Looking Thru The Other End of The Binoculars

Arrival of My Baby Girl Tyra

2007-10-29T19:09:00.000+08:00

The past few weeks I've been busy with work, getting a new ride and most importantly, the birth of my 2nd child, baby Tyra! She weights 3440 grams at birth and is now almost a week old. Here's a photo of the little princess.

Iron Painter Season 4

2007-09-25T18:31:00.000+08:00

The 4th season of the Iron Painter is here. This time round the turnout is incredibly huge. As of now, there are about 50 or so participants already. Sadly, I had to opt out this time as my baby girl is due next month.

If you would like to join in the madness, follow the link on the right side to Wyrd main page to find out more. The top prize is US$100 through Paypal and a US$50 Wyrd voucher so be sure to check it out!

Have U Ever Danced With the Devil...

2007-09-18T23:50:00.000+08:00

I had always wanted to paint a wolfen under the moonlight. Varghar, a limited edition model from Rackham seems to be the perfect model with its really cool pose. However, I put it off since wolfen wasn't the race I'm gaming with and I wanted to paint it only when I feel I'm ready.

After seeing a version of this model done by a member on the Wyrd website, I was greatly inspired and decided its time I paint mine up. I also wanted mine to look a little different from the original version by giving it a weapon swap. I've been working with white undercoat but this time I decided to use black since what I have in mind would be very dark. I primed it white as usual and painted it with 3 coats of black to get a nice smooth base to work with.
From there, I sprayed white from the top to get an idea of where the moonlight will fall on the model. Some oxford blue (VMC 807), dark sea grey (VMC991) and black was mixed to create a base colour for the skintone. I tried to keep all the colours very muted by adding grey to whatever colours I used.

To add some sense of motion to the otherwise static pose, I created a water splash with Vallejo water effects and still water. At the end, I'm very happy with the final result. Now to pick a new model and find more inspiration for it. Till then, Ciao!

A Journey Thru Time

2007-09-14T23:34:00.000+08:00

Today I sat in front of my computer and browse through the photos of my work in the past. Some of them brought back fond memories. I remember there were 3 of us in a D&D group during my secondary school days that were interested in miniature painting, Patrick, Joseph & myself.

Patrick was the most serious one and he bought the proper Citadel acrylic paints. However he had shaky hands and most of his minis end up pretty bad lol. However, he is really good at sketching and could come up with a group pic of our D&D characters in minutes. Joseph's and my skills at painting were nothing to be proud of either. Myself painted with water colours and some crappy brush. Not too long both my buddies quitted painting while I continue this rather "weird" hobby of mine.

I bought my 1st ever book on miniature painting titled Heroes for Wargames. That was the most informative book I could ever get during that time. I bought proper paints and brushes and produced a mini that I could be proud to show off when people ask me what I do as a hobby.

Unable to find anyone who share this same hobby, I painted less often, or rather took 1 whole year to finish a single model. This started to change when I went for my studies in Northampton in UK. I found a Games Workshop store and to me, it was like walking into an art gallery of miniatures in the 1st time of my entire life! The staff were friendly and I learnt alot from them. My flame for miniature painting was rekindled. That is also when I started my habit of brushlicking.

I continued to paint this way for a few years after I came back from UK. With the internet age, I came across the biggest, most informative online painting site ever "Cool Mini Or Not", commonly know as CMON. That again is like walking into another art gallery, only bigger, much much bigger. Thus began another chapter of my painting hobby.

Without much background in art, I had to start from zero, learning stuff like colour theory, shading and highlights not just by adding black & white. The rise of the French miniature company Rackham, changed the way thousands of painters like myself paint with their Non Metallic Metals (NMM). These few years, alot of talents have risen all over the world with new techniques and styles. I find myself more and more involved in this hobby. I should be painting for as long as I am able to. Till then I look forward to seeing how miniature painting will evolve in the years to come ... ...

One More for the Cabinate

2007-09-06T23:12:00.000+08:00

The basework was done with plaster and some greenstuff for the maggots on the corpse. I chopped of the arms and lower body of the corpse on floor as how Bregan would to his victims. That was a last minute addition as I felt the floor was rather plain with just the puddle of gore. I'll try to keep this painting momentum going before I hit another low period. I hope that wouldn't come too soon as I still have loads of unpainted stuff.

Almost Done

2007-09-01T23:48:00.000+08:00

Back from a business trip from Bangkok and found some time today to paint up the axe for Bregan. I'm rather happy with the way he is coming off so far. Next step would be to come up with a suitable base for him.

Bregan, Dark Apostate

2007-08-28T21:42:00.000+08:00

The apostates of darkness were some my favourite sculpts from Rackham. So much so that they became some of my most satisfied paintjobs. This time I'm painting up Bregan who is the leader of the dark apostates. I first started painting him last year in September. At that time I was very much into NNM bronze and wanted that for his armour.
Somehow I didn't like how he looks so I stripped off the paint and repainted him again in January this year. This time round, I was thinking of doing something different for his tabard/skirt. I blended reds into the blue but at the end I told myself that's not the Bregan I wanted.
Its been months since I left him with the other wips on the table. Finally I had a vision of how I wanted Bregan to look. He was originally a knight with the Lions of Alahan before he turned to the dark side. Black armour with gold trims and a red tabard would be it! So begins my third and most likely my final attempt on this model.

Harbinger & Cadwe Undertaker

2007-08-23T19:39:00.000+08:00

Completed these two models over the weekend but only got to varnish and photograph them yesterday. I'm not very pleased with the results on the Harbinger but my patience has really ran out and furthermore I learnt that the owner is going to game with it rather than use for display.

I had another go playing with black on the undertaker model. Rather pleased with the result this time. I also did a small freehand of the Cadwallon logo on his banner.

Back To Painting

2007-08-19T22:31:00.000+08:00

This weekend I finally got the mood to get back to painting. I sculpted bases for the Harbinger as well as a Cadwallon undertaker model which has been a wip on my desk for a few months now. I seriously need to push myself to finish up my commission and get on to more painting.

Final Stages of Harbinger

2007-08-01T00:21:00.000+08:00

Struggling slowly but soon to finish this rather demanding model. Hopefully by this weekend it'll be finished.

I Believe I can Fly

2007-07-23T18:48:00.000+08:00

Fixed on the wings and the massive shoulder plates. Had to cut away part of the wings so that they fit nicely. Quite pleased with how it looks. Its looking rather bright now so I'll tone it down later.

Harbinger WIP

2007-07-21T19:08:00.000+08:00

Some slow progress on my last project here. Due to the fact that the owner wanted white as the main colour is not making it any easier for me. I'm still unsure where to fix the wings onto exactly, will have to decide later on after I fix on the massive shoulder plates and making sure it doesn't get in the way.

Krielstone Bearer Completed

2007-07-15T22:19:00.000+08:00

After a long pause from painting, I squeeze out some time to finish up this last piece of a batch commission. I have previously started on a new model as well and had decided to use a pair of plastic wings for the conversion. Will be posting some more wips once I have them.

A new month, a new project.

2007-07-03T22:49:00.000+08:00

I embarked on a new commissioned model today, another one from the company Privateer Press. Its called the Harbinger from the faction Protectorate of Menoth. A very nice looking sculpt and the owner had requested to have wings added to her and have the 3 guys who had chains attached to her removed. It should look pretty impressive when its finally done but right now I am trying to figure out how the wings can be attached and what sort of bits to use for that.

Annual ICT

2007-06-15T21:02:00.000+08:00

Sorry for the long absence. Finally completed my reservist that lasted 20 days. I had a great time catching up with my army days buddies. Also, I managed to pass my fitness test, or so called IPPT after clocking almost 15mins for my last 2.4 km run attempt 2 years ago. My timing this time was 12min 30 secs, nothing to be proud of but at least I passed.

I will certainly find time soon after my business trip this Sun to get back on my painting. Been quite some time since I last picked up my brushes.

End of The Road

2007-05-28T21:30:00.000+08:00

My journey for the Iron Painter 3 has ended. I was beaten by a female painter yet again. My past 2 defeats in IP2 were to 2 lady painters as well. Is it just coincidence, or is because I have a soft spot for the fairer sex? Anyway time to put it all behind and continue on my commission work. Here's a WIP of the Krielstone Bearer.

Nurbald in the Automaton

2007-05-17T22:51:00.000+08:00

You might have noticed some changes to the basework which I mentioned before. I think it's more coherent now. Finally, the figure is pinned onto the platform. I'm rather pleased with the results even though it is a little cramped where Nurbald is standing and the chain is touching the mechanical legs. I'll find time to get better photos to submit, or I might just settle with this.

Did some final touch ups & updated multiple views in my gallery.

WIP Nurbald the Sculptor

2007-05-15T22:29:00.000+08:00

The title says it all.

Privateer Press Trollbloods

2007-05-14T23:24:00.000+08:00

Commissioned by a friend to paint these up to a above average gaming standard. I wish Rackham would make their models as rigid as these and those of Games workshop, so that at least they wouldn't break/bend all of the time. I once dropped a Rackham model onto the sink while cleaning it and ended with a really bad dent. Anyhow back to these models.

They are pretty fun to paint. Not too detailed but enough to stay interesting, and parts are well defined. It took me about 6-7 hours to paint all three of them minus the cleaning and basing time. Usually I wouldn't do NNM on gaming pieces as it could well take me an hour just to get the weapon or a part of the armor to look right. For these I simply did a base coat, wash in the shadows and then added the highlights. There is one more leader which he wanted display quality. I should find time to start on that one once I'm done with my Iron Painter entry.

All Your Base are Belong to Us

2007-05-13T00:24:00.000+08:00

Its been some time now and I'm once again into the semi final round of the Iron Painter contest. The theme this time is Basework. So the focus is on the base rather than the figure itself. I have this Cadwallon figure, Nurbald, which is a mid nor with a lower body of a mechanical spider that is really cool. I plan to use him as my figure and make a scene of him inspecting the automaton.
With this plan in mind, I started off by savaging a spoil clock, taking out the circuit board with the solenoid and gears. Then I started arranging them on the base to create the scene I wanted. I would imagine Nurbald standing on a platform inspecting the gears and stuff.
Once I'm happy with the layout, I started priming the individual parts and then gluing them all together.Here's how it looks after early stages of painting. I've added more stuff to it like wires, pipes and another gear so the whole thing looks more like they are interacting with each other rather than just simply placed there. I'll post later once its all done.

Lady Claudia Nessalith

2007-04-28T17:10:00.001+08:00

This week I have not only been working overtime, but also painting overtime and only sleeping 5-6 hours a day. Reason being I need to finish up my commissioned & my Iron Painter models as well as eager to paint up my Cadwallon army.

This model is painted from the neck downwards to look like sheer black clothing. Could have improved on a few areas here and there but there's simply too many waiting to be painted up for me to wanna spend more time on it.

Orphan of Avagddu

2007-04-27T19:55:00.000+08:00

Another of my new Cadwallon army I'm painting up at the moment. This is a rather small sculpt but full of character. I went for a red/copper hair to give her the rebellious look. Don't be fooled by her size, for she can morph into a totally crazy Fury, which I'll be painting up next. Hope you like her. Critics welcomed.

Multiple views of this and the previous weapon bearer are now up in the gallery.

Vladar's Weapon Bearer

2007-04-21T17:52:00.000+08:00

Following the completion of Vladar, I followed up with his weapon bearer. He was a joy to paint, not too many parts to take care of. I matched the colour scheme of his master on his stockings.

Vladar The Arrogant

2007-04-15T15:54:00.000+08:00

Only 2 sessions of confrontation games after a long break, I'm once again inspired to collect another new army which is the Cadwallons. I loved the models ever since they were launched, and with each additions, my desire to own the whole range got stronger.

In order to start a new army, I have to 1st pick a leader to lead them. My choice was Vladar the arrogant, a not too costly leader with pretty good stats. Together with the ogres, I'm sure they'll make a formidable force.

With this plan in mind, I'm all set to paint up my new model. The colour scheme was inspired by Rusto's puzzle knight on CMON. As the sculpt itself is 90% cover in cloak, I felt it was the perfect way to add some variety to the otherwise plain looking sculpt.

Hydra Warrior 1

2007-04-11T23:49:00.000+08:00

This week I finished painting one of the three hydra warriors for my Mid Nor army. It was a test piece to do freehand chipping and weathering on armors. It appears easy but to randomly paint in the chippings and making it look convincing wasn't as easy as I expected it to be.

I tried the sponge method, which is simply nibbing off a small piece of sponge, dipping it into black paint, removing excess by dabbing on paper before dabbing onto the model. I find it hard to control so I paint in the chippings instead.

Kain, the Scourge

2007-04-02T23:49:00.000+08:00

My entry is done. Had some troubles with the tall grass during cropping of the background to add the gradient. The grass is more wide spread and had more variant in length than what you see in the photos. For more views please look it up in my gallery.

Kain in Mono

2007-04-01T22:03:00.000+08:00

It's been another busy week with work and finally got to work on my round 2 entry for the Iron Painter 3. The theme is "Paint it Black". I had a model of Kain the scourge which was half painted and has been neglected for a few months now. I decided to strip the paint and use it for this round.

My original plan was to use only 2 colours, black & white and named it Kain in Mono. Halfway through painting it, decided that he needed more colours. Anyway, he turned out pretty good, at least to me and I managed to keep it looking dark/black. What's left now to work on is the base and l should be able to submit it in time.

My Paint Station

2007-03-17T15:52:00.000+08:00

This is the view from where I would sit to paint my models. I used to paint in my living room but decided to move into my study room instead after I got that lamp you see the photo. I secured it in a way that I can sway it to my right to add as an overhead light source for photographing my models.
Turning to my right is where my computer and a very basic photography set up is. A piece of blue paper act as the background for my models. The 2 other lamps will be placed of either side of the model for illumination.
From the 1st photo you might notice a small table in the right background. This is where I put most of my unpainted stuff, reference books, Cry Havocs (Rackham monthly publication) & other odds and ends which are related to miniature painting.
Finally the basic stuff which you'll need to get started. The blue can is a primer while the grey can is a matt sealant. Also you see 2 W&N series 7 size 0 & 00, not the miniature ones though as I couldn't get them here, which size 0 is almost the only one I'm using from start to finish. A piece of white tile act as a very nice and steady palette for me to work on. It can be easily clean using water and gentle scraping. Lastly a steady pair of hands and alot of patience and passion is all you need to enjoy this hobby for a long time.

Kelzaral Finished (Updated)

2007-03-15T22:21:00.000+08:00

Well sinced I finished painting him today and still got some time before I go to bed, I took a couple of shots of the finished model. I'm pretty happy with the final results. Its quite close to what I had in mind. I did a small experiment with this model. I used some glazing medium(Vallejo), mixed with flat base (Tamiya) and water in the ration 4:2:4. Its my own mix which I used to water down my paints.

Basically, the glaze medium shouldn't be used this way but rather used on its own to thin paints w/o using water. My idea of this mix is to have something that would extend the drying time of my paints, at the same time holds the pigments together and finish matt.

In the past, my paintjobs tend to finish glossy before adding a matt sealant. This is because I used alot of thin glazes and the continuous brush strokes tend to have a polishing effect on the surface. This result in a slightly glossy finish. After using the mix, this problem seems to be eliminated.

Updated with a new photo. You might notice a slight change in his skintone. I feel it looks freakier this way. More angles of him in my gallery.

Some More WIP of Kelzaral

2007-03-14T23:54:00.000+08:00

Getting to the final stages of this model. Managed to clip off the slab under the model without much trouble. I had in the past had serious damage to the paintwork when doing this. This time round I had weaken the slab before painting so it was easier to clip it off. Painted up the base and pinned him onto it.

Tomorrow I'll finish him up so that I can bring it down for a match up this Friday at a LGS. He will be my main character for the army. Hopefully he come back victorious then I'll take some pics for submission into the Iron Painter 3.

300 Review

2007-03-14T12:22:00.000+08:00

After watching the movie 300, I must say I'm not very entertained as I was when I watched LOTR. Although some people claimed that after watching it, they get adrenaline rush to wanna pick a fight with 50 people afterwards, it didn't have that big an impact on myself.

The plot itself was pretty simple, the Prussians wanted world dominance while the Spartans refuse to give in. As a result the King lead 300 bare chested men with well toned 6 packs, which in actual fact you probably see less then 20 of them to battle,or rather slaughter all sorts of enemies thrown at them.

The animations were pretty cool, but after having seen too many of these it didn't awe me that much. There were some fantasy monsters thrown in to add to the excitement as one really can't expect to see much if it was just 300 Spartans killing thousands of men.

Overall, it's a show worth watching, for the male audience, there's a few scenes with bare tits and for the female, they probably felt entertained as well watching well-bodied men fight in their swimming trunks.

2 New Entries

2007-03-07T23:01:00.000+08:00

Added 2 new models which I painted up for the Femme Fatale II online painting contest. One of the entry, Wazabi, won 1st in the fantasy category. Needless to say, I'm more than happy! More angles of this 2 models in the gallery.

Some progress

2007-03-06T23:13:00.000+08:00

I painted the gargoyles underneath today. I gave some of them blue fists, pink cheeks/nose just to break up the otherwise all dark brown lower part. The skin of the gargoyles was also given a glaze of green. This main part of the model is more or less done now to move on to the arms and then I'll post a shot of the assembled model.

Kelzaral The Diabolical

2007-03-05T21:08:00.000+08:00

After a week of no posting, I'm ready to show another WIP of the model that I'm currently painting up. Actually there's another 4 minis that I'm working on bit here & there. Thought I'll showcase this one as it might very well end up as my entry for the 1st round of the Iron Painter 3 contest. The theme this time round is "Flesh of a Different colour".

So what's the Iron Painter contest about. It's an online painting contest organised by Wyrd miniatures, whereby people from all over the world will sign up online as contestants. When round 1 starts, the painters will be randomly paired with a common theme to paint up whatever mini you like. The judges will judge the entries based on the theme, technique & overall aesthetic. The lower scoring of the pair will be eliminated. This will go on until 2 remains for the final face off. I took part in the last Iron painter and was lucky enough to make it to the last round but did not win eventually. Hopefully I'll do as well, if not even better this time but the level of competition has risen even higher with talents from all over so I'll just have to see how far I can go.

Rusian Officer Vignette Completed

2007-02-25T15:38:00.000+08:00

Finally finished this project and I must say I throughly enjoy the entire process. The direction which the Officer is facing was slightly off from what I had intended. This is due to his pose and I made several adjustment before settling for this most pleasant looking angle with him leaning against the wall.

The creeping plant is my 1st attempt at using brass etched. This stuff is really delicate and expensive so I had to be careful not to waste any. Overall I'm really pleased with the result of my 1st historical vignette. Hoping to do more of these in future. Right now I'm starving as I've forgotten to eat my lunch.

More shots of this model can be found in my gallery under historical. Thanks for looking and please feel free to drop a comment. Till then....

Basework

2007-02-25T12:06:00.000+08:00

Started to work on the base for the Russian officer. I used some left over plaster blocks which I casted using Hirst Art molds. I guaged the height of the resting arm of the officer and chipped off a section of the wall. I also added some bullet hole and cracks to the wall to add realism. Some chipped of bits were scattered on the floor and glued in place. Craft glue was spread over the entire base and fine sand sprinkled over. Now to wait for the glue to dry before I start priming and painting.

Russian Officer finished

2007-02-24T22:07:00.000+08:00

Spent about an hour or so at M workshop painting some finishing touches to the model. I had the pleasure to admire the original model Kelvin Tan painted for the Alpine cover shot. His version was much more superior. The face has more character and the overall paint job is ultra smooth.

I'm still abit stuck to my usual way of painting 28mm models, with more extreme highlights. I painted the metal part in NNM (non metallic metal) style. Wanted to see how others react to this method as opposed to using usual metallic paints.

1/35 scale Russian Officer

2007-02-24T13:08:00.000+08:00

This is a resin model by the company Alpine Miniatures. The quality of the models are superb, with almost no mold lines and minimal flash. As the models are very well sculpted and fairly easy to paint, I'll recommend them to beginners as well.

For this model, I went for a different painting style done on my fantasy models. This style of painting is commonly seen on historical and larger figures. I wanted to add more mood to the model by painting zenithal lighting coming from the direction as shown in the picture. As you can see, certain parts of the face and uniform is highlighted more then others. This is still a WIP shot which is about 85% finished. I've just glued on the head and hands for this shot. The hands, binos, boots and a few areas still needed attention.

I'll be doing up a vignette later on if time permits. This is my 2nd historical model and I'm already having a great time. I'll probably be painting more of these in future. Stay tuned for the final project shot. All critics are welcomed.

New Kid on The Blog

2007-02-23T23:03:00.000+08:00

Suddenly decided that I should have a painting blog of my own since I'm into this hobby for more then a decade now. In the future, I'll be posing mainly work in progress as well as finished shots of my projects. Hope to be able to share what I've learn and at the meantime get feedbacks from the crowd out there.