Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Yes, this year has been great! Kirk is healthy, dogs and cats are healthy, and so am I. We are grateful for that after several years of grueling health issues. We also have great friends who helped us remodel the family room for painting class we hosted this summer. Nothing in life can beat those - being healthy and having great friends :-)

So today Kirk gave me a huge Christmas present: Guitar Hero III and RockBand 2 for PS3. We've been rocking the game since early in the morning. What a great game! Bilbo the cat wanted to play too and I think he could be a great drummer if he paid attention to the screen and stop hitting the drum randomly with his paw (so cute!). And I got myself a Christmas present too: a 24" iMac :-) Kirk got a bunch of Bluray and DVD bundles for the TV series that he loves, a fancy motorized desk and a Red Wings jersey with his name and lucky number on it.

Oh and we both got each other another present: the completion of the walls and ceiling for the family room. That's the most awesome present - getting that room done! I think this is the first year where we gave non-miniature presents to each other, which I don't mind at all. :P

Okay, back on rocking...! Happy Holidays!!!

I'm alive...

Lately I felt like a walking zombie, but now I was reliefed because my biggest project launched on Thursday, Nov 20. It's not miniature related - it's a project from my regular job. Okay, now you wonder what I do during the day. I work at MapQuest and am part of their user experience team. On Thursday we launched My MapQuest - a feature that lets MapQuesters save their maps and directions so they can plan their trip better also estimate how much will the fuel cost is for that trip. And if you like Google's draggable route so much, we have that too. Overall, it's a nifty feature. Go check it out!

Okay I'll stop the self marketing campaign right here. No miniature update - but at least now I can participate again in the miniature social network.

Later!

Avalonian Bust by Arte Factory

There's an unexpected delay on the Mongol progress. After comparing the model with reference picture, I realized that I didn't position/glue the hat flaps correctly so I need to reconstruct it :(

So I decided to give a shot on the Avalonian bust that I got from Jeremie when he visited Denver. Because of the size of the bust (1:10 miniature scale), I'm using a very different color from my usual flesh tone palette - hoping to achieve a classic multi-tonal oil painting look.

I used Citadel and Foundation colors on this bust, Bronzed flesh, Dwarf flesh, Elf flesh, dark flesh, green, blue and orange. I'm happy with this color palette.Using a very diluted paint and glazing technique, it's easy to blend the colors while maintaining its saturation level.

There is still much more refining needed and I have plenty of busts and miniatures to practice :)

No Miniature Related Updates, Just a New Puppy

... and his name is Calvin, to pair him up with Hobbes. He's a 10 month old Chow mix, quite puffy and very adorable. Right now he's very mellow and polite, but I'm pretty sure it's the anesthesia and pain killer that are causing that. Bailey and Hobbes thought he came from outer space or something when he arrived with the elizabethan cone :-)

Other than that, nothing really new. Still working after hours and weekend for my freelance project, got the new Carcassonne Game - New World, and saving up my money to get the new Nikon D90 (keeping my fingers crossed). Oh and of course trying to make the 3 dogs share the giant dog bed. I do have a busy life, don't I?

Brrrrr.... Cold Weekend!

Yes, it has been very cold in Denver. Thankfully, we had our Denver CMPA meeting last Saturday so I went there and worked on my resin models. Otherwise, I'd rather go back to my thick blanket.

The Steppe Hunter bust from MIG that I've put together a couple weeks ago now has the gaps filled with milliput. I must say, I'm loving the milliput more and more as it's very easy to blend and shape and it can be sanded afterwards, which is a big bonus point. I don't have a picture for it yet, but I'm planning on using him for a Step-by-Step article. The step-by-step article that I wrote years ago need to be updated badly because I already developed new techniques in the past 2 years. So... stay tuned! :-)

Mongol Update

A week has passed already and I haven't really done much painting this week other than prepping the busts that I received last week and put together the Steppe Hunter bust. Here's the picture of the bust. They're not glued together just yet as it needs to be painted separately. The parts are ready to be filled with milliput, primed and painted. I'm so impressed with the sculpt. The parts really fit together nicely with minor adjustment.

My freelance work for a non-profit organization started last week so I've been busy with that and will stay that way for the next 4 weeks before the development team starts to develop the application. The gloomy side of the story, I'll be working for 12 hours every day. The bright side of the story, it brings a nice additional paycheck to my allowance pocket - also it feels good to help a non-profit organization. Maybe I'll be getting myself a very nice Christmas present this year. Nikon D90 with macro lens? New MacBook Pro? Hmmmm...

The Mongols are Here!!!

Yep. Today I received a package from Squadron.com - it's the 2 Mongol figures that I ordered. Now I'm ready for the Genghis Con Best of Theme contest next year. Check out the figures below.

The boxes of Mongol bust from MIG Miniatures and a 54mm Mongol Warrior from Seil (Korea). I must say I'm very impressed with the packaging of the models produced in Korea. Very nice packaging, sturdy, great photo and the quality of the box makes it look high profile, like the iPhone packaging. The best packaging on miniature I've ever seen in the market.





The Mongol bust in pieces. Retail usually goes for $70 - $85, but I got this from Squadron.com - they are having an anniversary sale for only $39.99. Nothing can beat that! The sculpt is amazing, Young B Song quickly become my favorite sculptor. Nice and clean casting all around. The scale is 1:9, the same as the Belle of the Nile I got yesterday.



The Mongol Warrior in pieces. Super smooth and clean casting. Usually pewter miniatures have fine pores that're visible to the eyes, but this model has smooth surface - a rare find. I got this one for a very good deal also - only $19.99!

My first historical busts

Today there was a box waiting for me on the porch. It's the 2 historical busts I ordered from Colorado Miniatures. So I opened the box and there they were: The Belle of the Nile from Pili Pili Miniatures and the Young Ramses from Young Miniatures.

Picture of the boxes:


Young Ramses in pieces



Belle of the Nile in pieces


From what I saw, the pieces are clean with almost no mold line. Now I have something to work on this weekend.