Priming the Blood way

[Hammers]

I shall do my very best.

Short update: low energy bulbs with a blue-white, daylight sheen are hard to come by and they are rediculously expensive. Over €20 at the online stores I've found. The old kind which radiates a lot of heat cost a tenth of that. Bummer...

I use these LINK  But the Bayonet Cap version.  Always MUCH cheaper on Ebay.  Look ridiculous sticking out of my little lamps but they produce LOTS of light.  (And I don't use a light-box.)

But, more to the point, when does the Main Attraction start?  I want to know how to prime 100 figures in 10 minutes...

Thank's for the input, Orctrader. I really like the reflectors I have so I am really going to try to find screwon, lowheat lamps. I am baffled it proves an obstacle in this age when they are sending men to Jupiter...ok, perhaps not jupiter, but to, say, Estonia like it was nobody's business.

As for fast tutorials, you are in the wrong thread, my dear. I am as slow, meticulous and erratic as a used books shop owner.

[Orctrader]

I shall do my very best.

Short update: low energy bulbs with a blue-white, daylight sheen are hard to come by and they are rediculously expensive. Over €20 at the online stores I've found. The old kind which radiates a lot of heat cost a tenth of that. Bummer...

I use these LINK  But the Bayonet Cap version.  Always MUCH cheaper on Ebay.  Look ridiculous sticking out of my little lamps but they produce LOTS of light.  (And I don't use a light-box.)

But, more to the point, when does the Main Attraction start?  I want to know how to prime 100 figures in 10 minutes...

Thank's for the input, Orctrader. I really like the reflectors I have so I am really going to try to find screwon, lowheat lamps...

The ones I use are low-heat.  And they take a while to reach full brightness when turned on.  And, although I use BC fittings I think that link points to Edison Screw fittings.  But I might be wrong.

[flooglestreet]

What kind of bulbs do you recommend for photographing miniature danes on bicycles?

[Hammers]

As predicted it will be a few days before I can continue. Fiver, son of Hammers has smashed my compact Fujifilm Finepix and I don't have a macro for my EOS.

So now I need to find financing for some new hardware. Anyone in the market for a 1,5 year old, typical Scandinavian type in all aspects except recklessness? 

[JollyBob]

Oh dear.    Sounds like young Fiver will be going to bed without any supper for the rest of the week.

I hope you can find something without breaking the bank.

[Le matou rouge]

Anyone in the market for a 1,5 year old, typical Scandinavian type in al aspects except recklessness? 

They used to be called "bersekers", didn't they ? 

Cheers,
Matt 

[Hammers]

Anyone in the market for a 1,5 year old, typical Scandinavian type in al aspects except recklessness? 

They used to be called "bersekers", didn't they ? 

Cheers,
Matt 

We have not been breeding on that line for the last 1000 years. Fiver, son of Hammers, may, of course, be a throwback

[Aaron]

Hmm Fiver, son of Hammers sounds a lot like Rocco, son of Aaron. Everything is either a hammer or the target of a hammer in his eyes.

[Hammers]

So, where was I...

Right, Fiver, son of Hammers, fruit of my loins, broke the camera so I needed to get a new one. Let's talk a little about that. I have since a few years back a Canon EOS digital SLR but found it rather cumbersome to shoot with. There is a lot more fiddling with settings in a system camera so you really need to make that a hobby to  master it. That and investing in expensive macro lenses (or at least one). Since miniature painting is my hobby, not photography, I've came to realize that a compact is the obvious choice. As I am sure most of you agree it is much less hassle and with just a few tricks you can get macro results in par with most SLRs.

So what camera did I replace the wrecked compact with. Well, I was very content with that Fujifilm Finepix F40. The monitor was bust and that would have cost me about 100€ to fix. A Finepix F60 fd costs now what I gave for the F40, which is 180€. It is an upgraded from 7 Mpix to 12 and there are some new or honed features in the later model so I went with buying new.



When I shoot miniatures set the camera on macro, turn down ISO to 100 (which is the lowest on this model) suppress the flash and use the timer. This model has a nifty little AI motive seeker but I won't go into that.

For a more thorough How to.., see, for example, this excellent article over at 'The Screaming Alpha' (curtsey by Curryman)

And I do of course use a tripod. I have three...

The big one...



... is what I use in combination with the light box. It gives rather nice control and offers more versatility when I'm positioning the camera towards the subject. It has two-stage telescope legs, crank elevated 'stem' and a handle with which to twist and turn the camera mount. Cost, c:a 30€ which is less than it's worth.

When I shoot outdoors, on the gaming table, workspace or in similar 'difficult' situations I use a smaller table tripod.

This flexible one...



...beats this telescope leg variant ( my first buy)...



...many times over as the flexible one is much more versatile. You can tilt the camera in a lot of different angles with the bionic tentacle leg or even have them clamped around a supporting branch or what have you.

That's all for today I think. Next I'll be talking about deburring a miniature, I think, so we are slowly getting there...

[Orctrader]

...Next I'll be talking about deburring a miniature...

 

[Hammers]

Right, deburring miniatures...

I have many tools for this but these are the ones I use more than others:



From left to right: generic handle with Excel No 12 Mini-Curved Carving blade, dental tool; course grade, half round profile file;  square, one sided, half round and round profile needle files. I think the Excel's mini-curved curved blade is superior to the standard X-acto No 11 pointed blade since it is less prone to break and the curved shape is better for sculpted folds. The big file is for removing heavy cast lines. The needle files are obviously for lighter work. The round profile is good for folds, the one-sided for tight spaces like spokes in wheels, the square where corners need to be defined e.t.c. The most multi purpose and most utilized tool in my arsenal is the dental tool...





I got it in a set in a US hobby store but unfortunately have not found one as good as this one again. I'll try to explain why it works so well. As you hopefully can see from the alternative angles the business end has a tear drop shape, flattened at the pull side and rounded at thee push side and set at an angle. This, and it's high quality steel it is made from, makes it perfect for scraping even in the tightest corners. The rounded side can be used for burnishing. Showing little signs of dulling after ten years of 10 years it is one of my most priced tools.




I most often do not bother with smoothing scrape, carve and file marks. Paint tend to cover such things up. If I do bother I find that padded emery boards and steel wool does the trick best. And burnishing with dental tools if  a very smooth finish is needed.



For some things, like rough bottomed bases, soldered brass details etc., I bring out the Dremel. With a Dremel I have found that the only tool suitable for deburring this is the burnishing disk. Are you familiar with this thing? No? Well, it is a silicon disk with embedded steel granulates. I suggest a breathing mask, it is very effective and tears up quite a lot of metal dust. If you don't have one of these, get just the disk (unless you are really into novelty rubber gadgets) I got the other profiles cheap but have had no use for them, really.

[Captain Blood]

Are you sure you're not a dentist? 

[Hammers]

I've been busy today and taken a lots of pics for this thread. I am afraid some of them fall in the duh! category for explaining pretty self evident things to many of you. Well, tough!  I've set my mind on doing this thoroughly so I am willingly accepting whatever ridicule you ll direct my way.

Here goes...

For balance I am using, from my NWF project, Flight Lieutenant Richard Hardalday and the Wazir chieftain Amanoolah Khan as my subjects.


1. I deburr (scrape) the miniatures before I mount them (using tools I've shown in a previous post).



2. I file the bottom of the base to get it even and thinner, using a medium toothéd wood file. A metal file will clog to fast when used on white metal. A slightly convex bottom on the base is a good thing if you use 2-part epoxy (see below) but I like my miniatures to stand as low on the gaming board as possible.



3. I get 25mm washers for ordinary foot soldiers (35mm for horses), always looking for those with the smallest centre hole and...



4. ...a mill thick or so for miniatures with integral bases to make them stand as low as possible on the game board.



5. I use thicker washers for miniatures with taps for slottabases, cutting a slot in them with a emery disc. More of that some other  time. My point is that I *always* mount miniatures on round washers. It looks nicely uniform and it works for most rules. The weight gives the miniatures better balance to.



6. I always use 5 minute 2-part epoxy glue (not superglue nor hot glue). The double barrel syringe kind is practical but expensive so don't mix more than you have time to handle...



7. ...and apply a *generous* amount to the bottom of the miniature, not on the washer. Unlike super glue the bond gets better if the application is a little thicker (that's why a slightly convex base bottom is a good thing).



8. Place the miniature base cover centre hole in the washer. The glue will pour down into the hole slightly. We want that so put the now based miniature on something disposable which is easy to tear off once the epoxy has set. I use a PostIt pad. Also, epoxy glue doesn't shrink much so I take care to remove unsightly build-ips and smears around the base.



9. I very often put texture on bases before I prime and paint them. There are several reasons. One is that that I most often paint the texture (sand, gravel...) rather than keeping them au naturel. I've gravitated towards to types of texture: pumice medium or white glue and sand. The pumice medium (to the left, Renaissance Ink brand, coarse grade in this case) has lasted me a long time. I *should* use it when flock, pebbles and other material is to be added to the base later. Why? Because pumice medium is generally of very even granularity and may come out looking like raked gravel rather than eroded hill side. To the right is a sand container. I don't need to tell you about sand, (do I?) but I very much recommend Aleene's Original Tacky Glue (Americans probably know about this). It is better than your run of the mill white glue because it is stickier and holds the sand better before it dries.



10. The pumice medium is applied with a spatula on Ltn Hardalday...



11. ...and is evened out quite thinly with a flat brush dipped in water.



12. Pebbles can be pushed into the medium for a more natural look.



13. I here apply white glue with a flat brush on the base of Mr. Khan.



14. I find it best to apply rocks, twigs and other "larger" items into the base before...



15. ...I dip the miniature in the sand trough. Excess sand is gently tapped off on the way up...



16. ...but I push a the sand in place a little with a finger.



17. Here's a quite handy thing whot I built myself. It's home made what Americans call a Easy-Bake oven. It is great for speeding up drying and setting time. Just a wooden box with a 60w old fashioned, inefficient light bulb. It really cuts down on your waiting.



18. Ten minutes later Hardalday and Khan compares their snazzy new bases. Pumice medium lose bit of volume when it dries, which might have to be considered.



19. And finally I always mount the miniatures on the Hammer Industries Corkmeister 2000 System (i.e. plastic wine corks on a bed of tacks.) I recommend using plastic wine corks, they are self healing and will last much longer than old fashioned cork corks. (But, hey, don't drink and paint kids.) Put hot glue on the bottom of the washers and fasten them to the corks (and not the other way around)...



20. ...like so.



21. Since I rarely paint in batches of less than five I have deburred and mounted some of Mr. Khan's friends (on washers, mind)...



22. ...and some of Ltnt Hardalday's. ... The two larger corks are just there to show that there are "stand alone" alternatives to the tack board.



Tomorrow, God willing and the creek don't raise, these will all be cleaned and primed the Cptn Blood way...

[Mancha]

Tomorrow, God willing, I'll be able to see the pictures on my work computer.   

[Hammers]

Apologies, people, there seems to be something awry with my hosting service. Or I may have hit some limit on the LAF host. 20 images times 130K, is that a lot? Anyway, I can see them again.