Returned and exhausted!

 

  Well, THAT was a weekend!  We made the short trek northward, survived the construction, settled into a very nice suite, and went on a 48-hr journey of awesomeness.  There was so much community and support in the crowd and so many activities and classes to do!  Through perseverance (and a drinky-poo or two) and the desire to improve our painting skills, we survived it all only to return to our regular work-lives for the week.  We're exhausted, but I have to share because, well, it's what a Chaplain does!

The Paint Competition

  This was the primary reason for our trip- we wanted to enter some models and establish that 'base-line' to improve for years to come.  I was originally going to paint up and enter a dragon, but many obstacles appeared along the way.  The universe is more than happy to let you know when you've bitten off more than you can chew...  You can see the start of that project here and I did take the model and some supplies to do more work while at the Con.  Little was accomplished.  I did also paint up a couple of other models- the Paladin and 'Goeffrey'- you can see the progress in the last post from before we left.  My wife painted up GW's Grove Guardian and entered that- she did good!

  It must be noted that this is not a 'competitive' competition.  ReaperCon uses the 'open' format where you're judged and awarded individually based on your skill and presentation and then you get picked overall as the 'Best in Show' for your categories.  Think a game like golf or bowling versus a ball game like football- you're playing against yourself more than your opponent.  Everyone gets a Participation Certificate at minimum, and dozens of participants all receive each bronze, silver, and gold medals within each category.  The medal is based on your individual skill, not how you compare to others.  

  My Goeffrey model was the one chosen (the Paladin was relegated to title-screen duties for the ceremony- an honour itself!) and I got exactly the score I expected- a "2".  That's a bronze medal right there!  Woohoo!  I received my award and immediately returned to teaching a gentleman how to paint (I was sneaking away from the ceremony to give paint lessons!).  I wanted a silver but I know that the tunic and face weren't my top work.  But now I know that this standard is the 'floor' in my skill level.  Crap, that means I have to put in effort...

  Mty wife also entered the paint contest and lacked all the confidence she could.  Despite years of painting with me and learning those techniques, she still thought that she didn't have the skills to achieve anything good.  She put weeks and hours into the Grove Guardian, blending and layering and arguing with herself about highlights.  No matter my encouragement, she kept disappointing standards.  

  Her model was an instant hit!  I thought she did a fantastic job and the judges agreed- giving her a "3"!  That earned her the silver medal- and I missed it!  I stepped away for the paint lesson and the judges called her name!  She retrieved me immediately and I was very bitter and apologetic.  I knew she'd get at least a bronze, but to earn the silver on her first go was awesome!  

Activities and Classes

  The second purpose to the Con for us was painting lessons.  They offer lots of different classes by extremely talented painters and the retail offerings are aplenty and good!  We each signed up for four or five classes and focused on specific skills.  We both took a class for 'bigger models' and the blending aspect, and we missed one for mixing oil and acrylic paints on this medium (we were just too exhausted by that point).  My wife did a great job and learned tricks for painting faces and blending that now matches my skill- that's how good the classes are!  My favorite class was a "big eyes..." class that focused on the cel-shading paint style.  The instructor was so good that I'm thinking of entering that part of the paint competition next year!  We plan on signing up for more classes next year, for sure.

  There's a ton of activities to do as well- I have to throw a shout-out to the Gummy Bear Painting Challenge in honour of Kathy Wappel.  I knew Kathy (and her husband Jim) personally and give them credit for teaching me how to paint metallics and I helped them build their blog-site from back in the day.  That one was personal and I had to participate but I gotta admit that my wife's little bear was absolutely awesome.  It was nice to think of her again and all those years in the Chicago Battle Bunker.  Good people, good times...

  Finally, the whole event is such a fantastic time because they FORCE socializing on you.  During the classes the professors will interact with the students regularly (no 'lecture' style here!), the staff were 100% amazing the entire time, and the role-playing aspect to the Con was neat- we had to choose 'factions' which led to some neat little contests.  Most prevalent, however, was the 'ribbons'- you received small ribbons for meeting certain people or achieving certain objectives.  There were miniature rubber ducks and raccons scattered about like a 'scavenger hunt'.  There were costumed characters that you had to conversate with.  And there were just fun little activities that would gain ribbons like playing a game with the hotel bartender.  This turned into a contest between some folk (my wife and me!!!) and even more fun was to be had. 

  Earning these ribbons through all the activities and socializing became a sign for which attendees were social and which were particularly focused.  These ribbons, attached to the event badges, stretched down to the ground and further so that it created a tripping hazard.  Despite some glad-handing, deal-making, and overstimulated participations, my wife still beat me tthrough even more cunning.  Across the weekend, she was able to accumulate more ribbons than me, making more friends and learning more things with proof.  And to brag about it for months to come.  Next year...

 The social part

  At one time, I was the head of all the gamers.  I taught shiny devil winners regularly and learned from more that I was blessed to work with.  I retired from that world 15 years ago and didn't practice my skills at both the hobby and social aspects.  While I've still painted and played, even buffing my paintbrush output through trying new styles, I haven't gone into the game crowds and become integral like the old days.  This Con was big on that, both between last year's underwhelming experience due to my illness to this year's contest to talk to everyone everywhere.  The community is more important than sales or anything like that.  

  Where I felt that the most was during the paint contest ceremony.  Everyone in the Con attended, and I mean everyone.  Chairs were having to be dragged in from the lounge area and there was still only standing room.  Every one of the over 1,000 entries was showed on the big screen above and every single participant was named and their model shown off.  For a couple of hours, we all stuck around to see everyone and clap and cheer and give everyone their due credit.  You could feel the connection between everyone in the room and their appreciation of the hobby.

  Even through all of that, I still got to do some of those old things that I used to do.  First was my ability and time to run an intro game of Relic Knights with a great guy named Cary.  We got kicked off the table eventually, but he very much enjoyed the game and took to it very quickly.  Check out my own work in the short time with this game here and you'll see the models are amazing (and great to paint!) and the rules are a lot of fun.  I will have much, much more to say about that game in another post, but it was more awesome to see Cary enjoying a new game!

  I also spent a lot of time with a young kid named Paul that also happened to work in the restaurant within the hotel.  He wasn't really into the painting part, but he had collected a ton of skeletons that looked cool.  I could not let him come to a miniatures painting convention and not teach a couple of skills!  He brought a great set of paintbrushes and some miniatures and sat with me during the ceremony to learn basecoating, wash-shading, and even lining-in.  He got it so quickly that we started some 'slapchop' technique in-between me dashing back-and-forth to see the contest entries.  Paul definitely has some talent and I think he'll be really good by the time I see him next year.  

  I'm not social anymore, but I definitely enjoy it a bit.  I love to see other people's enjoyment of the hobby, their commitment to the artistry of it all, and the focus on sharing experiences in the process.  If I manage my time properly, I may even try to get involved with the events and activities next year (let's just say the '80's were the best decade) to generate even more of that.  But that's all the social stuff that I'll think about later- I really need to focus on what I'm going to paint for next year.

Stop chatting already!

  Okay, that's really about it.  We're so exhausted and just trying to rest up a bit today before the football season kicks off and takes over half the weekends for next seven months.  The Con was such a good time that we would very strongly suggest people (especially want to meet others in the hobby) check it out.  Last year was the 'observation year' and this year was a 'test the water year'- try everything and see how it all works.  Next year, the wife cannot beat me in ribbons or painting medals- I'm bringing it...

Happy  Hobbying

It's that time- Reapercon!!!

   We leave tomorrow morning and the levels of excitement in our group are immeasurable!  Everyone has finished their painting entries... except me.  Of course!  These last couple of months have been very busy and definitely forced my 'socializing' skills while trying to manage a brutal painting schedule, so I wasn't able to finish my major project.  Ironically, this was already after a late replacement and a significant equipment failure, so I should have assumed failure from the beginning.  Not one to fail, I did finish the other two entries; let's take a look!

Male Paladin 77303

  Everyone knows I'm one of the very few Paladin-class fans and any holy warrior model I see grabs my attention.  Reaper produced a kneeling knight meant for a Chess set and I was sold- this must be painted!  It wasn't a difficult model at all, but I originally made the mistake of priming the model with a spray can.  It turns out that Bones miniatures uses that PVC plastic that doesn't like spray primer at all- it was super-sticky and unfun to paint.  So I pulled out another model and just slapped paint on it- it's not my favorite thing to do but the model came out okay, I think...

  I decided to make a couple of adjustments- I added hair to the bald man and I painted the eyes to be closed to reflect him 'in prayer'.  The hardest part about painting this model was putting paint directly on the plastic and still having the colours solid and smooth.  But I'm not unhappy with the results and I especially enjoyed painting the leather.  

Run Away, Goeffrey!

  Now for my favorite!!!  I've had this model in my collection since around 2005 when it was released in the GW Giant kit.  All my years of D&D gaming with monsters and heroes found a significant lack of regular people.  It turns out that regular people tend to be everywhere.  I finally painted this model after decades and I am so geeked!

  I guess this dude is a character in the Warhammer fluff and named Johann or something.  But I've never seen him and I don't know how he's supposed to look, so I went with stripes and chevrons to refine my brush-control skills.  Better, I had fun painting the flesh and even the hands- he has fingernails and knuckles!!!  And, of course, I had to add a skull to the base- this is a Warhammer model after all!

If you happen to be at ReapercCon this weekend- find me!  I'll probably be painting at a table or running games of Relic Knights.  Otherwise, wish me luck!

As always, Happy Hobbying!

I love dragons!

  Now we're only days away.  Most of this month has been high-activity trying to get all the projects done.  I have multiple games I'm working on and I'm painting miniatures and terrain like it's going out-of-style!  Long work-weeks have meant nothing compared to all this stuff- I feel like I'm back in the Emprah's service!  But it shall all be worth it.

  We're only days away from the new annual tradition- ReaperCon!  With this being the 2nd year that I'm going, I feel compelled to enter the paint contest.  I had multiple ideas throughout the year, but one absolutely had to be a dragon!  I originally was going to use the awesome Devil/Dragon model from Joan of Arc, but the extreme southern heat in my garage has melted the plastic behemoth in a project-killing way.  Not a great start....

  My buddy came through for me- he had 3d printed a dragon from a set he had bought for his resin printer.  I love dragons, he didn't have time to paint it (he has his own ReaperCon models to work on!), and so he donated it to my cause.  The dragon model is amazing- detailed and has a pose that you can sense personality from.  But, like all models (metal, plastic, or resin), there was work to be done.  

  After building everything, there were some noticeable gaps at the joins.  No worries- I busted out the 'ol green stuff strip, mixed a marble until my hands were cramping, grabbed my dentist picks and a bowl of water, and went to work.  It took a couple of days and a couple of layers and it still didn't quite turn out perfect (putty shrinks while setting), but it was good enough for a paintbrush...

  After all that, I had to prime the model and the base.  in this case, it was in the 'zenithal' style where I primed the whole model Black but then primed the top White to really lay out that highlight-shadow transition.  The base is going to be so much fun- nature loves a zenith!

  Now that he was primed and ready for paint, it was time to slap some colour on.  I had to do a little survey to find what colour I was going to make him, and it all settled on red.  Did I ever mention how much I love painting red?  It's, like, the easiest colour to paint, man!

  I had a full plan on this project.  This year is supposed to be the 'learning new skills' year with practicing techniques that I'm not used to, especially if it's anything outside the Citadel System.  Part of that is using an airbrush and this was supposed to be that project.  Well, it didn't work.  Me and my airbrush are not friends just yet and I had to shift gears.  This sucked because I was also planning to use the oil-wash method on this big boy to build out the shading, but no airbrush equals no wash.  

  So I reset to the 'glaze' method.  Coincidentally, the Contrast paints work very well for this and I was able to start the fade that this method can give you.  Over the zenithal prime- this was much easier than I expected!

  At this point, I've stopped with a couple weeks left and the plan to 'massage' the model.  More orange, red, and yellow are to be added in glazing layers to really blend the model's colour scheme.  This is the 'artist' part and I won't be taking pictures for a while.  Once I'm done and have gotten the feedback rubric from the Con, I will certainly post.  But for now, this is the progress that a camera will capture.  

  I will have more projects as well.  There is a fleeing civilian, a praying Paladin, and another model that I may pick up before the deadline.  But this is my main project.  Did I mention that I love dragons?!?

Happy Hobbying!

Candy and Cola

   I painted the Starter Set and I got the promo model at the ReaperCon.  I guess I know what my next project is supposed to be...  Just like before, I forget to take pictues of all the progress , but I can show a couple.  This is Infiltrator Candy and her little pet Cola.  She can work with either the Void or the Radiant and she's pretty good at pecking off damage and disrupting the enemy's best-laid plans.  

  The model was a blast to paint like all the rest in this line.  The only problem I had was with the cloak- for some reason, I switched back to the Citadel System on that and it doesn't match up with the rest of the style of thje miniatures.  I have no idea why; habit, I guess!  Otrherwise, she was fun to paint and her little three-tailed companion really let me stretch my reverse-shading skills.  

Before painting the pet

  As I was painting her, I found that her rear-end was a bit too... obvious to leave alone.  Besides her very gifted bust, she definitely had a great pair of pants for the back.  This was ironic considering that the whole style for this game is high-detail paint and dark, shadowed backs.  But she forced me pay attention to the other side.    

Finished product

  And that's it!  She's done, ready to be allied to another force, and prove her mercenary value!  

As always, Happy Hobbying!

Relic and Ork terrain

  If you haven't heard the incessant excuse-making from the last posts- I've been working on a lot of projects on top of working very hard (jobs gotta be done and bills gotta get paid!).  But I can't stay limited to one game or system currently as I have that gamer ADHD- a pretty board and a detailed miniature creates desire and inevitably leads to another whole product-line in the pile-of-shame.  But I'm on a deadline and am actually sacraficing my weekends to the paintbrush and model.  Well, instead of reading my whinging, let me show you yet another of my distractions.  

  A pretty board means good terrain.  I'm working on two games right now- Space Gitz and Relic Knights.  I have tons of 40k terrain and a good deal of natural terrain to use for fantasy, but I don't have Ork/Orcish or just regular generic sci-fi terrain for these two games.  Many bucks and a 3d printer-going-brrrr finally added some of that but now I needed to get it ready for use.  

  I didn't take a lot of pictures this time, but I can promise that the Ork terrain is already looking great with so many colours added.  You'll see if and when I get to posting those.  Now the T'au terrain on the other hand...  The airbrush absolutely failed me a few times and I've had to revert to the 'ol paintbrush to get that coloured.  The set still isn't completely done, but it looks great so far!

  Now I would be completely remiss if I didn't mention my buddy's terrain company- it worked for my last game of 10th edition and I'm sure they'll be updating for 11th.  The ruins are so detailed and the templates are not intrusive to the table at all (it's surprising how much that matters!).  I definitely recommend checking out Only War for a tabletop set.  I got two!!!

  Happy Hobbying!

More Boyz!!!

 

  I have a ton of Orks.  Like, a TON!  I only have 80 Boyz built and painted, but I make up for it with having almost everything else, and a couple or few of them.  I love my Orks!  The only problem is that GW has resized the bases on the models (much less the models themselves) and I have to rebase that "tons" of models to get modern complaint again.  Luckily, most of the stuff I had to rebase was bikes as vehicles don't have bases (ironically, they're all getting replaced soon.  Dagnabbit!) and the specialists are few (I can't not have Tankbustas, Burnas, and Lootas, so...).  

  And then comes the new 11th edition "Armageddon" box.  This has a ton of models!!!  And they're awesome!!!  The bigges problem I have is that the options are not reflected, making the Ork side a bit boring.  Otherwise, the models are phenomenal and two sets makes many of them (if they pack the boxes correctly, this is.  But that's a different story for a different post)...

  First came the lots of building part of the process.  Once these push-fit models were assembled, I popped them off their bases and primed the models white.  My plan is to use Speed Paints or Contrast to get this [suddenly completely new] army painted quickly.  

  I will admit that I love the new characters.  I already have a Banner Nob and a Weirdboy, and about a half dozen Warbosses.  But these models area remarkable in their simplicity and detail.  I believe the work is "elegant"- not something you hear with Orks.  The only complaint I have is that the Warboss is about as 'basic' as you can get- no armour, no Power Klaw, no supah-shoota, no attack Squig, nothing!  I will probably be using my outdated older Warboss models in-game as theuy're just more effective (cooler wargear is always cooler!).  

  I built and primed all the large vehicles with black instead of white.  My normal colour-scheme for Orks is rusty, and that is done best over black (like any metal).  That being said, I may just choose to add real colours to the models...

  And here's the entire 'take' from two boxes of Armageddon- that's a lot of Orks!!!

  That's as far as I've gotten so far.  There's a ton of other projects going on at the same time, so these are lower on the priority-scale.  But GW has released more and Orks always love more!  MOAR!!!

As always, Happy Hobbying!

Where's my benefits!?!?!

  So, uh, there's another game that I am getting into.  You see, I like to drink and I like to play games.  When I served in the Emprah's forces, we would havea "Beer-hammer" tournaments and definitely part hard after all the meetings where we weren't meeting sales goals.  Ah, the good 'ol days...  But now there's a game called "Space Gitz" that actually makes those two things (drinking and gaming) the same thing!

  The game uses personal dexterity as the main mechanic, and all failures will result in the consumption of alcoholic beverages- resulting in reduced dexterity!  It's brilliant in the most basic way and I love it.  Plus, the game is based on Orcs- of course!  I will never forget my old 'big boss' named Ed that was straight 'cockney' and very obviously a digganob in days past.  And he forced us to drink alcohol as part of the 'party hard' mentality to out high-pressure jobs.  It was glorious.  And now there's a game that embodies all of this???  Well, that's happening.  

  I was very easily drawn into supporting the crowdfunding campaign and that gave us some 3d models ready for print.  One of them was an Orc veteran in a 'wheelchair' and raising a ruckus.  I call him "Ork-tenant Dan" and I'm too lazy to check if this character actually has a name.  And I had to paint him.  

 

  And that's as far as I've gotten so far.  There's more progress coming, but I've had to switch gears...  Keep your eye out for this as I have a feeling this is going to pop up once or twice!

Happy Hobbying!