New set of paints

I got this new set of paints that are kind of cool, so I decided to share it with you :D

 I didn't get to try it on resin kits yet, but it looks very promising. 
On the side note, I do have pretty much every other color from this brand.  Love this stuff.

Workbench - Mermaid's base

 I decided to try something different for Mermaid's base.  Since the base looks like a steering wheel for a ship (sorry I have no idea on what its called O_o ) I decided to paint the whole base with wood grain.  I've never done this before, so I took lots of pictures.  Hopefully it will be useful for somebody :D

Primed base.

 Painted the light wood color as a base color.  The color must be couple of shades lighter then the final wood color you like to achive.

For the next step I used Golden Acrylic Glazing liquid with some Burnt Sienna.  Glazing liquid extends the drying time of the paint, helping me achieve and blend colors almost like oil paints.

 Using stiff bristle brush I applied the paint on the base, leaving streaks on purpose :D

Next I used dark brown to add thin lines (mixed with Golden liquid)

Next using soft bristle brush I blended the lines up and down.  And after that I used even softer brush to gently blend side to side.  Don't over blend :D

 After all the blending I used transparent brown to even out the the tone.   I always do this last step on any of my paintings, it just takes away shard odd shading off.

 As the last painting step I used transparent dark brown to add some shadows.
Plus as a final step the base got some Future treatment :D

Not bad for the first time trying this, right ?  :D

How to - Make your own paint rack

I've been buying a lot of new paints lately and run out of space on my Michaels metal paint rack that I got long long time ago.  The store discontinued those racks and the only once you can find are on ebay for something crazy like $100.  I did check out into buying some other premade paint racks, but most of them a little more expensive then I am willing to pay.
So here comes my cheap driven tutorial on how to make an affordable paint rack and lets hope it will be helpfull to some people :D

First I got a crate from Michaels.  It cost about $8 (plus 40% off coupon, which you can download on your phone via app store).  Its a deep crate that I cut in half.  If you don't have a saw, you can just get a smaller crate.
sorry for the first picture, since I finished one half of it before it dawned on me that I can make a wip on it.

 this is how deep is the cup up crate is.

 start by measuring the paint bottle and marking the holes for drilling.

Drill the holes

and for the lacing, I used Rexlace string that usually used for making bracelets (cost $1.99)

 ignore the color :D  It just looked fun to me.  you can use any color you prefer.

 cut up the pieces to size, plus couple extra inches for tying.
tie one end.

 insert in in one end and tie it on the other side

 this string is stretchy, so make sure to pull it out before you make a knot.  Otherwise it will be very loose in the middle.

 One side is done.
on the side note, if you have a back wall in the rack, make sure to do the inside side first.  If you do the outside first, it will be very hard to reach inside later.

 OK, once the horizontal lines are done, its vertical lines turn.
I had to loop the string over each horizontal  string.  If you don't do that, it will just slip and not hold any weight.

 Ta-Da, its done :D
it maybe not the prettiest thing I made, but considering that I only spend about $10 it looks great to me :D

Oh and I made this little box some time ago.  I used metal wire for it, so it didn't need to be looped at the crossings.  Wire works great, but its a little bit more expensive.  Anyway its another option that you can use.

I hope this is helpful to people.

Workbench - Wings of Reflection base

For this elf I needed to create a water base. 
Hopefully this will be helpful to somebody :D

First I used Elmer's glue.  I sprayed it around and glued different types of rocks and sand on the base.

 

 After the glue dried (its no longer white anymore), I painted the ground. 
Next I deluded Elmer's glue with water and applied it on the top of the ground.  After that I sprinkled the moss on the base (first I applied the bigger pieces of greenery and after that I sprinkled the powder green stuff to even everything out).

 Next step is water.
I taped off the base with some plastic I had on hands.  Make sure that your plastic can withstand some heat, otherwise it will just melt after adding water.   It happen to me  >_<

 
 I am using E-Z Water for this project.  Its very cool stuff

Measuring how much of the water I need .

 After measuring, I put the beads in a metal pan.  Heated it up on the stove and poured the stuff inside the base.  Sorry no pictures for those steps since I had to move pretty quickly.

 After the water cooled down (only takes a few minutes), I took off the band from the base and added some dry long grass around the shield.
Here is a quick teaser shot of the elf girl :D