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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 17, 2013 1:26:38 GMT -9
I went to the Papercraft Dungeon site and registered. I tried to order this set, but couldn't complete the transaction. Sent you a PM Steve. I really like these figures. I used to have a unit of plastic skeletons which I painted yellow and washed red. I called them my Red Skeltons, a throwback reference to the television comedian of my youth. These figures will make an excellent cardstock replacement for my old plastic figures! Red Skeltons... That's actually pretty funny Got a feeling that even Red would appreciate that one if he were still here today. When hand painting a miniature, it's almost impossible to get something that comes even close to resembling a realistic flame. I typically cheat and paint the flame completely white and then use successive washes of yellow, orange and red inks to at least make it look vibrant and punchy like cartoon fire, since real fire is not doable. One advantage of paper minis is that photo-realistic fire is actually completely possible!
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 16, 2013 14:25:46 GMT -9
Detailed skeleton artwork with very fine coloring plus all these eye catching, perfectly done flame effects - it might be best ever skeletons set! Really great work - I'm impressed! Thanks very much! That means a lot coming from one of the great talents in the paper minis industry! The Blazin' Bones set has been released!
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 16, 2013 14:22:56 GMT -9
A brand new set of Kev's Lounge Paper Miniatures. This set of 20 exquisitely detailed flaming skeletons will look great on any gaming table. The figures are scaled to 28mm, and will look good alongside most popular brands of miniatures and all manner of 28mm scaled scenery. Each model has a distinctive front and back, and both sides feature rich and gorgeous detail. The detail is boosted by the high resolution of the PDF, and the colours have good contrast to make them pop at a distance! Links: Blazin' Bones Paper Minis at Papercraft Dungeon only $1.99!Cutfiles for Blazin' Bones Paper Minis at Papercraft Dungeon Free!
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 16, 2013 14:20:56 GMT -9
A brand new set of Kev's Lounge Paper Miniatures. This set of 20 exquisitely detailed flaming skeletons will look great on any gaming table. The figures are scaled to 28mm, and will look good alongside most popular brands of miniatures and all manner of 28mm scaled scenery. Each model has a distinctive front and back, and both sides feature rich and gorgeous detail. The detail is boosted by the high resolution of the PDF, and the colours have good contrast to make them pop at a distance! We've also added a range of alternative interchangeable bases for our paper minis. They'll work just fine with any of the other minis available on this site too. Links: Blazin' Bones Paper Minis at Papercraft Dungeon only $1.99!Cutfiles for Blazin' Bones Paper Minis at Papercraft Dungeon Free!Alternative Bases for Paper Minis at Papercraft Dungeon Free!Just to say thank you to all my loyal fans here at Cardboard Warriors, upon checking out enter WeDidntStartTheFire into the discount codes box to get 25% off your entire cart!* * One use per customer. You must be logged in or it won't work. Coupon code expires February 28, 2013.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 14, 2013 16:53:29 GMT -9
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 14, 2013 11:48:31 GMT -9
Can't wait! I just had an AMAZING idea... a Necromancer/Pyromancer dual-class that can summon these.... Looks like my priestess is going to have a dual-class! Thanks for the inspiration! ;D I was having similar thoughts while I was busy cutting out the test-prints. They'll also make for some interesting Elites to back up the regular skeletons when I get around to releasing them. W O W ! ! ! Just draw them so cutting by hands will not be .... a hell ;D Thanks! I've put a 2mm black outline on the front and a 4mm one on the back, so cutting by hand is really easy! The fronts and backs match up perfectly and the centre scoring method I've used makes it very easy to get them lined up, so you could use trim them really close to make those flames really stand out if you wanted to though.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 14, 2013 2:36:24 GMT -9
Since it's a horror set, a little gore is completely expected. Who am I kidding? A LOT of gore is completely expected. Mortal wounds, bucket-loads of blood, headless bodies and body-less heads are all staples of the genre and commonly appear in all mainstream miniature lines. The average gamer turned 18 around 18 years ago, so we're not little kids anymore.
That said, there is a line between tasteful gore and disgusting gore, just like there's a line between artistic nudity and straight-up porn. I don't think yours is close to crossing that line yet, so I'd say you're okay.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 13, 2013 15:22:23 GMT -9
Excellent! But where might we find these little gems? The link is sneakily hidden in the picture. Click the image and it'll load the PDF.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 12, 2013 14:25:19 GMT -9
Who's this guy? He's crashed the concert. Better bring in the adventurers! Clearly a member of the inquisition come to cleanse the world of evil music. It's like Rock The Casbah but in Medieval Europe.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 12, 2013 3:16:18 GMT -9
Full-time job's been keeping me really busy, but I've kept working on this wherever I've had a chance to. Got another interrim set on the way in the mean time though: This mini-set will be out by friday. More details to follow.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 12, 2013 2:39:49 GMT -9
Thanks very much! Good luck with this... hope the launch goes well when you're ready for it!
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 11, 2013 23:02:22 GMT -9
This tut on Board Game Geek gives a good method for making pro-looking cards by hand. Answers the question of how to get things perfectly lined up too.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 11, 2013 5:03:57 GMT -9
If I may, I think the real question you're asking here is "Should I bother with backs, and if so, how much effort should I put into them?"
The answer is yes you should. Not everyone will use them because some would prefer to save the ink, and some do use opaque-back sleeves, but the ones who do want a back will be put off by the fact that there isn't one, and overall it's very important in maintaining a professional image for your product to take care of the details like that.
As for how much effort you should put in, it's enough for it to look neat and professional. The fanciness of it is entirely up to you as the artist, but the complexity of the design is completely optional as long as it looks good.
I'd say go straight ahead with Option 1 because that caters to the people who do want a back and the people who don't, and it allows you to offer an alternative back later on down the line for people who want something more fancy, or for people who want something more simple. As a kindness and to add value, you can offer a second PDF in the set that covers Option 2 called Easy-Print Backs for those who want it... but only if you don't mind putting the extra effort into doing the layouts.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 11, 2013 0:03:33 GMT -9
I don't think out of the box... I don't even HAVE a box! Haha! Boxes are a terrible place to live your life anyway! My accountant has a creative streak, and he put together some pretty nifty stuff using excel too, simply because it was the program he knew how to use. Must admit the stuff was pretty good, but he quickly ran into limitations with the textures and the shading thereof. I personally only use Illustrator right at the end, to save my PDFs out, just because I prefer the painterly approach and Photoshop's better for that. Illustrator's the got the tools for making the professional layout however, and it's the only way I've found to create a legitimate high-quality layered PDF.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 10, 2013 15:18:08 GMT -9
Excel's great for spreadsheets, and okay for graphs. I think you should make the move to Photoshop/GIMP as soon as possible though! It's like the difference between building a shelf by knocking nails in with a monkey wrench, and building the shelf with a fully stocked tool box. It's quite possible that you could do much more with Excel than you're already doing, but because it wasn't really built for that purpose, you'll find that doing anything slightly complex lands up requiring tons of tricky work, while photoshop or gimp would handle it with just a couple of clicks.
If you get yourself a graphics tablet (even a relatively inexpensive one) you'll find that digital painting comes really naturally and you'll soon be achieving a lot more than you ever could with your collection of markers!
On a side note, getting the most out of PDFs will require something completely different. You've been doing some professional grade stuff lately, and if you want to take it to the next level and graduate to doing fancy things like layered PDFs you're going to have to get your hands on a copy of Illustrator and learn how to use it.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 10, 2013 13:20:00 GMT -9
That's the essence of it..... and Games Workshop are the only company I know of that use Space Marine (both capitals). Loads of companies emulate them. Could Bungee copywrite 'Spartan' or 'Mjolnir armour'? They created the idea of the master chief, but the whole image is 'Starship Troopers' with names from history and myth. I believe Games Workshop should own the copywrite on massive chested armoured space marines with teeny little arms and legs that couldn't move though There's a world of difference between copyright and trademarks. Copyright applies to any original work, and means that the owner of the copyright has the exclusive rights to duplicate a work, derive other works from said work, to profit from the sale of copies of said work, and a few other things besides. The purpose of a copyright is to prevent people from making unauthorised copies of your works. GW has copyright, by law, on every painting, and every sculpture of a space marine that they've ever hired someone to create. They also own the copyright on the armour designs, and on every story written about them by an author they've hired. In some cases, they may share the copyright with the artist of the work in question, and in a lot of cases, they share copyright with people who they didn't hire, but who clearly derived new works from their original creations. Bungie similarly owns the copyright on all things pertaining to the Halo series, including any depiction of Master Chief, but neither company owns the copyright on the concept of supersoldiers, and no one can as copyright doesn't cover concepts or ideas... only actual works. A trademark, while also being part of intellectual property law, is something else entirely. A trademark is anything that clearly identifies a company's brand or product, and differentiates it from other brands and products in the same category. You don't need to register a trademark to benefit from its protection, but if it is registered, you will have a more solid form of protection in the jurisdictions where it is registered. The purpose of a trademark is to prevent other people from selling their own products by misleading people into believing that it's one of yours.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 10, 2013 12:27:16 GMT -9
I'd also recommend using an Unsharp Mask in the last step, possibly instead of doing the Brightness and Contrast. This will keep your colour values perceptually identical to the original, but will make them pop! If you were using Photoshop I could tell you exactly what to plug in, but as I don't know GIMP, you may have to play around a little to get the right settings. It's worth it though, because once you get it right, it will give you a very clean and crisp result that preserves and enhances details.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 10, 2013 11:52:41 GMT -9
Lake Witch, she's sinked and not a vampire - she is living in lakes, slow running rivers etc. seducing and and attacking not careful enough travelers... how would you name her in English? Rusalka. In english fiction, these kinds of creatures usually show up in slavic settings, so we kept the slavic name. The closest english equivalent would be "mermaid", but we already use that for something else.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 10, 2013 10:28:38 GMT -9
I'm actually in the middle of painting a bunch of flames. Not sure my technique would work too well with your drawing style though.
Out of curiosity, what software are you using to colour?
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 10, 2013 10:08:36 GMT -9
Honestly, I do not see the irony here. The irony I was refering to is that for them to claim a trademark, GW has to prove that the term "Space Marine" is notably tied to their product line in the public consciousness, and while they may actually be able to prove that, their "space marines" are not actually marines. As you have said, it's also very ironic that they are such zealous protectors of "their" IP when so much of it was not created by them at all. I also see irony in your post since you are "... concerned with the fact that people tend to completely misunderstand what trademark's about and panic and overreact..." Implying a connection between their concept of "space marines" (possibly covered under copyright laws) and their trademark of the "space marine" name in gaming products, which is necessary to find any irony in this matter, is confusing, not clarifying. Yes, I'm concerned that people panic and overreact with regards to trademark, because people often do. As I've stated before, trademarks are simply elements that identify a brand and holding a trademark in something simply prevents other people from using that element to sell a product that competes with yours. Their claim is "when you put the words "Space Marine" in your title, people will think it's a Warhammer 40K product even though it's not, so you can't do that" which is very different from saying "your product is not allowed to include marines in space."
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 10, 2013 1:23:28 GMT -9
The big irony of it all is that GW Space Marines are about as far removed from space marines as one can get. They're Space Marines in name only.
In the real world, a marines are infantry employed by the navy, which is what separates them from soldiers who is employed by the army. Marines are used frequently in foreign engagements because their job description has them stationed on and deployed from ships. Every other instance of a "space marine" in fiction keeps the allegory of a marine, because the space expeditionary forces are usually based on naval tradition. The Space Marine chapters in Warhammer 40K don't have any of that at all... They're more like biologically enhanced knightly orders in powered armour.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 8, 2013 3:40:58 GMT -9
... somone elses turn ... Quite right! I'll help out here because some people around here have been very helpful to me and I should pay it forward, since there's been a lack of opportunities to pay it back. You really should get some ink for that printer though Mike... Pardon the quality of the photos, until I get my camera back, I have to make do with the photography tools I have at my disposal at the moment. The tent-fold works just fine, even without glue. For the paper-mini version, I add a texture to the base flaps before I printed it out, and I also added even more black to the outline just to smooth things out for easier cutting (I cut by hand). The base of the mini is just the base of the tent-fold, but folded out instead of in.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 7, 2013 23:47:55 GMT -9
I tend to work with Blender for my 3d stuff, so I'll leave the Google SketchUp tips to those who are slightly more informed on the topic. Happy to share what I know about Blender with anyone who has any questions there though!
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 7, 2013 8:44:14 GMT -9
I thought it'd be something to do with the King Beyond The Wall... Nice undead priestess you've got there though
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 7, 2013 5:43:06 GMT -9
Astronauts Werewolves Time travel Time-travelling astronaut werewolves!
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 7, 2013 5:30:13 GMT -9
Oh, I bet there are folks here that could help you with that. I believe there is a tutorial for doing it quickly. I think he means the limitations of the cutting tool he uses in the manufacturing require him to build in more margin of error, and smooth off the curves a little. That was actually an early design for the Greenhold Infantry, so he's not destined for a set. I should also clarify that that picture is a Photoshopped concept and not a photograph of an actual, printed and cut figure. In reality, I cannot achieve a border that thin and perfectly even (unfortunately). (-: That's a real pity. I love the artwork on this guy, and I'm sure I'm not alone there. What's the reason for holding him back? The style's evolved away from that and he doesn't fit in anymore? If that's the case, I think you could still release him later on as a Hero unit... alternatively, offer him up as a free bonus download to the first 50 people to order a set or something!
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 6, 2013 13:32:34 GMT -9
Great artwork, but from you I'd expect nothing less!
I must admit, I do like the white, but I suspect that on the table black would work better because that white outline would be a little too conspicuous. Black also just has a more finished look to it.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 6, 2013 11:39:08 GMT -9
Now, what claims are they entitled to in the e-publishing market? They cannot trademark Space Marine in printed books. They do not have the trademark in e-books; they are appealing to "common law" and the notion that e-book market is totally separate from printed book market -- and claiming that they have the first e-book with the use of the term Space Marine. They are "protecting" a use they have no right to start with, using a technicality to do so. You have stated that they would probably lose if the challenge got to a court room. What they are doing is taking advantage of having a legal department to contact Amazon and make the threat. They definitely have an interest in protecting a trademark in that area, and wouldn't waste their time if they didn't have reason to believe that they had some valid claim. Lawyers cost GW just as much per hour as they cost the rest of us... I think they may have trademark on "Space Marine" in printed materials, but only in Europe, as the stuff I read there seemed to indicate that they were using that as part of their argument. The reason I don't believe they could win is that the term is generic, and was generic long before they started using it. Once a term has moved beyond it's ties to a specific brand of product and starts being applied to all products that resemble it regardless of brand, then it's got no trademark value at all anymore. This has happened pretty often in the past, most notably with the word aspirin, which was originally a trademark of Bayer and is now just a generic word for that particular active ingredient regardless of where it comes from. However, the way the law works is that if the trademark owner can prove that they've actively and deligently attempted to prevent the genericisation of a word, then they are generally allowed to retain their trademark. That's why the Lego company puts so much effort into correcting people who call their bricks "legos".
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 6, 2013 10:37:29 GMT -9
I am sorry, bravesirkevin, but in this case I really do not understand how this is fair treatment. I never said it was fair. I said GW has to take legal action because failing to take action would invalidate their claim. It would not hurt their trademark status in tabletop gaming, but it would hurt any future trademark claims in e-publishing. I just want to make it completely clear, I'm not siding with GW here, and I think that GW would lose very quickly if the challenge got to a court room. I'm more concerned with the fact that people tend to completely misunderstand what trademark's about and panic and overreact to the fact that some corporate has trademarked something, or that they're taking legal action over it.
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Post by bravesirkevin on Feb 6, 2013 10:29:21 GMT -9
Just want to add something:
Trademark is very different from copyright or patent. GW is not saying that they're they only ones allowed to use space marines as a concept, or claiming that they invented them. Trademark is an identifying element associated with a company's brand and products that precludes their competition from using it to sell their own products.
What GW is asserting here is that it has the exclusive rights to use the term "Space Marine" to sell published materials. This is similar to the word "superman" existing before Action Comics #1 was published, but DC Comics owning the word as a trademark preventing anyone else from using it to advertise their own comics.
I'm only mentioning all of this because I constantly see rants and panics about trademarks like "OMG Wiffleball trademarked yellow! Now I can't use yellow for anything, guess I'll have to throw half my paints and crayons away now". That's not what trademark means, and that's not why the laws exist. It is just a law to protect companies by allowing them to say "you can not use that word, image or colour combination to sell your products that compete with our products, because it could confuse or mislead our customers".
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