but was working with small details, and threw in a little SENMM. At least, that's my story. Started with the baseof 9074 Palomino Gold, shading down with 9030 Leather Brown. I was going to go with 9007 Marigold Yellow for the highlights, but felt it was too orange. After I spent some time shaking the bottle, of course. Went with 9008 Sunlight Yellow instead and think it was the better choice. And then I got on a roll.

Went with 9088 Stormy Grey for the motor casing on the right arm (left in the front view picture) with a highlight of 9090 Misty Grey to try to convey some sense of fading there, but not rusting yet. Then went for the eyes. Did 9005 Phoenix Red with a dot of 9039 Pure White for some highlight in the eye. I was thinking I might go for a bit of an OSL look to the eyes, but figured it was daytime, so wouldn't have that great a glow. I also stippled (ah ha!) some of the Pure White that was left on the tile onto the base to try to make it more concrete looking. Didn't really work, as it still looks more like slate than concrete. Oh well, have to figure that out some other time.

Dove straight into completing the base at this point, which is where I disappointed myself. Uh, I may have wanted to seal it first with my standard gloss then matte setup. *sigh* Oh well, I can always attempt to do that over the basing material after I get the glamor shots done, possibly sometime this weekend. I could also just do a brush on sealer instead. Not sure how the stalks and static grass will hold up under the sprays.

Anyway, think that this guy is done. Thinking about what I would like to work on next. I've got Elise that is still unfinished, the Fighting Panda knight (totally going to try to free-hand Scott Kurtz's Panda Attack on the banner, sans words), and one or two more. I've also got the dragons of mine and the kids' to do, but I've also got their car models to work on as well (and the wife is eying table space). Then there's that set of four starships as well. Oh, woe is me. What to paint, what to paint.

Skip it for now. Picture time.

+1 pts, 74 pts total.

 

[PegaZus]

I'm not counting it as a mini I have as I could make a near infinite number, but look what came in the mail today! Bought a green off of CMON's zombiesincorporated. I'll certainly be painting one, but that'll be up in a different thread, probably the one going through the casting process, selling some on eBay and others to interested CMONers and the like. Don't worry, I'm not going to start spamming adverts in anybody's inbox. Signature link, probably. Oh, and if you'd like to take a look at a better picture, zi has some better pics in this thread, but I wanted to show some size. And his thumb isn't that big; poorly placed and I'm too lazy to take another.

In other news, I still haven't got the good pics of the robot yet. Too much stress. I'm back on the layoff roller-coaster, going up and down. Was told it was going to be mid-July, but they've changed their minds to end of July. Oh, gee, thanks. It does give me more time to find another spot, either internal or external, but I confirmed that my old position is gone even with a new budget year (October for those of you not-aero types). I'd hoped to return to it once they had money again. The boss I worked for is all gloom, and the people I work with just scoff and try to reassure me that I'm safe. Uh, yeah, not convinced. But never fear! These things happen, especially in aerospace. First time for me, but that's an oddity. I've got a pretty good lead already, and we'll just have to see what happens. Still doesn't do well for painting time as I get to the point where doing nothing sounds great, so dats wut I doos.

 

[PegaZus]

And Jeeves has been posted! (Gallery Link Here) Finally managed to get pictures taken and put together. Think I've finally worked out the camera settings a bit better, because I spent more time working on the story than I did on massaging the photos.

Here's the story I came up with:

"But I'll treat you nicely!"

"MASTER SAID WAIT. NO OTHER ORDERS GIVEN. I WAIT."

"Fenrisk, give it up"

Our party's tech-thief slowly lowered his chin and nodded. He'd spent the better part of an hour trying to convince the ancient med-bot that he was the new owner, or trying bribes, begging, and whatever other pleas a mechanic might find appealing. Luckily, Frenrisk wasn't stupid, and had at least listened to the warning.

The local guide chuckled as our breathren returned to the path. "At least ya only lost just ya time, en nay anything fleshy."

The guide turned. "Told him, dinna I, boys?". A few of the porters we'd hired to carry our equipment sullenly laughed. They were happy for the brief rest, lounging in what shade could be found amongst the rubble. But a few were grudgingly rubbing the nubs of missing fingers, and one a stump down past the wrist.

"It's just a shame," Fenrisk sighed as he mounted, motioning for the caravan to continue. "That's a fully functional and alert military medi, a MA-5 if I'm not mistaken. Those only went to the most distinguished units. I saw a bone saw once during my apprenticing, but to see one complete! How I'd love to peek at the insides, if only to see how they built it."

And so we left the lithe robot, alone in front of the ruins of that military hospital, awaiting the return of its long dead master.

And here's a smaller version of the gallery pic, just to save on forum space.

+10 pts, 84 pts total.

 

[KruleBear]

Love the back story. I have to admit the rust was not working for me in the wip, but you must have made some changes since the prior post as it looks good now. The yellow bits could use abit more aging to match the rest and the gallery photo makes the white of the base look unfinished. (It is not like i should give photography advice as my photos even suck for wips:snicker. Anyways a neat and fun little mini.

 

[PegaZus]

Actually, I don't think I did anything to the rust. Difference between the iPhone WIP pics and the tripod & digital camera I suppose. The yellow bits were supposed to be NMM gold, which would be the lure of a lot of thieves and not suffer tarnishing, but I forgot to jot that into the back story. I did struggle with the base quite a bit. Contrast has always been my nemesis. I absolutely hate the way a good picture contrast looks in my hand, and so always wind up too light.

Because of that, I'm thinking my next mini to do will be one of the flats. That'll have to be done nearly 100% with shading and contrast, so might be a good study for me. Plus, it'll be easier to my ego to strip them rather than a nice 3D mini.

And in further news, stopped by Hobby Lobby and picked up some more RTV silicone. Plan on starting the casting process tomorrow, although I should probably start tonight. Takes 24 hours to fully cure, and I've got to do it twice for a two part mold.

 

[PegaZus]

Started out on some flats today, along with three model car kits, clear coating Jeeves, shopping for a vacation paint kit parts, groceries, and looking at wood floors. Rather busy day.

Here's the lion and the bear. I picked them up probably four years ago from a doll house store, which, incidentally, I really should go back and look at again. There's bound to be some good stuff there. Anyway, they're fairly old I believe. The lion has lost his paw, and they were really rather tarnished.

Hmm. Hopefully, I didn't ingest a lot of lead. Hadn't thought of that, and a little late now. So, here's them both, shined up and then a shot from above. For scale, they are temp mounted to a couple of spray can caps.

And then all primed and ready to go. This will be a practice in getting a good shading and contrast going, which hopefully gets me over that block I have of not driving it high enough.

+2 pts, 86 pts total

 

[KruleBear]

Actually, I don't think I did anything to the rust. Difference between the iPhone WIP pics and the tripod & digital camera I suppose. The yellow bits were supposed to be NMM gold, which would be the lure of a lot of thieves and not suffer tarnishing, but I forgot to jot that into the back story. I did struggle with the base quite a bit. Contrast has always been my nemesis. I absolutely hate the way a good picture contrast looks in my hand, and so always wind up.

Funny. That gives me hope that when i figure out how to take a good picture my mini will mimic how it looks irl:dont-know:.

I like the idea of using flats to work on some technique. My gaming mentor prefered 54mm flats for Napoleonics as the were easier to rank up on the table. I like the two you have. Are you going sculpt a new paw on the lion? Good luck on the painting and this will bring back some memories for me. Oh to be back in school again...

 

[PegaZus]

Funny. That gives me hope that when i figure out how to take a good picture my mini will mimic how it looks irl:dont-know:.

Think the best thing that hit me this time on the pictures was setting the ISO as low as I could. Seemed to have taken a much better picture that way with nearly no additional editing needed. That, the timer and a tripod are probably the three things I'd most recommend.

I like the idea of using flats to work on some technique. My gaming mentor prefered 54mm flats for Napoleonics as the were easier to rank up on the table. I like the two you have. Are you going sculpt a new paw on the lion?

I did think about that. I think it would detract a bit from it's charm, but if I manage to strip it multiple times I may just give it a go to give my painting frustrations a break.

Good luck on the painting and this will bring back some memories for me. Oh to be back in school again...

Tell me about it. How I wish I'd found this hobby back when I had time for such things. I can't imagine how much practice I'd have been able to get in.

 

[PegaZus]

Back from vacation where I managed to destroy the Flash Juno mold and thus what I had planned for a lot of my free time in the afternoon. And then started the second hectic week, starting off with the lovely homecoming gift of a dead refrigerator. While it would probably only take a couple of hundred to fix, it's a sixteen year old appliance. So out the door it went when the new replacement arrived yesterday. Be sure to remember: "Happy wife, happy life". Wife is happy, so things are good, right?

Eh, not so much for this week. Further joy was had by getting a layoff notice on Monday. For the third time this year. Then had it rescinded on Tuesday. Again, for the third time this year. Now, things are afoot, and I'll be moved over to the company's "loaner" engineering group officially this Saturday. Chances are that it'll make my position a lot more secure. Unless they get rid of the entire group. Don't ya just love rumors? But one good one is that the big wheels up higher in the adminisphere have turned and I may be going over to a different group that has work for me through the end of the year. And that's the goal I've had since March, so things are looking up. I know a lot of people here paint to relieve stress, but it just doesn't work for me. So back to painting! Yay! And I gotta get to 100 soon, or else the CMON store will be out of certain ones on my wishlist yet again.

Got a base coat on the bear. Yeah, that's all. Didn't take a lot of time that. But, still, got the brush wet. That just struck me as rather Freak Bar-ish. Anyway, Leather Brown (9030). I think I tend to use that color a lot. Not sure why.

+1 pt, 87 pts total

 

[PegaZus]

Got several washes done on the bear last night. Was going to stop after one, but I'm really trying to work outside my comfort zone of what "looks good" to me. Glad I did.

+1 pt, 88 pts total

 

[PegaZus]

And I think I screwed the bear up. I liked an effect I was getting with the paint (9032 Amber Gold) and then went wild. I think I went too sloppily and haphazard. Now, I'll probably continue with this, see what I can do with it, but I may wind up just stripping it and going again, taking my time a little more at this point. Been a rough sort of day, so it was at least therapeutic.

+1 pts, 89 pts total