My Femme Fatale Entry

[Thryth]

Now that the contest is over, I wanted to comment on my entry, and ask for advice on improving.

First, thanks to everyone who commented on my entry. I appreciate the input.

Second, I wanted to clarify the description that went along with it. It might make it sound like I used two-colors, with no shading/highlighting until now, but I wasn't quite that bad. :laughing: Although, I must admit that the idea of thinning paint and really trying is a new concept (previously I used paint straight from the bottle, and would dry-brush the highlight, and _maybe_ use an un-thinned ink wash for shading. Also, the description mentions a glass top, but it is plastic. I'm not sure how that changed.

My entry (now enclosed in its clear plastic top) is attached. (How do you include an image inside a post, anyway?).

Hopefully, some of the questions about my choice of base will be answered by seeing the mini in final form.

From the comments during the contest, I seem to get the idea that I might need a bit more highlighting. :laugh: Thanks to the people who suggested that I keep going from the point that I think that I am done. I will see if I can put that to practice for my next mini.

Can someone offer advice on using static grass? I tried using thinned white glue, sprinkling on the grass, then turning it upside down, but the static grass turned-out flat. :(

I also had a really tough time with the layers. I didn't thin them that much, but had a lot of trouble getting the highlights to appear. Is there a trick to that? When thinning the paint for layering, it seems to go from too opaque to too transparent, with no good consistency in-between.

Thanks in advance for any additional advice anyone wants to offer, and thanks again to everyone who already offered advice!

[Frustrated Father]

Hi Thyrth,

I was the one that added the comment on - or I should say, it wasn't there but you requested it to be added and I of course went from memory when I did add it later that day. Sorry about the mix up between glass and plastic.

Attaching an image in the forums is pretty simple. First, you have to have your picture hosted somewhere, I use Photobucket(.com) and then you simply click on the yellow post card looking button above and enter the URL and it'll add it in.

On your questions, I myself pretty much do the static grass by tossing it on and then dumping off the excess though I know some folks talk about using a pair of long tweezers and putting it on, giving you more control over its direction and height. Someone else will have a better idea though I'm positive.

Paint wise - I'll let the paint gods touch that one. :D

The gift looks good, I'm sure it'll be well received.

[gi6ers]

Statis grass isn't too bad, put a little white glue on the base and sprinkle the grass on, leave for a minute and blow the excess off.

Painting isn't my strong point, I'll leave that to the experts.

[Wren]

I'm impressed with how well the photo with the cover came out, thanks for posting that so we could see it in its intended form. For static grass, I also use slightly thinned white glue. I pick up a clump of grass and sprinkle it on, then usually tap it with the end of a brush for a bit, and then leave it for a few minutes to dry before turning it over and blowing and all of that. Some of the grass ends up more standing up than other parts, but that's true of the grass in my incredibly unkempt yard. ;->

[Thryth]

Hi,

Thanks for the info on including the image. I though that I was missing something, and there was some way to upload the image to this site, like the gallery.

Thanks for the tip on the static grass. I thought that that is what I did, I will keep trying :).

Thanks also to gi6ers and Wren for their advice.

Any chance of you picking-up static grass or the brass from Hasselfree?

This miniature will be difficult for me to give away. It is the best job I've ever done on painting a mini and has the memory of the first painting contest that I entered.

- Thryth

Hi Thyrth,

I was the one that added the comment on - or I should say, it wasn't there but you requested it to be added and I of course went from memory when I did add it later that day. Sorry about the mix up between glass and plastic.

Attaching an image in the forums is pretty simple. First, you have to have your picture hosted somewhere, I use Photobucket(.com) and then you simply click on the yellow post card looking button above and enter the URL and it'll add it in.

On your questions, I myself pretty much do the static grass by tossing it on and then dumping off the excess though I know some folks talk about using a pair of long tweezers and putting it on, giving you more control over its direction and height. Someone else will have a better idea though I'm positive.

Paint wise - I'll let the paint gods touch that one. :D

The gift looks good, I'm sure it'll be well received.

[mirlo]

The figure looks nicely painted. I would suggest painting a figure from a white undercoat- something simple. Not as a rule that' black undercoat is bad' but simply as a painting exercise. You'll be surprised what you can learn and then apply to figures undercoated black.

[Ritual]

I use tweezers when I apply static grass. I have found that more of the grass gets attached in an upright position that way.

[Mosch]

To apply static grass I usually blob on a drop of superglue and then just dump the whole base into the bag-o-grass. Let it sit for ten seconds or so, pull it out, shake it and blow hard over the top several times. The loose grass will be blown away and in the end you will get something that looks like lush patches of grass. A picture says more than a thousand words, so here are nearly 5000 words to give you an idea of what it looks like:

http://www.coolminiornot.com/67795

http://www.coolminiornot.com/72256

http://www.coolminiornot.com/74512

http://www.coolminiornot.com/77663