Caedrus

I’m in for 2020! Introducing Caedrus! Hi All! I’ve been a Malifaux player for about four years, but I’ve been painting (on and off) for about 25 years. I’m way better at buying miniatures than painting them, and the number of miniatures I have unpainted in my home would easily be in the thousands. I play, well, every Malifaux faction. Or at least, I could. I like experimenting with NMM (non-metal-metal) and OSL (Object Source Lighting), and I'm slowly getting better at it. I’m terrible at finishing miniatures! Making the final touches is always less exciting for me than putting the first drops of paint on that new, exciting, primed miniature in front of me! I paint way too slowly, and I’m super-judgemental of my own work! This year, I’m going to paint faster, use my airbrush more, and give some helpful advice! Caedrus

The 2020 Painting Challenge Rules The challenge starts on January 1st, 2020. Models count for the month in which you finish them. You can finish painting a model that you started before the beginning of the month. Everyone may fail to make their monthly goal twice and stay in the challenge. This is using a mulligan. You can choose to go down a pledge level during the year, but you cannot move up. A model is considered painted if it is (1) based (even glued onto a black base counts); (2) tournament legal. That means that if it's a translucent, based model, it counts automatically. If it is any opaque material, then the standard is: Every part of the miniature painted, and three colours minimum. The pledge categories are the following: Minion: you paint at least 1 soulstone worth of Malifaux miniatures each month Enforcer: you paint at least 6 soulstones worth of Malifaux miniatures each month Henchman: you paint at least 11 soulstones worth of Malifaux miniatures each month Master: you paint at least 16 soulstones worth of Malifaux miniatures each month Tyrant: you paint at least 31 soulstones worth of Malifaux miniatures each month Miniature Values: Malifaux Almost all models count as their Soulstone value; however Masters count for 15 soulstones. Zero cost models count for 5 soulstones. Proxies (constructed from Wyrd models) count for their proxy value. The Other Side Titans count for 25 soulstones. Commanders count for 15 soulstones. Adjunct models count for 5 soulstones. Otherwise: A 30mm base model is worth 5 soulstones. A 40mm base model is worth 7 soulstones. A 50mm base model is worth 10 soulstones. Terrain, Tokens, Markers and Boards Terrain is worth 5SS per 50mm base in area. Custom tokens are worth 5SS per 50mm base in area. A terrain board is worth 100 Soulstones. Proposed Ideas and Rules for 2020 So, all of us get sick, get busy, lose motivation. I was wondering if there was a way to buy your way back into the competition, if you had lost momentum. Or, indeed, if you wanted to join later in the year? Here’s an idea: The Buy-In If you are not part of the Challenge, from a late start, or having lost momentum and mulliganed out, you can buy your way back in with 50 points of Wyrd painting. What do you think? Is it a good idea, needs work, or just a bad idea? I’m not married to the idea, it’s just a thought. What do you think? Do you have an idea, or a suggestion about how to make the Challenge even better? Float your ideas right here!

Greetings, Fellow Painters! I’m Caedrus, and this year of 2019, I’ve had the very great pleasure of running the Wyrd Painting Challenge. It looks like I’ll be running it in 2020 as well, so the purpose of this thread is to let you know what’s going on, and to see if you want to take part! The painting challenge is a personal challenge. It’s motivation to paint that grey plastic, and to have some fun while you do so. The purpose of this challenge is for you, every month, to paint something for Malifaux or The Other Side (or anything else Wyrd!) It’s a place to show what you’ve been creating, to see what other people do, and how they do it. The community here at Wyrd is fantastic, and I can tell you that I have been inspired, taught, and motivated by the amazing people here. Here are the three simple principles of the Painting Challenge. Have fun. It’s not a competition. Be part of a great community. Every painter, regardless of your (perceived) skill level, is welcome here. This is a place where you can: Show your work; Give and receive useful, constructive critiques; Give and receive advice about painting, sculpting, scenery, basing, and anything miniature!; Give and receive motivation from the amazing people here. In the next few posts, I’ll be listing the 2020 Rules (as they stand at the moment!), and asking everyone if they feel there is anything that could or should be changed. Next, I’ll be putting my own name down for the introducing myself, and telling you what I personally want to achieve with my paintbrush in 2020. So, come and join us for the 2020 Painting Challenge! If you know a fellow painter that might want to take part, simply post here (preferably with an @Caedrus), with an “I’m in for 2020!” I’ll open the 2020 January Monthly Painting Challenge very soon, so that you can get ready for the New Year! I hope to see you in the New Year! Caedrus.

@Stranglelove: I think that Santana has to be one of my absolute favourite Wyrd models. I'm terrified to touch mine. Keen to see what you do!

For December, I pledge to paint at least one December model. My shelf of shame also includes two mounted guard, a Chompy, Envy, two Monster Hunters, a Latigo, and a Death Marshall. Keep putting pigment to plastic, painting people! Caedrus.

...and just like that, it was December. Wow, I'm having trouble believing we're that close to the end of 2019. This is the thread for the December 2019 Monthly Painting Challenge, our last one of the year! I’m Caedrus, and I have had the very great pleasure of being your host for 2019. Even though I'm in the Southern Hemisphere, getting ready for an Australian Summer, I know so many of you are getting ready for winter, snow, cocoa, and an inexplicable obsession with pumpkins! December's stones are the turquoise and tanzanite. Cold colours for a cold month! It's also the month that our Rasputina players enjoy so much! Last month, I asked all of you if you were happy for me to look after the challenge next year (or if anyone else wanted to undertake it), and I received some very kind support in asking me to look after it again. I'm pleased and honoured to do so, but I'm just the person putting numbers into a spreadsheet! This challenge belongs to all of us, and so if there's a thing that we can do better, speak up! Just a reminder to update your November pledge, and always remember an "@Caedrus"! I'll be starting another thread soon, where I will be inviting painters to take part in the 2020 Challenge. If you have friends interested in taking part in the challenge, please let them know! For those already reading this - please do join in on the adventures! The link to the painter spreadsheet is here, and I'll continue updating soon! The 2019 Wyrd Monthly Painting Challenge is all about: Having fun painting! Motivating yourself, and encouraging others. Being part of a great, friendly community. Giving and receiving constructive advice. And, finally: Getting some pigment onto plastic! This is not a competition in any way. The pledge categories are the following: Minion: you paint at least 1 soulstone worth of Malifaux miniatures each month Enforcer: you paint at least 6 soulstones worth of Malifaux miniatures each month Henchman: you paint at least 11 soulstones worth of Malifaux miniatures each month Master: you paint at least 16 soulstones worth of Malifaux miniatures each month Tyrant: you paint at least 31 soulstones worth of Malifaux miniatures each month The rules: The challenge started on January 1st, 2019. Models count for the month in which you finish them. You can finish painting a model that you started before the beginning of the month. Everyone may fail to make their monthly goal twice and stay in the challenge. This is using a mulligan. You can choose to go down a pledge level during the year, but you cannot move up. A model is considered painted if it is (1) based (even glued onto a black base counts); (2) tournament legal. That means that if it's a translucent, based model, it counts automatically. If it is any opaque material, then the standard is: Every part of the miniature painted, and three colours minimum. Miniature Values: Malifaux Almost all models count as their Soulstone value; but Masters count for 15 soulstones. Zero cost models count for 5 soulstones. Proxies (constructed from Wyrd models) count for their proxy value. The Other Side Titans count for 25 soulstones. Commanders count for 15 soulstones. Adjunct models count for 5 soulstones. Otherwise: A 30mm base model is worth 5 soulstones. A 40mm base model is worth 7 soulstones. A 50mm base model is worth 10 soulstones. Terrain Terrain is worth 5SS per 50mm base in area. Custom tokens are worth 5SS per 50mm base in area. A terrain board is worth 100 Soulstones. We're now using the Malifaux 3rd Edition values! How to upload images? Go to imgur.com, and create an account. Click on your account, click on 'images', and then 'add images'. Click on your uploaded image. You'll see a whole bunch of link options. Click on the 'copy' button next to 'direct link'. Go to your Wyrd Forum thread. Paste (CTRL-V) at the appropriate spot. The image should appear, resized appropriately to the page. My very best for December! Caedrus.

Caedrus, reporting in with a very late WIP! Having met my commitment for the month, I had some fun yesterday with the airbrush. Well, not so much fun, more like "Wow, I certainly screwed up that model, I better paint something fun to make up for it". I had two models in my "need airbrushing" pile, and they were an Envy, and a Lord Chompy Bits. This is where I got up to! Chompy was taken waaaay too far in highlighting, and got brought back quite a bit in the third stage. My quest to find a good NMM brass technique continues. This is pre-outlining, and pre-ink. This was another of my rescue-miniatures. The gaps are making me sad. Show me what you got, fellow painters! Caedrus.

Caedrus, reporting in! Well folks, I've learned quite a bit this month, painting the November Beastman. My technique for this month was to see how well a Beastman could be painted with only using an airbrush. Now, the Beastman is not a miniature that lends itself well to airbrushing. Airbrushing is simply one of the weapons in a miniature painter's arsenal. You choose the right weapon for the application, and this month I attempted to use a flamethrower for sniping. Here's what happened! It's not great. Oh, and my masking work was done poorly, as evidenced by the awful, awful work on the blade. If you combine poor masking, too thick a paint mix, and impatience, this is what you get. It needs more highlighting, more tangential spraying, or maybe just fire. There are worse miniatures out there, but this is easily the worst beastman I've painted, and that's OK! Always nice to learn a lesson. Next month, I'll be trying oil paints, and perhaps even a bonus miniature or two! See you in December! Caedrus.

Santana Ortega? I thought that wasn't being sold any more...

Hi Everyone! I am faaaar from an expert on this, but if you're interested, here's my process! The resin I used was a clear casting resin. The item is the one shown HERE. It is a *deep breath* 2% Methyl-Ethyl-Ketone-Peroxide-activated Styrene Monomer! However, and this is important, don't overthink it! Any clear resin should work. Your local hardware or craft store should have a similar two-part product. Often, the resin is used to create a glass-like finish on tables. Basically, Google 'clear resin', and you can't go too far wrong. I learned quite a bit from trial and (lots of) error, but if you watch a few of the excellent Luke Towan videos, you'll get a good idea. Two things to remember: (1) Resin sticks to everything except rubber, and the sticky side of sticky tape, so one of those needs to be your lining for any mold; and (2) Resin, when curing, gets hot. Make sure that the resin is gently cooled. Around 20-30 degrees Celcius is ideal. So, my process went: Find a tube that was around the right diameter (early prototype pictured above). I was originally having a cool spiral of bricks, but that would have blocked the actual miniatures. Build up the brick formwork, flush against the plastic tube, but not glued to the base. Set that aside for further details and painting. I used the excellent Hirst Arts products. Make your base details. Work out your resin volume. Get a section of tube at least as long as your water depth. Line the tube with sticky tape (sticky side exposed to the core of the tube). Secure it to something flat with superglue. Then more superglue. Pray to the Gods of Not-Screwing-Up. Pour resin, put it in front of a gentle fan (because Australia is hot). Leave for 24 hours. Take off the formwork, and you're left with a cylinder of resin, that has a slightly irregular surface, and a big meniscus at the top. Sand the upper surface flat, and the area facing the camera as close as you can to a perfect curve. I used the following sandpaper grits based on what-I-could-find-in-my-shed. I used 120 grit sandpaper; then 600 grit sandpaper; then 1200 grit sandpaper; then Very fine car polish / scratch removal polish. I used THIS (rubbed in with an old t-shirt )but anything comparable should be fine (just as a side comment, this product is awesome for car scratches. If you have a car, you need this stuff); then Toothpaste. You can spend forever getting it perfect. Have a close look at the pictures above, and you will see some scratches in the surface. I got lazy. Paint the well (more information on that, later). Stick the water-cylinder in the well's base. Where the back of the water-cylinder meets the well, there'll be some gaps. Fill it with any liquid-water-effect. I used Vallejo's Still Water. Finally, any drips (coming down), or splashes (going up) can be made by coating clear fishing line (stolen from fishing friend), and coated with clear gel. I used Atelier Clear Gloss Gel. Let drips dry before adding a second coat, or they won't get enough oxygen, and they'll go milky (like some of this figure's drips from her dress). Painting When using aerosols, I used GW Grey Seer for all the lighting, except for the orange, where I used GW Wraithbone. I started with a black undercoat on the Hirst Arts well. I then did a gentle grey drybrush all over, just to pick out the detail. For all the Object Source Lighting, I used an aerosol undercoat to mark where the drybrushing should go. I positioned the aerosol undercoat where the light source would be coming from, and varied the distance depending on the source (moonlight: far away; lantern: medium spray distance; bioluminescent fungi: a very quick blast from up close). I would then drybrush over the undercoat, matching the drybrushing intensity to the aerosol spray intensity (I hope that makes sense). The violet and indigo was done first, representing moonlight. That was followed by the lantern (orange), and then the fungi glow (green). I made lots of mistakes along the way, but I learned a lot! I also had a blast doing it! I hope that was at least a little interesting, and let me know if I can explain anything else! I'd love to hear from our other Halloween painters about their techniques and ideas! Caedrus.

Caedrus, immediately checking back in! Since I have finished my Myranda and Marcus, I decided to see what miniatures I should paint next, to finish off some keywords. Turns out that the answer is some Mounted Guard (not seen), three Family members (2 Monster Hunters, and a Latigo), and a Dispatcher (proxy, from Wild West Exodus). Some building, priming, and they're ready for paint! Finishing a keyword goes against my instincts, which is to go "Ooh! Shiny! Must paint that miniature right now!" Starting projects, and never quite finishing them, could well be called "Caedrusing" Wish me luck! Caedrus.

Caedrus, checking in! So, purely for those who might be interested, I have a quick post of my Halloween entry process, just in case anyone was interested! The story behind the miniature wasn't done justice by my entry, which was this: Crazed, undead woman (possibly a Doxy or a Belle) climbing out of the long-abandoned well. How'd she get in there? Well, the other bodies suggest it's not the well-owner's first time. How'd she get out? Revenge drove her to an undead state, wherein she chewed through her ankle manacle, and started climbing. What Worked? The resin pour worked wonderfully well. It turned out to be two pours, by the end. After lots of work with sandpaper, then car polish, then toothpaste, I got a nice, clean finish on the water effect. I was terrified doing the pour of resin. You can't fix anything after it's resined in! The water-effects of the water drops worked well. The Hirst Arts bricks turned out nicely, and the sculpted pumpkin, lantern, vines and knife worked well. The half-Molly, half-Waif miniature worked well (I don't know why Molly is doing that little kick in her sculpt, but it worked here!) Finally, I was happy with the lighting, which was aerosol can and drybrushing, mostly! I didn't have time to get airbrushing! What Didn't Work? The chewed off stump detail was lost, as was the foot itself, which compromised the entire story. Super annoyed about that. I should have painted the underwater-component of the wall much lighter, to improve visibility in the resin. I should have sculpted nicer bioluminescent mushrooms. But, overall, this is my first time doing a piece like this. I've learned stuff, and had fun. That makes the whole event a win, for me. Caedrus.

Hi @muraki and everyone! I think that the competition is over, and the points have certainly been earned! My miniature (#19) was a half Waif, Half Molly! I'm calling her as 12SS. I hope that's a fair estimate! I'd love to put some names to pieces, and ask questions! So: who did what? Claim your points! Caedrus.

@Franchute: https://brushandboltgun.com/2017/05/07/painting-basics-glass-bottles/ I had a better link, but that one is still helpful.

Caedrus, checking in! So, with the exception of a few base touch-ups, and some water effects, my Myranda and Marcus are done! I'll be putting some washers under Myranda's base, to stop her tipping, and I think Marcus' scenic base could do with a touch more contrast before the water effects, but they're pretty dang close to done. Congrats @Wintergloom for the Best Painted. Well deserved! I hope everyone is having an awesome November! Caedrus.

Hello All! So, with two months (and two beastmen) left in my odyssey of painting, here's my October beastman. I have started my next-to-last model already, but for October, I decided to have a bit of fun. This is a painting style I call "Ebony and Ivory". For this miniature, I have chosen one base colour for each section, but I have only used two other colours for highlighting and shading: Vallejo 'Black Grey' ('Ebony'), and Vallejo 'Ivory' ('Ivory', obviously!). The idea here is that the the ebony will darken and desaturate the colours, whereas the Ivory will provide a unifying highlight colour, representing a singular source of light. Does it work? Hmm. Maybe. It looks, to me, like a call-shaded Borderlands character. If you like the look, give it a try. For me, I like a little more variation in hue, so I think I'll classify this one as "Maybe, for a special project". Have a great November, and get ready for another beastman, soon! Caedrus.

A beautiful set, @Viruk. Their new owner(s) will love them!

@misterfinn: The rather excellent @Viruk did some beautiful work for Wyrd a couple of months ago. The Von Schtook crew, as I recall.

2020 is just around the corner! Folks, I've had an absolute blast in this year's Challenge. We've seen M3E hit, some of our painters commissioned by Wyrd, and others winning painting competitions. Most of all, I've had a lot of fun, and learned so much from all of you. This is as good a place as any to discuss how the Challenge should look for next year, and to see if someone wants to take over the role of co-ordinating the Challenge. For my part, if someone is keen to take over the role, then it's all yours, and I'm happy to help out and participate however I can. On the other hand, if people have been happy with my work, I can be convinced to do it for another year. I'm happy, either way 😊. I'll chime in with my thoughts in a little while, but for the moment, I thought I'd let everyone else give their input! What do you like? What do you love? What do you hate? How can we make this even better for 2020?

November is here, and I pledge (at least) a Myranda! Have a fantastic November!

November is here!?! This is the thread for the November 2019 Monthly Painting Challenge. I’m Caedrus, and I’ll be your host for 2019. November's birthstone is the yellow topaz. Time to paint something yellow ... one of my worst colours. November is also, well, Movember. Perhaps there's a Wyrd model desperately in need of a moustache? Queeg, I'm looking at you! Hopefully everyone has enjoyed the Wyrd Painting Competition. If you've entered, don't forget to update your October pledge, and always remember an "@Caedrus"! The link to the painter spreadsheet is here, and I'll continue updating soon! The 2019 Wyrd Monthly Painting Challenge is all about: Having fun painting! Motivating yourself, and encouraging others. Being part of a great, friendly community. Giving and receiving constructive advice. And, finally: Getting some pigment onto plastic! This is not a competition in any way. The pledge categories are the following: Minion: you paint at least 1 soulstone worth of Malifaux miniatures each month Enforcer: you paint at least 6 soulstones worth of Malifaux miniatures each month Henchman: you paint at least 11 soulstones worth of Malifaux miniatures each month Master: you paint at least 16 soulstones worth of Malifaux miniatures each month Tyrant: you paint at least 31 soulstones worth of Malifaux miniatures each month The rules: The challenge started on January 1st, 2019. Models count for the month in which you finish them. You can finish painting a model that you started before the beginning of the month. Everyone may fail to make their monthly goal twice and stay in the challenge. This is using a mulligan. You can choose to go down a pledge level during the year, but you cannot move up. A model is considered painted if it is (1) based (even glued onto a black base counts); (2) tournament legal. That means that if it's a translucent, based model, it counts automatically. If it is any opaque material, then the standard is: Every part of the miniature painted, and three colours minimum. Miniature Values: Malifaux Almost all models count as their Soulstone value; but Masters count for 15 soulstones. Zero cost models count for 5 soulstones. Proxies (constructed from Wyrd models) count for their proxy value. The Other Side Titans count for 25 soulstones. Commanders count for 15 soulstones. Adjunct models count for 5 soulstones. Otherwise: A 30mm base model is worth 5 soulstones. A 40mm base model is worth 7 soulstones. A 50mm base model is worth 10 soulstones. Terrain Terrain is worth 5SS per 50mm base in area. Custom tokens are worth 5SS per 50mm base in area. A terrain board is worth 100 Soulstones. We're now using the Malifaux 3rd Edition values! How to upload images? Go to imgur.com, and create an account. Click on your account, click on 'images', and then 'add images'. Click on your uploaded image. You'll see a whole bunch of link options. Click on the 'copy' button next to 'direct link'. Go to your Wyrd Forum thread. Paste (CTRL-V) at the appropriate spot. The image should appear, resized appropriately to the page. My very best for November! Caedrus.

Caedrus, reporting in! I knew this month was going to be a big one. So many life pressures stopping me from putting pigment to plastic! However, I found the time to get this one model done, at least. And hey, who knows? I might find some more time in the next week. Like many of you, I have a stealth project underway... For the moment, though, here's 9SS of Toshiro, the Japanese Undead Pirate. Yar! I had quite a bit of fun with this model. He's my colour / basing / thematic testbed for an upcoming Brine and Bones experiment. So, a slightly more cutlass-ey sword, a piratey bandanna, and a harpoon through the chest completes the model. I went with a fresher-undead look for this guy, rather than the hard-core rotting effects. Most of all, I had fun playing around with a little bit of freehand. It could have been neater, but I'm honestly pleased with the results. Have a great rest of October, and I'm looking forward to seeing what you've all done, because what I've seen so far this month ( @Wintergloom, @PetitDalek, @Viruk) is jaw-dropping! Caedrus.

@Wintergloom: The blues, the greens, the purples of this Archie. Absolutely exquisite work.

Mi scuso per il mio brutto tentativo di italiano. Non stai perdendo tempo. Dipingi bene. Ogni tecnica è utile. (Google Translation of) Apologies for my bad attempt at Italian. You are not wasting your time. You paint well. Every technique is useful.

@Purple Mist: That scenery looks awesome. The bust in particular is wonderful. Would 40SS reflect the effort? Oh, and do you have a total for September? @Boomstick: I think 40SS would be fair for the pure time commitment. Where'd that scenery come from?