Professional Warhammer and Miniature Painting

I’ve returned safely from my business trip in Minneapolis and I’m settling in at home again. I’d like to take a moment and apologize profusely to all of my fans, and more importantly, my customers. While I had taken my paints, lamps, camera, and several commissions and other models with me to Minneapolis, getting a proper painting rig set up inside of a hotel room just didn’t prove to be feasible, and I basically got nothing done.

I’m going to be spending the next few weeks playing catch-up. If I currently have a model of yours in my commission queue, I will be doing my best to complete it before the end of the month. I will be contacting my customers directly later this week, but I felt I could reach several of you very quickly this way, and let people know why I’d fallen off the face of the Earth at the same time.

Anyway, the good news is, I’m home and painting will resume over the next few days. The bad news is, I really dropped the ball and got nothing done while I was out of the country (or during the brief less-than-two-week interlude when I was home). I hope I can make amends for any inconvenience this delay has caused.

Hey everyone! Due to some changes happening in my life, I’m not going to have as much time to paint as I have lately. As a result, I’m going to be taking on very limited commissions for foreseeable future. I’ll be focusing on individual models and small squads – nothing larger than a single box of models (which does NOT include Battleforces or Starter Sets).

As I determine how much time I’ll have to paint again, I’ll begin opening up more commissions.

Thank you for your support and understanding.
Mike Cousins, Epic Duck Studios

This weekend is a 3 Day Weekend in Canada due to Victoria Day, celebrating the Queen’s Birthday. This is also known as the May Two-Four Weekend, because it’s always on or near May 24th. Also, a Two-Four is a case of 24 beer in Canada, which makes a great double entendre.

I’m not much of a beer drinker myself, so I’m going to paint a RIDICULOUS number of models. If you thought the 100 Orks in 8 Days was a big deal, this will (hopefully) blow it away.

You can see what I’ll be painting in the Weekend Kickoff Video over at MiniWarGaming, follow along on my Twitter Feed, or join in on the Paintocalypse Thread on the MiniWarGaming forum.

Just a quick note, I’ve been rather ill the last few days and have been working pretty short hours. If you have an open commission with me, rest assured I am working on it, but this might delay it a few days. If you emailed me at all this week, please give me a couple of days to catch up. Long story short, I came down with a chest cold over the weekend and I’m coughing too much to paint accurately.

One year ago yesterday, Epic Duck Studios opened it’s doors (figuratively) to the world. In the last year I’ve completed dozens of commissions, created a handful of scenic bases and informative DVDs, and learned a lot about running a successful business. There have been some interesting ups and downs, but the more interesting aspects are yet to come. I’m very close to releasing my first Mini, and have been prototyping a unique card game in my spare time.

Incidentally, yesterday was also my birthday

If you’ve wondered why there’s been no blog posts or gallery updates for a few weeks, why I haven’t been around MiniWarGaming, or why I’ve been taking a week to answer email, I have a short and simple answer: I was homeless!

I sold and moved out of my first home in mid January and purchased a newer, larger property (which incidentally will have an in-home painting studio) – but I wasn’t able to take possession of the new house until just a few days ago, leaving me without a home for nearly 3 weeks. I’m moved in now, and although lots of unpacking and renovating is still going on, my life is back to normal (for the most part) and painting is resuming at full speed.

I took advantage of the situation though, grabbed a tube of Green Stuff and a camera, and created a series of Sculpting Tutorials, which I then mastered as DVD Video. My friends at MiniWarGaming will be releasing the tutorial DVDs later this week.

That’s all for now! I’ve got a handful of commissions on my plate, so you can expect to see some Gallery Updates very soon!

Cheers,
Mike Cousins
Epic Duck Studios

While the Chinese Zodiac may not agree, I firmly believe this will be the Year of the Duck. Why is that? Epic Duck Studios started just 6 months ago on June 18th, 2009 (incidentally, my birthday) and has made a substantial leap from occasionally-profitable hobby to a nearly-full-time business. With a lot of hard work and a little luck, I hope to continue this growth trend. To that end, you can expect to see the following in 2010:

• More Content! I’ll be working closely with MiniWarGaming to bring you even more videos, tutorials, and just plain awesome stuff.
• New Scenic Bases! Mold Production for several new 25mm round bases are under way, with common 40k and Fantasy sizes coming soon, to be followed by Warmachine-style 30mm Rounds.
• Epic Duck Minis! I intend to have a small selection of hand-crafted miniatures in production later this year. As with my bases, my miniatures will likely be cast in white resin, though pewter is certainly an option.
• Army-Friendly Pricing Volume Discounts will be given when large groups of similar models are ordered – being able to paint in an Assembly-Line fashion saves me time, which will now save you money!

There’s plenty more happening behind the scenes at Epic Duck Studios and MiniWarGaming this year as well – while I can’t get into any details yet, it’s definitely going to be an exciting year!

It’s true! If you’re on Facebook, you can now join the Epic Duck Fanclub! I honestly had nothing to do with this – Alicia, my original Fangirl, set it up.

To find it, just search Facebook for Epic Duck Fanclub.