Wednesday 12 February 2014

You think I ain't worth a dollar but I feel like a millionaire...



Yep, today was a bit special, I actually felt like a millionaire. People in Grenoble (where I live) have seen me dancing in the street with my 3 years old daughter like a mad man :


I won at something for the first time in my life...

Let me explain a bit. I'm not the competitive kind of guy. I tend to avoid competition though I never shy away from emulation. Hobby wise, competition is something I've always avoided because basically I don't have what it takes but also because in my teens, I used to live in Nantes where there was the most insane concentration of golden demon winners, people who really had a huge impact on raising the artistic and technical level of this competition... (the guys who were actually the first to go and get slayer swords outside of their own country) real monsters I mean.

Though they were all very nice to see at the local hobby shop (and even in the GW store which was quite a nice place at the time but that's another story), it was clear I was not playing in the big league.

I recently left my now famous Rooster knight at my new Hobby shop (with golden demon winners there too ^^) which has a monthly competition.
I came there this afternoon to pick my Rooster knight and to leave my last demon hunter and I just learnt that I had won January's event !


I won a 5€ voucher which is not much but the very fact I won something has made my day ! 

I know there are some really good painters amongst my readers and even some genuine golden demon winners so bear with me, I know this is no great achievement but this is just the kind of things which boost my hobby. Getting some nice comments, constructive criticism and sometimes a few thumbs up or a little prize is just priceless to me. It just means I'm not doing this alone at my desk like I used to before starting this blog.

Emulation it is, now I want to to even better because I see so much great stuf around I want to come up with my personnal best too.

As always I'm incapable of concentrating on one task alone so here are the things which are making their way at the moment :



A unit of chaos droids led by a poor necron conversion, with bases done and a slight zenithal grey spray over the black base coat. I'll just paint the edges in light grey, paint the metal areas in mithril silver and then I'll wash the whole model with diluted black and matt medium. I'll just have a few details to add (I'v recently found some very good inspiration for them so stay tuned) and they'll be good.



You can't really tell by looking at the pic above but the sensei gang is doing well for the time being and though I wanted to paint them all one by one, well, old habits die hard and all so I just came back to batch painting... All flesh parts, grey parts, blue parts and dark brown parts have been done so far.


The deostick grav-attack is nearly done, I'v found the proper reactor donors (old color pens from my daughter) for the sides so I still have to add those with some green stuffing and he's good to go to the painting range... The base has to be refined a bit but the gap filler used is heavy enough to make a good balance for the model.



Kaleb's doing well too with not much left to do. I finally came up with completely random black and white patterns which are not really artistic but which are doing the job I think :


I forgot to say that I used a little trick taught by Stygianheart which is very easy but helps a lot. I just placed a few drops of PVA glue (just try different sizes) with a drop of superglue in the middle. The result gives some convincing exploded pustules and organic shpaes depending on the amount of PVA and superglue used.

Here are the tests on some Pcard and you can see on the grav-attack above the result on a finished model.


Thanks mate, keep good tips like these coming !

Every fortune begins with a single penny...

30 comments:

  1. Wow, first of all, congratulations!! You are right, small things like this boost the enthusiasm for painting, so you have all the right to feel proud :)

    For the rest, all that I can say is that you work at an amazing speed with great results! Everything over there is coming along more than nicely! Can't wait to see all of it!

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    1. Let's hope I finish at least one thing this week :D
      Thanks a lot Suber.

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  2. Congratulations! I know what you mean about winning something, however small, for something you've actually done (not just a lottery), and that rooster chap is well worth a prize.

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    1. Thanks a lot, it definitely isn't about the prize itself but just the "thumbs up" meaning of it which boosts me, I wholeheartedly agree with you about the fact that the value comes from the fact it's something I did myself.

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  3. Congratulations matey! He's such a great figure, he deserves to win and you did such a good job on him. I notice that your Sensei band has a couple of figs that I was going use in mine. I've changed my mind about the halfling but I might still use the guy with the head scarf. i'll get pics on my blog tomorrow hopefully. Well done again!

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    1. Then it means we both have a perfect taste !
      I've decided to go for "minority people" for the sensei band, I want him to be a model of tolerance. The scarf guy will be treated in a way which is not seen much I think. The scraf has struck me immediately as being a traditionnal kefyeh so I'm heading for an modern oreintal look for this one.
      Can't wait to see your band, I just love seeing the same model painted by various people.

      Thanks a lot.

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  4. Congratulations on the award - will you frame your 5 euro prize, or spend it like a kid in a sweet shop?

    Nice tip on the pustules BTW, I'll give that a go :)

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    1. Well, I'm still considering the question ^^
      I'm not a capitalist at heart so I'd rather have a pot of paint and a 2nd hand model ofr the price than a trophy I think !

      Thanks mate.

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  5. I think it's a fantastic achievement, even entering competitions takes cojones and winning one should be a cause for celebration and congratulations, so well done!

    Love the almost Aboriginal designs on Kaleb, that is the most interesting use of black and white I've seen on a model in years.

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    1. Thanks Paul, I have to say this is no strict competition though, It's only about showing what you did the month before and people at the store selct the most popular so there's no stress about it. I'll just present what I have painted for fun. Nothing comparable to spending hundreds of hours to rank 4th at a big competition.
      Hearing the guys looking at the display cabinet and commenting the models was priceless I have to say.

      The black and white patterns were inspired by DOn Hans I have to say but I ended up drawing them spontaneously like for automatic writing. I wanted it to be a bit weird and not overthought, I think it shows on the model.

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  6. Replies
    1. Thanks Matt, I should perhaps make a character card for him like the gorgeous ones you 've done lately!

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  7. Everytime I see that Rooster I smile, Mr. ALMan. It is no surprise to me that it won, how could it not? Nicely done.

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    1. Yep,n I have to say I don't tire of him either... I believe I could make him some companions ;)

      Thanks Private !

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  8. Well done old chap!

    Good tip about the pustules. Love the black & white on that horses ass.

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    1. Thanks Seán !
      For the pustules I strongly advise trying this on some Pcard first, the size of PVA glue drops and superglue drops can give life to countless different sort of textures but it's really easy (plu sI kinda like the mistery of how it will turn out).

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  9. Well done on the win!

    Life is in the details and details like that reinvigorate enthusiasm for the hobby. Good for you :)

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    1. Thank, I hope this energy helps me to turn this into finished projects posts rather than WIPs...

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  10. Congratulations! A very nice accomplishment. The way that Kaleb is turning out, you will have more winning months in the very near future- the black and white freehand design is fantastic!

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    1. Thanks a lot ! I hope to give a good balance to him, I have to add freehand patterns to some other place so that his arse is not the center of attention...

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  11. Congratulation on your price! What your mini have is uniqueness and great character so definetely a worthy winner.

    Great minis in your Sensei team and your deo-stick looks seriously evil. Another deo-stick vehicle that you probably have already seen: http://www.solegends.com/citrt/rtgravattack.htm

    /Hans

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    1. Rick Priestley's grav-atack is the alpha male of all del-stick models !
      Mine is merely a tribute to his grandness.

      Thanks Hans !

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    2. And I forgot the b/w freehand - did you do white on black?

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    3. Yep, I had not intended to make them this way , If I had panned them before, I would have gone black over white...

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    4. I think I promised some time ago to write down how I painted my shields...forgot all about it (sory)...anyway better late than never eh:
      - I start with a white base on the shield
      - Usually do a sketch of the main "elements" of the design on a paper
      - I draw a few of the main lines with a pencil on the shield
      - Then paint in the black with a high quality brush that holds quite a lot of color and have a very thin point. This is important as too small brush and the paint dries before to get the chance to apply it. I add more detail than in the sketch. Usually deviate from the sketch as the painting progress.
      - Last step is "optional". Add one layer of details in white and one last one in black. Sometimes needed for corrections and sometimes to add more complexity.

      Cheers/Hans

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    5. I think I'll try this method soon, I want to develop a more "planned" approach rather than the "instinctive" one I've been using so far. This will prove usefule, thanks a lot !

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  12. Nice work! Congratulations on some really nice work. I think I want one of those roosters too...off to ebay methinks...

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    1. Thanks a lot !

      You can find them here actually :
      http://www.schleich-s.com/fr/FR/Jouets/farm_life_poules_et_coqs/

      I bought mine in a gardening store. Beware those are rubber toys, ;)

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  13. Congratulations on the win, the rooster knight was very deserving. A lot of good projects coming along and a nice tip on the pustules.

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