Painting Miniatures from A to Z by Angel Giraldez

It was late last month that I saw an offer on the Internet to pick up this book at a reduced price. I had already looked at buying the book but thought it a little too specialized for me. The offer was enough to make me change my mind.

Painting Miniatures from A to Z by Angel Giraldez - Masterclass volume 1 is a step-by-step, project-by-project record of one man's painting of a selection of Infinity/Corvus Belli Miniatures, unlike other painting guides and I immediately think of the Kevin Dallimore guides, this book is, I believe for the more advanced figure painter. The techniques swap between airbrush and brush between projects and in some instances steps on the same figure. Because of this I was initially unsure if the book was for me. However I think the 'fantastical stylised' paint schemes and techniques are well worth studying and trying to emulate. Either with or without an airbrush!

The book is a card-bound* A4 feast of colour from start to finish and follows the traditional layout of Introduction, Products Used and Tips followed by more techniques and eleven very in-depth articles or Masterclasses. The final section is a Gallery of earlier projects/figures.

*I believe that there is also a hard-backed version of the book.

This is a book to be read as a technical manual, following each step by reading the comments and studying the illustrations, this really is a 'step-by-step' tutorial with hundreds of beautiful illustrations, sometimes showing only the very slightest of washes or brush strokes, while other times moving on at quite a pace. Sit back and enjoy.

My edition came with a free miniature, although I am uncertain that this is the case with every book. I am not going to paint this mini up at the moments as I have 'other' painting projects on the go, but have been inspired to try out some painting techniques and in particular 'break-out' my airbrush to see if I can replicate some of the stunning effects.

The Infinity range and this particular painting style is like Marmite, many either love it or hate it. I think I am in the 'don't like it that much' group. But am willing to read about new techniques and see how others paint their figures.

I believe that this book will appeal to some, but be overlooked by many.

The big question is would I have bought this book at full price? And I think not. This is a personal view and others might disagree, but as a one-off and discounted purchase I am more than happy, so I would advise shopping around if you are looking for a copy.

Finally, I want to wish Angel all the best and thank him for producing such a stunning and beautifully illustrated book.

Tony

Painting Miniatures from A to Z by Angel Giraldez
Masterclass Volume 1
Published in collaboration with Corvus Belli and Vallejo
ISBN 978-84-942798-4-3
The book can be bought over the internet from a wide range of suppliers

A Youtube Introduction - can be found here
The Angel Giraldez Blog can be found here

Flintloque Civilians - part four

The five Flintloque Civilians from the Alternative Armies set 54050 and the Todoroni singer from the Militia set 56505 are now finished. I have first gloss varnished the miniatures and then matt varnished them before adding some static grass, static grass tufts or ground foam to the bases.

The next two images show the figures in close up. I think my favourite is the Gnome (front of the upper image) and the Dog holding the blunderbuss (left hand figure of the lower image).

The figures were not as much fun to paint as a complete regiment, but are full of character and I am sure they will be used in gaming scenarios.

Tony

Now you don't see this very often.....

Yesterday, Sue and I had a day out in Chipping Camden, Gloucester. We visited a Spa Hotel and spent most of the day relaxing next to the pool, but afterwards while walking along the High Street I saw two Stanley Steam Cars. The first was driving through but the second was parked at the side of the road.

These are very rare steam driven cars and to see two is a rarity, to see one actually driving even more so.

As you can see there were more Classic (or is that Vintage) cars on some sort of rally, however every time I saw one, I was just too slow with the camera.

Tony

Hi. My name's Tony and I'm a model maker.....

I am well aware of the fact that we model makers sometimes keep our hobby under wraps, sometimes with very good reason. However my Wife met me earlier today with the words that we model makers just love.

A neighbour, knowing of my hobby had passed on to her this little gem (did I say little - no this huge monster of a construction kit!)

An Aerokits Model of a Vosper 46-ft RAF Crash Rescue Tender. The model was designed by L .J. Rowell and distributed by KeilKraft

From what I can see - it is complete, even down to metal detailing parts and tools.....

These image give some impression of the packaging and contents of this kit.

While this sheet shows the plans. Actually part of the plans.

There are times and this is definitely one of those where talking about your hobby in the open has it's benefits.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Tony

PS.
My departed Dad would have loved this as a modelling project.

Update;
The model is 46 inches long by 10 inches wide and built to a scale of 3/4" to 1', 0"

Books for Father's Day

Sue, who is always telling me that I have too many books, bought these for me after seeing them in a charity shop.

Thank you.

Roman Britain is full of illustrations that I am sure I will find of use.

My absolute favourite is The Second Earth by Patrick Woodroffe and published by Paper Tiger. Patrick is an artist that I have admired and followed since I was a teenager, I find his drawing style is delicate but detailed and I also love his quirky imagery.

Tony

Flintloque Civilians -part three

Once the miniatures were undercoated, I started with the painting proper and added the flesh areas first. These were block painted-in and then highlighted with lighter colours before being 'washed'. I also tidied up the Black areas before taking this photo.

Image Two - When the Flesh areas were fully dry, I started building up the other colours. I usually paint from flesh, through under garments to top coats, but as you can see in this image, the painting technique was a little haphazard.

Image Three - Here you see the six figures with most of the painting complete. I have tried to paint them in non-military colours, something that was difficult for me being used to following actual Napoleonic colour schemes for my Flintloque miniatures. I am not sure that I have 'pulled it off' and might have to 'fiddle' with some final touch-ups later.

Finally, a word about the miniatures. This was a special almost limited edition set of figures and I think Alternative Armies have done a great job in casting them - there was hardly any flash and the detail was crisp, however Civilians in Flintloque?

Well I'm not sure.

I think my favourite figure is the tiny Gnome (front right) while my least favourite was/is the dwarf (front left). The other three are all right, and I can see me using them as characters in a Flintloque scenario. I think they are miniatures for the Flintloque fanatic (like me).

I'll post images of the varnished and based figures soon.

Tony

Snakebite Leather - my on-going quest for a replacement

Regular readers and followers will know that I use Snakebite Leather from Games Workshop (the old paint mix) quite a bit. It is the base layer of my flesh colour and my preferred base or groundwork colour. With the most recent changes in GW paint formula and the Citadel/Games Workshop painting technique and its base, layer and highlight, Snakebite Leather - my favourite GW colour has disappeared.

I still have a pot or two (which I treat like gold dust) but I now have to start thinking very seriously about a replacement.....

This colour swatch shows some of the alternatives.

The swatch shows two Snakebite Leather samples the top left and middle left swatches. One is fresh from a new pot and the second from a nearly finished pot.

The others show paint that reports to be a replacement, but as you can see (or maybe not as the image is not that great) there is a wide variation in colour and tones.

I think the closest is Vallejo Cobra Leather (the clue is in the name!) With Cote d'Arms Barbarian Leather a very close second.

The swatch shows miniature paint manufacturers and artist quality acrylic paint as well as Dulux Sample Pot paint.

The Daler Yellow Ochre and Galleria Raw Umber look way out of register with the others even though the tube colour swatch is Snakebite?

So where from here?

I think I'll have to pick up a couple of bottles of Vallejo Cobra Leather the next time I am up at Parabellum, Birmingham. "Mark, just make sure you have some in stock."

Tony