Skills, what are they good for?

I've been working with miniatures for a long time now. I got into the hobby back when I found my father's painted set of white metal TSR AD&D miniatures. I remember the dusty smell of opening a box tucked away in the garage and the wonder at the small wooden box I found inside. The models were simple, a warrior, sorcerer, dwarf, etc. and the paint had been well worn from years of use and handling. I frequently spent a lot of time looking at them and wondering about their origin.

Years later I was introduced to Warhammer 40k and my imagination and interest in art were hooked into the hobby completely. I learned to modify, paint, dry brush, air brush, spray paint and all sorts of tricks. As time wore on I followed my interests all over the place from welding, sumi-e, photography and on and on. I also found that the little tricks I picked up on the way came in rather handy at times. I was restoring a motorcycle and was having a hard time acquiring a particular part so I took the old one (a thumb lever), drilled some holes, added some thick wire, J.B. weld and sculpted it into a duplicate of the original. A little primer and chrome paint and it was hard to tell I hadn't acquired an original part. Always little things like that which would be helpful, time saving or just fun. Just goes to show that you never know where a little skill, developed in an obscure place (in this case miniature gaming), can come in handy down the road. Opportunity is every where.

This week has been much like my interest in art, absolutely all over the place (more after the break).
I started off the week working on the cathedral but was quickly side tracked when my daughter asked for help finishing the construction of her Eldar units. She's seven and predictably has become bored with the building process and wants to move on to her favorite part: the painting. Needless to say I spent what time I had this week finishing her pieces though she wanted to do the final detailing. I also found that I needed to make a new backdrop for taking pictures as my old one vanished into one of the many crevices that exist in apartments and homes. The following are some pictures of the completed figures. Please not that I am aware of the mold lines but I also know they will be covered in so much paint and varying color that most detail will disappear. It seemed a better use of my time to just skip the finer details and finish them.

All weapons and options were chosen before-hand, I simply put everything together. I can understand that she could get tired of the building. Sometimes it's frustrating, a head falls off while attaching an arm, sometimes the darn thing just doesn't stick, on it goes.
What I did do myself was make a new backdrop for taking pictures. All that nice white in the pictures above is just a cheap sheet, you can get one from any second hand store or a place like Target, which was chopped into wide strips. If you want to make one get at least a 1/4 inch dowel or some sturdy rod lying around, bed sheet or some scrap material, a little glue and an electric iron to remove any wrinkles. I think ironing the sheet is the most important step to making the backdrop look nice, it's easy, and fast.

Setup the ironing board and get your iron heating up. If you have scraps like me then they've been stuffed in a bag or compressed somewhere small to keep out of the way. Don't worry about the Dalek, he's that last of his kind and mostly harmless. Spread out the sheet and spray it with some water. I guess you'll need a spray bottle too. Good thing you read through this before jumping in to get started. The fabric doesn't need to get soaked, just a light mist will do, and when the iron is hot you can press it onto the fabric and start smoothing out the wrinkles.

It can take a few tries and re-misting to get it smooth but it does work. It's like the iron is squeezing the wrinkles out. Oh and try not to let the fabric fold up on you as accidentally ironing in a crease is annoying to try and get out.

With the ironing done we can measure the dowel length, mark it, and take it to the cutting area for safety. I usually just place my blade on the mark and roll the dowel beneath it until it cuts a nice line. Do that a few times and then snap it off when you're near the harder core.

I had yellow PVA (wood) glue handy so I used that to run a bead down the dowel. When placing the dowel it's a matter of how long your material will be. If you want it thicker but shorter the middle is good so you get a doubled piece. I only left six inches on top to fold over at the end because I wanted it to be long.

It was necessary to hold the dowel in place since a few spots wanted to bow in ways that I didn't like. Also it's important to not use too much glue or when you try to lift up the fabric you find it is stuck to the mat. The fabric is not water tight so the glue can seep through.

Another bead of PVA glue, fold the sheet over and let it dry. All that is left is to hang it up, place something in front, lights and you have some good pictures.

To store my backdrop and try to keep it wrinkle free I roll it up on the dowel when not in use. If you do get any wrinkles just iron it again. If something gets spilled on it or stains it in some way I think it best to make a new one as the material falls apart in the wash and would have to be cut off the dowel, at least the dowel is always reusable under those circumstances.
The video has footage of me working on the miniatures and some bloopers so check that out.

Most exciting for me is I finally got a copy of Terry Pratchett's "The Unseen University Cut-Out Book." How awesome is it going to be to build this:

 Next week I hope you're here to check out a progress post on the cathedral and maybe some airbrushing basics. Until next time I wish you happy creating.