It is a new year and to be honest, last year was not a great one for me outside of the hobby. I didn’t make any plans or major goals for 2023, other than trying to finish my hobby room which mostly failed as I discussed previously. As a result, expect more of the same this year. I need to get more Fallout terrain done, I will try to squeeze in Hellboy and Kingdom Rush minis whenever I can, and I will be working on display projects periodically too. Of course, I will keep trying to improve my skills as much as I can too, but that is true of every year of my painting career!
With future plans out of the way, I have a shocking development. For the first time in a few years, I painted with metallic paints, aka, TMM. Truthfully, I’ve thought about doing this a number of times and always try to psyche myself up to do it, but have never really gotten close to doing so. Its good for you, like eating vegetables, to practice both types. A dirty secret is that TMM and NMM are actually pretty similar if you want to paint at the highest level in that you want to maximize the contrast as much as possible. So you’d think it would be fairly easy to return to TMM…
I painted Magnus from Kingdom Rush in TMM because I tried NMM initially and it just wasn’t working. A lot of the details in his armor are shallow and it was too hard to try and blend colors together. The sculpt is definitely board game quality but I’m satisfied with how it turned out (other than a mistake I just caught in the photo that I somehow missed previously). I will do more TMM for the rest of these minis but don’t expect to see me using metallic paints very often. I still much prefer NMM and I think I get better results that way overall.
I haven’t been neglecting Minerva either the last couple of weeks. I’ve made steady progress on her and I think she’s really starting to take shape.
Unlike last time, I think these pictures came out fairly nicely. The colors might be slightly over saturated so the pinks in her skin are a bit too strong but that’s not a huge deal. I will say that I love the etchings on the armor. While its hard to get the blends completely smooth compared to a flat surface and some of what I did is not perfect in that regard, I still really enjoy painting etching and edges on armor like Minerva has. I feel like that’s a place where I can really let my skills and attention to detail shine. I’m excited to keep making progress on her and I think she’s going to be an impressive miniature when finished.
This next bit pertains to video games so maybe only some of you will care or fully appreciate what I’m talking about, but here goes nothing! While I’m not usually one to pat myself on the back, I did want to take a victory lap on getting to 80% of the achievements in Pinball FX3 on Steam. I can’t remember how long ago it was that I bought the game but it took me over 100 hours to get this many of the achievements so it was a real milestone this week. Some of the achievements I got were quite hard and less than 2% of the people who have played the game have unlocked them so I guess I got fairly decent at the game somewhere in those 140 hours! I don’t know if anybody else can relate to this but I’m the type of person that if I say I’m going to do something, I try to follow through. I bought Pinball FX3 a few years ago and said, I’m going to try and get 80% or more of the achievements in the game and it feels great to finally deliver on that promise. For the first time in years, I feel interested in playing games on Steam again and trying to improve my achievement rate (88% currently) so you may hear more about my return to PC gaming in 2024, especially as I’ll be getting a new computer within the next few months.
Lastly, I don’t have anything for Comics Corner for once. I’m working on reading a 35 issue long run and I’m nearly done but I’ll save discussing that for next week. Instead, I’m introducing a new Corner for 2024. I’m going to call it 75mm Corner and I will pick a mini that I think is interesting and solicit your opinions on it. I’ll share a thought or two of mine but I think it will be more fun if I don’t say too much about how I feel about it and we can discuss our totally subjective opinions in the comments. There’s no pressure to participate and there are no right or wrong opinions here either. I think this will be interesting because many of you will be seeing these for the first time and our conversations may help me decide on future projects I might want to take on too. So here is this week’s mini in question. It is Amuneth Karnak from Abyssoul.
I’ll go first and say one thing that I like and one thing that I don’t which is tough on this mini because there’s a lot I could say. I love the composition of this mini, especially the ornamental column. I’ve seen Egyptian artifacts that look exactly like that in museums and I love to see the same in miniature form. On the flipside, I don’t like how her hand is posed and I can’t figure out what she is doing. It looks to me like she is wiping a tear from her eye almost. Fortunately, she does come with an alternate hand that is holding a sword. I’m curious to hear your thoughts and we’ll see if 75mm Corner takes off in the next couple weeks or not!
Kuribo's Painting 
You saying there is a mistake in the picture drives me crazy in trying to find it! Nice job on the varied vegetation on the base.
Minerva continues to impress.
Yes, the first thing I noticed on the 75mm figure is the right hand placement…
Several things.
I like the column, hopefully the hieroglyphs make sense and not just random artistic lines.
Strange items that stood out to me; Holding the sword in the left hand, while it makes sense for the pose, I find it hard to believe she would be trained left handed. The position of her feet not being on a solid surface. Her left foot is between two stones instead of flat on one. Small things I know, but for some reason it bothers me.
I like the alternate arms/weapons better, especially the staff.
Curious why the non painted version shows a flimsy top on both breasts but the painted version has only one. Artistic choice?
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Thanks for the rabbit hole I went down on Egyptian history.
Looking at an unboxing of the figure and reading the description more carefully, the wooden plinth is not provided, so disregard comments about the column and feet placement.
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You’re welcome! 🙂 I try to be a bad influence whenever I can.
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There is an errant brown brushstroke in the shadows of his forehead. Its going to be a pain to fix. I think I’ll have to repaint the forehead later today…
As for the Egyptian woman, the column is my favorite part too. Unfortunately, the mini doesn’t come with it, which was really disappointing to discover. I’m not sure where you can find that column either. I’d love to find a 75mm Greek/Roman column to use in future projects as well.
The person who assembled and painted the mini is a friend of a friend and he’s very talented but having said that, I think something is off with the feet and the blocks on the base too. The actual miniature only comes with a plain round base so you wouldn’t have that problem if you bought it, I suppose.
I like the alternate weapons better too so we’re in agreement there! I don’t know what’s going on with the one breast exposed thing either. I hate to say it but I don’t feel like Abyssoul has done a good job of showing you what the miniature you’ll be buying is. The unboxing I saw, has the one breast exposed but I’d much rather she have both covered. There’s nothing dumber than having one exposed and one covered to me anyway. That’s pandering to the male audience to be sure.
Having said all that, I think this is a miniature I will pass on. I’ve been conflicted because I really like parts of it but with the column not being part of the miniature and the unnecessary nudity is turning me against it. I will definitely have to get another copy of Anubis though as I’ve got a desire to paint something Egyptian!
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Excellent work on Magnus, for such a simple model, it can be scary doing something different, but you pulled it off well Jeff. Great progress on Minerva, the cloth work has some deep rich tones to it.
Congratulations on the achievements in the computer game, and can fully understand the need to complete goals (probably why I haven’t touched a computer game in 7 years ! LOL)
Onto the 75 mm corner, The right arm is totally wrong in my opinion, as lifting the elbow up that high is uncomfortable the elbow needed to be a lot lower, almost down to the body. Bret brings up some valid points about the feet positioning looking like it’s almost levitating not part of the scene. On the positive like yourself I really like the attention to detail on the column with the textures showing up really well.
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Thank you for the kind words, Dave! I’ll be doing some more Kingdom Rush miniatures as part of the Paint What You Got challenge I imagine.
Playing pinball can be a little intense and my hands hurt at times while playing which made me think of your comments on playing video games haha. I swear most don’t cause that effect. Only the intense ones!
I agree with your thoughts on the miniature. I did a bit more research and this mini comes on a generic round base so the artist who worked on their promo copy added the column and the bricks himself. It is a shame as the column is probably my favorite part of the mini and I don’t know where to get it. Overall, I think this is a miniature I like but probably ultimately won’t paint.
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Great work as usual mate. I like the look of TMM but I understand some folks prefer NMM. The magical flame on that staff is outstanding.
Minerva is looking brilliant, especially the skin. Etched armor can really elevate a mini as well as a costume on tv.
Congrats on the pinball success. I continue to resist my PC gaming urges.
As for the 75mm sculpt opinion, my thoughts yet again echo those of Bret.
Hopefully 2024 is better for you than 2023!
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Its funny how we all tend to have a preference on TMM and NMM. I can’t think of anybody I’ve met who loves both equally and has trouble deciding which one they want to use most in their painting. Thanks for the kind words on Minerva as well!
PC gaming has definitely changed over the last few years. I was researching what games are out there that I might want to play and I was struck how the vast majority of the big games that were on sale on Steam were available on one or more of the consoles too. I think the days of PC gaming being its own distinct type of gaming is waning. Fortunately, there are still games that are best played on PC out there. I really enjoy those personally.
Thank you for the kind wishes and I don’t think the 75mm mini will be among the miniatures I purchase and paint in 2024. I just can’t quite talk myself into it, as much as I like some parts of it. Its interesting that many of you are mixed on it too.
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I agree with you that PC only games are going the way of the Dodo. That makes me a bit sad as I prefer the freedom of cutting edge PC gaming to the constraints of console gaming. I am also very much a WASD player for my first person shooters. But since I gave up PC gaming to focus on tabletop I guess it does not really matter much to me anymore.
Looking forward to seeing what you do select for your next big project!
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There are some games that will always be better on PC such as city management/tycoon games and RTS like Warcraft/Starcraft, for example, but I suspect the days of games being exclusive and designed to be PC only might be coming to an end. Its too lucrative to be available on all the systems now and Microsoft and Sony struggle to have many console exclusives too.
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Nice work on the minis, Jeff! 🙂 The biggest surprise for me is that someone somewhere has decided that painting with actual metallic paints needs an acronym!
I like the 75mm figure, but I was just looking at the overall effect rather than any flaws that might be perceived in it. The painted skin tone I really like. I also noticed how the flimsy “clothing” is shown on the unpainted model but has disappeared on the painted version – I’m assuming artistic licence! When I looked at the optional weapon choices (staff and short sword) I didn’t like them at all (sorry Bret)!
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Cheers, John! Typing True Metallic Metal vs. TMM does make me feel like the acronym has some value but what do I know? 🙂
Your perspective on the 75mm miniature is interesting. I agree that it is well painted, especially the skin tone. I’m not a fan of the clothing, especially having one breast exposed, and I wish she were fully clothed. Painting sheer clothing is something I’ve never done and would be a good challenge though at the same time. I tend to like the knife better than the hand but I agree that the curved sword looks better than the staff. I think our difference of opinions shows why having a couple of weapon options is a really nice thing to have on miniatures!
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Haha, I think John might have been saying that it’s weird that we have “True Metallic Metal”, when one could just say they painted with ‘metal paints’. 😉
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Yep, that’s it exactly! 🙂
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Haha, I see now! Well get ready for my new line of paints. Fake Metallic Metals (FMM) is coming to a fine retailer near you 😀
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😀
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Nice job on the miniatures. You once told me what NMM and TMM meant but I’ve forgotten now. I just read ‘serious painter stuff.’
I hope this year will be better than the last.
I’ll offer no opinion on the naked girl miniature, as someone with no talent or taste like myself. 😀
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TMM = metallic paints for metal surfaces. I’m pretty sure this is how you paint, unless my memory fails me.
NMM = non-metallic paints to create the appearance of metal which is how I paint almost exclusively.
And thanks for the kind words! All opinions are totally valid and can be based on nothing more than a hunch. Just like you might say I like Rohan in LOTR best and I say I like Gondor or the elves for that matter!
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Great work on the TMM it’s worked very well for you and the display model.is coming on nicely!
And 80% of achievement on pin ball is very impressive I look forward to seeing what other games you picknup.
On 75mm corner it’s a nice model lots of different textures and space for different colours would certainly be interesting to paint.
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Thanks for the kind words as always, mate! I will definitely talk about any other interesting PC gaming I get up to. I completely agree with you on the 75mm mini too. Its a good one and it could be fun to paint, if I can find the time to do so. That’s always the trick!
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I still haven’t delved deeply into NMM, so I’m most familiar painting with metallic paints. Depending on the brand, the results can be really mixed. The other issue is that you almost always need a wash. Unfortunately, washes rarely behave exactly like I want them to. The mini with the metallics, looks good though! 🙂
Minerva is coming along very nicely, and those greaves look amazing. I was confused when you mentioned “etching” on the armor, I’m not sure I’m seeing that in the pics.
Column-Lady – hard to say. It depends on what you’re looking for. If you want to show off some techniques, I guess she might work. But I think you hit the biggest negative in your post “What is she doing?”. Well, she’s posing! There’s no story there to really draw me in other than the really nice paint job. Put her beside other minis with really nice paint jobs, and I think she might get lost in the mix.
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You have to do a mix of washing and glazing with TMM which I don’t care for. You nailed it with the unpredictable behavior of washes being the real issue! I find varnishing tricky too because the parts you glaze/wash shouldn’t be shiny but its not easy to apply a mix of gloss and matte varnish on small surfaces. That is another thing I don’t enjoy about TMM.
Thank you for the kind words on Minerva! I think maybe engraving is the right word and not etching. I’m referring the patterns on her belt buckle and her leg armor. Those raised areas are really fun to paint and usually look great on the finished models too.
I think the posing is definitely the weak part of the sculpt. She captures some of the charm of Cleopatra but knowing that she doesn’t come with the column really dampens my enthusiasm for the mini. If nothing else, 75mm Corner is already a success because it helped me make up my mind about a miniature I was pretty mixed on. I want to love it, but I don’t, unfortunately and most likely won’t ever paint it.
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Ah, I missed the “no column” part. Yea, that might make it even more of a hard sale for me. I guess you would have to find some background for it. Which probably would make it more interesting and help tell a story. But depends on how much time and effort you want to spend to make it work.
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No worries! I only discovered it after posting. Unfortunately, I have struggled to find many places that make 75mm “accessories” so stuff that’s easy to find in 28mm/32mm has no equivalent that I can find. That is something I wasn’t expecting though maybe I just don’t know where to look.
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Foamcore to the rescue! 😂
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Nice progress on Minerva, really coming together. It’s fun seeing you try TMM, clearly I’m the opposite almost never dabble in NMM, but that makes sense given our respective painting domains. My favourite metallics by far are as you said NMM style with TMM paints.
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Cheers, Nic! My feeling is that TMM is great for gaming because you don’t have to spend as much time on it to get it looking pretty good. That part of TMM is certainly appealing. The style you’re talking about is really nice looking and its not uncommon to see it in Golden Demon. I’ve never attempted it but it would certainly make for an interesting project in the future! Though having said that, you might be better equipped for it than me 🙂
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Wow, Minerva is really starting to look the part. I’m constantly amazed when the pictures go from black undercoat in one post to perfect in the next. Keep up the good work 🙂
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Thank you, mate! 🙂 The process you’re describing is what keeps me going on these longer projects. As long as you can see some progress, you can keep up your motivation for the most part.
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