2022 Monthly Painting Challenge - January

[Shock & Awe]

January approaches and it's time to kick off the new challenge. 

In the words of one of the great sages of our time.... 

Everything you need to know for the Challenge is right HERE.

Let's all  share our New Year's Painting Resolution(s) and get this party started!

I'll post the pledge and recording sheets in the next post. 

REMEMBER! Don't @ me with your SS totals, you need to put them into the form when you are finished! I can't promise to track all of it for you

The twist I want to add in this year is a call out to a kind of "masterclass" with everyone sharing a quick tip or idea for how they approach painting, the tools they use, or advice in general for people starting out. 

The theme for January is BRUSHES.

What brushes do you use? How often do you go through them? Do you have any tips for brush care or special soaps/tools you use for that? 

My hope is to gather these all into a post/blog that we can build together to help people new to the hobby. 

All the best for 2022!

- Shock & Awe

*********************** EDIT/ADDITION*****************************

A suggestion was put forth that I think would be a great addition to our challenge. 

Each month when you pledge your models for the month, you also need to pledge a technique or want to work on with them. 

The techniques can be anything you want to improve on, and they can carry over into multiple months, but the idea is to put into words what specific area of painting you want to work on. 

If you don't know what to work on, put that out as well and perhaps the community can come up with some ideas for you

Let me know what you think.

[Shock & Awe]

The Pledge Form

CLICK HERE!

The Pledge Spreadsheet

CLICK HERE!

 

The Monthly Soulstone Reporting Form

CLICK HERE!

The Soulstone Tabulation Spreadsheet

CLICK HERE!

[Shock & Awe]

So, my grand plans for this year are to complete my Neverborn collection and to get some Vassal games in. Living in Japan makes face-to-face games …. nearly impossible with a Meta of 1 (me  ) 

So, my pledge/resolution for the year: 

1: Finish my Neverborn Keyword models - Woe, Fae, Nephilim, Swampfiend 

Woe: Witches and Woes set, Aversions, Dorian Crowe, Lyssas, Tyrant Torn

Fae: Titania box set, Killjoy (+alt), Bultungin, Rougarou, Boar, Rex, Autumn Queen

Nephilim: Nightmare Nekima, Alt matures, 3e Nekima box, Hayreddin, Alt Nekima, Broodmother Nekima, Noxious Nephilim 

Swampfiend: First mate, Swamp Mother, Gupps, The Krugan, Adze, Gaetraeux Bokor, Swamp Hag Z

If I get through all that, it’s on to the Versatiles  

I also pledge to get one Vassal game in a month. If you want to play, hit me up! 

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I forgot to add my January pledge

For January I am going to try and get through The Poltergeist and the three (3) Sorrows from Pandora's Witches and Woes box. That's a total of 19SS for January.

For techniques, I am going to work a bit on light directional highlighting. I've always highlighted my models evenly from all directions, but I want to start considering WHERE the potential light source is coming from and highlight accordingly. It should be an adventure

      

[Caedrus]

Caedrus, reporting in!

For my January pledge, I will be undertaking something from the following:

Wind Gamin (4ss), an Eternal Flame proxy (2SS), 2x Necropunks (10SS), Earl Burns (3SS), Carlos Vasquez (8SS), and a lady with a cool robot (10SS).

You will be pleased to know that one Necropunk is missing a face, the Eternal Flame needs some sculpting, and the robot lady is gonna need some extensive NMM. So, that's good news.

Wish me luck!

Caedrus.

P.S.: My thoughts on brushes will be coming very soon. Stay tuned!

[LinenMusician]

This mounth im gonna paint gravedigger (6 ss), kentaroi (8 ss) and 2 flesh constructs (14 ss). Some of them are based or Just started, so here i've got work to do. Also i need to finish at least 3 of them before 8th january so i can take them to tournament. 

[Magnus]

For January I'm going to finish the Umbra keyword stuff that I have, 2 Specters and the other two Nocturnes. Should give me about 26ss for the month.

My brushes of choice are always Kolinsky sable I have Vallejo and Raphael along with some I picked up at GENCON a few years back. Well cared for they will last for years. I use Windsor Newton brush cleaner and restorer every now and then. A good soak (be sure only the brush with a little metal is in the wash otherwise it will dissolve the glue that holds the metal on).

[Strangely Brown]

For the first part of the year I shall be finishing off remnants from largely painted keywords.  First up; Inventor Hoffman & Melissa K.O.R.E. for 23ss.

Brushes; I just use GW brushes for blocking & large layering, kolinsky sable brushes sz 0/1 for detail work.  Brush soap to clean every couple of sessions, or if I don't think I am going to be using them for a while.

Happy New Year all, and happy painting.  Looking forward to seeing everyone's achievements over the coming months ☺️

[OctaBit]

Here's my pledge for the month. Keeping it simple and just focusing on Basse, and Bernadette. If I finish these I've got some half done apex models I'll finish.

I'll add in brush tips later on in the month.

 

[TimH]

For the painting challenge this year I am looking to finish up bits and pieces of the Neverborn, hopefully fully paint my gibberring hordes and start on the ten thunders.

I can see the gibbering hordes potentially being the hardest part of this on account of there being a lot of batch painting involved so for January I am looking to get stuck into them, hopefully aiming to get a unit of Striped Stalkers and Speckled Crawlers painted up with the remainder of the pledge being covered by some of the more individual models (some combination of Stormsiren, Eels, Binh, perhaps morphlings or eggs).

 

For brush tips I am not the best person to ask as I have ruined a fair few brushes over the years. Advice I will go with is that it's good to have a low quality/old brush for applying basing materials, pva washes out of the bristles easily enough so it doesnt destroy brushes but it's still best to use something expendable anyway. I use GW brushes+any random brushes I find in the local charity shops, if you don't care about the brand some people donate small collections of unused brushes that are just fine for hobby painters.

[Brushgit]

I'll be kicking off the new year with finishing my tri-chi (2 gamins, turner, Cooper, golem, tanuki) and my mercenaries (2 Ronin, Taelor, Vanessa, Jake, Student) that should easily fulfill my tyrant for January and keep me busy February as well.

For gaming side I'll paint the group of TT Combat Minkas I assembled the last two days

[OctaBit]

@Shock & Awe something that might be a fun addition for this year is for people to post up some techniques they might want to try and improve on this year. I know I personally want to work on my airbrushing skills, and I bought a Youko crew specifically to work on freehanding.

[Brushgit]

Clocking in the first 6 Soulstones of the year with the second Ronin of my mercenaries

[Gheist]

Happy New Year EveryOne!

Late to the Party, my January Pledge will encompass as much Nexus as i can eat. Hope i got more done than the bases....

For Brushes i use Leonhardy Kappel Series (and kind of always have) for the finer kind of Acrylics, after testing some other brands i still like the value you get for the money. Armypainter brushes for Mixing and applying Glue and basing material and so on. I use a variety of random Synthetic Brushes for Oils. And abuse AK Interactive brushes for drybrushing. The Thing with brushes and me is, i own like 60 and use 5 for 98% of the time.

Aaaaand i forgot: Cleaning Brushes is a good thing in my opinion, pretty much on only my second/third set after 12 Years. Used Masters Soap, Using Jo Sonjas Brush Conditioner now (which is way more easy to handle)

and i vouched i would spend more time on single Minis so i present the first 10SS of 2022

I am kind of happy sad thing about the lines visible from assembly, but the set let me down and after investing more than 1 blob of milliput i got impatient.

 

[Boomstick]

Starting off the year with Ivan: Double Agent, Gin, Haarata, and a Bokor. 

As for brushes, I've been enjoying my W/N Series 7, caring for them with "The Master" Brush Cleaner & Pteserver, and generally being nice to them by avoiding anything even close to dry brushing with them.

[Kogan Style]

Hi all,

I got excited and finished these before January even started 😅
 

Starting off my year with Nexus (the Master her/itself) and the Shambling Nests to do. Trying to tie the crew together with mites and eggs, spreading the joy throughout Malifaux! Also have the rest of the keyword to paint prior to a day of gaming! With the resolution that I want to play this year with painted models only I am going to need to speed up! 



As for brushes, I was a W&N Series 7 person until I found cheaper alternatives, 4 Sable brushes for £12 was way kinder to my wallet than a W&N, and they hold their point really well! I'd link them here.... but I can't for the life of me remember where I bought them 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ They were so good I painted the models above using the size 4 brush mostly, as it held so much more paint.

 

EDIT - And I found the brushes! http://www.creativemodels.co.uk/creative_models_1855_kolinsky_sable_brush_set_large_0_1_2_4-p-12991.html

Must have bought this set in an art shop. Still will be ordering more (and returning to this post to find the link no doubt 😅)

[OctaBit]

Wip on Basse. Need some suggestions on what to do for the shin guards. I think the trim will be the same as the cloak, but not sure what to do for the plate. Otherwise still need to do the leather, gloves, gun and small details. I'll add the pigment to the base after it's varnished. 

 

[Brushgit]

@OctaBit

I would go for a metal finish on them, you just need to balance them drawing all the attention.

 

@Gheist

That's a damn lovely take on the saurus, especially the blue gemstone/Soulstones in his skin. As for gap filling... I feel you, it was a bunch of work to make those disappear.

[Shock & Awe]

@OctaBit that is a great idea, and I'll add it to the original post. I think the aim each month then will be to pledge: 1 - your SS, and 2 - the technique or area you want to work on. It can be the same technique each month, but the idea is to add in something to challenge you to push your boundaries, along with just getting the painting in. Thanks for the suggestion! 

@GheistI really like the color scheme and all the small details. The stones/scales are especially nice! 

[Butch]

On 1/2/2022 at 8:28 PM, Gheist said:

I am kind of happy sad thing about the lines visible from assembly, but the set let me down and after investing more than 1 blob of milliput i got impatient.

If I discover gaps or Mouldlines while painting I use varnish to hide them. Matte varnish is my go to, but gloss varnish for the bigger gaps/lines. The already painted surface stays visible and you can continue to paint over it.

[Gheist]

1 hour ago, Butch said:

If I discover gaps or Mouldlines while painting I use varnish to hide them. Matte varnish is my go to, but gloss varnish for the bigger gaps/lines. The already painted surface stays visible and you can continue to paint over it.

Thanks for the Advice! I'll try but maybe not on the Malisaurus, or do you think it would work on such a massive gap like in the leg? I am usually very dedicated to the hobby but gaps in 2021 kind of make me lose Motivation faster than most things (like monthlong shipping times and retailers without customer service )

@Brushgit@Shock & Awe: Thank you! It was great fun, i sometimes miss the bigger more unrealistic Models in Malifaux. Like when you painted 15 Monks it's definitely time for someting with tentacles for me

6 hours ago, Shock & Awe said:

@OctaBit that is a great idea, and I'll add it to the original post. I think the aim each month then will be to pledge: 1 - your SS, and 2 - the technique or area you want to work on. It can be the same technique each month, but the idea is to add in something to challenge you to push your boundaries, along with just getting the painting in. Thanks for the suggestion! 

So we do it like this: each month everyone is who is willing is going to pledge a certain technique / Material / Colourscheme that he*/she* wants to work on and additionally there is a general theme each month where everybody shares their thoughts on one specific hobby Component (like brushes in January)?

[Gheist]

On a sidenote, are there any objections to me inviting people here on YTube? Have to check with Wyrd anyways, just the question if it's like wanted or not, I will only bring it up this one time promised

[Shock & Awe]

@Gheist Yeah, basically that is the idea. 

In my head I see it like this: 

• Start of the month
  • Pledge your SS and models (with pictures) (**OPTIONAL**)
  • Pledge a technique or aspect of those models you want to work on (**OPTIONAL**)
• When you complete your models for the month
  • Record your SS on the form (**REQUIRED**)
  • Post up pictures of your completed models (**REQUIRED**)
  • With your pictures, add in a few comments about the monthly hobby component (**OPTIONAL**)

Hope that makes sense, and please (EVERYONE) feel free to chime in if you don't like any of it, or have other ideas to add

Edited January 5, 2022 by Shock & Awe
Misunderstood the current rules, so I fixed the "pledge" issue

[Brushgit]

@Shock & Awe

As I got quite an extensive backlog I actually prefer to grab and paint what I prefer from it on a monthly/weekly basis and post the finished pics here.
Limiting myself to picking a subset of my backlog that I "have" to finish for the month after pledging them at the start would be a turnoff as inspiration and motivation is a fickle mistress
 

@Gheist

I want to try using liquid resin for gap filling on future projects after seeing an instagram reel from Hendarion using that techinque. Simply apply it with a brush, cure with a UV lamp and use a hobby knife/file to remove excess. Seems like the most straightforward option.
On a side-note: How did you not get crazy with all the horns on the Malisaurus, I started highlighting them and there is always one more to paint ....

[Shock & Awe]

@Brushgit

Actually, I just realized that the "Pledge your models before you paint them" seems to be a rule I've held over in my head from years back when I first joined the challenge. Looking in the rules as they were last year it seems that producing photos of what you'll paint before you paint it is an optional thing - so I'll edit the post.

As long as you're meeting your pledge value by the end of the month, I've got no complaints . I don't think anyone in here wants to tie people down to something and potentially end up demotivating someone. 

[Gheist]

2 hours ago, Brushgit said:

@Shock & Awe

As I got quite an extensive backlog I actually prefer to grab and paint what I prefer from it on a monthly/weekly basis and post the finished pics here.
Limiting myself to picking a subset of my backlog that I "have" to finish for the month after pledging them at the start would be a turnoff as inspiration and motivation is a fickle mistress
 

Yeah, i think we pledge our level at the beginning of the year and anyhow most people show what they want to paint off at the start of the month anyway. i'm with brushgit there, some months turn out differently then you planned and then there is no sense in being disappointed in that you didn't exactly met what you wanted to achieve.

 

 

2 hours ago, Brushgit said:

@Gheist

I want to try using liquid resin for gap filling on future projects after seeing an instagram reel from Hendarion using that techinque. Simply apply it with a brush, cure with a UV lamp and use a hobby knife/file to remove excess. Seems like the most straightforward option.
On a side-note: How did you not get crazy with all the horns on the Malisaurus, I started highlighting them and there is always one more to paint ....

I got lots of resin at work, it's not as straightforward as you might think but it can of course be used, i just don't have an UV Lamp at home. And if it doesn't harden completely you get lovely smears which you have to clean with chemicals. But it sounds as if i am not owning the right product, do you have a brand example?

The Horns on the Malisaurus... i usually listen to audiobooks and at some point had a lengthy conversation with an old friend via Discord and kinda switched off... i think the Horns took up half of the overall time spend on the miniature and i basically skipped the higher midtone and the black.