From the workbench of the esteemed Horati0nosebl0wer

Having the chance to grab some figures at the paint and take from a recent con I now have some figures to throw at my friend who I’ve not been diligent on finishing commission work for. It’ll be an apology gift that I know he’ll use in his D&D campaign since some of the models are dragon related.

A long overdue piece I thought would be fun to base for display. I haven’t gotten the black paint to stick so well around the bottom but that’s an issue with working with Black 2.0 from Culture Hustle.

To make stuff that looks cool for the new year is my goal. I’ll be tackling old projects before the Spring Clean gets underway because I know myself and how much I am liable to procrastinate. That being said I’ll dig into some one shot pieces and smaller model count stuff to get it off the desk. I know that I have models I’ll never paint so this will help me to confront the fact and make it easier to part with them as they just aren’t worth keeping.

I think I’ll reasonably have enough breathing room to finish some work on my Arabian Knights. Yes, I will finish them this year… likely before some Pagan Rus or Slavs that Lloyd has been sitting on for a while. 😂

I found a nugget of wisdom at random and it makes sense as to why I hobby like I do. I am not ok with being bored and I want to be good at something.

Miniatures isn’t an outgoing and spotlight grabbing hobby. It makes for literal small victories against being lost in the doldrums. I’m not great at many other things, but dammit, I can shine here. I put time into this craft to produce better results. There is art in the creation and process of making tangible the abstract ideas which I have. I want to get my ideas out and sharing a vision makes me happiest when others enjoy the un-sane and non banal with similar wonder.

Its a small and perhaps minor thing to think but pithy poignancy produces profound results if allowed to flourish in the tilled fecund furrows of the mind. Upgrade your grey matter cus’ one day it may matter.

Dopamine, a blessing and a bane. The addictive chemical in our heads that lead us to rise or ruin. I call it all this as I take my break from hobby and do some self relfection and general life analysis. I think about the ebb and flow of hobby and all the other stuff I do that are fun. I got to thinking about this after a video on YouTube got me curious as it mentioned high energy lifestyles and adrenaline junkies. My housemate fit the bill, as what they described, in trying to always be on the move doing something but with diminishing dopamine return on the pleasurableand ending up with no free time.

I turned this on its head and got to thinking of the pleasure principle in painting and building. Collecting has been fun but rather useless other than making moving difficult in the past. Gaming might be fun as time spent with others and making memories over battles which haven’t been fought like I play out.

Putting things into overdrive for projects has seemed like a means of dealing with the crap of the world. Finding a little corner of solace with a warm blanket, hot mug of tea and some well worked minis to show off is my ideal spot and really best practice. It beats flailing about in attempts to try and find the next thing to work on badly with poor results. Trying to get the easy return doesn’t make the models any better. Time, patience and some self discipline to say its ok to set down a project (and then follow through to pick it back up again) is good. We deal with our heads and hearts with this stuff. Its good to take a breather and set the models aside for a few to analyze our selves and how we hobby.

An ent and the goblin from the Shadowrun blister for a commission lot. All sorts of pleasure to see more things done and even better to get cash for them.

I had some fun with tufts today and went into another material I didn’t think I had much use for. My local hobby shop had Woodland Scenics light green bushes (SKU: FC145) on offer and I took a chance seeing how it would work. Its honestly been months since I bought them and only now think that this is a good time to use them. I think it came out pretty well.

The figure is Persephone from Reaper (SKU: 03919) and its been given the love of a display piece I wanted to show it. I probably could have obsessed mord and lamented my effort but I’ve gotten it done and now set it into my Case of Completion; its a collective of finished pieces I’m setting into large Chessex dice boxes until I have a proper case again.

The Case of Completion has been an idea I started a few years ago for dispay pieces and things I’ve done as an answer to my Hoard of Shame. Seeing my progress as I continue painting is helpful and it sometimes gives me that pick-me-up to keep going on. With moving so much I’ve not been able to do this and I get my dopamine rush from seeing my regular customer display the items in his own cases. Now, onto more stuff.

I feel rejuvenated. I went to the monthly meeting of a local painting group and I found myself at home among painting nerds. The joy of slapping small people (and other assorted creatures) with paint came back to me as I watched others do the same. I think the lack of physical community was really the dearest thing I’ve been missing for the longest time. This group will give me the extra push to paint better as well as most of them regularly go to Reapercon and some have placed in competition (a couple actually have painted for the company I think).

My general brush control seems to be on par with my fellows who were there and I don’t believe that my technical skills of dexterity were any different. The idea of some of the freehand still seems daunting. The general assortment of gadgets wasn’t any different in minimal variety of figure holders/brushes/travel cases for stuff. I did see that there was a gentleman who was using a pair of small daylight LED panels used for photography which were on tripods. I believe I have a few things now for my Giftmas list in future (I already caved yesterday and got a vortex paint mixer).

Beyond all this I found myself with a realization of what I consider my next step forward (really a step I think I forgot/glossed over) to progress from where I am. I will be utilizing my wet palette much more for my high end painting. I’ve also seen Kimera paint in person today and I believe I possess a hobby hard-on right now. I’ll potentially drop all my current paints to that end for what I want to press toward competition. I will be brutally honest with my self assessment in the thought that my layering has been shit for a while. I can and will do better with it. This fact should be evident with upcoming photos as I implement this consideration. I’m curious to dabble in the use of inks through my airbrush again but more often. I’ve only done it a couple of times but without concerted effort to test the medium and my tool.

All in all this has been a good day as I also sealed the figures I’m shipping to one of my nephews this Christmas. I’m not pushing the envelope with effort. Last year I gave one of his brothers other stuff I painted so I themed this batch for the little guy’s love of dinosaurs. I also made sure to cover it with a little extra varnish in order to protect to paint. I don’t know if it’ll help, as I remember my own toys, but it should last a bit better than the regular spray. Now its time to get on to the next bit of stuff.

Good news for working again. I start tomorrow… er today for you European types, subtract a few hours in the past. I suggest watching the Korean Netflix series Sisyphus might make more sense on that time travel thing. Anywhat, more minis are done and I feel good at pushing through more commission stuff. I don’t recall the caster of the viking. The troll is a Ral Partha for Shadowrun fom 1991. More stuff is on the way in future.

Building up armies or developing the grandest Golden Demon winner in my head is not as good as finishing a skirmish level warband or painting pieces for the tabletop. In the end I have nothing to show for my time spent other than an empty project with only information and ideas. Drawing down the big think to something manageable and tangibly concrete really should be done instead of chasing the dream all the time. Like in many other parts of life, you can dream but it won’t get you anything but frustrated unless you do something about it.

Here, I’ve got big ideas which I’ve put to private and have them collect dust because I have limited time/money. I kick off the dust from time to time and play with concepts. The best part is showing off the big things when you build them, even as I myself build my own, takes time to consider how to go about the big build. An organic piecemeal approach is great for the disjointed and nonlinear/not uniform creation but larger effort needs a little planning and creativity sometimes just is sporadic.

I think, perhaps, it would be good to look around you lot and start to nurture minds to the direction of my thoughts that these things are done for me. *curls his mustache, steeples his fingers and sits back against the comfortable high back chair that suddenly appears* As any good villainous mastermind, one should aim to move the pieces without even needing to touch them… mwahahaha.

All jokes aside, finding the right level of engagement and production for the scale of idea might be something for any hobbyist here to consider. Try not to bite off more than you can chew, you’ll end up with a Pile of Overwhelming Potential (aka Pile if Shame) if you don’t.

Some patron painting done as I keep a move on finishing more from the PoOP. Both are from Reaper respectively. The troll came with with a rock or pig option to fling and stands about 60mm to the top of the mohawk (roughly 90mm to the top of the pig).

Bertok, human barbarian SKU:02924
Two headed troll (Bones) SKU:44120

Why I stop doing mini work from time to time can be pinned to analysis paralysis. I get wrapped up in my own head and think of the detail work instead of doing it. The comparison of my own work to that of others and the downgrading of considering my own talent and capabilities, not in the the spirit of being humble but of self worth, and this leads to turning away from the hobby out of discontent with my own achievement.

I’ve come to this thinking by doing work in my head regarding other areas of my life and I was struck by the layout of the most recent book from Mig Ammo which Gerry reviewed. I think that it addresses a core notion which hadn’t quite been articulated as a visual answer. It boils down to the sliding scale of painting levels clearly. It gives the reader high quality painting porn photos (no other way to put it, but its true) of even simple technique and then going along the path to more detailed and time intensive work. It addresses level of need for detail. Where does one need to end up to perceive making good looking work?

Scale of project and of figures makes the detail level scale. I’ve dived into painting a friends epic Eldar force and the mesh masking technique I used on my leader for the Arabian Knights at 28mm has a whole different look on a Fire Prism at 6mm. The 2 inch-2 foot rule becomes clear only through experience or seeing examples in situ. The rank and flank of an ACW or Napoleonic will be different than the skirmish warband of Warcry or Space Station Zero. The zoo is full of very different animals from our mini world.

I’ll be back to more painting as I ease my mind. Here’s something that crossed my path in suggestions that poked at issues regarding other artistic ventures I’ve had.

Then I found this

Good news for the work front, I might be back to building again. I don’t look forward to the prospect of being in the cold come winter. My hope is to get a shop position at that point. The downside is less time for minis. I’ll be sure to push out as much work as possible before that happens.

Sculpted damage to the armor is on the model but I added a couple extra dings on the edges. The edge highlights really popped for me and I’m pretty pleased with the model overall. It was a random purchase that I think came out better than anticipated.

Feathered wings came to my attention and I put up my note on the matter in my Arabian Knights project. This was a good opportunity to test out a working idea.

I don’t remember the range the model comes from but I do recall it being featured in the Saga Age of Magic book.

Note: the eyes were not added while on my porcelain throne

Having done some hobby and moving things around I failed to notice what can fall as I was deciding what next to work on. I found out that a hard drive placed precariously on other things can and sometimes will fall on minis. It happened to land on my leader figure for my Arabian Knights when it decided gravity was a good law to follow.

Sometimes you get lucky. This is one of those time I happened to as the only thing that broke was a foreleg. The shield popped off and so did the rider. There were some stress fractures in the other legs but that was the extent of the damage that I saw. I have since reglued the leg and will be repainting touchups. I am thankful that is the only thing I need worry about for the build.

A stream of consciousness blog… sounds like an idea. With that to mind I will address the good feeling of gift giving/sharing hobby with younger people or others in general and establishing a tradition of gaming among friends and family. As people, we can spontaneously create things that are bonds between us which are personal and without greater impact than maybe a small group. This is organic and without any greater import than the people directly involved. What becomes of a whole lot of people that do this is a community with tradition. There is a cultural growth and norm development that includes handing down from the past to the future. The experience of where our hobby comes from, the names of people who did impressive things or personalities which inspire to promote positive sentiment and a few tales of guidance all make for an overarching subset of people.

Are we a subculture?

My gift to my nephew arrived all safe and sound that he reported via text message. It makes me happy to see that I have the impact of being able to guide a younger nerd with his own hobby and impart my insight when I am asked it. Thankfully I have more years with my other nephews as Otterpups to warp guide their little minds… lol

The limit of caffeine was reached and dopamine levels pushed well beyond normal in dealing with getting laid off of work Friday morning a couple hours into my shift. What else does one do than, get a haircut/beard trim, go home and have quite a bit of coffee before a marathon session of paint slinging into the small hours of the morning?

I admit it was not all hobby time. I caught Zoolander No. 2 in the break time and had a few laughs as well with the Weekender and XLBS. Music in mass quantities has also been taken in and the discography for Heilung has been listened to in its entirety. It seems only fitting for painting Vikings to listen to them. In my painting fervor I even included one of the rune stones I purchased from what was to be an Indie of the Week previously covered.

This has been a mental health weekend. I’m now dealing with the part of rehashing a resume and looking again. I might finish up quite a bit more for one of my projects now to feel like I’m being productive somehow.

I decided to take off all paint thus far. I wasn’t happy with the way the Speedpaints came out on the generally smooth surface of the fabric. The Gripping Beast plastic Viking 4 point starter box is a good small package to get someone else onto the path of mini madness.

A crap weekend for health but finished a mini off. I have no idea what line it came from and failed to find anything after I did a cursory check through Reaper (my general go to). The shield was a spare from some metal vikings I inherited a long time ago and no idea either. Any clues from other members would be helpful to id this figure.

A quick bit of pick me up to complete from assorted figures that I’ve been given or had in my Hoard of Shame. Its painful fo catch the mold line after the fact but I can be assured to hear more about it later.

As mentioned in the Unofficial Weekender @ceppie sent me a few of his random test minis that he got through MyMiniFactory for his printer. I decided that chucking Army Painter Speedpaints was just the thing to play with for blocking in color. I started with Plasmatic Bolt over a grey primer. I then drybrushed Reaper Master Series Lichen Green, Vallejo Game Color Escorpina Green, RMS Ghost White and then a final touch of pure white. I’m pleased with the quick results from today.

More work done with lowered expectations

And now some stuff for one of my nephews