Finding some motivation and a paint revolution……

 My biggest issue with my hobby isn’t actually doing it, rather than finding the motivation to keep doing creative/artistic side when I don’t have the chance to do anything with the things I create. I’ve realised (thanks pandemic) that I really need the gaming side to drive my focus and give all the time I waste a purpose. Whilst I do play games solo they lack the needed social interaction and are never as fun or unpredictable as against an opponent .

I’ve recently started trying to get to the point of being able to attend either my original club I used to attend and/or the local one I’d just discovered. The problem is I need to have something finished and ready (including terrain/both forces) as the games I want to play are often in very different scales to most peoples collections. My Star Wars 15mm should be perfect for this but I ran into the classic issue of painting all that white. The first Stormtrooper I did was okay but it was using a range of whites including GW’s latest non contrast (I have the contrast but haven’t got on very well with them past doing fur so ignore them on principal) and it became obvious 40 odd repetitions of this process would be draining. Luckily I then ran into a solution.

I’ve only been to a few hobby events post C19 but nearly every time I’ve been anywhere I’d come away with 3 or 4 new paints - specifically from Monument Hobbies Pro Acryl range. Amongst the first ones that I bought was their white, light blue and orange (initially with the intention of repainting my dwarf Bloodbowl team that had sadly been damaged and helping with the Stormtrooper issue). The paint pots are excellent, although a little messy, and the addition of mixing balls is nice. The paint itself seems to be very smooth and easy to use and after a few experiments I realised I’d be replacing the aging GW paints in my arsenal with Pro Acryl as they’d work well with the Vallejos I intend to keep.

Monument Hobbies then came out with a range of additives for painting (nothing new here as I know about adding things to paint) but I was quite intrigued, after watching some of the less irritating YouTube channels, by a couple of their products: Glaze and Wash medium & Newsh. 

Glaze and wash medium seemed to offer an impossible solution to painters needs. I’ll be honest I don’t like contrast paints. I haven’t seen much contrast paint work that didn’t look like just that - which is fine if you just want to get the pieces painted but doesn’t push my aesthetic buttons personally. Glaze and wash (G&W from here) allows the same bottle to transform your normal paint range into both a contrast like glaze effect and a wash. Just choose your acrylic paint colour (* paint choice will matter - see below) and add a few drops of G&W to make a very smooth contrast like experience that leaves a better finish. You can repeat the same process but add some water to make a wash from any colour you own. 

Now I’ve only really tried G&W with Pro Acryl paints and I suspect that the quality of paint will probably really matter here. Monument hobbies paints are in my experience amazing: the pigmentation is dense and well dispersed (making any painter using them better straight away) you may have problems with other paints (especially if they decided to commit hari kari GW style) but it’s worth experimenting as I added a few drops of G&W to some Vallejo gold that was a little thick and it made it buttery. Most vallejos won’t need it but I may add it to nearly any other paint I use from now on. Maybe it can even rescue old GW paints……………..

Newsh is a weathering medium that I haven’t yet used but do own. The theory is you mix it with a chosen colour (like G&W) and apply it very heavily - think the ‘one thick coat’ GW originally claimed for contrast. Leave it for a little while and then remove from raised surfaces with make up sponges or Swedish paper towels. Ta-da instant panel lining and weathering. This sounds great as I had a spray that did this and was very useful for 15mm vehicles and I’d been struggling to find a solution. I’ll report back on this when I have experience but if G&W is anything to go on I bet it’ll be useful and I can use it to make oil or moss effects……..

There’s a couple of videos by Monument Hobbies on YouTube here covering everything you’ll need to know, the Glaze and wash video (seems a little long but) is worth watching closely for the effects it can generate. 

I went back to club (for the first time since C19) and was shocked. Battletech is a thing again. I had a weird flashback of being little and piloting stumpy cardboard standees of doom. Then I remembered the plastic box set I had and wondered briefly about what had happened to them (I know generally just not where they went). It was pretty cool to see that Catalyst Labs had really bought it back. I started to develop the urge to paint some mechs. 

I badgered one of the regulars for an unpainted mech and he obligingly delved into his collection. Collection doesn’t do it justice though; he had oodles of mechs, many bought into existence well after I last piloted a hunchback and totally unknown to me. They were also all painted. Every single one, each resplendent in their own unique paint schemes without a single repetition (hobby envy).

He eventually found one unpainted mech and very kindly allowed me to spirit it away and paint it in his chosen scheme (which just happened to be white - something that had annoyed and alluded me before). Luckily I find painting for others easier (as I have to get it done) and this particular scheme would allow me to try out my new G&W and (paint a mech without spending loads on tiny robots) help me get over my issues with white paint. The mech is a Mackie which is one of if not the original mechs and I’d imagine quite rubbish. The owner wanted it painted up in an Apollo 11 moon landing style to a tabletop standard.

I cleaned the model (hard going - plastic, one piece so fiddly and easy to miss: maybe embrace the few mould lines that’ll inevitably sneak through as they are nice game pieces not models), did some base detailing and sprayed it first black (colour forge - amazing, try them) then gave it a zenithal with light grey (colour forge). 

I used Pro Acryl (PA) Black wash and washed the whole thing to add definition making it all a dirty grey with nice dark recesses. For the white I put two or three drops of Titanium white (PA) into a palette dish and added for or five drops of G&W. Mixed it with an old brush (need to buy more of these…) and attacked the model. The mixture should pull cleanly when tested on the old hand palette leaving a consistent stroke of semi translucent paint. Quick coat over an area and let it dry. Redo any shading or shadow you want to define (with white you need to do the shadows first). Apply a second coat of the white. That may be enough. Over a dark grey. I’m not saying the pictured mech is perfect either. It was a rushed job that went well. I wasn’t well and continually twitched/shook and had to repair and repaint (especially doing the black bits) previous parts, I painted too many coats of white in places and yet it’s still not chalky (and of course I missed mould lines). G&W seems to be a very useful thing indeed.

I should have taken during photos but I’d spent the week it was in my possession feeling awful and dealing with other things. Club was suddenly tomorrow so I quickly base coated the model and then painted it during the next afternoon, returning it to the owner at club that evening. I’d intended to add some orange stripes and decals to increase the Apollo feel but I think he was pleased with the result.

 It’s made me want to paint more mechs (and maybe even changed how I’m going to approach painting). I also met some excellent, and previously unknown to me, members that happen to play games I’m actually interested in (Tomorrows War/VBCW) and I’ve suddenly been enthused - let’s hope it lasts.

Whilst nice weather is here I intend to tackle some of my painting backlog and a few postal arrivals have helped bump my Bloodbowl dwarves up that list. I received my reusable skill tabs from Mark Latham’s Kickstarter - they’re excellent I’ll put some pics up soon. I also received this exciting package yesterday…

It settles flat after a few minutes. I’d like to add some stencilling if I can decide what.

Hearthforge’s idea is you dig through the beautifully done grid of static grass to create wear and then add a product they produce (a rubbery mix) to represent soil. Fun.

Behold my Pro Turf Bloodbowl pitch by Tim at Hearthforge miniatures. It’s on 9 or 10mm thick rubber that (takes a while to settle down) rolls up and can be customised with aggressive poking. I have plans to add wear and some stencils. It’s a lovely thing and whilst I’m not a big fan of the exact grass colours (why reds - I blame GW) I really love it and I’m going to add more varied plant life to it in the near future (and maybe some stones).

Thank you for taking the time to read this (I know people don’t like to read without being given a timescale). For the few people that do and are kind enough to comment please don’t be offended but for some reason I can’t respond to comments here currently (I don’t know whether this is the iPad or program related).

Stay safe,

Balm