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Author Topic: Miniature Mentor DVD review  (Read 1064 times)

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Offline Noxpredor

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Miniature Mentor DVD review
« on: December 22, 2008, 01:33:24 PM »
Well I am new to the hobby of figure painting about 7 months in and I have yet to complete one from start to finish because I am not satisfied with my painting skill ( that and I am a paramedic putting a wife through nursing school working 90 plus hours on an ambulance and hospital together). So that being said I bought a couple of painting how to DVDs to improve my skills as I have no time to go to a GW to hang out. Anyway this as most of my post is just a smattering of my thoughts.

This is a little different from the previous 2 reviews I have done as these were sent my way by doom_of_the_people, Thanks again Tom! These DVD's also come as download only, to my knowledge www.miniaturementor is the only source to buy. You can buy al a carte or pay a subscription (50$ initial and 8$ maintaince fee) though as far as I can see there has been no content added for several months and they are months behind adding tutorials according to thier site that still doesnt have  the coming April 2008 posted (yikes!). I saw 7 per say lessons here including: The complete solution, The monochrome Ranger, Black cloth, NMM, White Cloth, Rat Ogre,and Raskhal. These lessons as I will refer to them from here on were shot almost exclusively in Laurent's studio by several different painters, though a majority is Laurent's work. The camera work here is SPOT ON! The voice over is much smoother than JBT as is the studio surroundings. This DVD is once again aimed at display case minis not fast painting an army.

These lessons take you step by step thought painting different parts of the mini's, they dont however finish the mini, I found this annoying. The Lessons are broken up for ease of downloads according to the website. Most lessons start with an introduction to the artist then what will be covered then down to the buisness of painting, broken up into sword, face, clothes etc... All figures are fantasy style.

What do the lessons do? They cover how different master painters lay down paint in their own style. The camera work is so awesome because you can actually see the paint drying and the amount of pigment applied per stroke. There is also a pallette view that lets you see how the paint is mixed and how much is put on the brush.

What doesn't this DVD do? It doesnt finish any complete miniatures, maybe this is just me but I would of liked to have a finished mini. The lessons also dont go in order they were painted on the mini I am sure this is due to editing but it was strange to see the mini go back and forth between almost done and just started...The biggest gripe I had was when you want a lesson on how to paint a Rat Ogre you you get a lesson on how to paint a Carlos, when you want a lesson on how to paint a Raskhal you get a lesson on how to paint a toad/witchdoctor. The website states "Allan Carrasco shows you how to recreate one of his Masterpieces on a few sample miniatures", "Master Class with Jullien Casses is an in-depth tutorial covering the making of one of Julien's most famous pieces - The RatOgre. This brilliantly realized model was completely sculpted, based and painted by Julien. Come along and witness the tools and techniques neccessary to bring this level of quality to your own miniatures." Neither lesson was on a miniature showed on the website. I found this very misleading and had I payed the listed 25$ per lesson I would of been outright mad about it. Aparently they were converted and sculpted minis and thus the reason one wasn't painted but I think that it should be made very clear about what you are getting... Another thing that I didnt think was very  cool was paying another 15$-20$ plus shipping to get your lesson on DVD and that is if it is even availible as some weren't. I was a little tired of watching a laptop...

Who is this DVD for? Any one really. It is aimed toward showing beginers how to lay down paint. It does a very good job of clear and concise communication and visuals. Check it out over at www.miniaturementor.com .

Fresh out of DVD's to review again. So once again anyone willing to trade or let me borrow something get in touch!

Nick

 


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