Fellshadow Studio Miniature Workbench

Back from GD Chicago

noreply@blogger.com (Fellshadow Studio) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:29:00 -0600

It's been 6 years since my last GD Chicago. This time I didn't come home empty handed. I took home a gold, a silver and a bronze trophy. The gold was my first 40K Single trophy, and that's the only category where all 3 slayer swords were the winners. I'm feelin' pretty good about that one :-)

My LOTR Single, Arwen, took 2nd place and Forge World model, Malus Darkblade (which has been discontinued) took 3rd place in Large model category.

The sword went to Jeffrey H. Bowden with his High Elf hero model. Congrats Jeff!

GD Chicago was great! Met with new people and others that I haven't seen in ages. Took a good look at Bennett's last year slayer sword winner piece and it was mindblowingly full of awesomeness! The symmetry of the freehand is uncanny. I also met with Dylan who took the sword this year at Baltimore. His works are amazingly smooth and I think he's the youngest of all of us over there. *sigh*

Anyway, I will post my entries later this weekend into the Gallery section. Toedeloe!

Oh Yeah! Oh No! Oh Crap!

noreply@blogger.com (Fellshadow Studio) — Mon, 8 Jun 2009 20:48:00 -0600

The Good News: I'm finally getting an iPhone 3GS. Kirk and I went to the AT&T store and pre-ordered it today. I would've gotten it last year, but I couldn't because I refused to pay extra $200 for it. Somehow I sure feel good that I waited. The new iPhone 3GS with iPhone OS 3.0 sure is sweeter than the iPhone 3G. It has a better camera with autofocus and video recording to boot. Bigger storage - yes, Kirk bought me the 32GB White iPhone. Longer battery and faster processor.

The Bad News: I won't get it till Friday next week.

The Ugly News: I'm stuck with my GD Chicago project. Arg!!! >.<

Hell Dorado and CMON minis

noreply@blogger.com (Fellshadow Studio) — Sat, 9 May 2009 08:10:00 -0600

A couple of days ago my Hell Dorado miniatures order arrived. That concludes my purchase for that series unless they decide to continue producing and distributing the line. I'm really impressed with the models from the Immortals line. I forgot how tiny they are (true 25mm). I have been painting large models lately, this could be a problem. Hmmm...

A couple weeks ago, I purchased a couple limited edition minis from CMON shop. While they're very nice models, I found it very challenging to clean because of the mold line that run across the face, hair strands and the finely detailed torso.

I'm so excited with these models but sadly I have to put them aside until later time as I need to focus on my entries for Games Day Chicago. :( I've started to work on the entries, but the progress has been very slow. Hopefully I can get one entry done soon. < crossing my fingers >

Periscopio Advanced Figure Modeling Book

noreply@blogger.com (Fellshadow Studio) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 19:38:00 -0600

After reading and listening to the rave reviews from everyone else who has read or own it, I decided to order the Advanced Figure Modeling book, published by Periscopio (a Greek company). FedEx delivered the book on Friday and as soon as I got home, I immediately opened the package.

It's a thick book. It has 185 pages full with articles, step-by-step (SBS) and pictures. Quickly flipped the pages and scanning the content, I felt rather disappointed. The quality of the pictures are not superb and did not do the award-winning figures justice. From the first glance, I felt my other book written by Danilo Cartacci is much better, but I digress.

Yesterday, I read the book from the beginning, and I finally realized what makes this book worthy of all the praises. Not only it has a good number of references, but also color recipes and detailed SBS on painting faces.

Now I really recommend getting this book, if you're into painting historical models.

Pegaso, Romeo Models, Elite Miniatures, Oh My!

noreply@blogger.com (Fellshadow Studio) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:08:00 -0600

Yes!!! My order from Pegaso Models arrived today. Minerva from Romeo Models, Kuvar Reaper from Pegaso - Gehenna series, 7th Hussar Officer's - Great Britain 1815 from Pegaso and Achilles from Elite Miniatures.

The box for Romeo Models has Pegaso seal on it. From what I heard, Romeo Models is actually a sister company of Pegaso and that they share the same sculptor, painter and even casting facility. Unfortunately if you bought Romeo Models product, it won't count towards your 5% off your 75 euro order. That's a bummer :-\

I'll write an in depth review for each models that I purchased. I need to work on the Hussar immediately for my Tacticon entry this year. For modelers who live in Colorado, this year's theme for Tacticon is any model wearing the Hussar uniform. It can be fantasy or historical, as long as the miniature is wearing a dolman and/or pelisse (the short-waisted overjacket often worn slung over one shoulder)

Till Next Time...

New Mini and Stuff...

noreply@blogger.com (Fellshadow Studio) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:39:00 -0600

It's March already and I felt like I just celebrated New Year yesterday. How time flew by so fast. Calvin (my dog) has recovered from surgery and now he's gradually destroying the house by chewing anything he could find/reach. He's still a sweet and cute puppy, so I forgive him (so far...)

Genghis Con has come and go and I had a blast. Meeting Jen Haley, Marike and CMPA members, teaching a couple of painting classes, judging, goofing off and just simply had fun. I even finished up painting a JMD Miniature bust to give away as a door prize at the con. As soon as it was over, this nasty cold hit me big time. I still have it, my voice has not 100% returned yet and it has already been 3 weeks.

As for the Avalonian Bust from Kraken that I started months ago, I have repainted him like hmmm... 3 times? Still not happy with him. I surely fall in love painting larger figures now. They are so full of expressions and I can paint realistic eyes and not just a simple black with white dots :-)

Nuff said...now back to the real life. Cheers!

Year 2009...

noreply@blogger.com (Fellshadow Studio) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:48:00 -0700

Year 2009 started off with me taking Calvin, my newly adopted pup to the vet surgeon to have an FHO procedure. It's a procedure where they cut off part of the head and neck of his thigh bone due to severe bilateral hip dysplasia. Poor pup! Kirk noticed he has been limping since November but I thought it's just because he kept slipping on the tile floor. Now he's in a strict crate confinement and it has been a *fun* week taking care of him. He's not happy at all to be confined in a crate.

I did some painting a couple of weeks ago on the Avalonian bust from Art de factory. Maybe I could paint some more this weekend - thanks to Martin Luther King holidays, I have Monday off :-)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

noreply@blogger.com (Fellshadow Studio) — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 10:08:00 -0700

Yes, this year has been great! Kirk is healthy, dogs and cats are healthy, and so am I. We are grateful for that after several years of grueling health issues. We also have great friends who helped us remodel the family room for painting class we hosted this summer. Nothing in life can beat those - being healthy and having great friends :-)

So today Kirk gave me a huge Christmas present: Guitar Hero III and RockBand 2 for PS3. We've been rocking the game since early in the morning. What a great game! Bilbo the cat wanted to play too and I think he could be a great drummer if he paid attention to the screen and stop hitting the drum randomly with his paw (so cute!). And I got myself a Christmas present too: a 24" iMac :-) Kirk got a bunch of Bluray and DVD bundles for the TV series that he loves, a fancy motorized desk and a Red Wings jersey with his name and lucky number on it.

Oh and we both got each other another present: the completion of the walls and ceiling for the family room. That's the most awesome present - getting that room done! I think this is the first year where we gave non-miniature presents to each other, which I don't mind at all. :P

Okay, back on rocking...! Happy Holidays!!!

I'm alive...

noreply@blogger.com (Fellshadow Studio) — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 09:05:00 -0700

Lately I felt like a walking zombie, but now I was reliefed because my biggest project launched on Thursday, Nov 20. It's not miniature related - it's a project from my regular job. Okay, now you wonder what I do during the day. I work at MapQuest and am part of their user experience team. On Thursday we launched My MapQuest - a feature that lets MapQuesters save their maps and directions so they can plan their trip better also estimate how much will the fuel cost is for that trip. And if you like Google's draggable route so much, we have that too. Overall, it's a nifty feature. Go check it out!

Okay I'll stop the self marketing campaign right here. No miniature update - but at least now I can participate again in the miniature social network.

Later!

Avalonian Bust by Arte Factory

noreply@blogger.com (Fellshadow Studio) — Sun, 9 Nov 2008 10:46:00 -0700

There's an unexpected delay on the Mongol progress. After comparing the model with reference picture, I realized that I didn't position/glue the hat flaps correctly so I need to reconstruct it :(

So I decided to give a shot on the Avalonian bust that I got from Jeremie when he visited Denver. Because of the size of the bust (1:10 miniature scale), I'm using a very different color from my usual flesh tone palette - hoping to achieve a classic multi-tonal oil painting look.

I used Citadel and Foundation colors on this bust, Bronzed flesh, Dwarf flesh, Elf flesh, dark flesh, green, blue and orange. I'm happy with this color palette.Using a very diluted paint and glazing technique, it's easy to blend the colors while maintaining its saturation level.

There is still much more refining needed and I have plenty of busts and miniatures to practice :)

No Miniature Related Updates, Just a New Puppy

noreply@blogger.com (Fellshadow Studio) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:04:00 -0600

... and his name is Calvin, to pair him up with Hobbes. He's a 10 month old Chow mix, quite puffy and very adorable. Right now he's very mellow and polite, but I'm pretty sure it's the anesthesia and pain killer that are causing that. Bailey and Hobbes thought he came from outer space or something when he arrived with the elizabethan cone :-)

Other than that, nothing really new. Still working after hours and weekend for my freelance project, got the new Carcassonne Game - New World, and saving up my money to get the new Nikon D90 (keeping my fingers crossed). Oh and of course trying to make the 3 dogs share the giant dog bed. I do have a busy life, don't I?

Brrrrr.... Cold Weekend!

noreply@blogger.com (Fellshadow Studio) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:42:00 -0600

Yes, it has been very cold in Denver. Thankfully, we had our Denver CMPA meeting last Saturday so I went there and worked on my resin models. Otherwise, I'd rather go back to my thick blanket.

The Steppe Hunter bust from MIG that I've put together a couple weeks ago now has the gaps filled with milliput. I must say, I'm loving the milliput more and more as it's very easy to blend and shape and it can be sanded afterwards, which is a big bonus point. I don't have a picture for it yet, but I'm planning on using him for a Step-by-Step article. The step-by-step article that I wrote years ago need to be updated badly because I already developed new techniques in the past 2 years. So... stay tuned! :-)

Mongol Update

noreply@blogger.com (Fellshadow Studio) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 13:14:00 -0600

A week has passed already and I haven't really done much painting this week other than prepping the busts that I received last week and put together the Steppe Hunter bust. Here's the picture of the bust. They're not glued together just yet as it needs to be painted separately. The parts are ready to be filled with milliput, primed and painted. I'm so impressed with the sculpt. The parts really fit together nicely with minor adjustment.

My freelance work for a non-profit organization started last week so I've been busy with that and will stay that way for the next 4 weeks before the development team starts to develop the application. The gloomy side of the story, I'll be working for 12 hours every day. The bright side of the story, it brings a nice additional paycheck to my allowance pocket - also it feels good to help a non-profit organization. Maybe I'll be getting myself a very nice Christmas present this year. Nikon D90 with macro lens? New MacBook Pro? Hmmmm...

The Mongols are Here!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Fellshadow Studio) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 12:32:00 -0600

Yep. Today I received a package from Squadron.com - it's the 2 Mongol figures that I ordered. Now I'm ready for the Genghis Con Best of Theme contest next year. Check out the figures below.

The boxes of Mongol bust from MIG Miniatures and a 54mm Mongol Warrior from Seil (Korea). I must say I'm very impressed with the packaging of the models produced in Korea. Very nice packaging, sturdy, great photo and the quality of the box makes it look high profile, like the iPhone packaging. The best packaging on miniature I've ever seen in the market.

The Mongol bust in pieces. Retail usually goes for $70 - $85, but I got this from Squadron.com - they are having an anniversary sale for only $39.99. Nothing can beat that! The sculpt is amazing, Young B Song quickly become my favorite sculptor. Nice and clean casting all around. The scale is 1:9, the same as the Belle of the Nile I got yesterday.

The Mongol Warrior in pieces. Super smooth and clean casting. Usually pewter miniatures have fine pores that're visible to the eyes, but this model has smooth surface - a rare find. I got this one for a very good deal also - only $19.99!

My first historical busts

noreply@blogger.com (Fellshadow Studio) — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:39:00 -0600

Today there was a box waiting for me on the porch. It's the 2 historical busts I ordered from Colorado Miniatures. So I opened the box and there they were: The Belle of the Nile from Pili Pili Miniatures and the Young Ramses from Young Miniatures.

Picture of the boxes:

Young Ramses in pieces

Belle of the Nile in pieces

From what I saw, the pieces are clean with almost no mold line. Now I have something to work on this weekend.