Uploads from KalSkirata.

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

nobody@flickr.com (KalSkirata.) — Wed, 22 May 2013 09:05:10 -0700

Im kind of in a painting frenzy. Doing these is just so awesome, and with a few free hours at my hands I have a lot of fun painting.

Not really modeled after any specific character (these will follow some time in the future), I just painted it how I think it looks good.
Again I went with eclipseGRAFX legs, I could have done my own but my messy boots wouldnt fit the fig. The Desert Strike legs really complete it in my opinion, the camo pants and the "plain" shirt give it a special ops look.
A propos operator:
I didnt paint the arms flesh, I gave him a tactically operator's tactical longsleeve operator shirt.

For the weapon I decided that he needs the most badass weapon ever made, so he got a HK417.

Im usually not one to do this, but I am one of those who prefer comments over favourites, so it would be cool if you could actually give me some feedback.

11 shades of tan

nobody@flickr.com (KalSkirata.) — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:52:43 -0700

KalSkirata. posted a photo:

The colors used on my next BrickAffliction set.
Do you believe in Ghosts?

Gears of War: Marcus Fenix

nobody@flickr.com (KalSkirata.) — Tue, 21 May 2013 10:04:01 -0700

KalSkirata. posted a photo:

I have to say, painting these is a joy. This is my second painted BrickAffliction set (the first one, a master chief, is in the hands of Blu Productions, formerly known as Lord Dannyl). My only problem is scraping together the moneys, but its totally worth it.

I am not a GoW nut as some people *cough cough the sculptor of this set cough cough*, and its been a while since last playing the game, so I am not 100% sure if Marcus uses the retro lancer in this outfit. I still went with it because the MkII lancer i have is reserved for someone else. Mmmmh Bacon...

As I said, painting these is a lot of fun and not nearly as difficult as I thought in the beginning. This may be because of some great tips I got from Andrew.

In the concept stage however I encountered one problem:
Nothing I could sculpt or paint would be a match for the awesome level of detailed featured on the rest of the armor, and the main reason I got into painting is because I suck so hard at decals. (Not sure if thats a bad thing though)
So I just went with the eclipseGRAFX combat pants.
The only thing I did myself is the bandana, and I think this came out quite good.

Overall, I am really satisfied with this fig, the detail is awesome while still remaining proper proportions.

Also, for the lulz:
v.cdn.cad-comic.com/comics/cad-20080225-d3b00.jpg

Photo setup

nobody@flickr.com (KalSkirata.) — Tue, 21 May 2013 08:53:35 -0700

KalSkirata. posted a photo:

Borrowed my mums camera for two weeks because it has a waterproof housing. It has a pretty nifty long-lighting (or how you call it, its probably wrong) function with which you can get really good pics without having to use expensive lamps.

Cover pic

nobody@flickr.com (KalSkirata.) — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:32:50 -0700

KalSkirata. posted a photo:

Fuck flicks new look. I hate it.

Random Access Memories

nobody@flickr.com (KalSkirata.) — Sun, 19 May 2013 12:54:17 -0700

KalSkirata. posted a photo:

I guess there were a lot of people looking forward to the release of the new Daft Punk album, and to be honest, I think it was a bit overhyped. Whatever.
As some of you may know, the whole album was already leaked for download on may 13th. I still preordered it, because its just a good feeling to actually insert your copy into the CD slot.

About the music. It was pretty clear from the beginning that it wouldnt be like their earlier albums, which is a bit sad in my opinion. I just love the DRRM DRRM DRRM sound of tracks like Touch it/Technologic. But I guess its a good thing they didnt simply repeat their older stuff and moved on. They remain their funky 70s/80s sound, they just got a bit "chillier".
One of the reasons why they did so may be the more recent development in EDM.
The big producers sit in front of their PCs and put line above line, with a drop here and there. However, this style was also influenced by Daft Punk.
With all the orchestra and "real" music put into RAM, one can almost see the album as a "Try copying THIS, mofos", however expressed in a more cultivated way.

As for the collaborators. To be honest, I dont know much about them. Sure, I have heard the names but I didnt go deeper into it. However, they did a really good job as far as my opinion goes.

I know this isnt a well-structured review with a deep insight etc, it is just my personal opinion.
I like the album. I wouldnt have a problem calling it the most anticipated album in 2013, and with all the anticipation it is hard to live up to the standards. Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo managed to come as close to it as it can get. The new sound is somewhat unconventional in comparison to the 21st centuries wub wub-culture, but this is not to be seen as negative.

As for buying recommendations, Ill leave that up to you. Any dp fans will have bought it by now anyways.

After listening to it for 3 hours straight, I think I will have to molest the guy next room with the deluxe edition of "Alive 1997" this evening.

I dropped the bass

nobody@flickr.com (KalSkirata.) — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:35:53 -0700

KalSkirata. posted a photo:

Another evening of hard work during my voluntary year lol

For haves

nobody@flickr.com (KalSkirata.) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 14:39:54 -0700

KalSkirata. posted a photo:

Alright, I need some money.

Payment through paypal only, must be done within a week maximum.
Shipping prices to US 5$, within europe 3€.
Minimum price: 20$

Starting bids marked, please comment what you want.

Skype mafia gets first pick.

If you want closer pics of something, comment.

For haves

nobody@flickr.com (KalSkirata.) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 14:39:53 -0700

KalSkirata. posted a photo:

Alright, I need some money. Payment through paypal only, must be done within a week maximum. Shipping prices to US 5$, within europe 3€. Starting bids marked, please comment what you want.

The reason some of these are more expensive is because I used TT on them.

Bullpup AK

nobody@flickr.com (KalSkirata.) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 13:04:29 -0700

KalSkirata. posted a photo:

Something here seems wrong but I cant tell what

Navy SEAL (Close Quarter Specialist)

nobody@flickr.com (KalSkirata.) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:30:19 -0700

KalSkirata. posted a photo:

This is an older fig that I didnt get around to upload. Originally I wanted the shotgun to be on the backpack but it just wouldnt fit properly because of the scope.
I kind of like the pouch assembly, and yes, I'm using that base again.
Different bases will have to wait until Zac ships out my catspaw hex bases.

US Navy SEAL

nobody@flickr.com (KalSkirata.) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 11:31:01 -0700

KalSkirata. posted a photo:

So here it is. I think I'm not lying if I call this my best custom yet.
I wanted to make a fig like this since I saw the first Medal of Honor: Warfighter trailer, and finally here it is. Quite a few hours of work went into this.

Originally I wanted to make the quadeye night vision goggles, but it would look just too awkward. I tried making 4 different models, and neither the size nor the amount of detail would be right..

Enjoy, feedback and comments in general highly appreciated.

nobody@flickr.com (KalSkirata.) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 14:49:04 -0700

KalSkirata. posted a photo:

We are pretty selective when it comes to language.

German beer

nobody@flickr.com (KalSkirata.) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 13:17:51 -0700

KalSkirata. posted a photo:

So our new pope totally looks like a german beer brand and even has the same name.

Random Macro photography

nobody@flickr.com (KalSkirata.) — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 10:32:02 -0700

KalSkirata. posted a photo:

Of my stereo.

German KSK

nobody@flickr.com (KalSkirata.) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:06:39 -0700

KalSkirata. posted a photo:

Pretty simple fig. See this as kind of a show off of some WIP parts.
I kind of like the G36C I made, and I had the Flecktarn lying around pretty long.

Expect some more of this kind of figs soon until I finish with my bigger projects:
Medal of Honor: Warfighter, Battlefield 3: End Game, Tomb Raider 2013 and Splinter Cell.

nobody@flickr.com (KalSkirata.) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:40:14 -0800

KalSkirata. posted a photo:

Victor is actually Dr. Dre.

Battlefield 3: Recon class

nobody@flickr.com (KalSkirata.) — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 09:00:14 -0800

KalSkirata. posted a photo:

After a kinda long break regarding picture quality and custom numbers, I present you my favourite class from Battlefield 3: The Recon.
Shown here with a HK417 in desert camo.
The figure features several sculpted parts, including the keffiyeh, with goggles, kneepad, gloves and dump pouch.
The headset and the watch modified into the GPS thingy are by Minifig.Cat, the HK417 is a BA M110 receiver with a TT RIS, barrel and a modified TT stock.
The fast mags were made with TT AR magazines.

This was my first bigger step into sculping my own equipment, with the main part being the keffiyeh.

The figure itself is oriented towards the promotional posters, except that the pants are expeditionary camo instead of MARPAT. In game the vest is a more light tan and the kaffiyeh is a single color.

Mods and a little weapon camo guide

nobody@flickr.com (KalSkirata.) — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 12:31:39 -0800

KalSkirata. posted a photo:

Thought I might as well show you some more.

I have been a lot into tier 1 operators lately, especially the weapons and, you know me, the camouflage.
The real weapon camouflages used by, say the Navy SEALS isnt some red black white BDU-style pattern, neither is it a digital pattern as these are hard to make with anything else than printing the gun.
Special forces mainly use spray-paint techniques using different templates or environmental elements like leafs, or they simply make a stripe-like pattern.
The special thing about these is that you have a fluid transition due to the softer edges you get when spraypainting something.
Now, this is kind of hard to accomplish on minifig scale except if you have an airbrush set or something similar, which I do not possess (but if you want to donate so I can afford one, I will not hinder you).
Now, how do you do this?
The way I got the "fluid" transitions between the colors was done in several steps.
First, you have to give the item a base coating. I prefer a light to medium tan, not too dark. Make sure nothing of the original color looks through. You can also mix some light olive green in it, but this one not too dark either.

The second step requires either a brush or a sponge. The Mk18 in the lower right corner was done with a stripe-like pattern by a brush, the other one were made with sponges.
The difference is that you get a better blending of the color when using a sponge, but you dont have such a clear structure as with a brush. The disadvantage of a sponge is also that you often dont get in the smaller corners like on the 416 in the lower left corner. There is a small spot between the upper rail and the laser sight (you cannot see it from that angle) that is a lot lighter than the rest, simply because I couldnt reach down with the sponge. This is not too bad though, since these are mostly spots that will be darkened in one of the later steps and are mostly spots that are not in the direct line of view.
You have to watch out that you get a widespread pattern, but not all over the place so the weapon is basically one color. Try to get a patternized structure.
The colors I prefer are light olive greens ( a Citadel camo green mixed with small amounts of tallarn sand works out nicely), but you can also use 50 shades of tan.

Now, the third step, and probably the one you have to practice most. I prefer a brown wash as a color, green and brown mixed work too.
While washing seems pretty easy, it is a deciding factor on weapon camo as it blend the colors, gives it some extra structures and brings out the detail without making them stick out too much.
You want to have more color in one place and less in another one, so some areas seem darker than other ones. This again adds to the pattern. You should maybe make two layers of washes so its the most controllable how much color goes in certain spots.

Overall, I think a good camo scheme is a great addition especially to TT weapons because on one part, it brings out the detail and on the other hand, if done well, it looks awesome if you have a fitting fig.

The patterns I want to achieve aim for a desert/bushland environment, as these fit pretty universal. I would use them probably not on a snow camo or dark woodland camo fig, but they fit in pretty much any other environment.

I hope I could give you a small insight on how I make my stuff, and I would like to see you guys try this out.

HK417

nobody@flickr.com (KalSkirata.) — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 12:01:42 -0800

KalSkirata. posted a photo:

I did it. I modded my last Mk18 and M110 into the HK417 as it appears in BF3 with the desert camo, but without the strange mag.
I think it came out well. I added some more detail to the BA receiver, and made another one of my trademark HK stocks. Threw an ACOG on, done. I think the smaller, older ACOG fits better as it is smaller and doesnt make the gun seem so tiny in comparison.

The fig is just to show the gun and some of my new eclipseGRAFX stuff off.