Vallejo Metallic Liquid.

Vallejo Metallic Liquid.

Find these. Find these and buy them. They are beyond stunning. They are mind-blowingly good... I hope to have a few photos up tomorrow, but these paints make me want to play Necrons so I can paint with them...

If you're in New Zealand: Slave to Painting has the full range. They cannot ship them overseas though, because of hazardous shipping stuff. But Find Them!

Seriously?

Mark the day folks. Today is the day that GW lost me as a Space Marine collector... I mean ... Look at them?!

We interrupt this blog for a brief musical interlude...

This video is for those days when your desire to paint is low or nothing is working... Don't be afraid to smile when you watch it ^_^

Sunday Night Progress Report

So another week draws to a close... You know when you think there's only 52 of these in a year you realise how quickly they go... Anyway... Things done:

 - Finished a Squad: This is somewhat more momentous than most would leave to believe. I don't normally paint squads... I'm more of a one miniature kind of person... Don't ask me why... Anyway, this squad is the start of my Blood Angel army... It's going to be a long term process, and no doubt I'll get bored here and there and then move on to something else... Oh well ^_^

Burn everything!

 - Prepped Death Company: I don't know how but I've lost one of them... The bastard did a runner! ARGH! How do you lose a miniature between undercoating and your painting room?! Gah... I blame my cat... Little devil... ANYWAY! Prepped them and they're ready for painting.

 - Prepped Space Hulk Replacement Mini: Another of my long term plans is my replacement Space Hulk Inquisitor Warband... I'm on to my assault cannon replacement... I can't remember what it was called... but here's the image

Second from the left...

So, what's my motivation level like?

Actually, it's pretty good. I was happy to finally get around to finishing off the squad, but unlike what I normally do when I finish something (Which is take a long break), I kept going with the prep work. I'm not sure which I'll start with, might be both at the same time...

Blood Angel Assault Squad

Finally got around to finishing the marine off. Yay first half squad finished... I have no idea how long it'll take to paint me an army... But there ya go... ^_^

Might take a few individual shots of the marines... Most of them are floating around anyway. The only difference the keen of eye will notice is that I've rebased everything. I just clicked that Secret Weapon Miniatures no longer makes the straight edged bases I originally used... Doh... As I have no idea what will get discontinued next and these guys are going to be a longer term thing I figured I'd just make them myself... ^_^

Sunday Night Check-in

So it's been about five weeks since I took up the brush again , and things are going well. I'm still wanting to paint, and that's a good thing. I think part of it is having a dedicated time to paint at night, it makes me want to go and paint... Also having a multitude of things ready for painting at once is a pretty good idea. I've got my Blood Angels which is an ongoing project, also my re-imagined Mordheim witch-hunter warband, plus my Firestorm Armada fleet going at the same time. I've also got a chaos thing... Not quite sure what it is, I've thrown out the box... Whoops... Rather than feel over-whelmed at the scope of everything it's nice to have different array of miniatures with different feels to them going at the same time. 

In other good news category I've found my recipe book with the colours I use for certain things. I thought I had the right recipe for my firestone gems, but I had it all wrong. Might have to put some of them up here to help me remember... Also in the good news category I found a some of the miniature prizes I'd won in painting competitions. I have a lot more vehicles than I thought... Hehehe...

Critical Feedback - The best way to lose friends?

This post is going to sound a little stuck-up on my part. Why? Because I’m going to talk about people that paint who aren't very good. I am not talking about any one in particular, this is a generalization brought about through forum reading and interaction with other people… Now that I've done the disclaimer, let’s head to the heart of the matter. What do you do when someone posts a miniature and asks for feedback when said miniature is terrible to behold? Do you rip it apart? Do you focus on what they've done well? Do you lie and say it looks pretty good? Do you just not comment?

Yes... It looks great... 

I’m someone who likes feedback when I post stuff, critical feedback is even better. Especially when it highlights exactly what I've shanked, and possible new ideas or a different approach I should have tried or can try next time. Now, I don’t count my work as great, I count it as table-top, maybe highish table-top, but far removed from lots and lots and lots of painters who I really look up to, and have been nice enough to help me out with advice and really good critical feedback from time to time… However it has become clear to me that some people who state they want feedback don’t want an honest appraisal of their work, they want to be told they haven’t wasted their time painting, they also want to be told that their work is great.

My first miniature... Drybrush away!

So knowing this what to do? Lie, tell the truth and earn scorn or ignore the post? I've done all three; I've told the bitter truth in an attempt to provide critical feedback which earned me contempt and even got me banned from a forum, I've lied through my teeth and told the person they’re work was really good, but maybe they wanted to focus on “small issues”, while this didn't earn me contempt (except from myself), it did leave someone with an over-inflated sense of their own ability, and right now all I do is ignore the question. It’s too much hassle and has very little chance of ending well (Both for them and me).

I look at this and cringe... But I painted it, so that's OK...

So what do you when you’re asked?