Getting There

Well it's been nearly 2 months working on this model, and it looks like shit! That doesn't matter, as I really had no intentions of it ever looking anything half decent. What it has been is a fun exercise that has gotten my interest back into painting.

I've learnt a lot of things while doing this, tried some ideas I've never bothered with before. If you're an amateur painter, don't lose heart with your paint jobs. Just take all jobs (good and bad) as a learning experience. If your enjoying your painting, then just take is a fun leisure time...

Next on the agenda will probably be my Warp Talons. This are going to be hard, as it will involve Black, Gold and that's about it! When I first tried them I really had no luck with them, but now I have a possible solution which I'm going to try out on Sunday.... Hopefully it works!

How the Hell do I paint that!

The one thing that I've noticed with model painting as of late is fiddly bits. I'm usually of the view that you build the model then paint it it after assembling. It seems like most people on the video's do it that way. But I'm starting to wonder if it's maybe not such a bad idea to partially build bits, paint them, then finish assembling?

My Forgefiend's legs have been a real issue for the nefarious fiddly bits. It's felling like the Kama-Sutra of painting, due to having to use Yoga level finger and wrist movements! As for the model it's coming along pretty well. So far it's just involved Gold, followed with some Gold, and rounding of with yet more Gold... Then washing down with Devlan Mud. While I constantly complain about GW's products, Devlan Mud is great! Now for the whinge! I've heard they've got rid of Devlan Mud for some inferior garbage called Agrax Eartshade. Why on earth they would choose to get rid of it, I don't know? But when it comes to Games Workshop the whole company seems to work on the "I Don't Know" logic. Ahh well, hopefully Vallejo's range of Shades might fill the gap.

The camera is doing not so bad. Though I'm having problems getting to to focus on the whole model rather than specific parts. Unlike the crappy camera phone (it's not so bad, the brushes were taken on it), it doesn't like macro. Though at a resolution of 3008x2000 you don't really need to get close.

I've talked about this before, but I though I'll mention it again. Brushes. Nothing helps with painting that a good brush! I first started by buying these cheapie things from the local hobby shop for $1.00 each when i first started painting. The were usually made of Taklon and honestly are pure crap! After 2 hours of use these things would end up being on a sideways angle and spreading out. Which is useless for high detail areas. While Taklon may great for doing make-up, dry brushing and large area's. they are not so great for fiddly work. My advice is use to buy Kolinsky brushes.

Your probably wondering what this cool little creature is doing on a model page, well I will explain. This cute little darling is a Kolinsky, a Siberian Weasel. The males tale hairs, make some of the best damn brushes you can possibly buy! While I really disagree with the idea of something dying to make a brush, this are damn fine brushes, and if you look after them (don't use them to apply glue or dry brushing of course) than can last you for years and years!

While most people believe Windsor & Newton Number 7 is deemed as the ducks nuts of brushes. I've never used a W&N brush, but here they here I'll need to make out another morgate on the house to buy one! I have some slightly cheaper alternatives though.

Escoda Kolinsky Tamjir. This are probably my favourite brush at the moment. It was also nicely priced at around $15 for the 001 that I bought.

Privateer Press Fine Hobby Brush. As far as brushes go, this was CHEAP (under $10). It's only a small brush which is good for small areas, not so great for large areas though.

The top brush and the bottom are Escoda. These are my most used brushes and they still look really good! The one in the middle is the P3 brush. Yet again has got quite a lot of use, and still looks fantastic!

The Man Cave from Hell

Nothing is more important to the average middle aged guy as the beloved Man Cave. It is up there with having to take control of all the remotes!

Now my man cave is a bit of a shambles. We have 6 people living in the house here, because rent is damned expensive in Australia. So It's just a tiny little hole, in the corner of the shed, which is overgrowing with assorted crap that I just pile in there on a regular basis. But it does serve me well. I have a table, a relatively comfortable chair and all the other necessity's I need.

This may seem hard to believe, but this is clean! Not long back I wasn't able to get to the table with the thought of breaking a foot due to the crap piled around it. I think my point is, if you want to paint, I highly recommend building a little Man Cave. It makes it easy for you to pop down and paint at your leisure, it saves you time as you don't have to constantly pull stuff out and pack it up again and it saves your missus ripping you a new asshole for leaving crap every where!

You can also see my new goal on the table there! My kick arse forgefiend that my son bought me. I'm pretty much going for a Black Legion. It's easy for a beginner as it's only black and gold. So far I'm really enjoying it this and am hoping to not only keep on painting, but also keep on annoying people on the my blog! :)

I have a DSLR now. I of course will post better pictures at another time.

The Joys Of Painting

After what seems like a generation of waiting I have finally started to get into painting again... I'm actually also enjoying it too! A couple of things that helped me get in the mood was finding other things to do than stare at Naughties Boob Tube (Computer), and some back ground noise in the form of scathingly violent death metal music.

The only downside to starting to paint again is that most of my paints are past the point of no return. Most of the Citadel Paints are stuffed and I even have P3 paints that I just opened that are the consistency of chunky syrup!

The Vallejo Paints are in a A1 condition wise. Which makes me say bugger every one else, I am buying nothing but Vallejo from now on. Surprisingly we have an old box of Tamiya paints that are still usable. Some of these paints are so damn old that they've even been used to paint some Revell Rat-Fink models!