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Post by tauster on Sept 27, 2014 10:54:35 GMT
Added blue lines on top of the veins to highlight them:  I used some color that I had leftover from a past project. Somewhere along the way I had thrown some white in the blue and didn't mix it properly, so when I applied the color to the veins (using a kebab skewer instead of a brush to get very thin lines), I got some nice striped pattern. Next steps: - applying pink over the whole thing - painting the 'eyes' black - acrylic gloss varnish |
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Post by tauster on Sept 27, 2014 12:50:33 GMT
Made some prototypes out of yesterday's pasta (they're called 'Riccioli', btw).  They are very brittle, so I'll have to strenghten them with whiteglue. |
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Post by tauster on Sept 27, 2014 20:54:50 GMT
One Gormiti earth elementals (see here and here) got basepainted and washed: 
The underside of my flying basalt base has done some steps towards completion (see here for what happen so far)  I had painted the lava effect before rubbleflocking it and adding the 2nd whiteglue layer, but that turned out to be a mistake, so I painted over the recessed areas again. When that's dry (probably tomorrow), I'll go over most of the surface with a heavy black drybrushing, leaving only a few places for the glowing effect to shine through. ...well, at least that's the plan.
Just to have it in one place, and since I started to post it's pictures here before: Shroom Number One is done!   |
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Post by tauster on Sept 28, 2014 14:31:44 GMT
Another construction foam monstrocity is finished! ...and so is Lady Forscale very soon, if she doesn't turn around and run away, very fast. Actually she shoudln't turn around and just run. Saves her the nightmares she'd be having for the rest of her life.   "There is... something behind me, isn't it?"
*gulp*I'm quite happy with how these ... things turn out. The sessions where my players will visit the ruins of Nihilath, the ancient Illithid empire will leave an impression on them, I'm sure. *evil grin* |
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Post by tauster on Sept 28, 2014 14:43:38 GMT
Another project finished... almost. I gave it a black brushing as planned, but I'm not really satisfied. It's OK but not great, but I don't know how to do it better at the moment.   It turns out that I don't really need a fly stand, as it balances on three points. However for more flying altitude I will use a fly base...   |
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234U
Cardboard Collector
Posts: 9
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Post by 234U on Sept 28, 2014 18:59:52 GMT
Man I haven't had a lot of free time to spend on this forum lately, but I've had to carve a slice of time in my schedule to follow your thread because it's simply epic. So much creativity and productivity!
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Post by tauster on Sept 29, 2014 19:53:50 GMT
Other than trying some color combinations on the latest pasta growths and giving the Gormity earth elemental a few crystals,...  ...I don't feel like continuing much on my unfisished stuff, so I'm fiddling more or less aimlessly around today. Fiddle one: Hazelnut bushels. Or however that stuff is called where the nuts are nested in. I guess it's clear what drew my eye. Right, the tentacles.  This stuff looks already great as is, but of you glue some beads for eyes on some of the tentacles... ...or even take the time and paint this thing up (what colors???), either completely or only the indentations where the nuts were sitting... You could even put them on a fly base. No matter what you do with it, this thing has potential!  
Fiddle two: Razorwind* Since a few weeks now I've had the image of flying, rotating shards in the back of my mind and couldn't come up with a way to make them. Heck, I don't even knew what I would make them for. So today I simply started with two circles (one cardboard and one plastic from a pringles lid), drew some hotglue spirals on both sides...  and cut the plastic one up into irregular shapes:  I wanted to recombine them in a way that left some gaps between the shards, but the only way I found that was possible was with something underneath in the center that linked them all together. Which was when that beercap I used yesterday to mix some colors in came in very handy. As I always say: Never throw stuff away. You don't know when you'll need it.   So now I have a whirlwind of shards...  ...and now real idea what to do with it.  - spell template? For which spell? Blade barreer looks different... - summoned air elemental? Not really. - sadistic version of a drow's flying disc? Hmmm... It might be a means of transportation, combined with defense and offense (defense when incoming missiles are deflected, offense when you guide it into enemies) Random thought: This could easily be made several numbers smaller, if you use something else in the center where the shards join (and put a neodym below). No matter what, I very much like the general shape of the thingie! But... ...obviously I have to paint it up (*sigh*), and since the beercap is brass, the rest of the thing will probably get a similar color. That would make it a furiously-rotating-metal-shards thingie. Any other ideas which colors would look good? If I would simply want it to look arcane, what would look 'authentically magical'? To slightly borrow from Terry Pratchett: What is the color of magic? * ...oops - I was racking my brain for a name but couldn't find one for days. Now just after having finished the posting, 'Razorwind' pops up. *broad grin* |
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Post by tauster on Oct 1, 2014 19:22:34 GMT
Since I somehow got a reputation of being the mad scientist of crafting, I guess I should prove I really earn that badge... So here's some crafting with electricity. [cue static humm] I want to illuminate an arcane artifact, so I need some tiny LED lights. I got these three lamps for 3 € in total from one of those cheap shops ('Thomas Phillips', a German equivalent to Micheal's I guess).  I gutted the headlamp:  ...and my first try to make a smaller case was a dismal failure:  So I kept it simple. ...yes, it can be simpler than a sweet box.  So the lights will somehow be hidden under that acrylic thingie to illuminate it. How? No clue, so far. That's for another day to find out.  And the best part: The leftover parts, i.e. the case of the headlamp. It's begging to be made into a robot.  |
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Post by tauster on Oct 2, 2014 21:15:16 GMT
No real crafting done today, but I was able to add some stuff to my ever-growing collection of ...well... stuff. It's early fall, so those teeny tiny birch seeds are again piling up in the garden. They're great for flocking, simulating autum leaves. You might even paint some of them (red, green, yellow, dark brown) and get a great autumn foliage on your mini's base. At least that's what I suspect - I haven't tried it ...yet.  There's a house being built right beside us, so naturally I'm keeping my eyes open for stuff that would be thrown away but could be saved for crafting. Today I could rescue some strips of very strong cardstock: They're 5mm(!) strong, 5 cm broad and a little more than 1m long. Never had such thick cardstock before. ![]()  And another little ebay package arrived. This time it's lots of LEGO parts, from a series called 'bionicle slizer':  So there's tools, weapons, claws, shields... absolutely cool shapes that will feed into the robot project that kind of started with yesterday's headlamp. One of my campaigns features a kind of iron golem built for beholders*. Since we're playing only two or three times a year, this campaign is going on for ages (started in 2002 with level 1 characters and went up into wildspace in 2008). Somewhere around 2009/10 I finally found online some pictures of golems that looked like they could fit the module's description: * They are in a Spelljammer module called WILDSPACE from WotC, if you're interested   More stuff from the same artist: here and here. I'll try to go in that direction with the robot: Bronce or copper with a heavy patina, round shapes, some parts chipped off. I also have a large crate with beads which I guess will come in very handy. |
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Post by tauster on Oct 3, 2014 13:29:36 GMT
Progress with the robot, hurray! Construction material: - old plastic trash - LEGO bionicle parts - some metal screws with internal screw thread - a bunch of neodyms - hotglue - patience  That's about where I want to go:  The legs are put on screws which in turn are inserted through the body (a former orange deo roller). I also glued some neodyms on the inside of the body so that I can later modify the robot without having to open it again.  To get the balance point down, I filled the lower half with sand and the upper half with packing peanuts, capped by a cardstock disc.  I found no better solution for the arms than this wooden mini-beam. The two round parts in the front are the hatch. They'll go on top of the head later.  Front view  Side view.  ...and from behind.  |
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Post by beetlewing on Oct 4, 2014 7:49:44 GMT
Love the robot! To hide that wood, you could wrap it with wire, then have a box shaped bit covering the center part near the "spine" area - that would also hide the fact that it's only one shaft that runs all the way across. I just think the rough texture of the wood is too different from the smooth plastic everywhere else. The overall design is awesome though - can't wait to see him painted! |
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Post by tauster on Oct 4, 2014 10:33:33 GMT
good idea, but I have the beam already glued on, so my possibilities are a bit limited...
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Post by tauster on Oct 4, 2014 12:17:27 GMT
Love the robot! To hide that wood, you could wrap it with wire, then have a box shaped bit covering the center part near the "spine" area - that would also hide the fact that it's only one shaft that runs all the way across. I just think the rough texture of the wood is too different from the smooth plastic everywhere else. The overall design is awesome though - can't wait to see him painted! I followed your advice and put something in the middle of the beam.  ...plus a jewellery pearl I glued in the middle of the eye-shaped piece:  It works quite well, and due to the way I basepainted the whole thing there's not a singel mm² left that's smooth, eliminating the optical difference between wood and plastic. Now all looks like corroded metal:    Next step is experimenting with patina until I get a satisfying result. |
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Post by tauster on Oct 4, 2014 13:36:05 GMT
My 2nd-most favorite project at the moment is greenfoam terrain pieces. I pilfered a few small pieces from the dumb of the construction site nearby and dusted off the hotwire saw. ...man, this stuff is worth it's weight in gold! You can get absolutely crazy shapes with just a hotwiresaw and nothing else. Sculpting that would be impossible at my current skill level, and even if I could do that, it would take me ages. That's what I made yesterday in maybe half an hour.  ...and some more from yesterday's scraps I had cut away:  No idea what they'll gonna represent on the gaming table, but I'm sure some idea will pop up. If you have some, please post! Painting them up depends on what it will be in the game: - black basing with metal drybrushing (lately I have a liking for copper paint...) - the tried-and-true flesh, with the ridges painted as bleached (or bloody?) bone - ...? |
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Post by tauster on Oct 4, 2014 13:52:10 GMT
Some weeks ago I stumbled over a toy called 'beyblades', which are the modern reincarnation of whipping tops. Theys seemed to be popular about 10 years ago and where based on a japanese manga series, at least that's what wikipedia says. I immediately liked their shapes, so I hunted them down on ebay, until I got a small collection of half a dozen for 6 € (shipping included, which was 5 €). They can be taken apart and recombined, so one gyro can be harvested for 3 to 5 cool forms that can be frankensteined into something else:  Here's one close up. You couldn't really sculpt that level of detail.  And even the launchers are cool - just screw off the backside, paint them up and you have awesome doors!  |
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Post by tauster on Oct 4, 2014 14:57:49 GMT
Has anybody ever used acrylic (i.e. rubber) stamps for texturizing clay? They are normally usually used for scrapbooking (stamping and embossing), but I think they should work well to imprint textures on clay. It'll be interesting to see if they work as is or if I need to make negatives...  |
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Post by beetlewing on Oct 4, 2014 15:35:24 GMT
Has anybody ever used acrylic (i.e. rubber) stamps for texturizing clay? They are normally usually used for scrapbooking (stamping and embossing), but I think they should work well to imprint textures on clay. I've seen that done in sculpey, both for scrapbook covers and jewelry. Usually they brush it with metallic powders afterward. Seems to work fine for them |
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Post by tauster on Oct 5, 2014 11:52:30 GMT
Has anybody ever used materials or tools originating from nail design? I bought some really cheap but quite good brushes I use for small details. Brushes specailly offered for miniature oainting would have cost much more. Similar to these, but much cheaper. Another example: Nailart painting stamps/stencils. The auction I linked below is just the first one I clicked, without much research for motives or price. You can chose 20 metal stamps with each about 7 teeny tiny motives on for ust 15 €. Not all of them fit on a miniature or dungeon decoration object, but with that many motives, there are bound to be some great ones. I could never, ever paint that small details and come even close to painting them as clean as with stencils. www.ebay.de/itm/291083096222  Motives to chose from: i.imgur.com/uzRpPyW.jpgi.imgur.com/5PQ7FZo.jpgi.imgur.com/MhCvHRb.jpgi.imgur.com/bOoUxk1.jpgi.imgur.com/lsUgObo.jpgi.imgur.com/YamnBdt.jpgimgur.com/TLd2vWJ
120 different kinds of glitterI'm sure I'd never need that much, but who knows what crazy ideas we'll come up with here in the future? 
Nail tattoos: similar to the stencils/stamps, only black instead of all kinds of colors ( picture here)
Nail sticker: Instant design, just stick 'em on. Haven't tried so far, but sounds like a great idea. Should be great for bases, like minigirl showed several times ( here, here, here, www.ebay.de/itm/120622761965 www.ebay.de/itm/400721996732 snake skin www.ebay.de/itm/111054166683 There's probably tons of other nailart stuff you can use for miniatures and bases (and other craft things). Minigirl has covered a lot of them ( ice effects, for example). Since I'm male, I don't know much about nail art (what I know is basically all you've read if you endured the ramblings of this posting), but I'm sure that we have members here who do know a lot more... |
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Post by sgtslag on Oct 5, 2014 13:31:06 GMT
The snakeskin would be perfect for application to a shield: instant dragon-skin shield, with NO painting required! I believe it would be quite easy to achieve great results with this approach. Thanks for sharing! Cheers!
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Post by beetlewing on Oct 5, 2014 16:31:21 GMT
Wow, nail art brings a whole world of ideas, including the tiny airbrush tips. Hmmm...
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Cheers!