Hello everyone !!

Mini Handles have been multiplying these last 5 years. I remember a time when I used champagne cork and it was already an improvement over using my hand ^^ Now the market has a large number of options from 3D printed version, to the RGG Handle and off course the GW one.

I am already a big fan of the RedGrassGames Handle first edition. Ergonomic handle, 360° turning cap, Thin so you can easily paint under. I don't like how the GW handle is so large and make it hard to paint under the model.
Still, the first version had a few aspects that could be improved: stability of the handle when on the desk and the ability to swap models fast if you have one handle and multiple models to paint at the same time.

Now, RedGrassGames announced a new Handle and a Kickstarter campaign starting on the 21 May. They sent me the new Handleversion and some extra cap to test the product and do a quick review on it.

ps: I am not paid and have no obligation saying the Handle is good.

The new Handle

To me the first Handle was good. With only 2 problems but the first one bothered me a lot: the Stability of the Handle. A few times I bumped and made the Handle fall with the model still attached. I can attest the mounting putty holds very well even during a fall, but damn ! hated that.

RGG seem to address the problem with a magnetic base for this new version. I decided to do some test to check if that works out.

Stability Improvement

The Handle is now magnetic and delivered with a small metal plate with Strong Double tape under it.

Great idea huh? but does it achieve stability? I tested this setup and I admit it works very well, the magnet is quite strong. the Tape under the metal base is insanely powerful. I tested it and nearly broke my nail removing it ^^ So think before sticking it somewhere.

Note the image is a bit misleading, the Magnet is NOT the metal plate but inside the Handle. It's ideal as you can use a tiny thin sheet of metal, if the small round metal plate is not enough or if you want an extra spot to magnetize the handle. In my case, I am going to set a small metal sheet (20cm * 20 cm) on the desk in front of me and probably cover it with a paper sheet (the magnet is strong enough to do this)

You could also stick the metal round plate to the cover of the wet palette and use it as a base when you open the palette (Neat !)

Truly, it's a great idea, the Handle is still thin and agile, but now super stable. Also, I can now stock my Handle(s) on my painting lamp.

Note: I compared the old and the new handle and there are the same weight 45 Grams (the Gw one is 56 grams)

Honestly, this magnetic solution is awesome. It's elegant, don't weight more, hold very well. To me, it makes the RGG handle the best option on the market right now.

Now let's check the problem 2, Model Switching when batch painting multiple models with one Handle.

Model switching

The difficulty when you use Putty to hold models on a Handle is switching them. Attaching the model to the handle with putty takes a lot more time than the GW springs mechanism, and removing the model takes as long. So unless you have one handle per model it's not an option for Batch painting.

RGG appear to have addressed this problem with a removable cap :

The cap is easily removable but also don't fall off if you turn the handle upside down. Even with a metal model attached to it!

yea don't try this at home but notice how the magnet is strong enough to hold on the edge of the Lamp frame with a 40mil metal model (and a big fat one).

Also, note that once removed, the cap is very stable and there is no chance to have falling models.

Conclusion

The new RGG handle is without contest my favourite. Now that the bottom of the handle is magnetized and the top is removable and still360° orientable it's near perfect!

I don't know the price of the new Kickstarter but if it stays in the same prince range (10€) it's a great improvement. Also, they plan to sell metal bases and top cap pack, so we will have to wait on the price too. Ideally, I would like one handle and 10/12 caps with putty on it for around the same price of the GW handle

Check their website for more info and if you have questions you can post them here, I'll ask them for you.

Kickstarter of the 21 May, note you can also get a paper version of their free painting book by Angel Giraldez if you do the Kickstarter.

https://www.redgrassgames.com/

Cheers.
Bob.

Hello everyone !!

The awesome Giraldez and the super nice peoples at RedGrassGames have teamed up to offer up for free a nice painting book. It's very informative and aimed at people learning the trade, still the technique shown are well explained and should be used as a good base.

https://www.redgrassgames.com/redgrassgames-free-painting-books/

or on Scribd

https://www.scribd.com/document/455845371/Redgrassgames-Miniature-Painting-Made-Easy

/Cheers.
Bob.

Hello everyone !!!

To help people in Quarantine, Sergio Calvo released a set of video on youtube. Previously these where Patreon only. This set of 4 videos explain his method on a 28mm model. Honestly it's not always super clear to understand what he mean but damn i love his method !!

Sergio Calvo Miniatures Channel

The videos links

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

Video 4

They are also available in Spanish if you prefer

/Cheers.
Bob.

Hello everyone !!

Sitting in the right position when painting is very important especially when you do long session ^^ Today I found this post of Facebook.

Disclaimer : Tom Taylor Bigg made this post on Eavier Metal Facebook Group to give advice on how to have better sitting position while painting. Images and Text are from him as well !!

Seating for hobby.

I’m a massage and physical therapist – I work with people with back, neck and shoulder pain every day. I see quite a few people in the hobby talk about back pain and discomfort so I thought I’d try to give some pointers.

I would emphasise this isn’t exhaustive or even particularly comprehensive, so if you have pain try different approaches. See a professional! Other solutions could be standing desks and kneeling chairs.

I have had some training in posture, and have a lot of practical experience in troubleshooting people’s issue, but I’m not an ergonomic specialist so any feedback or things I’ve missed please do feel free to point them out and I will amend this document.

For sitting down in a way to minimize pain there is one key things to remember. A few slight adjustments can make a huge difference over time.

Sightline. Everything else follows from that. If your sightline is right your body tends to self organise better.

Most advice out there is about computer work position, so I’ve tried to adapt this advice for hobbying.

I’ve taken some pictures to illustrate.

Picture 1.

At the computer. I’ve marked the key joints in red.

1. Sightline slightly downwards

2. Neck joint is above shoulders

3. Back straight and supported all the way up

4. Shoulders above hips

5. Elbows supported

6. Feet in front of knees

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Picture 2. (How you shouldn’t do it!)

Hobby from the same seated position. Lamp is positioned in front of me. This is a bad posture.

1. Lightsource isn’t far enough forward

2. Sightline is very down

3. Neck is stressed, forward of shoulder

4. Back is curved, unsupported

5. Shoulders are forward of hip

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Picture 3.

I’ve adjusted my chair so that when I am holding the mini with supported elbows my head is much more level with it, so the sightline is better. I’ve moved my chair height down significantly and made sure lamp is positioned much further towards me.

1. As light is above me I don’t have to lean forward

2. Sightline is slightly downwards

3. Neck joint is in decent position

4. Back is straight and supported

5. Feet in front of knees

The original post is here : https://www.facebook.com/groups/eaviermetal/permalink/2810228399041353/

Thanks a lot Mr Bigg !!

Spoiler alert: I am painting in an even worse position than the 2. To give you an idea my Wrist are on the edge of my desk ^^ it's bad i know :(

/Cheers.
Bob.

Hello everyone !!

Since the Contrast Paints have been released I have been trying a lot different ways to paint weapons. Also, these days pro painters make NMM with a very dark flat section of the blade and a white part on the edge. As i am painting an IronJaws army, i wanted to have this style of Nmm on my weapons. Off course as i plan to have two max units of Black Orcs i needed a time efficient way of painting weapons.

Painting Steps list

I just want to share the steps before showing details just so you know where this is going.

• Prime white


• Paint the blade with Contrast Space Wolves Grey


• Highlight the edge surface of the blade with Fenrisian Grey


• Highlight the edge surface of the blade with Fenrisian Grey + White at 50/50


• Highlight the edge surface of the blade with Fenrisian Grey + White at 20/80


• Highlight the edge surface of the blade with White (i used pure white but didn't cleaned my Air Brush so there was a little of Fenrisian Grey)


• Shade the flat side of the blade with Abyssal Blue


• White Lining on weapon and on the scars

The Method

The method is quite easy and I made some photos to show what I did on the weapon.

Priming white

Simply primed the weapon in white with my airbrush and some white Stynylrez. Don't forget that if your priming is not very thin/flat the contrast paint is not going to flow well and make bad streak. In this scenario just apply a thin coat of Gloss Varnish to help the contrast paint to flow better.

Basing

One thin coat of undiluted Contrast Space Wolves Grey. Just avoid too much pooling but it's super easy to do.

Higlight of the Edge

Highlights the edge of the blade (on the right of the dark line) with Fenrisian Grey. I use an Airbrush because it's faster but it's 100% doable with a brush ^^ On this blade I Highlight the white circle and in the direction of the arrows, knowing that my brightest spot is going to be there. Don't make an opaque coat, try to keep some of the color showing under to make it more interesting.

First Highlight of the blade edge.

More highlight including more and more white.

Final Highlight (i notice that i forgot to highlight the circle)

Shading of the Flat

Then I am going to shade the flat section of the blade (left of the white line). Shading using Abyssal Blue from scale 75 in the direction of the white arrow.

Alternate paints option: Dark Reaper GW, Dark sea blue from Vallejo, coal-black from P3. All are dark blue with a tint of green.

Both side of the blade once shaded.

White edge Highlight

Here do an edge Highlight with pure white and draw a line between the edge and flat section. You can use pure white or add a little bit of blue. Depend on what you prefer. You can also mark the scratch with some pure light dot.

Final Result

That's it for this short tutorial on how to make a quick NMM. It's really easy and looks quite good on the board. Off course if you want to up your game you can add red or brown on the flat and blood for the blood god marks. I'll do it tomorrow and update the post.

Stuffs

Airbrush : Iwata (0.3) and h&s evolution (0.5)
Brush : Redgrassgames (both of them)
Primer : Stynylrez

/Cheers.
Bob.

Hello everyone !!

Redgrassgames is making Discount for Black Friday. So if you want to order something from them it's the right time.
Also I think they do Free Shipping on Friday.

https://www.redgrassgames.com/black-friday/

ps : This is not an affiliate thing and we don't get any % of what is bought. But their brushes are my favourite (the palette too)

/Cheers.
Bob.

Hello everyone !!

Everchosen have been crowned today.

The sun has set on the Citadel Colour Open Day, and we’re proud to announce that Yohan Leduc has been crowned the champion of Everchosen, our global painting competition!

Check his Fb for more pics, https://www.facebook.com/yohan.leduc/photos

He's a fine painter for sure ;)

Congratulation!

/Cheers.
Bob.

Hello everyone !!!

Next week on pre orders are ALL OF Ossiarche Bonereapers units and heroes !! This is maybe the biggest army release ever !
As well : Red mini holder, Pot holder, Citadel Spray stick, White Dwarf Apocrypha, Dark Millennium Playing cards with John Blanche arts ! (Auto buy !)

Ossiarch Bonereapers

Katakros

The 3 Mortisans

Kavalos & Arch Kavalos Zandtos

Troops

Shock Elite

Mortek Crawler

New Scenery Kits

With Christmas on the horizon, we’re happy to reveal two massive boxed sets absolutely packed to the gills with Dominion of Sigmar terrain, each easily containing enough scenery to transform even the most barren tabletop into a thematic battlefield. The Hallowed Stormthrone set contains a new frame, currently only found in this box, that allows you to build a rune-engraved throne. Meanwhile, the Penumbral Stormvault comes with a Penumbral Engine, previously only available in Forbidden Power, making it a great way to get your hands on one of these invaluable bits of battlefield scenery.

New Accessories

The Citadel Spray stick is very nice, still, i wonder how long the rubber will last if you are spraying with Primers.

The Dark Millennium Playing Cards

Grew up with Blanche arts it's auto buy for me !

That's a very costly week coming ^^

/Cheers.
Bob.

Hello everyone !!!

Now that Aeronautica Imperialis has been released, you maybe wondering what is the best choice for the Thunderbolt : Fury or Standard. The best choice is BOTH ! in fact the Thunderbolt is quite easy to magnetise if you follow this simple : How to magnetize a Thunderbolt Tutorial !!

The plan is to Magnetise the Body and The wings to hold the weapons noses and switch them when you need too. Allowing you to open the plan and close it when you need to change the nose.

1) Assemble both noses and weapons

The sprue have both weapons and nose so you just have to assemble both of them, super straight forward.

2) Assemble the main body of the plane

Tails, reactors, Engine, thrusther, take a few minutes and glue all that.

3) Assemble the wings of the plane

Nearly nothing assemble here, just clean the wings and glue the small reactors.

4) Gluing the First magnet in the plane body

I used 2 neodyme Magnets 4mm diameter and 2mm hight

Glue it like on the image (red circle) , there is a little hole that fit perfectly.

5) Gluing the Second magnet in wings

Cut a 1 cm sprue plastic stick. Glue it like on the picture (green contour) and then glue the magnet on it(red circle ! Don't screw up with the positive-negative side.

6) Enjoying your plane and extra tips !

• Before assembling wait the glue to be completely Dry !


• Do a mark with a pen on the Magnet to prevent screwing up the side


• Prime the model UNASSEMBLED


• Once Primed don't hesitate to file the connector to remove dried paint primer that could stuck the wing

Aeronautica Imperialis navigation :

Aeronautica Imperialis Pre orders
Warhammer 40000 : Aeronautica Imperialis review
Eavy Bommer preview
Aeronautica Imperialis twitch transcript with Andy Hoare teasing 5 factions in the game
Aeronautica Imperialis : How to magnetize a Thunderbolt Tutorial !! (Like an Ace)

/Cheers.
Bob.

Hello everyone !!

Here a Contrast Paint chart on 4 different prime for all the Contrast Paints colors. This was made by the awesome : James Martin

You can find the Original post here : https://imgur.com/user/jamesarmartin

I also saved the images on Imgur in case the post was removed : https://imgur.com/a/GZOOIaK

ps : saving the post under the tag: contrast paints chart

/Cheers.
Bob.