Shock & Awe

I was going through and grabbing the Master title versions of the wallpapers (the computer desktop ones, not the Mobile Masters) this morning and I noticed that Guild seems to be missing a few wallpapers. 

I was wondering if that was known or not. I couldn't find either Lady J (OG or Master title), along with OG Perdita and Sonnia. 

I just didn't know if that was something that is still in the works, or if perhaps it might be a glitch you had not been alerted to. 

Either way, just thought I might mention it and inquire when the others might be put up? 

Thanks for your time! 

@Kogan Style – I love the symbols on Jedza’s scroll and the Kurgan looks awesome as well! Stellar work as always

@TimH – I love the Waldo, particularly the Teddy. The whole color scheme works really well. I really like the idea on your Noxious Nephilim as well – and the hat! Ha!

@Gheist – I love the color scheme you chose for your amalgam crew! Man, that is seriously wicked. I may need to steal some of that. I also love the bases, how they are standing on piles of metal junk… it really fits the crew.

@LinenMusician – the whole crew looks great, but the fire golem grabbed me the most. Great transitions. I don’t have any arcanist stuff, but seeing that paint job makes me want that model 😊

@Moinetbeard – All stellar work. Two things that jumped out, the color scheme on the dragon is incredible! I really love the choices and the subtle shifts between them. Not to mention the beautiful base you have it on. Makes me want to repaint mine 😉 Second, I liked the brighter color choice with Manos. Most people stick with all dark colors, but I think the bright colors really work.

@Viruk – It’s hard to pick one thing to like, your work is just too damn good. I have no idea who the shotgun dude it, but that base is wicked good. The magenta on the corpse curator is really nice, especially against the bright green. Klaus’ base is amazing as well, and I love the colors on Hildegard

@Diddick The composition on your Danse submission is really good! That was some really creative work. The backdrop is beautiful, the paint jobs are wonderful, great job all around.

@Caedrus – I love the blues, and your skin work is stellar 😉

As for me, I got my Autumn Queen done up. I found this tree in a train shop and really wanted to use it. The scale isn’t perfect, but I like how it came out. Also, I went with oranges on the core Titania and reds on the alt., so I needed a different color for this one and she didn’t end up feeling quite as “autumn” colored as the others 😊 which is ironic given her name. Still, I am happy with the result.

… annnnddd, with her done, that wraps up the Fae keyword! Woohooo! Now I need to move back to dusting off the Woes, for which I just bought up the witches and woes canday/kade/iggy from the Black Friday sale 😊

Stellar work by all! See you in December 😉

4 hours ago, Brilliance Laced Whiskey said:

Oh boy am I going to have a lot to pick up.  Somehow they knew I was just finishing up a Lucius and Anya list for Ulric/Winona.

 

So are all the alts available during these sales?  Or is it a rotating cycle of which ones you can get?  The sheer number of alts at this point is pretty staggering.

 

Hypothetically, say there was an idiot last year whose name starts with "B" and ends with "Y" who forgot to buy the alt tanuki when it showed up last time.  How screwed are they?

Assuming they have the stock, it's usually all of the alts. They don't rotate for any reason other than availability from what I've seen. 

So, not so screwed I'm guessing?

Almost forgot!

Black Friday - Well, I have actually gone bananas in years past (despite the insane shipping costs) and bought up most of the alts and nightmare boxes I really wanted. 

The only Neverborn thing left for my four masters (Pandora, Titania, Nekima, and Zoraida) that I don't have is the Rotten Harvest version of Kade and Candy, so I might grab that, along with dragon costume Iggy.

The faction I'm moving onto after that is Ressers and I've chosen Molly, Seamus, Kirai, and the Doc as the thematic masters I like most (and I've had Molly's amazing pirate box sitting on my shelf staring at me for years... but I'm still too intimidated to paint it because I want it to be perfect) 

That said, I want to get the He-kome, the female alt. version of Doc McMourning, and the alt. Rafkin. 

I will also have to see if they come up with another "spend all your money and get a free model" model's that catch my fancy.

My plans for the month are to finish off Titania 2 and to paint up some models I printed with my 3D printer as proxies for the Waldgeists. I actually did this because I wanted Zoraida and Titania to have different 'forms' of the models because I felt like their overall themes felt too distinct to paint one set of models that could fit both... so I found these mushroom monster things and was instantly in love. However..... after staring at them for a long time, I realized that they are more thematically fit for Zoraida, thus, I will have to reclaim the originals for Titania and these will be Zoraida's I think. 

9 minutes ago, Strangely Brown said:

@Shock & Awe congrats on the OSL on Killjoy.  That looks brilliant!  The basing on the boar is brilliant too - what did you use for the leaves (would like to steal the idea when I get to Titania)?

Thanks for both compliments, much appreciated! The leaves I got from a train shop here in Japan, but they are identical to the Micro Leaves by Green Stuff World I've used before - ▷ Buy Micro Leaves - Orange mix | - Green Stuff World - 

We are in the home stretch, with only two months of acrylic slathering to go before 2023 is upon us. 

This is also my last month of hosting duties for this year's challenge. 

It has been a great experience supporting this challenge. Since I first found this painting challenge way back in 2017, I have to say it has been a incredible source of inspiration to keep working on my paint game. 

That said, due to life and my mounting responsibilities, I will unfortunately have to step down as co-host for 2023. As I said at the start of the year, I'm getting toward the end of my doctoral program and this coming year I need to focus on my dissertation, so I have a feeling my hobby life is going to take the brunt of the hit in terms of 'things I do not have time for'. 

I really appreciate all the feedback, interaction, and overall positive vibes of this whole community. Thank you all for being awesome and giving me a lot to strive for in terms of upping my painting skills. 

I will still be around, though likely more sporadically, so I hope to still participate next year. 

Now, without further ado.... onto November's shenanigans...

If you are new to the challenge and what to know the ins and outs - Everything you need to know for the Challenge is right HERE.

For all our regular contributors, make sure you've submitted your SS counts for the previous months in the Google Form. 

For our Masterclass topic: 

Black Friday

This is a bit random, but I'm curious... so I thought I would ask. November always brings about the ever awesome Black Friday sale where we can finally get our hands on all the limited edition stuff. So, I'm curious, do any of you have a wish list for this coming Black Friday? Do you often make big orders during Black Friday? What are we looking to add to the ever exploding shelf of shame!

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That's it from me for the year ladies and gentlemen! Have a great November, and, in the words of the great sage Ninjon, 'Let's Slay the Grey!'

- Shock & Awe

My final September model was actually finished weeks ago, but getting time to take pictures and post them was more challenging because the school year started in the interim. 

Long story long, here is my Silent Knight (alt. Killjoy) for the Fae crew. Only two official Fae models left! This was also my first time working with metal, which was interesting. Definitely prefer the plastic. 

2 minutes ago, Franchute said:

Hey @Viruk. Thats an awesome painting job, as always! I wont make any comment about the burn out question because I have been away from wargaming and painting for the last three years. Im probably not a good advice 😂 But I have a question for you! I recently pulled my Malifaux minis out of the shelve they have been standing all this time. Do you remember the trick you taught us to make a simple swamp bases by using the Vallejo water effect and mixing it with the Games Workshop Nurgle rot (that green special paint)? Well all them turned completely white in my case! 😱 Have you experienced the same unfortunate fate? Do you maybe have a trick to restore them?

This wasn’t directed at me, but I actually learned from someone else that it’s just a matter of wiping them down. I used a wet cloth and just wiped around the water effect and it went back to normal. I think it also depends on the version of the still water, because that stuff in the big bottle oxidizes quite bad. I had a huge bottle turn completely solid  

anyway, I have a feeling Viruk will have a much more professional answer  

@Hawkoon I vote for either Serena or the Bandersnatch - those are both in my backlog and I’d love to see what you do with them. 
 

@DemiMurgos if you are talking about just this monthly competition, you can feel free to mod it to your heart’s content - go nuts! 
but by the current rules, whatever the base model is determines your stone count, and the model only counts in whatever month YOU determine it to be “complete” 

are you asking if the modifications somehow count? Or just timing of when you can claim the stones for it? 

2 hours ago, TimH said:

Something I have been meaning to ask though @Shock & Awe not sure if this is the case for anyone else but for a few months whenever I go to submit my stones I have been finding that the Username field on the form has been retitled to the "Shock & Awe" field 😅

Stupid me, I thought that was Google recognizing my account and just ignored it! 
 

I fixed! So sorry about that! 

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The Soulstone Tabulation Spreadsheet

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Holy man alive, it's September already! 

That means we have four months left to soldier through before 2022 is done and dusted. Time flies when you are slaying grey plastic.

If you are new to the challenge and what to know the ins and outs - Everything you need to know for the Challenge is right HERE.

For all our regular contributors, make sure you've submitted your SS counts for the previous months in the Google Form. 

For our Masterclass topic: 

Inspiration

One of our regular contributors @OctaBit brought up a really great topic in August about tackling burnout, which many of us provided some great advice for. To be honest, I think that is something all of us have battled at one point or another. The question then is where do you go to to get reinspired to paint? 

This topic can be about either: 

1 - when you first build your mini and start thinking about how to paint it, do you have a process for determining how you'll approach it? What do you use for inspiration there?

2 - when you did hit the inevitable burn out, what things do you use to get reinspired to paint? 

This might be rehashing a lot of what many of you already said last month, so feel free to skip it, but I think it's a really worthwhile conversation because it's something every hobbiest battles at some point. 

Have a great month!

- Shock & Awe

So, my grad program really kicked my a$$ all through July, so I was cut off from the hobby for a bit... but I came charging back this month. 

I got a huge swath of my Fae crew done up, and there's only four models left for that crew and they are done! That is my goal for the next two months. 

That said, without further ado, here are my 39 stones for the month - Alt. Titania, The Thorn (Autumn Knight), the Gorar, and three Bultungin! 

I am particularly proud of TItania's base, and the stream I made on one of the Bultungin. 

I do want to contribute to the burn out conversation, but I'm wiped now from working with all those dang pictures! Save that for tomorrow. 

This month I'm going to keep plugging away at the Fae keyword. 

Beyond this box of grey, I also have the metal Silent Knight to finish off the set, so this will likely take me well into next month at least

1 hour ago, Hawkoon said:

Seeing as it's only her skin that's an issue I guess I could try removing the paint with a qtip and a solvent. Don't have any of the mentioned agents, but I guess airbrush cleaner would work?

If you don't own it or have never used it, I swear by Mr. Paint Remover. MR. PAINT REMOVER | Mr.COLOR | PAINT / THINNER / SPRAY | GSI Creos Mr.HOBBY (mr-hobby.com) 

That stuff is amazing. I got a whole bunch of it and a small mason jar... I call it "The Dip" (call back from Who Framed Roger Rabbit) and I've had to put a few models in it to wholesale start over. 

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Welcome to the back 9, or the downhill slide... whichever idiom fits your fancy

Let's keep plugging along, and hopefully it's not as hot on your end of the world as it is here in Japan... where everyday feels like a sauna  

If you are new to the challenge and what to know the ins and outs - Everything you need to know for the Challenge is right HERE.

For all our regular contributors, make sure you've submitted your SS counts for the previous two months in the Google Form. Remember, @Gheist and I are not going to enter them for you 

For our Masterclass topic: 

Pictures -

1. how do you take them?
2. Do you prefer high profile, or low (white background vs. black)
3. What is your camera setup? 
4. Any and all details into what you do and what you look for in a good mini pic

- Shock & Awe

1 hour ago, Diddick said:

Lovely!

There's something about the shape of the dawn serpent that wants to put it hugging a tree, I did too with mine XD

I'm going to share my F&S entry here too:

Didn't even get close to win anything, I think the mini and the idea was pretty nice, but all the others in the category were nicer XD. Pic didn't help either (i presented the white bg one)

I honestly preferred yours to the other Misaki - no lie. I really liked the color scheme and the reflection on the weapon.

Well, this "technically" belongs in the May thread - but @Gheist said to put it here... and being my fellow host, I shall obey (because we all know @Gheist is Zoraida in disguise) 

Here is my Flowers and Showers submission. The pic for the contest sucked... well... I liked it when I took it, but I think it did not really help sell the model. 

Still in the hunt for my first vote in one of these contests

For this month I'm going to be banging on with the Fae keyword. Still got two Autumn Knights, Aeslin, and the snakey snake to go.

1 hour ago, tyler simmons said:

So this is my first time being a part of one of these contests. Do I have to message someone related to the contest or anything?

In regards to what?