Thursday, February 28, 2019

Modeling Retreat

Hey Sportsfans,

Today I'm going to talk about the next steps. So last update I actually got off my butt and painted stuff. Not only that, but you got pics! Well since then, I haven't done too much more. However, I have been planning. You see I've been working with Menucha (where I did the painting at their Scrap and Sew retreat) and got them to try out a one day Model and Painting retreat. I put the word out locally about it and am now just waiting for the event to be on the Menucha web site (www.menucha.org).

This one will only be a one day retreat, no overnight. First of all, that cuts down on the cost quite a bit. Just $34 a person, which buys you a whole day of uninterrupted modeling and painting, and a good lunch as well. Not too shabby. Why a retreat? Well some times you just need to get away. I've got a family. There is always something that needs my attention at home, be it the wife, kids, pets, or house. With a retreat, I get to go someplace away, remove any distractions, and get real work done on my hobby. Thankfully for me, I have a wife who fully gets that and has no issue with me taking the day. Pro tip to other hobbyists out there, send your spouse on a retreat first for something they love. After that, there is no way in the world they can deny you your own. :)

The other part of the retreat is to connect with your fellow hobbyists. Lets face it, about the only thing better than working on your models, is to hang out with friends working on your models. This also gives you a great opportunity to learn tips and techniques from others, and to share your own. That is what I'm currently trying to work out. What do I want to bring so that I can share with others if interested?

The first obvious choice is to finish my Italians. I still need to do a little painting (facial hair, maybe eyes, and lapels), dipping, and finish the bases. As much as I want to show my dipping technique, those suckers require a full day to dry and aren't easy to transport after being dipped. So that really isn't practical (though I probably will bring a couple for demonstration). I also own an airbrush, but concerned with mess and clearly don't want to get paint on anything inside. I'll probably decide on it once I know what the outside conditions will be. If it is nice enough, I'll just take it outside and use it on some terrain pieces.

But what do I want to actually work on? Well, I did say I had some warmaster empire I wanted to do. I think that might be the next step for me. I really love that game, and I want to get more armies painted so that the table looks great when I do play. Still, I have a month until the retreat. That bolt action call is pretty strong though too. :)

Until next time...


Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Avanti!

Hello Sports Fans,

Have I got a treat for you. I painted stuff. Oh, you heard that right. I painted stuff. And not just like one thing....oh no sir, a whole bunch of things were painted. Proof you ask? Oh, I got your proof.

So lets step back in time a little shall we, to my previous post where I talked about Warmaster and Bolt Action.....and how I needed to paint my Italians... Well, for once, I actually went and did it. Not only that, but I took pics!


Here is a quick pic of my Italians getting built and having the bases ready. I use a pumice material that Velljo sells. Been using it for Flames of War for years, works really well for bolt action bases too.


That's the jar there. Goes on easy with a modelling tool. You can even sculpt it a little, so I was able to make tire tracks and the like. Sweet stuff.


Then I busted out the Army Painter Desert Yellow spray primer. Of course, it has to freaking snow on the day I need to prime. Well to ensure the best coverage that I could, I first made sure my primers were warm. I then went into my garage and set up a priming station. I put down some 2x4s, created a backstop with cereal boxes, and then had little portable heater fans running across the board. I'd spray the models, then use the fan to dry them. Worked fairly well considering it was 30ish degrees outside.


Next up was a test model. I wanted to make sure what paints I wanted to use and how it would all look. Now my plan is to use Army Painter dip on these models as well. However, for the test model, I used their strong tone ink for his wash so I would have some idea of how the detail would pop. Not too shabby (NOTE: pic is just of basecoat, ink not applied yet) :(


Toss in two solid days of painting at a crafting retreat, and there you have it, a fully painted Italian army ready for dip and basing. Well, almost. I forgot to bring a red paint with me so I wasn't able to do the lapels or helmet detail. Also, apparently their grenades were red too, so a few guys need touch ups there. Oh, and I need to do the glass on the goggles. So like 95% done. I got 39 infantry done, the howitzer and crew, a MMG and AT gun, and then the Autoblindo and the M14 (decals needed).

Not only that, but I then had time to put together some MDF terrain from Dave's Wargames. I kickstarted his project a while ago, but never got around to building the stuff. Well it is nice. I didn't take pics of that unfortunately, but I just fit the buildings, not glued them....so maybe my next update will have me finishing those guys off.

Had a great weekend (yay crafting retreats) and just really happy with the progress on my Italians. My first painted Bolt Action army baby! Woot! And I just bought the DAK starter army...so maybe those guys next??

As always, until next time....