Double Virus Alert!

Double Virus Alert! 

Hint: There is WIN in this post, read it carefully!

Influenza - thou art a heartless bitch!

Wintertime. Freezing temperatures. A time of year where a lot of people get sick - the common cold, the flu and other undesired virus driven ailments have the times of their life.

Who am I to deny them their fun or even their existence? So I unvoluntarily became the host of some of these fellas and - to say it mildly - 'don't feel good at all'. 

Many of my friends are currently sick as well. I feel ya! Literally :D

So after an attempt of cutting video material for our upcoming DVD instruction set I went right back to bed for a few hours and give it another try now. 

Good thing that this flue will be all over in a day or two.

A different kind of virus - long lasting and possibly incurable

"Brad & Yanet" sculpted by Mati (Badsmile)
www.paintingbuddha.com

Over the last couple of month a second virus, one that I am not sure I will ever get rid of again, has taken hold of me.

This time I can't just wait it out to get 'healthy' again - I have to get busy actively fighting it so I can finally control its effects. But I honestly fear, this virus is here to stay.

I talk of none other than the sculpting virus. 

Working on our first (and currently already the second) DVD instruction set for paintingbuddha.com, I have the great pleasure of working with such amazing artists as Ben "White Rabbit" Komets, Stephan "Derwish" Rath and Mati "Badsmile" Zander. 

As far as the painting side is concerned, filming and editing over 50 hours of material and being able to look 'over the shoulder' of incredibly talented painters such as Ben and Stephan, it is a mild understatement to say that 'inspiration' struck me more than once. Even though Ben and Stephan use completely different techniques, they both create amazing looking miniatures. 

Yolandi Visser - Die Antwoord

Even with my limited previous painting experience (I say "experience", not "regular practice" :D). I KNOW that - following the upcoming DVD step-by-step - I will be able to aquire their techniques to create similarly good looking results. That's the beauty of being able to 'look over someones shoulder', watch what they are doing and have them give away their 'secrets' in the process - and all of you will all be able to do just that very soon, too. 

But wait! Didn't I say SCULPTING virus?

I sure did. Our sculptor Mati - who most of you know under his name Badsmile (and his smile is not bad at all, very misleading indeed) - infected me with another virus. The sculpting virus. 

Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton - America's Last Moonshiner
Youtube documentary about him (heelbilly english!)

Sitting next to him and experiencing first hand how he turns a blob of putty into some of the finest sculpted miniatures that I have ever seen is nothing short of a miracle to me - because I don't understand any of it. If I took a 90% finished sculpt and would try to finalize it, my skill would quickly turn it back into a blob of putty :D

For weeks now I notice myself wanting to paint stuff that means something to me, something that 'connects'. In 9 out of 10 cases, this 'stuff' does not exist yet. So I find myself wanting to sculpt stuff I see, with the goal of then painting it according to my vision. Artists (like Yolandi and Ninja from Die Antwoord), interesting characters (like Popcorn Sutton) or just crazy looking creatures, machines, spaceships and stuff I find in inspiring movies, concept art and so on.

Virus killing snake oil

Unlike Pop Sutton who illegaly distilled moonshine, I can't squash and boil Mati to get his 'sculpting essence' distilled out of him. This would be wrong on many levels, even though sometimes desperate times require desperate measures. But as soon as I finish cutting our first DVD set, I will 'press' him for answers - very carefully ;) 

This blog is full of WIN

So, how about you? Have you ever wanted to sculpt something? Or did you even finish something? Was it a scratch build or a conversion? Was it easy or hard? Would you like to learn how to convert/sculpt stuff? 

Leave your comments below - and by doing so, enter the next drawing of a limited Dark Angels Codex from Games Workshop - limited to 2000. And no, I did not buy all 2000 of them as some of you already suspected :D Let's just say that I secured 'a few' - for you!

Your other two chances of winning this Codex are here and here. Chances of winning are REALLY GOOD as there are not too many people who entered yet! So GRAB your limited codex - you know it has YOUR NAME on it ;) 

Have a great day - and don't get infected by anything else than the painting and sculpting viruses!

Zaphod

REVOLUTIONARY Giveaway: Winners 28-34

7 happy bruddhas... 

...are the winners of #28-34 of our 42 REVOLUTIONARY Giveaways ^^

Reminder: Currently, there are two active giveaways: here and here! You can win one of two copies of the Limited Dark Angels Codex (limited to 2000 worldwide!) Good luck!

Again, how all of this works: 

April 1st, fool! I pity the fool who does not claim his prize!

All winners were drawn using RANDOM.org. I generated a number, looked at the post and - if it was a 'valid' post, the winner was drawn. If it was invalid (e.g., an invalid answer was given to a specific question or I drew myself), I just rinsed and repeated ;) 

If you have won, please send me an email to masterminis <<at>> gmail <<dot>> com with your username and address. I will reply to all of you after all winners have been announced! 

Giveaway winnings will be reserved for 42 days (let's say until April 1st, fools day. I PITY THE FOOL WHO DOES NOT CLAIM HIS PRIZE).

I will send out the masses of boxes as soon as all winners are announced! 

34 prizes gone, I still haven't won :( 
*sadbruddha.pwnd*

There is ONE more chance: The final winners will be announced this FRIDAY - as always at 2:42pm.
Good Luck! 

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#28-32 Triple X? XXX!

On Games Workshop's 30th birthday these strictly limited dwarvish threesome came out. Beer, two axes and a shield - what more does one need?

Fun fact: These dwarves are a fully playable ARMY. That's right - they weigh in at 1000 points and - my 1000 point Ogres LOST against them. They are neigh indestructible... So if you want to win your next tournament... Here you go ;)

But of course, we want them painted in Showcase quality! Send us the pictures of your finished work and we will post it here ;)

So, who would be so lucky to win these?

Your lucky random numbers were: 23, 25, 38, 46 and 47. Free recommendation: Use them as lottery numbers!

So, Rafael Garcia Marin aka Volomir, mathieu, Leo, Chameleon and Dante - ready your brushes... ready... GO!

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#33, 34 The Dream Video #1 - Steampunk Alice

This giveaway is one of my personal highlights. 

First of all, it was the first time we started to explain our revolution with a video. 

We have big plans for masterminis.net and paintingbuddha.com and we are really excited that soon (tm) our first product will be ready to ship. Stay tuned for exciting 'upgrades' to the already known content of the DVD set. 

"Set your Phasers to 'Fun"
Dr. Sheldon Cooper

If you have missed the virst video, have a look and be blown away by the stunning Special FX and dozens of trained stand-ins in this Hollywood production, taken at minus 42 degrees in snowy Berlin City. It features myself in a Santa Claus costume.

Secondly, this giveaway gives you the chance to win something really special: "Steampunk Alice" by Sebastian Archer (Automaton) of Guild of Harmony. 

If you have not won, you can buy this awesome set here. Sebastian is a great painter and sculptor from 'down under' - which I have not met yet. I am looking forward to meeting him some day.

So, Tuffskull, you are a winner. I challenge you two in a fight man against ...well... woman in a battle-of-the-brushes (BoB, an invention of Skyle and myself) with Tatjana Jaeger. Make it gooood... Make it special.... Build a mind-blowing base... Make us all want this awesome miniature!

And maybe, just maybe, you want donate your work later to be represented in our upcoming secret Miniature Museum that we cannot tell anyone about yet... psssst.

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CONGRATULATIONS to all the winners!

The final winners will be announced FRIDAY at 2:42 pm CET. 
Stay tuned!

Events 2013 & Crystal Brush Update

Good morning everyone! 

Crystal Brush 2013
at Adepticon 2013
April 18-21st

First of all let me thank all of you who followed the call to help EMUSE (Enrique) to fly to Chicago to enter in the Crystal Brush in April. 

Only two days after we posted the call to the Bruddahood, EMUSE reached his $1300 goal, enabling him to go. Again, thank you all for sharing and supporting this project!

It did not stop at $1300! The first stretch-goal at 1500$ was taken shortly thereafter - which will get all of the supporters level C and above an additional Step-by-Step PDF of Enrique's next Golden Demon project! 

Right now the crowdfunding campaign is close to 2000$, with the next stretch goal - a high-quality, printed version of the three PDFs - just around the corner.

The second Crystal Brush Awards will be held April 21 2013 at AdeptiCon 2012 in Chicago. Venue details are availabe here: http://adepticon.org.

Update: This is what EMUSE posted on his indiegogo Campaign moments ago: 

Enrique Velasco has posted an update

Third stretch goal!
If I reach $3200 all the contributors at LEVEL C and above will receive a printed portfolio with my best paint jobs.
OK, to recap..Imagine that I reach $3200…All the contributors at level C ($50) and above will have:
- The three printed tutorials (about 90 pages)
- One DVD tutorial in over two hours.
- One printed portfolio with my best paint works. (20 pages)

But wait, there's more!

Dozens of us meet at miniature events
such as the Duke of Bavaria 2012

Last year, I announced 2013 to be the 'Year of the Miniature' - and we have big plans here at masterminis.net to bring the world of miniature painting closer to you. 

Not only are we working hard to finalize our first 'revolutionary' DVD Instruction set from paintingbuddha.com (we will announce some very cool bigger and better content of the already filled product box, soon!), but we also pledged to report from events all around the globe. 

So far, we have committed to report from a total of (at least) FIVE international events  by the end of April alone! 

As you probably already guessed, Adepticon / Crystal Brush 2013 will be one of them. 

The other four events we plan to travel to in the next two-and-a-half months are: 

- Tactica (Hamburg, Germany)

- Painting Crusade (Brussels, Belgium)

- Herzog von Bayern (Ingolstadt, Germany)

- Miniature Figure Art Collectors of America (Philadelphia, US)

If you know of an event that you think we should travel to, let us know in the comments! If the schedule allows it, we will go ;)

Status of Games Days 2013: UNKNOWN

Games Day Coverage 2013

Currently, there are a lot of rumors about the Games Days worldwide - ranging from cancellation of events (France) to different venues (Italy, Germany). Even GW staff does not know what is going to happen. As painters, gamers and hobbyists we can only hope that GW decides wisely and does not drop these events which are so important for the miniature painter and gaming scene. 

We plan to visit and enter in most  Golden Demon Events in 2013 - and as soon as we know what's going on, we will let you know!

Zaphod

42 REVOLUTIONARY Giveaways: Winners 23-27

Another great Monday continues... 

...with winners 23-27 of our 42 REVOLUTIONARY Giveaways ^^

For those of you who only read the first few lines of every post: Currently, there are two active giveaways: here and here! You can win one of two copies of the Limited Dark Angels Codex (limited to 2000 worldwide!) Good luck!

Reminder on how all of this works: 

42? No, Error 37! Diablo!

All winners were drawn using RANDOM.org. I generated a number, looked at the post and - if it was a 'valid' post, the winner was drawn. If it was invalid (e.g., an invalid answer was given to a specific question or I drew myself), I just rinsed and repeated ;) 

If you have won, please send me an email to masterminis <<at>> gmail <<dot>> com with your username and address. I will reply to all of you after all winners have been announced! 

Giveaway winnings will be reserved for 42 days (let's say until April 1st, fools day. I PITY THE FOOL WHO DOES NOT CLAIM HIS PRICE).

I will send out the masses of boxes as soon as all winners are announced! 

Boooo, I still have not won anything!

Your rabbit's foot on fire yet? Giveaway winners #28-35 will be announced on WEDNESDAY at 2:42pm. Good luck to you!

And here they are, winners 23-27: 

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#23 HOLY SH....ATNER!

On this one, I really don't know if I should congratulate the winner or not... Its fun - I dare you to listen to both CDs in ONE session ;) 

If anything its a cult item that every SCI-FI fan MUST have ;)

Here again, the captain's rendition of "Bohemian Rhapsody"

"Do you think we're alone?"
"There must be something out there"
"Holy Sh...atner!"

Well, zweischneid, I don't know if this is the prize you were waiting for, but... its yours! Enjoy!

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#24 Horus Heresy Board Game

Horus Heresy Review on the HogsOfWar 

This giveaway took the longest time of them all to determine a winner... Why? Well, the rules said that a) you had to create your own misspelled revolutionary slogan and b) have entered EVERY giveaway... So I selected a winner... Checked all posts... Didn't find him everywhere... selected a new winner... checked... and so on... 

Turns out: NOONE has entered ALL competitions (although some of you came really close)... 

So sadly I have to say this: Zaphod Beeblebrox is the no-winner. I am so happy, I won my own competiton :P I am looking forward to playing the game with some of my friends (and now I finally can open the box!).

Maybe we will film / stream the game as some sort of compensation!

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#25 - Pink Floyd Pulse CD

Something old, something new, something blinky, something blue... or something along those lines...

In this giveaway you could win my precious Pink Floyd "Pulse" CD - with a currently still depleted blinky flashy light thingy. ^^ 

Also, the winner gets to chose his personal revolutionary number (over 42) 

skywatcher, please chose your number, because...

YOU are the chosen one!  

You also came close to entering most (unfortunately not all) giveaways from everything I can tell, so I am happy you are a winner, too! Thanks for entering so many giveaways!

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#26 - The Hobbit Rulebook

I almost won something again... Seems to be my lucky day... 

Random.org came up with a number corresponding to my own post... ...But NO! 

I must not vin ze book! So I 'rolled' again. And Matt Cexwish, slayer sword winning miniature painter extraordinaire, came out as the winner - in true 'gypsy style' as always :D

Now this is one prize that I will save postage & shipping on. Come on Matt, pick up your prize!

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#27 - Limited Edition The Hobbit starter set "Escape from Goblin Town"

At the highest level of REVOLUTIONARY crazyness we gave away this starter set: "Escape from Goblin Town". 

I have been so busy lately, that I have not even seen the movie... But I must! Some day... Keep the theatres open for me! :) 

A lot of people wanted this box. I guess mostly because of Radagast, the limited mini in it. But as so often in life, there can only be one. 

Bastian, you are the ONE! #6 was your lucky number out of 49 in the drawing ;)

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CONGRATULATIONS to all the winners!

The next winners will be announced WEDNESDAY at 2:42 pm CET. 

Summary Week 6 - masterminis.net

Goooood Mondaaaaaay, Universe!!

When do miniature painters have time to surf the Internet?

Fridays? Saturdays? Sundays? 

Far from it: 

The weekend is when the miniature painters paint, play games, watch movies, go out or have all kinds of other fun ways to spend their time.

Workdays are the 'busy' day of the week for masterminis.net. Specifically, monday morning, right after the drudgery of the workweek started. 

There are a few 'peak times' - and I attribute them to people being at work. The following observations are true for both Europe and the US timezones (and probably other countries to).

• The first peak is between 6 and 7 am. People got up, they drink their coffee and check the web for what's new. 
• The second peak is around 9-10am. People have gotten to work, read their emails and need to catch a short break from the still early workday
• The third peak is around noon, for pretty much the same reason. 
• And the last peak is between 4 and 5pm, when people need to kill time before they can finally go home again to live.

This pattern is true from Monday through Friday. Friday afternoon is when it starts to get quiet(er). 

On average, weekdays get between 1750-4000 views a day (4000 was the peak after events such as Games Day coverages and other painting events). Weekends get around 800-1750 views a day.

Monday is a day for winners - YOU!

Free stuff is free, dude!

So if you are at work now, reading this, just drop me a comment below. - when do you usually read this blog? You can even win something! Today we give away another Limited Dark Angels Codex from Games Workshop. These codices were limited to 2000 worldwide and are highly sought after. And what's better than shelling out 70€ for a limited codex? Right - snatching it for free! :) I love giving stuff away. Expensive hobby, by the way :D

And if you were on vacation last week, here is a short summary of the posts you have missed while you were not at work. So grab a coffee, kick back and 'gather strength' for the rest of the day: ^^

• The blog was dead, long live the Blog! (Monday - with GIVEAWAY)
• REVOLUTIONARY Giveaway - Winners 1 through 7 (Wednesday)
• Buy EMUSE a Crystal Brush (Thursday)
• REVOLUTIONARY Giveaway - Winners 7 -14 (Thursday)
• The Weekend Workshops (Friday)
• REVOLUTIONARY Giveaway - Winners 15-22 (Friday)
• Newsflash - Figure Painter Magazine (Friday)
• Newsflash - WAMP/Portal (Saturday)

The next winners of our Galactic REVOLUTIONARY Giveaway will be announced later today! Maybe in time for coffee break at work? :D

Have a great week everybody, whereever you are! 

Zaphod

BREAKING NEWS: Scientist find Phoenix-DNA in Portal!

** GNN BREAKING NEWS **

Scientists found Phoenix-DNA in Portal Magazin rising from pile of non-existant ashes!

Yesterday, I reported some news about The Miniature Painter, a new magazine by one of the ex-authors of WAMP's Portal magazine. 

For weeks now, the Rumor Mill had it that "Portal would no longer be published" due to work overload of some sort. Apparently, that is not true. As often repeated in history, the news of Portal's death have been greatly exaggerated! And I think that is awesome news! 

My article has created a lot of feedback both here, via email and on my Facebook page. In short, Portal is not dead - far from it! 

Brett Johnson, Founder of both, Wamp and Portal, talked to me today on Facebook chat. Here is Brett's statement that you can also find on WAMP. 

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"It has come to my attention that there are several rumours circulating about Portal Magazine and I would like to clarify the situation. 

Firstly I want to assure you that Portal is continuing. I took the decision to skip an issue so we could make sure we had things in place. We are taking this opportunity to redesign Portal a little and bring it up to date. We are gearing the magazine towards digital media rather than print. We are making the magazine work well on Ipad's, tablets and mobile devices to make reading Portal even better.  

       While the design is changing Portal will on the whole remain pretty much the same. Our mix of news, reviews, tutorials and more will remain. We have a few new things coming in over time but nothing drastic. People love Portal's format so why mess with it! 

      A big change that was brought about was the opportunity to bring in a team to publish Portal. We have professional Graphic Designers, Journalists and writers on board who will help us really push Portal forward. We endeavour to continue to bring you content from some of the finest artists in the world. 

  We are currently putting the final touches to issue 30 and it will be hitting the virtual shelves in just over a weeks time. 

   There have been certain claims made regarding the team behind Figure Painter Magazine. While Figure Painter does have an ex Portal Magazine member Portal is in no way affiliated to Figure Painter magazine, nor is it Portal's successor, it is a completely seperate entity to Wamp and Portal Magazine and is not the current nor original Portal team behind it. 

      I hope this puts your mind at rest. Portal Magazine is continuing and will come back even better. We will any day now pass 100,000 downloads. We have had so much support from around the world encouraging us and offering help. It really is heart warming to know Portal is held in such high regard amongst the miniature painting community. 

     Portal and Wamp aim to help the community, foster mutual support amongst painters and help us all have fun painting miniatures. We don't charge for Portal Magazine as we want to reach as many people as possible. 

     I would appreciate it if any of you could help spread this statement as far as possible so we can let people know Portal magazine lives on. It really is important. 

   If anyone has any questions please feel free to contact us portal@wampforum.com If you haven't tried Portal and want to know what all the fuss is about you can do so here: www.wampforum.com/portal Thanks for all the support!"

  Brett Johnson Wamp & Portal Founder 

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SWEET!

I think these are awesome news. Portal will continue, the Rumor Mill has run out of wind (for the time being). 

If you are in any way interested in Miniature Painting but have never read a Portal Magazine yet, you don't know what you are missing! Even if you do not speak English, downloading the magazine offers tons of inspiration, step-by-steps, news and so on - so grab the latest issue here while you wait for issue 30.

And now back to editing videos ;) 

Zaphod

GNN *NEWSFLASH* - Figure Painter Magazine

*GALACTIC NETWORK NEWS - NEWSFLASH* 

"Portal is dead - long live portal!"

No, we are not talking about a totally cool computer-game. 

Portal was a long-lasting successful, free ezine which unfortunately is now in the continued state of being-no-more. Editing and production of the freely downloadable magazine proved to much, it seems. The free ezine was organized and published by some of the great folks over at WAMP - where you can still download all of the previous issues - for free. 

*Update: News about Portal's death are greatly exaggerated! Stay tuned for new information as the plot thickens! 

 Figure Painter Magazine

Now a successor from the "original creator of Portal Magazine" has been announced - a monthly ezine called 'Figure Painter Magazine". Although I find the name a little dull myself it most likely fits the content as stated on their brand new Facebook page: "Figure Painter Magazine is a new independent magazine dedicated to miniature figures of all scales and all genre's." The Publishing Company goes by the name of "Robot Pigeon". No, not chicken. Pigeon.

The pigeon of mechanical design drops its coconut and delivers the following message: 

"Figure Painter Magazine is a new independent magazine dedicated to sculpting, painting, displaying, collecting and gaming with miniature figures from all genre's. The magazine will have details on new releases, reviews, interviews with the industries top painters and sculptors, show reports, tutorials and a user gallery so feel free to upload you miniature images for submission and the best new image each month will receive a free resin plinth courtesy of Model Display Products. "

Much more information is not available, but if you check their website, you can sign up to some sort of newsletter, I presume. I would expect the Magazine to be subscription based. I am uncertain about which format it will come in. I predict PDF - at 1GBP I kind of do not expect Apple Newsstand Magazine or something similar. Because Apple takes a big bite out of that.

The ever observant eye of the Galactic President will follow this developing story with pigeon-eye-precision - and deliver more news to you as soon as they become available.