Thursday, December 13, 2012

Double dipping can be good... Kickstarter Beta Testing, anyone?


I did this figure to illustrate something that I want to do with the painting DVD's.

Many of you will notice that the color scheme on this former VASA faction miniature resembles a certain chapter of space marines.

Since we are not using any GW figures for our painting DVD's, I didn't want to leave people out in the wilderness who would ask us questions such as "How did you paint that Space Wolf", or "What did you use on that Blood Angel to make that red?"

Where possible, I will try to include figures such as this, where it would be possible for people to extrapolate this color scheme onto something like a Space Wolf.  The colors are all the same... it's simply where you put them that is a bit different! :-)


I am really trying to cover all the bases for the upcoming Kickstarter, which is why it has not gone up yet.  However, at some point on Friday (or the wee hours on Saturday) I will be submitting some kind of proposal to Kickstarter.  I will let you know as soon as I know if I get the OK from them!


I have been driving myself crazy in this attempt to cover all the bases... to make the perfect Kickstarter right out of the box.  I realize now that this is impossible, since there are far too many unknowns.  Besides, Kickstarters that you see now are very dynamic, with all sorts of updates and extras being added almost daily, if not hourly!

Another thing that has delayed me is the desire to do as much of the video work as possible before I even start this thing.  Again, that sort of runs contrary to the whole purpose!  Kickstarter is supposed to supply me with the tools that I need, not the other way around.


Still, you probably all know by now that I am super obsessive about preparation and training.  I don't want to have to wait until the end of January just to think about getting vital equipment.  It would be much better if I could secure some of it right away, or at least a "tide me over" version of it, so that I could be 100% ready to go when I have the funds to get the 'real' equipment.

This is a very long, rambling way for me to ask all you loyal Wappellians who are interested in this project if any of you would want to participate in a "Beta" version of the DVD's.  Since the earliest practical delivery date on the first DVD's would be in late April, I was wondering if some folks might want to get some earlier versions of certain titles.

The idea is to get enough equipment to put out some test DVD's that could be purchased by interested painters.  You would get to see the DVD's many months before the final ones are released, and your feedback would  help make those final 'end products' much better.

Those who would do this early contribution would get a complimentary final version when those are ready, plus some kind of "I'm a Loyal Wappelllian" or "Beta Wappellian" gift.


If something is going to have my name on it, I want it to be the best darn thing I can make.  Since film making is an entirely new thing for me, it is going to be an arduous quest to make sure the final product helps people as much as our in person classes have done..


So, Tomorrow I am going to try and do a post that will give contact information for me, although you can always reach me on facebook.. James Wappel.

Should you want to be a Beta Tester for this project, and help me blast through this initial wall, I will try to make it worth your while.  I was even thinking of putting early contributors names on the credits, or some kind of "special thanks".  Jon and Marty have already earned theirs!

I really want this to reach its potential.  Right now, I am getting a bit frustrated by these initial limitations.  Even now, I am starting at a half finished orc warboss from Raging Heroes that is the first video.  I shot the initial basecoating part, and now I have to do the rest of the shading, tinting, etc.
To turn him into something I can work with in terms of actual film, I need a few more items.

Stay tuned for more tomorrow!!!!

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Is the end near? Making one more Mayan base...


Here is the 80 mm base insert I mentioned in the previous post.  I had to match that set  using whatever materials I had at hand, so out came the pieces of baked sculpey!


I did some rudimentary carving to make the pieces match the individual elements of the original bases.  For this design, I wanted to have more open area for a larger creature to stand on. 


The black sculpey element will be left separate from the rest of the design so that it can be cast more easily.


After all the sculpey elements were made, it was time to break out the oxide paste and gravel!



Here is the 80 mm insert compared to the existing set.


These press moulds were made years ago when I was sculpting some extra decorations for some of my dioamas.  I am currently working on a base set that incorporates some of these!  Should be fun!!


Beware the Mayan Calendar... 12/21 approaches!


Well, if the world does end on the 21st, I don't have to hear about Fiscal Cliff countdowns any more, so there is always a bright side!

This is another Grodnwerks base set to be sold on CMON.

Some of you may have seen one of these bases used on the new Dark Age faction miniature last week.


While I didn't sculpt this set, I had to make a matching 80 mm base for it today, so I will post that later tonight.


It was very strange painting a base set that I didn't sculpt myself!


Stay tuned for the mass of sculpey bits later tonight!


Blood Vestal practice...


Here's another Raging Heroes Blood Vestal.  It was the first test miniature of the new camera, as I tried to film that same color scheme that I painted on the color test figure early last week.

It was good practice, as it led me to do some adjustments in the setup to let me look through the magnifier and film at the same time.  The previous camera was much bigger, and would have gotten in the way.

This was good news, as the freehand DVD's and many other titles will need that magnifier :-)


The days count down to the initial proposal to the folks at Kickstarter!

At some point tomorrow or the next day you will be seeing the figure that I want to use for the very first "cornerstone" DVD, also from Raging Heroes.



Tuesday, December 11, 2012

First rank FIRE! Empire Handgunner



Here's a quick update on that Empire handgunner unit!

Add another to complete the front rank (except for Mr. Powder Monkey)


More fun with SE-NMM!  Good training for the painting videos!!!


Here he is with the rest of his buddies...





Icky and sticky: the painted images...


Time for some color!


These were done in the same manner as the previous Nurgle stuff, getting in as many color transitions as possible!


I had some fun painting the glowy stuff pinkish purple, instead of the usual blue/teal glow.



Yea for Nurgle goodness!

More Nurgle, anyone?


Here's a little conversion I did a while back, taking a fantasy Nurgle character and giving it more of a 40K feel.

I took a few bits, put some pustules on them, and it was good to go!


The base was done to match all the previous Blight drone and Decimator bases...




A sneak peek at the painted version, which comes tomorrow!