My Custom Pokey Tool

Everybody has a "Pokey Tool" for when the paint dropper bottle gets clogged. However, I don't. I have been using a wall push pin, which is not very effective. I've seen other pokey tools. In fact, many people at ReaperCon 2014 bought the metal skull pokey tool which had a very nice weight to it, but it just wasn't my style. I fully admit, I like cute things with big eyes like I'm five years old and it's ingrained into my very nature. (I'm half-Asian, or technically, "Pacific Islander" if you're filling out bubbles on a standardized grade school test). Regardless, I made up my mind long ago that my miniature painting pokey tool should be cute. And I have yet to find one after two years of painting, so I decided to make one myself using Sanrio's Chococat key holder and a pin. I started out using a pin from my old sewing kit and quickly realized the plastic ball on the top just wasn't going to work. The top warped the key cover and removing the ball wouldn't allow the super glue to adhere properly.

So I dug around in the depths of my old sewing supplies and found my magnetic pin cushion. I needed a T-pin to be able to glue the flat, wide surface area to the inside of the key holder. Unfortunately, finding a T-pin proved difficult-- kind of like finding a needle in a... well, needle stack. After suffering only one minor puncture wound, I found a T-pin and prepped my final supplies.

Once I applied super glue to the top part of the T-pin, I placed it inside and centered it, leaving about 25% of the T-pin inside the key cover. Then I held it together until the glue set, about 1 minute just to be safe. I love this picture-- it looks like Chococat is grimacing because I'm smooshing his face while the glue dries. Then I let it sit on my desk for about 5 minutes.

Next, it was time for the final test! I gathered a stubborn dropper bottle of paint and hoped for the best!

Success! Not only did the super glue hold well, the rubber key cover was incredibly comfortable to grip (unlike pins without handles) and it came away cleanly after poking through the top of the stubborn paint bottle. I'm very pleased. Not only do I have a cute & unique custom pokey tool, I can replace the chain and hang it on a peg by my desk for easy access. Brilliant. 

If you're thinking about making your own miniature painting pokey tool, consider using a T-pin and a key cover/key holder. Or create something similar out of clay, push T-pin into the center before baking in the the oven until set. Then, remove your new pokey tool and let it cool. As long as the clay isn't too thin around the T-pin, it should offer enough support as a pokey tool. Give it a try & share your results with me! Everyone needs a "Pokey Tool" and why not have yours reflect your own personal style? 

More True Metallic Metals (Part 1)

This weekend, I did nothing. It was glorious. I slept in after not sleeping much the entire week preparing for my job interview. I cleaned, read a book, and did some painting. I activated Whispersync on my phone & Kindle for a book called "The Wretched of Muirwood" by Jeff Wheeler. Basically, Whispersync is a feature through Amazon that updates your synced devices to match exactly where you are in your book. Also, if you buy a digital copy of a book, you get a discount on the audio book version and vice-versa. It's great for when I want to read and when I want to paint & listen. While I'm not crazy about the narrator of this audiobook, I'm enjoying the plot so far (I'm on Chapter 13 after reading Chapter 1-8 on my Kindle and listening to the rest on my Audible phone app).

While I listened, I painted and practiced TMM (True Metallic Metal/Shaded Metallics). I'm using Privateer Press's P3 "Blighted Gold" and Reaper's "Green Shadow" to paint the metals on the Ursula Silverbraid mini from Reaper. I want to experiment with painting a brass-like metal using subtle washes of Green Shadow. I've seen some really interesting things done with shaded metallics and dark colored washes of blues, reds, greens, and purples. This particular metal will have a slightly tarnished look and will expand my experience beyond TMM silver. 

Base Coat of Blighted Gold

After a few thin layers of Green Shadow

Adding a few mid-highlights of Blighted Gold at the tip of the axe and edges of armor

I'm really pleased with the way that the metal is coming along. I plan on adding some extra-bright highlights in gold to accentuate the tips, edges, and rivets in the armor & weapon. I also plan on making the back panels of her cape (?) a leather color. It's primed in grey for now, but I fully intend on changing that soon! And frankly, I'm not sure if I'll keep the bright blue of her bodice. I thought it would add an interesting contrast to her hair, but we'll see how I can incorporate that bold color into the rest of her outfit. 

In other news, yesterday we played D&D! We did our annual Christmas-themed one-off campaign. We rolled 4th level characters-- this year, consistent with 5th edition. Cookies, egg nog, coffee & wine flowed freely as we battled an ice dragon hell-bent on destroying the town of Everwinter. We successfully acquired the Shrub of Snoggletog and saved the townsfolk. My gnome bard sang a few songs (only one or two of them good). We even invited our friend who had never played Dungeons & Dragons before. He was stellar & we had an absolute blast. We also recorded the whole thing! I'll need to go back through and edit out the parts where we broke for refills, pizza, etc. I'll be doing some traveling Monday & Tuesday, but if I get the time, I'll post the link this Thursday on the blog. Otherwise, I'll work on it this weekend and have it up next Monday :) 

*Update* I finished Ursula! You can find Part 2 here. 

Tentacles

I've been attempting to paint shiny tentacles without resorting to glossy varnish. While a layer of gloss varnish is a great all-around solution for rendering a shiny surface, I wanted to challenge myself in my painting skills. In any case, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning of my personal lack-of-decision-making:

Thank goodness for social media. I needed a second opinion. After that, I took Denniz's suggestion and started on the base of my most recent Speed Paint Challenge #4. I've wanted to finish this miniature I mounted on this base from Micro Art Studio. I really like this base. I'm attempting to paint glowing rune-like shapes & glossy tentacles emanating from her feet, as if she's summoning magical energy to defeat potential foes. 

I'll need to consult my Color & Light book for a few tips. The biggest obstacle I have is the two-dimension vs three-dimensional issue. While it would already be a personal challenge to paint the dark, shiny tentacles in a two-dimensional format, I need to paint it where it looks interesting and accurate from most angles. My approach was to wet my brush and give a light wash over the tentacles. This way, I could mimic the natural highlights that the light source would identify. It's not unlike a "Paint By Number", reminiscent of those old children's puzzles I enjoyed as a child. In any case, I decided to once again use social media to reach out for some additional advice. 

In the meantime, I'm opening a box of prize loot won from a Reaper forum contest where I won second place in the Single Figure category. Jasper was nice enough to sort & ship miniatures he'd been storing, after his friend closed a miniature shop. The best part? He gave us the opportunity to pick from the mostly out-of-production miniature hoard & he then arranged to have them sent all the way from Canada. So generous!

I'm truly looking forward to giving these miniatures a new home where they'll be lovingly painted in addition to having a "Cool, where'd you get this one?" story. These minis are classics and easily date back to the early 90's. While it's exciting to paint recently-released miniatures that are newly popular in the industry, there's something rewarding about the knowledge that you're probably the only person on the planet painting this specific miniature at this one point in time. 

In the meantime, if you haven't watched the new Star Wars trailer, you should. After chuckling at the light saber that sprouted hilt-like additions (What?! That's not a thing!) and the fudgesicle land speeder, I admit this has more potential than I initially thought. Some of my best childhood memories revolve around the original trilogy, so I'm keeping an open mind, despite being an enthusiastic, reasonably discerning critic when it comes to Star Wars. Many of us have been traveling over this Thanksgiving weekend, so if you haven't yet seen the Star Wars trailer, enjoy!