NMM gold made fast and easy

Following Mahon‘s suggestion I decided to write my first miniature painting tutorial on Chest of Colors website. It is a tutorial about painting NMM gold my way – fast and pleasant.

Contrast is the most important thing in NMM technique.

This technique is intended for using mainly on tabletop quality figures, but with more layers (I used just 7-8 here, including base color and a wash) it can look quite well even on display miniatures.

I will show my technique on terminator librarian shoulder pad. It is hard for me to give precise proportions, as I use mostly my intuition while mixing the colors.

NMM gold – JerzyK’s way

I start with base color (pic. 1) by mixing yellow with little brown and blue, ending in dirty yellow – it is just the way it should be 😉

Photo: Fast & easy NMM gold - Tutorial (1)

Then I make wash color by adding more brown to the mix and diluting it to dirty water consistency and apply it to the surface (pic. 2) – it helps to mark various hollows on the surface, which are afterwards emphasized with more precise application of another layer, which is basically wash color with addition of a little black.

Photo: Fast & easy NMM gold - Tutorial (2)

The next step is cleaning everyting a little bit with basic color (pic. 3) – washes can sometimes leave messy areas.

Photo: Fast & easy NMM gold - Tutorial (3)

I add a little white and blue to the basic color and focus on areas which would collect more light (pic. 4).

Photo: Fast & easy NMM gold - Tutorial (4)

From this step I will be creating more and more contrast, which is the most important thing in NMM technique. Another layer of lighter color (more white and blue) is applied within the limits of the first highlight (pic. 5).

Photo: Fast & easy NMM gold - Tutorial (5)

Finaly I use almost white highlight with pure white blicks on highest places (pic. 6).

Photo: Fast & easy NMM gold - Tutorial (6)

Sometimes before the last step (white and almost-white highlights) I apply blue or green strongly diluted layer if overall color is too yellow.

You can easily evolve my techniqe to get better results, but even now with just a few layers and little time you can achieve effect which look well on gaming miniatures (pic. 7).

Photo: Fast & easy NMM gold - Tutorial (7)

And here is another example of a miniature painted in a similar way:

Fast & easy NMM gold - Tutorial (8)

Happy painting!
— JerzyK

5th Chest of Colors Miniature Exchange Summary

The 5th edition of Chest of Colors Miniature Exchange is finished now. The miniatures were painted, sent and received…

That was fun!

5th Miniature Exchange

Miniature exchange in numbers

2 months of secrets, anticipation, surprises, gifts, minis travelling all around the world… That’s what Chest of Colors Mini Exchanges are all about and this one was no exception. 38 participants from 10 countries did their best to paint a miniature for a fellow member of our forum.

Looking back at the 5th Miniature Exchange

It was really cool to follow ME threads (in English and Polish) on the forum. As the organiser I also have the additional knowledge, i.e. heap of e-mails and private messages with questions, requests etc. Man, let me tell you – these people really got into the exchange! It wasn’t just “I sent. I received” event. Oh, no, far from that. They paid a lot of attention to every detail, thought hard about a mini selection, tried to paint to their maximum level, been worried about the recipient’s reaction, shared their thoughts and feelings throughout the event.

For that I want to thank them. I’ve only e-mailed few addresses and replied to several questions. They have made the Mini Exchange another unforgettable experience.

6th Miniature Exchange?

Another Mini Exchange, you ask? Hell yeah!

Just be an active member of Chest of Colors forum and sooner or later you will have a chance to join and find all of this by yourself. See you next time!

Collected works

In the meantime, you can check the gallery of the 5th Chest of Colors Mini Exchange. It’s the best summary of what we did.

Now what do you think about such exchanges? Aren’t they fun? Share your opinion with us, send your suggestions. Maybe we can make the event even better!

— Nameless

Warploque Miniatures: Jebzakkah B’Ork – Review

WWarploque Miniatures is a new company and it’s all backed up by one man: Alex Huntley, a multi-talented, 18 year old arts student from the UK. His skill hasn’t gone unnoticed in the industry, he already has some commercial releases under his belt, including one of Maelstrom Games’ epic Banebeasts. Definitely a name to remember!

Funding the project

Warploque Miniatures gets its funding from kickstarter projects. Before sending the sculpts to the caster Alex wants some money in his pocket, which is quite understandable for a young guy like him. Currently there’s a kickstarter project running for his second wave of Swamp Orcs. If you are interested in supporting Warploque Miniatures please check out the Ulule (a Kickstarter variant) page here: http://www.ulule.com/cast-up-the-bayourks/, thanks!

His own line is a mix of monster sized figures: trolls, a dragon and a giant, and some smaller ones: halflings, boglings. Apart from his zombie pirate line there are also some orcs, of which I will be reviewing one today. All of the sculpts are full of character and very unique.

This model’s full name is Jebzakkah B’Ork – Bayourk Chieftain, and it’s one of the bulkier sculpts in the current Orc line. For a fair 10 GBP you get this one-piece resin cast:

Photo: Warploque Miniatures: Jebzakkah B'Ork - Review (1)

Photo: Warploque Miniatures: Jebzakkah B'Ork - Review (2)

Resin quality and casting

With Finecast still fresh in our memory it is understandable that some people fear this medium. But rest assured, this is the good variety of the stuff 🙂 The casting has been outsourced to Nottingham-based Black Dragon Castings, a company which I never heard of but they certainly know how to do their thing. A flat tab at the bottom connects to only a few vents which easily snap off the main model. No big deal really. The mold lines on the model itself are a bit hard to find but not very prominent and easy to clean. The resin used is very sturdy, the casting is faultless, no bubbles, gaps, etc.

The sharpness of this cast is probably a bit too good for this sculpt. Where the character and the sculpt is very well done, you will notice that it is created by a sculptor which is only doing this for a few years. The detailing is quite rough and bulky, and some parts, like the pants, really look like a slab of putty put onto the main body and modeled into shape with a sculpting tool.

Photo: Warploque Miniatures: Jebzakkah B'Ork - Review (3)

But at the same time I think this is where the strength of this model lies. There’s no arguing about it: this model is targeted towards gamers, not showcase level painters. The big details make it easy to paint, and if you’re a bit more skillful with the brush you will get nice big surfaces, like the skin, pants, hat, to work on your blending. All in all it’s a very rewarding model to paint.

Photo: Warploque Miniatures: Jebzakkah B'Ork - Review (4)

Gamer says…

This brings me to another point of criticism: a gamer wants to glue down his model on the base and start painting (or even gaming) right away. But the problem here is that there’s no base supplied with the model. For most painters this isn’t a problem since they probably have a large stock of unused bases. But I can imagine that some people will be surprised to see there’s no base with the miniature (especially those large monster bases). I used a 40mm square Rackham base.

Photo: Warploque Miniatures: Jebzakkah B'Ork - Review (5)

painted by Gerrie 'Corvus' Schenck

I would like to conclude that there really isn’t any excuse not to buy this figure if you’re looking for an Orc in your army or for your roleplaying game. The sculpting work can be improved (and it will improve over time) but like I already said this isn’t really a problem when you’re looking for an easy to paint model.

Photo: Warploque Miniatures: Jebzakkah B'Ork - Review (6)

painted by Gerrie 'Corvus' Schenck

Miniature of the month: January 2012

Another month, another mini… nope it doesn’t work that way! Every painter here at Chest of Colors produces something unique. Some of those miniatures are painted for own collections, some are for e-bay or commissioned by private collectors, but still every painter tries to give his/her best. Each month I will try to use the Miniature of the Month to give you a preview of what did we create and posted at our forum. So it is easier for all Chest of Colors followers to see what is happening at our site and forum.

There were many interesting pieces with different styles, manufacturers and interesting compositions. Many works are done for Miniature Exchange we had recently, so if you like them join our forum and maybe next time you will be the lucky one to get something nice and make something special!

Miniatures of the month January

Here’s the compilation of all the entries:

Authors say…

Here is what some of the authors had to say about their works:

“This is from Red Box games. I wanted him to look like a low level Skyrim dude. Man that game has made me a crappy father! I haven’t been around much because that game is pretty damn awesome”
— ScottRadom

“Here is my 1st large-scale diorama. All my previous works are much smaller. Main theme is Guild Wars Warrior VS Alpha Tundra Wolf. I had to make it in 7 days. So here is result.”
— Spellscape

“A fast at ‘the table but a little better’ painting of infinity miniature – yes, this base is with model. End it is mounted to it in an awkward way .. beside it is ‘pewter’ so is damn heavy… Anyway I actually like the model, but don’t like preparation process it requires”
— Maru

Time to vote

Do you remember the rules of Miniature of the month? They’re quite simple, but if you want to refresh your memory before voting, feel free to follow the link. Now you should be ready to vote:

Voting has ended.

The poll is open until the end of February. The results will be published after the poll is closed and the winner will receive a honorary badge to display in his profile on our miniature painting forum.

And if you want to comment on this month’s entries, explain why you voted the way you did, or maybe discuss votes of other users – we’ll be happy to read what you have to say. So don’t be shy and share your opinion with us. Thank you!

Results

UPDATE: The winner of this month’s poll is Ana. Congratulations!

Between the Lines – Episode 5

Some people say that we prefer things that we are familiar with – movies that we’ve seen in the past, songs that we’ve already heard – hence the popularity of sequels and covers.

Now, you could say this episode is a cover. Well, it’s not.

Cover of the video clip? No, not strictly…
Cover of the intro to the video clip? Yeah, that could be true.

Love In An Elevator On The Rocks

Between the Lines #5 - Miniature painting cartoon: Mrs. Tyler

This lovely Arwen Miss Tyler was painted by Chameleon, who was kind enough to give me permission to use the picture.