Schwarz-Brot

How would one cut with that? Sounds more like a punch and die affair to me. So - nothing I'd know of.

Right from the latest power metal video. Hilarious. Good painting so far. What scale are they? Look pretty big, but I know very well how missleading pictures of miniatures can be without size reference.

This is probably the best 1/24 scale car I've ever seen. Just wow. Beautiful car, perfect execution. Can't believe it is a model. Would you mind telling some more about your photography setup? And what do you do to the clear parts to get them so glossy?

Pascal, good to see you returning to this. Your pictures always present your solutions perfectly. I find all of your topics paired with your unending knowledge in all things Ferrari most educational.

What a beautiful ship! Might have to look out for that kit.

Great vignette. Looks like the master was a real sculpt, I like that. Only thing that lets it down for me is her hair which looks pretty rough compared to the rest. Will be tricky to get that to look right. Looking forward to seeing this in color. Or in black and white

Well Mr. C, I think there's not only those wishing to build a RR, there's even more of us mere mortals wishing the pictures would return to your epic thread. Maybe getting them all back is a huge lot asked. But getting key pictures back where you described techniques and traps for the uninitiated would be a goldmine of information. For all of us. We all know how persuasive you can be when it comes to superdetailing and large scale builds. Maybe we should start being persuasive to get us some pictures back Throwing them into a zip file or onto a disk would probably also be a good idea, though the thread to understand what was going on would be missing. My best wishes to all you large scale guys and superdetailers, Jan

Yeah, Sky fighter in Midnight Purple would be great. You'll have to scratch the iconic backlights, though!

I think Time Attack ist the place to see some really wild cars right after hill climb events. Is your model built after a real car or your interpretation of what a WTAC car might look like? Changing wheels is going to be quite a job on this beast! Great model, I'd like to see more!

Kibri does very good kits. I've built some for my dad. Perfect fitment, no flash and well thought out construction. Good and very crisp detail. Though it is really typical for railway kits to come with stickers. Usually all the parts do come in their respective colours as well. Seems like painting and decalling is not for the mainstream train enthusiast. This is the same with the building kits I got to build.

Just a short heads-up. I'm only visiting sporadic because of an unplanned move. This year water seems to be my curse. My current flat has water damage in the sleeping room, so we decided to move. The house is not ready yet, so I'll be moving again in about half a year. Well, why not... I won't have internet anytime soon, so I'll only visit when I have a few minutes on the phone. So if there's anyone trying to interact with me, please use PMs and be patient! I'll get back to you, I'll be back. Now taking down the PC...

Hard to find something I've seen here and there. As far as I remember this one was done with contrasting colours on the same surface, though not on purpose. http://massivevoodoo.blogspot.com/2015/11/step-by-step-narok.html Roman is a master of every contrast possible from bright to dark, desaturated to saturated, colour, warmth, you name it... And he is using his knowledge very well to create true art on his 3d-canvas. Figure painters often use a two-colour approach to prepare their miniatures: Prime in black, then hit with white primer from the direction of the imagined light source. This way setting the overall light situation in a very easy way and pushing the overall contrast with a basic dark-bright contrast. Basically this is nothing else then preshading on a larger scale. You need to know that in advanced figure painting usually the light situation is fully painted, unlike in classic modelling where usually a diffuse even lighting like a cloudy day is "simulated". The paint used by figure painters is often not very opaque, many use "blending" to achieve smooth colour transitions. Think of working with a multitude of coloured filters, applied layer by layer to build up the final saturation. With this approach the desaturated - saturated contrast is possible, though only few use this to push the overall contrast (Roman is one of them). Usually this is used to guide the eye to some important areas, the face, or maybe a magic spellbook, a little hidden detail in the sculpt in a rather undefined area. I have seen some tutorials where the shadows were enhanced by painting a contrasting colour to the later visible colour. Then the overall global colour was applied all over. Remember, like a filter. While binding all together, the shadows become very moody and vivid because of the contrasting colour. They also are more saturated then the brighter colour, so "make these pop" even more. This is also typically used to paint beardshadows. Basically before the face is painted the beard is sketched in with a blue, then painted over with the skintones. It of course also works the other way around - paint the whole face, then add a very thinned down blue or even green to add the effect. Can be seen on this one by me: http://www.coolminiornot.com/396737?browseid=8736693 Generally the coolminiornot gallery is a great place for inspiration if you filter for the higher rated miniatures. Though you'll find 99% fantasy and scifi figures.

Haven't seen this with classic models, yet. Though I know the technique is used by some of the best figure painters to set the overall mood of a miniature or to guide the eye to important areas. I feel the effect you achieved is subtle but gives a very vivid look to the model without looking out of scale or unrealistic. Good job!

Mr C, Duplicolor do many paint ranges. Don't know which types you can get your hands on over the pond. They do anything from waterbased acrylics to laquer and enamels. Since Dan gave no more information I'd guess he uses the enamel range which is the usual stuff you'll find in hardware stores. At least here in Germany, so I'd expect this to be the same for mainland Europe. The enamels do adhere very well on almost anything as long as it is properly degreased. Had not much luck with their acrylic range, though. Adhesion was great, but the finish wasn't.

Could you please provide a link? Bilge pumps which I found were all to suck out water. Probably this is a naming thing, but I don't know what I am looking for in German.

My highest respect for your CAD work. My dayjob is mainly CAD engineering and I know exactly how hard it is to get 3d-splines just right, especially if you're trying to copy a real thing. Thank god my job rarely involves freeform work but mainly square parts. every now and then I've got to work with freeform models supplied by customers. More often then not these make me want to cry. In my spare time I dabble a little with freeform-modelling of real things to get the hang of it. But it really is not easy for me to let go of exact dimensions. I'm caught in the Inventor / Fusion net, since Inventor is what I daily work with. Fusion is a bit simpler for freeform work, the full blown Inventor not so much.

wow - just wow. I would not have been patient enough to pull this off! All those trials must have cost a ton of time. I love the result and ask, if I may, how you achieved the ever increasing length on the side? Stamping several times side by side? Hard to believe this is achieved with such simple tools. No hiding for any of us - you are the proof no expensive tool is needed for high end scratch building. Just patience and ingenuity.

The metalwork looks stunning. Too bad it hides many of these fine details. But then again, it is beautiful in its own right, so too bad it will be hidden under the bodywork.

stil following and liking it! Good to see an update

I simply use nail art files - the amazon stuff - in the rougher grades. For even rougher work I don't see the need to use foam-backed files. So I use wooden coffee-stirrers with glued-on sanding paper. Works pretty well and is dirt cheap.

Love the details these kits show. And it is a brave move to chop up such an expensive kit in search for detail and realism only few would even notice. Are the 3d-printed wheels supplied with the kit or are these aftermarket parts? I always thought MFH wheels had to be done with wire. The suspension looks to be mainly white metal? How strong is it? Did you paint these parts as well?

Wise colorchoice and magnificient effect with the large metallic flakes. Well done!

Have fun and make some beautiful memories!

I can not recommend to go all in on a single manufacturer of colours. They all have their qualities, but none is perfect for everything. For example I can highly recommend the Citadel Inks. Vallejo not so much. But then there is that magic Vallejo Game Color "Smokey Ink" which works wonders to any basic paintjob... Citadel colour bottles are a pain to work with. Some of their paints are really, really good, though. Beige and the likes are often hard colours to work with. Some of the Artist ranges offer some better choices. Thinking of W&N, Schmincke and the likes. Same goes for yellows and reds. I personally prefer Acrylics for airbrush use. Vallejo Model Air is the perfect consistency to be used with a brush on a figure. Their Model Color Range gives you lots of realistic colors, but these behave sometimes strange if mixed with usual acrylics. They seem to be formulated a bit different. Vallejo Game Color was initially made as an 1:1 alternative to the Citadel Colors, so the range matched these quite well back then, but the quality isn't equal for all paints. I haven't used newer Citadel paints, so cannot say much in that direction. Lately I used especially artists airbrush colours, but these requiere lots of mixing as the paints are way to brilliant for figure painting straight from the bottle. Then again you'll find no better red or yellow. What I'm trying to say - if you struggle to achieve the results you're after it isn't always your skills. With waterbased acrylics you are free to mix and match whatever works for you. And you should! No reason to fall for a single brand. In some cases you can even get away with craft store paints (and I know I'll take some beating for saying it out loud...). Blue and green tones are usually not problematic. With problematic paints it is worth to try high-end artist supplies. More expensive, but less struggle.

Most miniature painters coming from model building started with enamel paints and then moved on to acrylics. That's how I started as well. The move to acrylics was a no-brainer, as they were easier to blend and dillute - Layering was the technique of choice back then. This was really a PITA with enamels. Mainly high end painters and those of larger historic figures use acrylic basecoats and blend with oils. For a start with nothing in hand I would advise for an acrylic range. If you get started and have enamels on hand go ahead and use these for your first attempts. May turn out you hate painting figures or feel perfectly fine with what you have.