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Made in nl
Regular Dakkanaut





Netherlands

Hello! In this blog, I'm going to be painting lots of little men yellow. And tanks too. I've been doing so for a few months now and I've reached a steady pace where I feel I can keep a blog alive for a while.

I've tried that in the past (on various subjects) and failed tremendously We'll see how this one goes!

There is a lot I want to talk about here. About yellow and its particular horrors for the miniature painter. About salvaging a second-hand Space Marine army and smelling like Dettol for a week. About airbrushes and compressors and hobby space negotiations with the girlfriend. About returning to wargaming after half a decade and finding my beloved Old World erased. About getting a bunch of thirty-somethings around a table drinking beer and pushing toy soldiers around, because life may be different now but maybe not that different. About people who refuse to return their books. But mostly, it will be about yellow. Angry little yellow men in steadily growing numbers.

To start off with, have a picture of what's been done so far!




I have a yellow recipe I'm happy with and my basing sorted so it's time to crank up the production line. I'm hoping to maintain a rate of five Space Marines per week minimum. Yeah you laugh. This seems to be the maximum I can stand to batch paint and it takes me about two painting sessions (a good chunk of an evening each) to finish them. Here's where I am game-wise so far, with a 200 points Heralds of Ruin kill team painted and ready to roll:



Oh, right! Bases. I need to get back to those, it's game night tomorrow. See you next post

This message was edited 25 times. Last update was at 2018/05/10 20:49:35


   
Made in gb
Steady Space Marine Vet Sergeant




England

Awesome scheme mate! Don't worry about your model output, 5 is a perfectly reasonable number to batch paint (that's the number I paint Marines at as well).

The yellow is fantastic, mind sharing the recipe?

If you can't believe in yourself, believe in me! Believe in the Dakka who believes in you!  
   
Made in nl
Regular Dakkanaut





Netherlands

 WarbossDakka wrote:
Awesome scheme mate! Don't worry about your model output, 5 is a perfectly reasonable number to batch paint (that's the number I paint Marines at as well).

The yellow is fantastic, mind sharing the recipe?


Thanks!

I'll do a step-by-step on the recipe later (with pictures) but it's quite simple:

- Bone/sand-colored undercoat
- Yriel Yellow basecoat
- Seraphim Sepia all-over wash
- Heavy drybrush of Yriel Yellow
- Lighter drybrush of Vallejo Deep Yellow
- Line highlight of Vallejo Buff



What really makes it manageable for me is the Yriel Yellow basecoat as I apply it with an airbrush. No five thin coats brushed on, just a quick pass or two for a smooth and complete cover!

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/04/04 22:05:58


   
Made in nl
Regular Dakkanaut





Netherlands

So, game night! To ease back into wargaming, I've joined a Heralds of Ruin Kill Team campaign along with friends old and new. We're playing warm-up games as everyone is getting their forces together. The real campaign is supposed to kick off in a couple of weeks. I'm cool either way - I've got models on the table and I'm rolling dice!


The Codicier and his band of Space Marines looking to reclaim the Emperor's misplaced literature. Nobody ever returns their books!


This night I went up against Steve and his Eldar. He had a list of Howling Banshees led by an Exarch and supported by a War Walker. Things started off well enough with the heavy bolter taking down the War Walker (thank you Tank Hunter special rule) after weathering all of its fire (thank you Power Armor). After that I figured I'd charge my Assault Marines into his Banshees. Kill 'em dead!


Join the Marines, they said.


So, AP3 power swords happened and that was over real quick. The Fists fell back and did what they do best - sit on something and throw out bolter rounds! In this case it was, fittingly, a ruined Imperial aquila. The Fists made their stand and they woiuld not be shifted.


Dakkadakkadakka!


In the end we both dipped below half strength and started taking Rout tests. I was the first to fail one and the game went to Steve! Well played to him and a lesson learned for me.


I'm happy with my little Kill Team and looking forward to more games with them. I'm also looking forward to finishing them as I have just received the required decals in the mail! After that it's on to the next bunch - five more tactical marines to complete a ten-man tactical squad. This will include a plasma gunner and a sergeant with combi-plasma, so I get to paint some cool glowy guns too. The eagle-eyed among you may have already seen their Rhino in the background. That's finished too and I'm really happy with how it turned out! The airbrush also made painting this Rhino a breeze and as soon as I paint the next one I'll do a step-by-step on that too.


Vroom!

See you next time!

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/03/16 17:57:11


   
Made in gb
Steady Space Marine Vet Sergeant




England

Looked like a fun game! Nice work on the Rhino too, good edge highlight practice.

If you can't believe in yourself, believe in me! Believe in the Dakka who believes in you!  
   
Made in nl
Regular Dakkanaut





Netherlands

The next batch is in the works! I'm expanding the five Tactical Marines into a full squad by adding three more Marines with boltguns, one with a plasma gun and a Sergeant with a combi-plasma. This is the take-on-all-comers tactical squad I'm building my army around. They have the dakka to deal with most light to medium infantry, plasma to keep heavy infantry honest and a heavy bolter for extra oomph. Anti-tank and such will be provided by specialised support units.

I start by selecting a bunch of mongrels from the box. Did I mention I'm working off a second-hand ebay lot? Stripping them of their awful paintjobs took ages and will be the subject of a different post. You can tell that paint residue remains in various degrees on these models, depending on what type of cheap primer the previous owner abused them with. No worries: after a fresh coat of paint they'll look like new! I lay out the parts I want to use and then grab my trusty hobby knife and the pink bottle of UHU-plast that has been with me for about fifteen years. Does plastic glue ever go bad?




Then it's on to slicing and dicing. In the process I decided to put a different pair of arms on both the plasma gunner and the sergeant. You know, because of reasons. I found a studded shoulder pad for the boss and worked him into a suitably aggressive pose. The marines were assembled non-firing because their completed brothers are all firing. When they're all together the squad should have a nice mixed appearance.




When basing became more than "flock it and paint the edges green", a wonderful world of miniature landscaping was opened up for me. Over the years I've used all kinds of exotic materials to make my toys look pretty. Nowadays I go easy on myself and use ready-made products. In this case it's AK Interactive's endearingly straightforwardly named "neutral texture for earth". Similar products are available from Vallejo and GW. The nice thing about this stuff is that it can be thinned with water. I use a plastic bottle cap as a disposable little mixing pot. Always save those caps! It encourages you to drink more water too. See, wargaming is good for you




I like to apply basing materials before udercoating. The undercoat helps it set and gives it a solid colour to work from. With the AK Interactive stuff it's not really necessary as it is already well mixed with its gel carrier, but I've also used sand and other loose materials over PVA glue and found the added strength of the undercoat to be most welcome!




After a thin coat of texture, I use the stuff straight from the tub to build it up. I work the thick globs into the still-wet thin base layer. This goes on super easy and quick and it will look amazing once painted.




Now the texture paste just needs to dry and it's on to undercoating!

   
Made in au
Unstoppable Bloodthirster of Khorne





Melbourne .au

Nice work on these guys. The yellow you're using looks great!

   
Made in nl
Regular Dakkanaut





Netherlands

 Azazelx wrote:
Nice work on these guys. The yellow you're using looks great!


Thanks! They might like to have a word with those Iron Warriors of yours

   
Made in nl
Regular Dakkanaut





Netherlands

So I had the day off today. After shopping for groceries, assembling the new shoe cabinet and preparing tonight's roulade (sorry ladies, I'm taken) I had a few hours to spend on the next batch of Marines! With them all assembled and ready to go, I start by priming them. For this I mount them on a paint stirrer with a strip of double-sided tape. I got the stirrers for free at the hardware store where I bought the tape. Being Dutch, I also cut the tape in half lengthwise so I get twice the mileage out of it.






Then it's outside for the application of Army Painter's Skeleton Bone color primer.






The mongrels clean up real nice with a smooth coat of primer. On to the painting table then. Yellow, as any painter will tell you, is awful to work with. It doesn't cover, it leaves brush strokes, it's contaminated by even the hint of a different color in your water jug... My chosen yellow is Games Workshop's Yriel Yellow. This is especially bad because it is a layer paint, which is GWs thinner, more translucent formula. Applying it as a basecoat with a brush would take as many as four layers to get a smooth, even finish with good coverage. Part of this is helped by the bone-colored primer. The rest is done by my newest friend, Mr. Airbrush! As a layer paint, Yriel Yellow is actually pretty good for airbrush work once thinned down properly and with the aid of a few drops of Vallejo Airbrush Flow Improver.




After the basecoat I wash them all over with GWs Seraphim Sepia. This dirties up the yellow considerably. I'll blend that down in the following steps but it will always show through. It's the effect that I'm after as I like my Imperial Fists to look a little gimy and worn. If you want a cleaner yellow, apply the wash with precision, brushing it into the recesses carefully and avoiding the flat areas.




To bring the color back up, I apply a hefty drybrush of Yriel Yellow. While drybrushing I take care to move 'against the grain' of any detail. I don't want the bristles to get in between armor plates or joints and mess up the nice sepia wash.




Finally I drybrush Vallejo Deep Yellow over more lightly as a first highlight. This completes the yellow recipe for now. I'll do a line highlight later on to really make it pop.




With the yellow base color completed it's time to block in the other colors and then move on to detailing and highlighting (with copious amounts of correcting in between). That will be the subject of next post!

   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut






Very nice and a potential solution to some problems. How much paint do you get from a GW airbrush paint compared to a Vallejo one may I ask? They are more expensive by ml but what about things like how watery and such things?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/03/20 18:44:11


 Coenus Scaldingus wrote:
In my day, you didn't recognize the greatest heroes of humanity because they had to ride the biggest creatures or be massive in size themselves. No, they had the most magnificent facial hair! If it was good enough for Kurt Helborg and Ludwig Schwarzhelm, it should be good enough for anyone!
 
   
Made in nl
Regular Dakkanaut





Netherlands

I couldn't tell you exact numbers but I reckon the layer paint gets diluted with about 25% water and a few drops of flow improver to make it airbrush-ready. Frankly, compared to the cost of the miniatures I'm not too fussed about paying a few pennies more for a color I want

   
Made in pt
Longtime Dakkanaut





Portugal

Loving the painted minis and the banter You have made me smile quite a few times while reading this, thank you

"Fear is freedom! Subjugation is liberation! Contradiction is truth! These are the truths of this world! Surrender to these truths, you pigs in human clothing!" - Satsuki Kiryuin, Kill la Kill 
   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut






 General Helstrom wrote:
I couldn't tell you exact numbers but I reckon the layer paint gets diluted with about 25% water and a few drops of flow improver to make it airbrush-ready. Frankly, compared to the cost of the miniatures I'm not too fussed about paying a few pennies more for a color I want

Sounds not bad. Another big advantage is that you can open the lid on a GW airpaint. Since it is difficult to judge how much you need, I can often use too much Vallejo and have to dispose of it, plus it can be harder to tell when you are going to run out. Additionally, running out half way through an undercoating session is a bit more annoying than running out of a typical paint, so it is good that I can get GW airbrush paint in a local shop rather than having to order Vallejo online.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/03/21 14:46:08


 Coenus Scaldingus wrote:
In my day, you didn't recognize the greatest heroes of humanity because they had to ride the biggest creatures or be massive in size themselves. No, they had the most magnificent facial hair! If it was good enough for Kurt Helborg and Ludwig Schwarzhelm, it should be good enough for anyone!
 
   
Made in nl
Regular Dakkanaut





Netherlands

 TheDraconicLord wrote:
Loving the painted minis and the banter You have made me smile quite a few times while reading this, thank you


Happy to hear that! I aim to please


 Samsonov wrote:
 General Helstrom wrote:
I couldn't tell you exact numbers but I reckon the layer paint gets diluted with about 25% water and a few drops of flow improver to make it airbrush-ready. Frankly, compared to the cost of the miniatures I'm not too fussed about paying a few pennies more for a color I want

Sounds not bad. Another big advantage is that you can open the lid on a GW airpaint. Since it is difficult to judge how much you need, I can often use too much Vallejo and have to dispose of it, plus it can be harder to tell when you are going to run out. Additionally, running out half way through an undercoating session is a bit more annoying than running out of a typical paint, so it is good that I can get GW airbrush paint in a local shop rather than having to order Vallejo online.


Yeah it's cool, just takes a little getting used to to get the right consistency. As they say, it should be like milk!

You can actually open the Vallejo dropper bottles if you really want to - the dropper tip can pop right out. This usually happens by accident when you let some paint dry in the tip and you try to force it out by squeezing instead of being sensible. Ahem. I've ordered up a few dozen empty dropper bottles from China and plan to transfer my GW paints to them. They're a lot easier to work with I find. You could probably pre-thin a pot of GW paint in a dropper bottle and have it ready to go, now that I think about it.

   
Made in nl
Regular Dakkanaut





Netherlands

Where were we? Ah yes, the mongrels were all yellowed up. Time to work on the details. In this case I begin with the metal parts, giving them a coat of boltgun metal (yes, boltgun metal - it's even in the old hexagonal bottle with the black flip top). I do this because when possible I like to work "inside out" with my paints. That basically means starting at the skin of the figure, then working my way outward: skin > clothes > armor > decorations, for example. This is because I find it easier to paint things over an already painted area, rather than trying to squeeze my brush "under" the higher details. If that makes sense. If not - well this is the way I do it.




After the metallic it's on to trim and details. I take care to rinse all my water after using metallics because that glitter gets everywhere. If you've ever been to a strip club you'll know what I mean. At this point I used Vallejo Black for the shoulder pad trim, chest eagles and weapons casings, Vallejo Flat Red for the purity seal wax and the sergeant's helmet, and Vallejo Buff for the purity seal streamers. I then washed the metal with GW Nuln Oil, the red with GW Carroburg Crimson and the purity seal streamers with GW Seraphim Sepia.




The most time-consuming part after blocking in the trim and detail colors is edge highlighting. I use Vallejo Buff on the yellow armor to create a sharp highlight. On the red helmet I mix Vallejo Buff and Flat Red first (using buff keeps it from turning pink too quickly) and apply it liberally to the raised areas. Then I take Vallejo Flat Flesh and carefully highlight the topmost edges. On the black areas I smear quite a lot of one of my abdsolute favorite paints: Vallejo German Grey. It's almost as awesome as GW's old Flesh Wash, though that was more due to the smell. I digress. I put on quite a lot of German Grey and then do the fine edges in Vallejo Light Grey. I also go back and smooth out the purity seal streamers a little with Buff. At this point I also decide to paint the sergeant's knee cap white, which I will do over a Light Grey basecoat.




Now we get to the last details. I do the eye lenses in blue. To achieve this I first paint them pure white, then apply a thinned down GW Lothern Blue as a wash. Easy if you have a steady hand! Me, I have to clean up afterwards with buff and yellow again. Such is life. The plasma coils I paint Vallejo Flat Blue and then drag a semi-dry brush across the ridges to lighten up the color, starting with Lothern Blue, then about 50/50 Lothern Blue and white, and then finally some pure white on the corner edges. It's like drybrushing but not quite as dry to avoid the chalky, dusty look you'd get normally. The sergeant's kneecap gets a nice smooth coat of white. These final touches mark the end of major painting operations.






We ain't done yet, of course. The finishing touch to these Marines will be the bases and transfers. Because that involves a lot of handling the model itself instead of holding it by the base, I give them a blast of matte varnish at this stage. We'll get to the finished touches next post!

   
Made in gb
Pious Palatine






These be some really nice looking IF!

EDC
   
Made in nl
Regular Dakkanaut





Netherlands

Let's get these bad boys finished up! That means doing the bases and decals. For reasons of logistics I'm doing them in that order - the decals came in late from the printer. Normally I would do those first and the bases last to prevent any problems with static grass getting into all kinds of uncomfortable places. No biggie, just have to be a bit more careful during the decal stage.

Because the basing material has already been applied during assembly and has been coated by both the undercoat spray and the basecoat airbrush, it's perfectly prepared for its first coat for Vallejo Light Grey. Not much coverage is needed so I thin the paint down quite a lot at this stage. It's also an excuse to get a little sloppy after all that precise highlighting work!




I then smother the whole base in GW Agrax Earthshade (is there anything Agrax can't do?), drybrush the texture with Vallejo Buff and again with Vallejo White over the very tops to give a good strong contrast. I then finish up the base rims with Vallejo German Grey for a tight look. I'm considering changing the rims to a really dark brown, but I'm not sure about that yet. I have Vallejo Scorched Brown on the way for trials.






With the texture done, I put some PVA/wood glue in my palette. I know, I should have used a bottle cap for this. It's OK. Sometimes my brain just gets stupid like that. A simple toothpick is the perfect tool to put small amounts of glue under the tufts of MiniNatur Early Fall Grass, a two-tone tuft of light brown over green that looks really nice on a grey base. I aim for two or three tufts of different sizes per base.






And Bob's your uncle! The wood glue needs some time to really dry properly and the tufts tend to shed a few strands over time, so I leave them alone for a few hours and then hit them up with the old spray varnish. Now on to decals.

Decals take a little getting used to. In fact I messed up quite a few of them as it had been a long time since I last did this. Fortunately, with the right tools and a bit of trial and error, it quickly becomes pretty straightforward. First of all I prepare the surface areas (the shoulder pads, but also some greaves, kneepads etc) with some slightly thinned Vallejo Gloss Varnish. This creates a great surface for the decals to adhere to and prevents tiny air bubbles from messing things up. See that bottle cap? That would have been the correct way to set up the PVA/wood glue too.




The black squad markings aren't made by GW or Forgeworld anymore. Apparently everyone plays Ultramarines these days I whipped up these squad markings in a word processor, saved them as a PDF and - after a few test prints at hom to check the size - sent them off to a friendly print shop which does waterslide decal work. They came out really nice and the film quality is great. Here you see me cutting them out in individual markings and putting the first batch of Imperial Fist markings on a wet piece of kitchen towel to soak. I find this is a great way to soak a large number of decals at once while keeping control over where they go and which side is up!






Micro Set and Micro Sol are the go-to products for decal application and with good reason: they're great. I brush Micro Set onto the surface, slide the decal on, position it using either the brush or the tip of my hobby knife and then let it dry. After that it's coat after coat of Micro Sol to make the decal adhere to the compound curve of the shoulder pad. On simpler surface shapes it takes only one coat. These are solvents so they need to be used with care. They will soften acrylics when you use too much of the stuff for too long without letting it dry in between. And if you're a brush licker like me, just let me say - yuck.




Why put myself and my angry little yellow men through that? Well, because the results after drying and a final coat of matte varnish are awesome. The decal film has completely melted into the varnish coat and become invisible, especially after the matte coat as the close-ups below demonstrate.








With all that done, the models are now truly completed! I've joined them with the other half of their squad and their Rhino for a final group shot. This week's target has been achieved! Next week I want to paint up a squad of five Devastators with Heavy Bolters because they just mesh so very well with Imperial Fists chapter tactics. I have a big box full of goodies on the way, including a second Rhino/Razorback, a pair of Land Speeders and some more Devastators. Also, replacement hobby knife blades and superglue. Good times.




Thanks for all the comments, see you next week!

   
Made in us
Damsel of the Lady





drinking tea in the snow

That was really really neat, and also very helpful!

realism is a lie
 
   
Made in nl
Regular Dakkanaut





Netherlands

 amazingturtles wrote:
That was really really neat, and also very helpful!


That's great to hear, thanks! What did you find helpful? And is there anything else you'd like to know more about? With the big how-to done I need new subjects to write about

   
Made in nl
Regular Dakkanaut





Netherlands

Quick update! First of all, another game night and possibly the first real game in the Kill Team campaign (there's some confusion as to the organization). I played against Erik and his Khorne Daemonkin. He brought a pair of Cultist squads to the table, four Flesh Hounds and a Bloodletter as his leader. The Fists got into the swing of things, with the tactical marines quickly finding a crater to hole up in and the assault marines swinging around the flank. This resulted in the Flesh Hounds getting blown to bits and then chopped to finer bits while supportnig las fire from the cultists plinked harmlessly off the ceramite power armor. The bloodletter got into combat and cut down one assault marine, leaving himself exposed to the full fury of my team's bolter fire. That and the Librarian's Smite power took care of him. With no more leader to summon from, the team moved in to mop up the last squad of cultists in close combat. Their chainswords turned to rubber and it took them three rounds of combat to get it done. Still, my team suffered no more casualties and the Khorne team was almost completely wiped out. Victory to the Imperial Fists!


Did somebody order some dakka?



With a side dish of whoop-ass.


To fulfill my ambition of painting five marines per week, I prepped the following Devastator squad. They're about to get their basing material added and then it's on to priming.


Did somebody order even more dakka?


I have plenty of time this week to work on them, so there's another finished squad to look forward to!

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/03/29 15:55:17


   
Made in nl
Regular Dakkanaut





Netherlands

And done!



With four heavy bolters, this devastator squad makes use of two Imperial Fist chapter tactics rules: the re-rolls to hit for bolter weapons, and the Tank Hunters special rule for devastators. I'm banking on those bonuses to make the somewhat lackluster Heavy Bolter a thing of dread for light and medium infantry as well as light vehicles. This, I hope, should make these devastators excellent backfield defenders.

   
Made in gb
Steady Space Marine Vet Sergeant




England

That tutorial you did is pretty handy, specifically the decal section. They were always a pain, so I'll have to try them out. Thanks!

If you can't believe in yourself, believe in me! Believe in the Dakka who believes in you!  
   
Made in nl
Regular Dakkanaut





Netherlands

 WarbossDakka wrote:
That tutorial you did is pretty handy, specifically the decal section. They were always a pain, so I'll have to try them out. Thanks!


You're welcome, hope it helps!

One tip: don't let the decals soak on the paper towel for too long or the glue may become too diluted. I try to have no more than about five decals soaking at any one time.

   
Made in gb
Steady Space Marine Vet Sergeant




England

Aha, I'm usually too impatient to leave them for that long. Thanks for that tip though!

If you can't believe in yourself, believe in me! Believe in the Dakka who believes in you!  
   
Made in gb
Storm Trooper with Maglight





Bath uk

Great Plog, love me some imperial fists.
very helpful tutorial on yellow too, I may start a small yellow SM Force at some point in the far future.

RIP Colour Sgt Kell. Forever in our hearts.
Click below for plenty guardsmen

Cadian 404th "The Lost Boys" P&M blog

Tutorial:How to make IG packs
 
   
Made in gb
Arch Magos w/ 4 Meg of RAM





These are some lovely looking Imperial Fists! Are you painting another 5 this week too?

Bye bye Dakkadakka, happy hobbying! I really enjoyed my time on here. Opinions were always my own :-) 
   
Made in nl
Regular Dakkanaut





Netherlands

 STG wrote:
Great Plog, love me some imperial fists.
very helpful tutorial on yellow too, I may start a small yellow SM Force at some point in the far future.


Thanks! The yellow is a lot less trouble than I thought at first, especially if you're not too fussy about correcting mistakes. I tend to just dab then away with a wet brush as much as possible, then paint over it with Buff, Yriel Yellow and a bit of Seraphin Sepia. The color difference is noticeable up close but it really disappears into the detail of the miniature at even half an arm's length.


 Bottle wrote:
These are some lovely looking Imperial Fists! Are you painting another 5 this week too?


Thanks! And yes, that's the plan. I have models on order to build my force out to 1,000 points but for now it'll be more tactical marines. Once the other miniatures are in I think I'll alternate between five marines one week and something special (like a vehicle) the other, just to keep things interesting.

   
Made in nl
Regular Dakkanaut





Netherlands

I have a half-dozen new marines in the pipeline this week. As cool as that is (because that's six instead of five!), I've already shown how my process works on those. This time I'd like to talk about something else: hobby space!

When I 'seriously' got back into wargaming a while back, I'd been out of the loop for half a decade. My paints and brushes were in a box, my miniatures were in another, my bitz in yet another. In fact a large portion of my 40K bitz are still unaccounted for. I had part of an Imperial Guard army painted, a bunch of Terminators for a project that never got off the ground and some unpainted WFB Empire stuff. I sold off most of this junk and started setting aside a monthly sum of money to invest in new miniatures and gear. I also claimed part of the dining/gaming table for my painting and modeling, with the rest of the table going towards my girlfriend's crafts. That ended up looking something like this:




As far as hobby stations go, this is functional but only barely. In fact there's a lot wrong with it. To begin with, the one lamp (a bright and hot halogen desk lamp) is shared between both users. I have all my brushes and tools stuffed into one glass so I can slice open my fingers on my hobby knife when I'm fishing for the drill bits at the bottom. There's no good place for my airbrush stuff and there's no elbow room! So with my first self-assigned hobby allowance in hand I went over to IKEA to do some shopping. This is the result:




That is much better. First of all it's a dedicated space that doesn't need to be cleared out any time we have people over for dinner and/or boardgames. It's all mine! Of course it took a little negotiating with the girlfriend but fortunately, she's super cool and we actually paint our set of Imperial Assault minis together. Count me blessed On the practical side, it has a nice allotment of space without being huge, it has not one but two desk lamps with nice cool LED bulbs, I doubled my tool storage space through the crafty addition of a second glass and I got my airbrush set up properly. Off photo to the right is a small desktop cabinet with drawer space for paints, basing materials, decals and solvents and the other bric-à-brac that comes with the hobby. Sorted!

Then I knocked over a glass of dirty water which went into the power strip underneath my hobby station, causing a short-circuit and staining the floor in an odd blackish-brownish-purple color that took me ages to clean off. Ho-hum.

I decided I didn't really like my water glass anymore. There's a picture of it below. In the Netherlands, this is a common type of small beer glass. It's tall, light, and it even bulges out at the top so it's top-heavy. It's like it was designed to be easily knocked over! Now that I think about it, that would explain a lot of bar room spillage over the years. But I digress again. This monstrosity obviously would not do any longer. Alongside this water glass, I used two whisky glasses to hold the water for my airbrush (one clean for thinning and one dirty for dumping) and I figured I might as well replace those too. I have a bottle of Laphroaig that would see much better use of those glasses.






To the interwebs! For a hobby where people write page-length essays on which brand of toothpick is best for arranging static grass, there's a surprising dearth of material on how to store your water. I did find this article on the ever-amusing Massive Voodoo and I wholly recommend you give it read. Brush lickers beware! Anyway, I didn't really learn anything new and figured I'd just keep my eyes open for a while. And sure enough, casually cruising through a department store, I came across what I believe are the perfect water jugs for the clumsy hobbyist:




These are actually tea-light holders and they're cheap as chips. More importantly they are short, wide and heavy so they're pretty much impossible to topple by accident. They will hold enough water for my needs though I tend to refresh my water quite regularly anyway. I also decided to copy the practice of having two water jugs over to my regular brushwork, using one jug of dirty water for rinsing dirty brushes, and one of clean water for final rinsing and for thinning paints. This is the kind of hobby innovation that really makes my day! It's also what makes my girlfirend smile lovingly and say "that's nice, honey" with the sort of look you would give a child who has just found an oddly-shaped dog turd on the sidewalk.

Anyway, that's my setup and I'm pretty chuffed with it. It certainly helps not having any significant set-up or tear-down time and the double lighting is fantastic too. No more working in the shadow of my own hand!

This message was edited 5 times. Last update was at 2017/04/04 21:04:49


   
Made in gb
Storm Trooper with Maglight





Bath uk

A double lamp set up is something i've been looking at doing for a while. might jump in now!

RIP Colour Sgt Kell. Forever in our hearts.
Click below for plenty guardsmen

Cadian 404th "The Lost Boys" P&M blog

Tutorial:How to make IG packs
 
   
Made in gb
Pious Palatine






Cool looking stuff dude.

EDC
   
 
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