After painting so many tanks on commission I decided it would be fun to paint one to a display quality for myself. I have no idea why I thought this would be fun but it's too late to turn back now.

At this stage I have only completed the first of at least three highlights on the red. No highlights on the black yet. I am also going to try and remove and replace the lettering on the front -- it seemed straight at the time. Oops.

Still a long, long way to go - including a display base. I intend to have the plow beaking apart a barrier on a tiered wooden base. The model will be removable for possible game play. Right now I'd say I am no more than 5% complete. That's five, not fifty.

Good thing I have other projects -- this one is going to drive me nuts before I'm finished.

Teronus the Ultimate Dragon - Finished

I got the finishing touches on my old Grenadier dragon last night. I hope to get some detail shots up within the next couple of days but, for now, I have the completed project up on Flickr.

I used the baking soda method for the snow - although I would have used microbeads if I'd had time to get to the shop before my deadline. This one goes out tonight as a birthday/holiday gift. I am still happy with the end result and, if you look closely, you should be able to spot the resin drool coming out of his jaw. Much fun.

It was nice to get away from the sci-fi painting universe and pick up a model I had started... 20 years ago? Somewhere between 15 and 20 anyway.

I will also get a before/after view up at some point as well.

Commission - Black Templar Predator

I just got the final okay on a Black Templar Predator Tank painted to gaming standard.

This one was done in the black and white scheme with the lascannon turret and heavy bolter sponsons. This is also the first time that I've had the hunter killer missile launcher on a vechicle - and I have to say that I am not impressed with the options that GW gives for attaching it.

Another fun vechicle finished though and another happy customer. I can't complain too much.

Project Update - Grenadier Dragon

Finally starting to make some real progress on this one. I still only consider the model about 50% complete - especially as the base is still sitting on a shelf - but the model no longer seems overwhelming.

Wings were wet blended using VGC Imperial Blue and white. Now that they're dry (sigh) I'm considering going back in to bring them all the way to white at the edges.

Quite a bit of touch-up and little work to do. The base is going to be snow covered rock on a wood display stand... all before the end of the month. Oi.

SOLD!

Black Templar battleforce sold on eBay to a buyer... in Spain. Final sale price $150 - a steal at $60 for the work.

This should fund the next battleforce once I get my plate cleared off a bit and get the next round of commissions out. I'm considering another Black Templar force - they're fun to paint and have a lot of options available to them thanks to the GW codex and model update.

Project Update - Grenadier "Ultimate Dragon"

After someone showed me Forgeworld's incredible "Fire Dragon" I had to go and did one of my old dragons out of a box. The largest, and most visually impressive, of those was the "Ultimate Dragon" from Grenadier - circa early 1990s.

I spent several days filing, pinning and gap filling. At this point I have probably put 4-6 hours in to prep and 6-10 in painting. I had started with drybrushing and washes to pick out highlights on the scales -- but just wasn't getting the effects I wanted. I am now painting each individual scale.

At this stage I consider his face (and only his face) close to finished. I do think that I'm going to change the colour of the small scales next to his mouth. I also need to finish his tounge but then I'm going to leave the face alone for awhile so I don't over-correct it.

The rest of the model has a long, long way to go.

First testemonial....

After such a long break from painting (probably close to 14 years) it has been a lot of fun getting back in to this. That I was able to find a great client not long after getting back in to the hobby has only made it better. Especially when that client turns out to be one hell of a guy and says things like:

As an artist and a businessman, MisterJustin is a complete professional. His constant goal is to satisfy his customer to the fullest and he does so by his extraordinary talent, patience, and a vision to understand what the desires of his customer really are. I invest too much time and money into this hobby to have something done without real effort. After having him paint some of my pieces, I'll never look elsewhere. His level of quality and care is unrivaled.—Bill N.

Good thing I've been drinking, otherwise I'd blush!

CMON submission gets "Mini of the Week"

Whenever I have to spend a lot of time on the phone, most of it on hold, I cruise the blogs and geek sites that I frequent. My first stop today was coolminiornot.com (as geek as it gets for me, that) when I noticed the following in the news section:

Ainu's Mini of the Week: Scratchbuilt G-Scale Billboard by misterjustin

For me, this week's miniature was a dead giveaway. Misterjustin is a highly active painter and hobbyist, bringing us new, inspired submissions with each week. But for me, the painted and scratch-built Billboard that he built for his step-father in law's birthday stands out.

The freehand paintwork is nothing below professional, and should make this piece the focus of the railroad track. What I can really appreciate besides the freehand, are the small touches that add a sense of authenticity to the piece. Buckets of paint, spatters of paint on 'Bill's clothing, the excellent graffiti, and especially the lights up above.

There is, however, room for improvement. The billboard seems too small at this scale, as the painter could merely jump down from that height which isn't quite accurate. But this still does not overshadow the details of the piece, though it should be taken into consideration considering that the whole board is being built from scratch.

This 'miniature's basing (not sure if something this large qualifies as a miniature!) was done very creatively without being unrealistic. The trash and sheet metal fit in well with the construction site feel exuded from this piece.

To conclude this week's mini of the week, I'm sure that his step-father in law will be one very happy man.

Ainu's Mini of the Week: Scratchbuilt G-Scale Billboard by misterjustin receives 8.1/10.

I am just about as pleased as I can get. This site gets hundreds of submissions each week and is the most active miniature painter community online -- so this, this made my day.

WIP - Ultramarines Captain - "Final"

My wife is beginning to think that I'm crazy. As I improve the models I'm interested in painting are taking longer and longer to finish -- but are, of course, packed with a greater and greater degree of detail. Now when I talk to the award winning painters and find out they'll spend at least 45 minutes on a face I'm not as surprised.

This guy was a lot of fun and bits of him are certainly the best work that I have done to date. There are a few little things that I would like to go in and change but I know better than to fiddle with him at this point. Putting him down is the hardest part though.

Size comparison: the circle on the banner is smaller than a dime and is just a touch over .25 inch. The little man, including his base, is 1.25 inches tall.

Now it's on to the next piece - and forcing myself to finish the pieces on my table that I am no longer interested in. I also got another shipment of tanks and vetrans on commissions which are going to be fun to paint. YAY HOBBY!

Launching the painting blog....

After much hemming and hawing I have finally decided to move all painting and related content from my personal blog and give it a new home here.

This means that my portfolio site has come down, obviously. I will work to get some of those resources back online over the coming days. If anyone out there on the Intarweb is actually said resources a gentle nudge would certainly speed me up.