Octobust - WIP

I bought this bust ages ago and no longer remember who the manufacturer is -- if anyone out there knows, please mention it in the comments.

I'm very happy with how the skin tones are coming together. I'm going to give him a selective coat of satin when the skin is finished, but only one small section at a time so that I can ensure that the texture works with the shading.

I will also use some Water Effects to put water droplets at the lowest point on each of his tentacles.

He is sitting on a 1.5" clear acrylic cube. I thought that this would be much more interesting for a water themed model like this than any wood or resin would be, and not quite as campy as sticking him onto a chunk of coral.

Marder III M Ausf. -- FINISHED!

The Marder is finally finished! Well, at least until I notice something obvious in the photos that I missed while looking at the model.

I used the Dragon 1/35 Smart Kit, a milled barrel and rounds, brass detailing for the helmets, and made the stowage rolls.

I will probably do a bit more pigmenting on the stowage but I do otherwise consider this complete. I'm very happy with the colour modulation and overall effect, but like any kit there are plenty of things I would have done differently now that it's finished.

I did manage to make the cracked leather seats more visible -- with a helmet and strap on one of them to help draw in the eye -- and added a family portrait to the wall of the fighting compartment.

The radio is fully detailed and includes a headset with tiny, tiny wiring. I don't think I'll ever do that again. Ever.

Marder III M - Continued

I'm finally working on the detailing and finishing... and there's nothing quite like a camera to help you find the spots that need to be touched-up. In particular the (unfinished) gun return, and the shell storage.

But I'm very happy with how the radio turned out, although you can't see the metallic sheen in these photos, and that I managed to get the tiny headset built and positioned without losing my mind. Of course none of this would be complete without cracked leather seats!

I still have a lot of finishing to do, more detailing, weathering, the road wheels and tracks, and a bit of stowage. I do hope to have it finished in the first week of February though.

Marder III M Ausf.

The initial colour modulation on a Dragon Smart Kit - Marder III M Ausf. I need to clean it up a bit, but it will get muted by filters, chipping, and a small amount of dried mud.

Only the port panel is glued in place -- the starboard panel, gun, gun carriage, gun shield, and rear panel are all loose fitted. You can see some orange tac in the bottom right photo.

Lots to do...

Weathering Masterclass - Sherbrooke, Quebec

I can finally announce officially, that I will be joining Mathieu Fontaine for his Masterclass II, which will be held on March 2-3 in Sherbrooke, Québec. This will truly be the most epic Masterclass I've ever done. I will be teaching the Sunday portion of the class on weathering with pigments as well as other weathering techniques. I will also be present on Saturday to lend a hand, so you will be getting two teachers for the price of one for the entire weekend. During this class, you’ll be exposed to two ways of thinking in terms of painting and weathering. Bring a notebook...

This class will be a once in a lifetime experience. Do not expect it to be recreated since I doubt that any of the circumstances will ever be right again. Sunday will therefore be in English but Mathieu will be there to translate to French if need be.

So jump on this opportunity for the greatest Masterclass II ever. You are getting two professionals from the industry at your disposal for an entire weekend.  Part of the crew from Screaming Heretic podcast will also be present. I can guarantee you that there won’t be a dull moment during the entire weekend.
So if you have not reserved a spot yet for the class do it now. It should fill up fast. For information or registration contact Mathieu directly at akaranseth@gmail.com or through the contact form on his blog. Do not forget that his Masterclass I is also offered on the previous weekend of February 23-24.

In the meantime, keep painting....

VW Chicken Coop

Every now and then you find an unusual bit of inspiration. In this case... the Volkswagen chicken coop. A friend posted this photo to Facebook and I immediately knew that I had to model it. Within a couple of hours I had ordered all of the necessary components

Unfortunately my options were limited -- first in that I could only find a 1/48 VW that was the wrong model, not well detailed, and lacked the removable side panels. As I didn't want to do a lot of scratchbuilding I went with what I could find. Although I found 1/48 chickens the detail on them is laughable. They're chicken shaped but lack any hint of feathers or anything else. The smallest chicken wire I could find is too large -- although I think that the impact of that, visually, is very limited.

In the end I'm very pleased with the finished result and enjoyed this distraction a great deal.

California IPMS 2012

I'll have photos up of my winning entries later -- but I'm so thrilled to have left the California IPMS competition with three trophies, including a gold, that I had to post a little something right away.

There were easily more than 300 models at the event, divided into 21 categories. I have never seen that many competition worthy models in one place at one time. It was amazing! I met some wonderful people, learned a lot, and had a great deal of fun.

Thank you, IPMS Silverwings, for putting on a great show!