Painter's Guild

By Dave Merryman, Guest Reviewer

Magnificent Egos Miniatures: Tingrim Skullcrusher, Dragon Hunter
Retail $6.99 Sale $5.59

Magnificent Egos Miniatures: Tachum Tenkiller, Savage Warrior
Retail $6.99 Sale $5.59

Magnificent Egos Miniatures: Isabella, the Iron Maiden
Retail $5.99 Sale $4.79

For this Magnificent Egos review, I will be looking at three miniatures from their Uncommon Character line. But first, I want to focus on the differences in scale. Magnificent Egos uses a 'true' 35mm scale, this means that their miniatures will look good on the table with other 25mm, 28mm or 35mm miniatures. The true scale has more realistic proportions when compared with lines that use heroic scale. On the other hand, if you are used to painting miniatures in heroic scale, some features will seem smaller than usual.

By Dave Merryman, Guest Reviewer

Available at FRP Games

Magnificent Egos Miniatures: Oculous, The Rotten Eye
Retail $15.99 Sale $12.79

Initiative Round
Oculous, the Rotten Eye is a 35mm undead beholder produced by Magnificent Egos for the Nightmares miniature line. When assembled the miniature is approximately 2.5" to the top of its eyestalks. Oculous was sculpted by Clint Staples and retails for $15.99.

By Keith Pogue

Holy Cow! I have a game tonight and I forgot to paint those two monsters. Time for some speed painting! Speed painting is a great tool for the beleaguered game master or the would be miniature army commander. Even in the era of pre-painted plastic miniatures speed painting has its place. There are many models not available pre-painted, and nearly anyone can speed paint to a higher quality than the plastics.

Interview by Keith Pogue

Hey there! One of the fastest rising stars in miniature painting is Inge Mygind Jensen (AKA Jenova). I purposefully sought out Inge because she has achieved excellence in painting in a relatively short time. Inge is extremely generous with her knowledge and has created an awesome web site with tons of quality tips and tutorials. Check it out at Jenova Project. Many of you requested in depth examination of some advanced techniques. Jenova has mastered many advanced techniques in a short time. Now, on to the interview:

By Keith Pogue

Hi! I am pleased to bring you the second of step-by-step articles on how I painted Reaper's Achiah Law Giver Angel. I entered the miniature in Sean K. Reynolds Anger of Angels contest. I recently learned it was chosen by Sean, Monte Cook, and JD Wiker as one of the winners! Here we go with the second half of the step-by-step:

By Keith Pogue

Salutations! I am pleased to bring you step-by-step articles on how I painted Reaper's Achiah Law Giver Angel. I entered the miniature in Sean K. Reynolds Anger of Angels contest. I admire Sean's site because he is not afraid to put pictures of his miniatures up for the public to see his painting progress. He is a gamer who paints and it is a lot of fun to see his efforts improve over the months. Enough chit chat, let's get rolling.

By Keith Pogue

Howdy! I constantly meet gamers who have painted in the past, but have not picked up a brush in "a couple of years" or more. There are a variety of reasons these folks have set down the brush, but almost everyone intends to pick up the brush again. What they need is inspiration! I admit there are times when I set down the brush for a few weeks, but I have a few ways of getting myself going again. I hope sharing these jump start strategies will help you get going.

By Keith Pogue

Hello! Blending is a technique that often can give the beginning painter pause. Blending need not be a source of trepidation. In fact, the "cheater's blending technique" is quick easy and looks dynamite. I will be using an older W.O.T.C. figure for this example, but will be focused on the leather strap footings. Leather is one area that needs depth, and blending really lends itself for this purpose.

By Keith Pogue

Greetings! Miniature bases can be quite a hassle, but the pay off is so worth it! Here is my method for making bases quickly that look darn good. I hope you find a tip or two you can apply to your modeling and painting immediately. For this article, I am using a Dire Boar from Reaper miniatures.

Level Up is a biweekly column for the intermediate to advanced miniatures painter. A quick note to the d20zine regulars—thanks for tolerating the long delay between columns! I had a great time at both KublaCon and Games Day LA. I came back with a bunch of trophies, including Best of Show at KublaCon and a silver and a bronze Demon from Games Day. There are pictures of my various entries and this week's demo models up at my new Web site—www.niceminis.com. Onward to the good stuff! I hear a lot of questions from folks about painting black. Too often, it winds up looking grey (overhighlighted) or unpainted altogether (underhighlighted). Today I'll start by explaining the way I approach painting black. Then I'll provide a step-by-step guide to painting two different kinds of black objects.