Tools of the Trade Pt1 Sharp and Pointies

Evening all,

I have recently moved house (again), this meant that most annoying of activities, packing and in turn, unpacking. On this occasion however, I found myself taking a good look at the mass of random tools, gadgets and tip bits that had lived on my hobby desk.

Way back in 2010 I wrote a post about making space for you hobby, all about my old hobby desk and how I organised my space. Over 3 parts, I thought I would take a look at some of the tools we use all the time and often overlook.

Sharp and Pointies

The Hobby Knife
The good old hobby knife is a key tool for any hobby nut. I use the games-workshop standard knife (the old back retractable one) for my standard blade. This is very much the workhorse, ideal for removing flash, mouldlines, hands, joint cuts and just about anything else.

I then use a set of retractable plastic handled craft blades, purchased from a great web store, hobby's!
(Check them out, not a lot they don't have and always at a great price.)

 

These are perfect for all those odd little jobs that a standard blade just isn't quite right. The green is mostly used for cutting flat materials such as plasticard or cardboard. The yellow, red and grey are used mostly for sculpting jobs, cutting into epoxy etc.

Pin Vice and Drill Bits

I'm not a fan of the current GW pin vice, feels an odd shape to me thus, I still have the old one. I have however purchased some new drill bits for it. Microbox drill bits are by far the best I have ever had.

 The 20 piece set ranges in size from 0.3mm to 1.6mm. These toughened steel drill bits are ideal for pinning and drilling out gun barrels in plastic, resin or metal miniatures. They will fit pretty much any pin vice including the new GW device.

Clippers and Pliers

Side cutters or clippers are pretty much the one tool everyone uses to removed components from sprue. These are pretty much all the same but I have found the GW side cutters have a really nice grip and, don't wear too quickly compared to some others that I have tried.

In addition to these, I always keep on hand a pair of needle nose pliers for folding and bend components. This is ideal for those larger metal components that perhaps need a little persuasion to fit where you want it.

So, that's about all for now, next time, sticky things!

A Little Background

Back again, as you can see posts are getting a bit more regular again now, hopefully this will remain the case from now on as i have quite a few commissions lined up for the next few weeks, plus a few new projects myself.

Anyway, nothing new as such today but a bit of change. When photographing my miniatures I tend to use a standard white background, nothing wrong with it, nice and simple, nice a quick. However for a while now I have been thinking about trying something different and now, I finally am. Below are a few miniatures i have posted in the past with new backgrounds, I would greatly appreciate any feedback anyone has as this is something I plan on working on over the next few posts.



Before



After



This darker background is in fact the inverted version of the original. I'm not sure, but i think it may be a little too dark? what do you all think?



After



Before



This picture itself was a bit shiny, before i started using dulcote again. The background is quite balanced I feel, offsetting the miniature rather well.



Before



After








The Longbeard logo was a bit of experiment, I think I will design a watermark to go behind the main image.




So, what do you all think? This, in theory at least, will be the new look of Longbeard Painting and Modelling. I also hope to bring in some themed backgrounds with some of my work, attempt one will be made with part three of the high elf commission.

Until then, thoughts ideas, anyone?

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Making Room For Your Hobby

For as long as there has been a hobby, be it model trains wargames miniatures or anything else, there has been an argument over space. If the hobbyist gets their way, entire rooms all over the country would be converted to model storage and display rooms. However, generally the non-hobbyist side of the relationship curves this to a corner of a room or, the shed. (This isn't so much a bad thing as it stops us getting too carried away with our little plastic men.)

So, now we know we can't have a whole room, (except those lucky few), we settle for a desk somewhere in the house. I thought i would just give you a run down of what I think makes a good hobby space and why I like mine.

First of all, do you buy a desk? I didn't! I decided to build one to fit what I needed rather than have to just deal with a normal desk. Sounds a big job I know, but it really isn't. I opted for a very simple no thrills build. A cheap £12  shelf book case on the left and a sheet of MDF on the right. Top that with another sheet of MDF and you done. I then bought one of the nice wooden painting stations before GW released their new plastic ones. (This was about 5 or 6 years ago now).



There is some more space to the left of the painting station, but that is occupied by a potted tree. So, I now have a clear work area (not in the picture but you get the idea), I chose to add some square place mats so I could move piles of stuff quickly. (Laziness is the mother of invention.)


Lighting


Rear/Corner Spot Lights



Next up, lighting. This is so often over looked and it is really important. I am very lucky and have my desk right in front of a window that spans the length of the desk. However, this won't cut it at night or on cloudy days. For this reason I use a 3 light set up. 1 directly above the desk pointing down towards the middle. Then one on each of the 2 back corners of the painting station.



Flood/High Light



I use a very non-eco friendly 100W bulb in the flood light to get a good bright light that covers most of the desk. The rear spots can then be used to highlight specific areas as required. I often use them during the photographing of models a get an even light from all angles. (More on photography in another post.)

So we have the space and the light, now for the tools.

It is said that only a poor craftsman blames his tools, this is utter rubbish. No matter how good you are, no matter how much talent you have, the total can only ever equal the sum of its component parts. So the tools of the hobby, brushes, paints, glues, thinners, filler, putties, files, knives, clippers e.t.c.

Brushes

Over the years I've used a variety of brushes and have found that a mixture a styles and makes makes for a nice set. I use Citadel Miniature brushes, combined with Vallejo Toray, Reeves bristle, Royal white and Pebeo among others. This variation of brushes means there is nothing that isn't covered.

A quick note, I own well over 100 brushes and use some of them maybe only once of twice a year. For this reason I have a selection of 18 on my desk at any one time. These are my all purpose set made up of a Citadel brush set, a Vallejo half set and a few Reeves. This selection covers almost everything I do on a regular basis.

As you can see, not every tool need to be expensive, an old baked bean tin acts as a great brush holder. I also use it to store the odd file.

Paints
The paint you use on a model is always going to effect the outcome and I'm not just talking colour scheme. Every brand of paint is going to give you a different level of pigmentation, and different shade or texture, the same colour in a different range can give a completely different finish.

Once again, i advocate a mixture of brands. I used Citadel (GW) miniature paints including foundations and washes combined with Vallejo Game Colour and P3. I find this mix gives great coverage, depth and tone. The massive pigmentation of the Vallejo paints create some really nice full colours.

Reference Material
One of the most useful things to have while painting is reference material. The Internet is a great tool, either through blogs like this or google images etc. But you can also have good old fashioned paper based reference. The obvious choice is White Dwarf, the monthly games-workshop hobby magazine.

I keep a stack of useful ones under the desk all the time, plus a big white box of painting notes and guides from over the years. Also a great place to keep bits boxes for current projects and a couple of spray cans.

So that's my hobby desk and the tools I use on it. If you have an interesting hobby space or a suggestion on tools use etc send it to thelongbeard2010@gmail.com and it can join the file for the Ultimate Hobby Guide.

TheUltimate Hobby Guide Worldwide Project!

Hello, second blog of today, and massively important!

I am starting up a worldwide hobby project! I want anyone who is willing to send me painting, sculpting or any hobby based tutorials to be formed into The Ultimate Hobby Guide! The Tome will be made available for download to all across the Internet, and maybe, if it works out, will be made available in a real bound book edition for those who want to pay for it!

So, what can you do to get involved?

• First, have an idea. It can be a painting tutorial, a new way of sculpting, a simple tutorial on construction or literally anything hobby based.

• Second, write the tutorial in a word document. You should include pictures if you can. the tutorial should be easy to follow and should provide a step by step guide if possible. The technique doesn't need to be simple, it can be as complex as you like.

• Third, email your tutorial to me at thelongbeard2010@gmail.com . Also include contact details for yourself, a name the tutorial can be accredited to and if you want it linked to a website, your blog or another you can add that too.

That's it! Once you have sent it i will give it a look, and add it in to the guide. (No tutorial will be turned away, unless it is really un-usable!)

The Final Product

Once of a good size, Version One of the Ultimate Hobby Guide will be published online. I will also try and make it available in hardback form for those who want a real copy of the first addition book.

The reasons for this are simple.

1. To strengthen the hobby community between blogs.
2. To create a valuable resource for hobbyists everywhere

I have set up a new page on which I will list every tutorial I receive and who I get it from. I will also post updates on the overall project on the page.
http://longbeard-painting.blogspot.com/p/ultimate-bloggers-hobby-guide.html

So, I hope to hear from you all very soon with tutorials. There is not limit to the number any one person can submit and the more you submit, the more accreditation's you will receive in the final book! (Could be a great way of increasing your blog traffic).

Please feel free to discuss the project within the comments system.

On the Hobby Desk, A Night Off?

Hey, just a quick update today. Before I start, I know I said 1 Malifaux model a day, but the next day I started a new job, nights, which basically sapped me of any energy I would have directed at hobby. However, a night off has meant a sudden flurry of activity. The activity hasn't been very directed as you will see, but it’s something.

First of all, I was tired of having the awesome Leogante model by Andrea Miniatures sitting around without a base. So I decided I would find a base for it. This sounds simple I know, but trust me, a 54mm angel model if wings spread wide isn't exactly a well balanced model. I tried everything from 15mm to 60mm and no base I had would balance it out.

However, as luck would have it, my better half  and I went out to buy Pringles. Before anyone asks, yes the Pringles did help this is not a pointless ramble. I was just about to throw away the empty tube when I saw the metal base at the bottom. Inspiration struck and I quickly found myself sawing the bottom off the tube and grabbing some epoxy putty. Turns out the metal base of the Pringles tube makes an excellent base for unbalance 54mm models. Who knew!

Anyway, here are a few pictures, as you'll see the model is stunning and my next project after the Malifaux gang.



As I said, perfect! The model leans really far back and so need a massive base, which would cost the best part of £10 from a wargames supplier. However, this cost £1.99 for 3 metal bases and 3 plastic ones plus some useful tubes and yummy crispy snacks as a bonus. (Only at Morrisions buy one get two free!)

Second, I made a start on Captain Agemann. I've been planning a First Company Ultramarines army for a while. I commissioned this piece from an online sculptor/converter and think its a stunning piece. I've only made a rough start and he doesn't have a weapon right now as i can't decide what to use. I want a sword but can't decide what to have.

Option One; Classic Ultramarines gladius.
Option Two; A knight style longsword.
Option Three; Something totally different.

(I'll post a poll on this later.)

This picture really doesn't do the model justice. I'll get some more up when its done, but i have to say, some of the fine details on the armour are just stunning. The shoulder guards are covered by the wings of the Imperial Aquila, a large robe whips out behind him and the armour is just so perfectly ornate.

Please help finish this amazing model by voting on the weapon choice.

So, that’s about it, don't know what will be next what with work, but there should be something up soon.

As always, any comments or suggestions would be welcome.