Ross Symons wanted to improve both his photography and origami skills, so he challenged himself to create a fun photo of one of his miniature origami each day, something he started for fun in 2014. Read the rest
Not sure what inspired Mav Vasquez to craft this miniature fireworks stand but I'm glad he did. He not only took the time to make each tiny papercraft firework look realistic, he also made them fully functional. Yes, each one is packed with powder and blows up!
Want to make your own? See his behind-the-scene photos over at Imgur.
Though, for $155, he'll make a replica of the stand for you (although its fireworks won't be functional).
Sculptor Juliana LePine takes plastic vitrox clay, slaps some on a skeletal figure, and creates a tiny version of one of rock and rolls’ defining figures. Sculpting Freddie Mercury has a creepy Westworld vibe, but the process leads to a model pretty damn close to the Queen frontman. The large teeth and Live Aid 1985 outfit are what helps brings the piece together. Read the rest
Enjoy this video of an Iraqi artist's intricate and realistic dioramas, depicting city scenes from around the world, crafted in exile: "When I tried to make a tiny bellows for the old camera, it had to be very very small. Each fold less than a millimeter thick, and I needed about 124 folds."
It's presented by Veena Rao at The New York Times.
Read the restMr. Alamedy was born in Karbala, Iraq, in 1982, during the Iraq-Iran war. At the time, his father was imprisoned under Saddam Hussein for political reasons, and Mr. Alamedy wasn’t able to meet him until he was 9 years old. His mother taught him to read at a young age and reading quickly became his favorite hobby, as well as a way to escape to calmer and more secure places. Mr. Alamedy credits the novels he read as a primary reason he started building miniatures, “to recreate some of those scenes just as I had imagined them to be in my childhood.”
Many of us who play fantasy and sci-fi roleplaying and tabletop miniature games struggle with our ability to paint minis so that they look halfway decent on the table. Getting me to paint my minis is like getting 8-year-old me to eat his broccoli. I'm something of a perfectionist and I look at a lot of pro painted miniatures, in gaming magazines and online. My miniatures never look as good as what I see, so it's an effort for me to even bother. But also being a perfectionist, I wouldn't think of "gaming in the nude" (playing with unpainted miniatures). And so I press ahead, and try to do at least a little painting every night.
My pal, James Floyd Kelly, who I wrote about previously when he launched his new dungeon crafting channel, Game Terrain Engineering, was in a similar boat of not being happy with his painting chops. So, he decided to buy the Reaper Miniatures Learn To Paint Bones Kit and record a series of videos of him painting the three minis that come in the kit. It's really encouraging to watch the series and to see how much his painting improves over the three videos and three miniatures. Bolstered by that improvement, Jim plans on now getting the next kit in the series, the Layer Up Bones Miniatures Learn to Paint Kit and to paint (and hopefully document) those three miniatures.
Also: Here's a list of beginner painting tips that I ran into recently. These are all of the same tips that I share with people. Read the rest
We survived bottle flipping and fidget spinners, but will the next big fad be dangerous modded toothpick crossbows that shoot nails more than half the length of a football field? Read the rest
Australian artist Joshua Smith makes models of run-down everyday things like dumpsters, but they have such detail and craftsmanship that they are truly remarkable. Read the rest
Check out this astonishing workmanship by mulletsaurus, who hand-painted The Black Knight from Kingdom Death. Here's the blank for comparison: Read the rest
Dayna Corbitt of WhimsyCalling makes impossibly cute clay figurines of whimsical and mythical animals. Read the rest
Mini Materials posted a video showing you how to make 1:24 cinderblocks (they sell a kit). Finally I can embrace my lifelong desire to have a train set, having hitherto been unable to do so due to the difficulty in accurately replicating the vast featureless Communist closed cities and rural Pennsylvania beer distributors of my imagination.
Make the tiniest cinder blocks in the world! This nine piece 1:24 scale CMU mold is the same one we use to make our blocks. Made of heavy duty silicone, these things will last forever. You can pour almost any hardening material, and they will withstand up to 500ºF
The not-obvious part here is how thin the mix is, to guarantee good, bubble-free form in the wee mold. Read the rest
@marcoterenzi's Instragram of tiny handmade tools is a joy to browse. He sells his tools, too!
(Thanks, Daniel!) Read the rest
Luke Towan makes a lot of gorgeous model railroad items, but his tutorial on making tiny trees using wire, latex, glue, and paint is especially cool to watch from start to finish. Read the rest
The Musée Miniature et Cinéma in Lyon, France is home to more than 100 miniature scenes painstakingly crafted by Dan Ohlmann. The artist is a former cabinetmaker and interior designer who has spent two decades hand-making these pocket universes.
"The subtle lighting arrangement, the painstaking replication of old textures, the use of the same original materials, all contribute to the creation of a moving poetry that resonates with each new miniature panorama."
(via Beautiful/Decay) Read the rest
This tiny motor is only a little bigger than a grain of cooked rice (4 x 12 mm), but it can generate speeds over 100,000 RPM. Read the rest
Jenny Nightfall handcrafts BDSM dollhouse furniture and other macabre and goth decor miniatures, all available in her Etsy shop. Read the rest
My nephew, Joshua Smith, is graduating high school this week and will soon be off to the U.S. Coast Guard. In his free time, he's learning to painstakingly paint miniatures, and is starting to get pretty good! Here's a current WIP. Show us your own best work, for great justice. Read the rest
